MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour - Episode 250

Episode Date: October 6, 2014

Featuring Chris Kelades, Firas Zahabi, Joe Schilling, Todd Duffee, Ryan Ford, Chad Mendes, Raphael Assuncao, Roan Carneiro, and New York Ric. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hello again, everyone. I'm Ariel Halwani inside our New York City studio. Hope you had a great weekend. It was a very busy one in the world of MMA, an extremely busy one in the world of mixed martial arts. I said last week, the MMA gods, they have no love for my fellow Jews. So much MMA action in a 24-hour period. during the holiest period of the year for my people. But I am all caught up.

I saw it all. I witnessed it all. And I took it all in. And we're actually going to be talking to a lot of the people who were in action this past weekend. Big winners. A lot of good stories coming out of this weekend. Now, of course, on Friday, Juan Carnaro won the one-night $50,000 tournament, Battlegrounds, MMA, a somewhat bizarre show.

Not a lot of people there. Chale Sunnan, Jim Ross, I thought they did a great job. In fact, I think Chial did a really good job at explaining things, almost too good of a job, because that audience was probably the most hardcore audience there is. You didn't have to explain the intricacies of the ground game in particular that much, but it proved that he should be doing this, that he's great at it, and there's probably a home for him somewhere. I thought Jim did a great job as well.

They really did a great job of telling stories, and that was the highlight of the show going in and it was the highlight of the show going out. The low light of the show, of course, was the fact that the Oklahoma Athletic Commission took $15,000 from Zhukau because they claimed he was late to the medical check,

which I think is just absolutely ludicrous. We're trying to update that story. We're going to talk to him later on, but congratulations to him. He wins three times in one night and wins $50,000. Daniel Strauss, big knockout win against Justin Wilcox at Bellator on 4th.

Friday as well. And then on Saturday, it was all UFC two events. The highlight in Sweden, of course, Rick Story defeating Gunner Nelson. And in doing so, derails the Gunner train. And a kind of tough day for Swedish MMA, in particular, Nicholas Baxter. That was a big surprise losing, a little Latifi losing, some other names from Europe losing as well. So it wasn't the party that, say, Dublin was. And some interesting. results there. Rick Story really putting on a great performance against Gunner Nelson back to the drawing board for Gunner. And maybe not the best weekend. You know, last weekend we were talking about SBG doing well. It's not always going to be a successful weekend. And that's just the nature of this

beast. And then later on in the evening in Halifax, a crowd that was just starving for MMA super hot. They started off really, really hot because a native son did so well on such short notice. We'll talk to him in a second, and then they really fizzled because the fights were quite dull. But then they picked up for the main event, of course, Rory McDonald, defeating Tarek Safedin, third round TKO, cementing his place, in my opinion, as the number one contender at 170 pounds. So much to discuss. And of course, a lot more coming your way this weekend. What's on tap for today's show? At around 4 o'clock, we're going to take your questions and comments. Hit us up using the hashtag the MMA hour, or leave a question or comment in the comments section below if you're watching.

watching on MMAfighting.com. Now, as you may recall last week, I told you New York Rick, not in the house today. He will join us, though, from Hawaii later in the show. But all that means that I am actually going to be picking the questions myself. So be a little different. I'll fire some off. Read a few of them that I just kind of pick, you know, randomly here and we'll have some fun. That's in the fourth hour. At around 345, we're going to go inside the vault. This video that I will be sharing at 345 is my favorite post-fight interview ever, ever. I've been looking forward to sharing this one for a while since we started this thing, 345. 320, we'll talk to Zhukau-Karnero about the win, losing some of that money, where he goes from here.

305, we'll talk to Hafele Sunsau. He picked up a big win over Brian Carraway seven in a row for him. Where does he go from here? He's not getting a title shot. We'll talk to him about that. 245, we're going to talk to Chad Mendez. Of course, big fight for him. In just a couple of weeks, UFC 179, the rematch against Josealdo for the featherweight title. 225, we'll talk to Edmonton's own Ryan Ford. He faces Jake Shields at WSOF 14 this Saturday on NBCSN. At 205, we'll talk to Todd Duffy. He is back. Two-year hiatus. He's fighting Anthony Hamilton at UFC 181. 145. We're going to talk to Stitch him up, Joe Schilling. The glory kickboxer is making his Belvoir debut. That was announced on Friday against Melbourne Manhoff, a kickboxing match disguised as a MMA fight.

And that's going to be on their big show in San Diego. We'll talk to Joe about that. At 125, we're going to talk to Faraz Zahabi. He was very busy on Saturday. Of course, Roy McDonald won and a whole bunch of other fighters from TriStar. So we'll talk to him about that. But first, let us go to the phone lines and welcome in our very first guest of the day. this, in my opinion, was maybe the story of Saturday, as far as the UFC is concerned.

Last week on this show, we had John Kavanaugh on, and he told us that, of course, Patrick Houlihan was looking for a new opponent. Louis Godineau was out due to pneumonia. And he announced on this show that Patrick Houlehan would be facing the little-known Chris Kalatus on just five days notice, Nova Scotia's own. I will admit, a lot of us didn't know who he was, but we certainly know who he is today because he pulled off the fight of the night, a huge upset over Patty who will hand on just five days notice, and now everyone knows who this man is. Chris Kalatus joins us right now via the phone. Chris, how are you? I'm good, Ariel. How are you doing, I'm doing great. Congratulations on an amazing win. I'm wondering less than 48 hours later, does this

kind of feel like a dream? Like this, now that you've had a chance to actually digest all this, how are you actually doing so? I'm feeling good. I mean, yeah, it's definitely a dream. And, yeah, it's definitely a It's one of those things that you think about in your wild imagination, but you never expect every intricate detail to actually happen the way that it did. And, you know, I'd be lying if I said I'd never ever thought about it happening this way, but you never really expect it to. But, yeah, I'm definitely ecstatic. Let's go back to this time last week.

As I mentioned, John Kavanaugh broke the news on our show. What was the reaction, as far as you were concerned, when you got the call that this was actually going down, five or so days notice in your home province against the guy who's on somewhat of a role, undefeated, you know the story. What was your reaction when you actually got that call? What were you doing and how did you react to it? Oh, man, I was thrilled because I guess the background of this story was that even a few weeks

before, I think there was UFC, Connecticut, where someone get injured and someone had contacted me but wanted to throw my name in to fight Chris Beals at the time. Yeah. And I had just fought in July and it was kind of beat up. nursing some wounds. So I was like, I don't know, a heavier weight. It just doesn't make sense right now. I should maybe just pass on it. And then, you know, fast forward a few weeks. Mitch Gagnos' opponent falls out and they, someone asked, do you want to throw your name in? Let's see if we can get you on this car against Mitch. And I'm thinking, well, the guy that's in

Mitch's corner, I just trained with a couple weeks ago. Mitch is a beast. I'm like, I don't really want to do that. I don't know if that's the right step. So you say no again, and I'm kicking myself in the ass thinking, can I actually say no again? And this is my hometown and then, you know, 15 hours later, I get this, you know, that someone sends a tweet to my coach about him being out

and I was like, man, get me on that card, get me against that guy. I love to fight that guy. So did your coach ask for this fight? He approached the UFC? Yeah, yeah, basically it happened so quick. It was just someone's hurt. Let's just get on the phone

and see if we can get the right the right things in motion and get the play going, and that's kind of the way that it went. You know, one of the great scenes of the weekend was you at the Wayans, because, first of all, you were taking your sweet time, and I don't blame you, because I'm sure it was quite the trek to get there. You're wiping yourself off. You're still all very sweaty. You're packed with a lot of clothes, and then your reaction when they said that you weighed 126 pounds. I mean, that was just sheer joy. You don't often see someone react that way, because it seemed like you didn't really know. So, you know, right before you stepped on the scale, how tough was it to actually get down to

125? Like, how much weight did you actually have to lose in the span of five days? It was quite a bit of weight. It was not what I'd ever want to do again. And I really wasn't sure. Like, we left the hotel. I was, you know, a little bit heavy, and I just wrapped it up and said, you know, let's just go and see what happens.

I mean, I just couldn't do anymore. But we went right to the last minute that we possibly could. And I guess we timed it perfect, you know. I was ecstatic when it happened because I just, I didn't know. And to tell you the truth, the way I fight, I know that I'm ready for a fight of the night bonus every time I fight. And I was like, if I don't make weight, how am I going to win a bonus? I was going through my head. And that's what I told my coaches.

I'm like, man, you can't make that money if you're not on weight. So I got to make weight, right? Did you check your weight before you left to the arena? Why were you so surprised when they actually said 126? I don't know if I was surprised or I was just It was just such a relief Right yeah I was elated I was just so relieved that that I'd gotten to that point

Because I've never had a weight cut like that I mean I've cut to you know to To catch weights before And then my last fight I was at 125 was kind of my first Go there but I mean those are camps when you have a little bit of time to kind of trim down And you do it proper right Nobody wants to lose that amount of weight it's not healthy to do all the time.

And, you know, I don't like to let people down, so I didn't want to not make weight. Did you weigh above 150 when you got the call? No, but I'll say I was closer to 150 than I was 140, we'll say that. How did it feel on your body? I mean, in that moment, were you in a lot of pain? What did it feel like to try to lose that much weight in five days? No, I mean, to be honest, I mean, anybody who cuts weight,

you guys that know, like, about loading water and doing things, properly, I literally had just enough time to kind of do that. I mean, if I was a type of person that didn't keep my weight at a certain level and kind of went off the wagon, I never would have been able to do that. But I stay ready, you know, eat fairly good. You know, I cheat and do all that stuff. But I mean, I stay in the gym consistently and just stay ready because I knew that if I ever had an opportunity to fight in the UFC, that it would probably be, you know, a short-notice fight. I never thought in a million years it would be five days, but take the opportunity when it presents, right?

Yeah, and you fought in Belator, that was pretty short, not quite five days, but wasn't it like a little over a week? Yeah, that was eight days, and I thought that was not ever going to happen again, and then five days beat that, and the whole experience beats it too, so definitely a win situation. And is it true that you had tickets to go to the fight? You were planning on attending the event, right? Yeah, I actually, I bought some extra tickets.

I was upset about buying tickets, to be honest. I told someone this the other day, I was like, when my wife and I were sitting there buying the tickets, I was just upset. I was like, man, I want to be fighting on this card. I don't want to be spending money right now to buy these tickets. And in the end, it all worked out. When you found out that this card was coming to Halifax so close to where you live,

did you think at first this was your shot to get into the UFC and when you figured out that the card was already said and you didn't get on the card, was that extremely disappointing? Yeah, it was. a little bit. But like I said, I held out hope. I mean, I had a kind of a big, big fight, big win in the end of July, and I thought, okay, the timing is just perfect coming off that win. I've had three fights this year. You know, I'm active for UFUFUFUFX. Maybe this is, you know, this is definitely the opportunity, right? And just didn't work out with all that time in advance,

and I don't know, maybe it wouldn't have been the same if I would have had all that time to prepare. I don't know, I guess it's just the way it was supposed to happen. How much did you know about Patty Houlehand when you got the fight? A little bit. I mean, I tried out for the ultimate fighter the last season they had for 135, and I think he was there. And I remember seeing him, and then I seen him on the show when he fought Josh Hill. And I had seen that, and then I seen the fight where he fought in Ireland.

So I knew a little bit about him, but, I mean, I didn't. It's not like I've been studying him for weeks and weeks. It's just he was on my brain because him and Lewis Boulcourt because I was like, if someone gets hurt, I'm feeling that spot. So, you know, the week before the fight happened in Halifax, I was kind of, I was like, ah, it's not going to happen, you know, it's just whatever. So I started eating maybe a little more than I should have.

Swerging a little bit. And then when I got the call, I was like, oh, snap, I got to buckle down here. So what happened when you tried out for the ultimate fighter? made it through I guess to the round before they do the TV cuts so it was a good experience you know I got to see some of the guys try my level grappling and you know padwork whatever you know you get your 90 seconds of fame with those guys to kind of showcase where you're at it's kind of a it's a crapshoot as far as what your chances are

but it's overall a good experience for sure so explain to me what happened at the wands because I've heard this story but I don't quite understand the timeline or exactly what happened You're standing there, and of course the fighters are pretty much in a line as you're about to go on the stage and weigh in front of everyone. And you have an interaction with him, which leads to a funny moment, at least, you know, from your perspective, on Saturday. What exactly happened? What did you guys say to each other? Well, he, I don't, I think it was just in the lineup he had said, he had brought up anyways the fact that I said something in the paper that he found disrespectful.

What did you say? And, I mean, I honestly don't know. He never really, you know, phrased what it was. I mean, I never said anything disrespectful. I basically said that I'm coming to win. I'm going to wolf his ass, not that my attitude is. I mean, it's a fight. You know what I'm saying?

We're not going to spend out here something, right? Right. So he found that disrespectful, supposedly. I don't know if he's just playing mind games with me, but he starts chirping about that in the line, and it kind of carried on, and then he would come back down, and he started talking about something nice, and then he was up again.

And anyway, so I was just, whatever. At that point, I was at the lowest, the lowest because of what I'd been going through for the last few hours to make weight. So then when we get on stage and we're squaring off, I'm on Cloud 9 because I made weight. I'm ready to go. And he starts chirping again about something about being disrespectful. So I just told him that I was the unlucky pot of gold at the end of his rainbow, or end of his lucky rainbow or something anyway.

And he didn't like it and started going off. And I think he's just playing it up a little bit, getting a little emotional. but I'll play that game. I don't get wrapped up in the emotion of it, and he obviously does because I think it worked a little bit on him. So the following day, well, actually that evening, my coach message me, like, I got a gift for Patty. Oh, he brought in a box a pot of gold chocolate,

like went to the end of the front desk and had those delivered the next day to him. And do you know if he got him? He got him. He thanked me for him. Oh, really? When did he do that? Actually, the lineup, when we're waiting for the drug, testing for the fight. He said that he got him and he said, thanks for the chocolates.

I said, we can enjoy those tonight. And then he started going on saying that it was racist. I didn't know, man. I think he was just playing with me a little bit, or maybe himself. I don't know, but he was up and down. And I was just, I just let it go. I was like, whatever. So then I seen him after the fight, too, and he said he was going to enjoy the chocolate. Oh, okay. I hope he did. I noticed that he said something, like he actually spoke to you for a little bit after the fight when they announced it you won. What did he say to you there? Well, I just told him that it was all in good fun and whatever, right? The word he had said something about, you know, the hometown and that he had experienced that in his last flight in Ireland.

And, you know, I guess it's for him it was completely different shifts of momentum, you know what I mean, like going from what that was like. I mean, I watched that on Fight Pass. I think he was the first fight of the evening, and that crowd was incredible. So, you know, he was on the opposite end, and I had that time. benefit this time and it's great an ecstatic feeling to have right. Once you regained your bearings and it's Saturday and you're

about to make your UFC debut in front of your people and you know you're pretty early in you know in the night as far as the the card is concerned what's it like in the locker room like are you starting to get super nervous or is it all settling in that this is actually happening how did you react to all of it?

Fine I mean I just treat it like it's another fight I mean nothing changed It's a bigger venue, and I was excited because more people would get to see it that, you know, support me. And with the smaller shows and the way that things are and you travel around, you fight these little shows, like not everybody really gets the chance to kind of come together and watch you and support you at once. So I was really excited that was happening. I just didn't let the motions get to me. I mean, I think because I played it over in my head so many times as, you know,

what it would be like when it happens that you're there in the moment and you've thought about it and you're kind of there already, right? You know, two unfortunate things. One, T.J. Grant couldn't fight on that card. It was really a bummer that things didn't work out for him. And two, for me, they didn't show your walkout on television here in the United States. And, you know, I heard from everyone I saw some of the clips and whatnot, but it sounded like it was Ireland-esque, as far as, you know, what Patty Houll had experience in Dublin. I was there for that.

That was deafening. Do you recall the fans and the way they received you? Because it seemed like that crowd in particular early on was super hot. and they recognize that you're the lone, you're the lone fighter from Nova Scotia on the card, so they really wanted to back you. Do you recall feeling the crowd, hearing them as you walked out? Yeah, it was incredible.

That was the part where I had to control myself because walking out and it was halfway through, like you're just, it's like you're floating because of what it was like, the whole experience. So I kind of brought myself back down and told myself you had to finish the job before you get too excited. But, oh, man, it was, yeah, you know, you never, experience anything like that before or probably again. I don't know what's

tried to say, but that was cloud nine for sure. Is it fair to say that they actually helped you in the fight, that they gave you a little bit of a boost? I would definitely say so. I mean, especially in the third round and because I thought I had the fight finished in the second and I was kind of just leaving it all there that what I could to finish that fight and the, you know, the ref wasn't really hanging around or communicating to tell me that it was close. You know, usually they're telling the guy to defend. or whatnot, but, you know, I kind of left it all out there what I could, and then the third

round to start, man, I was like, oh, got to get something. So having that and hearing that, just look around and taking it in was, yeah, it's enough to push you through anything. Yeah, how bad was your cardio compared to, you know, when you have a full camp? The way I fight, I just, I'm busy. Like, I don't stop, right? I guess that's to say for the whole flyweight division. Everybody, we're scrambling, smaller guys, so we like to be busy. and I just didn't have it. You know, I tried to move at the right speed, but you don't strength, endurance, all those things. You're not working or you're sloppy because, you know, you don't have quite the tank that you normally would.

But I was fortunate, I think, in a second round that I was able to punish him a little bit with some knees to the body, and I kind of brought his battery down. He blew himself out, I think, in the first round, because he really thought that I wouldn't have the energy. So he did a lot of things like covering my mouth and things like that, to disturb my breathing. And I just don't think that he thought that I would have that kind of tank that late in the fight. So it worked to my advantage. Did you know for sure you had won before they read the scorecards? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought those two, the last two rounds are dominating. And even the first round, I just didn't, I just started slow, I guess. You know,

he's an awkward guy, his movements are awkward, and I just didn't fire the way that I wanted to. and I probably gave that one to him. Did you feel, it felt like, you know, just watching it, TJ was so happy for you. Of course, he was in your corner, which made the story, you know, a little bit better in the end that he was able to experience being out there in front of, in front of the local crowd.

Did you feel like you were, you know, and I know you have a tight team over there, but that you were, you know, this is a guy who's been through so much, so close to getting a title shot and has had to deal with a lot, and I'm sure he really wanted to fight on this card. Was that kind of for him as well, you know, to not let him down and to win with him in your corner this

time? Yeah, I mean, I don't think I really thought about it, but, you know, definitely you don't want to let any of the guys down, and I didn't want to let myself down or anybody. But, yeah, you know, definitely, when you look back on the whole situation and you think about it, yeah, it's cool that it worked out that way, and he's a huge support for me, and everybody on my team is there, you know, like you said, we're all pretty tight, and we live those moments with each other, right? You know, I was talking to TJ on Saturday, and they call you the Greek assassin. That's your nickname, right?

Officially? He tells me that's not true. He says your real nickname is the greasy Greek because he used to be a used car salesman. Is that accurate? That's somewhat accurate. Yeah, I used to work with. I used to play hockey with him with your kids or whatever. But he gave me that name.

And it was not because it was actually greasy. It was kind of the opposite. he would call me the greasy geek because I guess it had a nice ring to it I wasn't used to... How could you be the opposite? Why would he call you greasy Greek? I was not greasy, but I think it sounded nice.

It had a nice ring to it. So that's what he called me all the time. So you've never been a used car salesman? Oh, no, no, no. I was a car salesman. I did sell cars for, yeah, for a few years, yeah. But I wasn't the greasy card, is what I'm saying. Oh, okay.

Well, that's not what TJ says. Are you still doing that, or is this your full-time job now? No, this is my full-time job. I had some things happen in the new year where work, I got downsized at work. Wow. You know, the timing was kind of good because I just took that opportunity. I was like, you know what, this is the year to kind of run with this and do what I can. And, you know, everything kind of worked out.

It's great. I got to fight three times leading up to this. I get to be active. And, you know, I just, you know, I was waiting for. this call because it was getting down to the wire where I told my wife I was like man I got to figure what I'm going to do here as far as school work

fighting you know you can't live off fighting any small promotions so everything everything worked out so were you considering hanging them up I wouldn't say I was consider hanging them up but I mean you can't you can't fight for you know 800 or $1,000 or whatever

every three months and expect to live so you know I was thinking well, do I have to go back to working full-time and then fighting and doing that whole thing. But it's hard to stay at a high level and work, you know, 40 hours a week or whatever, and then, you know, step in the cage against somebody who's potentially been training, you know, full-time for a camp. So it's just, it's a tough. It's a grind, but that's what you got to do.

And, of course, you got the $50,000 fight-of-the-night bonus. Any idea what you're going to do with that? That's crazy. No. None yet. I mean, wait for the check to come in the mail and pay some bills and been renovating my house, so that'll happen, probably go on a vacation. But I've got to spend it wisely and invest it more into my training and just want to get better.

So it's a good opportunity, especially for like a new fighter, especially in the UFC, to get that boost and pay and now look at what I can do with it to invest it into my career and just move forward. Have you ever received an amount of money in one shot that high? that, I mean, $50,000 in one shot, has that ever happened to you? I can't say it has. That's great. And by the way, what happened to the tickets to the fight? What did you do with them?

Sold him to a mutual friend, and one of my wife's high school friends got bought a couple too. So we actually sold those before I knew that I was actually fighting on the card. But, well, I'd probably just giving them to her. But, yeah, it was got rid of the tickets. That's great. also have a few more Twitter followers now. You're the most famous man in Nova Scotia. Just you, it's you and Sydney Crosby.

Sweet Lord, yeah, Twitter. I never even did my Twitter. I never went on it at all until the week before the fight, and I was like, ah, geez, I'm going to have to do on the Twitter train now. So I'm slowly learning how to use this thing, and the phone won't stop vibrating

and then we know what's going on. You got to get that, you got to take that notification thing off your phone. That's going to kill you. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, yeah, definitely tweaking with that and figuring out how to use it. So the Twitter followers are happening. Yeah, when they announced that you won, you had 209 followers. I check.

Now you're at 687. So hopefully you can break the 1,000 mark soon, maybe after this show, and enjoy everything that happened on Saturday. Congratulations on the win, Chris. A great story, very happy for you and looking forward to seeing your UFC career now that you're a part of the family. Perfect, buddy. I appreciate it.

Thanks. All right. There he is. Chris Calatus. on his UFC win on Saturday, he picks up a huge win over Patty Hulahan. Remember, it was just seven days ago on this very show. John Kavanaugh, head coach over at SBG announced that Patty Hulham was going to fight this guy, and I'll admit, did not know anything about him.

The Greek assassin, they call him, but I think we should stick with that greasy Greek name. I think that's a much better name. He's now 8 in 1, has won his last 2 in a row, only lost once that was, in Bellator fight, as he mentioned, that he took on very short notice, a nice addition to the UFC flyweight roster. And I do believe the first Canadian flyweight on the UFC roster. So how about that? Good for him.

Great story. Love stories like that. Charles Rosa also on Saturday in Sweden took a fight on, I think it was like seven days notice. That was against Dennis Siever. And, you know, obviously, been around the sport a lot longer than Patty Houlehan. And that was a fantastic fight. It seemed like, of course, towards the end,

that he was running out a bit of gas, but man, what a performance. He also won a fight of the night award. That was maybe the most fun fight of the entire day between Sweden and Halifax. Just tremendous stuff there from Charles Rosa and Dennis Siever coming back, of course, from the suspension. He looks solid, but the action on the ground, if you're a fan of grappling, BJJ, all that good stuff, and you didn't see the fight, I do suggest checking it out on UFC Fight Pass.

Really fun stuff. Okay, in a minute, we're going to be joined by Faraz Zahabi. Let me try what's going on here. We're having trouble. I'm having trouble getting in contact with him, but hopefully we will do so quite shortly. Of course, this happens when we've got the rookie Adam in the New York Rick seat. I told them everything would go smoothly,

and then the second guest of the day is MIA on us. But we'll get Farras here in a second. He had a very big night in Halifax on Saturday. Of course, because of Roy McDonald. And I do believe that Roy McDonald needed to finish like that. He had to have a performance like that. A decision just wasn't enough. And you hate to say that kind of thing.

You hate to put that kind of pressure on a fighter because at the end of the day, a win is a win, especially when it's a dominant win. And his wins have been pretty dominant, especially the Taron Woodley one in Vancouver. UFC 174, but for him to go out there in front of the Canadian audience to finish Tarik Safedine in a way Safedine has never lost before, looked fantastic leading up to that point. In my opinion, cements him as the number one contender. There's really no one else at 170

pounds, in my opinion, who has the kind of resume, who has the kind of argument that Roy McDonald has to be the number one contender. And there are, guys out there who are doing well, notably Hector Lombard, who is now facing Josh Birkman, of all people, at UFC 182. Certainly he's close and he's probably maybe one or two wins away and he's looked very good since dropping down to 170. But Roy McDonald, in my opinion, after winning three straight since losing to Robbie Lawler, definitely should be the number one contender. Now, the interesting thing is, do they keep them on the sidelines for two months? and, you know, the next Welterweight title title is December 6,

and then he waits for the winner. I think that's okay in this case because there's no one else that really has a strong argument to make. But what if George St. Pierre comes back? And that's one of the things I wanted to talk to Farah's a hobby about because this has been the time for, this has been the time for Roy McDonald to really step in there and get out of the shadow of GSP, be champion, not have to deal with all that nonsense, not have to deal with the stress and the pressure of having to fight a mentor and a teammate and whatnot. But now there are these strong whispers that GSP is going to come back.

Now there are these reports out there which both GSP and for us have been refuting that he's thinking about one more fight. Well, what if Roy McDonald is in line for a title or has become the champion when GSP is coming back? Does that mean A, when GSP comes back, he'll fight in a different way class? or B, does that make him say, all right, you know what, I'm not going to come back now. This is not the right time to do so because they don't want to fight each other and they made that pretty clear. So this is all leading, in my opinion, to a very interesting dilemma for that team, the TriStar team. And I'm curious to see what happens. He is being MIA. Perhaps he's still celebrating in the Halifax night. I was on the Jordan Green show last week, Press Row, and we were

talking about how it was somewhat disappointing how Canada hasn't produced prospects, potential stars, future champions at the rate that it felt like it was just a few years ago. And perhaps because GSP is out of the picture right now and, you know, Roy stumbled a little bit. There are no real contenders, at least leading up to this fight on Saturday. And it just felt like a lot of other countries were producing stars, making some noise, prospects and whatnot. Europe's certainly doing a good job as of late, even though Sweden stumbled on Saturday as well. And then you see, you know, a lot of Canadian talent being showcased. No one that really stood out, in my opinion, no one that really felt like, all right, this is a guy who is a future champion. As I mentioned, a lot of those fights were

not exactly the most exciting. But now you have Roy McDonald, you get a, uh, a, uh, a, uh, a guy like Chris coming onto the scene, a lot of momentum, a great story. And all of a sudden, it feels like a much better situation than it did a week ago. Would still like to see some more talent come through. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's just a bit of a lull in the progression of the sport in Canada. But it definitely feels to me like there aren't as many prospects coming out of Canada these days as there were a couple years ago. And maybe that's because there aren't a lot of great local promotions in Canada anymore. There's a few here and there, but they don't feel as relevant and they don't feel like they're thriving as much as they once did. We'll see what happens.

For now, we're going to put Faraz on ice as we continue to try to reach him. So we're going to go to our next guest and we appreciate him coming on a little bit early. As I mentioned at the top of the show, November 15th, Bell Tour is certainly doing its best job to stack the deck. Of course, we have Tidor Ortiz versus Stefan Bonner, King Moe versus Tom de Blas. You've got the lightweight tight on the line between Will Brooks and Michael Chandler. And then they announced on Friday a fascinating fight between two men who are mostly known for their striking, of course. Melvin Manhoff, who looked great in his Bellator debut and stitch him up Joe Schilling of glory fame, making his Bellator debut. On November 15th, we have him on the line right now to talk about that and why he's

fighting in MMA once again. Joe, how are you? I'm doing good, Ariel. How are you? I'm doing great. Thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate you coming on a little early. So this, this is a lot of the way. So this is a lot of kind of came out of nowhere. I don't think anyone was expecting this, especially after Melvin won his debut and they announced that he was going to be fighting for the title. From your perspective, how did this come about? You know, I've been, I've been, I know that Bellatory has been interested in me for a while, and we were kind of in talks for a while, and, you know, the timing just worked out well.

They called me about a week and a half ago and asked me if I wanted to fight Melvin Manoff, and, you know, I jumped at it. So I'm not really sure what his title his title title shot what others has to do with that or not it's not my department but yeah I'm really excited with Melvin

and I think you know it's a great fight for the fans but I would definitely want to see and I'm really excited about it so does this mean you're done kickboxing for now are you done with Glory?

I don't think so my manager is working with Glory right now on a new contract but right now I'm I have a contract with Bellator, and the wording on that Bellator contract allows me to fight kickboxing as well. So I plan on doing both, but right now I'm just focused on Melvin Manoff and Bellator. So are you a free agent from Glory?

Right now I am. Oh, okay. So does this mean that maybe your kickboxing career is on ice? Are you going to try to make a run as an MMA fighter, or was this just a special fight that interested you? You thought you matched up well, obviously, and are taking this one fight with him? No, I signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator, so I have four fights with Bellator this year.

And, you know, obviously I don't plan on taking fights with Division I won all-American wrestlers just yet, but I think there's a lot of exciting fights for me with Bellator. And, you know, I look forward to getting a lot of knockouts and, you know, putting on good shows. But also, you know, I'm really interested in my relationship with glory, so hopefully I can do both this year. So, of course, a lot of fans who follow you will know that you have a little history in MMA. You have a record of one and three, but you last fought in September of 2008. How much MMA training have you been doing since then?

Well, back then I was really not even interested in MMA. I was just trying to, you know, a struggling fighter trying to get, stay busy. And, you know, the fights that I was getting for MMA were on, you know, two and three weeks notice. and most of those fights, the opponents were switched the last minute. A couple of them were switched the day of. So my 1 in 3 record is not very impressive, but it's not a very good representation of me as an MMA fighter. But over the last few years, you know, I've changed Jitsu quite a bit.

And, you know, most of my aspiring partners and training partners of the years have been, you know, some of the top guys in the UFC. So I've sucked up a lot of knowledge and I've worked out with a lot of top-level guys. if they didn't offer you someone like manhuff with his kind of background you know he actually has fought in glory as well would you have not taken the fight like was one of the reasons why you did this at this time because this is a good matchup for you in an MMA fight

yeah I mean I wouldn't you know they offered me somebody like Jacques Rase who obviously wouldn't take that fight but yeah I think you know there's definitely a handicap in my ground game as everybody knows and I'm not a shy of that however I am working on it I think I'm a lot better than most people think and yeah I think you know I can put on some really exciting fights

just some really good matchups for me and yeah you know I'm definitely uh I'm not gonna go trying to make a title run just yet but uh you know I did some really good fights for me and in the man I just getting really impressed in a lot of people

we've seen the Diaz brothers at your at your glory fights and we know that you're friends with them and you've trained with them will they be helping you prepare for this fight absolutely Absolutely. I'm actually going to be going up to Stockton this week. And, you know, both of them have camps going on right now. And, you know, as well as Jake and Gil.

And, you know, all those guys are, you know, very helpful. And they're going to be a big part of my team going into this fight. And most of my fights, as they have been. How did you link up with those guys? I was brought in as a spying partner for, originally for Nate, for the Donald Soroni fight. And then, you know, you know, I went there to spark with Nate and me and Nick

basically had a Jim Moore and afterwards became pretty good friends and we've been working together ever since. So it was part of Nick's fights with GSP and his training camp with Carlos Condit as well. When you say Jim War, what do you mean by that? We went out of pretty good. We sparred the first time. You know, it was, you know,

I describe it as like kind of like, you know, like a school yard fight with the two guys, the two kids hate each other, and I get in a big fight, and then they become best friends. It was kind of like that. So it got more intense than your typical sparring match? Yeah, you know, I was a paid sparring partner. You know, he was training for a big fight,

and, you know, I was paid to go in there and spar. And, you know, when you pay somebody for sparring, you expect them to give you good work. So, you know, we had a good scrap, and we became friends afterwards. There was nothing terrible. There was no knockouts or anything. But we went at it pretty good and both found some respect for each other.

And we've been friends ever since. Did it happen right away or was it a little tense right afterwards? I don't know. It was pretty immediate right afterwards. It's funny. When he first walked into the gym, you know, it was kind of like a lot like when he fights when he walks into the cage, you know, a mad dogging and, you know, a lot of what's up, you know,

and how he is. And we went at it. And afterwards, it was kind of like, oh, so, you know, kickboxing, huh? Yeah, so that's cool. And then we just, you know, game friends.

So I really like Nick. We spent all the time this guy this summer, and I'm really excited about working with him for this fight with Anderson Silva. And, you know, he's a real good guy, and he's going to help me,

and he has been helping me quite a bit on my, not just my ground game, but even on my stand-up. You know, he was with me backstage from my fights at Glory 17, and, you know, he's always up and kind of an inspiration to me. And, you know, I take his advice very seriously. The way you describe that whole scene of him sizing you up,

like I could totally picture it. Like, he's looking you up and down and just kind of, you know, figuring out what he's about to deal with. Just like the typical Diaz way. That's something we've seen many times, and it's pretty amazing that he does that while sparring or training as well. You know, of course, in kickboxing and Muay, you're always in a ring.

This will be in a cage, a circular cage. that concern you at all? Is that different as far as how you approach a fight? Not too much. I was actually at the last event this past weekend for Bellator. And, you know, the first time that I thought in the cage was for lead ex-E, and it was actually the first time I'd ever stepped foot in the cage before. And it really threw me off. The lights were different, you know, it was different. A lot of people don't realize that when you're inside of the cage and you're under the lights, you can't see really outside of the cage. You know what I mean?

from the inside you can't see the crowd so much. You can't see where your coaches are. And that really threw me off a lot, you know, seven years ago when I was fighting. But being there this week, I'm sitting right outside of the cage. Cage looks a lot bigger than a glory ring. And I feel really comfortable there. And I think I've definitely evolved over the last seven years. And I'm really excited about this fight.

I think it's going to be a great fight for the fans and a great fight for me. Speaking of evolving, you made your glory debut a little over a year, ago actually and it was a great debut. You know, you winning that one-night tournament, defeating Artem Levin and whatnot. And that really, I think, put you on the scene. And Glory, I feel like they were trying to find a lot of, you know, American talent to try to, you know, be more popular here as far as kickboxing is concerned. Has things changed for you at all since that past year? I mean, Glory took a bit of a break after their pay-per-view, which you competed on and unfortunately lost in the finals, but a tremendous run and a very fun show to watch. But did you feel as the

though, the rise of glory and fighting on Spike TV and all that, change anything? Were you more comfortable as far as being a combat sports, athlete, a fighter, you know, everything that comes along with it? Yeah, I definitely got a lot more exposure. I've been, you know, recognized, and there's definitely a lot more publicity for me since doing that. As far as me personally, you know,

when I first got signed to glory, it was a long time, there was a long period of me trying to get into the ring with the best guys in the world so that I could prove myself and see what I was really capable of. And for a long time I was looked at as really cocky. And it was just really me begging and pleading, like give me the opportunity to be in there with those guys. Like, I know them that good.

And then, you know, Glory 10, when I beat Arts in 11, it really proved that to a lot to the world, but it also proved it to myself. And, you know, the last, glory last man standing, you know, I beat, you know, I fought three of the best fighters in the world. I beat two of them. One was undefeated with 39 wins. And, you know, so I'm a lot more confident in my ability, and I know that, without a doubt,

I am one of the best kickboxers in the world. So that's changed me a lot as far as going into this fight. You know, I know I'm a better kickboxer than Melvin Manoff. I know I have a lot of advantages over Melvin, and, you know, I'm just really excited about the fight. But I think that the rise of glory has definitely changed the landscape for combat sports here in this country, and, you know, kickboxing is on the rise, and my notoriety has done. definitely increased quite a bit. How do you feel about the state of glory right now?

Because there were reports at the paper view didn't do very well. They took a break. People still trying to get kickboxing up to where boxing and MMA is. Do you feel confident that they will be around and that this will be a place that you can fight for years to come as well? I mean, I'm not sure. I really hope they are. It's been a little weird.

The last couple months, I think they're just getting their schedule together for the following year and getting their game plan. it. But, you know, I think that the fans have definitely, you know, enjoyed the shows by Glory. I think that it's definitely grown. I hope that it continues to do well in the following year. You said, I'm not in our contract with Glory right now. So I know I'm going to be okay, regardless of if Glory does well or not, but I really hope that, you know, Glory, they have a show coming up in Oklahoma here this next month, and, you know, I'm looking forward to signing a new deal with glory. I hope that they do well.

You know, I was reading obviously a little bit about your past and in preparation for this, and is it true that you were actually expelled from four schools growing up? Yeah, I got, I was, I got a lot of trouble when I was a kid. I had a pretty rough childhood as far as, I was really bad at listening to what I was told to do, and I kind of did whatever I wanted to do as a kid. So, yeah, I was expelled by four, I need to four or five schools. Wow. What was the worst thing that you did to get expelled?

Because, I mean, it takes a lot to get you expelled, right? Yeah, the first one was a Catholic school, so it wasn't that bad. You mean, you could get extop pretty easily. I think I was in, like, I was in fourth grade, and it was the first year that the school started giving out demerit slips. So, like, if you didn't do your homework, you got three demerits, if you, you know, didn't get your test. your bad grades signed by your parents brought back to school, you got the merits. I think they allowed like 23

the merits before they expelled you, and I was at like 30 or something. Yeah. And it was just, it was nothing like violent or anything. It was just me not doing basic things that you're supposed to do. It was really just boiled down to me not wanting to listen to authority,

I guess. But the worst thing I ever did to get expelled from the school? I don't know We're like smoking wheat in the bathroom In high school That's not so bad Probably

Yeah it's probably the worst thing that I did I mean it wasn't like a violent person I was nothing You know, I wasn't a danger to anybody It was just I For most of my life I'm probably still now to the day

You know I pretty much do what I want to do For the most part You know When I want to do it And a lot of time You have schools or jobs or bosses. So I'm self-employed now if I don't have that problem.

But yeah, I pretty much do what I want to do most of the time. Now, did you train in any kind of combat sport as a kid or did, you know, finding, you know, Muay, boxing, whatever, did that help you channel that energy into something positive? Oh, for sure. I started kickboxing when I was 15. Okay. I had, my mom had sitting me out to this kind of like a rehab center,

but it was like an outdoors program. Like she sent me out to Idaho, and it was like three weeks in a desert. Like you had to cook your own meals and hiking. And it was like a boot camp kind of thing. And when I came back from that, it was, you know, you have to find a hobby because you're not going to get allowed to hang out with your old friends.

You can't just hang out after school anymore. You can find a hobby or I'm going to find a boarding school or something for you. I knew she didn't have enough money to send me to the boarding school, but it was still a pretty good threat. So, you know, I told her I wanted to find her, I was a really angry kid, and I wanted to do boxing, and she took me to a martial arts gym one day after school,

and it was a big sign-out for her to take kickboxing. And I drew a big hitsy fit. I was 15 years old, I think, 14 or 15. And I threw a big fit. You know, I thought kicking was for girls, and I wanted to box. She took me inside, and, you know, I just really respected the instructor. I thought it was a badass, and, you know, I kind of fell in love with it. And so I was grouted from everything but the gym.

So after school, every day I'd have to go to the gym. And within like five or six months, I was, like, helping teach. And, you know, it really gave me a new outlook on life. You know, all of a sudden this kid that's constantly getting in trouble. Like, there was, you know, adults asking for my opinion. I was helping people teach, you know, and learn. So that was a big part of my life. And, you know, I've built when I was 15 and I've been doing it ever since.

And now I own my own gym in Los Angeles called the Yard Muay Thai. and we have a lot of students, but, you know, we have a lot of, like, inner city kids, and, you know, I feel like I'm kind of giving back to a lot of kids that were just like me when I was a kid. So it's been a good, definitely been a big part of my life and a good thing for me. Yeah, and you mentioned the yard, and you may also be known to some casual fans who are just MMA fans as the guy who walks out in that orange prison jumpsuit. And correct me if I'm wrong, that's because the facility used to be a prison, right? where the gym is now, that used to be a prison, right?

And that's kind of the gimmick that you've never actually gone to jail yourself. I've been to jail probably four or five times. Oh, wow. Okay. When I was a youngster. And like I said, it was, you know, DUIs and not showing up to court. It was nothing violent or anything like that. But I was arrested four or five times when I was a kid back in Ohio.

But the name of the gym, when I first met my trainer and it started, training here in Los Angeles. Our gym that we were training at had closed down, and all the students kind of went their own way, and we ended up at the Lincoln Heights Jail, which was the old jail

for Los Angeles, and it was kind of like a nonprofit facility, and the fifth floor of the jail had been renovated into a boxing gym. So I was training there for about five or six fights, and when we would go to check in to the, you know, where do you want gym

you brought out of, like, oh, we fight out of the jail and L.A. jail. And they're like, what? You know, he got all these crazy looks. And then eventually my, my coach and I decided to open our own gym and we found a building or whatever, and we were trying to come up with a name. And we really, really liked the rugged, like, inner city feel of the old jail and the crazy looks that people would give us when we told them where we were from. So one day, we were at lunch, and we were keeping around names. And I was like, well, what do you call it, the workout facility out of jail. It was like, oh, the yard. Perfect. You know, so we went with that. And it was my second pro-moyat fight. We were training with, I was training at the gym, getting

ready to the fight, and one of our students was L.A. County Sheriff's. And he had brought in an L.A. County Jail, like, real jumpsuit. They, I guess, borrowed from work. And, you know, you should come out to this, you know, represent the gym, and, you know, it would be great. I got all the shirt so I did it once and you know the fans really loved it I actually hate the outfit

now I wish I didn't have to wear it really it's become such it's a part of of my gimmick I guess that my fans really like it that's great I can't stop wearing it but yeah if it was

I remember when I fought Calcly for the WBC World title I was standing there in the ring with this orange jumpsuit on and Calcly comes out like this beautiful fucking like really really nice robe

you know and I was like just thinking like Man, that's a nice-ass road. I know, this stupid orange jumps. So, yeah, I wear it every time I fight. You know, I represent where I'm from and where I came from. But, yeah, if I had my choice, I probably wouldn't wear the jumpsuit anymore. Will you wear it going to the cage against Manhuff?

Absolutely. You got to keep that thing, man. That thing's amazing. That makes you different. Yeah. Well, I think my style makes me different. Sure. It's all part of the package.

Yeah, it's part of the package. the package for sure, for sure. It gives us something about how to me out of course. I love it. And of course, the backstory is great. At what point did you think that you can actually make a career being a fighter? Because as you mentioned, you know, arrested

and kicked out of schools and whatnot, I do believe you were kicked out of your house at around 17, right? Yeah, my mom. I was kicked out of my mom's house, I think twice before I ended up moving out for good. I just, I had a

I'm the youngest of three children, and all three of us just really gave my mom and my stepdad a really hard time. And by the time that I was like 15 or 16, they were just over it. My brother and sister had already ruined them pretty good. So it was really hard for me to get away with anything, and they already knew all the tricks. And yeah, shoot, they were just over and they were like, you know, go and go and live with your dad when I was 16. And then, you know, I ended up going back to my mom's house. I think it was my junior year of high school, she kicked me out again because I was dating a girl that was in college

and was staying the night on school night. She was just like, you know what? Yeah, this is not a good thing. My relationship with my mom is much better now, I assure you. I love my mom. My mom were very close. But yeah, I was a troublemaker when I was a kid. I was 19 years old when I moved out to Los Angeles to shoot kickboxing.

kickboxing was the only thing that I was really naturally good at and I really enjoyed since I was 15 years old. So that was always what I wanted to do and make a career out of. But even five years ago it was really hard to have a career in kickboxing. So when I was 19, I moved from Ohio to Los Angeles. I just got my car one day. My mom gave me like $400 in Gas Car and said, I'll see you in a couple weeks. And I just, there were the only kickboxing shows that I was. I knew of, and the only promotions that were kind of consistent were in Los Angeles.

So at the time, Los Angeles was the hotbed of kickboxing the U.S. So I was like, that's where I have to be if I want to make a career out of it. And I moved out here when I was 19. I think I had somewhere like 9 and 12 amateur fights in one summer when I got out here. And I just kept staying busy fighting, keep boxing all the time, and made my pro debut in 04, I believe. on like Jimba's notice and a one that fight

and been fighting professional ever since. What are the chances there's one takedown attempt, at least one takedown attempt in this fight on the 15th? The chances? By me or by Melvin? By either of you.

I don't really see it being happening. I think that Melvin's too is very a proud person and I think he's going to see this as a challenge to fight the American kickboxer. but I think after I tag him a few times, I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to go for the takeout.

I think my ground game is a lot better than Melvin. I think that if Melvin does take a fight to the ground, they'll get submitted. Wow. But I don't expect that. Are you looking forward to fighting with the smaller gloves? I'm really looking forward to elbowing again. You know, when I was fighting professional way to tie for years and years,

that was my best weapon. That's how I got my nickname, stitch him up. Most of my knockouts were by elbow. and, you know, with glory, I haven't been able to do that. So I'm really looking forward to throwing elbows again. I started training them again in this camp. It's been a lot of fun. The four-ounce gloves, you know, you obviously don't have to load up.

You know, I've dropped people with, like, off the side of the market with a 10-ounce gloves. So, you know, I imagine what's going to happen when I'm hitting people with four-ounce gloves. It does change your defense a little bit, so it's definitely a different style with the four-ounce gloves, but, you know, I'm looking forward to the whole thing. it's going to be fireworks. I think the fans are going to love it. And I think that this is the first bellatory card that I would be really excited to watch.

And I'm really excited that I'm on it, for sure. Yeah, I think it's a lot of fun. It has Scott Koker written all over it. These are the kind of fights that, you know, he's been known to make. It's a fight that came out of left field, but a lot of fun as well. It goes down November 15th in San Diego, California. Melvin Manhoff versus Joe Schilling among many other fun fights on that card as well. So looking forward to it.

Great to talk to you, Joe. of luck in training. Sorry. And best of luck in the fight as well. This is going to be a lot of fun. Thanks, Eric. I really appreciate having me on. You have a good day, then.

All right, there he is. Joe Schilling stopping by. Great stuff from him, making his Belator debut, his first MMA fight in seven years, six years. On November 15th, Belator, I believe it's 131.

I stopped counting. I think they should get rid of those, those numbers. Enough of those numbers. It's getting ridiculous. especially when they go to once a month, I think the numbers really need to go. It's hard to keep up with all that, you know. What does it all mean?

I think for Beltaire they should go with, you know, Bonner versus Ortiz. They kind of do for the most part. If you look at the way they promote the fights, the signage on the cage and whatnot, they typically don't put the numbers, although they usually have it at the top, the hashtagging and all that stuff. But for me, it's too hard. It's like remembering what fight night is coming up. and that's more of a media thing, to be honest.

I think the last one was 54, but who the heck knows? So that's going to be a fun night. In fact, there'll be a UFC, a Belator, and a World Series of fighting all on the same night. All in the same night, November 15th, so a very big night for mixed martial arts. It was a big night on Saturday in Canada, in Halifax. It was a very busy night for our next guest. He tried to big time us earlier, but we finally found him. He is the head coach over at TriStar Gym.

he's the one and only Faraz Zahavi. Fraz, have you gone Hollywood on us? Have you forgotten about the little people? Sorry, Ariel. I got tied up in practice, so many guys in the gym and lost track of time. My apologies. Okay, well, because you're a Montrealer,

we'll let it slide, but we don't take that too kindly over here. You'll be getting a bouquet of flowers and some candy. Because as a coach, I know you're very punctual, so I actually got concerned. It's true. I got concerned about your whereabouts. So let's get into it. Congratulations.

I feel like I saw you cornering someone in every single fight on Saturday. How many fights were you a part of? Four fights. Four fights last Saturday. And what was your record? Four and all. Well done.

Good night for the gym. Good night for TriStar, yeah. Is that your best night in the UFC? Have you won five? No, we've had four wins before on two other occasions, but we had five fights and one loss on two other occasions. So this is the first time we go perfect... You know, we've had two fights in one, two and all,

but, I mean, this four fights wins on... On one night, this is the third time it happened. So it's big for us. What was your favorite performance of the mall? Which one really stood out? You know, I'd have to say Rory, of course. You know, Rory McDonald, he shined. You know, he had the hardest fight, and he did the best performance.

I said earlier that I really felt, and I hate saying this kind of thing, but in order to truly cement his place as the number one contender, he needed a finish, there were some, you know, some critics, some criticism out there that his fights were going the distance. And to make that statement, to finish a guy like Safedine, really would leave no argument that he's in a more contender. Did you feel the same? Yes, I really think, you know, when they said he beat Woodley,

they said, okay, you can get the title shot after that, but it wasn't enough, you know, even with their intentions of giving him a title shot, it wasn't enough. They gave it to Mike Brown, you know, Mike Brown and Lawler, I said, elimination about. But it's because they had greater performances. They had more exciting performances. I don't want to say greater. I mean, more exciting, and that's what the market is.

you know, people want to pay what they want to see, and I understand that, and I think it's fair. I think now people want to see Rory. Because the U.S.C. is not crazy. I don't believe they have any prejudice. They just want to give the fans what they want to see. They're not crazy. They're selling tickets.

If the fans rather see the winner of Mike Brown and Loller, it makes sense to give it to the winner of that fight. But now I think the fans want to see Rory, because what he did, you know, he finished with an incredible left hook that I think would have knocked out an elephant if it hit an elephant. I think people believe now,

that it would be an exciting match against whoever's champion in spring. And of course, I believe you were talking about Matt Brown. Mike Brown is the former WC. Oh, excuse me, yeah, yeah, sorry, not Matt Brown. Yes. He said he doesn't have a preference who he fights next. Loller, Hendricks, of course, Robbie Lawler beat him in November. Do you have a preference as his coach?

No, no preference. You know, I think we have history of both fighters, but I like both guys. I think both guys are great human beings, are great people, and there's no animosity, there's no beef. just wanting to bring home that title and winning the fight. And that's what Rory's focused on.

I think it's very mature of him. You know, he's not getting mixed up in the, in anything that could be distracting him. He really just wants to win against the best guy in the world, so whoever's holding the title. Now, has anyone from the UFC come out and told you guys, you, Rory, the team, that this is in fact going to happen, that he's the number one contender because they haven't told the media or the public at all this? No, no, no, nobody has told us anything. nobody's confirmed anything. And for me, I'm not worried about that.

I'm worried about what the fans think, because I think if the fans want something, that's what Dana does. Whatever the fans want, he gives them. And I think the fans now are all, at least for me, I'm getting such a great response from everybody. They all want to see Rory in the next title shot. So I really believe it's the fans that hold the heaviest vote.

So I'm not worried so much. I really think that's what the fans want. It's amazing what a finish can do, right? Because you can make the case that the 174 fight against Woodley was just as impressive. although he didn't finish him. And I was blown away by that performance, but yet you get a good knockout

and all of a sudden everyone loves you again. It's funny, right? Yeah, it's the way it is. You know, I think over time things will change. You know, you look at Mayweather. He doesn't knock people out either. But man, he's loved and man does he sell pay-per-view. And I think over time, people are going to understand

that, hey, even the best of the best, they don't always get the K-O. It's not easy at that level. And believe me, we're always looking for a finish. If you think anybody's trying to just go to the decision, you're crazy. Everybody wants to finish. You know, Tyrax-Safrin hasn't finished to nobody in a long time either, but I don't

think he was trying to appoint Rory. I think everybody is trying to put the other guy away. It's just not easy at that level. You know, you give a regular boxer to Mayweather, he'll finish. You give him a world champion, an elite guy, he might go the distance most of the time, and that's what we see. We're already making a strong case for a fighter of the year.

I mean, three great performances in 2014, especially coming off that disappointing loss to Robbie Loller in November, what's been the difference for him? How did he turn things around? That was a really disappointing loss. A lot of people thought that he was going to win that fight and become the number one contender.

How did he rebound so well? Robbie just beat him. Robbie was more experienced. There was a lot of good decisions made by Robbie in that fight, and I think that showed Robbie's experience. You know, Robbie's been around for a long time, and that fight was really close. It was one round apiece.

It was coming into the third round, and Robbie just played his cards right. And I think Rory learned a lot from that, you know. It's not always who's the better fighter. You've got to fight the best. I know we say that all the time, but it's true. It's how you play the game. It's also how you play the game.

Robbie did a... He just played the game better that night. And so nothing different afterwards, because I remember talking to... Oh, yes, definitely, definitely. But that's what I'm saying is we learn to play the game right. Okay. We learn to play the game right. There's a time to go for the kill.

I think in round three, Rory wants for the kill early. And it wasn't the time yet. and Robbie was still dangerous as hell and you don't want to punch with a guy like Robbie you don't punch with a puncher we say that in the gym a lot if the guy's a natural bore puncher do everything but punch with him

wrestle him kickboxing but don't punch with him and worry I think jumped the gun and started punching with him I remember talking to him after that fight in fact it was a very rare thing for Roy because he reached out to me in the middle of the night

just a couple days before my show on a Monday and said I want to come on your show and he was very you know he has his persona and we kind of joke that he's the Canadian psycho but he was very dark and focused and kind of down on himself after that fight and said he was going to change some things, listen to his body more and things of that nature.

Did you notice a change in him at all? Yeah, you know, what I personally think it was is that everybody was telling him, you're not finishing, you're not finishing. I think in round three he wanted to go for a finish instead of staying with the game planning because I really believe that if you follow all the steps, you'll finish.

If you think about finishing, you don't finish. That's my opinion. I think you have to go through the process of finishing. And that's what he did on Saturday. he didn't think about finishing. He just focused on the game plan and going out there and reading and reacting.

You know, not planning out what you're going to do and then executing it, but reading and reacting and sticking to what we've done in training. And it was beautiful. And the knockout came. It came out naturally

and it came out all of a sudden that's how chaos should come about. I say on this show a lot that these days in the UFC, it's all about timing as far as who gets a title shot. And I'm concerned that because the title fight

is in two months and there are so many shows these days that they might make him fight someone else. Are you at all concerned about this? Well, he's had a busy year. I mean, I don't know how many fights you can do. How many more fights are on the table, if you look at the top ten, who else would be eligible?

You know, I mean, everybody's pretty much booked or he's beat. Right. I don't see who's really else there that makes sense instead of, you know, I think the only thing that makes sense now is the winner of Hendrickson Luller. I can't think of anybody. Hector Lombard is booked. Yeah. Josh Berkman is just fine, but he's booked with Lombard.

I mean, who else is there really? they'd be Stung Gunn, but I don't know if many times don't want to see that fight so much because Stang Gunn got came off a lot. I mean, I don't see who else is a candidate. Things might change, you're right. You know, a big win by maybe Stung Gunn or something, and in the meantime, you know, Rick Story just be gun and Nelson.

I think if Gunny won, that could have been a possibility. But since he didn't, I don't see, I don't know, I'm not sure. Yeah, the only possible one out there would be Carlos Cond at the rematch because he's won't that fight, but he's out with the ACL, and I don't think he'll be back in time, so it doesn't really make any sense. That's right. You know, I also said earlier in the show

that I feel like this win was huge, not just for the gym and for Rory, but for Canadian MMA, because it feels like, to me, and I really want to get your take on this, the last couple of years, there haven't been that many great prospects. It feels like a few years ago,

there were so many great prospects coming out of Canada. Canada was the Mecca. They were selling out shows from Toronto to Vancouver to Montreal. And, you know, with the UFC not going there as much, with not as many local promotions these days doing so well.

Canada, Canadian MMA, it feels like it's a little bit stuck in neutral. Do you agree with me? Well, yeah, you know, ever since GSP retired, there's been a, yeah, there's been a lackluster of excitement, you know, it hasn't been the same vibe. You know, but hopefully he gets back into things. Who knows what the future holds for him? And, no, definitely, you know, by taking GSP off the table, there's been a difference, that's for sure.

But GSP just walked away a year ago Where is the talent Where are the people who were kind of growing up Watching GSP five years ago And saying I want to be the next guy Are those people in the gym right now And we just don't see them? Yeah, they were there Saturday

Alex Garcia is a really big prospect of our He had a, listen, I want to call it what it was It was a bad performance He tore his ACL very early in round one And I was about to stop the fight He's a very talented young man He's going to go very far, I believe He tore his ACL in round one

and he still managed to finish the fight. And I thought he edged it out, honestly speaking. I thought he edged it out. But he had torn ACL, he could not bend his leg and he could not stand on it. I mean, the guy fought for over 10 minutes on one leg. I was really amazed by what he did. But if you don't know that he tore his ACL completely,

I mean, it just looked like horrible fun. The guy was literally standing on one leg, literally. Who's the next GSP, the next Rory, coming out of the gym, in your opinion? Well, listen, you can't build a GSP in a 5. years. That's not true. Rory is our biggest prospect.

Then we have Garcia, of course. We have Chad Lapri who's doing fantastic. We have other guys that are still not in UFC that are looking very good. And, you know, we have a lot of good talent up on the rise. Of course, Alex Garcia. You know, I know he had one bad performance, but I think he'll impress you that his next his next life. Now that GSP took his little break, do you feel as though there's less buzz in Montreal

about MMA, like less new fighters coming? Because it felt like for a while, people were coming from all over the world to come train at TriStar. Like, do you feel like that has quieted a little bit? No, the gym is busy. I mean, last practice, we had 40 pros on the mat.

No, we're still thriving. You know, we're still doing really good in terms of professional fights. But there's been two things. One, the UFC is doing so many shows. You know,

like it's less exciting because we don't have cards like we used to have. Where the card was so stacked, you couldn't miss the show. Right. You could not mean, now there's a show

literally almost every weekend and sometimes two in a weekend. And, you know, we're getting, obviously you can't have the best of the best, all the time when you do so many shows. So some of the cards are not as interesting to the guys,

and I think it's kind of lowered the atmosphere a bit. The excitement of a card, of a UFC card is not what it used to be, you know. But it doesn't mean that the market is not growing. According to UFC, they're creating a bigger market by having more shows. You know, I mean, that's their business plan. I don't really look into that. It's not my thing. Sure.

Oaks more on the training and the fighting. But in terms of excitement for cards, yeah, it's been a little less, of course, you know, here and there. So, of course, you knew that I was going to ask you about GSP. you mentioned the R word. He's never said the R word. He never said that he retired. And last week, there were some reports

that he had decided to come back. You told me that's not the case. What do you think right now? Do you think he will fight again? You're right. I shouldn't have used the word retire. Yeah. I guess people tell me that all the time.

Right, right. He's going to retirement. You know, he's undecided. He has no plans right now. We're supposed to start some martial training by the end of this month. And we're going to take it from there, step by step.

Everybody wants to know what his decision is going to be. The guy hasn't enrolled on the map. yet. I mean, how can he know? I don't think he can really know. And there's no reason for him to rush back with the decision. He has no definite plans whatsoever. That's the bottom line. It's not the answer everybody wants to hear, but it's the truth. No matter what anybody tells you,

you know, he still has not made up his mind. In your opinion, does it feel like he's in a better place mentally, though, since he took this break? Absolutely, yeah. Definitely 100%. His life is more balanced now. He has more of a leisure time, downtime, and he's definitely changed a lot. No, absolutely.

he's always smiling now, George. You can never catch George now in a bad mood. The irony, I think, is that he wanted to get away from people saying, when's your next fight, when's your next fight, good luck in the next fight, and now I bet everyone who sees him says, when are you coming back, when you're coming back, right? Forget him, everybody who sees me asking when he's coming back. You know, that part of his life for sure is still hectic, but he doesn't have to be in the gym, he doesn't have to be in the training.

So he can hide out, you know, he can mix with the public when he wants. He could choose to do it when he wanted. So everything's under control. He's not suffering greatly or anything like that. He's enjoying life, and his life is a lot more balanced. If you were a betting man, would you bet he comes back at least one more time? I think so. I think so.

I think George cannot separate himself from MMA from martial arts. I don't think he could. I think it's carved out a part of his psyche. I think he's done it for me so young. I think it's who he is. You know, it protected him on the schoolyard and created him a living. I don't think he could successfully separate him. himself from MMA, but I also don't think he's going to go into fighting until he's 50

either. You know, I think he's always going to be involved in martial art. And when his money can't fight anymore, I think he's a smart enough guy, tell himself no. I think he's a smart enough guy. But I think his body, I've been working, I was working out with him two weeks ago, and his body's in ridiculous shape. I mean, his fitness is incredible.

So I can't see why not, you know, but again, I don't want to speak for him. That's his decision. I'm just thinking that he's such in great shape right now that I assume that if he, if he the motivation to do a fight, we'll do it. Has he fully recovered from the ACL injury? It looks like it, you know, structurally, yes. And he's got the green light to train MMA in the end of the month, to do like light work

and ease back and put. But it's a question of trusting, building the trust back in your knee. There's a lot of psychological elements to it, but physically the structure is supposed to be stronger than before, according to what the doctor's saying. And he feels, or he looks bigger. Is it possible that he might come back as a middleweight? I don't think so

You know he's not burning as much calories You know when you're lifting weight from doing fitness It's nowhere near the amount of calories burned When you're sparring life Right You know he's just not It's normal you know You look at professional boxes

When they hurt their ankle or the meat They all balloon up They all get more muscular But then once they start doing their pads work And their cardio work There's just so much cardiovascular conditioning put in that You know

It just melts your size away A big bulky wrestler is rare to see You know usually they're slim and trim of course and it's just the type of cardio it is. Now here's the fun scenario for people like me. He comes back, let's say, at some point next year, Rory is, you know, challenging for the belt or becomes champion? What happens now?

Because we're back to the same scenario all over again. Yeah, we are. And you know what? I would like to, I would like to give it as a positive. That means, you know, we trained them well. Yeah. I like to think if all my fighters are in the top 10, I think I did my job, and I think the best way they can respect the gym and me

is to not fight each other. You know, that's my only wish. I don't ask for anything else. So if Rory becomes champion, does that mean, do you think GSP will say, all right, this is my reason, this is why I won't come back? This gives me the reason not to come back. I don't know. I don't think we're there yet.

You know, I don't want to create a problem that doesn't exist. But he doesn't talk to you about that? I don't know what happened? We would sit down and talk about it like brothers, like gentlemen, that's what we are. Everybody's very courteous. Everybody's very friendly. You know what Rory did by saying, hey, I won't fight GSP. That was huge because that was a life-changing fight for it.

And that was a fight that would have catapulsed him right away. to number one contender. The UFC would have marketed to the hell out of that fight. And they would have said, look, this kid let him skip to the front of the line. You know, he didn't take it. That's huge for me. That's the loyalty. So for me, I want to return the favor of always. George is a very loyal guy, and so is Rory.

So we work well together. But things more important than money, Ariel, right? Yes. For me there is. So I don't want to I don't want to turn round and round. Let me ask you this. Just close your eyes for a second. Could you imagine, Rory McDonald defeats Johnny Hendrix? He gets rid of that guy, the champion

who a lot of people thought, you know, defeated George St. Pierre. We'll forget about that for a second. And then, Ostado L'Enpeake in Montreal sold out 80,000, the return of GSP, mentor versus student. I mean, you can't script anything better than that. They're still friends afterwards and going into it, but this is the passing of the torch. Wow, what a moment. What do you think?

Maybe we'll make the movie one day. The movie? It's not as fun. I want to see the real thing. Yeah, you want to see the real thing. The movie will make us more funny. Let's make it in the movie. All right, but you said you think he comes back.

You think he comes back next year? I don't know. I don't know about next year. That's, I have no idea. I have no time table. Honestly, I have no time table. I think personally he's in great shape. I think he's in a happy place.

When he comes back to sparring and training, let's see how he feels. You know, there's no way to know for sure. By the way, one last thing. Of course, we always saw GSP cornering Francis Carmon. He was recently released from the UFC. Where does he go from here, in your opinion? And what went wrong for him?

You know, he was doing great round one. I don't know if he saw the fight. He went back to, I think, one of his old habits, which is leaning back and going up against the fence. I really wanted him to stay away from the fence. But unfortunately, he moved back to the fence. He went to a dangerous position, and he got caught. That's the bottom line.

Is he going to keep fighting? Yes, yes. We're negotiating, finding him another place to get busy in, and hopefully finding his way back to UFC. Okay. Well, all the best to him. All the best to you. Thank you.

We have dropped our beef. We're no longer mad at you for standing us up. Congratulations. My apologies. Congratulations on a great night in Halifax, and of course, Rory's win, and good luck getting the title shot. Certainly you have one person here in favor of that. I think he deserves it.

Thanks, Ariel. It's the best. Thank you, man. All right, there he is. Faraz Zahabi, head coach over at the TriStar Gym in Montreal. A great night for him, and perhaps I was too down on my fellow Canadians. You know, certainly they had a great showing 4-0 for him, Chris Khalid is not a part of the team.

So everything was was set up for them to have a good night in Halifax, as these shows tend to do. But let's see if there is a next Roy McDonald. In fact, someone just tweeted me from the gym, a gentleman by the name of, doesn't say his name. His Twitter handle is at GS Radist. So Greatest with a S in the middle there. He says, yes, Ariel. I'm in the gym, it's just a matter of time. So I don't doubt that there are people there coming up.

There's, of course, a lot of veterans there. We'll see what happens for now. Roy McDonald, all eyes on him as he tries to make a run of that title and become the new face of Canadian MMA. All right, let's move along. In a minute, we're going to be joined by Todd Duffy. It was announced just recently that he is back. He is cleared. He is ready to go. He'll be fighting at UFC 181. Of course, if you recall, in November he was on the show, talking about trying to overcome some health issues, in particular Parsonage Turner Syndrome, spoke about that struggle and his hopes of getting back to the UFC sooner rather than later.

Well, on December 6th, it's going to happen after a two-year hiatus. Todd Duffy will be back inside the octagon against Anthony Hamilton. He joins us right now to talk about that and a whole lot more. Todd, how are you? I'm good there How you doing, buddy? Congratulations on getting cleared and getting back into the UFC.

This is great news. A lot of people missed you. I used to get asked almost daily what happened to Todd Duffy. What was the reaction that you received from the fans if you're still in touch with them via social media and whatnot when the news came out that you were finally coming back?

People were happy. I mean, I get asked at least three times a day one of my fighting, one of my fighting. So it was a pretty big relief for me just to kind of be able to have a date to give people and, you know, not have to just wonder myself. So it's pretty good. It's nice. It's relieving.

When did you actually get clear to start, you know, fighting and resume your career? I think I officially got clear like a month ago. But I was in the gym probably about a month before that. You know, it's day and day out, like with the partial syndrome symptoms. It's just there's no real, there's no roadmap to recovery. it just depends on how your body reacts and you know it just takes time are you 100% now like you do you not feel anything regarding the the syndrome so upset back here and there but it's not nearly like what it was and I have full function of my arm so I really can't complain

how did you turn the corner how did you beat this I mean it's just time nerves are really weird they're weird like you know neurologist don't necessarily understand a lot about the nerves so It's just, it was just time and healing. As I mentioned, it's going to be around two years since you last fought by the time 181 actually rolls around. Was there a point where you thought your career was done? Did you actually seriously consider doing something else? I had to. When I was first diagnosed, they were pretty adamant.

It took a while for it to set in, and it took a while for me to accept. They were pretty adamant that there was a good chance I may not, you know, because, like, there's, like, you know, it took me seven weeks where I could get to write. it again. It took me about two to three months where I could completely close my hand, you know, those kind of things. So, you know, in the beginning they were very adamant. Like, you know, you need to move on. One of the things you can't return.

It's just going to take a lot of time. So for those that, for those that may not remember, can you explain to us what exactly you were feeling when it was at its worst? When it was at its worst. Long story short, I just woke up and I felt like I, I felt like I had pinched a nerve and I had no real function of my arm initially. They just felt dead and numb. And it took, you know, as, you know, there's a lot of severe like nerve pain that would shoot down the arm and things like that. But the nerve pain stopped, you know, it's not consistent anymore.

It still occasionally happens, but it stopped being consistent about two months ago, maybe three. But it's just, you know, it's just you lose function of your arm. It's basically nerve damage is about the best, easiest way to describe it to make it understandable. They don't really know. And they don't know how it happened, right? They don't really know. They think sometimes it could be caused by a viral infection. But they just, they don't know.

They don't have any answers for Parsons Turner. It's just a subset of symptoms, and they don't really know why or how or the reasoning behind it. So now that you're back in the swing of things, you're preparing for a fight, How do you feel out there? Do you feel like you're trying to learn how to ride a bike again? You're feeling pretty comfortable. Of course, it's two months away, exactly two months from today. But how do you feel now that you're back in the swing of things?

I feel good. Initially, you know, it was just like, you know, you don't really forget. I was kind of impressed that, like, I was able to kind of, as soon as I got back in the swine, so it kind of came back pretty fast. So, you know, it just took a little time to kind of get down to the time, and getting back in shape is the real thing. I'm just learning how to, you know, what my body can and can I handle now. Those kind of things is what, you know, took a little time.

I feel good. I feel confident. I feel like a veteran, really. It's kind of shocking what you learn and how you mature when you're away from the sport. And I think, you know, that time away kind of allowed for a lot of maturity and allowed me to concentrate other things in my life and give me confidence going into my fights and things like that. now. Like what?

What do you mean? Like what? Like what about? Like what have I mature at all? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What did you, what did you learn about? I have a different perspective of the sport. I see this I see things differently. I see, um, just in training, I see things differently and hopefully that translates into that fight. So have you been watching the sport? Do you following it even though you weren't a part of it for a while? Probably the first year. Honestly, no, I couldn't. It was just very frustrating. I would watch a fight here and there. You know, know, a big, a big fight was happening with one of my friends.

But initially I couldn't. It was just difficult. Yeah. And very frustrating. But over time, yeah, I mean, the last, probably this, the last six months I've been falling up pretty heavily again and, you know, just been learning, just via watching. And just, like, time away from anything, you put the different respective on things that allows you to kind of develop and grow.

Sure. So I think it's a good thing. How did you make a living? What did you do if you were not fighting? Huh? How did you make a living? You weren't fighting for two years. That's your source of income.

What'd you do? I've been training people, and then we open up a group fitness gym, so I've been working on that as well. How's that going? It's going pretty good. It's fun. It's a challenge like anything, but it's an enjoyable challenge. So will you still work at that while you resume your career?

Yeah. I'm there, money through Friday, pretty much, and then some on the weekends, too. so yeah. I definitely show up there so work and teach and help out. And who's your team these days? I'm done at an American Top team back in Florida. Okay, so that's your home base.

Yeah, I moved back and open up the group fitness gym and from there I just, you know, I began to train back with ATT again because I was comfortable there. I have, you know, a good relationship with them. I know their system well. I've dealt with a lot of coaches and stuff like that before, so it was just a comfortable fit.

I recall talking to your manager, Lex McMahon, before your fight was announced for UFC 181. And he mentioned a guy that, at least he was interested in for you to fight, was Anthony Hamilton. Did you share the same sentiment? And if so, why him? I did not really care who I thought at that point. I think we've been waiting for about a month or so to kind of get a fight lined up. So I was eager to whoever may or not be, may or may not be. the morning, the night before I actually went to bed thinking I had to, because I called Sean,

they offered me if I was Sean, and I, like Sean Jordan, I train with him. And I'm not in a position to turn it up right, so I kind of sucked. So I went to bed, I tried calling him that night to let him know because I didn't know if he'd heard yet or, you know, what was going on in the next morning. I got a text from Lack saying as Anthony Hampton. So I was a little relieved in that facet because I may have had to, like, you know, I may have had to train somewhere else for a while, I think, like that. So it was good for me either way.

I didn't really, I didn't have a preference on who I came back to fight. I just wanted to get back in there. Well, as far as the matchup is concerned, which one did you like better? Well, Sean's a friend, so I thought. I think Anthony's a really good matchup for me. He's a stylistically similar. You know, he's a, I mean, it's a good matchup. I think he's a wrestler, kickboxing.

I think he's really starting to enjoy his kickboxing. So I think it makes for an exciting fight. Did you watch his last fight at one time? 77? Um, yeah, I guess, uh, Ruin Pops, correct? Correct. I watched it live, yeah. Oh, you were there?

Yeah, it was like a weird story. No, no, I watched it like live on the, on the broadcast. How about those body shots? Were you impressed? Yeah, I mean, it was just a weird stoppage, though, like, on Ruin's part, like Ruin you thought would have been more active, but he's kind of content just to kind of hang out and try to survive, but he didn't really respond, so I think it was a good stoppage. But were you impressed?

with what he did because he didn't look, he didn't have a great debut, but after that fight, I think that was one of the big talking points after 177, which, you know, wasn't the greatest card of all time, but that's a pretty impressive finish. Going to the body like that on the ground repeatedly, his body got all bruised and stuff. I mean, that didn't feel like it, or at least look like it felt very good. No, I'm sure, but I mean, yeah, I mean, that's just a finish. It's a ground upon finish, pretty simple and basic. I didn't, you know.

You don't, you don't often see. guys go ground and pound to the body with the finish? Usually everyone goes to the head, don't you agree? Yeah, what I'm trying to think of is when that guy, the Atlanta Georgia card, he just thought, who's the guy that had that had trouble in the stool situation?

Y'all Romero? Yeah, Y'all versus, who did he just, he broke his jaw. Derek Brunson? Yeah, Derek Runds, that was a nasty finish. I remember that one. Yes. The bio is pretty, pretty brutal. How do you feel about the state of the heavyweight division right now?

because I believe that given your name, and of course you're coming off a win. It was a great return to the UFC. I don't feel like you have to do much to get back in the picture, even though you haven't been. Of course, I'm not saying that a win over Anthony Hamilton's going to get you a title shot, but I feel like because you're so popular and you have this fun style and people have been watching you for quite some time that I hate to bring out the fast track line again,

but I feel like you can get in the mix pretty quickly here. Yeah, I definitely think I can, but the mix is a lot harder to crack now. there's a top 15 now that's pretty difficult, whereas it was like the top eight back when I first, you know, when I was first around. I think the division's gotten deeper and it's gotten more exciting.

There's just a lot of great matchups out there for everyone. Like there's so many guys I want to see fighters, somebody guys I want to fight. You know, there's a lot of like the old horses. They're not going away. And I love that because, you know, like those are guys I grew up, you know, dreaming of a fight.

So hopefully I can get some of those matchups. For me, the biggest thing I think is just being consistent, getting this fight out of the way and then hopefully turn around in a two to three months period and get another one in. I've lost four years in my UFC career, so I kind of want to get in there and get busy and just get to work.

I think the rest will take care of itself. I know, you know, I know my skill set, and I know that I belong on the top of you know. I just have to go out there and prove it, and do that. Who's at top that wish list? I wishless to a guy at the fight. I don't actually, I don't have a special list by any means.

I don't really want to call anybody out right now. either or do anything like that. There's just, you know, that whole old guard. You don't want to see them retire before. You know, I expected when I was 23, I would still get a shot at those guys. But, you know, I end up getting cut and I was out and had trouble getting fights for a while. And then I've been out for the last two years. So hopefully I can get some of those guys before they disappear.

I'm going to retire and things like that. That would be nice. But, you know, there's a lot of new talent coming in. It's tough, fun, and exciting. So I'm happy or whatever at this point. Well, it's good that the champion is coming back to keep the train rolling along. It's been on ice for quite some time. He returns on November 15th against Fabrice Radume.

Of course, we're talking about Kane Velasquez. Who's your pick in that fight? I try both of both of them. I definitely think Kane, I think of the motor. I think that Alpshire, I think they're 8,000-thousand-feet in Mexico City. Yeah, it's pretty much. I don't know. Yeah, I'm interested in a T.

Hopefully those guys are both preparing for that. Well, actually, Verdom is there right now. Redume has set up shop in Mexico. He's been there for a couple weeks already. Yeah, it's probably a good decision. Redoom has a lot of finishing skills. He's a very exciting fighter, but I think, you know, Kane's pace, his technical ability.

I think he dominates that fight personally. But you can't count, you cannot count, but Vrude him out. When's the last time you trained with Kane? It's been well before. My last training camp, for my last fight, Like the week before we sparred It was like with my last sparring session

Really? For my last fight It's been about two years At AKA And why'd you go there? Because that fight was in Vegas Did you stop? Because you didn't do the cap at AK

Right? Did and I was living in You were? Wow, it's been that long, huh? Long time, yeah And so why did you decide Is it just because your business is in Florida And you feel like it's a better fit

Or does something else happen? I mean, yeah My business is in Florida. That's the biggest thing I thought I came out here to do. And so I just have to be out here, you know. It is amazing. I love California. It was a great place, great state to live.

I miss it. Nice cool weather, happy people. Why, Florida's not the same? It's not a lot of happy people out here. It's pretty decent weather. A lot of old people, right? Bad drivers. Yeah.

Yeah. You're in your, what are you, are you in Coconut Creek? I'm actually in Boker-Otone. Oh, you know, I think a 5% population of above 60 and older. You must stick out. I try to, you know, I got like a white high school girls' car, so probably not too much. You know, I was reading something about you, and correct me if I'm wrong, you've had a lot of odd jobs growing up. You even worked at Dairy Queen, right?

Yeah, I've had a bunch of different ones. Janitor, movie theater usher. I just love the idea of seeing you, like, in the Dairy Queen. outfit, the vest or the movie theater vest. Do you have any picks of that? They stuck me in the back. I was busy flipping burgers, I think. Oh, really?

Yeah, they don't want me up front. But what about the movie theater, I'm sure. You've got to wear a cool outfit for that. No, actually, all we had was, I mean, I'm from a smaller town, so I don't think we really fit the bill of a typical. I think all we had to do is like a white t-shirt. I actually worked behind the countered into a phone ticket. I don't think I ever, like, there was no list of things I'm not sure about Peter.

But at Burger King, you had to wear the hat. No, well, I think I had to wear a hair in it, maybe. Yeah, I was going to say, because when you flip the burgers, I'm hoping you might be from a very small place where they don't, you know, care about that sort of thing, but it's good to know. They do. I don't think I actually was on the, I was the specialty side. I'd make the burgers of Burger King.

Wait, you didn't make the burgers or you did make the burgers? didn't. Oh, what'd you do? What does specialty side mean? I think I was doing like, I can't remember the name of the sandwiches, to be honest. Wow, they have actually, they have people who focus on the special sandwiches. I'd even know that. Yeah, you got to take a certain skill set to be of that.

Do you miss those days? Not even kind of. No. Life is a lot better now. Yeah, a lot better. How big were you when you were doing? Like, when, I just have this amazing picture of my head of, like, the huge Todd Duffy guy with the hat and the vest. I mean, of course, the hat and vest, I've learned that that did not happen.

But were you still a pretty large kid growing up? My roommates are very shaking his head a little laughing. I was, actually, I was probably bigger when I'm 16 than I am now. I was probably like 265. Wow. It's amazing. Yeah, I was real big. Who's your roommate, by the way?

an old friend of mine from back home I think he wants to trade him nameless Why? Is he shy? Yeah, very Okay All right, fair enough How is it ending on December 6th And are you nervous for it?

Does it feel like your debut all over again? I'm not nervous yet I imagine I'll get real nervous So I haven't fought in two years So you'd think there's going to be some nerves I definitely think I'll win I think I'll get a finish I'm gonna, you know,

you can't really predict a fight. I think that's pretty ridiculous when people try to. Except Connor McGregor does a good job, by the way. I must say, he's calling his shots these days. Of course, you know Connor, right? Yeah, but that's all he was going up and trying to do. He was just trying to knock the guy out, so I don't think. Right.

I think he's always going to say, I'm going to finish him the first round, too. Like, I don't really have much. Like, who cares? Connor's just talking. But isn't everyone trying to knock out their opponent for the most part? Yeah. but I think you're trying to win. Like, I mean, that's, like, they're not counting on that.

I don't, I wouldn't go if I'd like counting on knocking on anybody out personally. There's guys like Mark Hunt and my division. Sure. That's true. You know, so it's just, if it happens, it happens. I just plan on winning every moment, winning every battle, and eventually you'll come out of victory. But it is amazing.

Like, when you think about, wow, two years, and this kind of mirrors when you came back two years ago. So you have to go through those emotions all over again, you know, getting acclimated once again, and just getting your feet wet, in the organization. It's funny how many times you've had to do this now.

You're a veteran at, you know, getting your feet wet in the organization all over again. Yeah, no, I really am. That's why I'm shocked the nerves haven't kicked in yet. I'm sure they will. But I've kind of just been down this road

so many times that people are like, oh, ringer rust. I'm like, no, I don't, I don't necessarily believe in ring rush. Like, unless you allow the moment it's going to take over. Other than that, I don't see a problem. Like, the big thing about our sport

is we don't ever, like, we are playing basketball. I don't get to go, tilt. You can't really work on your fight timing. Pretty difficult. So, you know, I believe there can be some ring rust, but as long as you're doing the work you need to be putting in, I don't see that to be a problem. Well, very happy for you, Todd. I'm really happy that you conquered this and that you're coming back. The heavyweight division can certainly use you. It's great to have you around. Always enjoy watching you fight. So best of luck in preparing for

the fight and best of luck on December 6th. Looking forward to seeing you out there. Awesome, thanks a. Thank you, Todd. Appreciate it. There he is. Todd Duffy. I love the way he says that. Sometimes his voice cracks me up.

Great to have him back, and that's a fun fight at heavyweight. UFC 181, December 6th, a great card, two titles on the line, Gilbert Melendez versus Pettis, Anthony Pettis for the lightweight title, and announced recently Johnny Hendricks versus Robbie Lawler 2

for the welterweight title. Now, speaking of welterweights, and Gilbert Melendez, the man he knows a whole lot about is Jake Shields. Jake Shields will finally be making his World Series of Fighting debut. He was supposed to make his debut back in July, pulled out, and now he is finally ready to do so this Saturday. It's on NBCSN.

It's in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and he'll be facing one of Edmonton's own. In fact, one of the most famous fighters to ever come out of Edmonton. Man by the name of Ryan Ford, and he joins us right now via the magic of Skype. There he is right there. Ryan, how are you? Thank you for joining us. What's up, man?

I can't believe I'm actually on your show. Why? Why is it so surprising? I was thinking of myself, is this for real? This is for real. Thank you very much for joining us. It's great to have you on the show. This is a big week for you, right?

You make your debut on the MMA hour, and you're fighting in one of the biggest fights in Edmonton MMA history against former UFC contender Jake Shields. What are the emotions like just five days before the fight? I'm just, I'm ready, man. There's, you know, no, Mix emotions, just another fight, you know, and against that tough challenger like Jake Shields, and, you know, I'm ready for it.

But these are the kinds of fights that you haven't had the opportunity to get, right? And we'll get to your situation in a second, but you haven't had a lot of UFC veterans, big names come to fight you in Canada. So this must feel a little more special than just your average fight, right? Yeah, you know, because a lot of people are actually going to, you know, recognize who I am and, you know, see what I offer in this. game. But to me, you know, everybody's human, man, and it's, you know, it's just another challenge for me and another challenge that I'm going to put the test. Correct me if I'm wrong here. Your World Series of Fighting Canadian Welchway title is not on the line, right? No, it's not on line. Jake's American, so can't fight for any of title. Oh, that's interesting.

But it would be cool if he actually took the belt, brought it to the U.S. if he, you know, if he happy to beat you. And then, you know, like, that could be a whole pro wrestling thing and and change it into the U.S. title. That's not going to happen, though. It's not going to happen. No, that's not going to happen. What did you think when they gave you this fight? What was your reaction?

Well, I asked for it. You know, I had to be persistent on it. You know, I saw that Jake signed with World Series of Fighting, and, you know, I feel that I deserve a guy who's, you know, a top 10, you know, contender. And, you know, I asked for it. I hit Jake up on Twitter and World Series. series of fighting and you know a week in a little bit later they said hey you got the fight and i said

perfect well done another example of uh having to ask for the fights i'm always surprised when fighters don't do that um and and it was very surprising when jake was released from the ufc and he hasn't fought in wsof yet so i'm very curious to see how he looks in this fight in particular what was your reaction when he got released and do you think he's still as good as he was a few years ago when he was challenging gsp for the title yeah 100 percent um When I saw the guy got released, I was like, really? You know, but, you know, I guess that's fighting for the UFC, right? You know, and, you know, you're one fight away from being cut.

So, but, yeah, no, Jake, Jake's a beast, man. You know, well, they have Tyrone Woodley ranked at number two in the UFC and, you know, Jake beat him. So I don't really understand that. But, yeah, man, he's, you know, he's fought the who's who. He's beat the who's who in this mixed martial arts game. So, you know, you can count that I'll be, I'll be ready for. that. He also has the ability to make a lot of good fighters look ordinary or frustrate them as he

did with Tyron Woodley. Are you expecting that kind of fight? For sure, this is going the distance, that it's going to be frustrating that you're going to have to figure them out. Is that what you're thinking going into the fight? No, that's a difference between me and Tyron Woodley. I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to do what I do. And what is that? What do you expect to do? Win the fight. No, but how? I mean, you do you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, think you can finish him? Do you feel like he has openings in his game that will allow that? I believe I can finish anybody when I step into that cage, you know, and Jake's one of those guys that I believe I can finish. Where do we stand right now on your career? Because you've

looked very good as of late. You're on a role. Your debut in World Series of Fighting was great. But your story, for at least people who cover MMA, well documented, that you can't fight in the United States because of your past, your troubles with the law. Do you think that that will ever be resolved or are you resolved to the fact that, you know, you're just going to have to have a career that's in Canada or outside of the U.S., perhaps in Europe, et cetera? Yeah, you know, to me, it's where I'm making money, you know, as long as my kids have a roof over the head and, you know, my family eats, that's what I'm about, right? You know, there's big, you know, it is what it is, right? I'm just going to keep doing what I love to do, and that's fight,

whether it be here in Canada or in the United States, being with World Series fighting, you know, they should be able to bring me in, you know, the top-end opponents. They're bringing in Jake Shields and then, you know, they have other guys with their organization. So, you know, for me, if it don't make dollars, it don't make sense. But do you feel as though your career has not been able to progress as much as you would have liked it to because you cannot fight in the hotbed of MMA here in the U.S.? Yeah, for sure, you know, but, you know, I'm not looking for the fame. You know, I'm a fighter at heart and, you know, it's in my blood.

So, you know, I'm going to fight wherever it is. Do I believe I can beat, you know, the top guys that are fighting in the UFC? You damn rights I can. But, you know, if I don't get that chance to show it, hey, then who knows what could happen, right? But it's not so much about the fame. It's about testing yourself, right? Do you feel like you haven't been able to progress as a fighter because you can't test yourself against the best? The biggest fights are typically happening in the U.S.?

Yeah, yeah, I believe, you know, like I'd like to be tested. you know, I'm going to be getting tested with Jake Shields here. But then again, you know, you're looking at a lot of guys who are signed to the UFC, and I don't believe that they're the best fighters. There's a lot of other fighters that aren't in the UFC that, you know, could beat them. Is that frustrating for you to see these guys who you think you're better than get a shot in the UFC and stick around? It was before, but now it don't bother me. Like, people ask me all the time, you know, oh, why aren't you signed to the UFC?

Why aren't you sign the UFC? I said, hey, stop asking me. go ask the UFC. You know, wasn't my dream before to fight in the UFC? Yeah, is it now? Not really. Do you think there is a chance, though, that you will get the opportunity, even if it's not for the UFC, but for World Series of fighting,

they do a lot of shows in the U.S.? Is that being worked on, or is that not a possibility anymore for you to fight in the U.S.? Oh, yeah, for sure, it is a possibility. You know, we just got to keep going on with the things, you know, to get me across the border. And, you know, if it happens, it happens, right? But right now, you know, I'm fine fighting in front of all my fans here in Canada. You know, I represent Canada, you know, bored of race.

You may be a new, you're new to this show and a new fighter for a lot of the fans who are watching this show who haven't been following your career in Canada. Can you explain to us why you can't fight in the U.S.? Just, you know, when I was young, it was, you know, when you're young, you're wrecked, list and you know I guess I'm still paying for it now but um you know the past is the past you know people just need to look at me now for what I'm doing is again is it frustrating that you can't get over that that your your pass is brought up and and and you have to remember it and be reminded of it and you're still paying for your mistakes in the past um yeah but you know what I've overcame

that um you know the people who are around me that know me and the people who are close to me know you know, that, you know, I've overcome that, and I keep it in the past, right? For everybody who was out there that, you know, keep bringing it up, hey, keep bringing it up. Is that all you can bring up on me? Because look at my last fight. I knocked people out, and I finish fights, you know. 26 fights, I go in there. I lay it all on the line, you know. How were you able to turn your life around? Because what you were accused of is pretty serious stuff, and yet you seem like a model citizen now. You're doing well in your career.

What was the key to turning everything around your life? Learning from your mistakes, you know, growing up. and taking responsibility for stuff. You know, I was young, you know, I was wild. You know, I never had the best upbringing. You know, my mom, she brought me up as good as she could as being a single mom. And, you know, got, you know, just stirred off in the wrong direction, you know. Didn't really want rules.

I didn't really care. And, you know, I found, you know, myself getting into some trouble. And, you know, it actually, I think God did that for a reason to actually let me know, you know, what this life is all about. And, you know, I've seen, you know, a lot of friends die, a lot of friends, you know, in jail for the rest of the life. So, you know, I wasn't one of those guys where, you know, I wanted to be there. And, you know, my wife now who stuck with me since, you know, since that time, we've been together for 14 years, I know that it wasn't something that, you know, she would want.

And now that I have kids and, you know, I never, you know, after being in that place, it's not a place you want to be. So, you know, I grew up, took the responsibilities, and here I am today. Did MMA help you get on the right track? Yeah, 100%. You know, I knew there was something, you know, that with athletics and, you know, fighting was in my blood. So, you know, I went down to the gym and, you know, it kept me focused on something that I knew I was good at. And the people around me, you know, they told me the exact same thing.

So, you know, being in the gym, doing something I love to do and, getting paid to do it, you know, it keeps me from going that other direction. I want to ask you something that I just asked Farah Zahavi, who I know you've trained at TriStar. By the way, will he be in your corner on Saturday? No, unfortunately, he won't be on the corner. He has a big seminar that they had that he didn't know at the time of the fight was released. So no, he'll be back home, but he'll be watching TV, and he knows what I can do. Right. I was saying to him that as a Canadian myself, I feel like, the progress and the evolution of Canadian MMA has stalled a little bit, especially in the last

couple of years, there aren't as many prospects coming out. You've been on the scene for quite some time, but the young guys, you know what I mean? Do you agree with me? Or am I looking at things a little too doom and gloom-like? I mean, do you feel like there are guys coming up? You're at the gym all the time, so you'll have a better take on this than myself. What do you think? Have things stalled or are things in a good place as far as Canadian MMA is concerned? Well, you know, I think it's pretty big here in Canada, you know, for the smaller organizations. But, you know, rising stars, you know, I train at TriStar Gym. There's a lot of guys who, you know, who have been making their debuts or, you know, the second, third fights in the UFC.

And I believe that, you know, the guys who really want to put in the work and the dedication in the gym, those are going to be the guys that rise. But, you know, nowadays, you know, this mixed martial arts is so big that everybody wants to put on a team. shirt and say they're a fighter. Right. Of course, this past Saturday, Roy McDonald just won. He fights in your weight class. Did you train with him a lot for this fight? Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, man. We, it was out in Montreal for two months. So, you know, I was there from the start to the ending of Rory's camp. You know, dudes a beast. And, you know, we get down and we get in the gym. And, you know, being able to train with these guys and, you know, I know where I fit in. And, you know, so, you know, fighting Jake Shields, obviously, you know, there's, you know, he's a specialist at grappling.

So we do have a lot of good guys who are good at grappling, but, you know, the fight starts on the feet. And, you know, we've got a lot of good guys who are on the ground, too. So wherever the fight goes, you know, I believe that I'll be able to do what I've got to do. And Faraz knows Jake very well. They fought him at UFC 129 when George defeated him at that big event. Did he talk to you about that? I mean, you're a different fighter than George, of course. but given his experience and they prepared for the guy,

do you feel as though that helped you in preparation for this fight? Oh, yeah, 100%. As soon as I got to the gym after the first foreign session, Coach Fraud pulled me off to the side, and he laid out a game plan for me that I stuck with through for the whole training camp that I was there. And, you know, he's a master when it comes to game planning, and, you know, he knows what to do when that cage door closes.

and yeah man so I got all the knowledge there being up at TriStar from you know all my coaches and all my training partners so I'll be ready come Saturday night I think the welterweight division in World Series of Fighting is probably their most interesting division right now Paul Harris is the champion you got Fitch there Berkman just left what do you make of him getting his release from the you from the organization and going to the UFC hey you know it must have made sense for him so you know it did a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of on him. He was actually a guy that I was calling out before Shields was signed. Yeah. You know, because he didn't have a fight but, you know, he's a beast too, man.

That guy comes in and he throws down. So, you know, that's what I'm really looking to do is like, I want to fight the best guys that are out there that I can't fight at the organization that I'm with. Well, if we assume Paul Harris will fight Fitch next and given Jake's background, and he was supposed

to, he at least was in talks when the fight couldn't happen of fighting in a big fight at Welterway, maybe even for the title when he was signed. This could be like a four-man tournament, but are you confident that if you win and you're the number one contender, let's say, in that weight class,

that you will get a title shot, given, of course, the issues that we were talking about earlier. Yeah, you know, I'm not thinking, I'm not one of those guys you think past Jake Shields. I know there's a title there and stuff, you know, but Jake's been on my mind since, you know, I signed the fight, but, you know,

God has a plan and NBC has money. Well said. Well said. This fight is going to be on NBCSN. It's Saturday. It's in Edmonton. Would you agree? One of the biggest fights in Edmonton, MMA history. I know W.C. was there and you fought in some shows, you know, local shows, so to speak. But this feels like a bigger deal, right? This is by far the biggest fight card ever hit Edmonton and, you know, the biggest main event that's ever been in Edmonton in any combat sports. Wow. That's a big statement. How are ticket sales? You have any idea? Tickets. How many tickets that I sell? I'm pretty sure this thing's going to be sold out. Wow. It is the real deal to steal a phrase from your nickname, right?

Yeah, it's the real. Well, you've won, how many of you want? You've won six in a row going into this fight. You look great. Your debut in World Series of fighting a 53-second knockout. Looking forward to the fight. I know it's a big challenge for you, a big step up, and looking forward to seeing if you can deliver on Saturday on NBCSN.

Thank you so much for the time, Ryan. Great to have you on the show for the first time, and best of luck to you. All right. Thanks a lot for having me. Hit me back on Twitter when I hit you up, man. All right. Show some...

Be in front of some love. Go Oilers as well. I'm not a hockey guy. Okay, fair enough. I was trying to warm up to him. There he is. Ryan Ford making his World Series of Fighting Normal, not Canada debut.

He made his World Series Fighting Canada debut on February 21st, but now it's for the mothership, if you will, and a huge fight for him in the main event against Jake Shields. They will also be crowning their first ever heavyweight champion on Saturday. It's on NBCSN. All right, let's move along. The UFC had two fight cards on Saturday. They take a break now, which is somewhat rare for them these days, taking a two-week break, and then it all culminates October 25th, Rio de Janeiro, Jose Aldo versus Chad Mendez 2 for the UFC featherweight title. Really wanted to talk to Chad before that fight, so he is joining us now via the phone.

Chad, how are you? I'm good, man. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Great to have you on the show. So you're on the on-deck circle right. now and we're two weeks away and this this fight card of course you know this fight was supposed to happen in august we we know about all the issues getting to this point at you know at this point are you just kind of crossing your fingers and praying that you actually get to october 25th or at least that he gets there because we know a lot of things have happened between you know when this fight card was it was an originally announced or at least this fight i should say oh yeah man i'm

just every day keeping my fingers crossed that's funny i was just joking about that day with my teammates, but man, I'm just praying everything goes good. We're so close. We've gone through another hard camp, so we're right at the end, and hopefully everything stays as planned. There was a report recently that he had kidney stones, that he was hospitalized. When you found out about this, what was going through your mind?

I actually found out that on Twitter. I was just checking my feed, and a couple people had tweeted me that someone was actually saying to fight off, and my heart just, stopped. I immediately called Mike Robert was like, what the hell is going on? Do not tell me this is happening again. And he's like, no, no, no, the fight's still on.

They said he's fine. So I was actually pretty terrified. But as far as I know, we're all still good to go. So, like I said, fingers crossed, man. And, you know, you last fought in December. It was in your hometown and, you know, it was a dominant win. I know you were battling

some health issues during the fight, but you were supposed to fight in August and the fight gets canceled. And now it's October. How has this been on your body? I mean, you're getting ready for a fight in August, and you have to take your foot off the gas and get prepared. And at the end of the day, it's going to be 10 months since you last fought. So how do you feel?

Yeah, I mean, I actually feel really good. I did a great job of kind of backing off just a little bit whenever we found out he was out for the August 2nd card. You know, I backed off a little but didn't completely get out of shape. So we kept everything going, but just didn't beat my body up for a little bit after that. But that was something we were really focused on. I mean, it's happened to me before in the past where a fight back out,

the fight gets postponed or moved back, and you just keep training. By the time the fight comes, you're just so over-trained and your body's beat up. You just feel like crap. So we really focused on that this time, and I think as far as everything goes, I feel very healthy. I feel, you know, very powerful.

Everything. My cardio feels great. So I think we're right on point, man. Everything feels good. So you saw him recently. You guys were doing a little press day in Rio, and of course he shoved you. What was your reaction to that?

I mean, for me, it's basically me thinking I'm in his head, man. I mean, we've never seen Aldo do this with any opponent. I feel he feels threatened. You know, I'm in his head. This is right where I want to be. You know, you get into a stare-off, and the guy shoves you or pushes you. It's just kind of funny to me.

You know, that's our job. That's what we're supposed to do. And if you don't want to be there, don't do the damn stare-down. So it's just funny to me to see him get frustrated and lose is cool. And then afterwards he said, you know, we were talking with my team about promoting fights, and that was all for show. And then he kind of went back on it and said, that's not really what I meant. I mean, what's your take on how he handled it all afterwards?

I think that's bull. I mean, he lost his temporary loss is cool, and that's never happened before. You know, and so he's trying to backtrack and cover that up by 10. We were just trying to sell the fight. If that's the case, if you were trying to sell the fight, you wouldn't come out and say that afterward, you know what I mean? That was him backfettling, for sure. Why do you think you're in his head?

You know, I mean, I've been on terror my last few fight. You know, I've talked about it immediately. I'm not afraid of him. I'm not scared of them. You know, I feel like this is my time to rain, and I know that I can beat Josealdo. So, you know, I just either, you know, he's seeing my performances and knowing that I've gotten a lot better,

and he's still threatened, or I don't know what the hell is going on, but he's definitely losing his cool. And, you know, I feel like I'm there in his head and getting to him. So, like I said, I feel like I'm right on track and right where I want to be. You know, when this fight was first announced, it was, you know, a great story. You're on a role, as you mentioned, and it's a fight people want it to see again. But I think it's reached a whole other level now with this rivalry,

and it shows, once again, that people will really get behind when there's, you know, bad blood and whatnot. Do you feel like it's a little different? Like, people feel differently about the fight now that it's pretty clear that both of you don't like each other. Yeah, I think so. I mean, obviously everyone wants to see a rivalry go down. People like watching two human beings get into an archagon and fight each other that don't like each other. You know, it's not as entertaining when there's no, you know, bad blood or anything. You know, if there's buddies getting in there and doing it, a lot of the time,

aren't as interested. So, of course, people want to see this, but I mean, a lot of people have asked if this is just to sell the fight and if it's just for publicity, and it's not. I mean, you know, this is, like I said, my time to rain. I'm not afraid of Joe Zaldo. He's come out into the public and he wrote this big old long letter talking all kinds of shit about me. You know, like I said, he's never done that before. That's me getting in his head, and, you know, I don't like him. He doesn't like me. And, you know, we're at that point. So I think it's going to be very exciting for the fans to watch, you know, It's, you know, for me, it's about redemption.

It's about payback. You know, the first fight in Brazil, I feel like I was winning the fight up until the mistake that I made and he capitalized on it. You know, and so I've felt him. I know what he feels like. I know it's power, speed, of strength, and I know that I can beat him. And I honestly believe he knows that, too. And, you know, this is going to be a fun fight for the fans to watch. You know, it takes a guy like me to get a guy that's been in his comfort zone for as long.

if he has and it's been on top and really hasn't made very many improvements. He's just been able to coast through fights, the last few fights. And, you know, it takes a guy like me to get in there and push a guy like that out of his comfort zone and really test his will and test his heart, and that's what I'm going to do. Are you banking on the fact that his team right now, they might be in a bit of a rut after what happened in May, your teammate defeating Hennon-Berau, and then, of course, what happened in August in Sacramento with him missing weight, and they've had some other issues as well and all this other stuff going on behind the scenes.

I mean, do you feel like they're in a bit of disarray right now? I do. I mean, don't know exactly why or what's going on, but, you know, everybody has ups and downs. And I feel like this is their down, and it's our up, you know, and it's time for me to capitalize. You know, TJ was the first guy to get out there and do it against Borough. You know, I think we have the skill set, the athletic ability, and the guys with the right mindset to be able to do it.

It's just, you know, getting out there and getting it done. And, you know, like I said, TJ was the first one to do it. I think we've cracked the code, and now it's my turn to get out there and prove to the world that I'm the best featherweight in the world. So it's time, man. Hopefully everything stays on track, no injuries, and we're able to do it. When he was reigning supreme, and it's been for quite some time now, but when he was doing his thing in W.C. An early portion of his UFC career, he was a very popular fighter. A lot of people were behind him. He was very exciting, but it seems like his stock publicly has gone down a little bit.

people don't view him the same way. Maybe his last few fights haven't been as exciting. Why do you think that is? Like I said, I feel like he's a guy that he's found his comfort zone. You know, he's really good at what he does. You know, and so he'll get in there and he'll use the skills that he's very good at, but coasts. You know, he knows he can beat a guy with lay kicks.

You know, he knows he can be the guy with a jab. You know, if the guy gets crazy, he can throw a knee and possibly catch him. But a lot of guys aren't pushing the pace on him, So he's not able to hit those crazy knees. You know, he's just staying on the outside using his leg kicks and popping jab. And, yeah, he's winning fights, but it's not very exciting. He's not finishing guys. He's not looking to finish guys.

He's looking to coast and get the W and get out of there. You know, he's a different guy now. You know, he's married. He has a newborn baby. You know, a lot of people say that changes the man in this sport. You've got to have that aggression and that will to get out there and destroy your opponent, and maybe that's gone. have you watched the first fight a lot?

Oh, yeah. I've seen that fight probably a million times. Wow. Go ahead, sorry. Especially down in Brazil. When I was just down there for the media thing, they had it on repeat in the arena that we were doing all the media on. You know, there's a promo, and I probably watched the end of the fight probably,

seriously, probably a thousand times sitting there. No joke. And, you know, it's something that I've obviously replayed in my head, and I know the mistake that I made. You know, I let up with a few seconds to go. You know, I've been taught my whole life in wrestling to never give up until the rest stopped it. And, you know, that's the mistake I made. And he capitalized and I paid for it.

So, you know, it's something I'll never do again. You know, and like I said, it's something that's thought about a lot. So we have the game plan. You know, I feel like I have the athletic ability and the mental drive and the heart to get in there and be a guy like Jose. And what do you think when you see him hold on to the cage there before the knockout? How big of a deal do you think that was? I mean, yeah, that pisses me off. That's something that, you know, the fight should have been stopped and a point should have been taken away.

It was multiple cage grabs. You know, we talked about that in the back with the rest, you know, and he specifically said if a takedown is stopped by a cage grab, that's an automatic point deduction, and there was nothing that was done, you know. And not saying I would have completely won the fight because of that, But I think, you know, we would have made it out of the first round for sure. You know, I would have won that round. And we all know that, you know, the game plan was for me to get in there

and push Jose into the deeper round where he slows down. And, you know, I didn't get to do that because of that. So, you know, it pisses me off. But, you know, that's the past. And, you know, now is now. You know, it's something we're going to talk about with the rest. Obviously, a lot of people talk about it. It's something that's well-known between us.

So I'm sure whoever rests our fight is going to be in their heads as well. So it's going to be looked for. And speaking of being pissed off, how annoyed are you that this is happening in Rio again? I mean, it's not my favorite, but, you know, that's not my call. You know, I work for the UFC. So, you know, if that's where I got to do it, that's where we got to put the fight on, and that's where the money is going to be made, and that's what's going to happen. Obviously, I was very excited and pumped to be doing it pretty much my home.

hometown, you know, in California, a couple hours away from where I live and had tons of friends and family that already had tickets bought, a hotel room booked. You know, there were a lot of people that were coming. I was just so excited, you know, being able to watch PJ, you know, win the belt in front of so many of this friends and family and everybody there supporting them. You know, it's an awesome experience, and I was actually really looking forward to that, but, you know, there's a lot of people that can't afford the flight, can't afford to take that much time off to get out there, you know, the time changes and everything.

And, you know, it's just a little bummer, but, you know, it is what it is. I know that all those people that were going to go are going to be watching it here in the state on TV, so I know that the love and the sport's going to be there. It's not going to be as cool to have them there to witness that all go down. So I believe that Featherweight has never been more interesting than right now. Of course, a big part of that is Connor McGregor. What do you think of his win over Dustin Poirier a couple weeks ago? I mean, I think that was a big win for him.

You know, he got out there, he looked calm and collected, and he got the job done. You know, I think he punched him in the back of the head. But, you know, in a situation like that, I think the ref made the right call. You know, he threw the punch, Dustin rolled it, and that's just where the punch landed. So, you know, I was really excited to see more of a bra, more of a war, and just see and kind of test Connor and see how he is with a little bit tougher opponent. But it is what it is. Dustin's a great guy, great, great fighter. So I think that moves Connor up, you know, into the top ten, you know.

And honestly, the guy, the guy talks a lot of shit, but I think he's great for the sport. You know, it's, it's a, eye-opener for a lot of people to bring that much recognition to the Sederweight division and to the sport of the UFC. So, you know, I think it's great, but don't get me wrong. I would love the punches dude right to face. You know, he's a big talker. he's got some skill sets to back it up, but I don't think he's on my level yet.

You know, I'd like to see him get in there with someone that has a little bit of a wrestling background that can kind of strike. You know, I think a guy like Dennis Bermuda, honestly, would beat him. I think a guy like Craig Bleda and even Nick Lentz. I think all three of those guys would test them very, very well and most likely beat him. You know, I don't know if UFC would do that.

But, you know, I think those are three guys that would definitely test where his skill set really is. According to the UFC rankings right now, he's ranked five, and Dana White said last week that he's leaning towards giving him a title shot next. What's your take on that? Yeah, I mean, this is a business. You know, as much as I want to think of it as a sport, it kind of sucks, but, you know, this is entertainment, and he's entertaining.

And I could definitely see that happening. So do you think... Go ahead, sir. necessarily agree with it. I mean, I think he needs to fight one or two more times. Like I said, someone that can really test his ground game and stuff. But, you know, like I said, I don't know if that's going to happen. But it is what it is. If I go out there and I beat Joseado, you know, I'd love to dismantle this guy next. So what do you, what do you make of him calling you Minnie Mendez and saying that you're a blown up Bantamway and all that stuff? He talks about

you a lot. What's your response? Honestly, since they're, I actually don't mind that nickname mini Minda. I think it's kind of cool. A lot of the guys actually have been caught as soon as he said that all the guys and I came into the gym, the next day were calling me Mitty Binda. But honestly, man, like I've been little my whole life. I've been small since, you know, day one.

So I don't have a little man complex. The short jokes and everything doesn't bother me at all. You know, I'm short. I'm 5'5. I'm still whooping guys at featherweight. So, you know, it doesn't bother me at all. One might say, though, that if you did win the title,

and I obviously think that you believe that you are going to win. A fight against McGregor, as your first title defense, would be a lot bigger and would make you more money than another fight against Aldo. Do you agree? Given all the buzz that he has created. Oh, yeah, I totally agree. And honestly, if I go out there and I beat Aldo,

I would rather fight a bigger name like Connor. Not necessarily a bigger name, but a guy with a bigger draw like that. You know, like you said, that's going to be a ton more money. It's going to be a way bigger recognition fight. and I think it's going to be huge for the Federweight Division. We'll cross that road when it comes, but I think that's definitely a great idea.

And they're sending him to Rio for your fight. Are you worried he's going to try to steal your thunder or distract you or anything like that? No, I mean, I think that's pretty jacked up if he tries to do anything like that before the fight. But I'm expecting after the fight for him to do some stuff, which is fine. He gets close to me in the cage and getting double-leg. By the way, speaking of the fight itself, have we figured out our walkout music yet? I got to stick to the same one, man. Come on.

I know. I tried to change it, dude. Dana said, no, you're not changing that song. Who said that? Dana loves my walkout song. Dana? Tell him who's the one behind this idea. He doesn't know.

I know. I told him. I actually told him you want me to change it to that song, and he's like, no, you're not changing it. Well, maybe that was a mistake. You shouldn't have said it came from me. I got shot down. I know, right? I thought that immediately after.

So we're not coming out to the Shane McMahon song? No. We'll see. Maybe one fight down the road, maybe when we start, maybe he'll loosen up a little bit on it, but we'll see. What's your song now? Country Boy by Anne Lewis. Come on.

This is way cooler than that. Yeah, I think it would be a cool song. Don't get me wrong. By the way, I was at before I let you go, I was in Sacramento, of course, for 177. I had the Money Mendez role. Oh, what did you think? It was fantastic.

It was way better than the Dilleshaw role. Yeah, I mean, no disrespect to T.J., but I agree. Way better. And I love how they put, they put like a little money sign on the plate. Yeah, yeah. And the interesting thing is, though, that it's not on the menu, so you really have to be in the know to order this thing. Yeah.

And on top of that, what's up with Faber not having a role there? Is this a sign of the times? No, so Faber actually was a, the originator of the sushi roll, but not mine, but he was actually come to first by Taro, the owner of the restaurant, he's like, Favor, we need to make you a sushi roll. But, you know, favor, he bounced all over the place. He's got too much, you know, all over the damn place, and could never get the damn thing done. So he asked me next, and I was all over it in a heartbeat.

So we came up with the money roll, and then T.J. was just done after this last fight, or two fights ago now. When are you going to get on the menu, because I feel like that's really cementing your place in the history of the restaurant. We've talked about doing it, but it's kind of, I almost like it better than not. It's kind of like the secret menu, you know? You go to In-N-Out Burger and their stuff that isn't on there, but it's kind of like the cool stuff, you know? So we've talked about getting it on there. It still might happen, but as it right now, I think it's kind of better on the secret menu.

There's a lot of stuff that they have on the secret menu, and that's one of them. It's cold. Okay, I like that. Okay, final question. I'm going to play the music just to hype myself up. How's it ending? October 25th, Rio de Janeiro. Aldo Mendez's two featherweight title.

Give me the layout here. Yeah, in a perfect world, I'm going to go out there. I'm going to put so much pressure on Joe Di Aldo, and I'm going to break him, and I'm going to end up finishing him with a TK or a knockout. Oh, my God. If you look and to punch this guy so hard in the face, his mom's going to feel it.

Can you imagine the scene there if you beat? He's the last Brazilian champion left. I know. I got a, I'm, I'm, I'm trying to bring them all back to the state. So this is going to be history in the making right here, man. I'm the last one. Are you worried about that at all, security-wise?

A little bit, but I actually love the Brazilian crowd, man. They're actually pretty cool. I was just there a few weeks back, and even with all the stuff going down between me and Jose, I have a lot of fans and a lot of level of that. So I'm not too worried, no. All right. Well, if anyone wants to hear Chad Mendez coming out to the song, I suggest turning down the volume when he walks out to the cage on October 25th

and play this music, because that will give him good luck. luck, I am sure of that. Chad, thank you so much. You've done a great job hyping this fight. I think you've come a long way in that regard. Can't wait for the rematch October 25th in Rio. I will see you there and I wish you the best of luck. Awesome, man. Thank you very much. You have a good day, buddy. All right, there he is. Money Mendez. Needs to come out to this at some point. Did I call him Minnie Mendez or did I just call him Money Mendez? I may have screwed up right there, but he likes it, so I can't get in trouble. What did I say? Will, do you remember, do you, Do you recall what I said?

I said the right one, okay. That would have been funny if I had the Freudian slip, if you will. But Connor McGregor says he will be there. I mean, this is just a layup. That's a layup, in my opinion. I wonder who actually sang this song. Is it true who was naughty by nature? I don't know.

I heard a rumor it was. This, of course, is Shane McMahon's walkout song back in the old WWF days. Shane O'Mac. His nickname was, actually that wasn't his nickname his song was just here comes the money Mendez nickname money it just all makes sense but it's not going to happen for some reason

Dana White party pooper well that is the next pay-per view October 25th UFC 179 it's the next UFC show so stay tuned for that as UFC takes a two-week break okay speaking of Brazilian MMA this man had a big win on Saturday in Halifax his seventh win in a row he's looked fantastic as a bantamoyed

and under normal circumstances he would probably be the number one contender in his division fortunately right now doesn't appear to be the case we're going to talk to him about that and a whole lot more he is Hafeel Asun Salh

Hafeel, how are you? How are you? I'm doing very much for joining us. Congratulations on the win were you happy with your performance on Saturday? More or less you know

some things went out of my control for everything to be perfect. But, you know, it was another win. I just watched the fight this morning. I actually recorded it last night and just watched the fight. You know, technically, he was pretty much what I anticipated, what I wanted to do. I mean, everything that I wanted to do defensively, offensively, I was able to put it together. You know, I just thought that, you know, I got a little tired there. You know, so I had some other issues, which, you know, it's kind of, you know, more physical and, you know, physiological a little bit too.

And that's kind of like the next phase of my career. Just, you know, getting to the next level, I need a nutritionist. So there's a couple things I'm actually writing down right now, you know, making some other plans as the Bentonet Division goes on at least for a couple months. Right. You know, we said on this show last week that I feel bad for you because they announce, you know, cruise fights at 178 and then you have this big fight, a co-main event, all that stuff, you're on this role. And then they announce, you know, just a few days before your fight that he's done on one contender,

taking away some of the luster from your fight. mentally how did you deal with that? Because for a long time, I would assume you thought this was a number one contender fight. Yeah, well, and I said it in like a post interview in Halifax that, you know, I had kind of like a mixed feeling about the whole situation because, and as I said again, Dominic Cruz had a Nassau performance. I mean, it's pretty much, you know, not impossible, but it's pretty It was pretty dang perfect. You know, it was hard to kind of match that performance.

You know, what could I do, beat the guy in 20 seconds because he finished the, you know, he finished, he finished Missed Guy in 60 seconds or whatever. And so, what was I supposed to do, finish the guy in 30, you know? So, you know, I had a little bit of mixed feelings going into the fight knowing that I had to make a statement. And, you know, every fight you have to make a statement, you know. So it wasn't like something that.

It was crazy, you know, different. But, you know, it's just mixed feelings, you know, mixed emotions, you know, a little bit of good-up emotions as well going into a fight. I mean, category, it was a game opponent, you know, it was a game opponent, you know. A lot of people take him lightly. Well, not take him lightly, but people kind of, yeah, you should be able to go in there. And I knew, you know, I think I'm experienced enough to know that. you know, if the guy is on a row on a street, the guy comes from WC.

He's got to, you know, he's been in there with a very high-level guys. You know, he's fought. And he was beating, by the way, Mark Harmonic when he was up finding Mark Comeney, one of the tapes I studied. He was actually beating up Mark Harmonic. And Harmonic was, I think, gave Jose Aaldo, his toughest fight, you know, you know what I'm saying? So, you know, all that aside, you know, I thought I was able to do everything I wanted to do. You know, I think I should be a little more aggressive, you know, so, you know, and another thing, it's hard going back to the joint board when you're winning, you know.

You got to be humble enough. You got to be intelligent enough. And, you know, you got to surround yourself with good people and make sure that even though you're on a role, you got to go back to the. drawing board, see what you're doing, see what your mistakes are. And, you know, end of the story, as far as that goes, that keeps him motivated, you know, it's going to keep you motivated because I have a lot to work, you know. I can very well be cocky and be like, okay, you know, I'm on a certified win streak, but I don't feel that way. I feel that I have a lot to improve, have a lot of room for improvement. And that's kind of where, you know, I see myself, my career right now.

think they'll do with you next or at least recommend that you do? Do you think you'll fight again before you get a chance to fight for the belt? I'm not sure, Ariel, right now. I have no idea. You know, I'm just as inches right now. You know, obviously, the more consistent you are, the more, you know,

I wasn't rusty, but it's been eight months since my last fight, you know, that's, yeah, nine months. well, you know, seven or eight months before. So, you know, I really don't know right now. As I say, in a previous interview also, you know, I do a lot of my writing, my handwriting, planning my career and trying to work the best for myself. So I guess I'll sit down with my team and, you know, and go from there,

see what the UFC has to say, and they kind of plan from there. I suggested, since it seems like Cruz will fight Dillishan next, that a fun fight for you and a fight that would really cement you as the number one contender would be a rematch against Uriah Faber. What do you make of that? That would be the fight. I just feel that right now, you know, I should be like kind of sitting back and waiting for a better opportunity, you know what I mean?

Like as far as being close to the championship, because you ride had his chance four or five times, you know, in front of me. You know? Yeah. But, you know, I can't deny, you know, the fact, you know, if it makes sense, you know, so it would be it. I'd rather sitting in a rate right now

and see what happens. So, you know, I make sure, you know, you're right in a tough fight. You know, I love to revenge at a loss. It's just, you know, I think I'm a little bit ahead off that rematch right now. You know, he was so long ago, and he had his chance. He lost, and now he's on, you know, a little bit of a streak.

So, what, one-fight week streak right now. So I'd like to be more in position of a, you know, of a consenship status right now rather than just taking rematches and people are suggesting Burrell. Yeah, what about that one? That was my next one. Those are all, like I say, those are all great fights, you know, and I just feel right now,

you know, if I can save myself a little bit and being content, that would be my best, you know, that'll be my best bet right there. How much does it bother you? Because the story is, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you were offered the brow fight first at 173 and you couldn't fight, and, you know, you had the injured ribs and whatnot, and then you see what happens, and, I mean,

when you watch that, do you think, wow, that could have been me, I could have been champion. How much do you think about that? I think I thought about it a lot. You know, now I kind of had, it kind of passed because, you know, things are just changing so much. Like, the world goes around, you know. But, yeah, I was pretty upset for a moment, but, you know, the injury was sucks. You know, it wasn't like I can peer up or I can, you know, just kind of go through.

it because he was five months of rehabilitation on that injury, so it was a pretty bad injury. So when they called me, I think it was five weeks out or a little left and five weeks out. And I told Charles, I'll say, yeah, I'm game, I'm down, but he couldn't, I had it, I had it literally, you had to be written. I had the contract had to be written that day you know like you wasn't okay I'll give you a week so you can let you clear and talk

to your doctor so the moment I said that I'll take the fight I had two hours to sign the bar agreement and that's when I couldn't take the fight and then obviously T.J was already on the card right you know

and then they just replaced that TJ just kind of just the spot there, you know, respectfully. He took the sport, became the champion. Did you get a chance, or your team, get a chance to talk to Sean, Shelby, the matchmaker for your division while in Halifax after your win?

I know he was there. Did he say anything to you? I talked to him very briefly this time. He was getting ready to get on the bus. We came down. Very, very briefly, he was like, the event. ended like three in the morning there

and I think Sean Shelby had to catch a boss at 6 or something he was like with a tire we haven't a chance to talk to a lot now do you know if he was happy with your fight? I'm not sure okay

I'm not sure yeah I'm not sure because the way you see how you feel is I feel good no I have a little bit of a black eye and that's it no injuries whatsoever I'm not sure.

You know, I think he really wanted me to make a statement as if, not just me, but as if in any other contender, as if in any other top contender, you want me to make a statement. I tried, man. I mean, you know, I've, you know, some things when, you know, psychologically, it was, you know, I had a good camp, you know, physically. I did some things that I shouldn't have them better. You know, I had a pretty harsh weight cut.

No excuse. I mean, that never affected me in any of my fights, you know, at Ventim weight. But I had a tough cut this time. My recuperation wasn't the best recuperation I've ever had, you know, a little pressure. So it's just different, you know. It's just, you know, I did what I had to do and, you know, didn't take a lot of punishment. You know, the guy, much respect to to care. way that he said he was going to bring a dog fight.

I thought if I landed two or three or four solid shots, then I'll probably be able to stop his supposed dog fight, you know, dog fight game plan, but I guess he didn't too much, you know. I thought if I landed three or a horn shots, man, he would stop, you know, just coming forward and trying to be a little more technical. That's when I see why I can. compete better is when I kind of exchange technique, a bit more angles.

So, you know, prior to... He didn't bring that type of fight, you know, he didn't bring that type of fight, that's for sure. Prior to going down to 135, you had lost two of your last, excuse me, three of your last four, and since then you've won seven in a row as a bantam weight, what's been the difference for you? Why have you looked so good as of late? No, no, I think that's my best weight class as far as my body.

He's doing my frame. You know, I'm much more professional now just because, you know, I have to go to diet and I have to be really focused and my training has to be on a regiment. You know, not on a crazy regiment, but it has to be everything that's going to be on schedule. I have to rest because we're dieting at the same time.

You know, our training is pretty intense. So it just made me more professional as if when I was a fed away I just didn't take it very seriously I'd call anybody

you know and you know no diet you know I eat pizza a day before a way he is

and just not there and fine and stuff so it's really more more professional but you know I'm not getting any younger

too I'm 32 years old right now so by time you know so I'll be more professional too

I feel great a bent away, you know, I just feel that when the opportunity presents itself again, and I'm ready. So that's what I'm thinking about right now. Well, the biggest feather in your cap, I would say, is the fact that you have a win over the champion. You beat T.J. Dillashaw almost exactly a year ago, October 9th of 2013. When you watch him fight now, do you believe he is a better fighter, a different fighter? He's the same fighter. He's a lot more professional. You know, the guy's a champ, you know, and so there's a mental state that you can't deny.

I mean, it's just like experience, like, nobody can take away an experience from you. Like, it's something that it's inside of view. So, you know, I think once it becomes a champion, that mental state, that psychological effect, you know, makes you want, not that I'm not motivated, but I just think it makes you more, it makes you more, it makes you want more, you know, you have to be out there and you have to put on, like, he fought solo, he couldn't, he couldn't finish

solo in three rounds, you know, just like I couldn't finish caraway in three rounds either and, and he finished him in the fifth round, you know, so it's just everything is different, you know, so I think he's the same fighter, you know,

make me a better athlete and more, more, you know, wiser as, as a champion, that he knows as a champion, you know, so he's probably wiser

and, and, and if that makes sense. Um, but, you know, physically, you know,

you have your own instincts. That's the instinct that you're, you're born or something you're, you're, you're, you can,

you can, like, work on stuff that on your weaknesses and stuff, like, everybody has their own instincts. Um,

so I think he's the same father. And I read something interesting yesterday. wanted to mention that, that he developed a little bit of his style mimicking Dominic Cruz. That was pretty interesting. Yeah. So who do you think wins the fight when they meet up? Yeah, exactly.

I'll go with Dominic. I have to go with Dominic. It's going to change, he's going to completely change, you know, the, you know, how the Benton where it's going to Dominic wins again, then now what happened. Right. You know, so, but that's all, you know, that's all, that's why it's fun. And that's why I mean it makes fine, because it can change, you know, I guess from water to wine pretty quickly. Well, yeah, I mean, if he loses to Dominic, then who knows, they may do another rematch and you'll have to wait.

It's going to be interesting to see what they do. But certainly you're making your case. You've won seven in a row. I'm curious to see what they do with you as well. So enjoy this victory. Congratulations on the win. And keep us posted as to what is next for you. For sure, Ariel.

Thanks for the time, buddy. All right, there he is. Huffel Suncel. Streaking bantam weight, as I mentioned, he's won his last seven in a row against some very good opponents. Johnny Eduardo, Issa Tumura, Mike Easton, Von Lee, T.J. Dillishaw, Pedro Munoz, who's looked great as of late, Brian Carraway. And I know Munoz took that fight on relatively short notice, but that's a pretty good list right there and includes the champion. split decision win

That was the fight card headline by Damien Maya versus Jake Shields in Brazil And I believe T.J. still thinks he won the fight But it was close enough to where it warrants a rematch But right now it's hard to argue with the The idea of putting Cruz versus Dilleshaw Cruz of course never lost the title,

came back last weekend, looked fantastic, defeated to Kame Mizugaki in like 61 seconds, something like that, that's the big money fight. That's the fight that's going to sell tickets and paper views. And, you know, there's something to be said for selling yourself. That is what is going on in MMA. I mean, the blueprint is there. And Hafele-Sonsal just doesn't get his name out there as much as, you know, some of the other guys. I mean, certainly the Cruz, even Cruz didn't say a word. If he had a performance like that, he's a former champion, it's a layup. But analyze what Cruz said after his win.

Compare it to what Hafele Sunshaus said. He said his thing about the eight seconds and all that, but there was a lot more energy and passion. And of course, after a comeback like that, three years away, a finish, the crowd is going to be a whole lot more amped up. And that helps. The promoters, the matchmakers,

they listen to that kind of thing. It's a big part of it. So we'll see what happens. I certainly believe that I think he's going to have to fight one more time. And I think a fight against Faber would make all the sense in the world. I know he's gone a lot of shots, but why turn down that fight? He lost to him. He's, you know, he's the biggest name, even bigger than the champion.

He's still the most popular guy. And I think that Henna Burau should take a break. I think that after coming back so soon and what happened to him with the weight cut, he needs to take a break, certainly for the rest of the year, but even beyond. six to eight, nine months, something like that. I don't want to see him booked in another fight for quite some time. Just give his body a rest. And that's why I think, given the rankings and what makes sense,

Faber versus Sunsau makes a lot of sense. And then I know Faber, he's gotten a lot of shots, but if he wins, Faber versus Cruz 3 or Faber versus Dillishaw, gigantic fights at 135, the biggest fights they could put on, even bigger than Cruz versus Dillishaw. You have to consider that. Huffel Sunsao currently resides in Atlanta, another guy who is from that region now, of course, of Brazilian descent as well, had a great night on Friday, won three fights, three fights, old school MMA. It was at Battlegrounds MMA. It was in Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Juan Carrnero, Zhukau, as they call him, won three times on Friday to win a one-night tournament. He was supposed to, to win $50,000.

He did not get all of that money. We will get into that and a whole lot more with him right now. Joucao, how are you? What's up, Rio? I'm good, man. Congratulations. A great night for you, very happy for you. How is your body feeling after that?

I mean, one MMA fight is enough for one guy to be tired and to be banged up. You had to do it three times. And I know the early fights were short, but you got to be pretty tired, right? Oh, yeah, man. First of all, thank you, and I'm tired, man. But for one guy 36 years old, I thought it was more tight than that, you know. Wow. I'm going to teach you a little bit and probably going to roll with my students.

That is amazing. Of course, you defeated Randall Wallace via submission the first round, three minutes and 29 seconds. Then you defeated Trey Houston via TKO, a great finish, second round, two minutes and 11 seconds. And then you went the distance with Brock Larson. but after the first win, there were, you know, there was some talk on the broadcast that you might not be able to make it

to the next round. What was going on? And how did you actually go out there and fight two more times? Yeah, man, it is, man. After my first fight, I was really the head rate. You know, I came to my locker room

and I could, like, not feel my body doing well, you know, I'm starting to feeling creams, you know, and I was not feeling really good. And all water, put inside to my body, I go straight to the bathroom pee, you know. And I was not sweating at all. I was something wrong. And then, you know, I have to take my head off for Douglas Lima and Jago Lehman. They push me, they motivated me to say, man, you know, we need to do it, you know,

thinking about the all hard work we did for being here, you know, and I'm starting, like, get down and bring gatorage and stuff like that. and feeling my body starts doing good, but I was definitely in a good condition, too, you know. And I just feel I was blessed to what happened in the second fight. You know, actually, I finished him in the second round, you know. And when I saw everything, I was already at the final, you know, and then I say, man, now I forget about everything and what my body was feeling, you know.

and I finish, you know, I coach Dan with Brock. Did you have to get cleared by the commission by the doctors when you were feeling sick, when you were feeling dehydrated and get the okay from them to continue fighting? Is that how it worked backstage? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The doctors was doing one of an excellent job, you know. And when I finished my first fight, I just telling them to give me some time

just to feeling what I'm going to feel, you know. And when I say, I was waiting to the second fight, they start to do a lot of exams, you know, to feeling if I was really waited to do my second fight, and, you know, they didn't want a great job. And there was really checked with all fighters, like winners and who lost the fight, you know, in some case, they replaced somebody, could not continue to fight.

If everybody was well, you know, they didn't want an excellent job. Why did you agree to do this? I mean, in this day and age, when we find out about head trauma and things of that nature, I mean, one MMA fight, like I said, is enough to fight three times is a lot on your body, and especially at your age. Why did you say yes to this? Well, when I heard about the tournament, I mean, I say, man, there's my hand. You know, it was just one place available, and I tried to find who was behind the tournament.

It was getting money, and I text him right on, you know, because that's a, I grew in Brazil, man. I like to watch Hoyt's Grace do with those things, you know. When I was kid, I saw Murillo Bustamanchi fight with one tournament when he fought Tom Erickson, you know, like a couple pounds over in the hand. You know, it would like make me excited to come back in training and do something strength, you know. And another thing, too, like three fights, you know, in my mind was, in my mind was three, wins, you know, and then when I put my record, you know, great.

You know, and then, like, I just keep in training, you know, I don't have a strategy. I just try to, like, get my levels, like, increase my skills and on the field, on the ground, on wrestling, you know, I was helped big foot for his fight, and I was get a chance to train with all guys in HAT in Florida, you know, and then I went to Brazil, I went to Novo, New York, to Giusealdo, you know, and I keep in belief I could do it, you know, and that's what happened. I conquered my objective, you know. I was watching an interview that you did, a post-fight interview with Sherdog after the

entire tournament, and you said that you still feel like you have some unfinished business in a certain promotion, but you never actually said the promotion. am I correct in assuming that it's UFC that's where you want to return? Yes, man. You know, I would love to finish some business over there. You know, the way I got, I got me the last time I was not feeling good. You know, in my mind, it was my last fight for UFC. He and my talent, man.

You know, I lost by split decision. but in my mind I beat him you know was bad call for the half-risk you know I'm still you know and this this past years I'm keeping trained with many UFC fighters

you know like in many different divisions like lights and heavy guys and I'm still doing good you know and imagine if I have one performance like I did a little less Friday night on UFC you know what I mean I'm still

you know I know inside me I can show the world I you know I can do some good things on the case you know on that case specifically you know and I just don't have the opportunity to show for them you know I can't do it you know and it's not late man still can do it and I'm going to do it so and since then you've won what is it one two three four five six seven seven of your last date so you're certainly making a strong case and winning three in a row on Friday help. So now we get to the controversy. You were supposed to win $50,000, but you only got $35,000. You were fined by the Oklahoma Athletic Commission for being late. Now, do you have

an update on the situation? Have you talked to them at all? Do you know if you'll get your money back? So my manager and my attorneys start to get in contact with them, you know, and I think we're going to make a solution. I just want to expand my side, you know, and my side, was not late at all. So the magical exam, they say they want to start on 7th. And the whole time, so the way is was Thursday, 12 p.m. So when finished the wings, I go take lunch, you know, eat a little bit. I was really dehydrate.

And I was waiting for the doctors to put the IV on me. And the whole time, I was text the promoter to ask what's the doctors, you know? And this time I was going upstairs and a room and come downstairs in the lobby to find the doctors to find the commission to finish my physical exams and finally put my view on me you know and have some uh uh you know

I think they don't understand my side you know I just tried to make understand my side that was not late you know I was there the whole time and when I got there the doctors come talk to me they don't notice me for anything late or

you know they don't tell me I was late or you know they're going to find they're going to find me for something, you know. I just like her at, when I got the money, it was $35,000. And I asked the promoter what happened. And he told me, I got a fine because belated in the physicals and this and that. You know, so now I'm talking to my manager. My manager is going to try to make one solution with them.

So the executive director of the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission, Joe Miller, spoke to a reporter from my site, Chuck Mindenhall, and he gave us an explanation as to why you were fine. Do you want to hear the explanation? Yep. Okay, this is what he said. I'm going to read it pretty quickly because he wrote a lot. During the rules meeting, I was very specific four times.

I told the fighters, coaches, seconds, etc., that they must report for their pre-bout physicals at 7 o'clock and gave the location, which was in the hotel, that the fighters were staying in. I also made comment that if they did not, show up on time that I may cancel their bout. They may be suspended or fine. The commission showed up at the physical room in the hotel at 630. The four docs showed up a little before 7 o'clock. Carnaro, excuse me, was not present. He was called and texted with no reply. He finally replied

to a text at about 7.15 and said he was on his way down. He was texted again about 10 to 15 minutes later and did not reply. All of the fighters had completed their physicals and the docs were asking Carnaro where he was. He finally showed up at 805. The commission withheld 30 percent his purse pending a hearing, which is our standard procedure for fighters who show up late to a way in, check-in, or physical exam. Carnaro will receive a certified letter from the commission, a quote-unquote notice of hearing, describing his violation and giving him the right to explain an appeal. Upon conclusion of the hearing, there will be a findings of fact and an order issued.

That order, excuse me, will include any punishment that Carnaro will receive for rule violations. I cannot tell you at this time what the punishment will be. quote. That's his explanation. Is that accurate in your opinion? I just want to recollect different. You know, I'm like, in some points he told you, I don't, I don't, I don't, how can I say, I don't agree, you know, but I just want to want to explain my side, you know, my manager, my, my parents did want to talk to them and explain my side. if they want to find me for something,

we'll see what happened, you know. So my mind was, I talked to the promoter, the promoter, no, I was in contact with them, I have text messages to, you know,

I have everything on my phone, when I text, the promoter, and I ask for them, you know, so I don't know, I have some mistake, you know,

I'm not saying they are wrong, you know what I mean? But I am no, I was no wrong. I was there on the time. You know, I just, like I said, I just want to try to, they listen to me and understand my side and explain I was not late at all.

Okay, fair enough. After fighting three times, you were obviously exhausted, beat up to find out when you go backstage that you did not have $50,000 in your hand. I mean, what was your reaction to that? That has to be pretty deflating, no? It was crazy, area. At the same time, I was happy,

was frustrated, you know. So, and I did, and I did, like, notice it was, you know, $35,000. You know, I thought the whole time was $50,000. I if don't check, I even don't count the money. You counted it, you know, but I count on the, on the, after the fight, you know, I'm talking about on the stage, you know, on the cage, you know. When I got it, I give the money for my corn, for Douglas, you know, and dollars, he, he noticed it was 35. $5,000, you know, and when I feel that, I mean, was missing something, I was like, man, you know, I always crazy things is going to happen in my life, man, you know, like you said, man, it's not for everybody, five, three guys in one night, and I did it, you know, and I supposed

get $50,000 and I got $35, you know. Right. We might tomorrow, man, we might tomorrow sign another promotion, man. who knows man all crazy things happen in my life you know but I end the day and a half man you know I'm

you know my I did that for myself and myself have no limits man I can do it you know I can fight with many guys in my division

I'm away to my the next challenge coming up you know and I'm happy man three guys in one night they got like a badass belt all my

all my days now you know, I'm going to celebrate it to my studio tonight. You know, my kids, you know, I put the belt on my kids. He loves it. He plays around with the belt, you know. That's all about it. That's all matters, you know. You know, you spoke to another colleague of mine, Guillermo Cruz, the Brazilian Beast himself,

and you sent him a picture of, you're on the plane. In fact, it's the picture we're using right now. You're on the plane, and the belt is on your shoulder. You sat on the plane with the belt? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Because I was scared, man, for somebody like I took my belt. So you sat there the whole time.

They must have thought that you were the baddest man on the planet right there. I mean, all the people on the plane, how did they react to that? Yeah, they asked me, what happened? What was his belt for? I said, I fought in the marriage night, one promotion. Oh, nice. How was the fighters? How was the fight?

What do you mean? I said, three fights. What? Three fights. I said, yeah, man, I did three fights. Oh, congratulations, man, this is tough. You know, and I was just sketched losing my belt, man. You know, I say, I'm not going to put this on the bag,

and, you know, it might be they got my belt. You know, I said, you know, I'm going to take my belt with me. You know, because it was my concern showed the belt for my kid, man. I love that. Are you going to take the rest of the year off? I mean, I know you haven't been fighting as often as of late, but after doing something like that, three times in one night,

do you want to take some time off? Man, no at all, man. I have a Diego Lima. He's a have a 500 up in Brazil. I have to, you know, healing my body as soon as possible to help him. But not fight, you know. But a training for sure, you know, I like the way I fight and I know I have to improve something on my skills too.

I'm going to keep training hard, you know. and like an injury free right now. So, you know, the time off to fight, but if we're not, I want to come back to train next week. Well, Jucao, as they say in France, felicitation, I know you speak French very well. Congratulations on an amazing night for you. Three wins in one night, winning that money.

I do hope that you get the money. I mean, even if you are later, to me, taking away $15,000, $30,000 is just absolute criminal. to do that to someone who won three times in one night and I hope they figure everything out there and you get what you have earned and what you deserve. So congratulations, good luck, dealing with the commission, good luck,

trying to get your money back, and good luck getting back into the UFC. Hopefully, for your sake, this helps get you some momentum and gets you another shot inside the octagon. Oh, I appreciate it. Oh, I appreciate it. I'm just like, I want to get everything fine, you know, even John Jones and Cornwallier, they don't get a one to find like that.

Sure, sure. And so, I mean, I just, like, if they want to find me something, I just don't want to be fine with $50,000 because, you know, that hurts, you know, special. Man, the way I fought three-fights and I think I deserve it and I earn. Yes. I don't get my whole money, you know. So anyway, thank you, man. Thank you guys for the opportunity.

And I hope to see you soon, Ariel, you know, and you get to my interview after my the next fight. For sure. I look forward to that. Thank you so much. Enjoy the win. Or the wins, I should say. The wins. Yes. There he is. Juan Carnaro, Joucao, great guy. He was actually on this show before the tournament when we had Bigfoot Silva on. He was acting as his translator. He's a trainer for Bigfoot Silva. He was trained also with the likes of Brian Stan and the Sunsau brothers, the Lima brothers, a lot of brothers over there in Atlanta these days. That's where he calls home and had a great night. You know, that was an interesting show. I thought they made a mistake. I mean, there's a few things I thought they made a mistake with. I mean, the crowd wasn't all that good. But again,

as I said earlier, they should have, that one hour pre-show, which I thought was a little deceiving as well, because I thought the card was going to start at nine, and it really started at 10. So there's this one-hour pre-show. And they put these like prelim fights. And I mean, pre-lim fights are prelim fights, but these were, I mean, these were not good fights. This was the lowest of the low as far as MMA is concerned, in my opinion. There was a finish here or there, but it was not good MMA. And Chale and J.R., Jim Ross, were, as I said, the draw going in and they ended up being the story. To a large part going out, of course, Joucao getting his money stolen was, in my opinion, a bigger story and a more alarming story.

But they should have had like a one-hour pre-show of just Chale and J.R. Talking about the card, shooting the breeze. I mean, I think a lot of people would have watched that, in fact, paid for that, and that would have gotten them more hype for the card than seeing a bunch of low-level fighters fighting an empty arena, for that matter. So I thought that was a bit of a mistake, but this is a promotion that doesn't put on a lot of events. I actually spoke to Kenny Monday afterwards, and he said, Kenny Monday, who was on the show last week, who's a part of the promotion, said they have some big plans for the future.

So I'm curious to see if they're going to stick with the tournament, because it did get them some recognition. It's something you can't pull off everywhere. But, you know, it's old school MMA. And people have tried it. You know, Yama tried it and not much success. I mean, you get some press on the night of, but nothing really comes of it. Could they be the ones to really run with this gimmick?

You know, Belator had their tournament thing, but this is one-night tournament stuff. And there are people who are interested in that. It certainly has its appeal and it's fun to watch. I know some fighters are going to be turned off. And in this day and age, you kind of feel a little weird about it. with everything you hear as far as head trauma is concerned and all that. But you can't help but sit in awe of these guys going out there three times, coming back twice after fighting the first time and continuing to do so,

especially after you have to go, you know, 15 minutes or so. It's pretty amazing stuff. He deserves that money. I hope Oklahoma figures it out, does the right thing, slaps him on the wrist, whatever, but winning three times and having $15,000. taken away from you because you're late. Give me a break. Come on, 30%.

Unacceptable. All right. That does it for our interviews. As I mentioned earlier, we are not being joined today by New York, Rick. In fact, this is the first time in almost three years since he joined the show that he is not here while we tape a show.

And I got to say, Adam back there has been unbelievable, especially with the curveball that Faraz threw us earlier. And I think this, you know, look, when you change things up, you get a little concerned that it won't be business as usual, but it has been better than business as usual, which is very comforting and has been a great turn of events here on this Monday, October 6, 2014, a day that we will all remember. But since he is a part of the show and since he decided to leave us hanging, we thought that, you know, we might as well check in with Mr. New York, Rick, who I believe is joining us, oh, look at it. him. So, so relaxed, so ten, wearing his

little tank top. He's joining us from all the way in Hawaii. Where exactly in Hawaii are you, Mr. New York, Rick? I am in Waikiki. Look at you. Look at you. Just living the dream over there. I was just contemplating my future as

Adam moves in and replaces me. You might as well just stay over there. I mean, this is like when Lou Gehrick came in. You know the story, right? The famous story of Lou Gehrick. Yes. You've heard of this? What's his name?

Wally Pip was the first basement for the New York Yankees. He had one off day, one. And then the Iron Horse himself, Lou Gehrick, came in. We might as well call Adam Lou Gehrick at this point. You take a break. You take a vacation. You go to Waikiki. And, you know, who knows if that spot will be vacant when you return.

I know it will be vacant. I'm coming back. I'm coming from my belt. How is the trip? It's wonderful so far. I started on Maui, did a lot of sightseeing there, enjoyed the sites, the beaches. And then maybe two days ago, I came over to this island to enjoy Honolulu. I have not yet visited a big island, which is Hilo, home of BJ Penn.

Yes. Any word whether or not BJ Penn will be there. I mean, we'd like to get an update on it. We had a conversation. We had a breakfast. Okay. There is no update on that end from BJ Penn. You know, I noticed that you've been tweeting, as per usual.

You even claim that you were going to watch Battlegrounds, and I called BS on that. I mean, who goes to Hawaii? I mean, rightfully, I'll send that one. Did not watch that one. I did watch the two UFC events, though. Why is the question? What do you mean? I mean, you're in Hawaii on vacation.

Oh, no, no, no. I did not watch them live. I've watched them on Fight Pass and then... Through other means. What? Through other means. Yes. But you didn't watch them live.

That is good to know. I knew for a fact that it was total BS that you were going to watch Battlegrounds from your... I heard Battlegrounds was fantastic or at least... Well, I wouldn't go that far. Interesting. Yes. I wouldn't call it fantastic. Do you have any takeaways?

Anything you want to provide? We're giving you this precious airtime. Anything you want to say about what transpired over the last few days in the world of MMA that you have missed? I'd like to say that Rory McDonald, what a knockout. That was fantastic. Does he deserve a title shot? He does deserve a title shot. I've been saying that for a while.

I thought Rory took a little too much heat than necessary, and people thought that one loss meant he was done as a contender. he wasn't the guy we thought he could be. But I still think Rory can be that next level athlete in the sport, and I think he deserves the next shot. What do you think of my NFL Sunsau versus Roy Faber idea? Well, that's a great fight. And I think you can't deny Dom and the crews at this point, and the UFC has said that they won't.

So I think that that's a great fight to kind of keep them both in the same place while learning a little more about a Sunsout and how we might do against. Dilleshaw or Dominic Cruz And then what about in Sweden? You had mentioned that Gunner Nelson was just going to steamroll right through Rick Story. You were giving him no respect whatsoever. And then Rick Story comes up and pulls off the upset.

What do you have to say about that? I don't recall ever saying that. But maybe I said that to you in private and you run with it. What do you think? What a performance story. No, not shocking because of the clash of styles. I think that Gunner is one of those guys who tends to sit back too much, and Story is one of the guys who never sits back.

He's always pushing pace. So on paper, you might think that that kind of fight could happen. Most people would have expected Gunner to be able to get it to the ground or to finish him at some point, but Story is super tough, and his constant forward pressure was going to be a problem for Gunner Nelson, regardless of whether Gunner won or not. It was going to be a tough fight. Any other takeaways? I mean, we had Daniel Strauss knocking out Justin Wilcox, as I said, Swedish MMA having a horrible night in Sweden, Elyr Latifie and Nicholas Baxter.

Remember what you told Alir Latifie was the next big thing in MMA? Did I say that? I didn't say that. It was all about Connor McGregor and Alir Latifie. Yeah. The two stars coming to save. By the way, our friends over at SBG, not the best weekend as well. I mean, Cahal Pendry. it had a win, but it was somewhat controversial, and then Gunner losing and Patty Houlihan losing as well. So it's funny.

One week you're on top, one week you're struggling. Yeah, I'm sure they'll bounce back. I mean, Calh didn't even lose, and Patty will be back. It was a great performance, though. It reminds me of your situation here. I mean, one week you're on top, the next week you're in Hawaii. So what's, what time is it there? So Hawaii is not top. Hawaii is the bottom.

Well, I mean, in my world, this is the top. There's worse bottoms than Hawaii. What time is it? 10.m. right? 10 a.m. And what are we doing today? What's on tap? Going to get a little work done. Work. Then hit the beach.

That's it. You just hit on the beach? I actually haven't had a chance to do that. I've kind of been snorkeling and climbing mountain. and things like that. I haven't had a chance to kind of just lay out on the beach and relax. Do you eat that thing?

I know they have this thing with like the spam and the rice. Rich Chow told me about it one time. I actually sat... Masusi? Is that what is called? What's it called, babe? Masubi.

Yeah, they got the spam. It's rice. And then there's a spam on top of it and you eat it like a snack. Are you telling me that your beautiful bride is in attendance as well. She is, but she's a little camera shot. Oh, come on. I mean,

you can make your, your MMA hour debut right now in front of the world. Millions are watching. Can you just say hello to us? We want to know who's the brains behind this operation. Let them. What's up? That's it? Did we hear that? I mean, I heard it. It wasn't very

inspiring. It makes me wonder if you're there by yourself. She's very camera shy. Very camera shy. Makes me wonder if you're flying solo. I just going to throw that out. Yeah, I threw my voice. I threw my voice over there. Yeah.

All right. Well, congratulations to the both of you, enjoy. Be safe out there. We miss you dearly over here. But don't worry, I know you were very concerned. Everything's going great, and the train is rolling along without you. Before I go, I want to plug one thing. Oh, here we go.

The aforementioned, Roy McDonald. Yes. Fighting on Metamorris. Yes. Tickets on sale Friday. That is good. Yes. I failed to mention that in the Farazza Hobby interview.

Were you told about this? I may or may not have been. Tickets on sale this Friday. Let me give him a plug. By the way, what about Joe Schilling making his Bellator debut? I know you're a big fan. I'm a big fan of Joe Schilling.

This could be big things for Glory and Bellator moving forward. Yeah, sharing talent. You can see Paul Daly maybe in Glory and a lot of their other big strikers. Yeah, this is the information for MetaMorris. Good call. there. It's on sale this Friday and wait a second. Oh, it's on sale on what? This is a weird email. It says November 10th. Is that a mistake? Friday, October. Yes, October 10th. Okay.

I got November 10th. 12 p.m. Pacific. So 3 p.m. in the east. It's at metamores.com. Of course, Henzo Gracie versus Kizu Shizu Kizu Kizu Kizuera, is the main event we had Hensu on the show last week. Warren McDonald versus J.T. Torres, also Vinnie

Magaliyesh against Kevin Casey, which is interesting. And there is the secret match once again. Any insight as to who will be

competing in the secret match? I don't have any inside info on the secret match, but I'm sure it's going to be

fantastic. One idea that I had yesterday, Faraz Zahabe versus Greg Jackson, secret match. What do you think? Wow,

trainer versus trainer. That's a whole other dimension that they haven't even thought about yet. But I feel like a lot of the guys in the jujitsu trainer world have faced off. Guys who have transitioned from current competitors to jujitsu trainers. But this would be interesting to be MMA, more MMA focused trainers. Yeah, yeah. Or guys who are BJJ coaches, at least that we know in the MMA world that are famous.

You know, like a Dave Camarillo, you know, those kind of. guys. I'd like to see those guys as well. Of course, I always want to see like Henner and here on Gracie, but I know they're not going to do it probably, but it's a whole other, they have like, if they don't get BJ Penn to compete on one of these cards in the next two years, I think that's a massive failure. I mean, there's just so many guys that you can go after that aren't fighting, that, you know, have retired or whatever. It's just the world is their oyster. So it's going to be interesting to see what they did. And so said you'd like to see BJ Penn. Yes. I think we'd all like to see BJ Penn. Yeah. So track them down for us.

try to get a word and then report back. When do you come back? Thursday. This Thursday? Next Thursday. Oh, wow. Nope, this Thursday. Time is ticking.

Time is ticking away. All right. Enjoy. Thanks for stopping by. We miss you. We'll see you next Tuesday. This is a good time for me to remind everyone that next week's show is not on Monday. It's on Tuesday.

I will be in Montreal as we say goodbye to Eric. Look at, was that Adam that just did that? he just he just he just cut off well who is that was that will i think it was adam sending a message no that was adam sending a message oh he's back i thought it was adam sending a message that this is his house that he built this house now uh there's a new mayor in town um anyway next week's show it's on tuesday not on monday i'm going to montreal

for a family wedding so i will not be back in time same time in place next tuesday So do mark it on your calendar, October 14th. Maybe in New York, we'll be back. Okay, now we'll say goodbye. Take care. Mahalo. Have you ever been to Hawaii? I have, a couple times.

What's something I got to do? Have you been to Honolulu? This is, I mean, the last time I was there was the year 2000. So it's, I don't recall anything. I heard there's a UFC gym there. Check that out. Isn't that BJ's in Hilo? Yes.

But it's all one big place, right? The Big Island? I'll report back with something for you. Okay. Bring back a nice tan. There he is. Aloha. To New York, Rick, and his beautiful bride joining us from Hawaii.

Ooh, great recommendation from Guillermo Cruz. Andre Petanaris versus Fabio Prado. That is brilliant. Novuniao coach versus Alpha Males, BJJ coach. That's what I'm talking about. There's a whole host of possibilities right now. hopefully they can thrive and keep putting these on and lay off the media ban thing i mean get over yourself what is this media ban 10 people if you want to bring them in eight people five people

but you can't just ban the media we help you guys out that's how this thing works we report we cover and then in turn you get coverage but if you're going to you know not allow media to cover your events, you're going to piss off media. And also, there's, you know, I don't care about the MMA media, but BJJ media. This is the UFC essentially of BJ, right? I mean, maybe not. Maybe not. Maybe ADCC and all that other stuff. But this is a big deal in that world. This is getting a lot of attention. The casuals are starting to pay attention. At least the casual MMA fan is now going to get interested in this. So don't turn your back on the media. It never works out well, at least in my opinion. What do I know? I've never ran a promotion. I certainly wouldn't do it. But

perhaps I'm biased. Okay, let's move along. Let's go to Inside the Vault now, and this is a fun one. I said earlier that this is an interview that I've wanted to showcase for quite some time. It's arguably my favorite post-fight interview ever. When I think of the ultimate post-fight interview, when I think of the interview that really, I mean, it just, it all came together. It was so special, and it's a moment in time that I'll never forget. I think back to April 17, 2010, Strike Force, Nashville. Gagar Musassi versus King Mohammed Lawal. Now back then, which is something that we don't get to experience these days, these days, especially when we're covering the UFC events

and working for Fox, which is great. Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic. It's a real pleasure to be backstage and talk to the fighters immediately after the fights. But back then, when things were a little more loosey-goosey and a little less buttoned up, we could go to the locker rooms to talk to the fighters after the fights. And you get a whole different perspective

when you're in the locker room. I mean, that is the true nitty-gritty. That is, you know, that is bare bones. And that, you know, when I think of a post-fight interview, you want it in a setting like that as opposed to, you know, a set, a stage backdrop and all that stuff. And we had the opportunity to do that while covering Strike Force Nashville, April 17, 2010. Of course, as you may remember, Muhammad Lawal won on that night, dominant win, took some damage to the though, but he ended up defeating Geyer Musassi via unanimous decision, improving his record to 7 and 0. And at that time, he was one of the great prospects in mixed martial arts. And afterwards, we had the opportunity to go backstage and interview him. And even though it was a dominant win, even though it was a unanimous decision win, as I said, he took damage.

So much damage that he couldn't even stand up. Couldn't even stand up after the fight. So we actually interviewed Mohamed Llewal, King Mo. lying down. He was lying down. He was wearing his shades, a little beat up, a little exhausted, incredibly emotional. And that's what made this so special. Here's a guy who had been looking to win for quite some time, and he finally got that belt. So when we spoke to him on April 17, 2010, after that win, it was amazingly emotional and it's an interview that I will never forget. Here it is, me interviewing King Moe immediately after he became the Strike Force light heavyweight champion.

Ariel Halwani post-fight at Strikeforce Nashville with the new Strike Force light heavyweight champion King Mohammed Lawal, King Mo. How does that sound? I guess it sounds pretty good, man. You know, I'm happy. You got a lot of critics. A lot of people who said you were too young, too inexperienced, too cocky. What do you say to them now? Yeah, I already know. You know what I'm going to say to them. Like I always say, F them, I don't give a damn. You know what I'm saying?

Everyone got critics. I've always been died my whole life. and I just keep on proving the wrong by winning. It's my first world title, man. I tried four years, man, in wrestling. I tried my whole life in wrestling a good world title, man. And I finally got one, but it was an M.M.A. And you know what I made it happen?

You feeling pretty emotional right now. Yeah. It's destiny. Destiny? You feel like seven professional fights and you get a world title. Did you think it would come this quickly? I don't know, man.

I just like to thank, like, you know, all my coaches, you know, Coach Mel, Daddy, Ryan. Carson, Dean, Fabricio, Kevin Jackson, you know, David James and John Smith, because they help you get here, man. It's a long journey, man. It's my first world title, man. It's something real.

Well, it was a very impressive performance. You dominated, you know, decisively four to the five rounds. Were you happy with what you accomplished out there in terms of your performance? No, neither though. Because I came in easy, but I got lazy a few times, man. I took him for granted because I didn't respect. I didn't respect the skills all too much because I knew I could beat him. I should take a little more serious.

I could finish him because that was my plan to finish him. I didn't want him to go five rounds. I wanted to leave him laying and go sleeping. But he's tough, man. He's season. How about the takedowns? I mean, you were able to take him down at ease. Were you surprised that his takedown defense just, you know, he just couldn't stop?

You know, you were taking him down at ease. M.MA, man. Ain't nobody got good. take down defense, man. People don't know that. But you know, you hear a good take down defense. It's a joke. Because you put me against any wrestling, anybody, I'm going to take him down. You know what I'm saying? There are few guys like Dan Cormier

I struggle with, even with shots Rashach's athletic, and he knows good baseline defense. But for the most part, a lot of guys, they don't got good baseline D so I could take him down all day. Did he hurt you seriously at any point in the fight? No, man, except he, I felt like he hit me with his knuckle in my eye, you know, his thumb

in my eye, but he couldn't hurt me. You know, even the kick. So I my coach out here is punish me so much you know he's beating me up more than anybody he came on my mama

and Danny all my train is beating me up and that right there all the all the punishment I took from them prepared

me for this day okay final question how are you going to celebrate this victory I got after party a comment

at that I'm going to go just lay down on watch TV all right so there you have it amazing emotion amazing moment

in Nashville back in April of 2010 of course that car will always be remembered for the brawl after the Jake Shields versus Dan Henderson fight and somewhat, you know, somewhat marred in that regard because MMA never returned to CBS afterwards, but when I think of post-fight interviews,

it's one thing to interview someone after they lose and they're emotional. And I've been in those situations before, but to get that emotional after a win is somewhat rare, especially in this sport with all the testosterone, the alpha males and whatnot. And I'll never forget that moment. Him lying down there, getting emotional, and remaining undefeated and becoming the Strike Force Light Heavyweight Champion. Of course, he would go on to lose the belt in his very next fight. He lost to Fezhao Cavalcante in Houston, August 21st, 2010,

and was able to rebound a little bit, came back, defeated Hajie Gracey. Defeated Lawrence Larkin in a dominant win, but then that result was overturned. And it is now a no-contradict. contest because he was accused of taking steroid. And since then, it's been a little bit up and down for King Mo. Of course, he returns to action on November 15th, battled health issues, thought at one point that he was going to die.

I'll always remember that moment. I'll always appreciate him. Prior to the Lorenz Larkin fight, he was in Las Vegas, and this was the Zufa-owned strike force. And when he told the media, no offense to all of you, it just isn't a big event unless Ariel Hawani is there. He didn't have to say that. And it was, you know, you're kind of embarrassed when something like that because you don't want to disrespect your colleagues, fellow journalists, but that was pretty amazing. So King Mo will always

be near and dear to my heart and a good guy and a friend of the show. And that's, that's one that I'll never forget. One of the great post-fight interviews that I've had a chance to conduct, I'll always remember it. All right, let's move along. Speaking of getting popped, this is kind of interesting. It was announced just a couple hours ago while we were doing this show that, that Piotr Halman, who he actually lost to Glycintibow at UFC Fight Night 51, not all that long ago. That was on September 5th. Excuse me, that was on September the 13th.

There's a typo in the article that I'm reading on MMAfighting.com. He, as well, tested positive for Drosanlon, which is the same steroid that King Moe was accused of taking after that fight against Lorenz Larkin. He lost to Glycine T-Bowel. as I mentioned. So he was awarded the fight of the night bonus after the three-round fight. And if history is any indication, he's probably not going to get that bonus. It's going to be interesting to see whether or not Glycantibow gets the bonus.

He's going to be suspended now for nine months and must undergo a new drug test before being clear to compete again. That's over at M.AFighting.com. You could read more about that. And usually at around this time, we take your questions and comments. and Mr. New York Rick is the one to help pick those out and to read them off. But we're going to do things a little bit differently here. I'm going to pick them because he's not here. And I'll read some that are on the comments page here.

And also, if you're watching the show live, I recommend tweeting away some questions right now and using the hashtag the MMA hour and I'll get to some before we say goodbye. First, I'm going to look at the questions and comments on MMAfighting.com. Let's see. Let's see. And I haven't read these. I haven't even thought of these.

So bear with me as I look them over. Somewhat like the Luke Thomas live chat, right? All right, here we go. Roy McDonald, the time has come. This is from F Keeper MMA with his impressive TKO win over Tarek Safferdeen. It's hard to deny Rory a title shot now. Plenty of hardcore fans have seen him as a future champion for years, and this is the closest he's been.

if, capital if he does indeed get a title shot, do you think he will beat either Hendricks or Lawler? So this is from as I said, F Keeper MMA. I think that A, he should get the title shot. And I certainly think that he could beat either guy. I mean, the Lawler fight was close. I think he lost the fight. But he's the most deserving guy. So can his style stack up against either Hendricks or Lawler?

Absolutely. Who, if I'm him, would I rather fight? Good question. That's a good question. I kind of feel like I'd rather fight Lawler because I've been in there with him before and I feel like his style matches up better with him that he can out-wrestle him. Although Lawler's take-down the fence has improved and is somewhat underrated. But I feel like a Lawler fight is more favorable for Roy McDonald. What to do with the Sunsau? After seven straight wins, Halfel Sunsau will still have to fight again to get a title shot. Who would you like to see him fight next? Wyneland McDonald or a potential rematch against Faber sounds like good fights to me.

This is from Gator underscore 04. It's got to be your eye of favor. And again, I don't want to see Henne Brow fight anytime soon. I think he needs to take a break. And I don't mind seeing, honestly, I don't mind seeing Henan Brow fight someone like it's Kamisukaki. build him back up. Here's one from half Tio, show weather. What do you think about Lombard's tweets calling out Warren McDonald after his victory?

If Lombard has an impressive fight against Birkman, does that win alone make him one of the top contenders? Well, first of all, I think he was actually calling out Tarek Safedin, and I do think those weren't poor taste. Tarc Saffedine just lost, and you're talking about sparring and things of that nature, you know, and beating him up. I just don't think that's the time to do that. I know he's frustrated and he's not getting to love and he feels like he's kind of the forgotten man at 170,

but I didn't think that was the time to do that. I'm surprised that he's getting Josh Berkman. I mean, this guy who's a top contender, but just shows that A, maybe a lot of people don't want to fight him. And B, there just aren't a lot of possibilities for him right now at 170. And quite frankly, I'm not a huge fan of the way Josh Berkman has conducted himself. I'm not a huge fan of the public complaining about your organization, especially one that has treated you well. I think and that it feels like they've kind of helped resurrect his career to a degree. World Series of Fighting game a big stage.

He defeated John Fitch and whatnot. And that whole thing going back and forth with the organization publicly didn't feel like it was the best way to do things. And then eventually they end up releasing him. And, you know, the stuff yesterday with Ben Asker and he told Luke Thomas that he was just joking. But to even joke about throwing a fight is just silly, in my opinion. It's actually, it's a huge error that one can make. if you're in the fight business. You do not joke about that. I mean, that's the kind of thing that a commission is going to ask you about if they're paying attention. And he better hope they're not

paying attention. You don't joke about those things. You say you're sarcastic all you want. You could say that you were just joking around. It doesn't come across that way. And it takes something away from Steve Carl who beat you. So I don't know. I mean, good for him. He's had a great story. I have nothing against the guy, but just not a big fan of using Twitter like that, publicly complaining about your employer trying to get out of your contract and and and and and and and and and and and and in and and he should be he should be very happy he's getting a big fight and hector Lombardy's right back in the quote unquote mix if you will but people need to think twice before they tweet gunny at lightweight do you think gunner Nelson would be better off making a move to lightweight i can't help but think he always

looks undersized compared to other welterweights this is from lamont 18 i suggested on on the NBA beat that he is small, although he looked actually bigger than Rick's story. I'm going to be very interested to see what happens. This is not the first time this has come up. I don't think that his size or lack thereof played a factor in the loss. I think that would be taking something away from Rick Story.

Rick Story just fought a perfect fight. And quite frankly, I was surprised that John Kavanaugh was telling Gunner as the fight went on that he was winning the fight because I don't think many people thought he was winning the fight. And how about the scoring in that fight? Holy moly.

One judge actually gave him. it to Gunner Nelson. Another judge scored at 50 to 44 for Rick Story. Now, Rick Story won and they got it right. But the scoring was all over the map there and it was false in my opinion. I mean, what the heck? I was worried that they were going to give it to Gunner because they were in Sweden and whatnot. But thankfully they did not and they got the right call. But wow, how about those scores to give it to Gunner? I'm surprised at what John Kavanaugh was seeing there. I'm surprised to hear him say that. I'm curious as to what he was seeing because it looked to me, especially going into the fourth and fifth, that he was behind the eight ball. So for now, I think they shouldn't make any drastic measures.

If they thought that he was good enough to be a welterweight contender going into that fight, I don't think they should change everything because of what happened. They should just look at what went wrong and how to rectify it. And who knows, you know, oftentimes these things are good for fighters. Look at how Rory rebounded from the Condid loss and later on the Lala loss and how guys like GSP, I know it's a bigger scale, but, you know, it's sometimes not the worst thing in the world, especially when you're not quite at the title shot just yet. This sport, what's so special about it is that we have such short-term memories. You win one fight after losing one or even losing two. I mean, it doesn't matter. You're right back in there. People forget about everything.

It's amazing. I mean, you can talk to a whole bunch of fighters who have had this happen to them. I mean, some of the best have double-digit losses on their record. It's all about what have you done for me now. As opposed to boxing, I feel like in boxing, the losses really stick out and it's harder to gain that ground again. You really take a few steps back. And MMA, for whatever reason, and this is good, good for the fighters. People don't harp on your losses as much. I like that. Rory versus GSP, again from Lamont 18. Hypothetically, if Rory faces and beats the winner of Hendricks Lawler next year on GSP makes a return, do you think they will still try to avoid fighting each other? or do you think that with the belt being at stake,

they would both agree to fight? Also, how would you see that fight going? I would love to see the fight. I love that story. I have a feeling, though, that they will at that point avoid fighting each other. I just think that they've gone this far. That might be what convinces George to not come back.

Or he goes to 185. I still feel he's too small for 185. But if he ends up being the champion, if Roy ends up being the champion, I feel like George will be like, you know what, maybe I'll just stay away, or maybe I just won't fight for the belt, but how long can you actually do that? It will make things interesting.

It's funny. George went away to avoid all this stuff and then you thought, all right, you know, Rory is going to take over perhaps and, you know, be the guy. And they're kind of converging once again. And they actually have to deal with this all over again, people like me asking these questions. So it's going to be interesting to see how they deal with it. How would I see it going? I don't really know what to expect from Jesus.

P these days. I mean, I think he comes back and looks, you know, pretty darn good, but it's hard to bet against the guy, A, and it's hard to truly know how he's going to come back. I mean, he'll be coming back from his second ACL surgery as well. Don't forget about that. That's a big deal. On a different knee, his left knee, that's a big deal. There was a report last week from Stefan Patri, his former manager on RDS, which is the equivalent of French ESPN in Quebec. He said it's a done deal. He's coming back for at least one more fight. But both George, who I spoke, to via text message and Faraz, as you heard on this show, both deny that right now. European announced team, again from Lamont 18.

What are your thoughts on John Gooden and Dan Hardy as commentators? I've generally been quite impressed with them, but did feel watching this weekend Sweden card that there's still room for improvement, particularly in Hardy's post-fight interviews, which felt quite awkward to watch at times. I like them very much. I think the UFC, give them a lot of credit. They do a great job of finding talent as far as the... broadcasters are concerned. I'm talking about the play-by-play and color analysts. I mean, everyone who

they pick is great. There are no duds in that bunch. And we're going from, you know, the new guys. I mean, Goldine Rogan, they're the voices. But from Anne who I think does a fantastic job, Brian Stan, Kenny Florian, John Gooden, Dan Hardy. I feel like I'm forgetting someone. Am I forgetting someone? Maybe I am. No, maybe I'm not. And even in the past with, you know, Randy Gattour, they've done a good job. I love, I love listening to to them. I think actually Gooden does a tremendous job of breaking down the action and he's given more freedom than some of the other play-by-play man and men in the UFC like Anik and Goldie who don't call the action as much give you the real play-by-play. He knows the ground game. He knows the intricacies of

MMA. He knows how to break things down. I think he does a great job with that. Hardy does a great job. They have a great chemistry. I like that. It sounds different. It feels different. It feels European. It's a breath of fresh air at times. I do feel like they go a little long on the Hardy interviews. He's given more time for whatever reason. And that's tough to do. A, it's just tough to do, period. And it's hard for a fighter to adapt to that role on and now become the interviewer.

So that's going to take some time. And of course, there's always things to work on. I mean, they would be the first to probably tell you that there's a lot to work on. No one would be content. I mean, even the best. I mean, I consider Vince Scully to be the best play-by-play man in all of sports. him and maybe Marv Albert. And I'm sure they will tell you

after many, many, many years of doing this that there's still things to work on. So I don't think that's a slight or that's something that they're not going to believe as well. If they've been doing this for, especially Hardy, who's only been doing this for less than a year, I mean, if he thinks that he has mastered it, then, you know, he's sorely mistaken.

I don't think that's the case. But I like it very much. And wouldn't mind seeing, hearing more of them. I think they do a great job. They really do. and there's just something fun about hearing, you know, this different accent after all these years of hearing the same guys over and over again. Are win streaks worthless nowadays?

Dana recently said Connor is probably next in line for Aldo Mendez. If Swanson and Bermuda's win their next fights, how can the UFC justify this? They would have two of the longest streaks in the UFC ahead of most champions and get no reward. If Connor gets the shot, they would have to take yet another fight to stay active. The UFC is risking losing legit contenders with guys leapfrogging. This is from riding time 13.

You know, I get what Dana White is saying. If you look at the top contenders at 145, if you look at who is below Aldo right now, Mendes, Swanson, Edgar, Lamas, they've all lost to Aldo. And Mendes, of course, getting the next title shot. So if you want a fresh matchup, if you want someone who's going to bring something different to the table, I get what he's saying. Now, Cupswanson lost to, lost to Aldo way back when in WEC

on that Brown Faber 2 card, I think that was off top of my head, June of, I'm going to say June of 2009. And, you know, Aldo wasn't even the champion back then. So times of change, he's looked great. And if you beat Frankie Edgar, I mean, there's not much more that you can do to cement yourself as the number one contender,

especially with that winning streak. In fact, you can make the case that Cub Swanson's recent streak is more impressive than Mendez's only because of who he has defeated. Some pretty tough guys, some big names. He only lost once in the UFC and that was Talamas in his debut. Connor brings a lot to the table. He brings a lot of excitement. I think that they would truly capitalize on his fame and popularity if they give him one more

fight, a contender fight. Of course, he has to win that fight. But one more fight would take it to the next level because I fear that UFC. 178 wasn't seen by as many people as they may think. Again, I don't remember if I said this on the show last week or if it was on the M.A. Beter or somewhere else. But they should have called that show U.F.C. 178 stacked. Something of that nature. Johnson v. Carrioso didn't tell the story well enough. Or go with something like Mighty Mouse versus Kamikaze. It needed a hook. And I wonder if people just weren't engaged enough because of those names not being the biggest names. So we'll

see, I could be totally wrong, but that's just my impression. You give him one more fight, but hard to argue right now that McGregor isn't a bigger name than Lamas, Edgar Swanson, or even Mendez, or even Mendoz. I mean, I'd say that he might even be the most popular guy at 145 right now. And of course, you have Bermuda's there who's ranked 8th. Somehow, Dennis Bermudas is still ranked 8 after that winning streak. I have no idea why Chan Sung is ranked 6. The guy hasn't fought in a year. I believe if you're out for more than a year, you should be taken off. No slight. You're just not active right now.

You're injured. You're banged up. He was supposed to fight this weekend, pulled out, shoulders still bothering him. How is he still at sixth? How is Bermudez still eight? He actually went down one. Porier is number seven. Strange.

These rankings are weird. But it's going to be interesting. The money fight, the fight that most people will be excited about is Connor. But you roll the dice. You make him fight one more time on a really big card and then it explodes. I could see both, I could see both arguments. Let's keep going here. Sympathy for Kung Lee or no.

There were questions about Kungley's physique going into the last fight, even discussed on this show. Do you hold any sympathy for Kungley? I don't see any excuses for having human growth hormone in your body without trying to get ahead unfairly. Now, we should point out, and this is from Ashley Dordy, we should point out that Victor Conti, who is very much at the forefront of all this PED stuff, he claims that the UFC messed up that he should not be penalized, that they didn't do the right kind of drug testing. Of course, I don't know, I don't know enough about this, and perhaps he'd be a good guy to have on the show next week to talk about this. And Cungley put out a statement which you can read on M.Mayfutting.com stating that he believes that he did not do anything wrong and that he is being falsely. accused. Right now with what we know, and I'm assuming and hoping that the UFC did its due diligence, especially led by Mark Ratner, that they do believe that he did something false and that he

bended the rules and that he should be penalized. They initially gave him a nine-month suspension, but now it's a year suspension. And if that is the case, I think that's the right call. I don't feel sympathy. If you did try to get ahead, especially in a combat sport, if you did try to cheat in a sport where you're not hitting a ball over a fence, you're punching, someone in the face, I don't have any sympathy. In fact, I think that the punishment should be greater than a year. And in these cases, when the UFC is in charge, when they're the regulatory body, there's no fine. They only take away money if you were given a bonus, but there's no fine. So a year for someone his age who last fought two years ago, what does it really mean?

Nine months in a spore where you fight, you know, once in that stretch, what does it really mean? I think to really weed out the cheaters, A, you need random testing, and B, maybe you need a zero tolerance policy. And how about those people who said it was stupid for the UFC to test after the fight that it was a waste of time? It's never a waste of time. Of course, if you want to see the UFC really crack down on these people, you want to see them do it before the fight. And if they're really serious about getting rid of the cheaters, they'll do it enough time before the fight where it actually can jeopardize the fight and they won't be able to cash in. and especially with a guy like Kung Lee fighting in Asia, then you know they're truly, truly serious.

They're not saying that they're not right now, but that's a big risk to take. Imagine Kung Lee, you know, test positive two weeks before the fight. What do you do then? That's a huge deal. And of course, you know, Michael Bispen can take a whole lot of damage. It's a very detailed topic that we've talked about a lot of times. But if, in fact, he did cheat and he did so knowingly,

then no sympathy. But I'm curious to see where this goes, because he is saying, Conti is saying, no bueno, that he is actually innocent. Swedish fans watching all their favorites lose on the main card. From the upset of Backstrom getting caoed, violently Latifi getting flat in Akira, left lifeless, and Gunner getting outgunned. What should these fighters take away from a very bad night? And does this affect Sweden's love for MMA? This is from Taskmaster X. Alexander Gustafsson actually wrote a great response to all of this.

And in short, it's basically, this is mixed martial arts. You're fighting with four ounce gloves. This is going to happen. Unfortunately, when you stack the deck, when you put a lot of Swedish fighters or a lot of fighters from anywhere in the world on the same card and they all lose, which there's a 50-50 chance of happening, it's going to be maximized.

But I don't think that we should be saying that Swedish MMA isn't as good as we thought it was. You know, that gym in particular, the All-Stars gym, led by one of the great coaches in MMA, Andreas Michael, they deserve a lot of credit for developing great talent. They fought tough guys. And those were tough fights. And I think it's actually good that it's not like Dublin all over again.

I mean, that was a special thing. But, you know, it's sometimes good to see that the other guys, the enemies come in and win these fights. Then it feels like it's, all right, these cards are a little too predictable. Gustafin wrote a pretty spirited response to all this criticism. I suggest checking it out. I don't think we should read all that much into it. These guys are fighting, you know, and they're fighting with four-ounce gloves.

These things are going to happen. It's just going to happen. I was surprised at some of the results, especially the Baxter result, but they were great fights. That was a fun card. A much more exciting card than the Halifax card. I thought on paper and after the fact. Cody McKenzie, what do you think about Cody taking out of his body to make weight? This is from Matthias Morais.

Cody, one of the great characters in MMA. I don't recommend that. I'm no doctor, but that's not something you see often, and I just don't feel like it's smart. Who knows? That's just me, though. I wouldn't do it. What a character he is, though. Josh Berkman, signing him isn't that shocking, but he doesn't deserve a fight against Lombard.

And if Lombard wins, he basically goes nowhere in the rank. Why do you think the UFC signed a guy who isn't on a winning streak to face someone chasing a title in the top five? Because there's no one else. That's from Skinny Dip 12. There's no one else. Look at the welterweight rankings. Lawler booked. McDonald, I mean, that's a fight, but at this point, you got to get a number one contender in there, right?

I mean, you could make that fight. They announced it a day before. But I think McDonald's has done enough. Willie doesn't want the fight. Condit is out. Matt Brown, no sign of him coming back. any time yet. That would have been the fight I would make, but apparently he's not ready. And then you look below, there's no one else. I have no problem with Berkman getting back in.

He certainly has looked good, and he lost to Carl, but otherwise, you know, he's had a nice run. I was surprised with that booking, but when you actually really think about it and, you know, Lombard needs to get back in there, he's healthy, he's ready to go, he's a top contender. At this point, you just want to have him fight. And there's no better option. The woodley fight is the fight that made the most sense. He doesn't want to take it. Can't force him. Maybe he gets Matt Brown after all.

That fight makes sense for three versus five. Any news on Rumble Johnson, in your opinion, is he done in the UFC or possibly MMA in general? What's your opinion on the whole situation? This from Taskmaster asks, no update on Rumble Johnson. And, you know, I can't predict if he's done or not. I think the UFC, as I said, is handling this very well. I think that suspending him indefinitely is what they should have done with Tiago Silva and many others. They're not jumping to conclusions.

They're having an independent investigation. They're figuring out what's really going on here. What are the facts? And then they will decide. No need to jump to any conclusions. No need to react quickly. When the news comes out, that's not the way to do things. And I think that they are learning from their past and they're doing a great job with this one.

And take as much time as you need. unfortunately for Rumble and Gustafsson and that fight's not going to happen at least not for now unless they they find out that that he is in the clear, that he's innocent, that he is not guilty of what he's being accused of but they might have to move along with Gustafsson.

Maybe not. There's enough time. There's a couple months before he would really have to get back in there but right now it's off the table. We'll see what happens. Let's see. Who are the tougher fighters in MMA? Canadians or the Irish. Discuss. Just kidding. Love the card this past weekend, especially the Chris Kalidas win. I think Patrick Kahula Ann was a tough customer. That's from Zardamus. Ariel and Rick, he's not here, but can you debate the most prestigious sponsor between Nike or Xbox? On the one hand, Nike seems to be the holy grail of sponsors at a glance. But in terms of relevance, wouldn't Xbox actually be the most prestigious? Ariel, you can debate on behalf of Nike, Rick, you can debate on behalf of Xbox. Well, all the one hand, Nike, just debate among myself or by myself. You know, I think the Nike thing is interesting. I was listening

to a show last week where they were talking about the Nike deal with John Jones and Nike dropping John Jones. The Nike John Jones deal I maintained was not as big as we all thought it was. And I would be shocked that if they actually did drop him because of what transpired in that brawl. Way back when on this show, I reported what I truly did believe at the time and still believe. leave, to be quite frank, were the terms of his deal. I'm not going to rehash all of that. They deny it. And it came from a great source. I just, you know, Nike, I think the bottom line with Nike is they don't want to pay the UFC tax. And you saw that they weren't on John Jones's shorts in the global share fight. They weren't with JDS. They weren't with Anderson Silva. And that's the simple reason.

So maybe they believe if we can't be in the octagon, what's the point? There's no point. And that's why I think that they're getting out of the UFC game, at least for now. That's the main thing. It's not about all that other stuff. Remember, Nike stood by John Jones when he had some other issues, some other legal troubles. I don't think the brawl was his undoing. I think the Xbox deal with Demetrius Johnson is fantastic. They go very well together. They're both from the Pacific Northwest. He's a gamer. It's clean. It's nice. It's exclusive to him for the most part. That is a great one. Nike has a brand, as an athletic brand, is synonymous with sports and major athletes. That's a great one as well.

I don't think we have to debate them. But they're both great. And I love the fact that Xbox is exclusive to Demetrius. I'm curious to see what Nike does with M.A. these days, but it seems like for now they're going to take a break from the UFC fighters. They don't want to pay the tax. You have to pay tax to be featured inside the cage, banner, shorts, etc. They don't want to pay it.

Karoi versus Gamburian with the loss of a side. Sunsau, too. Sunsau should Carraway accept the challenge from Gamburian. It's a soluble fight that could be interesting with the history of bad blood between them. Absolutely. Sign me up. I love it. That's from Bradford AM. Diego Sanchez versus Joe Lozahn. What did you think of Lozahn replacing Norman Park? Considering Lozon has been in several wars in his career, which fight did you prefer? I love this fight. This is from Atheis Marais again. I love this fight. I think it's great. It's fun. They both, quote, unquote, bring it.

they like data awards I like the park fight a lot because of the bad blood the stair downs and all that but this is a pretty darn good replacement sign me up okay just a couple more here best walkout song in MMA history

someone asked me this recently it's tough off top my head I think about Akiyama coming out to Andrea Bocelli I love that I like Wydemin coming out to won't back down

I think Ronda coming out to bad reputation is fantastic. What are some other ones? Mayhams were always great, especially the one in Dream with the Japanese schoolgirls. That was a great one. I know I'm missing a lot. It is almost three hours and 45 minutes here, but those are some that come to mind. I like Connors these days. One's that elicit a response from the audience and also, oh, you're eye favor. California love is tremendous. Chuck Ledell's was always great. DMX. What else? What else? I like, like the guys who keep the same one over and over again because then it kind of feels like it represents them

and you know that it's that it's them when the music hits two questions why is henderson ducking hawani bro cheese it's it's disappointing um i know i agree benson henderson is ducking me i don't understand he can go and be j j tournaments but he does want to play me in a simple game of basketball and then the rest i don't want to read uh willa diaz brother make his debut on the m mary this year i am hoping so. That's from Luca Lionheart. Hopefully. Let's go to Twitter quickly. Do you have a question from Ally Aquinta? No. I don't understand what's going on here. This is from UFC FaceSwap. What do you think about the advice Gunner got in the corner before the last round? I thought it was false. I didn't think he was up. I wonder if that didn't make him as aggressive as he should have been. It's always different when

you're watching the fight from Cage side, but I did not think he was up. The judge's got a right, or at least that one judge got a right. Yes, Michael Carroll. Cain Velasquez's song is fantastic. I love that song. It's Los Manda dos by Vincente Fernandez. That is a fantastic one. Do you guys know that one?

Los Manda Dos. Let's play it as I listen to the rest, or I read the rest of these questions. Los Manda Dos. Yes. Tremendados. song. Okay. Any idea what happened to Michael McDonald?

It's been almost a year since we've seen him from Corey Dennis. Yes, I spoke to his manager last week. Still not 100%. The hand's still bothering him. He's been dealing with some hand issues. Last fought against Rai Fabor in December. They're hoping he'll be cleared shortly. But the main thing is they're not rushing.

They don't want to rush him. He's young. It's the hand at the end of the day and they don't want to keep suffering these injuries. Now Michael Carroll trying to tell me. about my accent. Mandados. You get the point. A lot of questions about Kavanaugh.

What do you think of Dennis Severs' win over Charles Rosa? I think Sever is always under the wire. I'm not really quite sure what under the wire is, but that was a fantastic performance. I was more impressed with Rosa, even though he lost, I was impressed with how he fought.

He was so, he was just like, the guy was relentless on the ground. I mean, he was just going, he'd go for the leg, and then he goes for the arm, and then he goes for the triangle. It was just unbelievable, especially on short notice.

tremendous stuff from Charles Rosa and want to see him back very soon. What's next for Rick's story? Huge wins over top guys from my friend Jonathan Abramovich. Hmm, that's a good question. Does he get a step up in college? He's not even ranked in the top 15 for God's sakes. Not even ranked in the top 15. Are you kidding me?

Jordanian, Woodley? Let's do that. Jordanian, Woodley? Too big of a jump. I mean, give the guy a break. He goes in there, Sweden defeats Gunner Nelson. he deserves a big fight. They're doing great things with him

at the MMA lab in Arizona. Really good. Kudos to John Crouch. Story fought valiantly, amazingly. No one gave him a shot. Let's be honest. What are your thoughts on Anderson Silva chaining his tune

saying he'll fight till he gets his belt back? I wonder. It's a sellable fight the third time because they gave you an opening at the end of the second fight, but sometimes those interviews, you know? Says one thing, one time,

another thing, another time. Let's see what happens against Nick Diaz. I think it's a good style's matchup for him, though, and I expect to see him fight at least more than once. Another one from Jonathan. Weird question, but who do you think would win a battlegrounds-type tournament in every UFC division? Holy moly.

Every UFC division? How about we take eight fighters in all the different way classes and put them together in one tournament? Who will win that? My pick? Mighty Mouse. From Montreal Design, if GSP chooses to not return,

will the UFC ever return to Montreal? Yes. Still a big market. They should come back sooner rather than later. I heard March, but then I heard that the Canadians have tied up March. So who knows? But they should have come back in 2015. I saw an interview. Tom Wright with my good pal, John Pollock of the Fight Network. He said that they're looking at four to five dates, Toronto, Montreal, good bets. Canada has been ignored for too long and we're coming back. I remember Roy McDonald tweeting me that picture earlier. Okay, a couple more. This is old news, but do you not think Norman Park betting on a specific round to finish as a conflict of interest? No, if he's betting on himself, I have no problem.

If he's betting against himself, then it's a conflict. This is from the guy who tweeted me earlier. Gobind Randahah. Gobind, go bind, Randhawa. Totally butchered that. Thanks for the shout-out. I had my initials. G.S.R is my Twitter name before, but I'll be on your show one day and we'll laugh about this. Can't wait, my friend. This is the guy who told me that there's still a lot of talent over at TriStar. Los Mandados is, it's from a Mexican immigrant like Kane's father. Oh, I like that. And one more.

If you had to pick five current UFC fighters to be on your personal bodyguards, who would you pick? All right. Five fighters. Well, hmm, I'm going to go with Travis Brown because of his beard. Kane Velasquez Mark Hunt I don't know if John Jones

gonna stick up for me if I'm really in a bind is John Jones gonna put his neck on the line Cormier and Demetrius Johnson is no one going to think that he's going to beat you up but he will beat you up

no problems he will beat you up all right that's great thank you for all the questions by the way my friend Michael Carroll speaking of speaking of Sweden

gave me a couple notes I'll read them right now Michael Carroll, of course, from Fight Metric, friend of the show, friend in real life as well. Here are a couple things. The fight of the night winning bout between Dennis Seaver and Charles Rosa featured 15 guard passes. Remember what I was saying?

15. Holy moly, that's amazing from Dennis Seaver. And the two fighters combined for five reversals on the ground. It was great. If you missed it, go back to fight pass and check it out. Also, Rick Story officially connected with 168s, significant strikes. The sixth most ever landed in a single UFC bout. He moves to second place in Welterweight history with 826 passing Chris Lytle, Tiago Alves. GSP still tops the Walthwaite

division and the UFC overall with 1,254 significant strikes. No UFC this weekend. They're off. They're off for the next two weeks. And then they return for UFC 179. There's still some MMA to be had this weekend, in particular, Bellator. They return on Friday on Spike TV from Thackerville, Oklahoma. Some fights to look out for. It's actually a pretty interesting fight card. Main event, Eduardo Dantas versus Joe Warren to unify the Belator Bantamway title. They've had their history.

A lot of back and forth there. I'm looking forward to that fight. Joe Warren, of course, the interim champion, Dantas, the real champion. And how about this one? Michael Page, MVP himself, Michael Venom Page versus Nashan Burrell. always love watching Michael Page. He is Mr. Must See TV. That guy is a fantastic talent.

He was on the show a few months back. Looking forward to that fight very much. In Sean Borell, former UFC fighter, it's all about Michael Page, in my opinion. He is a great talent and the kind of guy who's going to thrive in the new Bellator organization. RFA is also back on Friday. A middleweight title fight is in the headliner.

And then on Saturday, it's WSOF 14 from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As we mentioned earlier, Jake Shields versus Ryan Ford in the main event. They're also going to be crowning their first ever heavyweight champion. Chris Horodeski is also fighting on that card. So I've always been a fan of Mr. Horideski. So I like seeing him get a shot on relatively big stage like WSOF on NBCSN. Jared Hamann also making his World Series of Fighting debut on Saturday. Again, that is on NBCSN. One more reminder. that we are off next Monday. We are back on Tuesday.

Same time and place. I will be in Montreal. My first time back in Montreal for several months. It's been such a long time since I've been back in Montreal, so I'm looking forward to it very much. But do not worry. We'll be back on Tuesday just 24 hours later. 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific, 6 p.m. GMT for a new episode of the M.A. Hour.

I look forward to that. You can hit my music. Great stuff from the guys in the back. Picking up the slack. for the slacking off Mr. New York, Rick. A lot to digest this week and a lot of moving parts and appreciate it very, very much. I want to thank everyone who stopped by.

Thank you very much to Chris Kalatus. And congratulations to him on his UFC debut win. What a great story that is. Five days notice. Probably cut around 25 pounds. A pot of gold chocolate. The Hooligan will be back. I have no doubt about that,

but a great win by Nova Scotia zone. Thank you very much to Joe Schilling. Good luck to him on November 15th. Against Melvin Manhuff. Like I said, that is Scott Coker 101. That has Scott Coker written all over it. Those are the kinds of fights that you can expect from Beltaur. It doesn't really mean much.

Manhuff not getting the title shot, it appears. I asked about that. It appears as though that was on the table if Schlamenco would have reached. He did not. So let's go with the fun fights. And how about World Series of Fighting? Also putting three titles on the line.

November 15th is going to be an insanely busy day in the world of MMA. Congratulations to Farahe Hobby, Four and O on Saturday. And good luck to Roy McDonald trying to get that title shot. Best of luck to Todd Duffy, UFC 181. Great to have him back in the mix. Best of luck to Ryan Ford. Against Jake Shields this Saturday.

Looking forward to that one. Best of luck to Chad Mendez going into enemy territory against Jose Aldo for the next. the second time. Hapel, Sunsao, congratulations on the win, and Jukau-Cornero. Good luck getting that money. You deserve it. Congratulations on the three wins. Back next Tuesday. We'll miss you on Monday. Thank you so much for tuning in until they say peace. I'm out of you. Support for this 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 Odu. It's the only business software you'll ever

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