MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour - Episode 180

Episode Date: August 25, 2014

Featuring Nick Newell, Josh Barnett, Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier, Liz Carmouche, Mike Chiesa, and Stephen Espinoza. 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 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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On this Monday, May 13th, 2013, it is Monday the 13th and in our world. That is good news, my friends. It's nothing to be afraid about because we have a stacked episode of the MMA hour. We are going three plus hours today. We've got something for everyone. It really is one of our best lineups of the year. Can't wait to get the show started. We are joined in the back, as always, by...

Buzzkill Brendan. Mike, who I just found out is a huge Knicks fan, a diehard Knicks fan. No one told me this until just an hour or so ago, which means Mike now gets all the love, the spotlight. It will be Mike's picks, basically, is what I'm trying to say. From here on out, he is now the new star of the back room over there. So great to have Mike back. Will is also there, and Mr. New York Rick in the house as well. Now, we will hear from New York Rick in the third hour as we finally reveal the 16 participants in the first ever Rick's Picks Invitational. It's going down this weekend. UFC on FX8, it will finally kick off and 16 will enter.

One will be crowned champion. Can't wait for it. We announced the participants last week. This week we announced the matchups. The matchups. The bracket has been set eight on this side, eight on that side. It's going to be great. Can't wait for it.

We'll announce that in the third hour. Also in the third hour, we're going to be hearing from Liz Karmouche. You remember Liz Karmouche, of course, from UFC 157. What's life like after the Ronda Rousey fight? Also, she is fighting Misha Tate at UFC on Fox number 8, July 27th in Seattle, Washington. So the gorilla, as they call her, she'll be stopping by in the third hour. Also in the third hour, Mike Kiesa, of the Ultimate Fighter fame, he is now a member of the UFC's lightweight division, got that win under his belt recently.

Well, he and I will be comparing our top 10 pound for pound best facial hair in MMA history. He has his list. I have my list. We've been asked about this in the past guy. I talk about facial hair so much on the show. We've been asked, who do I think has the top 10 pound for pound best facial hair in MMA history? Mike Keisa and I will debate it in the third hour as well. Now, in the second hour, we're going to be talking to Stephen Espinoza, the boss of Showtime Sports. What's up with MMA in the show.

Showtime world. And how about Showtime all of a sudden becoming a powerhouse, the world of boxing? Good to have Stephen Espinosa on the show. Daniel Cormier will be stopping by at around 2.20 p.m. Eastern Time. Of course, there's been some talk about him fighting Roy Nelson. Also, what kind of advice does he have

for his good friend Luke Rockhold, who will be making his UFC debut this weekend, about the Octagon Jitters? Daniel talked about that in his UFC debut last month against Frank Meir, how the octagon jitters affected him. What kind of advice does he have for Rockhold? and it's a big month for the A.K.A. team.

Next week, Kane Velasquez defends his title against Bigfoot Silva. This time the belt is on the line. He beat him last year Memorial Day weekend. Josh Barnett, he'll be stopping by. What's up with him? Where is he going? Who's he signing with? When's he going to fight again?

We'll get a great update from the Babyface assassin himself. Luke Rockhold will be stopping by. Can't wait to hear from him. He is joining us from Brazil. Site of UFC on FX8. He faces Vitor Belfort this Saturday. and free on FX and all show long. As always, you can hit us up on Twitter using the hashtag the MMA hour.

Leave us a question in the comment section below. We will get to those in the third hour. But first, my friends, honored that in studio right here right now, our first in studio guest in our brand new studio in front of our brand new set. He is the notorious one. Nick Newell. Good to be on the show. Great to have you here, Nick.

and you know, we wanted to have you on the show for a long time. You live in the area, East Coaster, Connecticut, right? Yep, yeah, southern Connecticut, close to New York. But this is a good time to have you on the show, my friend, because on Friday, your world turned upside down. What a horrible way to start the weekend, right? Yeah, not the way most people would want to kick off their weekend. Kind of caught me off guard.

Everyone pretty much heard the news before I did, and I was just at practice. And afterwards, I was like, whoa, people start telling me about it. And I was like, oh, geez, let me check this out. So you're referring to the fact that XFC, who you were their lightweight champion, they stripped you of the belt. And in this sort of weird press conference, they called it a press conference, but it was a Q&A on their website with the promoter of XFC, John Prisco.

He pretty much said he wished you the best in your future endeavors, which to me sounds like they're breaking up with you. Now, you're saying you found out all this through the media, through people online. You didn't know that this was going to happen? Well, I knew it was going to happen. Basically, my contract was up. Okay. And I was in negotiations with a few different people,

and I decided, you know, that I wasn't going to go with the XFC and basically relinquish or vacate the title. And, you know, they worded it the way. way they wanted to. And, you know, it ended up just becoming a kind of a fiasco, one than anything else. They wanted you to fight someone by the name of Scott Holtzman, who is a rising prospect in the sport, not as well known as you. He's foreno, I believe, right? Yeah, foreign. So, based on their promotion, it came out that you were going to fight this guy, June 14th, right?

I mean, that was already announced by them. Did you not agree to that fight? Yeah, I never I never I never confirmed the fight or agreed to it Or anything like that and we told him not to promote it You know XFC was still in the running of whether I would continue with them or not Okay You know I I kind of left it up to them to just say like to not promote it yet And and I try to stay away from any drama or controversy at all in my career

You know I just I just like to fight and and train and I you know I like doing like interviews and stuff like this, but, you know, anything that causes conflict, I really try to stay away from. And I hadn't agreed to the fight, and they started promoting it already. So where do things, so you said to them, okay, I'm not agreeing to this fight. I don't want to take this fight, and you're probably going to opt out. You want to leave. You want to go on. And you've talked about it on our show.

You want to fight the UFC guys. You want to fight, obviously, in the UFC, you tried out for the ultimate fighter. Why on Friday did everything end? I don't know why he chose that day over anything else. He must have just been mad. And it would have been a fight if I had decided that XFC was a good fit for me in the long run that I would have taken. But we had different visions on where I would go and my career and what kind of matchups. I would not like really picking my matchups, but, you know, I said at this point nine fights in,

I'd like to fight veterans and establish guys. and, you know, they have their own mold, and they want, like, the fresh guys, the up-and-comers and stuff like that. And, you know, we just had different visions in the long term, which led me to decide to, you know, not continue with them anymore. Do you think that they announced this fight to try to pressure you into taking it? So they say, okay, we're going to put this out there, we're going to promote it, we're going to put a date, all that stuff,

and then maybe at the end of the day people get excited about it, and that will make you take the fight. Because that's a very weird thing to do to promote a fight before a fighter has agreed to it, right? Yeah, I think they were like trying to think that I, you know, well, if we already promoting it, then he has to take it. But if I'm thinking in the long run and where I want to end up in long-term contracts, because my contract is over and the offers that I'm getting, it was kind of a way to pressure me into it. but I don't really let my emotions take me over more so

when it comes to making rational decisions about my future and what's going to be the best move for my career moving forward and what's going to take me to the highest level and get me the most notoriety in my career. So your contract is done. You have no contract. It expired. You fulfilled it, right?

So they gave you a title shot without trying to resign you before that, that seems like a strange decision. Yeah, it's, uh, you know, I mean, I had, I, I, all I can say is that with the XFC, they, they have a great promotion. And, you know, even after everything that happens, I'm, I'm, I'm, there are promoters and they have to put on the best fights that are the biggest possible fights that they think they can, you know, that they can have. And, and I just so happen to involve me and, and, and, uh, I'm very grateful for it. It was a great moment. And, and I don't think I was the favorite in that fight at all. I know I wasn't. Do you think they wanted you to lose?

I don't think they wanted me to lose. No, I don't know if he cared. He definitely, he told me afterwards that he didn't think I was going to win, but really? Who says that? I don't know. But I always thought I was going to win. I'm pretty confident in myself, but, you know, people have their opinions and stuff like that doesn't really bother me. I have, I've grown up to have pretty thick skin. in. And, you know, XFC is a great promotion. I had nothing bad to say about them. And my experience with them was good. It's just time for me to move on. You told me when you're on our show a few months back that you were looking to fight in April or so. Why didn't that happen? They said they have to establish a contender. And, you know, I guess one thing going around

that goes with being a champion is you have to wait for contenders and, and, you know, and fights like this and he said he's not just going to give title shots to anyone they have to be under a long-term contract with the xfc and and they're getting up-and-comers and they have to build the guys and you know it's just like six months in between fights like from fight to fight it's too much for me i'm um i'm 27 years old right now and i'm kind of in a couple years i'll be in my prime you know i'm i'm not a young buck certainly but i'm not old and i want to be as active as possible and fight as much as I possibly can. So Prisco said, and I guess when I asked this question,

you know, who says that, it kind of makes sense after reading this Q&A that was posted on their site. Because he said that he believed that John Holtzman would have defeated you and that you believed this as well. In his heart is heart, you were kind of afraid of him. I mean, you're taking the high road here, but for someone in his position, I mean, we've seen promoters, Dana White, Bjorn Rebony, we've seen them get upset,

but they never play favorites like that. that's not a very professional thing to do. Yeah, you know, he's like, he's kind of, he kind of gets real. He's real high and low with his things. He got mad at me. He said, oh, I think you're going to lose to him. He's going to ground and pound you or whatever. That doesn't really bother me.

Yeah, he's just trying to, like, bully me into being like, oh, I don't think, you know. Right. Like, it has nothing to do with, this has nothing to do with the opponent. If it, you know, it's a long-term thing. And, you know, he said I was going to lose my last fight, too. he told me afterwards he thought I was going to lose so it's like he's not always necessarily the best with fight predictions um you know and it really it didn't come down to the opponent it's just saying that i was that i turned down a fight or i was scared to fight this guy or he was going to beat me

was just a way to maybe turn people against me and think that i'm the bad bad guy here and i don't i don't really think there's any bad guys i think he's just trying to promote and make his guys look as good as possible and you know i'm no longer one of his guys so you know it comes at my expense but i try to stay pretty level-headed and in cool and calm throughout all this and and uh he he sent me a text message apologizing and oh really and uh when did he send you that uh the other day and you know he's just he said he just got carried away and he was just uh you know he was a little upset and so why does he put that on his website i don't know you don't care you know it doesn't it doesn't bother me you know i i i i people give me

give me crap all the time, you know, before it was, you know, you're not fighting guys with all this experience, you know, like, when are you going to fight this, this guy that was in the UFC or this guy that fought this guy and this, and, you know, then I beat someone really good like Eric Reynolds, and, you know, I get a lot of credibility for that because he's a very tough, very talented opponent, and I say, oh, when are you going to fight these guys? And now they try to bring me back to fighting the up-and-comers who I was getting slack for fighting before. Right. And they're like, oh, now you're, you're, you don't, you're, oh, you think you're, you're a prima don't want to take this fight or that, you know, and it's, it's not, it's not about that, you know, it's, it's, it's about a long-term thing.

So I'm not like being a, oh, I'm the champion and I get to fight whoever I want. It's, it's, it's about me testing myself against established guys, which is what I'd like, and it's more of a long-term thing than anything. Had they signed a name, a former U.S. FAC fighter, would you have continued to fight for them? You know, they're a good organization. He said in the past that he's not going to bring in those type of guys and they're going to build their own fighters. They have a real good thing going with their fighter tryouts.

I mean, that's how I came up through them. You know, it works in different ways and everyone has different business models and I think theirs is working for them. But right now, I feel like I'm past the up-and-comer thing and I'm really ready to jumping against the jumping with the sharks, you know, the established guys, the ones where everyone thinks I'm going to lose, and those are my, those are the situations where I compete the best and I thrive the best and when my back's up against the wall. And that's what I'm really looking forward to. So let's talk about the sharks. This happened Friday afternoon,

late afternoon or so on the East Coast. What kind of attention? What kind of offers have been throwing your way. I'm sure people have called you or your manager. What's going on? What do you got? Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty much... Let's talk about the offers. Let's figure out where you're going to fight next right now. Well, I'm pretty much getting offers from a lot of different leagues. Really? Yeah. Right now... Like who? You know, I don't have to... I don't have to give names or I don't want to, but you can. You can... You can speculate as to what leagues are giving me offers. World Series of Fighting. They're interested in you. I know this for a fact. I mean, Ali,

their matchmaker is courting you via Twitter. Yeah. Bellator? You know, a bunch of, a bunch of, how about the UFC? Why don't we just say everything, everyone but the UFC right now? Everyone but the UFC. Is that disappointing?

Not really because these other organizations have such great fighters and they have such a good thing going that, you know, if... But you've said you want to fight in the UFC. That's where you think you can really show the world that you are a top lightweight, right? So is it UFC or bust for you? Not necessarily.

The UFC is a great organization. And if you want to get attention towards you, you say UFC. And I know that if I was in the UFC, that I would do very well and I would establish myself as a contender. And I'm not just the type of person that would say something like that. Like, oh, you know, I could fight the UFC. But if the opportunity was there, I'd fight those guys. You know, I'm willing to prove it.

I'm not just saying it. I'm willing to prove it. But, you know, a lot of these guys, like, coming up, you know, 155, you got, like, a lot of good guys, especially in all these leagues floating around. I mean, I feel like most people in the world kind of fall into the 155-pound weight class. That's why it's real hard. Right. And then you get guys, like, in World Series of Fighting, like, Marlon Marius, who no one really heard of,

and then he fights Miguel Torres, and then all of a sudden you know how real. and good this guy is. You know, opportunities through shows that aren't the UFC. So of the people who have contacted you, is there one that you're leaning towards right now? Is there one offer out there that really sticks out above the rest? I have a few right now that are really good. It's good to be Nick Newell. Yeah, it's good to be wanted.

I didn't know I was as popular as I am. You know, I know how good I am, and I know that sounds kind of like a little bit of an arrogant thing to say, but I'm very confident in my ability to do wellness sport. and you know I got a lot of good offers and if I really only had one of the offers that I have right now I'd be like wow that's a great offer but I got a few that are pretty identical and I have to weigh certain factors in each and I'm not one to just jump into anything but my next move is going to be a big move and I'm really excited once I figure everything out and I weigh everything down and really talk with my whole team that there's going to be big things to come for Nick Newell so why did it take so long to get to this point

because you said, you know, you didn't want to wait six months and whatnot. Why didn't you try to sever ties with XFC three, four, five months ago so that you could be fighting right now. Because if you sign with someone today, chances are you're not going to be fighting next month for them. You're going to have to wait, they're built you up, they'll promote you, et cetera, et cetera. So why didn't you do this earlier? Yeah, I just wanted to see what kind of offers I could get in. And it's not like this is just an overnight thing.

It's a thing that certain people have known about for a long time. and I've been getting offers thrown at me and then this and then this person offers this and that and see what's the best that people could do and just set myself up in the best way moving forward so I can really establish myself. Things like this don't happen overnight. It's just now that people are finding out about it.

It was mostly just behind the scene stuff. Do you think if you were Nick Newell, 9-0, former now XFC champion but you had two hands do you think you'd be in the UFC? Do you think that is the only reason why you're not in the UFC

or didn't get an offer from the UFC? It's hard to say I think someone that's exciting as exciting as me. You know, I go out there and I finish fights and I even one fight that went to a decision

was entertaining. I just beat a really good guy. I think I've done more than a lot of people I've done to get into the UFC. but um you know i i'm not one to complain about stuff like that uh if i sat down and and complained about oh life's not fair like life isn't fair you know and uh there's a lot of politics involved in in the game and and people i think people worry too much about what other people think about them

and uh you know it is about just having the the best fighters and regardless of uh you know if i have two hands or not, I can compete with the best in the world. So why not let me fight? But, you know, if I just sat down and I moped about it and I was like, oh, you know, this stinks. And I would never have learned how to tie my shoes. I would never learn how to ride a bike. I wouldn't be driving a car and I certainly wouldn't be getting in a cage with people and having to shut the door and fight, you know. That's not the type of person I am. I'll go with who wants me and I'll, you know, I'll punch the clock and I'll go to work. That being said, well, your team, team, at least reach out to the UFC, because now you're a free agent.

This is a good time to figure this all out and say, hey, you know, we're free right now. If you're interested, come to us, or if you don't hear anything, you're not going to go in their direction. Yeah, I know. I mean, that's something I'd have to, you know, go over one team. It's something that. You guys haven't talked about that. There is. That game plan.

How are you going to attack them? Yeah, I think they're just a little nervous. I mean, the thing that stinks is, I think they put too much pressure on, you know, what people are going to think, and I don't know what. Who's they? The UFC? Yeah. Okay. And, and stuff like that.

Because, I mean, they always say, like, oh, well, people are like, what if you get knocked out? It's like, well, I'm fighting, you know? Yeah. I mean, it happens to people all the time. I know what I'm doing. I'm a pretty smart guy, you know? I graduated college. I always got good grades.

You know, it's just, I decided that I love to fight. and it just so happens that I'm good at it. So it could happen to anyone, you know, but also the other thing is that I can also beat these guys too. So I think that I'm not invincible, but I've proven that I'm more than capable, and it's just about who's willing to take the chance and who recognizes the talent and who's interested, you know.

You know, I spoke to Keith Kaiser, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, I spoke to him about you, said very good things about you, said he would have no problem giving you a license to fight in his state of Nevada. And it was interesting because you told us about, you know, when you tried out for the ultimate fighter, you even put out your little card. And Dana, when we asked him about you, it almost like he didn't,

I maybe wasn't telling us the truth about it, forgot about it. I don't know. What did you make of that? Because it seemed surprising that he would not give more. he obviously knows about you if you tried out and you got far in the process. So why do you think he was so guarded when he was asked about you? Yeah, I don't know. And at the tryouts, actually, in the grappling portion, I got into a crazy scramble

and I tapped the guy out with like a really mean like umplata. And since it was like the UFC tryouts, the guy didn't want to tap out. And it was like torched like really far. And everyone was like standing up. And it was like really so of course. So you were memorable. He was sitting right there. And besides like,

When a dude with one hand walks into a room full of alpha males, you know, everyone, it's like the elephant in the room. You know, everyone kind of pays attention. Yeah. Yeah. So he definitely knows who I am. It's just like, especially when you get people like TMZ, like you're out eating dinner or like you're hanging out with your friends or something. They run up and they're like, hey, how about this? And they ask you a question.

It kind of catches you off guard. Sure. He just kind of played dumb to the whole situation. and it's whatever, you know, I mean. But he said that in the media. I know TMZ has asked him about you, but also with the MMA media there, and I think it was around UFC 155 in December of last year.

So he could have said, and he chose to say whatever he wanted, but it was surprising because that was the first time I had ever heard him talk about you, and we didn't know about you trying out, so we just thought, all right, he just doesn't know. I mean, that's fair. There are a lot of fighters out there.

But then after you try, out. You had a great tryout. It was memorable. Keith Kaiser approved the view. It was interesting, I just thought. Yeah. It was curious. Yeah, it's kind of weird. That's whatever, you know. So where do you stand right now? And how long will we see you fight again? And how long will you announce where you're going? And how long will you sign? I have a lot of good offers. I should probably narrow it down and possibly sign this week. Really? Given a couple, a couple different circumstances and there's you know i just have to look everything over and just make sure that it's the right decision you know because they're all it's all like decently long-term things and and

and uh make sure that it's the best move for my career i try not to think with emotions and i try to be level-headed about everything i do and and uh you know i have a bunch of great offers so it's just about choosing the right great offer now when people offer you uh you know deals and they're obviously offering you money and things like that our opponent because I know that's a big deal for you to prove that you can beat the top-tier guys. So when someone offers you something, do they have to talk about, okay, in your debut, you will be fighting this kind of guy or this guy? Yeah, no specific names, but like type of opponents, level of opponents.

You know, I fight for more than just money. You know, money is very important because it's how I make a living and I want to set up a future for myself. I realize that you can't be a professional athlete forever. you know the window of opportunity is so short so i want to set myself up the best financially i could but besides that it goes on to me really wanting to test myself and and uh you know not necessarily to impress any critics of mine but to um you know really just prove something to myself and and uh i work so hard that i i want to i want it all you know if i'm gonna if i'm gonna fight and i'm gonna go and I'm going to lay it all, if I'm going to lay it all out on the line, I want all the credit.

You know, I mean, obviously, I didn't mean like that. Like, my team gets credit. Like, I want the attention. I like that, you know? I mean, a lot of people say, oh, I don't like it. Like, if you fight in front of a big crowd and, you know, all these fans cheering, you like attention. And I want the credibility that comes along with it of fighting these tough guys. And, you know, I want to be that guy.

and I'm willing to really dive in headfirst and really see if I sink or swim. You know, lately, and I know you follow the MMA News World, you're a big fan of the sport. Lately, Belator has received some negative press about the Eddie Alvarez situation. Does that make you think that this is not a place that you want to fight? No, not necessarily. I mean, I'm not a business. I'm not Bellator. You know, there's many ways that you can look at it from Bellator's perspective, from Eddie Alvarez's perspective.

You know, the guy doesn't want to fight for them. He wants to go to the UFC. You know, it sounds easy. Just let him go. He doesn't want to fight for you. This is going to be a long thing. But they invested years into him. They invested a lot of money.

They put a lot into building him. And he's like one of their biggest stars. So I could see as to why they want to keep him. So, you know, I don't really get into things. that I don't really understand, and I don't know everything that all the ends and out to that. So it's really hard to place judgment on something like that when you don't truly understand it. You know, I get the gist of it, but I don't really know all of it. See, I thought for sure they would assign you because they had you on M.M.A. on censored a couple times,

and, you know, Beltor is trying to create its own little thing, and they need all the, you know, they need to give people all the reasons in the world to watch their product and to build stars. and you're one of the few guys out there that is must-see TV, that's not in the UFC, that people know about it. I mean, how many casual fans can name two fighters on the XFC roster?

They could certainly name one, but can they name a second one? You know what I'm saying? I thought for sure they would sign you by now. It's surprising to me that they haven't. Tell me this. Is this the direction you're going in? They just seem to really like you over at Spike.

That's why I thought you would sign there by now. I mean, they got a great thing. You know, there's just, like I said, There's a lot of factors in everything in each decision, and it's about choosing the one that is his best for you moving forward. And I'm a huge fan of Bellator. You cool with the tournament if you had to go through all that. You're okay with that format?

Yeah, it's cool. I mean, I'm a fan of the tournament. I watch it every week, and, you know, I know all the fighters. I'm a huge M.A fan myself as well as being a fighter. Mike Chandler is a pretty good test, right? If you made it to the end of the tournament. Yeah, that's the ultimate test right there. I mean, it's not a pretty good one.

Right. You know, there would be certain things, like, especially the elbow rule. I have to elbow when I fight. I don't ask for any special rules except that, you know, if it was a tournament, I'd have to be able to elbow. Right. And stuff like that. And they don't use that in their tournaments. Yeah, but I mean, I'm sure they would change it.

You think they would? Yeah, I'm not sure. Just for one fighter, though? They probably have to do it for the whole one, you know? No, I understand that, but do you think they would change a rule? I don't know. You'd have to ask them. It's not something I really.

ever... But you would ask for that? Well, yeah, I'd have to. Otherwise, I wouldn't... I wouldn't hit with my left arm, and I don't... You know, I don't hit with the end of it or anything like that because that would actually hurt me. I just hit with the elbow, and there's nothing...

There's no special rules or anything like that, so it's like... So it would actually hurt you if you try to not use your elbow. Yeah, I mean, I'd just have to be like... Yeah. It would be as predictable. Right. So that's a very interesting. I didn't think of that, because I know for their non-tournament fights, they use the

Unified. Yeah, but for the tournaments, I guess because they don't want cuts, you know, because guys are coming back a month later and whatnot. You can understand where they're coming from, but for you, that would be a disadvantage. I didn't think of that. Wow. I'm probably the only person that has. Yeah.

Maybe we should scratch Beltor off the list. I'm trying to figure things out here, as you can see. I know you're good at getting the scoops. But you're not giving you're blocking me from getting the scoops. Yeah. Well, when I make up my mind, you'll be one of the first people in the home. Okay. That's cool.

There's actually no water in this and I'm still drinking it. You just keep drinking. Do you want some of my water? I mean, it would be a little weird because I drank from it if you're cool with that. It doesn't really bother me. Meaning that you do want the water. I'll take it, but I mean, it doesn't bother me whether I drink water or not. You can save it.

I know you got three hours coming up. That's true, I do. You know, I'll just... No, I'm happy to give you some. I'm just cool here before. I remember the wine glassy. Yes, earlier they gave you... It was very classy with your new haircut.

Tell us about this new haircut. It seems like you're a little... a little shy about it all. No, it's not a little shy. I'm just trying to be as stylish as possible. It's very stylish. A little, a little sort of part, a little comb over a little longer. Yeah. Trendsetter. Yeah, I got a little calic right here, so I got to grow it out a little bit. Yeah. What's a, what's a colic? Cowlick. Yeah. I'm not sure of that. I've never heard of that. What does that mean? Looks like it's like a little circle. No, it's good. I think you did that on purpose. Oh, no, this is natural. Oh, really? Yeah. That's just God-given ability. Talent.

Yeah, I just try to be as handsome and tough as possible. This is what happens when you hang out in Florida for a couple weeks. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, I'd say this is more Northeast style. Is it? Myself, yeah. Oh, okay. I kind of try to set up, set my own things, you know?

I try to dress, you know, like, dress up, you know? Try to be like Hawaiian. Did you wear this for me? Yeah, I did. I tried to fit in, you know? Your manager is here as well, Angela, also wearing plaid. Yeah, I was, uh... You guys are trying to sort of butter me up.

That wasn't planned, yeah, but it's like the new, the new style. Is it? It's almost like, it's almost so passe that it's new again. Yeah. You know what I mean? But I'm sticking with it. Yeah, let's keep it. Let's stay stylish.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. How's ATT? How do you like it over there? Very good. Yeah? They're one of, you know, if not the best team in the world, you know. And they got a lot of guys around my weight. And there's no secret. there everyone's trying to help everyone and they they welcome you right in and uh you know i got a lot of

good friends down there and and between uh working with them and and working with everyone i i work up up here you know uh so you kind of split time yeah uh you know uh fighting arts academy has uh always been my my main camp and uh my head coach jeremy levashevsky he's like he's like he's the boss right there he He calls all the shots for me and everything I do and has really started me from the bottom and still with me today. And he, the guy's like a genius, you know, and then I go to ATT and I get all these looks. And then I have a bunch of places that I train around Connecticut too. And, you know, it's great, man. I have so many good, knowledgeable people helping me.

One of the best things about MMA is you can pick your own. team and if you're with one that isn't isn't good or whatever you can move and I just have had been lucky enough to always surround myself with great teachers and great people and and it's allowed me to my game to evolve in a very short period of time. It's interesting you say that given your situation get to pick your team and whatnot is very nice little connection to what you're dealing with right now you know what I'm saying you're not happy with the team so you can pick a new team I guess so. I mean, I was happy with the XFC.

It's just about what I think is the best move moving forward. And I said that probably about 18 times this whole area. It's just, you know. Two last quick things before I let you go, and I appreciate you coming in. It's been great having you here. What's up with your boy, Kurt Hawkins? This was your college roommate, right?

Yeah. He's in the WWU now, and they don't really give him much love. What's up with that? You talk to him? Is he frustrated? No, I mean, he loves the lifestyle, you know, being in the WWE, and he's a huge pro wrestling fan as well as a great wrestler. You know, I think as far as it comes to talent in the ring, he's pretty good. And, I mean, he's not pretty good.

He's really good. He's one of the best around. And, you know, he just needs his push. and I think he's got a good thing going. He's got a good, a good thing, you know, set of moves. And he's good on the mic if they give him an opportunity. He just needs to get the push. And I'm sure he can get it one day, you know.

But for right now, I mean, it's good that he can live his dream and the biggest wrestling organization in the world. And a lot of people can even come close to sniffing that. And, you know, he's a great guy. And I think there's a big thing for him. to come in the future. All right. So at this point, give us the, the prediction from you. When will we see you fight again? Because as I said, it's must-see TV when you fight. When will you fight again? This summer. This summer? Yeah. I think the summer ends September 21st or August, does it? I'm going to get one in

before the summer. Before Labor Day? I don't know when the summer actually ends. The only thing I know about labor, I... Like first week of September? Is for, yeah, I mean. Do you think before that is fair? Yeah. Really? That's what I'm gunning for.

Wow. I like it. I want to get in there fast and I want to stay active. Do some work. Yeah, collect some. And we'll be able to see it. Check some names off the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I'll really test myself. And it will be, hopefully, for a promotion, we can watch this, right? This will be, because I know you. Yeah, it will be on TV. It will be on TV. All right. And you think this week you'll announce something? I should.

I should be. Will you let us know first? You'll be, I'll call you. Before I even call them, I'll have you on a secret. I'll have you on like a secret hotline and you can, you'll be, you'll know before even they know. Awesome. Yeah.

That's all I ask. I don't think it's much. We hook each other up. Yeah. Bring you on the show. You give me the scoop. Yeah. You know, my name's Nick.

Your name's Nick. Close enough. Yeah, that's great. So I'm cool with that. Perfect. Now I feel a great connection to you. Yeah. This is awesome.

I appreciate you coming by. Really, it was great. And I know it was kind of a. under tough circumstances on Friday. You seem to be in a great place now. This is a great situation for you. I think it's safe to say. There was a major silver lining in all of this madness.

So I'm happy to hear that you are doing well. And I'm very curious to see who you sign with. I think this is one of the more interesting free agent stories in recent MMA, I don't say history, but in the last year or so, because I really think that you can help an organization get some eyeballs. Yeah. And it's good to know that I'm, I didn't know. was as cool as I was until this Friday.

You're pretty damn cool. You're pretty damn cool. Congratulations on that. It's good to be one of. There is. Nick Newell, you can follow him on Twitter.com slash notorious Newell. One of the top rising stars in the world of mixed martial arts, a 155 pounder, and he's a free agent. So if you're a promoter right now, you want to get on the Nick Newell bandwagon, give this man a call or his manager or hit him up on Twitter because this man is about to blow up. He is Nick Newell. Thank you very much, Nick. I usually answer back, too. Yeah, you do. I tweet a lot.

Yeah. He does tweet a lot. To even celebrities like CM Punk. Yeah, the Instagrams. I do that too. Wow. The whole Facebook thing. There's many ways to contact you.

I'm not on Pinterest. You're not on Pinterest. That's good. It's more for women. I'm learning how to cook, though, so I might maybe one day have one of those. So if I get one of those, you guys will know. He's got a new haircut and he can cook as well. He's a real cat.

No, no, no. It's a work in progress. Okay. Well, he's a catch in progress, my friends. There he is. In a few minutes, we'll be joined by Luke Rockhold all the way from Brazil. Rockhold, Belford. Who you got in a second? We won't tell him. Rockold. All right, there he is. Luke Rockhold will be joining us from Brazil in a few minutes. Until then, we'll take a quick break. We'll reset. Here's a preview of UFC 160, courtesy of the UFC. That goes down on May 25th in Las Vegas. Bigfoot Silva, Kane Velasquez in less than two weeks time. This is the preview. We'll be back.

you're watching the MMA hour on MMAfighting.com. Back on the MMA hour, Ariel Halwani here in New York City, Monday, May 13th. Thank you so much to Nick Newell for stopping by. So what do you think? It sounds to me like it's down to two or so organizations. And obviously when you talk about the non-UFC options out there, you have your bell tours and you have your World Series of Fightings. And I know for a fact that World Series of Fighting is interested in Nick Newell.

and with very good reason. Like I said, he's one of the few non-UFC fighters out there who is must-see TV, who you do have to make an appointment to watch. And I think it would make a lot of sense for a World Series of fighting to sign him. And I think it would make a lot of sense for a bell to sign him.

And clearly, the folks that Spike like him because he was on their show, Man, censored live, a couple of times. Remember Craig Carton hailing him as the the fighter of the year in a very bizarre segment where he didn't really say anything. It was very strange. But still, he was their fighter of the year.

So good luck to Nick. We appreciate him stopping by. And in a couple of minutes, we're trying to track down Luke Rockhold. He is in Brazil. He faces Vitor Belford on Saturday night. And one of the sort of unfortunate things about this fight is that it's become almost, you know,

one of the big storylines of this fight has become. I'm Vitor Belfort on TRT. You saw him last week talking about that on our show. And I just think it's kind of reached this point where it's become one of the main narratives, one of the main storylines going into this fight. And that's unfortunate. And I think Luke has really handled it very well. I think he has said all the right things. And I think he has come out. Really, he has come out of his shelf from a guy who, you know, wasn't used to getting this kind of of media attention in Strike Force. Even as the Strike Force middleweight champion,

I think he's handled the promotion for this fight, and he's handled those tough questions, questions that you don't necessarily have to answer going into your UFC debut or any fight for that matter. It's some pretty heavy-duty stuff. And he's made me want to watch this fight even more because his approach is much different than someone like Michael Bisping. They may be both saying,

the same thing, but he has a different delivery, kind of a more quiet, reserved guy, and when he says something, it tends to sting more, in my opinion. Michael Bisping is lethal with his words, but we know he goes that route. We know he's very passionate. We know he likes to push buttons. Luke isn't known to be one of those guys, so when he does go that route, I think it's all that more effective. I'm looking forward to it.

in an interesting way is of all the strike force champions who have come over to the UFC, including Daniel Cormier, who was kind of the unofficial Strike Force heavyweight champion, he has received the least amount of fanfare because I think he was missing that signature moment. I think he was missing that major win, that big win that put him on the map in Strike Force. And, you know, you look at someone like Ronda, she had her Misha Tate fight, which certainly helped put her in Women's M. May on the map. You look at Gilbert Melendez. He had those Josh Thompson fights, that trilogy. Obviously, Nick Diaz was who he was over in Strike Force. And you look at someone like Daniel Cormier.

The light heavyweight division was pretty vacant for a while there. So, you know, of course, with Dan Henderson leaving and whatnot. So to me, Rockhold, as talented as all of those guys, but just didn't have that big moment, didn't get that big push. Fought Jardine, fought Tim Kennedy as champion, just never got that major spotlight on him. Now here he is coming into the UFC, fighting in the main event. Doesn't have that major win under his belt,

but of all the prospects coming over from the UFC, he could be, honestly, he could be the guy who ends up being a champion. He's that good. If you've never seen Luke Rockhold fight, a guy who has battled injuries throughout his young career, but seems to finally be healthy now as he's reaching his stride. Very, very interested to see how he does in his UFC debut. And if he wins this fight, in particular,

I have a hard time not making him the number one contender at 185. Strike Force champion beats Vitor Belfort. Anderson's fighting in two months. Less than two months. Less than two months. How is he not the number one contender at 185? Do we have any update on Mr.S. to Rockhold? Okay. What are you eating over there? Oh, very nice. All right, so they're eating salads back

there and they say that they're trying to get them. By the way, during this little hiatus, as you know, we have moved to a new studio. We've got a new set. It's all very nice. Notice the TV's a little small. I told you things would change from one week to the next. Notice the TV, all that stuff. It's just, it all works. But how about the corner of the desk right over there? Donated to the MMA hour by my good friend George Bullis sent us the Bob Sapp CD. That is it. Do we have some Bob Sap music in the bank?

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Are you kidding me? Seattle is my hometown. This might be the greatest edition. to the MMA hour table. Not just the MMAR table, the MMAR set. The Bob Saps CD, we actually have this in our possession now.

George Bullis, a saint, sent New York, Rick, a message saying, you guys deserve to have this. This belongs in one place only on your desk. And there it is. Sap time, baby. I feel so much more manly just being here. Here's the thing about what's happening right now with Luke. unless we don't get him in a minute or so,

we may have to push him to the 340 spot. I don't know if that's an option, but I don't really want to do a four-minute interview with him, and we may have to push everyone back, which causes a major ripple effect. So is that possible at this time? Or is it too late? Okay.

Okay. My good friends at FightMetrick telling me that Luke Rockhold is tied for the most finishes in Strike Force history, with Kung Lee. He's also tied for the most submissions in Strike Force history with Tim Kennedy. So there you have it. He had a great career. I'm not denying that. Just never had that big signature win, that big moment. We talked about Bellator's situation, and it was interesting because on the MMA beat, by the way, how about the return of the MMA beat? I hope you catched it. It was, or caught it, I should say, on Friday.

It is back and we'll be doing another one this week, so that's very exciting. I know a lot of you were missing the beat. We hadn't done one in three months. I didn't realize it was that long. On the show, I asked, don't you think it's time for someone, Beltor Viacom, to respond to everything that Eddie Alvarez is saying?

It seems like we're getting only one side of the story here. and the rest of the panel they were saying to me, well, that's smart. Anyone with a good lawyer would do that. And then how about it, 12 hours later, maybe a little more, we finally see the real Bjorn Rebony. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it finally felt that we were, you know, Bjorn did a very good interview with Luke Thomas. You can read it on M.M.A.fighting.com. And for the first time, it felt like Bjorn is telling us how he feels.

and it was riveting. It finally felt like he wasn't so prepared, so packaged, reading from a press release, something like that. It was really how he felt. He was shooting from the hip. He was emotional. None of this is bad. It was a breath of fresh air when it comes to a Bjorn interview.

And I think it was smart to come out and tell your side of the story, because in the court of public opinion, The fighter, particularly when he's the only one talking, well then everyone's going to side with him. He looks sympathetic. We have an update on Luke Rockhold. Mr. Rick? Eric?

Yep, I'm here. What's the update? On Rockold? Yeah. We're going to push back to the end of the show. And he's okay with that? Yes. Was it a Skype connection situation?

It was an issue where he couldn't connect. and then the phone line was kind of spotty. So he's going to work on that, and then we'll be able to connect at the later time. He knows that he's one hour ahead, right? I told him the time. I told him how long from now, not the time. Using the old noggin.

That's smart. Yeah. So you can go up, you can go ahead and get Mr. Barnett then. Roger that. Josh Barnett joining us in a matter of moments. But back to Bjorn. read the interview, look at his past interviews, and tell me there wasn't a difference there. It felt like he had just all of a sudden exploded. And again, these may be negative terms.

They may have negative connotations, but it just felt like, wow, Bjorn, this is a different guy? And I don't think it's negative. I think that's a positive. It's refreshing. And I'm curious to see how this whole thing plays out at this point because it's become a bit of a... I mean, Eddie admitted it on our show. He is... He's got horrible timing in some sense. And he's got good timing in other sense because his good timing is, all right, he hit the free agent market at this stage in his career on a winning streak, well-known,

with some big signature wins under his belt, Avenged the loss of Shinyaoki. He's got bad time, timing because Belator, Spike, UFC Fox, are involved in this little brouhaha right now. And he's the guy. He's the guy in the middle of it. Not Hector Lombard, which is somewhat surprising now, considering how much this thing has escalated. That may say something about what Belator really thought of Hector Lombard, but he was their champion. So he creates a major hole if he would have left and he did leave. Eddie Alvarez isn't even their champion. They have the guy that beat Eddie Alvarez, yet they're still fighting so hard to keep him.

They don't want Eddie to go over to the UFC. They believe they match his contract. You read that article, that does not sound like the Bjorn Rebony that we've been hearing from for the last couple years. Very interesting to see. how that plays out. And that kind of leads us to Josh Barnett. Because it was reported by us a few months back after Josh Barnett fulfilled his contract with Forza, a.k.a. Strikeforce. He beat the very intimidating Nandor Galmino. And that was it. His contract was up. And everyone wanted to know where he would go next.

deal couldn't be reached with UFC. We thought maybe he'd go to Belator, but here we are. Five months later, no, four months later, from January, January 12th, his last fight, and he doesn't have a home. So we have invited Mr. Josh Barnett to our show to tell us where's his home? And there he is. And Josh, I got a bone to pick with you right off the bat. I am not an American punk.

I am a Canadian punk. punk. How dare you? Well, my mistake. My mistake. Punk all around, I hate Denzel Canada. Yeah. After everything we've been through. And by the way, I don't know if you can see our new studio. Nope. No, you can't. But you should... I don't know why. It's probably a glitch on your end.

Well, we don't have a camera set up here. We've moved recently. But right in back of me is this picture of you and I in our pro wrestling days. You as the angry Russian, me as the dirty Jew. What a picture that is, right? Yes, a team that raised terror all up and down the eastern seaboard. We really create a big business for all the promotions. It was good about us. We came, we saw, we did some business, and then we moved on to the next territory,

kind of like the old days. That's right, man. We were not the kind of people that could be held in one place. What we had to give, we had to bring all around to every ring available, every fan, every kid in the front row needed to have, I don't know, a dollar snatched out of his hand or his face pounced by a Russian, you know. So I just felt that that was the sort of thing that we had to give, we had to offer, and to bottle it up into one spot, but just, we just never do.

It would be a real disservice to the fans. I mean, how many old ladies would be out there in Memphis, Tennessee, that aren't getting their drinks slapped out of their hand. No, I know. I know. 100%. And I think what we really were, we were throwbacks. We were throwbacks at the time when managers really had a place in this business.

Now, they don't have a place. I don't even know what to do when my manager shows up and he doesn't have a bag of gold in his hand. That's true. I feel like, I don't know if this guy really knows his job, if he even takes it seriously. Speaking of taking things seriously, we're very serious about your career. So incredibly serious. We want to know where Josh Barnett is going to fight because we just had Nick Neum, in studio, and I called them one of the hottest

free agents in MMA. You are in that discussion as well. It's a top five you're both in there. What's going on? You last fought in January. It appeared as though the UFC deal was not going to happen, and then we were kind of sort of secretly waiting for you to sign with Beltor. Here we are. It's May

and you have signed with no one, unless you have something to tell us. Well, for one, clearly, I am a cock tease. Two, I know that after my last fight, although this wasn't necessarily the biggest reason, you know, contracts are contracts and business is business. I know me as a fighter was I was in still, I had to recuperate from that last fight, not from the fight itself, but from all the crap leading into it. And that flu just start decimating people left and right.

I mean, I remember being in Oklahoma and seeing front page news on it saying they're kind of, close to calling in an epidemic. So between that and the whism teeth, distractions and all this crap, so it was good to get some downtime. But at the moment, my home is just my home as you see it right now, incredibly bright behind me. Yeah. Yeah. No, but I mean, how come you have in time with anyone? Well, just I think the right, opportunity, like the right deal just hasn't really put itself together. There have been a lot of good pieces, and these promotions have a lot to offer in terms of competition and promotional value and opportunity to show the fights on a large audience.

And, you know, the fighting part of it, I'm game for all of it, man. I think it would be a blast no matter where. But, you know, you just can't do, you can't just run out and just start punching people just without thinking about the business aspects of it. And at the moment between me and my manager, it's just the right scenario had not presented itself yet. Are you worried that there isn't a home for Josh Barnett? Oh, well, you know, I'm a lone wolf no matter what. So is there a home for me?

I'll probably just, you know, tear it up, leave it in shambles anyways. I saw yesterday that you tweeted, you know, I'm going to be on Ariel's show, ask any question you want, and someone said to you about, you know, what about the UFC? Why don't you go to the UFC? And you retweeted saying essentially that if the fans want it, you'll do it. That made me think that this deal may be alive again. Because if the fans want a lot of things, you can't do it. But if the fans want it, you'll do it. That made me think that you're open to the UFC or the UFC's open to you.

What's the state of the relationship right now? Well, look here, Erie Rhelewani. You want to be Gene Mean, I understand. You know, I don't come here, talk about deals. I just want to talk about the fights. You're already excited. You know, these American punks, they always talk about the Warmaster. Vaz the UFC champion.

Vaz the World Champion. I tell you, I tell you about the Warmaster. I come from old country, old school, Seattle, Washington. And the old country says, more one gets older, more get better. More Persian carpet get older, more get better. I'm ready, I am fit, I can go in there, crush anybody you put in front of me, make them humble, Kamokrude, break their back, show exactly the whole world. Who is real UFC champion?

Who is real world champion, Vormaster, right here? here? Thousand, thousand Seattle people know who is the strongest. Thousand, thousand people all over want to see my fight. I'm sold.

I'm sold. That's one of your best promos ever. You have that fire. I see it. Do you want to go to the UFC? Do you want to fight in the UFC next? I would love to fight in the UFC, not just because there's plenty

of people like, God, I can't even count the amount of times. heard people go, I want you to fight Frank Mear. Oh, we think Frank Mears is an amazing fight. Frank Mear would be the greatest fight for you ever. We think that would just blow the roof off the place. Like, okay, fine, fine. I've heard it enough. If you want me to go out there and fight Frank Meir, I'd love to. I would have loved to have fought Frank Meir every day of the week for my entire career. But, you know, just we haven't been in the right place to make it happen. And hell, when I was in the UFC, Frank Meir was, he wasn't on my radar. We weren't even

in the same league. Well, you know, I'd like to see to go prove that while things have changed in terms of our careers, there's been times he's been ranked above me. And, you know, whatever, rankings are rankings, but fine, everybody wants to see it so bad. Everybody wants to see what an amazing fight this will be. Oh, it's going to be amazing. But it's also going to be the kind of thing where, well, okay, I don't know why you ever thought any different in the way that this was going to turn out. because, you know, I've been a top 10 fighter for longer than I think anybody

that actually is active in mixed martial arts at this time. And there's a real good reason for that. And to be in the UFC would mean that I would go back to where I already won the belt, go back to where I was a champion at 24 years old, and try to cement my legacy as an MMA fighter. And I don't really feel that I can create that legacy and finish on a high, unless I'm there. So there is a very strong, strong draw for me to fight for the UFC, not just for my personal

pleasure, the pleasure of me smashing all these dudes' faces in who everyone thinks are so fantastically awesome for whatever reason. And then just the fans. I've had friends walking in Target in L.A. just going about their business, just hanging out, chatting about, oh, I wonder if if UFC is going to sign, if Barnett's going to sign with the UFC. And I swear to you, some complete stranger just walks right up to them and goes, better fucking do it, man.

I don't want to see him in there. And then just steps off. I mean, that's the kind of crazy shit that goes down. And when it comes down to me and the UFC, and I think when you have such an intense relationship as that, an intense correlation between me and the UFC, working together, being together, whatever. You know what?

I'm a pretty hot bitch, and UFC would be glad to have me on their arm. It seemed like you were very close after Strike Force was absorbed by the UFC, and then it came out that there was just one thing that you couldn't come to terms where then Eddie Alvarez's name was brought up and whatnot. Why, in your words, because we haven't talked to you about this, why couldn't that deal be made? I would love to say because it's a very, very simple thing in my mind. But, you know, out of respect for the negotiation process and the business of dealing with fighters,

I don't want to make the UFC look like bad guys or throw them under the bus. But I can say that I think it was a sticking point for me, and I really felt that, well, okay, I know this is something that you're doing for other fighters, and I'm not just another fighter. even just the return of me setting foot in a UFC ring is going to be big business. And, you know, I might have this manager slinging gold coins and swinging a cane at people. That's also big business. Yeah, I agree. I mean, they're going to start.

I think if we get you down the ramp like that, doing your whole stick and your gimmick, I think that, like Shalavet schools, will start teaching this as an opportunity for you to expand upon the Jewish faith, yeah. So is that sticking point done? Do you want to get into the UFC so glad at this point that you're going to drop that sticking point? Well, we'll see how it goes. I really still feel like there is a common ground for us that exists.

And part of it, I think, is also the fans. You know, if the fans are really that amped about me being there, which I believe they are, the more that they talk about it, the more they put it out there, the more the more the UFC will understand my value, but also they've had some good fights heavyweight-wise, as of recent, some, but they don't have the fights

like me and Cormier or me and some, you know, no Gera before. I mean, they just don't have, they have talent, but they don't have me. Let me just put it that way. And, you know, it's not even just about whether I'm going to go out there and beat these guys up, because I am. It's also

about the fact of people want to see great fights. People want to see people with personality. People want to see something that makes them get out of their chair, whether it's to give me the middle finger or to throw up the horns in celebration. Either way, I can do both. And they're lacking that X factor. And as much as I can enjoy watching MMA, a big card full of UFC heavyweights,

most of the time I just read the play-by-plays because I don't really need to see how the fight's going to turn out. or to sit through the whole thing because I'm not going to be shown anything. You know, at first a lot of people thought that the sticking point, if you will, was that you wanted to do pro wrestling. But now that you say a lot of other fighters get this, it makes me think it's pay-per-view points. Was that the issue?

Well, it wasn't wrestling. I'll say that much. And I'm not, I don't really, like I said, I'm not here to throw anybody under the bus or anything like that. But, you know, when it comes to negotiating, It's two parties come to a table. One party decides what they're willing to afford for something, and the other party decides what they think their product is worth.

And there's just a process until somebody, until they can meet in the beginning or in the middle. But when they can meet in the middle, and everybody can be happy about it. And that's the most simple, straightforward way to describe how it all goes. You know, doing, negotiating for a fighter is really, in theory, not that much different from negotiating to buying a car. Is your team right now negotiating with the UFC? I believe my manager is talking with everybody that could be a potential suitor for my services. And I actually do have a couple offers on the table for things in the future here.

But I would say that the UFC would be the, most attractive place to ply my wares. So at least there was a time where it seemed dead, it's not 100% dead now. There is still some hope that Josh Barnett will fight again in the UFC. Because for a moment...

Negotiations never die. Much like pride, right? Yeah, pride never die, yes. Wow. And what... He keeps putting up... He keeps putting up old celluloid pictures. Who's this? What's never...

Film never die. Brian Loco? Oh, never heard of him. Okay, we'll check him out. He's actually a really talented photographer and a really good guy. I'm kidding. He's a great guy. Oh, you're such a heel. That's why I love him. Josh, how close were you to signing with Bellator? Probably not as close to signing with UFC.

Really? Really? Wow, because it seemed like when the UFC deal was dead, a lot of the talk was you were going to sign with Belator. Is that deal dead? You and Belator? I say as it sits, that's a fair assumption. You know, hey, things change constantly.

And I think it's just easy to assume that, oh, well, if you don't sign with one, then you have to sign with the other. Right. And there really isn't too much. Well, somewhat of your stature we would think would sign with a big organization like that. I do have a lot of stature. Yeah. It takes a lot to bring that stature around and then to keep it, you know, a good platform underneath it.

all that stature I've been gaining over all these years. Can I tell you how I digest all this my takeaway from our 10 or so minute conversation? If Josh Barnett had his brothers, if Josh Barnett had his way, if you had your dream scenario come to life, it would be a return to the UFC and in your first fight it would be against Frank Mir. You mentioned him, I didn't. That's what you want. Accurate? Exactly, Gene Mean.

Well, it's just, you know, for a long time also, I heard Arlovsky for years. years when he was in the UFC. And I would just be like, I don't know why people are so hung up, always the idea of me fighting this guy versus somebody else. And, you know, even when affliction was going and his name would come abroad, I'm like, yeah, fine, whatever. I mean, people keep bringing it up. So might as well go out and do it.

Whether it was actually made sense in some sort of ranking, whatever scenario, or not. It's just if people want it that bad, might as well go out and do it. it. And with Frank, it's been something, it's just the one fight everybody always brings to me. And I think part of that stems from us being American submission guys and being big dudes and having the fights between Nogara and me and me and Nogara. And there's like some commonality between opponents. And I can understand why fans look at it in that way. And honestly, Yeah, Frank's been around a long time. I would have absolutely no issue fighting him in any way, shape, or form.

And I think it would be something that would get people excited. But I'll be honest, if I'm just being humble anyways, I think I get people excited anyways. At least half shot. I agree. I agree. Not a minimum. What do you think of his performance against Cormier, a man, you know very well? Well, he wasn't able to execute at all, really.

his middle kick looked pretty decent. He's still moving all right, athletically, but he just didn't really, besides being able to try and strive, once he got pinned up against the fence, it's like he had no other solutions. It was like, okay, well, this is some part of my game that I can't execute right now,

so I'm just going to have to deal with this until something else changes. And that's not the way you got to be prepared for anything, and you've got to have an answer. an antidote to whatever somebody's throwing out there. And to be put into one one facet of the game and then just shut down, that's, in my opinion, it's also a lot to do with Cormey because he's a badass fighter. He's a great Olympic athlete.

But Frank, he's been in the game longer. He should have more skills. He should have been, he should have more tools in his toolbox to use. do I think the fight would have been any different? No, well, I mean, it would have been a different fight, but no, for me, it was going to win that fight. Style-wise, it was just not something that I felt that the Frank was going to be able to win.

It was somehow able to just plumb on to a submission somehow, but otherwise I just didn't see it happening. The other one that I think is very fun for you would be Roy Nelson. I think you versus Roy would be a fun fight. I mean, given what he's done as of late, where he is right now in his career, win over you would really, you know, give him that big, big win that he needs. And then a win for you over him would really establish you for the new UFC fan.

What do you think of a matchup against big country? That was a very polite way of putting it. What do you mean? A win over me for him would be the greatest thing he's ever done. Yes? The win over him for me, most people are probably going to be like, yeah, of course. No, I think you're both at a similar place right now in your careers. I mean, you did after all beat Nandorke, Lelman.

in your last fight. I think that Roy is a very tough guy who's got some dangerous weapons as a heavyweight. In fact, I would say that being a big, fat, like, tank of a dude has actually helped him out in more ways than hurt him. And to be smaller, I think would actually make him a worse fighter at heavyweight. He's got a big heavy base, big right hand, and he gets on top of people. he's able to get heavy control, and his submission game is pretty much gone. He doesn't really have that anymore.

I'm sure he obviously knows them, but that's done. He's not a very technical boxer. He's not a kickboxer, hardly of any sort. And he's a fair wrestler. So being, you know, that kind of like a lummits with, you know, a big punch is going to serve him more than to try and slim himself up and try to be a more active, skill-based, fighter, like, I just think that would actually put him on a big losing streak.

But Roy has been pecking away to be a recognized heavyweight, and I've been top of the world, and one of the best guys in the world, almost my entire career. People would like to see it just because he's a known commodity from the UFC, but, you know, the odds makers are not going to see it as necessarily an even match. And that's fine. I don't really care because odds and rankings don't have a lot to do with fighting. Fighting has everything to do with fighting. And, you know, whose knuckles imprint himself into whose face, that's what counts. And, you know, it's so funny because a long time ago, Roy was really buggered off about rankings and how I was ranked above him.

And all these other heavyweights as well, he was sort of going on some sort of Twitter rant, a twant, you'd call it. And he threw my name in there. there about who's he beating what's he done and I just remember getting like like actually adding me to the conversation and just going what why do you give this shit what anybody thinks about you and what you do and why why are you including me in this conversation because I really don't care and that was the last time I just remember like okay well I mean if you really think anybody that thinks they're better than me can always just come and find out that's true and I think a lot I mean, based on what I see from the fans on Twitter here,

a lot of people are very excited about the prospect. They think that the most interesting match for you are in the UFC. You mentioned Frank Mear. You mentioned Roy Nelson. I don't know if you know this. In six days, it is the one-year anniversary of your thrilling fight against one Daniel Cormier. And I believe Mr. Daniel Cormier is on the line right now. And I'd like to ask, Daniel, are you there, Daniel?

Yeah, I didn't want to interrupt Josh, but, you know, happy anniversary, Josh. Oh, you never interrupted me, Daniel. You are welcome to tag team with me at any moment. Daniel, you just had your moves. You have some less promos to cut? Come on. Come on, D.C. Well, okay, let me give you this opportunity, D.C. We have this guy named Josh Barnett here. He's kind of, you know, he's at the dance.

He's at the party. He's been to the party before, but he's kind of in the corner waiting for someone to ask him to dance. You're a guy who was just in the big dance, just a month ago, on Fox defeating Frank Meier. Tell this man what he's. need to do right now at this point in his career in order to get over to the UFC and cement his legacy as he said he wants to do because he's kind of playing footsie with us but we know what he wants.

Josh? Yes. Come on over, bud. We need, the party can't. I've been ready to, Josh. The party cannot start without you, Josh Barnett. Listen, listen, this is a sweet 16, but we're ready to turn it to the prom. Come on over, Josh.

We're all going to graduate. Absolutely. Are you asking me out? To dance? Are you asking me to, like, you're going to show me some, some moves again after, I mean, we've already danced before, literally and figuratively. Yes, literally, we've danced in the cage. But listen, Josh, I have a day, I had a dance partner a couple weeks ago. I think you guys should have fun. You should have fun with them now, maybe. Huh? What do you think? Frank Mear. You and Frank Mear. I think that would be great. I think we could go out there. We could waltz a little. bit, Fox Trot, you know, I'll break it down, show them a tootsie roll. Yeah, we'll get it good. Hey, Daniel. I'm not sure you guys, I'm not sure you guys would have as much fun as we did in Columbus, though, but in the case, I think you would make, it'll be a good one. Honestly, yeah, I don't

think so. It would be hard to top that. I'll go right on record and saying that, you know, if I'm ever to pick anybody off the wall to bring onto the, onto the wood floors, it's always going to be you, D.C. Wow. That's, hey, Ariel, listen to this. Yes. Josh Pornett had a great timing. I was getting ready to fight Frank. And, you know, you deal with the nerves of the competition and everything. Right before I step on the bus, I get a call from one, Josh L. Barnett, telling me this guy has nothing for me. Go out and do what you do. Wow. Yeah. What a class act. Oh, yeah. Well, you know, it's not all about always death and destruction and menace and whatever. I mean, I think that get in the cage is one of the ways that you can

really find out who someone really is. And Daniel Cormier is one of those people that what you see when he fights, what you see out of the ring, there is no difference from that. He's not a BS guy. He's not insincere. And if you get under his bad side, then for one, I know you already screwed up. You must have brought it on to yourself because, you know, he goes out there to compete. He's a tough fighter and he's a straight up true guy.

So, you know, people like that always have my back. Whether I'm fighting him, fighting with them, you know, alongside him, doesn't really matter. Hey, Daniel. Thank you, Josh. That was very nice. Daniel, and one more thing, Josh, and then we'll let you go. Daniel, you've been in the cage with both Frank and Josh now.

Who do you think wins that fight? And don't just say, Josh, because he's here. Tell us what you really think. No, listen, if you go back to the buildup, I told you, and I told everyone, I expected a fight that wasn't as tough. I don't know when I'm going to fight a tougher fights, and I had on May 19, 2012. I don't know when I'm going to experience anything tougher.

and after being in the cage with both of them, you know, I could, after I fought, the day after I fought Frank, I was at the beach with my family, and the day after I fought Josh, I had stitches in my face, my leg was all bruised up and I was laying down. So I think that tells you the difference. You know, it took me a little bit to recover. I took a lot of damage, and as I said time and time again,

you know, I grew up in the cage at night, and I think that made the Frank Mare fight easier because I was so well prepared after that one. Josh, final thing for you, and we do appreciate the time. It's been great talking to you. When will we find out what's next for you? I'd love to find out.

I'd love to have something for you guys, fight-wise, sometime soon. You know, I'm doing a lot of different things. Other than that, you know, in terms of, like, working with drift racing champion, Dio Shihara, or, you know, working on some of my acting gigs and, you know, potentially professional wrestling here and there.

And, you know, I mean, I'm keeping busy, but when it comes to fighting, I want to give you guys something solid as soon as possible, and I'd like to set up that date, the return for me to walk through those hallways, to step into that cage and dismantle somebody, just like you guys have grown to love over these years and grab that mic and tell the world exactly how it is.

Awesome. Well, we look forward to it. Good luck to you. Good luck with the negotiations. Let us know. you do decide where you're going next. And I think it will be a big deal. I have a feeling it will be a big deal.

And hopefully the people have spoken here, and they'll speak on your behalf, and you can get what you want. And it sounds to me like that to return to the UFC. We appreciate it, Doug. I hope that would be a fantastic thing. And go to talk to you, D.C., man. Have fun with Ariel.

Don't let them mess with you too much. All right, Josh. Later, man. There he is. Josh Barnett. Thank you so much, Josh. We transition now to Daniel. Thanks for doing that, Daniel.

That was a lot of fun. You know, now you're the, It's funny, you're the guy after one fight, you're like the vet. And one of the reasons why I wanted to have you on the show today was your good pal. Luke Rockhold is about to make his UFC debut in less than a week against Vitor Belford in Brazil. And you talked openly after your fight about how the oxgon jitters got to you. What did you tell Luke before he went out to Brazil about not succumbing to those jitters and just being yourself out there? I told him that, you know, just expect a little different.

The nerves and everything surrounding the fight, you know, is going to get to you bored in the actual fight. I think once you're in the cage, you're going to fight, but it's everything else that happens outside of the cage that affects you. And it may affect you a little bit, you know, when you step in there because you use so much energy on media obligations. and, you know, the intensity of the way in, you know, the crowd and everything. You know, all this other stuff, it gets into your mind. You're ultra pumped up. I mean, you're in there warming up way before you should be warming up and just wasting this great energy that you need for the cage and conserve it, you know,

rain it in and just be ready to do what you do every time you step in the cage, Luke. I mean, Luke's a special talent, man. and I'm so happy people are going to finally get to witness it. And how was this camp for him? Because in the past, he has dealt with injuries. He's had some issues outside of the cage, if you will, that have stopped him from realizing his potential. It seems now that he has reached this level, that is all behind him. But as far as a guy who's in there every day with him, how would you assess this camp for Luke,

which is by far the biggest of his career? Well, it's been great. You know, Luke's a guy that trains unbelievably hard. A lot of our guys do, but when you watch Luke Rockhold train, man, you watch, like, Kane train, you watch those guys. They train just at a ridiculous level. Luke's never to sustain that. I mean, the other day, I watched him go five rounds with guys switching every two and a half minutes. Wow.

Now, that's, you know you're in shape when that's the, when you're doing that with some of the fighters that we have in here training with Luke. So he's a special talent, man. me ask you a question. You're asking me these questions about Luke. Did Luke stand you up? Are you just another one, Helwani? Are you another one like you, are you on the Luke Rockhold stand-up list? Why? Is he a heartbreaker? Has he been known to do that? Does he not look like the guy that breaks hearts? He does. He's a good-looking guy. Hey, Helwani, did he break, did he break you? Well, here's, apparently there were some kind of connection issues with his Skype over there in Brazil.

and actually in the middle of our Barnett interview he tried to call in via Skype, he tried to crash that interview, being the sort of spotlight hog that he is, but we've rescheduled him for 3.40 p.m. Eastern Time. So, you know, we have a rule in our show. If you stand us up, you actually get banned.

I don't want to do that to Luke, so we're giving him a spot at the end of the show to make it good. Why, did he tell you? Did he tell you he was going to stand? No, no, no, he was trying to call. I'm just giving you a hard time. Like, doesn't he look like the guy that you say, Hey, you could imagine his high school girlfriend just kind of waiting for him, and Luke's playing video games with his buddies or something.

I mean, the guy walks around with a picture of himself on his shoes, for God's sake. Oh, my goodness. He told me the other day, he goes, can you imagine how pretty I'm going to be after this fight? I go, why? He goes, every time I win, I get prettier. What? He told me that. You really said that with the straight face?

Yeah, he was kidding. No, you know, we give him a hard time, you know. He's the pretty boy of the bunch. Oh, yeah. He's the pretty boy of the bunch at the gym. You know, we always give him a hard time about it. You know what I mean? Why aren't you in Brazil? Well, I have to work this weekend with Fuel TV, so I did, I do the Wands in the post-fight show,

so I wasn't able to go with him this time, which kind of sucks, but, you know, I have these opportunities that I have to take. You know, I can't really miss them. How do you like that? You co-hosted UFC tonight a couple weeks back when Chea was busy. I thought you did a great job. How do you like being the analyst guy? Because in our sport, it's very different. In other sports, you're usually doing that once you retire.

Here you are, a new kid on the block in the UFC, and you have to analyze fights, break him down, get predictions about your new colleagues. Yeah, I'm loving it, man. I mean, you know, the great thing about it is that I'm able to be a fan of the sport and actually speak on it. You know, there are so many people that I get into these conversations on Twitter and Facebook with people, and everybody has an opinion of the fight.

You know, it's just great to be able to do it on such a big level, you know, where I'm prepared for hopefully a career after fighting. So I enjoy it, man. And, you know, my girlfriend, she hates when I watch fights all the time. She's like, all you do is watch fights. All you do is watch fights. But if I have a job, hey, I can go through those USC DVDs and watch every fight back to back to back and not get bothered because I'm working. That's true. She can't get mad.

You're putting food on the table. Exactly. I love it. I'm like, hey, I have to watch these. because I'm working, but then she, little did she know I'll sneak in an extra fight every now and again. I'll go in like the UFC app and buy a fight, and she goes, wait a minute, Kane's not fighting this weekend. I'm like, I don't know. They put that on the tape for some reason. I don't understand. I'll get to Kane in a second, but what's going on with you? Because it seemed like, okay, you call out Roy Nelson,

and then Roy Nelson's manager, Mike Hogan tells me, oh, we're not really interested in this fight. It doesn't make much sense because he's kind of in between 205 and heavyweight. Then Roy says, don't listen to Mike, come to me, I want this fight. Then Roy says, no, this fight only makes sense at 205. So what is going on between you and Roy Nelson right now? I mean, I have no idea. You know, like, Roy, I don't know. Like, I really don't know what the deal is with the whole 205 thing. I think he was kind of being hypothetical.

Like, well, if he's going down and he's going to get a championship fight, why shouldn't I have the same option? I think that was more of what a statement meant. I'm not exactly sure. I said that because I was led to believe that Dana said that that was a fight he wanted to see. So I was like, yeah, let's do it. I can fight lighter on my way down. Listen, my goal is to be the UFC champion.

That has to happen at 205 right now. So instead of sitting on the shelf for six, eight months trying to get my weight down, why not let me fight? I want to fight. heavyweight is anything over 206 pounds so even if I wait 10 I could fight heavyweight but I just want to fight lighter and fight a heavyweight fight

or if one of the bigger 205-pound guys would want to fight up that's fine too whatever so when you say lighter what are we talking 220 my thing is this if I can go into the next fight around 223-220

that would be the weight I would be at even if I weighed in at 205 pounds the night before. Very true. So in essence, I would get a fight at my natural weight before ever going all the way down to 205. So my first 205-pound fight wouldn't necessarily be my first 205-pound fight because I would just be fighting at my natural body weight at the time.

But you don't have to make that cut, and that's a big part of it, right? Yeah, well, you see, people really believe that. The cut sucks. It's hard, and it's hard for that time that you're doing the final weight cut. But once you win in, I mean, you know, it's just rehydrating

and eating and it's doing whatever you want. You know, you kind of almost forget about it by time by time a competition starts, you know, every time I wrestle at 2-11, by the next day, I wasn't thinking about the weight cut anymore. I only thought about the weight cut whenever I was in the midst of the weight cut. By time it's done, it's done. You know, I mean, I think the biggest part

is shrinking your body to a place where you can make the cat successfully. And once you're there, if you're waking up at that weight, that's your natural weight. All you're doing is stressing your body in the time you make your final cutting, and that's it. And your health issues, as far as cutting weight well documented, you don't think that's going to be an issue again, right? Well, I mean, you know, I'm going to see. You know, I don't anticipate it because I don't plan on cutting a ton of weight off. You know, I plan on when I'm doing it, I plan on waking up in the morning at 220, 223. And, you know, and I plan on, and and every day after training being in the teens.

And then when it's time to lose the last bit of weight, lose the last bit of weight. But I tell you one thing, I'm not going to beat 225 and sucking 20 pounds of water off. No way. It's going to be a diet. It's going to be smart. It's going to be the right way.

So where do you stand right now as far as your next fight? Do you have any idea who will be against and when? I have no idea. You know, I kind of thought it was going to be Roy. Even though, you know, I, I in the future down in and then 205. And guess what? If 205 doesn't work out, I can just go back up to everywhere.

Sure. That's a, you know, so I was kind of thinking it was still going to be him, but I haven't heard anything. And, you know, I haven't heard anything, actually. But I know that the, I saw something on a Milwaukee or somewhere, Indiana. Somebody's getting a fight card in August. There's a ton of fight cards in August. They haven't announced anything for the Fox Sports One show, August 17th, in Boston.

Then you have, you have Indiana, August 28th, you have Milwaukee, August 31st. They got some slots to fill. So August sounds good for you. Well, yeah, that would be great. I would love to fight in August. I mean, ideally, I would love to fight in Boston. I think that's going to be great. A big fight on that card would be awesome.

If not, I'll fight anywhere. But like you said, they need... There's going to be fights and there's been none announced. So obviously I'm hoping to get one of those slots. You know, those are quite a few fights. I trust that the U.S. season will put me in the best fight, and we'll see what happens. If you don't get Roy, anyone else interest you? You know what?

The thing is, it doesn't even have to be Roy. Like, I don't care. Like, either way, you know, one way or the other. Like, I don't care. It was only, I only said Roy Nelson because I was led to believe on Twitter that Dana said that was the fight he wanted to see. So I was like, yeah, that sounds pretty good. do it. So I have no opinion of who I fight. It could be Roy. I don't care with it. You know, I'm not

going to even say anybody else's name because if you say someone else's name, it somehow turns into you call that person out. I never do that. I just said, yeah, that would be pretty cool of Roy and I fought, but I have no problem with Roy Nelson. I think he's great. But, so it doesn't matter. I have no opinion. I don't care. I mean, you know, just give me someone to fight. And speaking of Kane Velasquez, and we'll end with this, he, you know, he fights not this weekend next. It's a big week for, I guess, a big two-week stretch for the AK family. And he's fighting Bigfoot, and this is one of the stranger rematches in recent UFC history because he obliterated Bigfoot Silva just a year ago. I mean, it was a bloody mess. He finished him rather

quickly. Now he's defending his title that he won in December against him. How is Kane motivated for this fight again when he completely annihilated the guy? What kind of sense are you getting from him? Well, just thinking back about a real quick touch on our gym, uh, myself and Josh Thompson fought in April, uh, Rockhold's fight now. Yep.

And then next week, you know, we have, uh, Kane, Gray Maynard, and Kov been a big, month and a half for our gym,

and hopefully we can, uh, we can keep it going, but, uh, Kane doesn't really need motivation, man, you know,

he knows that he's fighting to support his family, you know, that he loves more than anything, loves his daughter, loves his wife and, you know, his family wants to support him. And his motivation is being a champion.

You know, some guys, you see it on them. You know, you see that. It's going to be hard to get that belt off of them because they love everything that being a champion brings. John Jones is that guy. You saw when Preeto was breaking his arm, John wasn't going to tap because everything that being a champion

means a ton to him. And that's how Kane is. So every day he gets in the gym, he works his butt off. He's working as hard as he did for Giulia de Los Santos. I mean, I don't envision this fight going any differently than the first fight. I think Kane's going to take him out pretty good.

But, you know, Bigfoot's put himself in a situation where he deserves his title shot. All right. We look forward to that. It's May 25th, UFC 160, as Daniel mentioned. This weekend, it's Luke Rockhold, one of the big stars coming out of AKA making his UFC debut against Vitor Belford. And if you want to hear more from D.C., Daniel Cormier, about this fight and the fights this weekend. He'll be on Fuel TV all weekend long. The Way and Show 3 p.m. Eastern on Friday, and then the fight card on.

Saturday night, one of the smartest men in the sport. I told him that many moons ago before he got into this TV business and he's running with it now. So thank you very much, Dan, for stopping by. Happy to hear you'll be on the fuel broadcast this weekend and looking forward to your fight. If you need me to move some mountains for you, let me know.

Well, the one mountain I need you to do is get off the Knicks bandwagon because you're jinxious. Are you kidding? You're jinxious. You're jinxious. Oh, my God. And I'm assuming you're driving the Golden State Warriors Banway. That's just an easy jump for you, living in the Bay Area.

You bought a Stefan Curry jersey three weeks ago, probably. This morning when you were about to Skype interview me, I had a Carmelo Anthony jersey hanging off on for one side of my shoulder with a Golden State jersey over the other side, the Miami Heat one going right down the front. The biggest bandwagon jumper I've ever met in my life, Daniel Cormier. I'm a front runner, dude. I'm sorry. Hey, at least you admit it.

At least you admit it. I respect that. All right, good. Thank you, Daniel. There he is. Daniel Cormier. I'll see you later, bro. Bye.

One of the best in the business, Daniel Cormier, just defeated Frank Mere. We appreciate him stopping by. Now, Daniel Cormier made a name for himself on Showtime, when, of course, Strikeforce was still around on Showtime and Showtime making some major moves in the world of boxing and maybe, hopefully, some moves in the world of MMA as well, so we wanted to get the boss over at Showtime Sports on the show, our good friend Stephen Espinoza. you? I'm great, Ariel. How are you? One of the most prolific and best tweeters, as far as executives go, all of a sudden, Stephen Espinoza has become a

sensation on Twitter. Where did this come from? I don't know if it's a sensation. You just caught me in some moments when I've got some free time on my hands. And when I'm stuck in airports or, you know, somewhere where, you know, I've got nothing occupying me, you know, tend to go to work on Twitter. But you're enjoying it, right? Because I see, you know, you're going back and forth with journalists. You're talking to fans, celebrities, Meadowworld Peace. You seem to be enjoying this. You figured out why people in your position like Twitter, right?

I figured out why they like it and why they dislike it. I know it, you know, for an executive or anyone who's sort of closely scrutinized, you know, there are risks there and being as candid as sometimes you want to be. But, you know, I still think that the upside is bigger than the downside. What was interesting was there were a few boxing journalists who were saying that the Floyd Mayweather pay-per-view did not do very well, and you kind of went at them and talked about their sources and whatnot. Where do we stand right now?

Did it do well? Was it success? Can you talk to us about numbers? Yeah, I can. You know, and what I went out and said really is just clarifying the early reports. And there were early reports as early as Tuesday, you know, 72 hours out of the fight about what what the results had been, which is really way too early, you know, from my perspective, to speak meaningful, meaningfully about this. So, you know, when enough data had come in that we were able

to speak meaningfully, which was probably Friday, you know, that's when we went ahead and confirmed that we will definitely be over a million buys. I'm not sure exactly, you know, how much over million will be, whether it be a little or a lot of where a million, a lot of that depends on how some of the lagging buys come in and are reported over the next few weeks. But we've definitely hit the million buy threshold. Is that a success for you? Absolutely. I mean, being completely candid, a lot of respect for Robert Guerrero as a boxer, you put up

a game fight. But in the pay-per-view industry and in that world, he wasn't a huge name. and for Floyd to be able to generate a million buys, when he didn't have the benefit of a name opponent, is really a testament to Floyd's drawing power. What was it like dealing with him for the first time? Easier than I expected, to be quite honest. It really went really smoothly.

You know, I knew him mainly, like I think most fans do him, from, you know, from prior episodes of shows and from, you know, interviews and things like that. And I find out that's one facet of his personality. But he's a pretty savvy guy. And it's surprisingly easy to deal with. Will his next fight be against Canella Alvarez? Well, I'm still cautiously optimistic. I think that that's the fight that makes sense for both guys.

and both guys want it. There are details to work out. You know, weight is one of them. But, you know, those things, I think, can get worked out when both fighters want the fight. And you believe, correct me from wrong, this fight could generate over 2 million pay-per-view buys. You know, the goal is always just set a new record,

the record being 2.5 million with Delaware and Mayweather. You know, Connello, as much of us, as far as he is, doesn't have the awareness that Oscar did at the time of the Mayweather fight, but he's got a lot of heat behind him. So look, 1.5, 2, 2.5, I'd be happy with any of those. You know, at the end of this, really the consumer decides. You know, we put the message out there. We try to inform people about how we see the fight, and either it catches on or does it with the consumer. We're just trying to put the best product on the screen. When do you think you'll announce Floyd's next fight?

I think it'll be within the next two weeks. Oh, really? It's a relatively short turnaround, and he's targeted September 14th. And for a pay-per-view, we really need to be into the promotion, first part of June, for a September fight. So that doesn't give us much time. Recently, just a couple weeks ago, April 27th, there were two boxing events on the same night as UFC 159 and Dana White UFC president. A man you know was talking about how he had two TVs in his room watching both events,

and he was giving a lot of praise to the Showtime products saying how much it was better than the HBO product and, of course, Showtime doing a lot of big things in the world of boxing. Was that surprising to you that Dana, who hasn't been very complimentary of the Showtime brand in the past, was very complimentary of what you're doing? You know, nothing surprised me with Dana anymore. I'm sure you're probably the same way, area. You know, one thing that we know about Dana is he speaks his mind and he, you know, invariably speaks it, you know, truthfully, honestly, and passionately. So regardless of his past feelings, he spoke his mind about the quality of programming.

You know, I haven't run into him since then. You know, I appreciate the sentiments. I mean, we feel really good about the fights we've had on the last three weeks and the fights that we have coming up. What is it like for you to see the Ronda Rouse's, the Daniel Cormier's, Rockhold, come in, up. Josh Thompson, you know, guys and girls that were doing great things on your network, and the strike force invasion, if you will, has been a nice story this year. A lot of them doing very well in the UFC. What's it like for you to see them do so well, but for someone else in the UFC, not for you on Showtime? Well, yeah, and you've even got a little bit of a

strike force reunion on this show itself. Yeah. Going forward, it's, you know, really I've gotten to the point where it's 90% happiness for what they're doing. you know, from everyone from Daniel, you know, to Rhonda to Gilbert, who fought a really, you know, close, tough fight. The fact that they've accounted for themselves so well, you know, proves what they knew and what we knew and going all the way back to the early days of strike force, what Scott Hoker believed. And that was what these are top tier athletes, regardless of what promotion they're in. There's still, you know, a little bit of the bittersweet. there's 10% that says I wish we could have figured out some way to keep it all together.

But I'm happy that those guys and women are continuing their careers on the UFC stage. The last time you're on our show, you didn't close the door on the sport of MMA, despite the fact that in the past before your time, Elite XC on Showtime ended poorly, and then you can say in some ways, strike force on Showtime ended poorly in January, at least for your brand. Where do you stand right now in MMA? Will we see MMA back on Showtime in the foreseeable future? I definitely want it back.

I think we as a company want it back. We're going to be very careful because, I mean, being completely candid, there's a lot of MMA programming out there already. And the real question for us is if we're going to get back into it on the programming side, is what is going to be the compelling reason for us to do so? What's going to be different about the organization that we get? involved in the way we present the sport. Because if we're just going out there to put more hours of MMA television on the air,

I don't think it makes sense. I mean, you're in touch with the MMA fan base as much as anybody. I mean, what's your feeling? I mean, are the MMA fans clamoring for more MMA program on TV, or what's the desire? To me, and I appreciate you asking me this question, that means a lot to me. Obviously, when you look at the big leagues out there, you have the UFC, they have their deal with Fox. Belator, they're owned by Viacom, they're going nowhere, and World Series of Fighting is then, you know, attached to NBC Sports Network. So they're going nowhere.

After those guys, there really isn't anything interesting out there except for Invicta. Invicta is the only other M-A promotion out there that generates the kind of interest from the media and the fans, not named WSOF, Belator, UFC. going back to them, and I know I asked you about them, the last time you're on our show, that to me is the only different brand, the only one that you could say, this is something that we have that is exclusive to us, women's MMA, which is hotter now than it ever was, and at a point was exclusive to Showtime, that makes the most sense. I wonder, though, given their relationship with the UFC, if that would cause a problem given the way things ended between Showtime and the UFC.

So I'll throw it back to you. Invicta is the only one that makes sense. Do you agree? I wouldn't argue with anything that you just said. You know, if there was an obvious choice or a clear choice about getting back into MMA, we would have done it already. But I agree that probably the highest visibility, most noteworthy promotion that it's distinguished itself, you know, out there other than the ones that you mentioned aligned with TV networks is probably invictive. The UFC relationship is, you know, absolutely not a problem whatsoever. I still run into those guys, you know, from the Furtitas to, you know,

you know, it's part of the management from Lawrence Epstein to Peter Dropeig. And it's friendly, you know, it was a situation that didn't work out, but, you know, bygones are bygones. And, you know, it was a strange situation that no one really created in and of themselves. So you move on and look for the next opportunity. So are you saying that Invicta is the only interesting option? I'm going to let me off. Yeah, I mean, are they the only interesting option out there for you?

No, no, no. I mean, we have looked at some of the international promotions. Oh, really? And there's a lot of, there's a lot of talent there, and it would be something new and different. You know, but there's challenges. There are challenges with marketing, non-English speakers in particular. You know, there are additional costs.

with doing non-U.S. events. So there's a lot to consider. But, you know, we still want in, and we're still looking around very carefully. Are you involved in serious negotiations with anyone right now? No, no. We've had our hands full for the last, you know, six, eight weeks,

you know, getting used to being back in the pay-per-view business again. And I think now that we've sort of emerged from that unscathed, you know, we're going to, A, look forward, you know, would next slide, B, continue with the rest of our boxing platform, and C, you know, start evaluating again other programming possibilities. Speaking of the boxing model, can MMA have a model like that and be successful on a network like yours, meaning, okay, let's just say I'm going to throw out some names.

M1 Global has a great fight in Russia on August 14th. You will air that fight the same way they'll air some random boxing fight with X promoters. And then the XFC has another fight. I know they're on Access TV, but you get the point. They'll have a fight and we'll air that one. You just kind of go where the biggest fights are that aren't on network TV or any kind of television. Can that work in MMA, in your opinion? It can, and it's something we've considered.

I think the biggest challenge there is that it requires a much bigger infrastructure, much more manpower to manage. It's inefficient, which is, you know, that's exactly, one of the problems that boxing has is inefficiency. But it can be done. It's just going to require a lot more people and a lot more time and energy, which is, I think, why no one's in any particular hurry to embrace that model. Based on where things stand right now, it's May,

is it a safe bet to assume that there will be no MMA on Showtime for the rest of 2013? You know, if there is, it would be, you know, late in the year. I mean, certainly the summer is out of the question. It doesn't give anyone sufficient time to really ramp up. So it would either be late this year or in 2014, unless, you know, lightning struck and, you know, a deal fell into our laps that made sense immediately. I think more likely it's late 2013 or 2014.

In your opinion, is Showtime Sports the leader in premium cable combat sports? I mean, at the end of the day, it's you and HBO. Are you the leader right? now in your opinion? You know, that's really a question to be answered by you and, you know, analysts out there who watch the business

very closely and by the fans. You know, I like personally all the fights that we have on. I know everyone here strives to put on the best fights on a week-to-week basis. And I know we've been very happy with what we had the last few fights and what we have coming

up. So, you know, are we better on a week-to-week basis? or worse, you know, really hard to say. We just sort of bear our nose in trying to do the best programming and let the smart guys like you figure it out. You were hired in November of 2011, and maybe the lone black eye is the fact that there is no more, at least from our perspective, MMA on the network right now.

But did you expect to be in the position that you're in now with the fights that you have happened this year that are coming up, the names that you have on your roster, Did you expect things to turn so quickly? Because I remember talking to you when this all started, and you had never been in a position like this before, and you weren't quite sure what the future would hold. You were obviously very confident.

But who would have expected? Showtime, in my opinion, is the leader right now. And Showtime is number one, HBO's number two, and that's a major shift from what we've known over the last few decades. Did you expect this to happen so quickly? I didn't quite expect to have as much traction with getting some of the name talent. that we've gotten, but honestly, that happened, you know, about as quickly as I could have imagined.

You know, I did pursue the Mayweather fight as soon as I got in the door here. Didn't get it. That would have been last May's fight. So at least I had the goal from day one that I wanted the top tier talent. Some of it's come quickly. Some of it's taken a little bit longer. But it's, you know, there are parts of this that feel like, we made a ton of progress. parts of it, it sort of feels like we're still

fogging through some of the stuff. But overall, if I look back and compare where our programming was day one I started, and right now, I'm pretty happy with what we're putting on the air. Is there one thing on your sort of wish list that you'd like to happen in the next 365 days or so? Is there, okay, you got the Floyd, you got that big nugget. Is there another one on your wish list that you'd like?

I think it probably would be figuring a way back into MMA. Oh, wow. Well, that makes me happy. Yeah, I think, look, there's always new talent. We always keep an eye up for amassing more boxing talent. But, you know, I'd like having a well-rounded, you know, combat sports program. And I think, you know, there's a lot to be said about being able to, you know, market and promote to both audiences at the same time with both types of combat. Well, I'm very happy for you guys, Stephen, and we appreciate you stopping by.

I love what you do with the desk with Brian Kenny, and then the team, obviously, we're biased towards Morrow. He's our guy, Canadian-M-A guy, but I just... Right, right. That's my attempt to make sure that I don't get hate mail from the MMA product. Yeah, you've done a good job of keeping us interested. You've taken one of our own, and you've turned him into one of your own, and I think it's been a great transition with him, Al Bernstein, and Pauli Malignagin, the fights you're putting

on, the products you're putting on, the product. is great. And I think all the MMA fans kind of miss mixed martial arts on Showtime, and I think it would be great if it did come back. But for now, congratulations on all your success thus far, as far as boxing is concerned, and we're looking forward to what's next. And if you

ever want to, you know, break some news about the return of MMA on your network, I know a good place to do it. I know you do, and you know me well enough to know that I don't pitch really well, but I'm going to make a quick pitch. I've been telling people all week, if you're not a boxing fan,

And there's one fight you wanted to watch and see if you could become one. It's Matisse versus Peterson this weekend. If I had one fight to convert someone into a boxing fan, this is about as guaranteed action as you can get. That's a good pitch. That's a pretty damn good pitch. You've come a long way, Stephen. All right.

Well, I appreciate your time and your support of the entire journey. Thank you so much. Good luck to you. We'll talk to you very soon. All right. Thanks, sir. There he is. Stephen Espinoza, the boss over at Showtime Sports, doing great things.

They have turned the boxing world upside down. They now are home to the likes of Floyd Mayweather. They took all those great Golden Boy fighters along with them. And Stephen Espinoza, who once worked for Golden Boy, who was once the lawyer to the likes of Gina Carrano, is doing great things as far as boxing is concerned. Now will MMA go over to Showtime once again. Will there be a home for mixed martial arts?

And showtime, it feels like a void is there. It feels like there's some kind of place for it. I believe, even though right now, as I mentioned, the three biggest promotions in North America, at least, are tied to networks. There is one, one that gets as much buzz, as much attention, as much press as two and three. Invicta wouldn't make a lot of sense, if you ask me.

We'll see. Keeping his cards very close to his vest as one, would expect. What's the question here? So, okay, I understand the question. We will move along now. We appreciate Stephen Espinoza stopping by. Now, as I mentioned earlier, a lot of people have asked me, because I fancy myself a sort of beard aficionado, a lot of people have asked me my top 10 facial hair in MMA history. Because, you know, in our sport, there have been some fantastic facial hair exposed to us from beards to go tees to mustaches it's been it's been quite the journey over the last 20 or so years in this country and i thought who better than mike yesa the owner of one of the

greatest beards in m m mary history i mean as far as beard hair goes he took this he took this world by storm last year when he was on the ultimate fighter live and won it i might add i thought who better than mike yesa to debate the greatest beards in m m m mhmay history the great facial hair in M.A. history. And I say beard, because look at that thing. Look at this guy. I mean, it's just, it's so healthy. It's so thick. It's just so nice. Hello, Mike. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you? How do you get it looking so good? Do you put anything in that thing, or is it just, is that just natural God-given talent? You know, I'm going to show you a picture. Hold on. Hold your thought. One second. Okay. I'm holding.

Oh, yes. I look a lot like my dad, but my dad can't grow a beard like this, but look at this picture. Holy moly. See that? That's great. Yeah. And it's white. It comes in the family. Natural genes, I guess you could say.

When did you realize you can grow something like that? You know, just as I got older, I just noticed it kind of started coming in real thin, and I just decided one day to stop shaving. And it just freaking blew up. I never knew it was there because I would always shave. But just once I figured out, I could grow. bro beard, I was like, oh, the shaving business, I'm over it. It's too much work. You don't look as cool either. That's interesting because most people believe you have to shave a lot in order for it to get thick. You're saying you did the opposite? Yeah, I never knew. It just,

it would get short and stubby when I'd be training. I could like brush up against my partners and stuff. And so finally one day I just decided to quit shaving and it just freaking blew up. Like literally, like the first beard I ever grew, I'm pretty sure it was the one for the Ultimate Fighter. I'm not exactly I'm dead serious. I think that's when I just decided to quit shaving. It was like right around that time, right before. Probably like end of summer

last year, or like two years ago end of the summer. One of the unfortunate things about your victory on the Ultimate Fighter was that you shaved the beard right afterwards. Why did you do that? I still think that was an ill-advised move. You know, I want to see if I had some ringworm under there because there was a big ringworm

outbreak on the show and I was always worried that I had it under my beard. Oh, wow. I want to shave my beard and see that I think going on there. I'm just kidding. But yeah, no, I just want to show my mom my face, you know? Like, yeah, I think she likes looking at the beard all the time. So I had to shave it up for the mom a little bit. And are you one of those guys who does the Johnny Hendricks thing?

Like, you know, you'll shave, like, after your last fight, did you shave the beard and now grow up back, or are you just keeping the beard? I just trimmed it down real low. Like, I kept the beard. I didn't go clean shaving. I just, like, took a three, whacked it off, and then just let it grow out again. And now what you have here, they announced that you're going to be fighting July 27th, which I know is a very big deal for you because it's in Seattle and you didn't get to fight in Seattle last time.

Are you keeping this bad boy up until July 27th? Oh, come on, Ariel. Okay. Oh, wow. You know me. Yeah, I'm not trimming it an inch, man. I'm hoping that this is the best beard I've ever grown. My last fight, it was pretty big.

I'm hoping I can beat that. It's a very fun story because I remember you were on our show before the fight you were supposed to have a UFC on Fox 5, you talked about this story, how you were walking Ki Arena and they let you in and you're from that area, Supersonic Spanx fan, all that. And then I felt so bad when I heard the news that you were sick and had to pull out of the fight a month a week out. And now here they are returning to Seattle seven months later. What are the chances of that? They never come back to a non-Vagas city. Very rarely do they come back that quickly. And now you get an opportunity. You must feel like you're blessed. Yeah, I really do. I mean, the second that I heard the rumor,

I texted Joe and all I asked him. I was like, hey, who am I fighting on the 27th? Fighting in Seattle is a big deal to me. I mean, what people don't know is I have a long an amateur career, but long before I turned pro. And, you know, the majority of the people I beat up, it's been on the west side. It's been in Seattle. So, you know, it is a really big deal to me to be able to compete in the UFC and from all my friends and family. Like, it's, you know, it's got a big sentimental value, especially after that one night I had this summer. Yeah. And that security guard let me in there. I mean, it was like just an eerie, you know, know, sends chills up your spine type of feeling. And, you know, I was really bummed when

everything happened in December. But, um, right now I think it was the best thing for me because I feel like I'm going into a rematch. I'm for the, I'm doing a 12 week camp. I usually do an eight week camp. I'm going 12 weeks because I feel like I'm going into a rematch. I feel like I lost to Seattle. Oh, wow. Getting my shot at a rematch. So I mean, I'm taking, this is a big deal to me and everybody around me knows it. So I'm going to do things right and I'm going to go out in Seattle. and I'm going to get the win. And you're fighting one intense mother. Resumaddi, this guy, have you seen this guy in his stare-downs?

And I feel like he could grow a pretty damn good beard as well. I think he could too. I think he's Middle Eastern. They can usually grow pretty nice, big full beards. I think you should try it. What do you think of his stare-downs when he gets all up in there? You know, I think that everybody has something that gets some motivated or get some confident in a fight. It's like if you watch Rashad Evans' fight, he always kind of,

does a little dance and people make fun of him for it but i'm like hey everybody's different everybody has to do something to get them pumped up to fight if if race has got to get himself pumped up by getting in my face so be it i don't have to do anything i'm in seattle like uh you know i've never lost a fight in seattle so you know i don't care you do whatever you want get in my face talk say whatever but i don't need to play into that crap like i'm confident enough just being in front of my family my friends my home state you know this is my backyard i don't got to do that you know i'm i'll have a big smile on my face because I know what's going to happen. We will have plenty of time to talk about that, but it's now time to talk about our facial

hair list here because people have been asking for this for a very long time. Now, what has happened here is that you gave me your list and then we got the pictures, the appropriate pictures. I have my list. You're going to go first and we're going to start just so you know bottom up. So you gave me a couple of honorable mentions. Then we'll go 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3,21. You feel me?

You understand? Okay. So we have the pictures and it's in the exact order, just so you know, know of what you gave me. So backwards. Exactly. So if you gave me three honorable mentions, we'll go backwards. I don't even have the list in front of me, so, but I'm pretty sure I can remember it.

You don't have the list in front of you. All right. Heck, no. Dude, I spent like three hours doing this. I thought this would be easy, but it wasn't it. It's a lot of good facial hair out there. I know. I kept asking you, do you have the list?

You have the list. You really took this seriously. So now, just to let the guys in the back know, Mike is on Skype here, but we want to to show the picks in all their glory. So just, you know, you can go full screen on the pick and then come back to us here. You understand that? I know Eric's very confused about the situation. Eric, you understand what's going on?

Yes, we're all good. All right. All right, so I'm going to pull up your list just in case I want to keep you honest here. So I'm just going to pull it up. No, I'm pretty sure I can remember. I put a lot of time into this. All right, all right. So give us your honorable mentions.

My honorable mentions, I have Lloyd Woodard. For those you don't know, he fights in Bellator, and he rocks what he calls the Montana mustache. I like it. It's very original, correct? And then... Cupcake. Cupcake, yeah, Cupcake.

You know, the grenade on, or the cupcake on his arm. But then I discovered this guy in my search, I believe his name is Tim Catoflow. Like 4-1 MMA record he fought Big Cat Erickson in Pride, but he had this like... He's like an old silver fox buffed dude with like chest hair and this flaming stash thing going. So I had to give him a shout out for sure. And by the way, I just want to let you know, Lloyd Woodward, a good start, was your actual number 10. He wasn't an honor. Oh, I have him as my number 10. Good. Oh, yeah. So, good. Well, then I had Sam Cecilia as an honorable mention. You did.

You saw his beard at UFC 157 when he was cornering me. That was a really nice one. And we have a picture of that. Yes, I do. And actually, that's a picture ESPN took. And it was one of the two they actually edited in an end of black and white. So I was kind of like, well, that's kind of cool, you know. He could grow a very thick beard. I could see it. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. He could grow one just like mine for sure. He's done it before. But he's your good friend. He only makes honorable. mention. He doesn't make the top 10. Because he, you know, the thing is, the people, it's you got to go into the fight with the beard. You know, that's what makes the difference of. As I get into my top 10 list, you'll see, you know, my beard might be the best looking piece of facial hair in the world, but I didn't place myself number one.

I respect that. This list got a lot of work into it. Who else you got? Did I have Dan Severn? You did. Was he honor? No, Jim Miller. Jim Miller. Jim Miller and Dan Severn. Yeah, Jim Miller and Dan Severn. The thing with Dan is, I know he's a legend. He deserves his respect. But, you know, he just wasn't very flamboyant.

You know, there's got to, you got to have something else with the beard. You can't just kind of go in there and kind of like hang out. You got to, like, you know, it's got to be something to go with it. It might have been his black shorts. You know, I don't know. And then Jim Miller, I mean, he's just got, his face looks like it's on fire. I mean, he's just got this huge red beard. I mean, you know, his fighting style.

It just kind of goes well with it, you know. Bad mood, right. Did you see his beard in his last fight? I know it was a loss, but he had the shave, shaved head. and then just the beard, it really accentuated it. Yeah, and that's like, see, that's something, that's what I'm saying, it accentuated, like, Dan Severn didn't do anything to bring his mustache out. That's why I didn't fall in the top ten.

Miller, if you rock the beard more often, you know, comes back on a little wind streak. I could see him definitely making the top ten. Another interesting thing about Miller, before we move on to your actual top ten list, he often has his mustache longer than the rest of the beard. So it really sticks out, but then he has the beard just kind of sitting back there, thick, but not as thick as the mustache. Yeah, I think he, he lets this grow out.

Yeah. And then I think he grows his beard after it. It's a fascinating maneuver. Smart move. Sometimes you got to mix it up. I do things like that sometimes. So you got 10, you got cupcake. Yeah, I got 10.

I got cupcake for sure. Now 9. Who do you got at 9? 9, I believe, was Cody McKenzie. No. Do you want me to say your list? How about I say your list? Yeah, you say my list.

Okay. And then you'll explain. Nine, the Iceman, Chuck Ladell. Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, Chuck. You know, Chuck's got the trademark haircut, but he's always had the handlebar mustache to go with it. You know, you see a lot of fans that replicate that. So I think that given his stature with the UFC and that he's always had that same look,

I think he only shaved it for one fight. I think it was the rich Franklin fight. But he always had the handlebar mustache with a little slit in the middle. So Chuck definitely makes it on top ten very easy. It's funny. I was talking to my wife about this, and she thought it was crazy for not including Chuck in my list. I just, you know, I just thought it was too easy. It just to me, when I think of Chuck, I think more of the hair, not the facial hair, so I didn't include him on my list.

See, it's hard for me. I'm a big Chuck fan. You know, he's been the face of the UFC for a long time, so, you know, he was one of the first fighters I looked up to. So it was an easy choice to put him in the top ten. Number eight, you have Cody McKenzie. Oh, how could you not? I mean, I tell him all the time, you've got to go back to, like, the pirate long hair, be for vendetta look. I think that is awesome. I mean, that is like a, you know, it just stands out.

It looks cool. The fans love it. He's always gotten such good feedback on it. I mean, what do you think? I think the V for Vendetta look definitely is a... I agree. It was memorable. I did not include him on my list.

And my man, Newark, Rick, thought I was crazy as well for that. It just seemed a little dirty for me. It just didn't, it didn't make me feel good inside. I don't know, something about it was not clean. It wasn't lovable. You have a lovable beard. His was a little too scary. Very welcoming.

But with Cody, you got to give him some credit because he is the hairiest guy. That dude, if he did not shave, I really think he'd break some records. So for him to do, I don't know if he used like hedge trimmers, a chainsaw. I don't know what he did to make such a nice mustache with a sharp, you know, V for Vendetta. That took some definite skill. No, it was. And it's amazing that he moved away from that look. I would stick with the look if I were him.

It makes him very marketable. I agree. And also, I'm revealing this to. the world. Oh, no. Not a kid. It is Kitty Hawk. Wait, say that again?

It is Kitty Hawk. His real name? His real nickname is Kitty Hawk. Really? What does that mean? Kitty Hawk? Yeah. Because Cody swoops down and picks up the girls.

He's a kitty hawk. That's a fact. That's seriously. Kitty Hawk. That is a worldwide exclusive. Okay, number seven, you have Johnny Hendricks. You know, Johnny knocking people out,

performing well, deserving his shot at the well to right title. But, you know, the fact that he shaves it right afterwards goes to the clean shave. And I think that he stays clean shaven until he goes into camps and stuff. Yeah. Because if Johnny Henderson's shave for six months, I mean, that thing would be like down his belly button. So you're docking points for the shaving afterwards. A little bit. I mean, I understand trimming it. That's understandable. It gets to a point where it can get in the way of certain things. So trimming it down is fine. But I think that, going for the clean shave until you start a fight and then growing it. It's like, you know, it's part of your look.

You've got to have it all the time, you know. All right. That's fair. I'll weigh in on Johnny when I give my list. Now, number six, you have a guy never heard of him. Mike Heesa. You wanted to say something? Absolutely.

I challenged Johnny. After he beat Carlos Condit in Montreal, I challenged him for the pound-for-pound beard title. So he knows I'm coming for him. Oh. So it'll be no surprise when he sees it, you know, Johnny, Much love, but when it comes down to this battle for the beards thing, man, I'm ruthless. And that makes your spot at number six very interesting because you put yourself there. Like I said, you know, as we get into the top five, you know, there's a lot of thing that makes the top five just be on looks.

Like I said, I know this is the best-looking beard in MMA hands down. Best-looking piece of facial hair anybody's ever seen. But I don't have the legendary stature, the things that have made the five. above me stick out. So, you know, calmly, modestly, I took number six. Wow. I wasn't sure if you were going to put yourself on the list, but I think that's fair. Number six is fair. You're not quite top five. That's a big deal. So you put yourself in number six. Now, number five, you have the man known as Uncle Creepy, Ian McCull. You know, the thing with Ian's, with the look he has gone, I just like, it just sticks out.

I mean, anybody that goes to a UFC event with a twirly mustache, you know, the Uncle Creepy mustache. You know, he's good with the fans. It's a great look for him. You know, it goes well with his nickname. And, you know, I have, I sang in the picture the other day. I was wearing my Uncle creepy tank top. I actually got one of his friends. You know, I'm a big, and, you know, it's got the big mustache on it. So I think it's something cool where, let's say someday, you know, Ian becomes a world champion. Then he's going to have all these cool shirts with mustaches and people be wearing mustaches. And it's like a cool thing. So I think, respectively, he makes the number five spot. By the way, have you seen Eddie Winland's mustache these days?

I have not. Go on his Twitter. His mustache, he looks like a 1930s boxer. He's doing something very special, Eddie Wyland. Very special. I saw him in San Jose, very special. Now, number four is a very interesting one. A man who, well, let me just say, I didn't give too much love on my list. Roy Nelson, big country.

Captain Greybeard. You like Roy's beard? Dude, I mean, that thing is full. For how big his gets, he knows how to manage it. because from here down, it's always like really nicely trimmed. And then the rest of it just comes down. I like it how it's gray. You know, it goes well with his, you know, his mullet and his ponytail and Roy and his big belly.

But the beard, I mean, I think that is what really made him take off as being like very noticeable. You know what I mean? When he didn't have the beard, he just kind of looked like a pudgy dude, you know. But when he got the beard, I mean, he can't walk anywhere without anybody not knowing who he is. And I like how it's great. You know, I look forward to the day when I get the silver fox beard. So with Roy's look and how far he's taking it, and also, I was kind of thinking about this, we should look at the finishing rate for guys that have beards.

Wow. There's got to be like a higher finishing rate because Roy, as we know, is one of the best finishers in the business. And then Johnny, yourself, I mean, that's a very good point. Yeah, and I would like to look past that as we go into number three, my man Evan Tanner. I love this one. I rest in peace. Yeah. I rest in peace.

Evan deserves his respect. You know, I can honestly, I honestly think I didn't look into it, but I think that he's the first guy to go in the UFC with just a rugged, non-shaven beard. I mean, just didn't shave it, didn't trim it, didn't shape it, just kind of let it go. And Evan was actually one of the first fighters I ever saw in person. He was out of the show in Cordelaan, Idaho, and I saw him, and I thought he was like, you know, king of the mountain. It was cool to see him.

I was always a fan. he's had the first Mountain Man beard. He earns my number three spot. It really is one of the healthier, thick beards that we've ever seen in MMA. It was amazing. It's a nice beard. It's a really nice beard.

I mean, it grows down and out. I mean, Evan Tanner really knows how to pull it off. By the way, you got to watch the replay of this show because the way you look on our screen right now on the stream and everything, your beard has never looked better. I just want to let you know of that so you can be happy. It's coming in.

It's coming in. I'm about to hit my prime aerial. I can't wait. Can't wait for... That's the only reason why I'm looking forward to that return to Seattle. Now, number two, you have a man who had... One time I said at the best pound-for-pound beard in MMA will see if he holds up, Andrei Arlowski.

Oh. So nice. I never forget when I was watching the first couple seasons of tough. I think it was season one or season two. They were advertising his fight with Paul Bonatello. I didn't know who he was. And then all of a sudden, on the TV, pops up, this freaking dude with, like, long...

golden hair and like another one he's got a big beard he's got the fang mouthpiece you know super burly athletic specimen i mean andre irlowski i mean aside from chuck ladle tito or tis randigatured like the big name guys andre olovsky was the first guy i saw and was just like oh my gosh like who is this guy this guy is a savage and i mean at the time he was killing it so you know i'm i'm in my heart andreelofsky probably is my number one all-time favorite fighter It doesn't matter how he's performing now. It's just the fact he was the first fighter to catch my attention like that. Like I saw him on a commercial and was just like, who is this guy?

You know, he's a killer. So, you know, talk about that. He holds true to being a Vitor fan. I hold true to being an Andrei Rolowski fan. And his beard was always so great because it never got to your level, but it was always so nice, clean, perfect. You know it can get to your level, but he just, he manicured it very well, and I respect that. He had a nice shape, and I know his grows in thick. And, I mean, the way that thing looked at, I mean, he had to go to a professional.

Because I don't know how, you know, working your hands like this. Shave such a nicely sculpted, you know, piece of facial statue. Now, number one, the King of Kings, the Alpha Male, the Alphamist of the Alpha Male, Don Fry, the Predator. Oh, my gosh. He, I mean, nobody contests that he is in the top. How could you say he is not in the top three? I mean, you know, I know Severn had the handlebar, but Fry had the freaking Tom Selleck mustache, you're freaking bulging muscles and so it was like everybody in this corner,

and he wore the American flag Spanky. I mean, he was just like at the time, especially if you go back in the day, back in the early Pride days, early UFC, it's like if it was a video game, like if it was street fighter, Don Fry would definitely be USA. You know what I mean? Like American Spanky's totally just this bird. early dude, comb over hair. I've heard stories about him

training in Arizona and stuff. He's just he's a man's man. He definitely deserves a number one spot. Pound for power. It's funny that you said, how can no one have them in their top three? I don't have him in my top three. I'm about to shut my laptop. Okay, here's mine. You're ready for mine? I don't know

if I'm ready for years because I might be watching like a bad world series game or something. You know it's good. You know it's good about this. We have a very different list. Honorable mention number one, filthy Tom This man changes it up all the time. He's had different variations from the mustache, the beard, to the chops.

You got to give love to filthy. I respect that. He was actually in my top 20. I narrowed it down to a big list to 20 to 10. Okay, fair enough. Kyle Kingsbury in London. He didn't make my top 10

because they made him shave the beard. Jimmy Manoa did. But do you remember Kyle Kingsbury with the pipe in London? That was one. If he would have fought, that would be maybe my top five. Yeah, definitely.

That was a nice beard. And Kyle Kingberry, he's like a big burly guy. So I think it would be pretty cool to see him up close and personal with that big of a beard. It was thick. It was just very distinguished. I love that beer, but he didn't fight with it so I can't give him the nod. Now, number 10, Uncle Creepy. You mentioned it.

The mustache is great. But he hasn't been doing it for as long. It reinvented who he is. But I just had to give the guys with more the love. You know what I'm saying? It's just so thin. I agree. He also used to have an emo haircut, so I think the mustache is what made up for the emo haircut.

Now, honestly, I thought about not ranking you because I thought it would be, you'd think that I was, I was like favoring you and whatnot. But I didn't think that was fair because I do think you have a great beer. But since you're part of this, I didn't know what to do. So to be fair, I just put you at number nine. I think that by the time your career is done, I think you could be in the top three, maybe even top two. But right now, I think not to get your head too big, number nine. I respect that. I appreciate it.

Now, number eight, a man that you did not mention Tank Abbott. Tank Abick had a badass goate, and he's still rocking it today. Yeah, but I saw that picture of him with a toupee. That was good. He fell off the list. I mean, the toupee. The toupee is the coolest. I know.

You look like a, like, I've ever had a black and blue beer when it's like half blue moon and half Guinness? Like, that is what Keanu had going on right there. I love to. Hey, I'll take the. the weird toupee. I'll take it. Yeah. Just one so.

Okay. Now. Probably like big boobs, too, don't you? If you like his toupee. What do you mean? What does one have to do with the other? Dude, fake boobs, fake hair. Match.

Okay. Next. Number seven, Evan Tanner. You said it. It's one of the best. It was healthy. He didn't have it for very long. But when he did have it, it was very impressive.

So I give Evan Tanner. He had a nice one. Number six, Johnny Hendricks. I did dock him some points. We were on the same wavelength here. You shave it. You got to be proud of that beard. You got to love that beard.

You got to be proud of it. You got to rock it all the time. Maybe trim it. Don't get rid of it. It just seems like such a great thing to just throw away. Yeah, and the other thing, too, is, you know, when you're dealing with the fans, let's say you shave and you go do an appearance. Nobody's going to know who you are.

A lot of people probably like Johnny Hendricks because of how he fights in his beard. You know, the beard. It's a staple type of thing for him. Seems like he's almost losing money by. by shaving the beard. Number five, I'm throwing you a curveball, but we never said that it had to be a fighter. Referee Mike Beltran.

Come on. I wanted to. What can you say about that thing? I don't even know what it is. How do you live with that thing? How do you go to a restaurant with that thing? How do you eat? How do you live life?

How do you kiss people? I mean, he could braid it and put it in his shirt. You know what I mean? So it wouldn't get in his food. And I wanted to put him on the list so bad. He would have been top three. hands down for sure. He looks like the bad guy

from Sonic the Headshaw. You know, he's got the big, you know who I'm talking about? Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I saw him recently. He did have both of them, both those little, whatever those things are called,

he braided them. I don't, I put him in my top five because it's just, it's not just an MMA. One of the greatest piece of facial hair I've ever seen in my life. Not a fighter, so I can't put him quite at the top.

Now, number four, Don Fry. The man, yeah. Number four. Four? Yeah. And you'll see why number four. But it's great. And by the way, there's no Dan Severin on this list because they had the same mustache.

Fry rocked it better. Fry was better at it. He had a stronger, a more impressive one. It just, it just, severance was just a little blah. But for Frye have a better record, but Fry stood out to the fans more, you know. Frye, it just worked with that package. Number three, Andrei Arlowski. As I said, it was always clean.

It was always well manicured. It was, it just jumped. It had umph. It was just, and it was one of the first great beards in MMA as far as the ones that really was associated with the guy. And then when he shaved it, it felt like he was empty. It felt like he was naked. Yeah, he looked different. I think that his facial, you know, it was very desirable to the women.

I think he was a hot commodity. He was, and then he shaved and he started shaving his chest. It just, it didn't work. It didn't work. So he's number three. Number two, Kimbo Slice. Kimbo Slice, you have to say that if Kimbo Slice didn't have that beard, if he didn't have that beard, he would not have been. famous. Exactly. So that's the power of the beard in a nutshell. You got to give the

nod to Kimbo. He wasn't even on your list. He wasn't even given an honorable mention. Kimbo made my top 20, but at the end of the day, he let me down. I want to see him like knock some people silly. You know, I was kind of on the same kind of bandwagon where people like, well, what if? You know what if he really is pretty good, you know? So, you know, I got a lot respect for him. He's a nice guy, but, you know, it just, he didn't live up to my expectations. He had that thing where he had, like, the balding head, but it all kind of flowed into his beard, the sides. It was just, it was just, it. And he had the shaved thing right here. Oh, yeah, he had the arrow. I mean, that guy knew how to use his facial hair. So Kimbo sliced

to me, number two. Number one, you talk about impact. You talk about when you grow a beard, you make a difference, a game changer, a newsmaker. There is no beard, no facial hair in the sport of MMA that has ever had the impact that Brock Lester's beard had on our sport. Brock Lester's beer, when he had that thing, I just couldn't think about anything else. I was mesmerized. It came out of nowhere. No one

saw he looked like a mountain man. How do you not have Brock Lester's beard on your list? Once again, he was in my top 20, and I even said to you, I was like, I was shocked. I thought we were doing current fighters. So when you said we could go back, I'm like, yes, Brock's on my list for sure.

When he had that beard, he was so scary looking. I mean, I don't even know. He looked like a Viking. I mean, he looked raw. But, you know, once again, when I'm breaking it down and I'm going deep, I didn't realize how many of these fighters have great facial.

If I could do a top 25 list, it would be still. It would be. Yeah, unfortunately, he didn't make it up on mine. To me, Brock Leicester will always have the greatest beard in MMA. Until someone surpass him, you may be on your way. But for right now, that is my list. That is your list. We have gone way too long talking beards here, Mike.

But I appreciate it very much. I had a lot of fun doing this. We'll, of course, talk to you before and after your fight on July 27th. Good luck with training and all that good stuff. And good luck growing that beard because you have, our expectations are very high right now. So I can't wait to see it. I won't let you down. Thanks so much, Mike.

Thanks for being a good sport. Hey, watch for your boy, Malki Kawa's beard. He's growing one for eight weeks for my fight. Really? Check him out. All right. Yeah, he's growing up. Told him to him to.

All right. We'll look out for that. Thank you, Mike. There he is. Mike Kiesa, who meets Reza Madaddi on July 27th, UFC on Fox 8, a big deal for him. He is fighting in his hometown of Seattle. And let us know about your beards. Your favorite facial hair in MMA history. Hit me up on Twitter, send your list, email, whatever.

Leave it in the comment section below. I like talking about facial hair. I don't know why. I just like it. Now, also on UFC on Fox 8, July 27th. A huge women's fight going down, the first ever women's fight that will air on Big Fox, on network television as far as the UFC is concerned. Misha Tate versus our next guest, Liz Karmouche.

Liz, how are you? I'm doing great. How are you? Do you have your top 10 facial hair list ready for us? I absolutely do not. I feel like I was left out of the loop with you. I mean, it's just a constant thing. Are you going to leave me hanging? I'm sorry. No, no, no.

I will never leave you hanging. I'm just so obsessed with the facial hair, and Mike is as well that we decided to do this, but I will not put you on the spot like that. Maybe another day we can do a different kind of list together, but I don't think that it's right to just drop this on you right now. I agree. In the meantime, I'll work on mine. I'll start gluing little hairs on and see if I can't get the best gone beard.

Fair enough. You could reach your top ten if you do that. Now, okay, so you have this fight. I haven't really seen much from you or heard much from you as far as media is concerned after the Ronda fight. Did you kind of need to take a break from all of this and just decompress and get away from everyone? No, I took about a week off strictly because I had my family in town, and it's not very often I get spend time with them. But other than that, it was life as usual, working and training full time. Did you feel like afterwards you were burnt out?

Did you feel like you needed a break? Because I would expect someone who's thrust into that spotlight with all that attention, all that media, you haven't done anything like that, that you would kind of need a mental break from it all. No, not at all. If anything, I wanted to keep my pace and keep going with how things were so that it wouldn't be one of the things that would be burnt down in the future because it would be re-shocking myself over and over. So I tried to keep that pace. I just, things don't always fall in place where you would think they would. How long did it take for you to get over the loss?

I'm still not getting over it. I'm my hardest critic, and I always expect the best out of myself, and I'm a perfectionist. So it's one of those things until I have a chance to reclaim it I won't be happy with myself Have you watched it over and over again? Yeah, absolutely And what's the biggest mistake you made? I think the biggest mistake was staying on my back

hoping to get a leg lock on her Really? So you thought that you should have gotten up there and not let her come down and obviously that led to the arm bar You thought in hindsight Don't play her into her hand Just get up and go back because you were having success on your feet, right? Yeah, absolutely.

I see where you're coming from, but I don't know. I don't think you should beat yourself up too much about that. In hindsight, I did think it was not the worst decision in the world. I know you don't care about what I think, but just my two cents. Oh, thank you for that. Now, okay, so afterwards, we came out with this story on UFC tonight where a furniture store in San Diego was such a big fan of yours. The CEO was such a big fan of yours

that they contacted you and let you come in and get whatever you want because it was well documented that going into the fight you were lacking in some kind of furniture. You didn't have dinner table or you joked it after the fight

you'd be able to get it. Talk to us about exactly what happened here and then the shopping spree that transpired afterwards. Not even a shopping spree. They said that I could get what I wanted but I didn't want to take advantage of them so I just picked three items.

And of course, everybody knows it had to be be a kitchen table that goes without saying. I think prime time made sure that. And then we needed a bed frame and we got a new couch set in, sectional. It was great. They just

let us know. Just pick whatever you want. Send us over the information and we'll have it to you as soon as possible. What was the name of the store again? Ashley Furniture. Ashley Furniture. So you just walked and you said, I want this, this, this, and that. You didn't have to pay for a thing. Yeah, that was it. I mean, I paid the delivery

because I felt like they did the work, but I didn't have to buy the furniture. It was amazing. And how did they contact you to let you know that this was an offer that they were willing to make? The CEO actually emailed my manager, Lex, and asked if it would be something that I'd be interested in because he would like to be able to give to it. He wanted nothing in return.

Nothing at all. And Lex said, yeah, I'm pretty sure she'd like to, and we went from there. And what was his reasoning? Why did he want to do this for you? He said he saw the story on prime time And it was a story that he could connect with And it was the story he appreciated And he was in a place where he could get to somebody

So he wanted to help out with nothing in return Wow, and did you meet this man? No, I haven't met him, but I sure want to I want to think of him in person I mean, I've definitely put it out there on Twitter and Facebook What he did for us But I want to be able to give back to him what he gave us And so do you have the furniture now

Are you living large with it all? Oh yeah, right. We have the furniture. The dog and the cat aren't allowed near it. You've got on a kitchen table for my meals now. Did you ever think that you would get to a point in your career where people were giving you this stuff for free? No, I really didn't. I mean, I would hear stories about, you know, NBA players and those type of athletes and be like, well, I know it's pretty good. They get sponsors, they give them whatever they want. That'd be really cool to have that one day. but just like making into the U.S. strike force, I don't really think it was something that's going to happen.

It's funny you mentioned NBA players. That was actually going to be my next question. As you know, a couple weeks ago, Jason Collins, who last played for the Washington Wizards, became the first athlete, at least active athlete, in the four major sports here in North America to come out of the closet and announce that he is gay. And this was a major new story here in the United States

all over North America, and he handled it very well. you think, and obviously that was a big part of the promotion, the fact that you were the first lesbian to fight or a first gay person to fight in the UFC, what did you think when this came out? And not so much about his story, the way the media handled it all and the people handled it all. From everything that I've seen, it's been a lot of positive feedback. And for that, I'm grateful that we're in a position now, work something that we can do. because in the past, people were ridiculed for those decisions,

and it's great now that we can be accepted, and the LGBT community is starting to open up and share with the people where they come from. It seems like my take on it all was the media. It was all very positive, and even the reaction of, of course you'll have some people here and there, but it made me think that society in 2013, we are finally ready for this, and you'll see more and more celebrities and athletes of smaller stature come out. This was obviously the biggest because of the sport he plays in, the league he plays in. But I feel like we have come in some ways a long way.

Do you share that sentiment? I absolutely do. I mean, you can go back over all the sports, whether it be MMA or the four major sports, and you don't see somebody stand out the way it seems to be happening in 2013. I think 2013 is going to be a big year for women in MA as well as for the LGBT community. And with myself, as well as Jason Collins coming out, that's just evidence of that happening. Is this a man that you're interested in meeting? Would you like to talk to Jason Collins?

Yeah, absolutely. I'm always interested in meeting anybody. Do you think he has handled this well? I think he has, yeah. I think that he has, in some ways, the one negative I could say about it is that his timing, as far as coming to the end of his career and he's a free agent. So one might think at this point,

well, you know, he wants to stick around in the NBA or if they get rid of him if the Wizards don't resign him, then well, was he doing it to try to stick around? That could be maybe the only negative one could say. But otherwise, as far as his demeanor and the way he's handled everything with class and with dignity, I think anyone,

I mean, it would be crazy for anyone to criticize him. He's done it exceptionally, in my opinion. I absolutely agree with you. And do you think that we will now see more athletes in the four major sports starts going? Do you think they will fall on his footsteps? Do you foresee that happening? I absolutely do, and I look forward to it. How about in mixed martial arts?

I think that will as well. I think maybe the four major sports is probably the first step with people coming out. But I certainly think that MMA, one gym at a time, one athlete at a time, is going to start making changes and opening up. You said you obviously, Ashley Furniture, but did you get just regular people right to you, reach out to you based on the fact that your story was so widely publicized, everyone knew about it?

Did you get more inspirational letters, tweets, emails, things like that because you were put out there and your story was told so well? Yeah, I can't even explain the feedback that I got from everyone. both on Twitter being emails or letters being sent to the gym. On Facebook, I've had at least a thousand messages of inspirational feedback of people saying that both my stories help them make changes, healthier changes in their lives, and make them want and get back involved in the gym. People that said that they question if they'd ever be able to make it and whatever job field that they're in, and now they're pursuing it without hesitation, children that feel like they can. and they can come out openly and not have to worry because of what they saw me go through. Wow.

How does one digest all of that? I can't digest it. It blows my mind. To have anyone talk to me and approach me in person and say it, I can't explain how much my heart just, it fills up so much when that happens. It's hard to explain. It's overwhelming. And you get to make more history on July 27th against Misha Tates, the first. UFC fight on network television involving women, and the women have been doing so well.

I kind of get the sense that all the women in the UFC are kind of together in this sort of sorority, if you will. You sort of root for each other in the sense that you're all in the same division, but you go from your fight to Misha's fight to Sarah's fight, and there are a few coming up as well. Everyone wants to keep the momentum going because the fights have been so exciting and so well received. Is that accurate from your point of view? Absolutely. I know that in the past when it came to fight, I usually just like, I don't really want to go out on Saturday night. We don't have cable or satellite. So I'm not going to make the effort. I'll just watch on YouTube later or wherever I can find it.

But I'm so supportive of the women's division that my girlfriend and I go out of our way just to watch the fights, to be involved with it and to keep up with it just to see how well the women are succeeding in the sport. Yeah, it's such an amazing story. And you're fighting Misha, who's coming off a loss to Katzengano. What do you think of that matchup? Is this a matchup that you liked? Absolutely. It's a matchup that I feel like there's been a long time in the making.

We started off. Why started off in Strike Force fighting in the tournament that she ultimately won? So it seems like our paths have been crossing throughout our entire careers until this final day. What do you think is the key to beating her based on what you've seen in her last couple of fights? Well, she's a really well-rounded fighter.

I respect her a lot as an athlete. I think our stalls are going to match up really well, and it's going to be a back-and-forth. It's really who has the most heart, who's put the most work in. That's what's going to ultimately decide it. And what kind of advice would you give to Katzenegano now that you fought Ronda Rousey about fighting the champion? The most advice I give to her is just to stick to her game plans. I mean, she fought a good fight against Tate and did a good back-and-forth

and really came back hard in the third round. And I would say she needs to have that heart that she had in the third throughout every round. wrong with Rhonda. Are you hoping Rhonda keeps the belt for long enough that you get another shot against her in particular? Absolutely am. Well, at least you're honest. Liz, good to catch up with you. Happy to hear that things are going well. Post the Ronda Rousey fight, very much looking forward to your return to the Octagon, July 27th against Misha Tate. We appreciate the time. Yeah, thank you so much. There she is. Liz Karmouche stopping by the Girl Rilla. And you can follow her on Twitter. Twitter.com slash I am guerrilla.

Obviously it was a big part of the Primetime series that was so well received that she was the first lesbian, of course, it was the first women's fight, so the first gay fighter to fight in the UFC, and that was given a lot of press, and she handled it so well. And then when the Jason Collins story came out, I thought about what Liz Karmouche thought of it all,

because obviously she wasn't given as much publicity as Jason. That was a historic moment when you talk about the four major sports, MMA not included in that. So of the four major sports here in the United States, the NBA, the NHL, the NFL, Major League Baseball, there has never been an active player to announce to the world that he was gay. There have been some that have announced post-career names like John Amici come to mind, a former senator in the NBA. But no one who was an active player in the league,

and what I was talking about with Jason Collins. was his contractor's up with the Washington Wizards, so we don't know if he'll be back. He's kind of at the tail end of his career. In any case, I was wondering what Liz, who is certainly not at the tail end of her career, one might say in the prime of her career, thought about it, the attention it received,

the way it was covered, the way he handled it, and not surprising to me, she thought it was all positive, which I did as well. So a nice story there, and we look forward to return to the Octagon on July the 21st, Now, the next big UFC event is UFC on FX8.

It's May 18th. It's at Jaragua du Seoul in Santa Catarina, Brazil. And the main event, of course, is Luke Rockhold versus Vitor Belfort. Co-main event, Chris Komozzi versus Jaceret Suza. Then there's Raphael Dos Anios versus Evan Dunham. And Raphael Sapo Natal versus newcomer, Joanne, Zezer. Defrino might be mispronouncing that, and that's at 9 p.m. Eastern on Saturday night. That is on FX. There are preliminary fights on Fuel TV on Saturday as well, and also Facebook prelim fights at 4.30 p.m. Eastern, so 4.30 to 6, and then 6 to 9 on Fuel TV.

Some interesting names on the prelims. John Lineker is fighting. You've got Hakron Diaz versus Nick Lentz, John Cholish, our good pal, against Glyson Tebow. And Roger Hallett versus Fabio Maldonado, Fabio Maldonado's first fight back in the UFC since his fight against Glover-Teshire at UFC 153. So in a minute, hopefully we'll finally get Luke Rockhold on the phone. We'll talk to him about life in Brazil right now. He flew out to Brazil yesterday for what is his first UFC fight. And then afterwards, we will announce the bracket for the first ever Rick's Picks Invitation. Before we get to that, let us welcome in, Mr. Rockhold. Hey, Luke.

How's it going? What's up, guys? Finally got it working. We appreciate you fighting through that. Daniel was telling us, Daniel Cormier, that you had told him you were planning on standing us up, because that's the kind of guy that you are. I didn't believe it. Oh, come on.

That's not my style. I don't stand anybody up. I know. He says you're a heartbreaker. They always say that about you at the gym, but I know for me you want to do that, especially just days away from your UFC debut. so you're in Brazil right now. What was the trip out there like?

I was a long, long trip. You know, I had like a four and a half hour flight into Atlanta, nine-hour flight to San Paulo, hour flight to Navigantes, and then we had like an hour drive here. My God. Finally, Justin, got my workout out of the way. You know, I'm starting to get my weight down a little bit.

Those flights always mess with you a little bit, kind of blowed you up, but I'm feeling good. Door to door. How long did that take? I mean, add that one up. That's about 15 hours of flying. Jeez. It was a, yeah, it was afar. Long ago, but we're here and I'm ready to go.

I feel good. So what was this experience like leading up to this? Because you've done more media for this fight than any fight you had, even in Strike Force's middleweight champion. Was it overwhelming at times? No, I mean, it's not too much more. You know, they've got it pretty down these days. all the PR guys here, the UFC, they bunch it up into times where I just bust it all out.

Does it feel like you're in the UFC just yet? Did you feel like you are part of this, this, this, this big operation, or do you think you'll only feel like you're a member of the UFC once you actually step in the cage on Saturday? You know, I've always felt like part of the family. I've been working with them for a long time, but, you know, I mean, being actual UFC fighter, you know, when I step in the cage, when whoever the referees that makes us, you know, starts to stop. That's when I'll begin. So you're fighting a guy who is widely popular in Brazil, probably number two under Anderson-Silva-Vitor-Belford.

In your short amount of time there, and I know you did some promo stuff before this fight, but in your time in Brazil, what kind of feedback are you getting from the people? Do you feel like they're rooting for you? Do they hate you? Do they want you? They have this chant that they say to people, like, you're going to die and stuff. Like, what kind of love are you getting from the fans over there? So far, so good.

I did the press tour here earlier, so it was good then, and it's good now. You know, I don't know. I haven't got any hate, and I've got a lot of love, you know, especially on social media, and just, you know, here everyone's been super cool, and we'll see. I'm sure they'll be, for the most part, against me, you know, when the fight starts, but after it ends, I plan on turn around my side. You know, I remember I was in attendance for your fight in Cincinnati when you became the champion. That was probably one of the most depressing MMA events I ever attended

because there was no promotion done for it and there was no one in attendance and it was one of the best Strike Force cards ever. I assume this will be a 180 as far as a hostile environment, the passion of the crowd. Are you ready for that? You like that kind of environment being the enemy going into enemy territory, fighting the local boy, if you will. For me, you know, I thrive on big fights and challenges, and this is a huge challenge, huge opportunity. Vitor is very dangerous, and, you know, I'm just excited about it.

And, you know, I trained so hard for this fight, just like I did for Jockeray. You know, that fight, that Cincinnati fight was definitely one of the best, you know, fighting fight cards, you know, we've had in fighting in a long time. That was sad to watch that one get overlooked. and this one shouldn't get the UFC behind it so there's a big stage and I'm excited about it Do you take any inspiration from seeing the Strike Force fighters

the big name ones doing relatively well in the UFC Is that just something we talk about or do you sit there I know some of them are your friends And does that motivate you seeing them do well in their UFC debuts? It's definitely cool to see You know we've dealt with a lot of crap In Strike Force people looking down on us and to see our guys, my guys, especially, obviously,

Cormier and Thompson and Gilbert and a lot of guys, a lot of good friends of mine and teammates get in there and whoops, mass, it's awesome. It feels good, and, you know, I'm looking forward to doing the same. Would you say the lowest moment for you was when that whole list story came out? You were on our show, and it seemed like you were actually going to cry. You were so depressed about the future. No, am I wrong about that?

You seem really down. Oh, the list. Oh, yeah. when the last time we were on it. Yeah. I was looking for challenges, you know. Strike force is getting stale, and we were running out of opponents, and, you know, I wanted to keep climbing the ladder.

And it didn't really matter what I did in Strike Force at that time. Who I beat, you know, I wasn't going to better myself or, you know, put myself up these, like, these rankings or whatever, you know, whatever you guys called them. Yeah, you know, so, I mean, now I have an opportunity to fight, you know, the best in the UFC and become, you know, I have a chance to be the best in the world. You know, there I didn't have that opportunity. So do you feel like it was a bit of a, I don't know, a blessing that you, because over your

last couple of fights in Strike Force, you always have to answer the same questions about Strike Force, the future, the opponents that you're getting, this time you didn't have to deal with any of that crap. So that must have been good, right? Yeah, yeah, definitely. This is all smiles and, you know, I'm happy to be here. This is the UFC. This is where, you know, this is where you dreamed about being as a kid.

and what I first grew up watching, you know, and, you know, it's crazy. I'm here, and I get to step in that cage and fight for him for the, you know, I'm pumped. I said earlier in the show, if Anderson beats Chris Wyman, there's no immediate rematch needed, and you win on Saturday, you should be the guy fighting Anderson next because you were the Strike Force champion. You beat Vitor, who a lot of people think is top three, top four. Do you agree with that? Do you think you would deserve that? I like it. Why wouldn't I?

Yeah, I know. How they told you to do that? I haven't heard it from the big dogs yet, but a lot of people talk about it as a number one contender fight. You know, sitting back as a fan looking at the division. I mean, Vitor's up there. He hasn't lost to anybody in the middle-weight division besides Anderson. I mean, he just took out BIS being the number one contender. You know, I haven't lost since 2007.

my one loss and uh so i mean me coming in beating vitor should should say a lot we'll see we'll see what happens uh but you know of course i want that title and uh you know i'm hoping hoping that comes to be but uh you know

Anderson's got super fights out there too so who knows what's going on i'm just uh i just got to focus on what's in front of me you know uh in an interview recently you talked about how vitor is not a man and that you're going to you know make him pay and things like that and then i asked him about this and he was you know he was you know he He's handled everything very well, but he said, you know, he has a family, he's a father, you're none of these things. So what exactly did you mean when you say that he's not a man? You know, we're talking about fighting here, so obviously I'm referring to fighting.

Right. I'm not talking about outside about having a family and kids. You know, I'm talking about manning up when the going gets tough. When things get hairy, you know, I believe I'll be the guy to man up and push through it. And, you know, I haven't seen that from Vitor. and, you know, I'm going to make things, you know, get ugly and get ugly early. You know, I believe I can reverse that role. I'm going to come after Vitor in the first round.

You know, it's not just going to be Vitor's first round. It's going to be me in his face. I'm going to be putting it on him, and, you know, I'm going to be coming for him right off the bat. So you're going to try to fight fire with fire because he likes to do that, right? He comes out very aggressive in the first round. He does at times if you let him. But if you get on him, you know, he can reverse that role. And that's what I'm going to be doing.

I'm going to be in his face from the start. So you think he wilts under the pressure? When someone gets in his face, he backs down. I didn't say that. I said when the going gets tough, when things, you know, when things get serious in the fight, you know, later on or, you know, when he sustained some damage. And obviously, you've got to get on him.

I mean, there's a time where he's got a breaking. point from what I've seen. I've seen a breaking point in Vitor and I have to find that. Daniel Cormier talked after his fight that the octagon jitters got to him. What are you going to do to not let them get to you? Not think about them. People who think about the octagon jitters and focus on little things like that. I mean, they let that happen to him. I think you visualize, you know, just a fight. Think of it as a fight and block all that out and just focus on what's in front of you. For me, I got tunnel vision. I'm in full tunnel vision mode when I'm fighting, and I don't see anything affecting me. I ran this through my head, and I played this out.

There won't be any thinking going on in fight night. They'll just be all instinct, and that's how I've always done it, and that's how I'll do it. Did you get the sense Daniel was focusing on that beforehand? Penn? I can't say that from Daniel. I was in the back with him when he was about to fight, so I didn't see him focusing on that. I think he was confident, but he definitely used that one. We'll see. We'll see how it all works out. But I just don't see that for me. I'll be all right. By the way, how pissed were you when they did that little that-so-rock hole thing on Field TV with Daniel? Did you feel like you were betrayed there?

I didn't feel like I was betrayed at all, but, you know, obviously, Daniel's going to grind me. He always tries to find an opportunity and, you know, make it maybe look worse for wear. Those shoes were not mine. I mean, I didn't make those. A fan made those for me and sent them out to me, and I squeezed my feet in them that one day because they came in the mail. And they made them actually, like, sound like I made my own shoes or something. Come on, really. and the further reference that okay and the soccer kick

yes the soccer kick the field was wet yes okay it was a wet turf all right I actually have proper technique but in vans you just have no chance you're there's no traction and you're out from under yourself anybody who's going to kick a ball

with any kind of authority is going to lose that one lose that battle you know I did fall but Thank God I hit him in the ball So you know to cover up my fall Not a lot of people remember the fall Until Daniel had to point it out

Over and over again As far as falls go on a soccer field It was impressive But for a guy who You know, father played pro basketball Mom's a tennis coach What your sister does Jiu Jitsu Your brother's a surfer

A family of athletes What do they think of your wipeout Did they give you grief for it? I didn't hear too much You know Oh that's nice but yeah, yeah, we're good on that end

So who is this fan Was it a girl or a boy that sent you those shoes? I was a guy So a guy made a pair of shoes with your face on it And sent it to you? Why? What did he say when he did this? It's a very strange gift

Oh, I mean, I just did like I did a report for him out there And it was like first First interview or something like that So he's all he's very grateful and he wanted to help support and he said, he said, I'm going to make you something

and send him out to me. So it was cool to get. I was just funny. Did he actually think you would walk around with shoes, your face on him? Or was it just? I hope. I don't think he went that far.

I'm not going to go that far over there, for sure. By the way. I squeezed him in that one. Why? He didn't ask you for your size? You just guessed? I don't know. Maybe sizes in Mexico are a little smaller than they are here because, man, I definitely, they're like size 10 or something. I wear a size 12. Also, it was a Mexican journalist, so maybe that's just, maybe that's a big honor over there to give someone shoes with their face on it.

Maybe it's something that our culture doesn't know about. Yeah, yeah. Something like that. Maybe we're just having, you know, when I was cool as they are. By the way, I always wanted to ask you, your dad played basketball. Where do you play? Overseas? He played overseas for a few years. He played in Italy, France, and then he actually came here,

got drafted by the Warriors for a Summer League. He played a Summer League with the Warriors. I don't know if he took it as seriously as he should have. He thought he had a lock, and when the season came around, he kind of got the cut. But he had a chance to play against the big dogs against, like, Julius Irving. Wow. And David Robinson, he got a guard, David, and play against him and get some points.

He tells him some stories. It was pretty funny. So it's awesome, you know. I mean, got a, my dad, he definitely played, you know, with the best of the best. So he was a big man? He's a big man, six foot eight. Wow. Size 18.

He was, my dad had some huge chance. My dad's like a giant. I was so scared as a kid. I was going to be, like, too big. I wasn't going to be able to serve. surf, skate, and do my thing. I started drinking coffee and doing everything I could stunt my growth as a young kid. Oh, really?

It was, I was worried. My dad's huge. It's like a giant. What was his name? What is his name? Steve. Steve Rockold? Wow, I'm going to look him up.

I'm a big basketball fan, so I wanted to know more about him. And did that work? Do you think that work, like trying to stunt your growth? I don't know. I'm the smallest of my family. Oh. Six foot three. Wow.

I guess that works. Wait, how tall is your mom? I mean, I'm out of the guys. Oh, okay, okay. My mom is 5'10. Actually, my older sister is 6 foot 2. Wow. And then I have two foot.

And then I have another sister. She's about 6 foot, younger sister. And then 2 older brothers, 1-6-5. And then my other brother, Matt, is 6-3 and a half. He holds it on me. Oh, wow. And I know your family likes to go to your fights. Are they all coming to Brazil to watch you fight?

Uh, not this fight. I, uh, I had my mom stay home. I didn't really feel comfortable with that one. And, uh, you know, it's just, it didn't work out for the rest of them. I'm going to come back and we're going to all celebrate back in Santa Cruz when I get home. So you're flying solo? I am, uh, I'm here. You know, I'm working on my team right now. Actually, we got, we got some issues. Bob Cook is supposed to come out here with me, but, uh, he had a staff infection in his arm. So he's in the hospital right now. Oh, no. He's got, he's got a pretty bad staff infection. He's on the IV. And, uh, he's got a, he's got a staff infection. And, uh, We're trying to get him healed up and just, you know, it looks like he's going to keep his arm, but he just neglected a spot on his arm, and it got really bad real quick,

and his whole arm's just huge in red. It's funny. He's in the hospital. I'll tweet a pick of it a little bit, but he's got, he's got like a line, like, over here to here. It's just completely red. There's still just marking, you know, trying to mark the line, so the redness doesn't go outside, but he's recovering, you know, I guess, and I'm hoping to get him out here.

But I got Javier Mendez coming out tomorrow and Leandro O'Ira too. So we'll have our team out here. Do you need me to come out there to help you out? Is that what you're trying to imply? Man, would you please come out? No, I'm busy. I'm sorry. I appreciate that.

I've got room for one more. Wow. If he doesn't come out, are you going to replace him with someone? Because I know Daniel's busy. He only cares about himself. He's doing his TV stuff. Can you get someone else to replace Bob? Yeah, Daniel acts like he's such a, you know, big caring teddy bear, but, you know, when it comes down to it, we all know he's for himself.

Yeah, he's doing TV work. Yeah, TV work. I've got to make money. Yeah, no. No, it's, it's, I'll have my corners. They'll all be here, and we've, I really, really, when it comes down to it, I don't need corners. I just, I need to get in there. I need to fight. I know what I need to do, and nothing's going to stop.

And how are you keeping busy from today to Saturday? I mean, you're there pretty early. It's Monday. What are you doing for the next few days? I mean, there's a lot of maintenance. There's a lot of stuff to do. So I'm just going to relax, really. Try to enjoy the town.

We might venture out to the beach tomorrow. Go check it out. There'll be press conferences. There'll be interview and things to do. So it's fight week. You just try to make this go as fast as possible. Final question, Luke. How are you winning on Saturday?

I'm winning on Saturday. my stoppage. I'm going to finish this fight. I mean, there's a lot of ways it can finish. I think I have many ways I can finish, and I think Vitor has little. And so, you know, I can put him to sleep many ways with the kick, the punch, or with a choke. Neither way. But he will be going to sleep. You deserve it, my friend.

Enjoy the ride. Enjoy Fight Week in Brazil. Very much looking forward to this. It's been a long time coming. and this is one of the most anticipated fights of 2013, in my opinion. Vitor Belfort versus Luke Rockhold in Brazil, UFC on FXA. This Saturday night on FX, it begins at 9 p.m. Eastern in the main card, prelims at 6 p.m. on Fuel TV.

Can't wait for it. Good luck to you, Luke, and we'll talk to you after the fight. Thank you so much, by the way, for coming on. I really appreciate you doing this. I know it was not the most, the easiest and most pleasurable thing to get the Skype connection, so I appreciate that very much. You're welcome, definitely. Check it out, guys. There he is. Luke Rockhold.

The now former Strike Force Middleweight champion makes his UFC debut on Saturday night. I cannot wait for that, as I said, one of the most anticipated fights of 2013. I thank him for jumping on Skype in Brazil after a long day of flying to come on our show.

Okay, as I mentioned, UFC on FX8, that is this Saturday, and that means it is the beginning of the Ricks Picks Invitational, which we announced last week, the 16 participants. Today, we will announce

the matchups, and the way-ins are 3 p.m. Eastern on Fuel TV on Friday, which means you have to have your picks sent in by 4 p.m. Eastern to...

Where do they send them? Mr. Rick, are you there? Are you sleeping? I'm here. I'm here. Where do they send the picks? They can send it to New York, Rick, at gmail.com. Spell that out for us.

N-E-W-Y-O-R-K-R-C at g-mail.com. Okay, and should we do it four? If the Wands are at three, but, you know, the broadcast... I'd say an hour from the end. So, let's just say 4.30. Just to keep it clean. You know what I mean? That works.

Okay, 4.30 p.m. Eastern Time. So figure it out, if you don't live on the Eastern Seaboard, 4.30 p.m. Eastern time, you have to send your picks to New York Rick at Gmail. And as I said last week, you get $100. Based on the odds on bestfight odds.com, you go to five dimes. That's what we're looking at, right? Yep. So you go to those odds, make your picks.

No funny business. We'll make sure that everything is kosher beforehand, and then we'll keep track of it all. Right? Correct, sir. Okay. Now, you have been working very hard to make us the brackets. I made the matchups. Let me just pull them up here on my little...

computer. Okay, here we go. Here we go. All right. Let us reveal the bracket. And we can go full screen with this as well. Wow. Look at that thing. Rick's Picks Invitational. By the way, I messed up. I wanted to call one conference something and another conference something funny, but I forgot to send that to you. So we'll have to live with that. They are ranked from seated, I should say, one to eight, one to eight. And these are the matchups. These are the first round matchups. These participants will be going up against each other on Saturday night. The person who ends up with the most money after UFC on FX8 moves on to the next round. So the number one seed, New York Rick, will meet Mike Tyson UFC at Mike Tyson UFC.

This has been a rivalry that has been long time brewing. Some thought that I should save this matchup for later. But no, Mike called him out. He gets the matchup firsthand. He wants to knock out New York Rick at the top, go ahead, knock him out. What do you think? Do you like that you're going up against him first? Doesn't matter who I'm going up against. Damn. So I put New York Rick as respect. I put him up as the number one seed and naturally I had to make Mike number eight. All right, let's move along. We still don't really know how to pronounce this guy's name, but Metra-Metre Davy, I'm going to say, versus Trent Dozier. Two longtime fans of the sport, two very respectful. Two very passionate guys.

They go up against each other in the 4-5 matchup. You see them right there. The winner meets the winner of New York Rick versus Mike Tyson. Things get a little interesting in the 3-6 matchup here. We've got our man, Hey, Archer. By the way, what about that video this guy made? This guy made an actual preview video of the Rick's Picks Invitational. Did you see this thing?

I did see it. It was unbelievable. Check it out, too. So just follow him on Twitter. Hey, Archer. It was great. Hey, Archer. I watched it a bunch of times. It was very funny. And I appreciate him going the extra mile there. So he meets our good pal Lee MMA only who got in because he gave my mom the old shoutout. But a long time listener of our show and fan of our show. And I like this matchup. Three versus six. Hey Archer versus Lee MMA only. Now, two versus seven is a very interesting matchup. NC17, who fancies himself some kind of. kind of, you know, big-time gambler, also a long-time fan of our show, going up against the number two seed, Big Kick. Now, Big Kick has the most amazing Twitter icon of all the

Twitter icons here, and props, by the way, to New York Rick for making this little nice bracket, because he has the classic Twitter Egg. This is the guy who his first tweet was his request to enter the tournament, and he didn't even bother. changing his avatar. There it is, the egg. So we got the unknown. We don't know anything about Big Kick versus the guy who is touting himself as some kind of betting aficionado.

I love that. We could get a really big upset in the 7-2 matchups. So that's one side of the bracket right there. Some interesting matchups. We move along to the other side of the bracket. And I really like this bracket a lot, by the way. Number one seed at the top. Want to Bet UFC.

I mean, the name says it all. I gave him the. respect. I mean, you have a name like that. You have a, you have a Twitter handle like that, then you got to be number one seat. Just for, just for cockiness alone, just for ego alone, you got to be number one seat. Going up against our good pal, uh, Darnel Giovanni, a long time fan of our show, not so sure about his betting technique, his betting ability. So I thought he should be the number eight seed. And we could get a big upset. Eight versus one is always fun.

Imagine if the guy with the name Wanna Bet UFC doesn't make it past the first round. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? We're already getting some pushback from competitors

who are unhappy that the emails are going to New York Rick at gmail.com. Well, guess what? Guess what? Live with it. All right? Shut the hell up.

Are you kidding me? Here's the thing. Don't send your picks until a minute before before the deadline. That way, there's no conflict of interest.

there. Just send them at the deadline. Why? Why? Because they're saying if they send them early, I'm going to copy their picks. Okay, okay, okay, okay. I have a perfect way to combat this. At 4.30 p.m., or before that, if you want, you send your picks. And the tweeting of your picks signals to them that they should start sending in theirs. Fair? Sure. I have no problem with sending my picks in there. I mean, now you're just complaining to complain. Sure. I have no problem. I'll even preview the cards.

I'll do, I have no problem with that. So if you have a complaint, save it. Just send the picks in. I see Wanda Bet UFC. Want to bet UFC? You're lucky to be in this, let alone the first seed. Send the picks. I trust them.

Works on the damn show. Stop your complaining. Now, number four is our good friend, Sean, Shee, B.A. Number four seed, we know he talks a good game, but we're not quite sure about his betting. So we put him at number four, and he's going up. against Irish rule. Now, Irish Rule 15 is in, he's not in fact Irish, but I just thought it would be fun to have a fake Irishman versus a real Irishman in the four or five slot there. And how about that potential second round matchup between Sean Cheyenne and Wanabet UFC, who all of a sudden

is getting a little bit on my nerves here trying to mess up our mojo. So that could be a potentially huge second round matchup in the RPI. Now we move along to the big three six matchup. This is a very interesting one. We've got Big Marley 3, who again is one of these guys who, you know, he's very cocky, he's very confident. He thinks he's one of the best gamblers, UFC, whatever the heck that means.

He's one who talks a little trash. Also, a big Indiana Pacer fan against Mavs, Mavs Real, who got into this tournament by simply tweeting, go Nix. And so I thought it would be nice with the Nix playing the Pacers that we would have a battle of Indiana, New York.

I don't even know if they're from Indiana or New York, but I was drawing from that matchup. And we don't know, again, we don't know about Mav's betting technique, but I thought, or how well, Versi is in MMA betting, but I thought that would be a fun matchup. And then the final matchup, this one's very fun. Ashby LV, if you recall Ashby, the matchmaker for Ronda Rossi's first two amateur fights, and also a guy who dubbed himself a degenerate gambler from Las Vegas against Lala Land 999.

The lone female participant, or Big Kick could be one, we don't know about his identity, the lone female participant. Wouldn't it be great if Lala Land 9999 knocked off the degenerate gambler from Las Vegas, the 27 matchup? That'd be fun. It would be a nice shakeup. It would be a nice shakeup. See, I think I really did a great job making these matchups. I don't mean to pat myself on the back, but... Lee and Sean were on Twitter thinking that you...

you were going to match them up. No. Why are you saying no like that? Because that's just silly. Why would I match up the two Irishmen? Why wouldn't you? I thought that that's why you picked Irish rule. Yeah, but that's why I threw.

You see, just when you think you have all the answers, I changed the questions. Of course they thought that. People are happy. there's some trash talk. I see Hey Archer saying to Lee MMA only, I understand if you want to withdraw from the tournament. Sean Sheehan writes, I'm happy with everything, Ariel.

I have a plan to win the whole competition in week one. Win or bust? Uh-oh. What do you have to say? Well, first, I would say that that's a bad idea. You don't want to give out your strategy over Twitter. I like the trash track, though. So, Sean, maybe keep that under wraps a little bit.

So do you want to talk about this card or? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You want to kind of... Well, I was going to ask you about that because... I have no problem talking about it, honestly. It's not going to affect anything at the end of the day. Really? I'm not going to tell you exactly what my bet's going to be,

but I mean, I can talk about who I'm liking or not liking. Listen, do what you want. I don't know if that's smart, but tell us what you want to say about the card. Got no problem talking about it. So Rockhold's the favorite in this fight right now, minus 130. Belford is plus 110. I think that's, I can't decide if it's right or if I'm favoring Rockhold a little bit. I think that VTor is known to fade a little bit,

and Rockhold can withstand the first round, the first second round for sure. I really like Rockhold's stamina, his cardio. He keeps his striking numbers up throughout the whole fight. So I think this is one of those where if he can drag Rockhold, sorry, if he can drag Vitor into deep waters, it's going to be a big advantage for him. Now, granted, I figured the same thing for Bisbing. I favored him in that matchup because of that.

And Belfort has the ability to end a fight at any time. So if Rockhold's not careful, he could be finished, but I'm thinking I'm favoring Luke in this one. Okay. I think a lot of people are, right? Well, he's the favorite. Right, that's true. I saw that Belfour was even at one point.

Possibly. I mean, it's so close that it probably opened somewhere around even. Okay. Dunham, there's only three lines out actually right now. So actually, I won't even talk about Dunham, Dos Anos. Maybe that one I'll save. But Comozy and Jacaree. Yeah.

Jokoree is a minus 525 favorite. Camozy is a plus 415 underdog. I don't see any way Camozy can realistically win this. fight. As I've said on the show many times, I'm a very big fan of Jokorei. I think he's one of the top middleweights in the world. I think he's top five already, if not second or third best. So there's not many ways that Comozy can win this fight, so I think that that's a pretty safe bet. I was salivating before when potentially I was going to be able to bet on Jokure at minus 200 against Costa Philippa, because I thought that was giving away money practically.

That's how high I am on him. So this is a bit steeper in price, but I think that it's still a pretty safe bet overall. Yeah. I think a lot of people are favoring Jacques Rees, especially given the short notice nature of the fight, although Komosi was training for a similar fighter in Saupontal, not quite at the level of Jacques-Rae. That's a tough match-up firm, but credit to him for taking the fight on short notice. Any other fight you want to weigh in on?

Well, there's only one more line, so I'll just save it. Oh, the dosanos one? Yep. Yeah. All right. You feeling confident? Not even sweating. Really?

Feeling perfectly fine back here. Is Mike Tyson talking smack? He's been trying. I mean, I gotta say, I don't know if it's a Canadian thing, but the trash talk, the level has been pretty bad. It's been pretty low. Really? But, uh... Like almost embarrassing?

It's bad. Really? I just say it's bad. Wow. He's trying. It's just failing. He's trying. I'll give him that. He's putting in the effort, but it's just not working out. Wow.

And who do you face potentially in the second round? Is there any threat there? Let's see. I forget. I... The guy who we can't pronounce... Oh, yes, yes, yes. And Trent. The guy who we can't pronounce why I put him there was because he made that picture that your pick sucked. Oh, that's right. That was a great picture. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I am scared of Trent just because he has Don Frye in the icon. That's... That's true. That's intimidating. That's true. Now, someone was asking me, one of the competitors on Twitter, the website is bestfight odds.com, and then look at five dimes. Exactly. Look at five dimes. Look at the lime. You can make the pick now if you want. No one's stopping you. But you have until 4.30 p.m. Eastern on Friday. And Rick will make his pick up maybe a little before that just to give you some times and none of you complain. But even so, stop your complaining. All right? We're on the up and up here. We have no reason to. flub this thing. All right? Cool. All right, so there it is. The Rick's Picks Invitational

is set. The brackets are set. The matchups are set. I cannot wait for it. I'm really looking forward to this. And then next week, we will announce who moves on to the next round. And that continues with UFC 160 the following week. So that'll be very fun. Okay. One more thing to do. We're only taking

five questions today, right? Yeah, I've got five. Five questions, because we've gone way too long. This has been a very long show. What is our record? I think we're approaching our record. I think it was like 3 and 40, something like that. Oh, okay, so we're not approaching our record.

Yeah, it was 2 or 3 weeks ago. Nick Newell feels like he was on the show nine years ago. Well, speaking of Nick Newell, our first question is, now this one was asked actually on May 11th. What? Yeah, he got his question in early, but I thought it was apropolo. By the way, this doesn't sort of put down. the theory that you take your questions

too early. You know what I'm saying? Well, here's the thing. I look at the questions early. If you get the better question in early, you're going to get picked. If you ask something that the person asked earlier, the same exact question, you're not going to get picked.

So start looking through the questions and ask something different. All right. Our first question. Cracking the whip. Yes. Will Nick Newell? Will Nick Newell ever fight in the UFC? You know, it really depends on this contract that he signs and how long term it is,

I'm going to guess, yes. You? I'm going to say yes, but I'm not as confident as I was maybe a little while ago. Why? Well, because just how flippant Dana White's been about it, he hasn't really indicated.

Yeah, but look at women's MMA. I know, but with women's MMA, it was more like a no, no, never. With Newell, it's kind of like, he doesn't even care. Yeah. You know what I mean? Jeremy Bader made that point

from Bleacher Report. He wrote an article about that. And I wasn't thinking that way, but I kind of agree. Because he hasn't forced his hand. He hasn't made, you know, the women made him look and pay attention. He hasn't done that. Well, really, Ronda Rousey made him. So I think that he can, he's so good and he's so talented.

I think that it's hard to keep him out if he keeps winning. But I'm just not as confident as I was previously. I'm still going to say yes. I still think he's good. I still think the next move for him should be a World Series of Fighting or a Belator. Belator, who knows what kind of contract he could get there. It's clear to me that he wants to be in the UFC at some point in his career. Who knows if that could happen.

But he just needs a platform to showcase himself against some kind of name. And again, I think he is must-see TV. Our next question, do you think Rockhold opening is a favorite? And if in his UFC debut against Belfort in Brazil is crazy, or did he earn him? I'll let you answer that. No, I don't think it's crazy. And I think that betting lines are a lot less influenced by who's the veteran of the UFC and things like that anymore. For example, Cormier was a huge favorite over Frank Mear, who's a UFC veteran, who's faced the top guys in the world on a consistent basis.

And it was proven in the fight that Cormier was that much better. So it doesn't surprise me. I think Rockhold should be the favorite. I agree that the line should be slight. He shouldn't be a big favorite, but it doesn't surprise me at all. It might surprise me a tad just because of how Vitor has looked, but I think this just proves that the MMA odds makers are getting smarter. And he may not have that signature win on his record.

He may not have fought the names that Vitor Belford has fought or a name like Vitor Belfort, but I think they got this one right. You answered this earlier, but it's an excuse to, to, used a picture. My man, Sean. It's our buddy Sean, and he says, does a win over Rockhold make Vitor the 180-pound number one contender? Now, when you scroll down, Belfort and Buddy.

Wow. His buddy, Jesus. Now, Sean was very upset that we were not doing a post today. I just wasn't, there's just a lot going on on this show, so I didn't think there was time, and there wasn't an easy one, but that probably would have won the V-Tor. Is Sean changing his hairstyle? on us because it looks like he's got the chops and like a high, like a kind of 50s do-wop. I feel like he's always had that, no?

He has? Except for the one where he had his hair down and all that. That was a great one. Because he looks nothing like the guy in the icon there. He's got the thick framed glasses. Here he's got the high top. He's got the chops. Well, he knows you're going to put him on screen every week, so now he's cleaning it up,

making it look fresh. Yeah, something like that. Does a win over rock cold? Yeah, I think so. Don't you agree? Definitely agree. Somebody suggested he fights Bisbing on Twitter, and that's a lateral move at best.

Bisbing just lost to Vitor, so that really doesn't make sense. There's nobody left out there. It's time for him to get a title shot, or at least be one away if he beats Vitor. The only way he doesn't get a title shot, in my opinion, or doesn't deserve one, is if Anderson loses to Chris Widman,

and then you do the immediate rematch. Yep. Here's our next question. How much damage do you think the Bellator and Eddie Alver as dispute is doing to each party. The questions are getting better and better. I really like this. It's a very good question.

I think, honestly, I think it's kind of hurting both at this point. Obviously, like I said, I think that court of public opinion, when you have a fighter coming out and really driving home the narrative and really kind of being the guy who's being a whole lot more outspoken than the other side, it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt. It has to hurt, especially when you're the fighter.

the fans tend to side with the fighter. And then Beltor came out and said their piece and now it became like a sort of he said she said dispute. That's where we're at right now. No one likes this at the end of the day. No one likes contract disputes. No one likes people arguing over terms and contracts, money,

fans get into this because they want to see athletes perform. And especially when it's like promoter versus fighter, it just makes you think of boxing. It's not something that we hear too much. about in our sport. We have heard it, but it doesn't get out of control like this. So I don't think it's helping either side, honestly. And I'm not really sure where I stand on the whole thing. You know, I still don't feel like we know the whole story. Eddie's saying his thing. Bjorin's saying

his thing. I'm still not quite sure. All I know is that I wanted to end. Figure it out. Sit down, figure it out, and stop letting this drag on. I don't see how it benefits anyone. Beltor has the guy who beat Eddie Alvarez. Why do you care? so much about him. Unless you think he's a real game changer. Eddie wants to go. Let him go. That's the simplest way I could break it down. I know it's not that simple. It's much bigger than that, as we've said.

But I don't think anyone's winning from this. I don't think there's a winner right now. I don't think there's someone who's looking better. I think they just continue to look worse. Our next question is a related one. But before we get to that, the guy Frank, who submitted this one, also submitted his own impressive... Sweet baby, Jesus. That is a related.

a pretty good one. It's nice, right? I mean, he looks scary and... Yeah, the crazy eyes don't help. And I wonder what kind of work he does, or maybe he's, he could be in college. He's got a neck tattoo? That's what Will says. Looks like he has a hickie.

Yeah, it's impressive. Well done. All right, so that's funny. The last question, you might have touched upon it a little bit, but how much longer does Eddie Alvarez have before fans, both casual and die-hard, stop caring about where he ends up? I mean, even if this thing lasts a year

and he ends up in the UFC, I still think there'll be interests. They'll build it up. He'll build it up. There'll be interviews. I just think that you've reached a point. Here's the thing. Last week on the MMA beat,

they were saying, you kind of reach a point where you don't care. But, I mean, look at when there's a story out. Everyone's talking about it. There are tons of comments. I still think people care. I don't think we've reached a point where we don't care

it, I just, let's see some movement. Let's see some work towards a resolution. So I don't think we've reached that point just yet, that point where it's just like two people, and that would be devastating more for Eddie than Bellator, in my opinion, because Belator can keep going. That train can move along without him, and they'll be okay. He's the one ultimately that has a shelf life. He's the one that has to retire at some point, move on. This is when he should be fighting and making a name for himself. so it would be more devastating to him. I don't think we've reached that point. I don't see it in sight,

but I think fans would be a lot more, they'd feel better about this story if it looked like it was moving. And right now, I couldn't even get it out of him. I don't even know where we stand. What's the next big day? What are we looking forward to? What's the day we circle on our calendar

that there could be a resolution or at least the next step? We don't even know that. That's frustrating. So we're just sitting here. we're going through Twitter back and forth. That I don't get it. So it's unfortunate. It is unfortunate because Eddie Alvarez was one of those guys,

the main guy who helped put Belvoir on the map. He was their big name. He was their face. And he could still be their face. And that rematch against Michael Chandler, I think would be interesting. But if he wants to go and if there's no future for him in Belator and they got the guy who beat him, just figure it out.

And even with all of this, he still says that he would go back, just wants what he was offered from the UFC. I'm not sure if Beltor can offer him exactly that. They can't. Spike is not Fox. They don't have pay-per-view. How is it so simple for us to understand and not for others? That's why I feel like there's more to this that we don't know. I like talking about fighting.

I like talking about the storylines. This is part of it. But we're not there yet to answer your question, but it could be coming soon. That was it. And our friend Frank tweeted he says he unloads trucks. That's what he does for a living. Oh, okay.

That makes sense. So that's it for the Twitter questions. All right, yeah. We shortened the Twitter questions for this week because we had a lot to get to and I knew we might get backed up. So five great ones and we appreciate everyone leaving questions

and that was kind of a last minute executive decision. So we apologize if you did send a question and we didn't get to it. No prize for this week because we shortened it. We didn't think it was fair. but the questions are getting better and better. And in the future, we will devote more time for them. Just this week, we kind of stack the deck.

So apologies for that. But thank you very much to all those who did send in questions via Twitter or the website. Mike, you can hit my music, my man. Very fun show, my friends. A stack show. This set, this new studio is bringing us good vibes. Two back-to-back, feeling good about ourselves. Like I said earlier, it's an interesting time in our sport with what's happening with Eddie Albrez.

We had Josh Barnett on. Where will he go? Nick Newell. Where will he go? Let's not forget about our good friend Rampage Jackson. Well, I have inquired about not much going on, but hopefully soon we'll find out where he will go. Still a free agent. What about Showtime?

Where will they go? A lot of interesting things to discuss in the world of mixed martial arts. We appreciate everyone who stopped. by today. Nick Newell, good luck to him as he decides where he will fight next. I mean, that XFC thing, that was a gift. They gave him a gift. They let him go. Now he could fight wherever he wants to fight.

Thank you very much to Nick Newell for stopping by and coming in studio. Thank you very much to Josh Barnett. Good luck to him as he decides where he fights next. Sounds to me like he wants to fight in the UFC. Daniel Cormier, we appreciate him stopping by and check him out on Fuel TV this weekend as he is an analyst for the UFC on FXA card. Steven Espinoza, always great talking to one of the big, powerful executives in the world of sports television. We appreciate him stopping by.

Congratulations to him and his team for all their success. Mike Keisa, it wasn't that fun. Pound for pound, best beards. Or I keep saying beards, I favor the beards, I will admit. But facial and mixed martial arts history, that was great. And Luke Rockold, good luck to him in his UFC debut. Ricks Picks Invitational going down this weekend. Check out the results next week on the show.

We'll be back. Same time, same place. Check out the replay on Stitcher, iTunes, and all that time. Some out of you. Defenders and cybersecurity are always there when we need them. They should get a parade every time they block a novel threat and have streets, sandwiches, and babies named in their honor. But most of all, they deserve AI cybersecurity that can stop novel threats

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