MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour - Episode 263

Episode Date: January 6, 2015

Featuring Dan Henderson, Urijah Faber, Ben Askren, Tim Sylvia, Israel Martinez, Carla Esparza, Felice Herrig, and Shaun Al-Shatti. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the Downloaded 2, Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudulian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love?

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

CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce, and more. And the best part, O-DU replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. That's why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you? Try O-D-O-D-4-3 at O-D-O-D-com. That's O-D-O-O-O-O-O-com. It's the Mixed Martial Arts Hour with... The Mixed Martial Arts Hour back in your life on this Monday, January 5th, 2015.

Hello again, everyone. I'm Ariel Halwani. Did you miss me? Did you miss us? Well, we missed you. Happy New Year. Happy holidays. Hope you had a great break.

We haven't been with you for the last two weeks back here. And the first show of 2015, missed doing it. I feel like we're reinvigorated. We have recharged our batteries, had a great holiday break. I was in Florida for a little bit, then went to Las Vegas for UFC 182. But every Monday at around this time for the last two weeks, I missed you. I missed you in my life. Hope you enjoyed the best of shows, but I know it's not the same.

We need to take a break for the holidays. But now here we are coming off one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history. It is in the books. As you know by now, John Jones retained his UFC light heavyweight title against Daniel Cormier. Five-round fight. it went the distance, but in my opinion, John Jones won four rounds to one. A lot to discuss as far as the light heavyweight title picture is concerned. A lot to discuss as far as John Jones is concerned and his evolution as a character in our sport.

We saw a whole different side of him on Saturday night, and I think for the better. Even if you may not have liked it, I think it is for the better. We'll get to all of that and, of course, a whole lot more. as this is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting months in UFC history. There's a break this weekend. But then we have Connor McGregor versus Dennis Siever next Sunday, Alexander Gustafson versus Rumble Johnson, the following week in Sweden, 30,000-seed arena.

And then, of course, the big one, Anderson Silva versus Nick Diaz, January 31st. So much of discussed, we'll get to all of that and a whole lot more on this show. What's going on in this show? Well, at around 305, we're going to go inside the vault. Got a fun one this week, so looking forward to that. 2.45, we're going to talk to Uri of Faber about what's next for him. Of course, it's a very interesting time in the Bantamweight Division, because, as you may have heard as well, Dominic Cruz,

sadly, tore his other ACL, the right one. And now he's going to be out for a year. So he was supposed to fight T.J. Dillishaw, and that same day, Hafeel Sunsau, who would have been next in line, announces that he has broken his ankle. So now it really is down to Hennon Barau versus Dillishaw. or Faber versus Dilleshaw, which is the one that I think a lot of people want to see, but

again, they are teammates. We'll talk to him about that. The new team alpha male calendar and a whole lot more, that's at 245. 225, we're going to talk to the former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. He announced his retirement on Saturday, which was a curious time because it felt like the entire MMA world was focused on Jones versus D.C. Big Tim, the maniac announces retirement. We'll talk to him about that.

And what's next for him? 205, the wrestling coach for won John Jones. Israel Martinez, Izzy style. He'll stop by to look back at Saturday night, and the big story, my opinion, was John Jones out-wrestled Daniel Cormier. More takedowns, take-down defense. I mean, it looked fantastic. Izzy Martinez, a very big part of that

and a very big part of John Jones' evolution as a MMA wrestler. So I'm really excited to have him on the show for the first time. He's headed back to Chicago. this afternoon from Las Vegas as well. At around 1.45, we're going to talk to Ben Ascran. Of course, always in the news, the funky one. He is a member of Rufus Sport there in the news because CM Punk has decided to train there

for his upcoming UFC debut. Ben Ascran, very critical of this signing, but it seems now he's part of the CM Punk team. We'll also talk to him about Jones, D.C., a good friend of Mr. D.C., and what's next for him in 1F.C. And at around 120, we're going to be joined by Dan Henderson. He returns to action at UFC on Fox 14.

He faces Gaghar Musassi. In Sweden, he returns to middleweight. We'll also talk to him about the Jones D.C. fight as well. Before we get to our first guest of the day, I just want to quickly dedicate our first show of the year to the late Stuart Scott. You may have heard by now that over the weekend, he passed away a legend in the world of broadcasting,

a man who, as I was growing up, looked up to a guy who did it his own way, who was so influential, who, who changed really the way that a lot of us look at sports and a lot of us report sports. He did it in a very unique style and a guy who, in my opinion, helped put Sports Center and ESPN on the map, especially in the 90s when things were changing a little bit, had a very courageous battle with cancer for the last few years. And, you know, interestingly enough for our viewership, a very big, fan of mixed martial arts. A guy who you know would have been front and center, would have been tweeting, would have been talking about John Jones versus DC, and unfortunately over the weekend,

he finally lost his battle to cancer, had a great speech at the SP Awards this past year, which I do recommend you check out. ESPN as well has had some great video packages about his legacy. And a man who, when I was 16 years old at Madison Square Garden attending the 1999 NBA playoffs, Knicks versus Hawks, I had the opportunity to meet him. And when I was a kid, I would look up to those broadcasters more so than the athletes. I wanted to meet those guys at the games more so than the players. And he briefly said hello to me. I posted that picture, which my friend Mo Leibman was smart enough to take

when he gave me the fist bump. It was very cool of him to say hello. I'll never forget it. And I just wanted to dedicate this show to him because he was an amazing broadcaster, a better human being, and an even better father. And I have a lot of respect for him. And I wish the very best to his family.

I send my thoughts and prayers to them. Rest in peace, Stuart Scott. All right, let us get to our first guest of the day. He joins us via the phone. He is the one and only Sean Alshadhi of MMAfighting.com wrote a tremendous piece about the real pro wrestling organization, which had a nice little run a few years back, which Daniel Cormier was a part of. If you have not read it, I do suggest you stop whatever you're doing after this show

and read that thing because it's unbelievable work. He continues to do great work, and he just, joins us right now on the phone. Sean, how are you? I'm doing pretty well. I appreciate that. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Congratulations to the Sons for their win over the Toronto Raptors yesterday. By the way, I know that excited you very much, but let's talk about some... Let's talk about some MMA action. Of course, you watched it on Saturday night. John Jones beat Daniel Cormier. In my opinion, he won four rounds to one. Do you agree with that,

A, and B, are you surprised by how this thing went down? I do agree with that. I gave John every round except round two. Round three was kind of up for grabs, and I thought it was going to be close. That was probably going to be the controversial round. But yeah, I gave it 4-1 Jones. And, I mean, it's hard not to be surprised with how it played out. Just the way in which John Jones systematically broke down Daniel Cormier,

and by the end of it, Daniel really didn't have anything to offer. And I don't think, I think of all the ways that we saw this going down, I don't think that that was an option that was on top of many of our lists. But when you say it's hard not to be surprised, honestly, did you think you would have that much trouble taking him down? Taking him down and Jones's defense of those takedowns. I mean, that to me, okay, fine, you could say, you know, I thought John was going to win because of his reach and his striking and all that stuff,

what he can do on his feet. But the wrestling part of this story is most surprising to me. What about you? Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And like you said, it wasn't even the way in which John, you know, because we're used to seeing this with John now where he's going to try to attack his opponent where they're best. He even said at the lead-ups several times, you know, I'm going to try to out-rest with Daniel

for me. I don't think very many of us believed it. I thought at the time it was more gamesmanship than anything. You're absolutely right. He did this once again where he fights his opponents where they're best, and he beats them at it. it's almost demoralizing in a different way because Greg Jackson told me, I think, a couple weeks back, where John Jones does this to people, and so when, you know, if somebody playing A is taken away,

and it's their whole entire game, it's very, that's a different level of demoralizing because there's nothing back, there's nothing else to resort back to. And you could see it as the fight played out, Daniel, just the life cuts sucked down at them. I think the body shots helped as well as far as taking the life out of him. But you're right, he is able to fight fire with fire so well. And Brian Stan, I think, put it very well on the post-fight show. He called an audible later in the fight and essentially won the fight the way DC was trying to win the fight. Now, do you believe if they fight 10 times the same result happens,

or do you think that Daniel maybe just had an off night? I mean, it didn't look like Daniel had it off night because up to the third round. It was a very competitive fight. Yeah. I think also there's something to be said for. It's the amount of energy that it takes for a giant, John Jones' side to be leaning on you,

to be putting all his weight on you for that amount of time. I mean, I don't think that's anything that we can quantify in terms of how much that made D.C. Exhausted, like the body kicks or something, but just to carry a giant. nine's weight that long. I think that was something DC said afterwards, where he didn't realize how big, that was like the big, the thing that's surprising was how big John Jones is in the cage. That's something you can really prepare for. So, I mean, I don't know if they fight 10 times,

maybe DC has a couple better performances, but that seemed like at least up to the first 15 minutes, that was going to be the best DC, and it just wasn't enough. I am of the opinion that the way this fight ended in that bizarre fashion with Jones putting his hands up, then sneaking in a punch, and then DC, it looked like maybe after the bell tried to hit him, even though Herb Dean got the most damage probably in that fight.

And then you have John pulling out the DX socket sign, which I did not expect. I'd even know he knew what DX was. Maybe that was his manager, Malki's influence. But I think that was the best thing for Daniel Cormier, because, look, no one wanted to see them embrace afterwards. I think we

all agree on that, even though you would talk about martial arts and respect and all that stuff. when you go through that kind of a journey together, that much bad blood, I don't think anyone wants to feel at the end that it was all scripted and fake and whatnot. So now you leave on this note, forget about not embracing, you leave with more bad blood, it seems. John Jones on the post-fight show saying he hopes that Daniel is somewhere crying, all this stuff. I feel like, and also Dana White's saying that it was trending higher, the pay-per-view buys than his prediction of 750, which I thought was way too high, I feel like if Daniel Cormier can come back and have

emphatic, dominant performance in his next fight, he might be right back in the mix. What do you think? I agree. I think it may take maybe two really, really, really great performances, although I am a little bit, you know, hesitant about it

because the way of which the fight played out, like, when everything crested into Saturday night, there was so much momentum leading to Saturday night, just from everything the past two months. I don't think that's something that we can match, and a second time around, especially considering how, John handled it.

But, I mean, Daniel is still one of the best in the low-mat division, and it is a shallow division without very many fresh options options to pass the Augustus-Johnson-Johnson winner. So, yeah, I would say that within the next couple fights, Daniel could probably make it back. I just don't think that there's a way that they can replicate what they just did, because that was something, that was almost something magical, what we just experienced on Saturday. Yeah, and when you hear it was four-to-one, you might say, well, that wasn't really all that competitive, but that doesn't tell the story. The first rerounds, especially the first two,

had this amazing pace. It was so frenetic. I felt like I couldn't blink because there was so much tension, and yet they were going at it so hard. It was really a lot of fun to watch, and especially to be there. I'm the biggest hypocrite in the world, because I always talk about how tired I am of talking about John Jones's personality. Is he fake? He's in on, all this stuff. But I feel like I have to talk about it because that felt like the most real John Jones out there. Look, the guy is complex. We can't put him in a box. He's going to mess with us by deleting things on Twitter. He's going to be, you know, he's going to be somewhat of a sore winner, if you want to call him that, and say he hopes Daniel Cormier is somewhere crying. He doesn't want to give him any respect afterwards,

give him the suck-it sign. I love the fact. I don't know if they showed this on the feed for the post-fied press conference, but afterwards he just stood there. When the press conference was over, stood there, chin up, put the belt on his shoulder and just looked at the media. Like, I am the man, I'm the king of the mountain, and there's nothing anybody can do to stop me. It was great to see. What did you make of his post-fight comments and more so his demeanor afterwards? Yeah, absolutely. I agree with you.

And it was going back to what you said earlier. It was almost nice that it didn't come off as, you know, hand-fisted afterwards. Like, they didn't make up and embracing the cage because that wouldn't have felt genuine. I think that was the narrative leading up to this, was this is the most real of feudist felt for at least as long as I can remember. And you're right, it continued afterwards John Jones talking about how, you know, Daniel won he would be up here talking all kinds of crap. And he's probably right.

And it was very refreshing to just see, I think the John Jones that we saw after that flight was almost the most relaxed. Yes. And John Jones that we've ever seen. And you're right, he was absolutely what it seemed to be just being himself. And I almost get the sense now coming away from this

that despite the lead of the fight, John being almost painted as the villain and, you know, and been talking about him and breaking the heel, I get a sense that he comes away with this with far more fans than he ever has in any past flight. Like, I feel like at least the feeling and the narrative around him has shifted a little bit, and a lot of people have come around to him just within the past couple weeks and everything we've seen, because you're right, he's an extremely complex guy,

and he's a fascinating guy more than anything. Yeah, and you know what? On the flip side as well, and I agree with that, I also think, DC has more fans because people can get behind a sympathetic figure, a guy who's tried his whole life to be number one. Once again, he falls short. He's out there showing his emotion. He was crying. I mean, it felt, it was very difficult to watch him at the press conference. And I'll admit, you know, I know the guy a little better than most because I work with him at times. He's sitting there with his head down, having to listen to John. And he handled it with all class, like a true pro, didn't go after him, was very complimentary of him. Even when we went to his locker. locker room afterwards. I mean, the guy was obviously very emotional. He was crying. There's a vine out there of him and Kane Velascus and Velascus embraced him. He handled it very well. He handled it like he should and John handled it like he should in my opinion, which will all lead potentially

if everything goes their way to another fight if it makes sense. Now, we know what John is facing next and I think it's great that he's talking about, you know, moving full time to Albuquerque, he'll train full time. He seems to have this sort of this new take on. on his career. Like, he's, he's all of a sudden a lot more interested in his career

and very much cementing his place is the best. So we know what's next for him, the winner of Gustuson versus Rumble. What about Daniel Cormier?

What do you do with him next in your opinion? You know, it's an interesting question. You can take the long road and build him back up or you can really just thrown back in the fire,

given, you know, the loser of Guston versus Johnson. The Rashad Evans' fight is still compelling. I'd still like to see that. Phil Davis. I don't know if you really want to derail Phil Davis

because, again, there's not really many names out there that haven't fought John, but that's an option as well. I mean, he has several options moving forward, but yeah, I don't know. He's an interesting spot. You know why it's interesting? Because he hasn't been a light heavyweight for all that long. So all these names that you mentioned are all fresh matchups.

It's not like he's a Ryan Bader who has fought most of the top guys. I do think, though, that because of the timing, he'll be in Sweden working for Fox. I think you give him the loser of Gus versus Rumble and you see what happens there. I think that's what makes most sense, in my opinion. Yeah, I would agree. I think that's an easy way also to build back up the loser of Gus Rumble, because also the loser in that fight is really the only other viable challenger for John Jones that John hasn't fought.

Like, if Anthony Rumble goes out and loses, I'd still like to see him fight John ultimately, so Inver's D.C. would be an interesting way to build him back up. What do you want to see next for John? Do you want to see that rematch, one of the greatest fights of all time, Jones versus Gus, or do you want to see a fresh matchup in Anthony Rumble Johnson? honestly either way it works for me I really like both fights

Anthony is such a compelling figure right now just because the way he's been blowing the doors off of people but obviously you know the Gus fight I feel like you said you know John's taking his career more seriously now I feel like all of that is because the Gus decision fight

like we have seen a new John since that fight and it's almost elevated him to a level that I really at this point I really do feel like he's going to become the Michael Jordan of this sport. But he just, like, if you listen to him and you listen to him talk afterwards and the way he's self-aware of himself and just talking about, you know, his career and everything,

he seems to be on a different level psychologically than anyone else in this division. It's even hard to articulate what I mean by that, but just the way he speaks about the game and, you know, his fights and his career, nobody else really talks about that, talks like that. And I don't know, yeah, I would like to either of those fights, though, going back to the question. So where do you stand on the whole greatest of all time debate? Has he done enough to be called the greatest of all time right now, or do you want to see a little more? It's tough, because if you look at it, if you just go straight resumes, I feel like nobody else out there has a better resume than John.

Like his resume at this point is absurd with what he's been able to accomplish by the age of 27. I mean, he's only 27, and he's already one behind George and two behind Anderson just in terms of the all-time mark for most consecutive title of defense. I still would default to Anderson in that conversation just because there's something to be said about, you know, the style and the fashion and the way he was able to, you know, really develop this mystique around him that he almost seemed like otherworldly when he was really at his peak

and he was just out there doing whatever he wants, just clowning on fighters that are the best in the world. But, I mean, it's getting to the point where it's going to be difficult to, if John defeats, you know, if he wins his next fight, and even if he wins his next two fights and gets the record, I feel like we're at the point where it's going to be very, very, very hard to say that he's not the greatest of all time, which is weird because he's not even in his 30s yet,

and he's still, you know, a couple years away from his 30s. So to be able to proclaim that about somebody so early in their career, it's very strange, but we're getting to a point where we're going to have to do that. Finally, any interest at some point in seeing him go up to heavyweight? He seemed to squash that talk. even though first he said I would fight Cain to Heartby and then he's like

I don't want to fight and I'm probably closer to fighting at 185 what about you? Do you feel like that helps his case at the end of the day if he goes up to heavyweight and makes a run there? Yeah, I would

ultimately I think that would help him I don't know if he really needs to make a title run because that was the thing about Anderson that we all liked because Anderson would just go up for these fun fights and just go up there and whack these 205ers if John just went up there

and you know occasionally fought just some random heavyweight. I feel like that would be worthwhile, but you're right. He doesn't seem really that, he doesn't really seem to have that desire to want to go make a heavyweight title run. In fact, he was talking about a middleweight run. He could do that rather than heavyweight,

which seems absurd. Because I couldn't imagine him getting down to 185 pounds. But, yeah, I mean, the thing is, the thing that's going to be strange to see is where we are a year from now. Once he's, you know, face to Gus Rumble winner and maybe even a loser that fight and maybe DC one more time,

what's left for him? Are we just going to start getting these Anderson Silva versus Tal's latest type of just like these easy giving matchups that we know who's going to win? If we reach that point, then I feel like they're going to, the OCP's going to have to try to find something creative to do with John. Because like we said, he's really young still. He's got a lot of years left for him. For now, we enjoy the ride.

Great stuff, Sean, as always. Check him out on Twitter. You see the handle right over there. His work is second to none doing amazing work at MAAfighting.com, proud to call him a colleague. Pleasure to have you on the show, Sean. And we'll talk to you soon. Absolutely. My pleasure.

Thank you, man. All right, there he is. Sean Alshadhi, joining us. Let us transition now to our next guest. He's a man who knows a thing or two about fighting at light heavyweight. His next fight is at middleweight, though. It's UFC on Fox number 14 in Sweden in just a couple of weeks. He's the legend himself, Dan Henderson.

Dan, how are you? I'm doing great. I'm doing great. Wow. It sounds like there's a pep in your step. very excited on this Monday morning. Well, just to talk to me. I don't know why I'm excited because I'm about to get my face punch to practice.

Oh. I shouldn't be that excited. Well, I appreciate you taking out some time. I know you have a hard out, so we'll get right to it. You were very interested in that fight on Saturday. You were tweeting about it, but you stopped at 2-2. I never got your final take on the fight. In your opinion, did the right man win?

Yeah, I mean, yeah, absolutely. Jones won that last shot. I kind of had D.C. winning rounds two and three. Rounds one, two, and three were really close, though. And I thought Jones won round four and five. So, I mean, D.C. just kind of ran out of gas. Were you surprised Daniel had so much trouble taking him down? Yeah, actually, that was probably the biggest surprise of it.

You know, he just, he didn't really attempt too many. and the ones that he did, you know, I don't know. It seems like he got him to clinch a couple times and just kind of pushed off and backed out instead of keeping him there and, you know, working on that takedown. And, you know, I don't know. He just, I think part of that was he ran out of gas

at the end of the fight, but he should have been taking him down earlier, I thought. But, you know, Jones is long and, you know, It has some good balance, so I'm sure it wasn't easy to take him down. Did that performance give you a newfound respect for John Jones? Well, I've always respected him as a fighter. You know, I just, I think that he's got great skills, you know, in every part of the game. You know, so I haven't, you know, I thought D.C.'s wrestling would make a difference in that fight.

didn't really utilize it the way he's capable of. And, you know, Jones did a great job defending it and putting D.C. on his back a couple times. You were a part of the conversation a little bit leading up to this fight. John calling you a 50-year-old and all this stuff. Were you bothered by anything he said about you? No, I mean, I just think he is who he is, and it doesn't reflect good upon him when he when he does things like that.

And it doesn't bother me at all. I know who I am and I know how I portray myself. And, you know, I don't have a whole lot of respect for him as a person. Why not? Yeah, he just, he's not, I said it a couple years ago. He's just not very genuine. He portrays himself differently than what he really is. And I think that's where people have the problem with him.

If he didn't act like he was something he wasn't, I don't think anybody would have a problem with who he is. Very well said. I do recall on this show, like two years ago, you were one of the first people to say that. Now a lot more people do say that these days as well. So let's transition to you. Like I said in a couple weeks, you're fighting in Sweden.

You're fighting at middleweight against Gagar Musassi. Why did you decide to go down to 185? You know, I had actually told Dana White, you know, when he, after my Shogun fight that I wanted to go down to 185 and, and you know,

that's when he offered me the D.C. fight and, you know, I was quite a bit smaller than D.C. And, you know, the winner was going to get that title shot. So you know, that's what it was a good opportunity

for me. And I just said, okay. And knowing that I going to end up down at 185, I'm sure. I just, you know, just feeling a little bit undersized at 205. And, you know, I weighed in at 199 for my fight against D.C. Drinking water and not missing a meal. So do you have to change a lot in your diet or training to get down to 185? Just eat a little bit leaner and cleaner.

I generally try to eat. pretty good during training camps. But I've really focused on my diet this camp and I'm eating all I want, but it's all really healthy, clean food. I've got a local restaurant that does the meals, the delivery meals at home. It's called eat at home, and they're extremely good and extremely healthy. And my energy level is, you know, I don't feel. run down this camp. Almost every camp I've had, I'm always worn out about this time during the camp,

and I feel really good. And, you know, everything's coming together really nicely right now. What was your reaction when you got the word that Musassi would be your opponent and not just Musassi, 30,000-seat arena, big deal, second biggest show, potentially in UFC history? What did you like or not like about this? I was I was ready to fight anybody that they asked and at either way class so you know and to fight somebody like Masasi he's been around a long time he's well respected he's done a lot of good things in the sport and and he's a tough opponent he's you know style wise he's he's very well-rounded and you know it's going to make a tough fight for me but you know I I obviously am confident going into this fight that I could beat him. And, you know, I was excited. Not so sure about Sweden in January, but Sweden's a great place.

And, you know, very nice country to visit. I've been there a few times in the past. Your fight is going to happen at around 3 a.m. local time. Any reservations about that? You know, I think that's when, you know, when I fight down. down in Brazil, that's about when they are sometimes. Or, you know, when I fought Shogun down there, it was two or three in the morning. So the time doesn't really matter to me.

You know, I'll adjust accordingly the last week or two and to where I'm ready to go that late. After the fight against D.C. in May, any thought at all of leaving the sport? No. No, I, you know, I was upset at my performance, obviously. felt that, you know, I'm capable of doing better than that. DC just, you know, fought exactly how I would have fought me if I was him. And he was able to do his game plan perfectly, and I didn't stop it. And finally, do you feel like this is do or die? They're all big, but do you feel like you have to win this fight?

you know i never put that kind of pressure on myself and knowing that no matter what when or lose i'm i'm not going anywhere i don't i don't think that i mean i don't ever think i'm going to lose either so yeah i'm i'm perfectly capable of winning this fight and and know what i need to do to get it done and and uh training is right on track that to to make that possible All right, looking forward to it. I'll let you go. I know you have some training now. Are we sparring today?

What are we doing? Just some insight into what your day is like? Yeah, we're sparring. So, yeah, I'm getting punch in the face today. Nice. Who's the opponent? You know, so good you is always here. Smiling Sam is here.

And Nick Coton just came in to train for a week or so. And, you know, Luke Rockhold's coming, I think, tomorrow. Oh, wow. Yeah, the last week and a half, two weeks of training, it'll be a pretty tough push. Love it. Take care, Dan. All the best to you in the fight.

Very much looking forward to this one. Dan Henderson versus Gagar Musassi in Sweden. I'll see you out there. All the best. All right, Ariel. Thank you. Okay, there he is. The one and only Dan Henderson.

Big fight for him, January 24th in Stockholm, Sweden. Main card will take place at around, if my math is correct, at around 2 a.m. local time? is something like that. I think there's six hours ahead, so 8 p.m. in the United States, and it's a big show for the UFC, the TELA2 Arena in Stockholm. It is being configured for around 30,000 people.

And from what I understand, ticket sales going very well. Also on that card, of course, Anthony Johnson versus Alexander Gustafson and Ryan Bader versus Phil Davis. So interesting times for the light heavyweight division here in the month of January. All right, we have a bit of a break from now until our next guest, who is coming on at 145. That has Ben Ascran. Interesting times for him.

So during this break, I actually wanted to check in a bit earlier with Mr. New York Rick. Why? Because, well, as you know, if you've listened to this show, you know that Mr. New York Rick from way back in the day, from I think probably when D.C. was in Strike Force, this guy was predicting that Daniel Cormier would become UFC champion. So I wanted to check in on him and how he's feeling. feeling after the tough loss on Saturday.

When did you first jump on this train that you thought Daniel Cormier would be champion, Mr. Rick? Oh, he's crying still. Man, it's tough. Cry more than Cormier. I don't know about that. Man, that vine, that really touched me in the fields. Yeah.

I think it was around right when Strike Force was coming into the UFC, you know, maybe a few before that, where I really started to take notice of how good I thought Cormier could be. So what do you think? I mean, certainly after the Antonio Silva knockout, you had to pay attention to that. So, I mean, we talk about confidence. You were supremely confident that he would win this fight, that he would become champion. What went wrong in your opinion?

I don't know if that's a fair assessment. What? You were confident. Come on, I'm not, look, I love D.C. I'm not, this is not me here trying to rain on anyone's parade or trying to, you know, stick it to you. But you were confident. Let's just call it like it was. I thought he would, I thought he would win, but I was more so rooting than supremely confident because John Jones, I've said this before. I said this going into the fight. John Jones is the best fighter right now, right? Right now, right? Right. Right now right now right now right now right now. That said, at no point did I lose sight of the fact that john jones, and it was the time that he could challenge him and could beat him.

The time is now. The time is now. Time is now. But that said, at no point did I lose sight of the fact that John Jones is the best fighter in the world right now and is the best fighter ever, as far as MMA goes. But I thought D.C. could get it done. What's wrong with calling him the greatest right now? I mean, just look at that resume. I don't understand the people. It's no disrespect to George or Anderson, but he has literally fought a who's who, the best of the best. And now he beats Daniel Cormier, to me, this seals it.

Now, of course, a lot can happen between now and then and maybe that changes things. But first, what is it, 21 fights, 22 fights. That is the best run in MMA history. You won't hear an argument for me. I've been saying that for longer than this. And I think... This one seals it, though. This one sealed the deal.

And it wasn't even... Like, like I said, 4-1 doesn't truly describe the fight, but there's no controversy. I mean, it was similar, in my opinion, to Wydeman Machita. It was a close fight. Each guy had moments. Jan No, Cormi, it looked fantastic in the second. Not as good in the third, but still looked like the momentum was on his side. But John Jones did what he needed to do, weathered that second round storm, war on him, took the will away from D.C. and beat him up in the fourth and fifth.

And, you know, similar to Chris Widman. He took Machita's best shot and ended up, you know, coming out on top. And I think a four-one sometimes isn't indicative of a closer fight or, you know, the fact that the opponent had moments in the fight that were that were, that were. telling, but, you know, that's the proper score. And if you had a 3-2, that's also not inconceivable. But John Jones clearly won that fight. He broke D.C. The third round was the toughest of score, in my opinion, but I had it won three, four, five for John Jones.

Now, I'm wondering, on the New York Rick scale, where do we put D.C.? Like, how emotional were you going into that fight and after the fight? Is this more than BJs? It's a little less than BJ. No, no. Nothing will ever, you know. Really? Being a BJ Penn fan is a religion.

It's a religion, and it's how I identified myself as an MMA fan for the longest time. But you even considered coming to this fight. I did. That means a lot. You weren't considering going to BJ's fight against Frankie. I've been to BJ's fight plenty of times. No, no, no, but recently, I'm talking. It felt like Daniel.

Let's be honest, I wasn't too confident in BJ's chances going into that one. If this was, you know, years ago, I went to the rematch, which did not go well for BJ, but I like this shot in that, so I drove to Boston for that. This is up there. I really thought D.C. would get it done, and I really like D.C.'s personality. I think he's a really good dude and a good role model, and it sucks that he lost, but John Jones is the man right now.

Let me tell you, you know, we do those interviews backstage, and it's on that said, which I've said, you know, personally I like being in the locker room. I like seeing, you know, the bowels of the arena. feeling all that. So for various reasons, we did the post-fight interview in his locker room,

Daniel's locker room. And it was like, yeah, it was kind of walking into, it was like someone had passed, honestly. It was very tense and depressing and, you know,

he didn't really want to speak. But, you know, he didn't say no or anything like that, but, you know, it probably wasn't the number one thing on his list to do at that point in time. But, man, you look at that interview. I don't know if you've seen it.

He, he didn't say, one negative thing about John Jones. It was all complimentary. He was more critical about himself. Just very hard to do an interview like that, especially since you know him. He's a very jovial guy, a fun-loving guy. Those are tough. Those are ones you never

forget, but they're also very tough. Pretty much the complete antithesis of the King Moe interview who was also there, crying after a win, this is the complete opposite of that, if you know what I mean? Would you have expected anything else from DC? No, no. I would not have not have expected anything

other than him to be complimentary of John Jones Yes. Because John Jones beat him. Fair and square. There's nothing else to say. And I don't think DC's one to A, make excuses or be, you know, bad mouth somebody and be a poor sport from everything we've seen from him so far. And I don't necessarily agree. I know John Jones said, you know, D.C. would probably be up here talking all this crap.

I'm not sure that he would. I think D.C. has this kind of respect for the craft that he probably would have. I'm probably just reading. You know what? I don't want to sign anything to anybody. I don't know what D.C. would have done if he won that fight. But he would have been very excited. He would have been happy.

He would have been happy. But there's a difference between I hope this guy's crying. That said, I don't hate it. I love it. What do you think? What do you think? I love it. It was great.

I think John Jones is. We need this from him. An interesting personality. And I've said this for a very long time that he's not one thing or the other. He's not a heel. He's not a bad guy. He's not a character. He has good.

he's out there signing autographs for fans before the fight. That's a good thing. That's a fantastic thing. He's not a bad dude. He's a good dude. But he also has, you know, aspects of his personality that rub people the wrong way. And I think if he embraces both,

he'll be on the right track to, you know, I think he's already the greatest, but he's on the right track to set records and precedents that will never be touched again. He's a very complex guy. He has come a long way. He's evolved. And, you know, even,

even doing an interview with us in his hotel room before the fight on the Wednesday is something that he wouldn't have done a few years ago. Somewhat guarded and doesn't really trust the media all that much. For him to do that was the ultimate honor for me, and it was something I'll never forget. And for Daniel, I'd do the same, but you expect that from Daniel. I have more of a relationship with him. John did it. Didn't ask me to take anything out afterwards, didn't ask any questions beforehand.

It showed to me how much he's grown up and matured as a person. And also fascinating, by the way, is his relationship with that cat. I mean, that to me is just, it's like, it really, the thing I can equate it to is Mike Tyson and his pigeons, even though he only has a couple of the cats. The way he cares for this thing and talks about it, and it's just in that room jumping around is somewhat bizarre, but also very interesting to witness. The star of UFC embedded. Yes, Ali the cat. Now, you mentioned something afterwards about what's next for DC. I'm talking about, you know, a loser of Gustafin Rumble, maybe of Phil David.

But you have a different take on this. Yeah, I think, I think what we saw in that fight was somebody who, I'm not sure I would go as far as saying could not ever beat John Jones. But I think it was clear that John Jones is the better fighter. And I don't know what adjustments DC can make at this point. It seemed like his cardio, you know, ran out and he abandoned the game plan a bit. sure people are going to say, you know, what if he shot more for takedowns or got deeper on his, on his takedown shots and was able to finish those earlier in the fight rather than when he was tired. But I think that DC's advantage thus far in his career was being the faster, quicker,

stronger heavyweight. And I think that if he was able to go back up and, let's say, Kane Velasquez can't defend his title. And let's say Fabricio Overdome becomes. the official champion. He, you know, the belt is unified or, you know, the other belt is just completely phased out. I think that Daniel Corne may could definitely compete with Fabrice Overdome. I won't go so far as to say he's going to beat him right now. I'd have to think a little bit more about it. But I don't see why that would be a fight that's out of the realm of possibility.

Certainly that's the fight that he would have been on track for if he stayed in the heavyweight division. I mean, he would have already got a shot at the champion if it wasn't Cain. So why not have D.C. go back up to heavyweight and face for a doom. Now, I'm sure right now, there's no way D.C. has anything on his mind other than fighting John Jones again. But I think it would be prudent to go up and face for a doom rather than taking another crack of John Jones right away. Two things in response to that. A, I hope I don't see that happen because that would mean that Kane is probably not fighting. Right.

And that's not a good thing. And B, I like Daniel at 205. He seems to be healthier and great shape. You know, I know maybe his cardio went out on him a bit on Saturday, but I want to see a little more of Daniel the light heavyweight. Number two, I won't go into it a little too much, but I will say that I have talked to Daniel twice on the phone in the last 12 hours or so, and he is in pretty good spirits, already thinking about what's next,

already very excited. Obviously, he's down and disappointed, but the Daniel that you saw on Saturday night, the press conference, obviously very emotional. He's getting over it. And he's going to take a little bit of a break from the public eye, but don't be worried about him. I do foresee him going on some kind of run in the future. So don't worry too much about that.

By the way, what about this rest, the rest of this card? What did you make of it? Because to me, it felt like from, I'll tell you how it felt like from the arena, it felt like everyone just wanted to fast forward through the entire thing. Like they were getting anxious. Like I didn't think Soroni and jury. deserved to be booed, but people just wanted to see the whole thing sped up a little bit so we could get to the main event. How did it play on TV? I think it was the same. And I think the sentiment was

the same on Twitter. That was the feeling I got was people were, and, you know, that'll happen. If it's a decision for every fight of a main card, that's what's going to happen, especially when you're anticipating that the main event is going to be this good. You know, the Seroni jury fight was not bad by any means, but that's not what we expect. from Donald Soroni. And, you know, some of that is due in part to Miles Jury, but people wanted to see Soroni, you know, finish Miles Jury. That's what they were hoping for, and I think that's what the UFC booked that for, was either Miles Jury is going to prove himself as, you know, the next contender at lightweight, or Donald Serroney's going to prove that, you know, he's the guy. And I feel

like we got something in between that and, you know, the boring fight that the fan saw. But I had no problem with the card, I, you know, I'll gladly watch a card like that again. But, you know, when, when that, that cupcake is there, you're not necessarily going to be loving your Brussels sprouts. You're going to be thinking about that dessert that you're about to get at the end of the meal. And people really were anticipating it. Wow. You just called Donald's Ronnie a Brussels sprout. The rest of the card was, you know, the Brussels sprouts. You've got to eat your vegetables to get to that, so they get to the dessert. Okay, go call funky. All right. As he connects, with Mr. Ascran.

I will say that I didn't really hate the card all that much, but it did feel like I almost wanted them to play the main event first for us, and then we could work our way backwards because I was so excited for that fight. And I do think it lived up to the hype. I thought the pace was amazing to start. And there were some great performances. Marion Reno, 37-year-old mother of a 12-year-old, a physical education teacher,

makes her UFC debut after she was turned down from the Ultimate Fighter, a very dominant win, one that should have probably been finished earlier. Evan Dunham, getting back on track. Nice one for him. Sean Jordan with a great K.O. and post-fight celebration. And then to me, the really nice stories, Cody Garbrandt, that story that you may have heard about, had a deal with a youngster who was suffering from leukemia, who he met early in his career. This is a guy. Cody, who used to sell drugs to, you know, pay his gym fees, joins Team Alpha Male early in his career and has a deal with this youngster, Maddox Maple, who was suffering from leukemia.

They make a promise to each other. Maddox says, I'll beat cancer, you make it to the UFC. Maddox's cancer is in remission. He was at the MGM on Saturday, and Cody's there making his UFC debut and wins. And I do believe they embraced afterwards as well. You saw that on camera. Paul Felder taking a fight on short notice, defeating a veteran and Danny Castillo, spinning back fist, K.O.

That was great. And even the Hector-Lombard fight. I didn't hate it. Birkman was banged up going into it, showed a lot of heart, a great chin. I didn't hate that one. And Horaguchi as well. Very much a player at 125. So definitely some things to talk about it.

I don't think Seroni and jury deserve to be booed. I didn't hate that fight. I think people's expectations are a little too high sometimes. And that was a tough fight between two contenders, and they're not always going to be finishes. They did finish the pay-per-view with just moments to spare, and that's why they couldn't do a lot of the post-fight interviews towards the end, but thankfully it was not a repeat of UFC 33. All right, let's move along now.

Let us go to our next guest of the day. Very much talked about in the news these days, as always, does a good job of keeping himself there. I'm talking about the one-fccee welterweight champion, Mr. Funky himself, Ben Ascran. Ben, how are you? I'm doing great. I just finished my lunch and time for the show, and happy to be on as always.

I appreciate you doing that, even though I don't mind if you eat on the show, by the way. Hi, right. So as I said, you're very much in the news. I want to first talk to you about Daniel Cormier and John Jones, because you are a friend of Mr. Cormier. You've known him for a very long time. What was your take on that?

Were you surprised by the way the fight played out, in particular the wrestling part of it all? Well, you know what? Honestly, I think the wrestling is being overplayed. Okay. The first take-down Jones got was off. It was a mid-kick. It was a higher mid-tick, and Jones caught the leg and got the take-down.

And then there wasn't another take-down until the fourth round when Daniel was, you know, he was gassed out. He gave him everything he had nothing left. And, you know, it was kind of, he was very much on the downhill by that point in the fight. So I think too much is being played on that. I think Daniel came in with a strategy to get in close and box him up, which he did a pretty good job of. You know, I was kind of surprised he did to attempt more takedown.

I think he attempted maybe one or two in the early going of the fight. But, you know, Jones, he's just really good at what he's done if there's not enough to say about it. Knowing Daniel, and he did get that one takedown, but it was somewhat insignificant towards the end. Knowing him, do you feel like it almost bothers him more that he couldn't control the wrestling than just simply losing to John Jones? Like, it feels like that's a big point of pride for him.

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't think so. You know, we obviously we were wrestlers, but this is an MMA fight. It isn't the day. All that matters is you get your hand raised. So I would say he's probably most upset by that. I mean, if he wins that, if he wins

the fight and gives up six takedowns, who gives crap, right? True, sure. So I would say maybe, but I would probably say he's a lot more bothered by the fact they didn't get his hand raised in a fight. Afterwards, you tweeted to John Jones,

Hey, Johnny Bones, you may be the best 205 in the world, but I know all you really want is the fans love, sorry you'll never get it. Why do you believe that? Well, you know what? It actually hit me. Well, I kind of had similar thoughts, but it really hit me as a speech. He was talking about how much he still didn't like Handel.

And it's like, well, he's fought together for 25 minutes. Surely he could be a little settled by then. And he wasn't like his controversial decision. He won, and it wasn't that close. And it kind of struck me that, wow, he thought, you know, I think it's just so obvious because so many people, right, Daniels, they love him. He did, is just a likable person, and that's just how it goes.

And I've kind of felt this about Jones that, and a lot of people have. I'm probably not the only sentiment. He's been trying to play this character that he's not for a long time now. And I think the most indicative time of that was in that ESPN interview, when they thought they were off there and they started cutting each other out. And then when Jones comes back, he's like, wait, wait, wait, we're on air, who can see this? He's really like the surface

that they got it on camera and he didn't think he would have that. So I think he's always been trying to portray a certain character in the media, maybe even a character that he's not, and one that he thinks the fans a lot, but everyone's too smart

for that. If you don't act who you are, then people are going to catch up with it sooner or later. Would you agree, though, that this John Jones is the best John Jones? You know that entertainment and how you talk on the mic is a big part of all of this. I feel like people respond to this Jones better. Yeah, you know what? He's finally starting to get it, but I think obviously he personally is still bothered

by the fact that he gets booed by more than he gets cheered almost. I mean, I was hearing the booze at the way and ended at the fight and I've been in a few other fights, and definitely there were more boozed and cheers, I would say. But I think he's finally starting to get it and embrace that, you know, they call it heel, the heel role. Because, I mean, when you look at it, it was a do with 23 years old. He was the best fighter on the planet and making a shit a ton of money. You know, obviously he's going to be a little arrogant and a little self-centered.

And that's not the worst thing in the world if he's going to grow up eventually and figure out that's not the best way to be. But he was trying to think it the whole time like he wasn't. Let's transition now to CM Punk. This is a very big day for the world of MMA because he is traveling to Rufus Sport. in Milwaukee. This is a story that is going to be scrutinized until he actually steps foot into that cage. And it's so interesting because he said he's going to go to Rufus Board. And of course, you are a member of Rufus Board. You are the wrestling coach there, and you were somewhat

critical of this signing. And I want to know if, A, you have seen him, if you've talked to him, and if not, what will you say to him when you see him? Yeah, and we have practiced in about 45 minutes, so I'll be heading up there, but I have not seen him. I haven't talked to him. But I have nothing. My tweet was pointed at the USC, not at CM Punk. And, you know, I've said this a few times now is, if you're a guy and they offer you a bunch of money to fight in the cage, you're probably going to say yes.

I mean, and you're a dummy if you say no. So obviously nothing against him from taking the money. That's smart. But so my tweet was playing at the UFC, and I'm sure we'll get along just fine. There's really no one in our gym at Duke that I don't get along with, so I couldn't really see it going another way. Were you surprised when he announced that he was going to – or I think actually Dana White broke it first.

Were you surprised when this news came out that he was going to Rufus? And by the way, how did you find out? No, Duke told me it was right after I sent that tweet, we were at Anthony's fight backstage was actually when that news came out and Duke told me right away hey I know this guy is probably a good chance they'll be coming to train with us

and I was being like well Duke you could have told me 10 minutes ago before I sent this stupid tweet but you know it's okay I like have my viewpoints known and from from what I read in the media I don't think he's taking it to heart too much

will you sit down with him? Like, do you want to do that? Because, you know, you're going to be a big part of what he does out there, the wrestling. And as you know, that is the foundation of all this. Do you want to kind of sit down, clear the air and move on? Oh, man, I don't think there's any air to clear. I think he's just going to come to practice.

We'll practice. And, I mean, I absolutely have nothing against the guy. Like I said before, he took the money, and that was a smart decision on his part. Do you think, do you know anything about his skills? Do you think he can actually be successful in the UFC? I have nothing about the skill. I mean, I think I've heard that he's NGGG2,

but, man, starting MMM or frankly any endeavor at 35 years old, man, that's a tough road to hoe, especially when you're starting in a high-level organization. It's going to be tough, and hopefully he has no illusions about that. Hopefully he doesn't think, oh, I'm going to go train for two months and I'm ready to fight because that's, I mean, I don't believe, I started getting good at MMA until I was three, three, three and a half years into my training. That's when I kind of really started feeling really comfortable in a cage.

And then I had done a combat sport wrestling my whole life. So the transition to as a whole mixed martial arts is a very difficult transition, even for people with combat sports background. So hopefully he already knows that reality, and he's ready to come and go to practice and work really hard. Will his evolution be a point of pride for you? the sense that you really want, you know, this will be a feather in the team's cap. If he goes out there and starts knocking people out in the UFC, if he starts winning

fights, is this something that you're going to really pour yourself into? I know you have your own career to worry about, but will you really try to make this guy as good as possible? Yeah, most definitely, you know, I'm, that is, the wrestling of Rupus sport is a big point of pride for me, because I think it's something I've been able to help them a lot with, and there was really no wrestling at Rupes before I got here. and, you know, I came here, and I was here for a while, and I said, hey, Duke, you should really be doing a wrestling day. And he said, yeah, of course, let's do it.

And so I started coaching wrestling. And, you know, I really think as a team we've improved significantly because we're a team who doesn't have a lot of people who wrestle as their background. We're a people who are a team with a lot of people who have kickboxed as their background or maybe jit-to, but very few wrestlers. And I think the guys are a team, they still may not be the best wrestlers, but they're getting very, fishing at it. What kind of characters over there? Because you know the stuff that came out about the gym, which has sort of died down at this point, and a lot of people said maybe that was the old gym. But, you know, I'm wondering if there are characters in that gym, in your opinion, that will try to test this man, that will try to expose him, hurt him. Are there people like that

there? No, no, not really. And yeah, like I said, that might have been old Rufus sport. I got here in 2011, so I haven't been here for quite a while now. And, and, you know, and obviously we're having a mate fighter, so it is rough and press. You do go in there and try to kick someone's bump, but I've never, I thought almost all the allegations that Pat, Barry, and Rose made. I thought they were overblown. I thought they were exaggerated. And maybe Duke was a totally different person prior to my arrival. But from talking with Anthony, I believe he felt the same way as I did.

And, you know, he's been here since before both of those people were here. So I don't see anything like that happened in San Punk. I think we're welcome and embracing with open arms. And really, everyone on the team right now gets along pretty well. There's not a lot of rivalries or bad bull in the gym. We don't have it here. There's not a lot of egos. Were you a fan of pro wrestling?

Were you a fan of his and his work? Is this a cool thing for you in a sense? I watched Pro wrestling when I was a kid, like most kids do. But I can't say that I've watched it. in a long time or followed it at all. I maybe seen it channel flipping everyone and once in a while. So I don't know a whole lot about him as a pro wrestler. Okay.

Well, I'm really curious to see. Can you know, can you like just put the phone on speaker when you guys meet for the first time so we can all listen? Are you going to keep that to yourself? No, I think I'm assuming you're a private conversation. Sure, sure. I said, I don't think there's any bad blood. I mean, I said what I said. I think he understood it was a dig at the UFC, not I dig at him personally.

and I think he understands that I'm a high-level mixed martial artist who can help him a lot. If this is what he's serious about doing, I can offer a lot of assistance to him getting towards his goals. I know you've tweeted about this, but I want to ask you on the phone here. What didn't I tweet about? That's true. You do tweet a lot, and for the most part, it's entertaining. But Dana White believes that you don't want to be in the UFC, that he has spoken to people who know you that they tell him, that this is what you want. You want to be on the outside looking in,

and you want people to be pushing this story of you wanting to be in the UFC, but deep down you don't want to be there. Is that accurate? No, it's just blatant lie. I mean, everything you've told you is just blatant lie about me. I mean, I can't say that in general.

I mean, I wouldn't say all of it's true, but, I mean, right, first he said, I wasn't skilled enough, and that was, I mean, laughable that anyone who knew anything about MMA, then when they tried a zero-zero-zero fighter, it became a while of a wow, really. And then there was a bunch of other stuff that he said. But at the end of the day,

the only real mutual acquaintance we have would be Anthony Pettus, the champion. I've never said anything to that manner to Anthony. I mean, I think the only thing that he could possibly equate with that is I said, if I do go to the UFC, I want to be paid fairly. And so maybe he assumes it's because someone wants to be paid fairly. They don't want to fight in the UFC. But other than that, I could never think of, I couldn't think of anything I would have said that would have been inclined towards making someone think that. I was on a radio show recently. The M.M.M.A. Report with John Pollock, and we played a game of likely, unlikely, he asked me, likely, Unlakely, Ben Ascgren fights in the UFC in 2015. I said, likely. Am I crazy?

I don't know. I mean, I'm going to talk to Matthew tonight about my next fight at 1FC. Yep. So hopefully finding up a fight really quick here. And, man, I would have to say unlikely. I think there's a, I'm happy in one of the FD are giving me good fight. And if for some reason that were to happen, there's so many hurdles to clear. It's not even funny. So I would have to say unlikely.

I mean, you didn't say ever. You said 2015. Correct. And so we said ever, maybe that would change my answer. But in 2015, I would have to say unlikely. All right. Let's talk about 1FC. Do you have any idea?

I know you're going to talk to him. What are you going to say? Matt Hume, that is. Do you have any idea when your next fight will be? Yeah, he's playing. I'm pretty sure if you're going to tell me the exact date tonight. I'm thinking it's going to be in February or March. I would have liked to fight in December,

but we couldn't get an opponent that quickly. So I understand where they're coming from that. And then in January, they kind of take the Chinese New Year. They can take that off over there. Okay. So, yeah, so we'll get a February and March and their plan, They told me their plan on me fight four times this year. Wow.

So I'm going to be busy, and I'm, you know, I'm to the point in my career. Earlier in my career, I was kind of okay with the layoffs, because, like I said, I didn't think I was very good at mixed martial sports, and I really, really, really needed a practice. And now I feel like getting close to being a really good mixed martial arts, and I just like getting in the cage and proving myself again and again. So the more times the better for me. Any idea who that first title defense will be against?

Yeah, I believe it's going to be Luis Sapo Santos He won his fight on November 7th or November 6th or something like that So I believe it's going to be He's got one of those ridiculous records You've got like 70 wins or something That's fought with many MMA fights Two fights in one of C thus far And both of them in the first round relatively quick

Do you feel like there are any challenges for you At least right now in the company? Well, I mean, I really believe I can do that to almost anywhere in the world. I mean, I'm telling you, my MMA skill set has gotten so much better over the last couple of years, and I feel like I'm the best MMA welterweight in the world. And I've said that for numerous times. I believe with all my heart. And, you know, I get in there in the cage every time, and I want to prove it,

and I try to prove it. And that's what I've done the last two. I said, really, even the fights before that in Bellator, Kreshkoff, I hit him 248 to 3. And, you know, he's been wrecking people since. I believe he's like 18 and 1 or 19 and 1, something to that matter right now. And then Carl Amos, who is highly regarded, and I want to say he hit me like twice or three times also. So my last string of fights has been very, very dominant. I've taken very little damage, and I've sold out quite a bit of it.

So I feel like I'm really coming into my own as mixed martyr and so I love getting in the cage and proving it over again. Speaking of being the best in the world, you were there on December 6th. What do you make of Johnny Hendricks's loss? I know you have a bit of a rivalry with him. Did that surprise you? Well, actually, I would say if I was, so in UFC score system, obviously, round by round, I would have said Hendon's won the fight. I would have given the first three and I would have given well or the last two.

That being said, like under the one-of-c scoring system where they just pick a winner at the end of the fight, I think under that scoring system, you got Lawler as the winner because at the end of the fight, you can't really walk with that saying, wow, Hendricks won this fight, because he kind of got, he was gasped and he kind of beat out the last two rounds. obviously that fight was super, super close. Kind of happy for Lawler. He was one of those original. You have to see you guys, and he kind of had a very long road.

And sometimes you like seeing that, you know, a guy who doesn't just go straight for the title and has all the success, but someone who has a lot of ups and down. But he's had a lot of ups and down, and he's had a lot of perseverance. And I've met him. He's a really, really nice guy, humble, hardworking. And it was kind of nice to see Robbie win the title.

And I know a lot of people felt that way. I think he's a real sentimental favor for a lot of people. But let's just be clear you think you'd beat him. Yeah. Yeah.

By the way. Well, I think a way to bring that up. Well, I mean, I expect nothing less from you. Yeah. You're a confident guy. There's nothing wrong with that.

By the way, you've gone back and forth with many on Twitter, but recently Matt Riddle, do you want... Oh, gosh. Do you want one F.C. to sign him?

I don't care. I'll beat him up. He's a bum. But this could be a fight that maybe gets the American fans interested as well, since he's a name from the UFC. You know, allegedly he's trying to become a pro wrestler. I don't know what his deal is. He's not very good at fighting. My joke wasn't really even aimed at him, even though I get why he was offended.

But I wasn't really trying to bring him into the fray at all. And, you know, he's just not that good of a fighter. I don't know what else to say about it. That's enough. We don't need to go anymore into that. So, by the way, you said four times this year. How many fights left on that deal? A few.

More than four? Possibly. Oh, wow. It's a long deal. Yeah, there's a serious deal. I mean, one-fc is a serious organization. A lot of people in America don't know about them yet, but they're already number one in Asia. That's number one bigger than the UFC, bigger than everybody in Asia, by quite a way that you look at any of the metrics over there.

So, I mean, they're doing really, really big things. They went into China last month, and they were the first major organization to have a real MMA show on mainland China. And I'm not one of the islands, but actual mainland China. They got TV deals in almost every country. So, man, they're really doing big things over there, and they're going to continue to do big things this year. So it is really excited to be part of the organization. It's kind of fun, too, because, you know, I remember with my first bite in Bellator was, I think, Belator 13 or 14, and we're at the Chicago Theater, and I want to say Ariel,

and I might even exaggerating. There was probably 300 people in the stand, and I might be exaggerating at that. I don't know. I think we were on a regional Fox Sports Channel. You know, some, it was really, really small time at that point. So it was really fun to see Bellator grow up to what it is today from that point where there was 300 people in the stands.

And so, you know, I think I'm going to have a lot of fun. watching one at sea grow up also. Two last quick things. Do you know where that fight will take place? I'm assuming somewhere in Asia, but you have any idea where your next fight will take place? And also, since we were talking about him earlier, Pettas Dosangos was announced on Saturday. How do you see that fight playing out? Do you have a prediction on that one? I mean, obviously, I know he's going to win. You're just going to say he's going to win, but how?

Yeah, I'll be to say first-round TK. I predicted first-on TK over Gilbert. I wasn't quite accurate, but I wasn't really far off either. Anthony is getting so dynamic at what he does, and he's so damaging with his strike that if Dosayneos can't get him down, I don't see the fight last him very long. And Anthony's wrestling is getting better and better and better. I have one of my AWA employees working with him as a private coach twice a week,

plus our wrestling practice. So his wrestling is growing by leaps and bounds, and if no one could take him down, no one in the division is going to beat him. And that fight, do you know where it is? Anthony? No, yours. Oh, mine, I'm sorry. No, I don't know.

Hopefully when I talk to him tonight, he will give me the scoop on everything. All right. Always a pleasure, Ben. Thank you very much. Good luck today in training with the one and only CM Punk. Good luck in your next fight. And great to have you on the show, as always. Really appreciate it.

And we got Tyroo Huggily in town, too. Oh, that's right. Yeah, I saw that. That's great. And Dean Thomas and Eve Edwards, so we're going to have a fun week. That's great. All right. Thanks so much.

Appreciate the time. Thanks a lot. All right, there he is. Ben Ascgren, 14 and O, the one-fc-Welterweight champion. All right, let's move along now. As I said, the big story, in my opinion on Saturday night, John Jones's win, but how he did it. The wrestling. The wrestling was very impressive, take-down defense and the takedowns as well. The man who is behind all of that is the one and only Israel Martinez, Izzy style,

and he's on the phone right now, about to board a plane back home to Chicago, but he was kind enough to join us for a few minutes. Izzy, are you there? Yes, I am. How are you? There he is. That infamous voice. Congratulations on a huge win. And congratulations on what you've done with John really being put in the spotlight, in my opinion. How proud are you of what he did on Saturday night?

You know, I'm excited and I'm super proud of John. You know, every time it's time to shine, he finds a way to shine bright. And it's just an honor to be a part of his coaching staff. and it's just a, I'm feeling great. I'm getting ready to board of playing. It's just a great feeling leaving Vegas like this. And by the way, at some point, I mean, I'm not going to keep you on too long, but if you have to leave, I do understand that.

Honestly, honestly, did you expect that kind of wrestling performance out of him? You know, with no disrespect to Daniel Formier, I'm a fan of Daniel Formier. I think he's awesome. He's great in the wrestling community. You know, I believe in John Jones. I've told people for several years. I've sparked with him, and I've sparred with a lot of guys in the world, and no one has that feel.

And John's very clever, very tricky, and he doesn't really get tired. He doesn't really break ever. And, yeah, I envisioned it something similar, and I told John the day of the fight. He's probably not going to take you down. Just make sure you stay tough and aggressive, and I meant it. You told me a bit about sort of your key to defeating Daniel Korme's wrestling, but can you share it with the viewers? You talked a bit about controlling that one hand, and you know a lot about this guy.

I mean, you've been around him, right? You've been around him since you were a teenager, I believe. So what was the key to beating his wrestling? Well, I think the key was just basically sticking to the game plan that Coach Winkgo-John and Coach Greg Jackson put together. And obviously, Coach Gibson, these guys, you know, they stress the distance, they stress the certain strikes. And believe it or not, if you're striking down point, it's pretty tough to get close to you and take you down.

So, you know, as much credit as everyone's given me, I give credit to our coaches at Jackson, Waco, John. Those guys are great. I mean, Coach Gibson, they had John so prepared. He had so many reps and all his striking. He was on point. And obviously, if you can't get past the guy's hands, and then a guy ties you up like John did, he did a great job. He had great hand control. great shoulder position and great head position.

And if he had those three things, there's no way the A. of Kormier could take John Jones down, and he can't. And what about controlling that one hand of his? You talked to me a bit about that, which I found very interesting. Well, yeah, like before I, you know, the fight, I kind of told you a little bit of, you know, just small ideas on how you win and how you beat explosive wrestlers and explosive type of fighters like that. You slow them down, and if you can't slow them down by grabbing their knack,

You can't slow down by grabbing their elbow. You slow them down by grabbing their wrist. And if you can grab someone's wrists and frustrate them, you know, I can tell you what, I don't care how good a shape you're in. I don't care how big of a grind you think you push. When you get out of your comfort zone and you start getting frustrated, you break. And we saw that. And John did an excellent job of just doing what John does.

He fights great. And, you know, he attacked the wrist, like I told him, like Greg told him, like how old John told him, you know, it was a key point in our training camp, and it was a big emphasis, and he showed it, and I'm proud of him. After the fact, John talked about how he had heard and watched how D.C. breaks in big fights, or matches, I should say, in wrestling, Kale Sanderson, et cetera. And I know you've been around him for a long time. Did you witness that yourself? Are you the one who told him that?

Yeah, you know, I did my research, you know, and I remember seeing Daniel Cormier growing up. You know, I wasn't on the senior level like these guys and him and Ben Ascran and these guys that were superstar wrestlers. You know, I never got that opportunity and John never did either. And yeah, you know, you talk to people and people tell you, you know, hey, you know, Daniel Correa used to do some things that not some of the other guys did. And I'm not here to bash Daniel Cormia. He's a great guy, but we found some weaknesses. I told John that he had weaknesses. and I emphasized it.

I emphasized that, you know, he, you can break him because I've seen him break before. And that was part of training camp, just explaining to John that, you know, that he is not invincible like they're portraying him. No one's invincible. What do you make of the things he said afterwards? I hope he's crying somewhere, the suck-it sign. You know, this was a different John Jones in a sense. As his coach, are you okay with all that?

Well, you know what? I've learned to be very confident and very comfortable with John Jones being John Jones. And I think that's why me and John get along. He's very confident and comfortable with Israel Martinez being Israel Martinez. And that's just where we are. I understand how he feels. You know, Daniel Cormier and King Moe and all these little, those guys that, not little, but those guys, it's his crew that he hangs out with.

Those guys are confident. They're proud guys. They're big time wrestlers. So those guys, they would have been talking shit. He has a manager that would have never shut up. I mean, those guys are just would have been relentless on John Jones. They would have been relentless on his-style wrestling. And just because we come from a junior college background.

And, you know, our dreams got cut short, but Thursday didn't. But, you know, I get where John is coming from. And I don't, like I said, I'm not here to bash anyone. But, you know, I don't feel sorry for people either. Is that more like the real John Jones, because you know him better than anyone. You've been around this guy for a long time, and we're somewhat obsessed with talking about who's the real John Jones, all this stuff. Is that the real John Jones, just somewhat unapologetic, confident, cocky, and not trying to please everyone with his words? No, you know, John Jones is, he's a lover. He's a great guy. He's a great dad.

He is just, he's growing up, man. I spent the whole night with him in Vegas. He is confident and he believes in his skills and he's very passionate. But he also understands his enemy and also understood that, hey, man, Cormier talked a lot of trash and so did his camp and his little boxing coach. And it was a lot, you know, and we know that they would have been doing the same thing. So I think that the John Jones is just kind of answering questions with a little bit more emotion than he normally does. He was emotional yesterday.

It was a big win for him. It was a great win for our team. Coach Wink, Coach Greg, Brandon Gifton, you know, it was just a wonderful experience. And I think John Jones, you know, I don't know how, I don't speak for him, but I believe that

he still feels the same way. And I think that when he wants to fight him again, because we want to, you know, finish guys like that. And we got work to do, and we're excited to get back to work. So you really think he would fight DC again? He would be down for that. if it makes sense?

You know, I think if it makes sense for John Jones, he'll do it. Whatever's best for Team Jones and his brand and whatever's best for John's family, I think John's going to head in that direction, you know, 100% of the time. And I think if D.C. is next on the list, whatever the UFC says, he'll fight them. And it's going to be great. We're just excited for the next bout. We're actually excited to rest a little bit, you know, just relax. And I've got to go back to my high school wrestling team.

so I'm headed back to coach my Monti Catholic High School boys in Lombard, Illinois, where high school state champs. We're getting ready to win our eight state title in a row. So we're doing great. It's an awesome experience, and life's good right now. On Thursday, you mentioned D.C.'s boxing coach. You guys got into it a little bit. It was caught on camera.

Do you regret that? Well, I didn't say much to him. You know, he had an issue with Malkie, and Malkie's a – Malky's a good dude. He takes care of John, and Malky is very proud of who he is, and he's a confident guy. And, you know, obviously his boxing coach has an issue with him, but I'll tell you what, if you talk trashed to Malky, he's not going to back down. Yes. And Malky didn't back down, and, you know, hey, it was me and Gibson were there. We were quiet. We didn't say much. The issue wasn't between us and those coaches.

But at the same time, as Malki Kawa, they're going to back down from a fight. You know, a little bit was made of the fact that you weren't in John's corner at UFC 172 against Glover. You were obviously in his corner this time around. Does John Jones win this fight if you're not there, if you're not part of his team? Of course. John Jones wins. He's a creative fighter. He works hard. We have the best coaches in the planet.

Coach Wink, Coach Greg, Coach Gibson. I believe that we have the best coaching staff in the world, and I think that those guys would have prepped him without me. But at the same time is, I'm proud to be John Jones wrestling coach and I'm proud to be affiliate with Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn. Was there a point where you thought you might not be his coach anymore?

No, never. I knew my relationship with John Jones was tight. We're brothers. We've been through a lot together. I've seen him win and I've seen him lose, not out there on the fight, but I've seen him lose in practice and not do as well as he wanted. I've seen him with his head up and his head down.

And I know the support that he has for me, my program, my easy start wrestling, and I have the same amount of support for him and who he is. And I just know exactly what happens with sometimes. You've got to take a break. You've got to work on some things. I had to go home work at my club. John Jones went home, spent time with his family.

It was a great minor break. And it's just life's good. We're excited. How much does it hurt you to not be in this corner in that last fight? Well, it's just one of those things you've got to keep your ego out of it. You know, in dealing with John Jones, you've got to check yourself all the time. to remind yourself, this isn't, you know, about you. This is about John Jones.

And, you know, at the end of the day, it's about our team. And it's not about Israel Martinez. It's about Coach Wink, Coach Greg, our team, John Jones. And that's the goal. The goal is to get John to win the fight. I was communicating with Malkie and Gibson and Wink throughout the week. And we had a great conversation throughout the week and great warm-ups. You know, we all monitored his weight.

And I wasn't there, but I was there in heart and spirit. and it didn't bother me. You know, I trust our team, and I trust John. Two last things. Are you hoping that his next opponent is Gus of Sin because he was the first one to take him down and there are still some people who think that Gus can beat John Jones?

As his coach, is that what you want, to shut up all those doubters? You know, I think we did a pretty good job of shutting up doubters this weekend. I think that that was the main focus. I don't really like to talk about John's next fights and things like that for John. John's a John, John likes to just keep his opinions to himself, and my opinions I just kind of keep to myself sometimes.

But I'm excited to whoever he fights next. I think Custison's a great opponent. I think John Jones is the new John Jones. He's focused. He's motivated. He's got his family down in Albuquerque. I think whoever fights John Jones next, I hope they have a great training camp. And how important is it for him?

He said he moved to Albuquerque. He's going to be training full time now. The gut won't appear and all that. stuff. Is that something the coaches told him he needed to start doing as he got older in his career? Listen, that gut isn't like the gut that I have. That's like a little something. I mean, John Jones gets a little out of shape and he thinks he's fat. I mean, Johnny is never truly out of shape. I think that when he goes down to Albuquerque, he is excited to try new things. He wants to do new things out there in the cage. He wants to be

more creative. And I think the more time he can spend in the gym, the better he's going to be. And as far as the honest answer to your question, no, we didn't have to sit John down and yell at him or say anything to him. John makes adjustments, and he knows what he needs in his life, and he knows that he needed to be closer to Albuquerque, closer to his coaches, and obviously with his family at all times. So, yeah, I'm pumped. I'm pumped for whoever he fights next. Hey, one last quick thing. Give us a plug for Izzy Style Wrestling. I know you were a very big part of the tough Latin America series.

You were very proud of the results you had there. Who are some of the guys that you're working with that we're going to see rise up to potentially John Jones status? Well, you know what? You know, Izzy Style Wrestling is basically a program for kids from 5 to 18 years old to wrestle, learn life skills, and go to the highest academic institutions in the world. We have kids at Princeton, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, University of Iowa, University of Illinois. We have kids all over the country. and we're proud of the program that we run. We have about 100, 110 boys in our club,

and we push the guys hard. We demand excellence, and we're just proud to be a wrestling community, wrestling family, a wrestling team. We're just proud to be wrestlers. And that's what Izzy Style Wrestling is about. A big team that's proud to be wrestlers, and that everybody deserves a second chance, third chance.

No one's excluded at Izzy Style. We take guys, because I know I needed a second chance in life and three strikes. You've got to give these kids an outs, but a positive out, and they'll take it. If you get them a positive one, they'll take it. And Izzy Style Wrestling is a positive outlook for high school wrestlers and youth wrestlers,

and that's what I'm proud of, and that's what I like to be known as. And I'm John Jones coaching. I coach at Jackson's M.MA, and that all sounds great. But I'm truly a high school wrestling coach, a youth wrestling coach. I run Easy Style Wrestling out of Chicago, and now we have Mike Valley in Chicago, who I think is probably the one.

One of the best striking coaches in the world. He's creative. He's fast. He's so fundamentally strong. So now we got Coach Mike in Chicago living there. And with me, we're building a small little training environment so the guys from Jackson's, when I'm in Chicago, can come up there, have me and Mike Valley able to train him in the resting and the striking.

And now we've got a second idea, second satellite locations for the Jackson's easy-style crew. And we invite guys to train in Chicago. and it's exciting. Tolito's our guy. We got Cub Swanson. I love him to death, and people are doubting him, but those guys better get it

because Cub Swanson works hard. And, you know, we got a lot of guys. And anybody affiliated with their Jim Donna Jackson Wink is affiliate with Izzy style wrestling and got like those striking. We're a big team and we're a big family. Congratulations on the win on Saturday.

Congratulations on the performance and on everything you're doing over there in Chicago. Great to have you on the show for the first time, Izzy, and safe travels back home. Hey, thank you very much. I appreciate it. And keep doing what you do, Ariel.

Man, you're a good dude. Thank you, Izzy. All the best. Bye-bye. There he is. Israel Martinez, head coach, as far as wrestling is concerned, 401 John Jones,

a great performance on Saturday night. By the way, we've been talking about John. We've been talking about his demeanor, post-fight press conference, all that stuff. Here's a quick look. I stumbled upon this yesterday. This isn't inside the vault, but I think it's very interesting to watch today

after UFC 182. Here's a quick look at the post-fight press conference, the tough 10 finale. That was December 5th, 2009. The only time John Jones has ever lost. Now, of course, we know what happened that night. John Jones, Matt Hamill, Jones was going to win that fight, and referee Steve Mazogati called it a DQ, downward elbows, all that stuff. You know what it is.

It's not a real loss. But the record book says it's a loss. And it's interesting to see how he dealt with it all. his demeanor, his responses, just everything about it. And then you compare that to Saturday night, completely different guys. So I thought it would be fun to watch this. Here it is, December 5th, 2009, Post-Five Press Conference, Tough 10 finale.

Here's a quick look. I feel great. I'm healthy, you know, I have no injuries. I get to go home and see my daughter, my girlfriend. I've seen him so long. Are you disappointed in the outcome with a disqualification? You think in your mind it should have been in no contest? I'm not worried about that, you know.

I have a manager can take care of all that stuff. Definitely took a lot of pride to be an undefeated and I'm so, you know, proud to be a martial artist and I strive so hard to be the best that I can be. But, you know, everything has to short reason. Did the thought ever cross your mind while you're standing there after the fight

that maybe this is a disqualification? It would be nice. It would be nice. You know, could have at least been a disqualification, but I try to look at everything alive for the best. And now I'm not worried about being undefeated anymore. So I can go out there and be more relaxed. Hey, John, at what point you sort of looked at Mazzagati

and you were like, okay, are you going to stop this fight? Or what? And then he kept going to the elbows. Do you think you should have to stop? Yeah, you know, I'm not positive what the rules are. That's why maybe I did this thing. but I think you know like 14 15 on extra punches it should be stopped and I said it in so many interviews that I respect him a lot for the inspiration I is and it was like

outward just keep head on like that you know let's stop this but what are you going to do? I was kind of confused I thought I was getting a point taken away but then it got any warnings so I was just like I wasn't really positive you know what was going on I don't know. When they announced the decision, did you expect them to say you had won or did you already know at that point? I thought I won. I thought I won.

And when they said I lost, I was like, no, this can't be happening. But I lost. Actually, I talked to the doctor. The doctor said there was a deep jagged cut on the bridge of the nose, which, you know, obviously a lot of blood there. Steve Stothaf, if I initially take the point away, looked at him, couldn't continue, had to make an initial call, then came down and looked at the instant replays. This is actually the first time the incident replay was utilized Nevada, looked at it.

Obviously, a lot of damage done by legal blows, but then there was damage also done by the illegal elbows. And I would say, as you know, if there's any contribute to the Tory effect of the illegal blows, that disqualifications the call. So that's what happened. And did the doctor stop it, or was it Matt Hamill? No, no. It was the referee stopping the fight due to the damage to Matt Hamilton. From advice to the doctor, I'm saying?

No, no. Just on his own. On his own. Well, you know, I was hitting them so many times, you know, with so many legal blows, I was just like, you know, I was looking for more ways to get in and try to hit them more effectively. And I had them, you know, I don't know. I don't know. I hit him so many times, and they didn't stop it.

It just kept going. It definitely came distinctively down the middle, and it got stopped. Keith, is there a scenario where you would take it? All right, so that's a slice of the post-fight press conference. from December 5th, 2009, tough 10 finale. Different guy, right? And you expect that. I mean, that was what?

Five years ago? Five plus years ago. So you change, you evolve, you get more comfortable. But I thought it was fun to look back at that, especially because that is, you know, a moment we'll never forget. John Jones's only loss up until this point. And I think we all consider that not to be a loss. Anyhow, let's move along now.

Let's go back to the phone lines. Welcome in our next guest. He is the California kid, the leader of Team Alpha Male, the one and only Uriah Faber joining us on the phone right now. Uriah, how are you? Doing good, what's up, dude? Great to talk to you. I know you were there at UFC 182.

What do you think of the main event? Were you surprised that John Jones beat Daniel Cormier? You know what, man? I was surprised to see some of the things he did in the fight for sure. You know, he was the favorite going in, but, you know, what a fight for Jones, man, really showed his championship mentality. and showed why he's, you know, the best.

Were you surprised that Daniel had so much trouble wrestling, John Jones? No, you know, I mean, I feel like I have a deeper knowledge of Jones' wrestling background. He actually was supposed to go wrestle for Bobby Douglas at Iowa State, I believe. I know that he's beat a couple guys that were national champions that I know, you know, when he was in junior college. So, I mean, his wrestling is top-notch. Now, Cormier being an Olympic level wrestler, you'd see an advantage there, but three takedowns to none or whatever it was. That surprised me.

Okay, let's talk about you. A lot of interesting things, as always, going on in the life of your eye of favor. First things first. Team Alpha Male 2015 calendar. This is something. This is, I don't even know how to describe it. We're going to play a clip of the sort of making of. it's a fight club themed calendar

and I feel like this thing is going to sell like hotcakes the alpha male guys all bloodied up shirtless abs out guns out I mean this is this is a brilliant idea who came up with it did you come up with this because this screams your eye of favor you know what I didn't come up with it

actually no people are trying to get us to do a calendar forever yeah I bet I just I just couldn't see you know the freaking calendar you see the ring girls do calendars and I'm like And I'm not doing that.

But Sam Hahn actually, you know, he's my partner at Optical Panacea. He does all sorts of awesome art photography stuff from the M.A. world to now he's got some pictures with the guys like Michael Jordan and celebrities and everyone else. But he's the one that came up with the concept. He's a real creative guy. You can check out his site, Obsticalpanacea.com. But that was his idea, man. And it worked out really good. We're all big fans of Fight Club.

and it was a way to showcase, you know, not necessarily MMA, but the fight theme and give something that didn't make me I feel uncomfortable. Now, all members of the team in it, or did you have to have a conversation with a few guys look? I know you remember the team, but you just didn't make the calendar cut. You know what? Whoever was there on the day, was there. We're missing a couple coaches, and I'm sure that some people missed out. but, you know, we've got a, try to fit as many people in there as possible. And, I mean, if you, if you check your site, you can check it out,

team alpha male.com. You can see the calendar and, you know, you get a feel for, I mean, it really is. We had the whole look, the Team Alpha male soap, pink soap, pieces of soap, and all that stuff. Yeah, it's 2995, but for 4995, you can get a, sign limited edition calendar. How about that? Who is it signed by? You know what? I think it's signed by the UFC roster of our team. I like it. Can I get a... And I think we got Lance Palmer and a couple of other standouts that are about to break into the big scene. Can I get a personalized one if I pay maybe $55?

For you, Ariel, and I'm going to send one out for your mom also. Oh, my gosh. She's a big fan. She's going to faint. Uh, we're going to hook you up for sure. Now, do you want anything in particular written on the front of it? It would be an aerial nose, female, male, male? How about WWGD? Yeah, WWGD, what would Geraldo do? And maybe like one of those lipstick kisses, so I could just have it there forever.

We'll have Paige Van Zandt give you a lipstick kiss on there. You know, speaking of which, I wasn't going to get into this, but since you brought her up, I saw her tweet headed to Sacramento. And you mentioned this on our show. way back when. Is she training with the team again? Yeah, you know, Paige, Paige has moved back full-time, and she was gone for like two months prior to her last fight. She, you know, I'll let her get into the reasons why, but we've been working

on communication. I didn't understand she left without really speaking to me, and it wasn't like she, like, left, left. She just wasn't in practice for a few weeks from, like, where she did? Because, of course, anyone ebbs and flows in the gym. But since then, we've got to figure out she's back full-time with the team, and we're happy to have her. She's a, you know, she had an awesome debut that everybody saw, and she's got, you know, big goals and big dreams, and so she's back here doing her thing. She has blown up. She was searched like 100 times or something. I don't know, and more than 100 times, but she's become quite the star.

A hundred times? Yeah, just 100. Could you believe it? That was by you alone, Carol. Oh, stop it. And like 2 o'clock in the morning. That's not nice. Come on.

Speaking of comments of that nature, you consider, I mean, I feel like I have to ask since you have a calendar. I mean, do you consider yourself a sex symbol? Do I say, I would say no. Come on. I don't believe it. How does anyone consider themselves a sex symbol? What does they even mean? Well, you know, you're there, calendar.

I'm assuming a lot of females will buy the, I mean, come on. It's nothing wrong with that. You might feel like I'm a sex symbol. No. Whatever you get that? Look. I appreciate that. Thanks for your...

Okay, can I not ask the question? You're very popular with... You're very... You're very popular with the females. There's nothing wrong with it. It's better than not being a sex symbol, right? I definitely don't see myself as a sex symbol now. Okay, fair enough.

Well, I think it's a great calendar, and I urge everyone to go out and get it, whether or not they consider you a sex symbol or not. Maybe they consider more T. T.J. the sex symbol... You know, I got to say, out of the whole... I think T.J. has got the best... one where you've got the cigarette and the beer.

That's like the most epic scene in there. So, very interesting times in your division because, of course, Dominic Cruz out with another injured knee, this time the other knee, and Hafele Sunsaw out. Now, what does this mean for your eye of favor? You know what? I don't know. You know, the funniest thing is

the fight with Francisco Rivera. I feel like, you know, never have I, you know, I've had a lot of fights where I've lost and felt like I've come out better for it. But talk about getting irritated after a, after a win, you know what I mean? It was like, you know, you go out there and you train your butt off and you perform and the whole accidental I poke thing just kind of tainted that victory for me. So I know he was talking about wanting to do another fight. Oh. And I said, yeah, let's do it in like a couple weeks.

But I think he had to have, you know, his eye looked at or, I don't know. I'm not sure. I try to keep up with it, but, you know, I don't know if it was just his, like, immediate family and friends that were, like, constantly harassing my Instagram feed, but it seems like there's a lot of interest in another fight. Wow. So you'd be down if they approach you with that idea. Yeah, I mean, you know, I don't make these fights. A lot of the stuff was like, give him his rematch. I'm like, dude, I never gave him this fight in the first place.

I just do what I'm told, you know? Yeah. So they want to tell me to fight him again. I'd be happy to do that and get another performance in there. But you bring up a very good point because you've never been considered a dirty fighter. You never been accused of this as far as I'm concerned. And that kind of was the cloud hanging over this fight. And those were the questions you had to answer.

I don't think it was dirty. It was just the Ipoch was part of the finish, you know. And I mean, definitely when there's an iPok like that, And the guy, you know, reacts the way he did. It had something to do with it. So, I mean, I can understand it. But do you feel like it sort of left the outcome sort of unfulfilling? You know, like you get a win.

It's a sigh of relief. For myself. Yeah, for you. So that's why you'd be interested in doing it again to prove that point. Well, I don't really care if we do it again. I'd just saying I would, you know, if they ask for it. It's not like I'm, you know, begging for that fight. but I would do it in a heartbeat if they wanted to.

Now, if we would have talked... Sure. Sure. He was, you know, after he saw the fear of my eyes after the first round, I think he thinks he has my number here. If we would have been speaking two weeks ago, totally different questions, but now without Hafeel in the mix and Dominic in the mix, everyone kind of gets bumped up. So, you know, and Dana White was asked about this on Thursday, if you would fight T.J.,

because I think that's the fight that makes the most... amount of money for everyone involved at 135, and he said you guys are open to it. Are you open to it? Well, for the record, my money stays the same regardless of who I fight. It makes the most money for who. Well, I would think, well, first off, I think it makes the most money for the UFC, obviously, but I would think... Yeah, I would say that.

That's all right. If they come to you, you got to get paid more, right? I mean, that's a given. I mean, I have no idea. We haven't had any discussions about it. What it has been is like the phantom question. Like it hasn't really been talked about with me or the UFC brass. So I don't really have an answer at this point.

My gut instinct is no, I wouldn't fight DJ. What if they come to you today and say this is what we want? What's your response? The competition for us have? It'd be no. I mean, you know. Do you feel like he feels the same way? T.J.?

Yeah. Yeah, I would assume so. But you know what? Like I said, this question hasn't been opposed. So, you know, I never wanted to buy a custom suit either. And I got this guy Joe suits from Bella Verde in my house, and I ended up getting like four of them. Oh, wow. Wait, see, what you're saying is...

I was back in 2007. Oh, wow. Do they still fit? Of course. But that, by saying, see, a second ago, I would have closed the door, but by saying that you leave the door a little bit open? No, I mean, the question hasn't been asked, man. Yeah, it really hasn't.

But would you agree that this is between you and Borough, right? I mean, there's no other choices right now for TJ. He's kind of left. I mean, if you want to look at the best guys in the world. Yeah. There's no one else. Yeah, it's me, T.J. Borow. I think actually, Chris Holdworth, who's on our team, and Cody, no love, who just stepped into

the UFC. I think those are some of the top fighters in the world. Yeah. I don't want to create more problems. I don't want to create more problems. You're trying to get TJ to fight all the teammates. I was talking about opponents for TJ. Look at the problems you're starting.

That's right. PJ's alley is a survival situation where he has to face multiple people, maybe, you know, some sort of handicap, cut off one of his fingers, and have him get, you know, surrounded by a bunch of bad guys. So did you see Burroughs last fight against Mitch Gagnon a couple weeks ago? I did.

What did you think? What do you think? You know what? I didn't feel like it was that great for him. He was, I mean, he didn't do bad. And here's the thing. First off, I think he cut a lot of weight, and I feel like you put a lot of weight back on,

so he seemed a little sluggish. That weight has to be an issue for him. I mean, he's a big guy. So I follow him on Instagram, and I just saw a picture of him at the beach, and I'm like, that's a big dude, man. And so I feel like the weight cut is going to be an issue for him moving forward. You know, we saw him miss a huge opportunity, a huge fight for a UFC belt because of the weight.

Then you saw him come back and he looked a little sluggish. Now, the good thing for him is he's got the championship mentality. He's a warrior. And, you know, the guy he fought was really tough. But, you know, everybody's really tough at the beginning of fights. It's always at the end who's standing and who's able to push through. And Brauio showed again why he's a championship. type fighter. He pushed through and got the win in an otherwise close fight, but I didn't think

he looked great doing it by any means. Considering that and the fact that he had a title shot in August and he couldn't perform due to the bad weight cut, would you be a bit annoyed if he got the next title shot? No, man. You know me. I'm never a guy to talk bad about someone's opportunity. Sure. I'm the type of guy that gets a lot of opportunities, and you know, you've got people on the media, and you've got people on the internet acting like some sort of hoax. I mean, that guy has been a warrior since he's a little kid. He's went on one of the longest winning streaks in the sport. He's, you know, defended his belt and then all sorts of stuff. Like, the guy gets whatever he gets he deserves, in my opinion. Am I a bad person? I'll just be blunt. Am I a bad person if I want to see you fight, T.J? Oh. I had to finish the thought. Are you a bad person?

Not because of the... I just feel like that, like, obviously there's the story there. I can't lie, it's interesting, but stylistically, it's the same reason I want to see Daniel Cormier and Kane fight, because I feel like stylistically it's a tremendous matchup. So does that make me a... It is a tremendous matchup. We actually fought each other one round today.

Oh. And it was interesting already. Who won? I would say today, well, we're doing situations, So I started his guard, but I would say he got the better of me today. Wow. In a five-minute round starting me on the bottom, you know. Now I want to see you even more.

With those rules, you're starting on the bottom. All right. You're the bottom guy, aren't you? No. But it's just such a – I mean, I feel like it's – it's one of the biggest fights that the UFC could put on this year. You know what? I get that feeling too, man. Oh my gosh.

Now you're giving me more hope. You're supposed to be squashing the hope. No, yeah. I'm saying I did the feeling they feel like that because the way Dana came out and said that, you know, we hadn't even spoke about that. And then I saw him afterwards. He never really said anything about either.

So it is what it is. I'll cross that bridge if it ever comes to it. Do you expect to get that call? Well, I mean, after his conversation, yeah, probably have some sort of conversation about it. He's probably listening right now. I've had people throw out a couple different options of next fights for me, and T.J. wasn't one of them. As far as fans, or are we talking about important people? No, brass.

Oh, brass. The count in the sport. What do you got? What do you got? Dude, you probably knew before I did any suggestions. No, I don't know anything. I don't know. I'm scared. Can you share with us? No, it was just some options, man.

You know, unless anything's signed, I can't divulge. Can I tell you, if you don't get the T.J. fight, can I tell you the fight that I want to see you get? Sure. Okay. Frankie Eager. This is the time to make that fight. I think it's a good fight, too. But you know what I like to do?

If I take that fight, I'd like to be able to actually try to regain some of the weight, you know, and be a bigger guy because I had a lot of success at 45s and I was actively trying to gain weight and get bigger and that's a fight that is a fight that I would want to have my very, very best performance and give myself every chance of winning

because that's a big monumental fight and I feel like that's a fight to go down in history. So if that were the case, I like to have a big leeway into it, which would mean I like to get another fight first and then and then possibly do it.

But I'd be down, man. I'm, you know, they offered that fight before, and I said yes. And they ended up putting BJ and Frankie as the coach is the ultimate fighter and said, me, and Frankie is the ultimate fighter. But I was flated to be that coach. I think 2015 is the year of the dream fight. Jones, D.C. We've got Nick and Anderson.

I think we might see Anderson GSP if he comes back. Other big fights, I mean, maybe even you and T.J. But if we can't get that, I think you've resolved. is Edgar. It's been talked about for so long. Why not now? Both of you don't have an opponent right now. You just came off nice wins. I mean, let's get this thing going. Maybe you've even had 140 pounds. Why not? That would be sweet. If we did it, if we did the fight, I would love to do a catchweight at 140. See, I'm trying for you here. Actually, I wish there was a weight class 140. That would

be perfect for me. I feel like I'm going to die when I make 135. It's like, you know. Are you tired of it? I'm only going to go to 135 so many times. in my life and I'm so happy the minute it's over. Are you tired of it though? Like is it starting to wear on you a bit? No. No. I've been doing this since I was 13 years old, man.

Cutting weight, making weight. When do you think you'll be back, regardless of opponent? When do you think you'll be back or when you want to be back? I'm hoping to be back early, you know, earliest next year or this year, maybe March. Oh, wow. So that's soon. that's pretty soon I mean I mean that's in two months

we need to get something going here yeah we need something and get on it dude well like I said you guys start sniffing around Dana Sean Shelby they all watch the show so I'm expecting you to get a phone call any minute now just for the record

oh great all right well I'll let you go by the way my mom thanks you you she just texted me she's she's jumping for joy so don't you know I know you're a guy who likes to stay true to your word she's expecting that calendar by the way Oh, yeah, of course, dude.

Yeah. I do appreciate that, man. I feel like, you know, I used to think, you know, you're sometimes subtly giving backhanded compliments. I appreciate that your mom is a true fan and supports my career. I think that's pretty awesome. And on top of that, are you up for a reporter of the year again? I am, yes. And how many times have you wanted now?

Four in a row. Unbelievable, dude. If, if, if, if you lose this time, are you going to quit forever, are you going to quit? Reporting? Reporting if you don't win the championship this year? No, no, no. I don't do it for the glory. Do you think you'll be nominated again if you don't win it this year?

I mean, that's up to the people. You know, I honestly, if we're being honest here, I am very, I know some people get all up in arms, oh, how many times this and that. I am very, very humbled and honored, and it touches me greatly. honestly, it means a whole lot to me. I do think others deserve it. In particular, a lot who weren't nominated, members of my team, Sean Al-Shadi, Chuck Minnhanal.

A lot of people come to mind. So, you know, I had my time. That's cool, if not. But, I mean, I'm not going to lie. I'm a very competitive person. You know, anytime you're up for something, you always want to win is better than losing, right? That is better than losing.

So if you lose this time, you're not going to quit. Why would I quit? I'm not a call. I don't know. Oh, this is the kind of questions we get asked. Yep. You're right. You're in my, am I, in my, uh, you're a hot seat here?

And by the way, would you expect me to quit? Of course not. Champion. Yeah. Champion for a reason. But hey, on that same note, we've got a couple nominations ourselves. You know, my closing brand TORC is up for a lifestyle brand of the year. Hey, I saw, speaking of which TORC, I don't want to interrupt.

I want to keep you going here, but I saw Triple H wearing a TORC shirt. Oh, Triple H loves TORC. Is he affiliated or just a fan? he's a fan he's also buddies with my partner Scott James who Scott James started BSM BHA science nutrition so they've had a lot relationship for a long time and

Triple H is always rocking our gear okay give me the other plugs we got TJ for fight of the year for I think fighter of the year for upset of the year he's got a couple things on there our team for team of the year

we've got what else we have I think there's something else also I can't remember we have a bunch of stuff so go to the M.A. Awards and make sure you vote for TORC, the lifestyle

brand of the year, get T.J. for all the stuff he's awarded for what a year he's had. And are you going to be out there this year? You make an appearance? I don't know. I mean, it's the night before Silva Diaz, so I will be in

Las Vegas. Will you vote for me? If you vote for me, if you vote for me, I'll go. Dude, of course, bro. Wow. I would vote for you if I voted. You don't vote? No.

Why not? I just don't know. Something you feel strongly about? No, it's more of a time and focus issue. I just haven't had time. Or it hasn't been a big objective. Maybe I will this year. Maybe I will get on there and vote this year.

Well, you know what? I think they should add a new category. Get it out. You're getting nervous? No, because I said New category Sexable of the year

But instead of new I said nude Which just puts me In a whole bunch of trouble Oh wow Yeah Yeah, you don't have a level All right, well

Who would be the sex symbol Uh And this is I'm talking females For the female Off male Or female Uh

UFC fighters I'm not gonna get into that I'll talk about Top three, go No, go to you nuts Top three, go. Are you trying to kill my credibility in one second here? I'm not going to do that.

I respect all the female athletes. You want to talk about me being nude for this sex double award, but you won't talk to any of the females. I didn't say that. That's not what I said. Credibility intact. That's exactly. That's exactly.

Hey, one last thing. I'm getting told great idea here from my friend Michael Carroll. Frankie Edgar, Uriah Faber in New Jersey on Fox in April. I mean, it just makes too much sense. January April Interesting Let's do it

In Jersey That's a big deal That sells out that arena That's a big That's a big opportunity for him How we do it in Sacramento Well because we don't have a show in Sacramento We have a show in April

In Jersey Yeah I hear you All right I can keep the ball rolling guys All the ideas are better The more ideas the better Hey and I heard you're a huge fan of

Cam Radio I appreciate you support for the Tam Radio. I know you're always listening, and I'll tell us your Steadboy and Justin Buckles. Oh, I love those guys. Aren't you doing a contest? Yes, yes, Team Alphamil Radio.com,

team Alphamel.com, all the plugs. Aren't you doing a contest that someone could corner Andy Ogle in Sweden? Yeah, you've got to buy Torque gear. The details are on Team AlphaMel and Team Alphamil Radio.com, but this is an opportunity for someone to get sponsored by Torque, and walk in and corner they have to keep their mouth shut the whole time

but they get to walk in and corner and the Ogle in Sweden so never before has it ever been offered by a team or a brand or anything else an opportunity like this

so some lucky some lucky folks will get to have their first they maybe get discovered you know people in actors and models get discovered all the time you know the right person sees them

and the right opportunity. This could be somebody's big chance. Who knows, maybe next year they'll be up for Coach of the Year. Yes. You know what I mean? Always an innovator. Always evolving. Putting out calendars, contests to corner people, I mean.

What more can you say about your eye of favor? Truly a legend in this sport. Always a pleasure to have you on. Teamafmell.com. That's where you can get the calendar. It is a nice present. If you want to give it to a fan who's a male, female, whatever.

It doesn't matter. Not making any insinuations. Uriah, thank you so much. Good luck getting that fight. And if they do call you today, and you want to call me on conference, I'll be done the show in around an hour or so so I can help you weed through this whole thing, okay? Yeah. Okay.

You got it, buddy. Thanks for your help as usual. All right. There he is. The California Kid. Uriah Faber stopping by. Great stuff, as always. Love having him on the show.

Let us move along. If you're confused, this interview was supposed to happen earlier, but we had to switch things. So we appreciate Tim Sylvia, by. Tim announced his retirement on Saturday night, a great career, former UFC heavyweight champion, and he announced this, so we wanted to talk to him about that and a whole lot more. Tim, are you there? Tim? Tim Sylvia, are you there? I'm going to guess he's not there. We went a little long. Maybe he got tired of the calendar talk. What do you think? We'll come right now.

But yes, it's true. Tim Sylvia did retire on Saturday. How about that? Ends his career 31, 10, and 1. UFC heavyweight champion back in the day. Did he first win the championship? Let's go back. UFC 41. 15 and no defeated Rico Rodriguez, then defeated Gan McGee. Of course, we all remember the Randy Couture fight,

made his MMA debut in 2001, last fought in October of 2013. So we're talking about a 12-year career. He is currently 38 years old, about to turn 39, one of those guys who, of course, was a part of the Militage Fighting Systems. And now we have him. Tim, are you there? I am here. Hey, Tim.

Sorry about that. Sorry for the delay. Thank you very much. You know, you're right. He was on a roll, man. I just let him roll. Yeah, yeah. You know, you can't stop that guy.

But we want to talk about you now. So you made the announcement on Saturday night. Why? Why did you decide to retire? I'll say the truth you know I'm getting old man I was kind of going to be my retirement fight it was on the East Coast

and I was got a lot of friends and family there and stuff I kind of pointed out that it it would be my retirement fight and then you know this is the second fight that I've had problems where the fight before this I was supposed to fight in Maine and I hurt my knee and then now

you know this MRI and it was really irritating as I could have fought that the Athletic Commission in Connecticut their pain in the ass and they saw a suspect of concussions or whatever. I'm like, yeah, I've been fight for 16 years, like Saturday pro football for three years.

You know, I've had some concussion. I think if you look at any fighter after 16 years, he's going to have that on his brain. So, you know, that was what happened, and they said they weren't going to clear me a fight. So they just said, just said, if you want me to get a second opinion, another MRI, and I just said,

well, if you tell you the truth, I'm pretty much going to be done anyway, so it's just kind of put the nail on the top. So explain to us what happened, because you weighed in, right? You were clear to fight. And then when did the results come up and then them tell you that you... Yeah, go ahead. 9 o'clock that night, Joe Kup called me and said the Abilett of the Commission wanted to speak with me.

I called them and they said they wanted me to meet downstairs and they wanted to have it. They all just speak to me. So I went down there and that's what they told me. And is it a little disappointing? I mean, win or lose, you kind of wanted to get that one last fight under your belt. fact that it ends this way, is that a little bit disappointing? Yeah, of course, it's disappointing. I'm just at a point, you know, where I still love

to fight. There's some way we can start a league where former guys that used to fight that just start our agreement, we'll step in a cage without training and fight. See what happens. Let's do that. But it's just the other training, the eight-week training camp, I just can't do anymore. It's just too hot on the body. Can't do it. It's too old. And you didn't want to get one more in there

to actually go out with a fight. Well, absolutely, that's what I want to do, and that was the plan. No, but I mean, once this couldn't, you know, come through for you. You mean once I get everything cleared? Yeah, exactly. I don't know. I mean, I got to spend another $1,500 on my MRI just, and just to say, I don't know, we'll see what happens.

I mean, right now I'm retired. Yeah. The Athletic Commission is going to send the, um, all my MRIs to a neurologist here in down to board Iowa who's a friend of Monty's and some other guys that I know and have him look at him and see what he has to say.

What did the MRI say? He just said they saw white spots on my on my brain and that's that's caused from fighting or you know concussions or trauma to the head. Like I said, any other fighters can have to say thing

after he's done this for 16 years. So that's what it said. they just didn't feel comfortable let me fight because they knew exactly where it was. They did say it wasn't blood, so that's one good thing. So, you know, given this day and age where there's a lot of talk about concussions and all that stuff, are you at all concerned about your future, your health? No, not really. Okay.

I mean, I'm not going to go in and join K-1 and fight, you know, six to ten fights in K-1, just because I know there's a lot of head trauma in K-1, am I going to do boxing now? to be honestly Saturday night was a perfect partner for me he's a BJJ guy his whole goal is to get the fight to the ground so I didn't really see

a lot of bunches being thrown from him I started him doing some kicking and trying to close the distance and get the fight to the ground so I just started to get a good fight and I was going to be happy with to play everything went but

I think he had to do it were concussions a big thing for you later on in your career is this something you've been battling no never okay I had The only concussion I know of is, well, I had the one with the Lovsky, the third time I thought, and I'm assuming when you get knocked out, that's a discussion.

Ray Mercer, so I'm assuming too, you know, I did a lot of hit when I was in football, and I thought a lot of hit these sparring, so, you know, I don't know if I had a concussion any time they were sparring or that I didn't see any symptoms from it, but, you know, I mean, I've been rocked before and a few fights and stuff like that. And I don't know if that's some of the things that cause a little, you know, some of the trauma on the brain that comes up in the MRI and I really didn't tell you. Is it true that you weighed in at 371 pounds for this fight? No.

No, not at all. The scale went to 350 and that's where it was rocking. And I said, I was like 371 a month ago. And they said, okay, 331. I'm like, well, let us have 3751 now. So I was probably, you know, $350, you know, whatever. And are you... Go ahead, sorry?

Well, you know, when I walked around, when I was fighting in the U.S. competitively, I was walking around 300 pounds. Right. And then, you know, once I came started, I was, you know, $285, $2.80 when I get to the U.S.C. and cut 15 pounds. So it's usually my usual routine. So what do you think you, you know, like right now, what do you think you weigh? probably 355 right now. And is that what you would like to be at as far as the rest of your life is concerned? No, absolutely not.

I mean, I just, it's been hunting season, man. I haven't trained in the past season. I eat biscuits and gravy in the morning and eggs, and we have bacon, and then, you know, it makes it get chili or, you know, it's just hunting season. It's after 106 October and just haven't had a chance to work out. I'm going to me right now. So I'm just doing a hunting show. It's probably going to air 2015 on either the outdoor channel,

the pursuit channel, or sports channel, one of the three. And I just am busy with that, filming for that. Just other things, you know, prior to life now. You know, like I said, I still love to fight. It's just, you know, doing the eight-week training game, getting in shape, dieting, stuff like that. I just don't have to drive to do that anymore. So you're on your farm right now?

I'm headed there right now. I was supposed to get at 9 o'clock this morning from Connecticut. I was on the tarmac until 9.30, so I missed my first flight. Then they told me there wasn't going to be enough flying to 8 o'clock tonight, so I jumped in at Granica and drove home from Chicago. And when you guys called me, I was really pulling my driveway, so I had to blow up my girlfriend and my son and my cameraman. And I had to run the plowl real quick because we got about four inches and outside.

I had to plow the walk in the driveway. Wow. I'm in the trash outside for the trash collector, and then I'll jump the truck and head two hours down to the farm and try to get the tree there in the night before deer come out. Wow, that's, and by the way, I really appreciate you doing the show in the midst of all that. So where exactly do you live now? I still live in Davenport, Iowa. Okay. That's my home.

You know, I got a house there. But I bought, and I built, I have a 100-acre farm down southeast Iowa. I built the cabin on that after the Faydor Pike stuff. So that's where we're headed now. day for three days. And what do you have on this farm? I just, it's strictly for hunting only. Oh, okay. Wow. Yeah, so I manage it, highly manager for deer hunting and turkey hunting, uh, three stands and box lines. And I leave upstanding, one of the same beans. And late season is, it's just a recipe for big, big deer and a lot of them in front of it. And you just pickets you

when you want to kill and eat. So you're about to turn 39. You've just retired from a very long career, successful career. What are you going to do now for the rest of your life? Be a dad. Hopefully everything goes out. In the honey industry, everything works out for me. And that'll be the next chapter in my life. And, I mean, do you feel like you're comfortable? Do you feel like you have to go out and get a job? How are you going to support this family? Well, actually, I do have a job. I work for construction company. I'm a project manager.

I just oversee, you know, we work on a lot of big VETL stuff to Chicago area and stuff. So I got a company truck and I go up there and make sure the job's being done, that's right. That's my duties. So it's a pretty good gig. No physical labor. I just go overseas jobs. It's a production manager and make good money doing it. And so that's what you'll continue to do.

Yeah. I was in a construction field before I started fighting at my own business. back in Maine and stuff, so pretty familiar with it. Are you interested in remaining in MMA coaching guys doing anything like that? No, not at all. Done. No more MMA. Well, I'm still going to train, you know, absolutely sure grappled stuff.

But it's just I saw what Pat went through, and I see Spencer trying to do it, Jen's trying to do it and stuff. And it takes up a lot of your time. And it's just, you know, we don't have what we used to have anymore in Iowa. we don't have the talent there anymore. There's so many other better gyms that have a lot of great talent, and all the up-encomers are already spoken for. When you look back on your career now, now that it's over,

what was the highlight of Tim Sylvia's career? What's the moment that sticks out? You were on top of the world. You've never felt like that before. You know, just our team, we had a really good team, and we made some, you know, good friendships and stuff and had a good time. You know, obviously winning world titles

and be next to other teammates to the world champion stuff and make some good friends along the way and stuff like that. Biggest regret. What was the biggest regret? I don't know if I have a biggest regret, to be honest with it. You know, there was some fights that would like to take it back.

You know, but other than that, you know, I don't know I really have any regrets, be honest with you. What about a fight that you couldn't get that you really wanted? Is there a guy that... I knew you were going to ask me that. I don't want to fight Frank Mier. You know, that was the one thing left that I would have liked to have done.

I would have liked to, you know, been on that the UFC main guy against Frank Neer or something or another shot against McGarer or something like that. But, you know, I just feel that Frank Mier and I have a fixed business. You know, he's at the end of his... He's at the end of his career, and he's looking at retirement stuff. I'm sure he's got nothing to prove. You know, he beat me, but it's just a fight I've always wanted. And I know there isn't a day that doesn't go by on my Twitter where some fan wants to see that fight or, you know, whenever I do appearances,

people always talk about that fight, you know, how courageous or stupid, whatever you want to call it, I was when I didn't tap and wanted to keep fighting. What's it like for you to see guys like And Jarolofsky, who you have a long history with, and other guys that you fought in the same era as continuing to fight and like Garlofsky thriving at this point. Does that make you,

oh man, you know, if I would have done this or that differently or I could still be out there, how do you react to that? You know what? The only thing... I mean, keep me from the U.S. is Dana White. I mean, I think I still have...

When I was down in top team training for fights, I was hanging with top 10 guys in the world and giving them all. handle and beating up guys that would just sign USC contracts and stuff. So, you know, me in shape at 265, you know, am I going to beat King of Alaska as a Junta Dissantos? No. Am I going to put on good fights against Steph is true, Matt McNeary, O'Ns, Frank Mears?

Yeah, absolutely. You know, like I said, I told everybody, you know, back in the day when I was trying to you back into UFC, I don't care about world titles. I've won them, you know. I just want to compete and be in front of the fans and have a good time doing it. Fighting for the world titles is pretty stressful.

You have a lot of stress on your shoulders, the five, five-minute rounds and so on and so forth. When I was fighting a three-minute round, it was fun, you know. You just train for a fight and get in there and fight. You know, it's less stressful for sure. So why do you say Dana White

is holding you back from rejoining the UFC? Why is there an issue between you two? He's got it out for me. It's the whole affliction thing, you know. A lot of people don't know it, but I was back in the UFC. I was signed. They sent me a contract to fight Daniel Corne in Strike Force. And then the contract said,

win or lose, Tim will have two fights in the UFC after the fight against Daniel Corne. When Stripe Force is going to fold up, they sent us a contract. We had signed it. We sent it back. And Dana White decided to be a ticket and change his mind and say, no, you know what?

We change their mind. We don't want him back. And did you get a reason why? he's just a dick that's it like me and I'm not a guess ass and I'm not a yes man that's a person you know

did you try to reach out to him to clear the air I mean that would have been a big opportunity obviously I remember that story yeah and you actually called me and want to talk about it we just found it was better than the time not talk about it and not tell everybody what it was you know the bullshit that he pulled

but um no I haven't reached out to him I just said you know it is what it is he wants to be like that, screw him, you know. How do you think that fight against Cormier would have gone? If I laid a hand on him, you know, I had a potential to knock anybody else, but he sees a beast, man. I really, I didn't see him losing to John Jones.

I actually picked him to win. You know, I told everybody was going to be one of the toughest fights for my life, you know. Basically, it was me fighting Reneguador again, but somebody had better hands. It was going to be a very, very tough fight for me. I would obviously have to try to hit them and, you know, hurt them and try to capitalize. I am I going to wrestle? Not at all. I told everybody, you know, I think D.C. was, you know, the King of Alask with it at 205.

But John Jones really stepped up to the night and put a woken on him, and I was really surprised the fights went that way. Now, I'm not asking, do you think you will get in? I'm asking, do you think you should be in? Do you think you should be in the UFC Hall of Fame? I don't give a shit about it, to be honest to you. You knew what I was going to ask. Yeah, I had a few people who you're going to ask. It's who Dana White thinks is in the UFC.

I mean, it has nothing to do with fans. It has nothing to do with press media. Anything like that, it's whoever Dana White, like Diamond, was in the Hall of Fame. I mean, really, Frank Shamrock's not in the Hall of Fame. That's just the Thomas thing on the planet. Guy like Stefan Bonner is. I love Stephanie.

He's a hell of a fighter. He's never a world champion. How is the guy like Stepabana deserve to be in the UFC, and Frank Shamrock doesn't. Obviously, it's because Frank Shamrock has had a choice word to say about Dana White, and so Dana White says, I'm not putting in the UFC. So, in a UFC Hall of Fame. I mean, that's all it is. It's whoever Dana White wants to be in USC Hall of Fame.

It's got nothing to do with the fans or anything like that. Do you think you had a Hall of Fame-worthy career? Oh, absolutely. No doubt about it. So if there was maybe some kind of non-UFC, like an MMA Hall of Fame, that would make more sense in your opinion? Absolutely, that's all. Would you like to see something like that happen? I would like to see a fire machine happen, you know?

I mean, May Hall of Fame, yeah, absolutely. I mean, the sport's still new. I mean, what is it? 14 years old? Well, I'm 21 since the UFC's been around. Well, okay. Yeah. Well, geez, I didn't really realize to spend that long, but, you know, I guess you're right.

Yeah, it has been. I mean, Zufa has been around, you know, for around 14 years or so. Yeah, I actually started watching it back in 92, I think, so. Yeah, that was the whole, the whole big thing all the time about this place crazy. You got this little guy beating up all we put up big guys. And I kept going to blockbuster trying to rent the video and it was out, out all the time. I got lucky. When I started, I rushed and watched it.

I was like, oh, my God. Oh, I know that feeling. Now, why do you say Fighters Union? Why is that something you want to see? And do you think we'll ever see it? I don't know. You know, the U.S.C. is so powerful right now, and they have the monopoly going on.

Whenever somebody, you know, steps up is actually competing against them, they end up buying a pound stuff, or anybody threatens to, you know, beat competition, they end up buying them out or whatever. So I don't know. It needs to happen. I mean, there's a lot of things, you know,

the pay needs to step up, and these guys fighting, you know, on a UFC side and get 3,000 and 3,000, it's just ridiculous. It's just, I mean, it's just not fair, you know, I mean, but, you know, as long as the UFC's out there and you're going to have guys that are willing to do that just so they can say they're in the UFC. Obviously, this is a hot topic these days

that antitrust lawsuit being filed against UFC. Have you any interest in being a part of this? He says I'm not. Oh, are you a part of it? No comment. No comment. Interesting. Well, then let me ask you, I mean, did you feel like you had trouble because well documented that you did go over to affliction? You had another place to go and, you know, from all reports you made a pretty good amount of money to fight for it.

So did you feel like you were being blocked there? Because on the surface it would seem like the contrary. I know I was being blocked. After that fight? Yeah. After that fight, absolutely. There were sponsorships that were blocked. They were told they were never allowed to be sponsored any UFC fighter. If they sponsored any affliction guys, any afflictions fighters.

They were, the UFC bought out affliction, took up all the fighters and conveniently decided they didn't want to have me fight for him. But they had other guys that were on the infliction that fight for him. I was definitely blocked. No doubt about it. True fact. So I don't know what more to say about that. Okay, and why don't you want to comment

on whether or not you're involved in the lawsuit? Why is it a secret? It's not really a secret. I just need to send more time going about and see what's going on, you know? Okay, fair enough. By the way, you start, when you started this career of yours that just ended on Saturday,

I mean, honestly, did you ever think that you would enjoy the kind of career that you had? UFC champion, you know, long undefeated run when you started? What did you think? Not at all. When I started, I was doing it for fun. I just loved to fight. It was fun.

We competed. We had a good time doing it. You know, and then after fight, after fight, after fight, and I kept being undefeated. I was kind of like, you know, when I got ready to move to Iowa, I'm just like, you know, my goal was to be in the UFC. I just like to be in the UFC. I think that'd be really cool to do. with being the UFC.

I found the UFC once. It was awesome. It was incredible. And I really didn't have a chance to enjoy it. Like, I would have liked to it because it offered me a title shop. My second fight in the UFC. And, you know, we all know how that went. I was a huge $100 on out there and knocked up the champion.

And next day, you know, I'm the world champion. I'm fighting title fight. So it was, I would have liked to have, you know, reminiscing and enjoyed it a little bit more. and fought two, you know, three-round fights before I fought for the world title, but I can't take anything back. It was great, everything worked out great for me. I was one of the fortunate ones that get lucky and get a title shot and capitalized on it,

more than one. There was a story written by my colleague, Chuck Minnenhall, recently, about Beddorf and Militich and all that, and Monty Cox, your longtime manager, had a quote about you. Did you see this quote where he talked about when... He's got a lot of quotes about me, so you're going to have to... Okay, here it is. Here it is.

He said, I never saw him early on because he was always leaning over the garbage can puking. He was a fat tub of shit. He was 350 pounds unathletic. I said, what are you doing with this guy, Pat? He said, I don't know. Him and Tony Frickland were tied together, and they were like, please manage us. I avoided it for as long as I could. I thought, I can take Tony, but what am I going to do with this...

With that big sack of shit? He's horrible. That was your manager. This is what he said about you. Really, that was all taken out of context. It was. It was a piece of shit fucking move from the douchebag that wrote that. Okay.

Because as soon as that all came out, I called out, Manja. I called out Monty. I go, what the hell is this? He's like, Tim, I am so sorry. He goes, it was, it was a weird situation. Monty's a huge jokster. Right. And he was just, you know, joking around.

And he thought he, he didn't really know he was on the record when he was talking to this guy. They were in his vehicle, just basically shoot the shit. And this guy wrote all this. up and said that stuff. And you go, Tim, I don't think of that. You're the godfather of your son. I mean, you're one of the closest guys I'm with. You know, when I first saw you, then I think you're going to be the word UFC champion.

No, absolutely not. You know, but we noticed you had a hell of the drive and you were a tough guy. But we didn't think you're a UFC champion, no. But, you know, you proved us all wrong. You outworked every heavyweight in a gym and a lot of the other guys that weren't even heavyweight. and look where a guy is. So that was all taken out of context. You can tell you a buddy that he's a moron.

If I see him, I'd probably slap him or something like that. Well, I mean, to be fair, he is one of my good friends and a great reporter. I have a hard time believing that, to be honest with you, because even if someone said something off the record on the record, that still means that he said it. I mean, maybe he didn't want it to be public, but I have a hard time believing him changing the words. Well, he said it.

Right? I think he could change the words a little bit, But, why would he do that, though? I mean, I don't want to defend it. It's not my place to do that. But why would he want to paint you in a negative light? Why would he have an agenda? Why would he make up a quote about you?

Because everybody else does. Why would it be any different than anybody else? I don't know. I mean, I have a bad rap as it is. But, I mean, you could obviously get Monty Gaw on the show. I mean, I don't see why you guys wouldn't do that anyway and get his side of the story and see how he words it. Okay, well, I'll talk to, I'll talk to Moni about it.

I mean, this is an old article, so I feel like I would have heard about it. if that was in fact the case. But you know, you mentioned this. Do you wish you had a better relationship with the fans? Because it's always been somewhat contentious. No, I don't. I mean, I have some great fans. And I love everybody who's been so supportive of me.

But, you know, if you don't want to hear the truth, then don't ask me, basically. That's just the way that I am. And I just, I don't bullshit anybody. If, you know, if someone says, well, I look fat and his dress, and I think it looks at that, I'm going to say yes. I'm not going to share it to say, no, no, not at all. You know, just, if you don't want to hear the truth

and you're a suspect of it, that don't ask me. Do you feel like at that... Go ahead, sorry. I just don't know if that's the right or wrong way to be, but, you know what you're getting from me? There's no secrets. Do you feel like at the end of the day, your legacy will be not so much that you were, you know,

just another UFC champion or whatever, but a guy who maybe did more with his limitations or his skills than many people thought at first. Like, in a sense, you are an inspiration to some of these guys who may come in and people are doubting them and think that they can't do it because of their body or whatever, and you overachieved. You overcame obstacles. Do you feel like that's your legacy in MMA as opposed to just another former champion,

a guy who had a winning record, et cetera? Do you get what I'm saying? I think it should be. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I was fortunate that I, you know, I was surrounded by great people, great people. great training partners, good teachers, and a lot of mentors, you know, so I just tried to medic them.

You know, Jim and I, I didn't have the best relationship in our place, but, you know, I really looked up to him, being a little shit that he is, I looked up to him because he worked hard. He worked a lot of the guys in the gym, and I just thought if I could do half as that as being a heavyweight that I would be successful.

Matt Hughes, on the other hand, we didn't get along very good either at first, and then him and I became best friends. when he was down and out, he needed a place to live. I let him in moving with me and stuff. And Matt wasn't a high worker at all. Matt, Matt, that was just to get to the athlete in his era, strong, hell of a wrestler,

and he would, you know, train one week for a title fight, went there and smashed the guy. So obviously, I didn't want to, I couldn't take after his work ethic. I had to go after, you know, someone like Jesse. Do you still keep in contact with any of those guys? Yeah, I still thought to Matt, Jen. Jen's is still in Iowa So, you know, I'm actually the godfather

or his son Oh, wow So yeah, we're all still You know, I still talk to Robbie and stuff Pat, you know, we still work out together You know, usually Pat works out on Monday and Tuesday They're usually so busy with the chronic dating and all that stuff

What was it like seeing Robbie finally get that belt? You know, we all thought he wanted it the first time And, you know, they kind of give it to Hendrick And then we really truly believe that he was going to do it was the second time and he did. I'm really looking forward to a third fight. I need something an awesome, awesome fight, and probably one of the best trilogies in UFC history. Okay, final question. It's something I've always wanted to ask you, and I don't think I've

ever asked you this, but any time you see a fighter out and about with the belt, they say, oh, he's pulling a Tim Sylvia. Did you, in fact, used to walk around with the belt, go to clubs and things like that? Only after a UFC fight. Like... Immediately after. Yeah, like, if there was an apt-fighter, I brought it. If I was ever at a USC event, you know, the USC brought me in or something like that. I never did.

It was only after I had won it. And then, like, when I'd be Rico, I wore it out. And after I began, I did. I never did after that. So I think a lot of that was, you know, stretched truth and so on and so forth. But, you know, I was kind of a huge, cute old geez fan. And my first U.S.C. event, I saw Dieto, and that's what he was doing. I saw him doing that, and I thought that was cool as hell.

So I was like, well, I haven't had the opportunity to win a world time. I don't want to do that, too. I did a couple times when I was over it. All right, fair enough. There it is. Cleared it up. Tim, all the best to you. Thank you very much.

Congratulations on a great career. And enjoy the farm. And I appreciate you coming on for a few minutes. No problem. Thank you. Take care. There he is. Tim Sylvia, the maniac.

Interesting stuff out of him. Not one to mince words. and I don't like to get into it too much, but I think he pretty much answered his own question there or rectified his own issue with the Monty Cox quote because he's saying that Monty Cox told him

him being Chuck Mindenhall this stuff off the record. Now, okay, that's its own issue, but that doesn't mean that he didn't say it. Sometimes you may be upset that something is said if it was said off the record, but you're more upset because it brings out a certain part of you or your feelings that you didn't want to get out there. So maybe that's why he's upset.

But I know Chuck for a long time, one of the very best, top three in my opinion. So I don't think he's one to make up quotes or even take things out of context or put something in there that's off the record that is now in the article. I mean, he's not that guy. So I feel the need to weigh in on that one, even though I pretty much did in the interview. with Tim, but worth repeating again. Thank you very much, you Tim Sylvia. All the best to him in the future. All right, let's go inside the vault now.

UFC 126, February 5, 2011. This, of course, was the show headlined by Anderson Silver versus Vitor Belford. And on this show, Donald Cowboy Soroni made his UFC debut. He took a fight on short notice against Paul Kelly. And this was right after UFC and WC merged. Donald Troney had a nice WUC run, and we weren't quite sure how he would fare in the UFC. There were still those questions about the WC Lightwights. So he takes a fight on short notice against Paul Kelly, and he has a great fight.

Wins via rear-naked choke, second round, three minutes and 48 seconds, and we had the opportunity to interview him backstage. This was, as I've been talking about a lot on this show, when we do this segment, those days when we could do these, quote-unquote, locker room interviews. and you know this was one that I remember because Donald was very emotional afterwards. You know, he talks about his grandmother a lot and how close he is with her, even spoke about her in my post-fight interview with him on Saturday night. And you'll see why he was so emotional in this interview.

But it was great to go back and look at this interview, which took place around, what, four years ago now, and, of course, knowing where he is today and the run that he's on, so close to maybe getting a title shot, looking very good, defeating Miles Jury on Saturday, halting that great run of his, coming off the win over Eddie Alvres, wants to fight in a month in Denver. I mean, Cowboy has really become one of the most popular fighters

in the UFC, has done a great job of connecting with the fans, and it's fun to look back at his very first UFC win. February 5th, 2011, UFSI, UFSI, Manila Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here's Donald Soroni. Ariel Hawani post-fighter U.S.C. 126 alongside Donald Soron. who defeated Paul Kelly tonight.

And Donald, welcome to the UFC. Are you happy with your win? I'm very happy, man. Very happy with my win. This is a long time coming for you, and you've often talked about wanting to prove that you're a top guy at 155. You feel as though you can stop having to, you know,

answer those questions, and now you're finally here. No, I think you've got to test yourself every day, man, so I think it's going to be still every, every fight, every chance I get to try and prove, take it to the next level, so. You seem to really be improving every time out there. I know you weren't happy with your last one, but this win, what do you think of it?

Yeah, I, I, I came out smiling and having a good time, and I enjoyed it. What happened at the beginning of the fight there with the... I don't know. He touched gloves, and I think he just meant to throw down. It was just really fast, so I don't know what the hell happened. Do you think he was trying to, you know, pull a fast one on you? No, I think he was just amped up, ready to go.

You know, I don't think he was trying to pull anything. You accepted this fight on short notice. When you heard that you were fighting Paul Kelly, what did you do in training to prepare for him? Just to bring that shit, man. Yeah, just nothing, nothing extra. Just I had to go. I was actually in the hospital. When they gave me the call, my grandpa was up there really sick,

and I said, yeah. He said, go do what you have to do, and I showed up. Did you think twice about saying yes considering, you know, the family issues? Yeah, but he told me to take it, you know. He said, go, go do what you got to do. How's he doing now? He just passed away. Sorry to hear that.

Did you dedicate this to him? Yeah, definitely. Is he a big part of your life? You know, obviously in the second round, submitted him. You look very good. You finished him. You know, that seems to be what you do now. You're starting out striking, and then you're finishing guys on your back.

You feel as though you get enough respect as a guy who finishes fights and even submits people despite your background and kickboxing. Yeah, I'd like to start knocking people out, man. I mean, that's what I do. So I need to go back to my roots and try to figure out how I can stand when people will throw down. After your last win, you said you wanted a Cole Miller. He lost. So have you set your sights on someone else?

I didn't beat Cole, you know? Yeah, I still want him. That's who you want next? I don't care next or win someday. And I noticed something. As you were walking out, you shook hands with Reed Harris. Is there a sort of, you know, I know all of you guys are, you're fighting for yourselves, but is there a WC fraternity now?

You know, you guys are doing great, and you're doing it for Reed also? Definitely. I mean, Reed was, he's the one who, but I got to thank W.C. for making cowboy, I think you say cowboy in the MMA community, and it's Donald Saroni, you know, and I'd like to thank Zufa and WC. mostly for branding that name for me, you know, so. Congratulations on a huge win, Donald, and again, condolences on your loss. We appreciate the time. Thank you, sir. So there you have it. An emotional Donald Sironi, I honestly did not expect him to say that,

and that's one of those things that you kind of learn over time how to deal with, but he was very emotional, and you could tell even going into the cage and afterwards something was up, and then he mentions that his grandfather passed away, so it makes the win even that more impressive that he was able to do that under those circumstances. You know how close he is and was to his grandparents. So one that I'll never forget and one that maybe over time, it's just someone drops that on you on camera. You know, you think afterwards of a million different ways of how you could have

handled it differently, not saying that I thought I handled it wrong, but it's, it's like a roundhouse right that you didn't see coming and you have to adjust. And that's, you know, that's interviewing. That happens. So, uh, thank you very much to him. And, and honestly, thank you very much to Donald Seroni for, uh, sticking around. He is so great with the media, truly a great guy. And anyone who thinks that what he does is some kind of act, the, the, the, um, the cowboy stuff, the extreme sports stuff, all that. I mean, it's really not. He really is who he is. He really is. who you see on camera at the press conferences, all that stuff, that's who this man is. And when the press conference is over, everyone just gets the heck out of there.

Everyone wants to leave. They don't want to talk to any of us. He sticks around. He's drinking beer. He's just loving life. And he is one of the reasons why this sport is so much fun to cover. Characters like that that you wouldn't see in other sports. Just goes to the beat of his own drum.

Seems rather happy go lucky. Seems to be loving his career at this point in a very good place. And it's a pleasure to cover him. It's a pleasure to go to his fights and get a chance to talk to him before and after. I mentioned in my post-fight interview with him that it's a lot more enjoyable to talk to him after the fact than before the fact. I know he gets a little prickly when he's cutting weight, but still, it's still always a challenge and a lot of fun. So I appreciate Donald very much, and I'm looking forward to seeing who they match him up against next. I don't know if anyone asked me about this, but there's some talk about him fighting in Denver against Matt Brown.

Not real talk, but fans trying to campaign for it. I don't want to see that happen. I want to see him stick around at 155. I don't want to see him jump up to 170. That means nothing, and we shouldn't be supporting these kind of fights because that just derails what he's doing in 155. I don't want to see him have a setback and that messes up his mojo. Very much a mental fighter, and you don't want to see him, you know, take a fight just because he wants...

I appreciate the fact that he wants to fight on February 14th. I appreciate that he wants to fight in Colorado, but the fight makes zero sense, zero sense. If I don't want to see for Donald Taroni next, it's Gilbert Melendez. I know Melendez is coming off a loss, but that's a title loss. Different rules apply. I think that would be a great test for both men. And if you look at the lightweight division, he's fought most of those guys. I think that fight makes a lot of sense. One more thing before we get to the questions at 4 o'clock, so in around 30 minutes. Carla Sparza is going to jump in for around five minutes or so. She's in New York right now. Had I known, I would have tried to get her in studio. She's with her best friend Felice Herrig. And they are going, as we speak, to serendipity to get that $1,000 Sunday. Remember, she talked about it on this show, talked about it before her fight against Rose Namayunis. She stayed true to her word. She brought Felice to New York, got the Sunday. They're probably eating it right now. And I asked her if she can come on just on the phone for a few minutes at around 4 o'clock to give us the post-Sunday interview. I want to know what

this $1,000 Sunday is all about. So around 30 minutes, we'll hear from the new UFC Strawway champion Carlos Barsa. For now, let us answer some questions. Do we have any questions? We do. Okay. I was going to start with Twitter, but you know what? Wow. I don't think we've ever started with Twitter. We're going back to the website. Just flow is better. Okay. If I'm completely out of it, just give me a heads up. What do you mean? At a wrap, you know, Closer to four. Oh, okay. So that we can make sure we get Carla on the phone.

Because I'm curious about that Sunday. You know, kind of annoyed in hindsight. I would love to have her eat the Sunday right here. You know? I don't think a thousand-dollar Sunday travels well. That's true. Well, it is cold outside. Yeah, it is.

You know what? Maybe I'm wrong. And let's not bring up the fact that, I mean, I think we kind of had a deal that I would get to attend this Sunday eating. I don't recall if that was in the terms of the agreement. Okay, fair enough. This is the first question. We touched on this.

Let's give a definitive answer. In your humble opinions, is John Jones the greatest of all time or not? If not, how many title defenses until you will state with confidence that he is? Okay, well, I don't need to do that because he is the greatest of all time right now. Now, it's a weird thing to say because his career isn't over, but right now, given everything he's done, it is the best resume in UFC. history. Forget that. MMA history. Not just UFC. I mean, in my opinion, I don't understand the people who are, look, look, look, look. Okay, he's 21 and 1. I consider a 22 and 0. But fine. You want to say 21? Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine. Okay, look who he's defeated in the last few years. Daniel Cormier,

Glover Toshera, Alexander Gustafson, Chale Sun and Vitor Belfort, Rashad Evans, Lyotumichita, Quintin Jackson, Mauricio Shogun Huah, Ryan Bader, and then prior to becoming in the title picture, he annihilated Matt Yushenko, annihilated Brandon Vera, annihilated Jake O'Brien, Stefan Bonner, Andre Guzmow. And then you have the non-UFC fights. You compare that run of how many fights is that?

He came into the UFC at 6-0, and he now has 21 wins, so I believe, if my math is correct, that's 15 wins, 16 fights total. You compare that run to anyone. And this is no disrespect to Anderson Silva or George St. Pierre. He has fought tougher competition.

Oh, I'm talking about UFC. I'm thinking, yes, even Fador. I'm sorry, but he is the greatest of all time right now. How can you, and a lot of the guys that he defeated are some of the very best ever, former champions in their prime or maybe a little bit after their prime, if you want to say their prime was when they were champions. And he just annihilated them. I mean, the toughest fight, obviously was the Guston fight. He only has one fight where you were like, this fight seems weird. And that, in my opinion, is the chale fight. Even the Vitor fight looks a lot more impressive after the fact than it did. when it happened because he was going up to 205. And remember, Vitor almost snapped his arm. And, you know, he disposed Chale rather quickly,

tried to beat him at his own game and did that. I don't see how you can argue against this. And in my opinion, you may have had an argument before the Cormier fight. You don't have an argument now. I agree with you. I think he's the best of all time. To play devil's advocate, is there a minimum amount of time, you had to have been doing it.

You know what? That almost makes the resume more impressive, that he's done it before he's what? 28. He's turning 28 this year. Well, done what? All this. That's fine.

But I'm saying, is there a threshold that you have to pass before? No, there's no rule. Because even like what Michael Jordan was playing, people were calling him the greatest in the midst of his career. And, you know, they were calling Ali the greatest in the midst of his career. And I think that given who he has defeated, and how he has defeated them. I mean, he really has fought a who's who, the very best.

I mean, look, you look at Anderson's record, and there are some fights in there where, you know, he wasn't, and this is, you can't fault him here, he was fighting in a division that just didn't have a lot of challenges. And perhaps it's a bit of a revisionist history when you say, oh, this guy, you know, he didn't really, you know, he didn't really pose much of a threat. He didn't have the resume even after the fact.

But still, Jones was doing this at a very young age against the very, look at these legends. I mean, let's look at champion, right? Let's look at the championship run. Shogun, Hall of Famer, Rampage, Hall of Famer, Rhapsod, Hall of Famer, Rashad, Hall of Famer, Vitor, Hall of Famer. Chale, up for debate. Gustafson, still in the midst of it all. Glover was on an unbelievable winning streak. And then Cormier, Olympian, undefeated, never lost a round. I mean, no one can compare to that.

GSP, great, did lose his title, rebounded very nicely, but I don't think he fought that level of competition. So this is no knock on them. It just so happens that, hey, John Jones fought in an era where, you know, the very best were coming after him. And I think if GSP would have had the same run, number of wins in this day and age with these welterweights, maybe it's different. Anderson's same thing. But they fought when their divisions were a little weaker. Do I believe that they still wouldn't have the same number of wins? No.

But you have to look, to me, it's how you judge pound for pound. It's how you judge ranking. Who are you beating? And how are you beating them? And look at what John is doing. It's unbelievable. Got nothing to add there. I think he's the best.

Our next question. The Hamill loss. First, they start with Happy New Year Ariel. How about me? No love for me? Just happy New Year Ariel? Okay. Yeah.

Although nobody really considers it a real loss due to the circumstances. How much do you think the Matt Hamill loss affects John Jones's legacy? If it weren't for that loss, John would now tie Anderson for the most consecutive wins in the U.S.C. history and would still be an undefeated fighter.

Was the decision made by Steve Mazagati in that fight the most costly referee mistake made in UFC history? No, I don't think so because, I mean, look, let's say you disagree with Faber and Borrell, right? The second fight that they had in New Jersey almost a year ago, that's more costly because Your Rai Faber lost the belt. You know, you lost a shot at winning the belt. Sarah McMahon and Ronda Rousey, if you disagree with Herb Dean in that one,

these are ones that are coming to mind, you know, big stakes, title fights, and a controversial call was made. But Jones rebounded, he became champion. The only thing he really loses out on is this record, which, whatever, you know, I don't think that, I think that means something to him, but it's not a big deal. What he loses out on is being billed as a undefeated fighter. Now, we could talk about it, and Dana White can talk about it, and Joe Rogan can talk about it, but you can't put out posters and commercials calling him an undefeated fighter.

Look how they are promoting UFC 184. They're saying there are two undefeated champions on the card. Chris Wyman, Ronda Rousey. You can't say that about 182. You couldn't come out and say two undefeated legends are going toe to toe. Now, there was a great stat from Michael Carroll of Fight Metric that this was the first time in UFC history, or in MMA history, I should say, that two guys or females on 10-fight or more winning streaks

in the combined history of UFC, WEC, Strike Force, and Pride that were going to be fighting for a title. Now, we've had two undefeated fighters, go toe-to-to-to, Leodo, McMan, Rousey, but no one with winning streaks like this in those respective organizations. That's a big deal. This was a very special fight, but you couldn't say it was too undefeated fighters. So that's where you lose out. But, I mean, at this point, it's just more of like an anomaly weird thing.

It's like a little asterisk on his career. And that's why I thought it would be fun to look back at that press conference. But I really don't feel like it's a big deal at all. I agree. I mean, the point that you made makes it a big deal, I think. The point about not being able to promote him as an undefeated fighter matters. That's just for money.

You know what I mean? That's just, it's like, it matters in the legacy. I think. But anyone who talks about it says, anybody who knows the sport obviously knows what happened that night. Steve Manzigati is asking a deaf person if they can continue with blood in their eyes and they can't see what's happening. I mean, we know what happened in that fight.

John Jones won that fight. But, you know, to people who are not in tune with the sport, then it matters. This is a huge deal, in my opinion. There was an article by... Floyd Mayweather is made by being undefeated. If he had some weird, you know,

fight like that right in the middle of his career, if he would not be the same fighter. By the way, I feel like wins and losses, or I should just say losses, mean a whole lot more in boxing than they do in MMA. That's fair. That's fair. So I feel like that's a bigger deal. Now, of course he wants to be 22 and 0,

whatever, but I feel like that's a bigger deal. There's a great writer named Greg Howard who wrote a very interesting piece on John Jones leading up to this fight, and he talks about that fight and the string of events that led to the loss, which I think it was pretty fascinating to read after the fact about Hamel, you know, maybe being hurt and not being able to tap, and Jones hearing him verbally submit, if you will, and Mazagadir, and Mazagadhii, and not hearing. So it's just a weird thing and it's almost this kind of footnote in history, but I don't think it takes anything

away from John. I just think it takes away from the promotion of his fights. I think we're in the forest not seeing the trees. I think that because we know what happened, it doesn't matter. To me, John Jones is undefeated and to everybody else who, you know, you'll conversate with John Jones is undefeated,

but that's not to everybody else. Our next question, Jones and Cormier rematch. A big fan of the show. and want to thank you, firstly, for all of your combined efforts. My question, would you agree that a rematch between Jones and Cormier at some point in the future is an inevitability? What I saw on Saturday wasn't a man getting out class, but a man whose cardio was wearing down significantly as the fight went on, whilst Jones fought well and contributed greatly towards the cardiovascular decline,

there's no denying Cormier had him hurt and overwhelmed at points through the first three rounds. Having watched this fight several times, I find it extremely difficult to label it as a one-sided pasting, as much of the MMA media has. I also find it hard to concede that Cormier, who has been consistently dominant up until this Saturday, is now a man too old to make a successful comeback. By the way, I haven't really seen many people call it a one-sided pasting or any variation of that.

Really? Yeah. I thought it lived up to the hype. It was competitive for three rounds. And then Jones, you know, pulled away. Now, Daniel's lucky for two reasons after the fact. One, well, it ended on a very bad, note in the sense that, you know, if it was Matt Hughes and Matt Sarah, if it was them hugging

after the fact, if it was them saying, you know, I got a lot of respect and I was all for the promotion, then it would be hard to reignite it all. You know what I mean? I feel like, okay, now people would be like, all right, it's over. I don't want to go through all this again, especially if you try to convince us that, you know, in the lead up to the next fight, if there was one, that they hate each other. But that didn't happen. In fact, it ended on a very sour note, you know, with that melee, if you will, after the fact, John Jones pulling out the sucket sign, and then all the comments afterwards. It was perfect. And also, there aren't a lot of challenges right now at 205 for John Jones. And now that he has said, you know what, I'm not really

all that interested in going up to heavyweight. Who is there? Off the top of my head right now, and things can change very quickly. I mean, look at the featherweight division with Connor who would have ever predicted this kind of rise. But you look at the 205 pound division. You have Gustafin and Rumble fighting next, and then you have Bader and Phil Davis. After those four guys, and then you throw D.C. into the mix, that's five. There's not much else going on. So if Gustafson beats Rumble Johnson, let's say, and Phil Davis beats Ryan Bader, I think that D.C. slides in there, faces Rumble.

If he beats Rumble, I think he's right back in the mix. You get it because Rumble beat Phil Davis, and it was somewhat one-sided. I can't see Phil Davis jumping over Rumble, even though he'd be coming off a loss. So I think if DC can come out and have a very impressive performance in his next fight, fight around the same time as John Jones' next fight says the right things afterwards, I think there will be some momentum for another fight. Maybe it's two, maybe it's even three, but I don't see him going away anytime soon. Yeah, I agree with you.

And let me just add to that. Let's rewind to before the gust of sin fight or even after the gust of sin fight when we were saying the same thing about there were no challenges for John Jones. you know, who's he going to fight? And then, uh, Cormier was a heavyweight at the time. Rumble wasn't even in the promotion. Eventually, there will be challengers for John Jones. They'll come.

We'll find them and, you know, John Jones will continue to dispatch them. Yeah. I mean, could you imagine him at 185? I don't see that happening. I cannot. But that would be bananas. I mean, if they ever, if they ever legalized MMA in New York, him versus Chris Weidman at MSG would be, who, that would be bonkers.

It would be something else. Remember, back in the day, a lot of people forget. Chris Wyman volunteered to fight John Jones on eight days notice at the ill-fated UFC 151 event before he was a champion, before he was really anyone. After the Mark Munoz fight, he wanted that fight. So there are still options. Don't worry.

Next question. John Jones, real versus fake? Why is there an obsession? Only with John Jones regarding him as fake. Most people are themselves around their circle of people, but have to put on a business face in work or work. when the camera is on. Is there a difference between the quote-unquote fake and having a business fate? Okay, I think I figured this one out. And I do agree. Why do we talk about John Jones this way? Why do we always bring up this topic when speaking about John Jones and we don't talk about it

when we talk about, you know, Anthony Pettis or Wyman or Rousey or any other champion or great fighter? And I think the reason is this. When he came into the UFC, when he came on the scene, he was very soft-spoken, very respectful. You know, he was talking about his religion all the time. I mean, he was a very clean-cut choir boy-esque, right? He takes down the mugger, all that stuff. I mean, you couldn't script it better. Then over time, he stumbles. He has the DUI.

He says things here and there. He gets caught on camera using, you know, profanities that he wouldn't say in an interview. So he has sent us mixed messages. He first, you know, would post things on Instagram or Twitter and then delete them. He would get, you know, accused of different things here or there. So I don't think these other people, let's take a Daniel Cormier, for example. He's pretty much been the same since day one.

He hasn't sent us these mixed messages. He hasn't said a quote one day, hey, the reason I'm being signed by the UFC or promoted or being sponsored by the UFC is because I will never get caught with a DUI and then a month later have a DUI. These are things that happen. So I think because of that, you know,

when he first came into the UFC, people weren't talking about fake, real, all that stuff. They were talking about, is he for real as a fighter? And then that topic went away and then he started to send us mixed messages and then people became obsessed with this. And I think that's natural. At the end of the day, I think John Jones is just a pretty complex guy.

I think he's the kind of guy who would post an Instagram video and then take it down just to mess with people. That's not a bad guy necessarily. But, you know, he likes to see the reaction to that sort of thing. I think he's come a long way. I think he's matured, witnessed the fact, you know, what he said after the fact in the post-fight interviews on Saturday night that he led us into his room on Wednesday before the fight.

the old John wouldn't do that, but I don't think that we can just put him in this little box. He's just a little more complex than that. And also, I disagree with him that the reason why people are obsessed with this topic is because he is flawless inside the cage. I don't see that being fact. People don't talk about other greats this way. They aren't obsessed with this topic when it comes to other grades. And let's be honest, he's had some close fights. I mean, he had the Gustafin fight. This one was, you know, he lost the second round in this fight, and some might say he lost the third round. So I don't think that's the reason. I just think it's because he has.

sent us mixed messages, and he continues to perpetuate that. He continues to do the same. And then people start to want to figure out, you know, what's real and what's not. That's my take on John Jones's personality. And by the way, keep going. Let us be confused. Let us keep discussing this. This all helps them.

I disagree with you a little bit. How dare you? I do agree with John Jones that there is an aspect of this because he's unassailable in the cage that people want to find flaws. not that he's flawless, but he's unbeatable. People, I see many, many parallels to LeBron James, where he was this guy who, you know, everything was not given to him,

but he has physical gifts that he had from a very young age. He came into the league, quote unquote, and, you know, kind of took over at a very young age. And, you know, LeBron James made the finals very early. early into his career. Didn't do well, but made the finals very early in his career. And it was clear that he was, you know, destined to be one of the greats. And I think that John Jones's trajectory is very much that. And, you know, people find personal reasons to attack somebody when they cannot find, you know, an objective reason based on performance. And I think that's what, I think that's

one of the factors at play here. I'm not going to say that's the primary factor. Certainly the way Jones handled himself initially, which was, you know, he thought that he had to be somebody. And it was, you know, over time he realized that he didn't have to be that, you know, superhero character that he was trying to be in the beginning. Or maybe that's, you know, who he truly wanted to be as a human being. And life happened and it changed his path. But he no longer had to put up the facade of, you know, being this super humble, super clean-cut athlete, and now he's much more comfortable being who he is.

But I don't necessarily agree with you that that's not a factor. I think that is a factor. I just hope they get a little bit more behind him, the UFC, and I hope we get to see him at least three times this year because he fought at the beginning of the year, and it just feels like a big deal when he fights. He has that star it factor, and it was very much evident and prevalent in Las Vegas,

all week long. It feels special when he's about to fight, when he's around. He has it. And I want to see him fulfill his star abilities. I want to see him go as far as he can as far as a star because I don't think he has even scratched the surface for various reasons. Maybe he didn't come. You know it was really interesting

at the post-fight press conference when he was talking about Jackson's being the best gym in the world. Some guys in the back started clapping. It wasn't the media, so everyone can calm down. And then Dana makes a joke. It was clearly a joke. Oh, that's Greg Jackson. And you know about their deal where he, you know, he doesn't want him to talk badly about Jackson in public.

And then John just looks at him. And Dana's like, it's a joke. It's a joke. And you never see Dana like that. John Jones is becoming an alpha male. He is becoming a lot more comfortable in his skin. And it's a lot of fun to watch. Our next question, tangentially related.

What's with all the John Jones hate? I've watched John since his first fight in the UFC and knew it would be something special. I don't share any release. religious beliefs with John or have much in common at all, but I love the way he performed in the octagon and how hard he worked. To call the guy fake makes you sound like an idiot as if someone knows him personally and how he should be acting. The guy works hard and is the greatest of all time. He may be a little unclassy at times, but there are plenty of fighters that we love with far less class. So what is really with the Jones beef? I mean, he answers his own question here.

I mean, look, I can understand why people don't like him. A, you know, he's he's cocky, he's confident. You know, he's a young man making a lot of money on top of the world, beating people up, beating up others' heroes, right? There are a lot of fighters out there with passionate fan bases that he's beating up. I mean, I get it. And then all the other things that I said. You know, he's stumbled in his career and he's said things here or there that could rub people the wrong way. I mean, he gave Daniel Cormier the socket sign on Saturday. He said he hopes Daniel Cormier is crying somewhere. If you are a Daniel Cormier fan, or even just, you know, an unbiased viewer. You'd be like, what's this guy's problem? But you know what? You don't have to be a certain

way. You don't have to be the guy who says all the nice quotes and all respectful. But come on, let's not pretend that there aren't reasons to dislike the guy. There are reasons to dislike LeBron James. There's reasons to dislike every single person on this planet. So I don't think that we can just sit here and be like, oh, how dare you dislike him or how dare you call him fake? I mean, he's given us enough ammunition and that's fine. But don't pretend like he hasn't. Yeah, I mean, but I think This is what I kind of touched on before is there's a people are confusing John's in-cage skills and, you know, evaluating his performance based on things that are not relevant in the cage. People, you know, are going to, people are going to judge John Jones's career with a variety of factors that aren't necessarily. are really related to how he performs.

And I think that's kind of unfair, I guess, to him. I disagree. You know why? Because people remember Muhammad Ali for a lot more than what he did inside the ring. He stood up. He didn't want to go to the Army, all this stuff. I mean, he was a civil rights leader, all these things. This paints the picture.

A lot of people don't like Michael Jordan because he didn't do the same, because he said Republicans were, or buy Nike's as well. A lot of people, you know, are critical of Tiger Woods for that reason. And they are supportive of other athletes for those reasons. So your endeavors and what you say outside of the field that you play on paints your picture as well. Is that fair, though? Sure. To Ali's contemporaries, is it fair to judge them as, you know, boxers in comparison when there's other factors?

And revered because of those things. That's not what I'm saying, though. I'm saying his contemporaries who may have been. equal or better boxers, is it fair that other factors are at play when evaluating their professional performance? To me, it's a total package, because those are the things that get you endorsements, too. I mean, you can't, look, why is LeBron James one of the highest paid athletes in the world? Why is Christiano Ronaldo one of the, because they have a total package, not just because

they can perform. They're good-looking, they're, you know, appealing to many different people for different reasons. There's more to this whole thing than just what you can do with a ball or a stick or something like that. Yes, but does that mean that... It's part of the game. I don't know soccer, so if anybody out there attacks me on this, hopefully I'm getting this right,

but is Messi a better player than Cristiano Ronaldo? That's a question. But it's all part of... He gets endorsements too because of who he is, because he's from Argentina. But I'm comparing the two players. Is somebody better than the other? His performance can stand alone outside of how you feel about him as a person

or how you feel about him as a personality. And I think that people don't like John Jones, certain people don't like John Jones, and that affects their analysis of him. I don't know if it affects, I mean, fans or media? People are saying John, people are making the case that John Jones is not the best ever. I think on paper, the facts are there. And I think that that's influenced by people's feeling on him. I asked Dave Doyle on Saturday, is he the greatest?

He said, not yet. I don't think it's because he doesn't like John Jones as a person. I'm not saying everybody has the same reasons, but I think that's out there. And I think if we... I think we have to divide like the, maybe sometimes a rational fan to, you know, the more often than not rational media member. And I'm not just sticking up for the media. Wow. All I'm saying is...

Homer. No, I'm just saying that, you know, sometimes people don't look at things, you know, rationally. They get a little too emotional. Look, why do people love Daniel Cormier so much? Tremendous fighter. Amazing. But he's also a great guy. That's why I called him the Tony Gwyn of MMA.

he's a very likable guy. He's kind of the guy that you want to go out and watch a sports game with. And he's cuddly, right? He's like Tony Gwynn. He reminds me a lot of Tony Gwynn. The way people talk about him publicly, you don't see a lot of people taking shots at him.

So I think that's part of his image as well. That's why he's on Fox. For many other reasons as well, he's a great talker, all this stuff. But everyone has a package. It's not just about what you do. And it's the same in politics. It's the same in Hollywood.

It's not just what you do when you're, on the clock, everything comes into play. You get what I'm saying? Of course, I get what you're saying, but I'm not arguing that that doesn't come into play. But you're talking about when it comes to endorsements. You're talking about when it comes to... The whole thing. Fan reaction.

But I'm talking about who's the best fighter. And that's what matters. This other stuff doesn't matter. When you're judging John Jones... This is the question. Why do people hate him here? Why do they have a beef? The end is, you know, talking about...

about the objective. Yeah, but you can. He's the greatest of all time. The guy works hard. He's saying he doesn't, this person is saying, I don't share any beliefs of John Jones. I don't particularly like John Jones,

but I can admit that he is hardworking in the greatest of all time. I find that there's a disconnect there. Not a lot of people can do this. You are a rational person, right? There's a lot of people. There's a lot of crazies out there. I hate to tell you,

I know you're the man of the people, but there's a lot of people who can't see through it for various reasons. All I'm saying is, And final point on this, all I'm saying is that, look, these things come into play. And if you don't think they come into play, then you're fooling yourself. It's a part of life. The way you are perceived outside of the cage or the soccer field or the basketball court comes into play.

You get what I'm saying? But it doesn't come onto the court. I mean, it doesn't. It just doesn't. John Jones is going to beat you up no matter what he says. But the way he'll be remembered, this is a part of why he'll be remembered. This is a part of the story that people will say. But if he didn't back it up, it would be meaningless.

Yeah, of course. Then he wouldn't even be in that conversation. But he's in that conversation because he wins. He is the best. And that is why. Look, I already called him the greatest of all time. I think, I think. No.

What? We're not talking about the same things here. So please, clear it up. It's time to call Carla. We can come back and talk about it. This happens all the time. We have these arguments and then we ended on we're not talking on the same things. Clear it up.

I want to finish this. Go. I am saying that John Jones should be judged for what he does in the cage. Yes. And it should not be influenced by people's like or dislike for him. Okay. But can you blame them for letting that... I can.

I very much can, and I will. I will blame you for judging him on things that are not inside the cage. His legacy. Yeah, his legacy. As a fighter, John Jones is unassailable. Okay. And it should not... Nobody should be able to argue that.

So we can't talk about eye pokes. We can't talk about things like that. These are things that happen in the cage. That, I can grant you that. The I poke thing needs to be checked. Speaking of that, I thought that the way Herb Dean handled that one was pretty good. He gave him the warning, and it seemed like he was insinuating, this cannot continue. He didn't explicitly say, I'm going to take a point the next time it happens,

but he did kind of insinuate that John Jones needs to check it or there will be repercussions. I thought that was pretty good the way Herb handled that first iPok. By the way, what about Joe Rogan saying, That's the first I poke. Yeah. Weird choice of words. Fortunately, it was the last. Yes.

That was good. All right, let's call Carla. Okay. We're going to call Carl. Should I answer a question while you call her? Can you throw one up there? Or no? Oh, I see.

Okay, how about this one? Someone asked me this a little earlier. Can I find it? Can I find it? Someone asked me, damn it. Oh, here it is. Okay, someone asked me about the Daniel Cormier Post-Fite interview, and the question was, this is Glenn on Twitter.

He asked, what is that interview like for you, A.H? You seem very empathetic to me and can feel the emotions. What were you thinking? So, you know, that was a tough one to do because this is a guy that you, you know, because now that, you know, I have an opportunity to work for Fox, you sometimes get to know these people a little closer, a little better than some of the other. fighters, but you still try your best to be as unbiased as possible. Look, I can sit here and say John Jones won that fight. He out-wrestled Daniel Cormier. He is the greatest of all time, in my opinion. But to see someone like Daniel Cormier and know a bit about his story, and know how much he wanted this, and I know that he's been kind of second place his entire athletic career, and then to see him with that look on his face, like he had clearly been crying, his head down, a very proud man. It's a hard thing to do, but you have to do it. And I'm happy we got to do

in the locker room because I think that's the kind of interview that should be in the locker room if you catch my drift. Try to be as sensitive as possible. Try not to, you know, rile the person up, make them feel worse about the situation, be very appreciative that they are taking the time to talk to you when obviously they probably wouldn't want to be doing that. Probably want to, you know, be in a corner and be left alone. But I can't say this enough. So impressed with how Daniel handled it. Not surprised, but, you know, he didn't take any shots. he was very complimentary, he was very classy, and these things matter. Not to say that's always the right way or the only way to do things.

This at the end of the day is entertainment and it's sport, and you can handle losses any which way you want. But that was Daniel Cormier. That was him in his rawest form possible, and it was nice to see that come out. This is a guy who has been through a lot outside of the athletic arena field. It's a man who has suffered a lot of personal tragedy. and to know that he wasn't bitter or wasn't willing to take shots at a guy who he clearly doesn't like was pretty cool to see and that he would talk to us was meant a lot to me as well. Daniel Cormier is a great guy.

I am a better person for knowing him and I love working with him and I have no doubt in my mind that he will be back at some point. So that's my take on that and it's a tough thing to do but it's part of the job and I relish those opportunities, being able to perform in them as best as possible. And maybe I'll be better the next time or whatnot, but it's a privilege to be in those situations and get those opportunities. Let's go to the phone line now and talk to someone who I'm very excited to talk to.

She is the UFC Strawway champion. She probably just blocks away from us in New York City, and I do believe she has just eaten the unbelievable $1,000 Sunday from Serendipity. Is that true, Carlos Sparza? Yes, it is true. I am here at Therendipity 3, and Elise Carrick and I just have the delicious, amazing, $1,000 golden opulent Sunday. Oh, my dear. Okay, first, before we get it to the Sunday, should I be somewhat offended that I wasn't invited to this Sunday eating event? No. Okay.

You'll definitely be invited to a wedding. What was that? What was that? We said you'll definitely be invited to the wedding. Oh, okay. Well, that makes up for it. Where are you right now in New York? We are actually sitting at the table at C-3. Oh, my God.

This is unbelievable. Okay, so tell me, what is in the... Tell me the whole thing. So you made this promise. You decided to fly your best friend out there to New York, and you get to the restaurant, and you sit down and you tell the waitress what? Well, we actually...

It's something that you have to order two days in advance, Oh, wow. So, Lee Carrig, my bestie, she was actually out here ready to doing a seminar, and I flew from USC 182. And this was kind of a pact that we made together to come have this Sunday. And, yeah, we just came over here. They were expecting us. We had such a warm greeting. And then they were like, are you guys ready for the Sunday?

And they pretty much just walked it out to us after a couple minutes, and we got the whole thing on camera. Oh, now video camera? Did you get it on video? Yes, we did. We did. Coming soon. What is in it? Can you tell me what is in the Sunday?

Okay, so there is Tahitian vanilla ice cream and candied fruit from Paris. And what kind of almonds? There was gold-crested Jordan almonds. I love Jordan almonds. I ate all those caviar. Caviar What? In it?

Caviar, wow. No, it's like non-salted and it's like on the side and it's kind of a really good you know, contrast like when you eat it together. It's really good. Yeah, almost like having salted caramel.

Wow. It's really good with the ice cream. And the golden flower. Oh, golden flower. Okay, there's actual gold in the Sunday hence the name golden opulence. Yes, yes. And it's like, actually the owner

is sitting next to us right now and he explained that to us what they used to paint Leonardo Divinci He used to paint with and it's kind of like they just let it on it's like golden paper

just falls on and it actually tastes really good I wanted to dip Leonardo to Caprio on Golden Hopulins I heard that Now can you ask the owner or maybe you know the answer to this How often does someone actually order this Sunday? Once a month, actually, I had read.

He's actually on the phone right now. Very busy man. Oh, okay. But for what I've read at research before in the past is that usually they get it about once a month. He was telling us that they originally brought it out 10 years ago for the 60th anniversary. It became like a big thing that people fly it all over the world to come have this Sunday. So it's really cool. Wow.

And usually for like a big occasion, like a big birthday or something really creepy in there, life. As you know, we both completed a tough show. We had our first win in the U.S.C. And I came home with the U.S.D. Gold Belt, so pretty big occasion for both of us. So, we're super excited. We're both wearing gold dresses. Yeah. Of course.

I forgot. I forgot. I forgot. And have you finished it? Oh, we totally, like, lick the bowl, like put our fingers through and everything. We made sure to get every bite of that $1,000 Sunday. I'm going to be

pooping gold per date. And who ate more? Like, was a little weighted? Did you have a little more? I mean, or was it 100% down the middle? Carla probably ate most of it. I ate all the Jordan Allman, then, like, she gave me the candy flour, with golden flour.

No. No. She always tries to say, like, I'm a fatty, and I love sweet, but she had a lot of the Sundays. I had a lot. Carla had more. I like the little side bits of it. It worked that well because Carla ate a lot of, like, you know, the fatty stuff, the chocolate and the cream and, you know, kind of like, doing down in the bottom first. I'm like, you can't have it terrible.

And do they make a big thing? Like, do they, do they have people come out and cheer you on? Is it a big deal when someone orders this at the restaurant? They don't cheer aside. Go, go, go, go. They had a lot of people that, they have the media people here, the people who run their, like, social media. They, like, took pictures, especially of the first site. That was kind of like a momentification, like the first bite of the $1,000 Sunday.

That's definitely caught on camera and everything, so it's pretty cool. Now, Felice can hear me? Is she there? Yeah. Yeah. The whole restaurant can hear you. Oh, my gosh. Well, this is a little embarrassing.

I want to congratulate you on your win. I haven't had a chance to speak to you. And I just want to know, you know, is everything cool between us? Because I got the impression maybe that there was some issues. I just want to clear the air here on this, on this. celebratory note. What? Like,

what? When Ariel said that nobody liked you? Oh, yeah. Well, we're fine. I didn't even know I was talking to Ariel. Because when you answer the phone, you're like, isn't Eric? And then I got confused because I, she said we were doing a show with Ariel. And then she's like, oh, Eric.

And so then I was like, I don't even know who I'm doing this interview with I'm. We're totally cool, Ariel. I mean, are you full with me? I don't know. I'm 100% cool. You like to instigate. You like to instigate. No.

Yeah, you're an instigator. You're like, oh, oh, okay, what will make headlines? So you hate... Don't you hate... No. Honestly, I think that we've known each other for a bit. You've been on the show before, before you're in the UFC. And I think that maybe, you know, that's one of those videos where it kind of happens organically

and you're trying to put together something. You know, a lot of it is cut up and those aren't the kind of interviews we usually do. It's usually unedited, as you may know. And it just started coming up a lot. And, you know, I kind of felt bad. If you felt bad that you thought I was trying to pile it on you. But the way I saw it was, look, you were the one who was being talked about the most going into the show from all these women.

And then I saw your manager kind of do an interview where he was a little upset with me, and I called him personally to clear the air, and I told him to extend it to you to apologize. So I just wanted to say if we have an issue, I wanted to clear it up and move past that. Like, I actually, like, that happened, and then I was on the show for, like, six weeks, so I didn't really, like, I came back and, like, so much had happened. And he's like, oh, I talked to Ariel and this, and everything's cool. Like, I know that I think people look at me and they think that, I'm, like, this strong person who doesn't care about, like, what people say about me or what people

think about me. And so it's, like, sometimes people think it's okay to, like, pull me on the spot and, like, especially, like, that was, like, right before going into the tough house. And, yeah, I am emotional. I do get sad. And I do get mad that people, like, feel, like, attack me all the time. And then, like, it's, like, other people instigate, you know, people attack me. And it's just, like, I don't know.

It's just, sometimes it's not cool, you know. I'm a fighter. And, yeah, I'm out there. And I put myself out there. but I'm definitely sensitive, and I don't, like, I feel like sometimes people just, like, attack me for no reason, and then other people just jump on the bandwagon and, like, think it's okay. No, I have a lot of respect for that because I feel like I'm the same way as well, so I wanted to clear the air, and I think you did very well on the show, and, of course, after the fact,

so I want to congratulate you on that, and happy that everything's okay. I won't take too much of your time, both of you, and I appreciate you coming on from the restaurant. That's very exciting. How long are you in New York for? I leave tomorrow, actually. And I've been here for a few days now. So, yeah, I spend it in my stay to stay here with Carla. And I think Carla's staying like a week, right? Yeah, I'm actually staying here a week.

I'm leaving next Sunday. And I'm doing a seminar on Friday. And if we can put something together, maybe another one on Saturday. You know, I'm just here chilling. But I also do like to meet the fans and, you know, hang out with everyone. So, you know, whatever's good. We're kind of, I'm playing it by year. And have you been told, Carla, when your first title defense will be yet?

Have I been told what? When your first title defense will be? No, I actually haven't been told that. I've kind of heard, you know, just from what people say probably sometimes spring, but nothing official. And most likely it'll be against Johanna and then laughing starts of the day. I'm not going to try and pronounce it. Yon Jacek is what I'm told. I don't know

The great Polish fighter And how about you Felice? Do you know who your next opponent will be? I do know who my next opponent will be But nobody else knows That's a big secret I can't tell you

This can't be breaking news It's gonna be good Can I guess? Can I guess? I'm actually really excited You can guess I won't tell you if you're right well That's no fun

That's no fun No I want to hear your guess You're educated guess Who do you think will be my next opponent Can you give me some kind of hint if I'm right, that I am right. Okay. And it's a girl.

Okay, I'll go on the record. I'll go on the record. I'm not afraid. I'm going to guess that your next opponent is Paige Van Zand. Blink once if I'm right. That's a thief. There you go. She may be blinked, but she maybe didn't.

Okay, final thing. Was it worth it? Was it worth the trip to New York the 1K Sunday? Oh, 100% worth it. Okay. I'm so glad I got to come here and have this experience. I mean, you know, some people I think, like, it's kind of, you know, oh, that's kind of a lot, you know, for one Sunday.

But honestly, it was just kind of people splurge on all kinds of things with expensive cars, the defensive death. But this is just an experience to once in a lifetime, or if you're lucky more than once in a lifetime. But, you know, it's something that I think we kind of did it for the show, you know, for the Ultimate Fighter. It was such a crazy experience for us to go through. And then we went and had our first UFC fight, first UFC win. It's a huge thing.

But honestly, it feels more of a thing that we did just for everything. that we've done in the sport and to finally get to this point. It's just so amazing. And it was kind of just, you know, tears out to that. Yeah. Well, you both deserve it. Congratulations again. I know we spoke to you recently, Carla, but to you as well, Felice, happy you guys got the Sunday in your bellies.

And I'm over it. I'm not all that heard about, you know, the no invite and all that. I'll get over it since you came on the show today. I know. We're me. We didn't even save you a bite. Yeah. We didn't want to share with you is what happened.

We'll get it when the Felice becomes champion. How about that? yeah we'll get it on you on you okay fair enough thank you very much enjoy your time in New York okay thank you

all right there they are the besties Carla and Feliz at Serendipity that was fun all right back to the questions oh by the way before I get into the questions kudos to Charlie Stamp on Twitter

who just asked me in the mist in the mist What is it? In the midst. Charlie asked me if the interview that I did with John Jones on Wednesday, if I was trying to recreate the Muhammad Ali vibe before the thrill in Manila, where he's in his bathrobe, in his hotel room, and famously reporters would come to him as he's lying in bed

and they would all congregate and talk to him. Now, when I saw John Jones upon entering his hotel room, he was lying down in the exact same position, and then he asked me, should I get up? Should I change positions? Whatever, I said absolutely not. I loved the vibe of the whole thing. And it reminded me of Ali in those hotel rooms leading up to his big fight.

So in my mind, that's what I was thinking. But I've seen people call him cocky for just lying down. That was how he was before, and I told him to stay that way. So pretty cool that someone actually picked up on that. All right, here we go. All right, we've got short time, so let's hit him quick. Don't you dare. Trying to figure out priority here. Drug testing. What do you make of the UFC deciding against having an independent organization in charge of year round random out-of-competition drug testing? I think this is really disappointing, as I don't trust commissions to do an effective job instead with the additional funding. Also, Dana's reasoning for pulling out seems strange. The whole idea of getting an independent third-party involved meant that the UFC could leave it to them and not get involved, whereas Dana said the UFC shouldn't be in charge. What do you make of the whole situation?

Well, what I will say is I did briefly speak to Mark Ratner, who is the UFC's VP of Regulatory Affairs, and he told me that there was a lot more to this situation than meets the eye. And we only touched upon it very briefly with Dana White, and I don't know if the entire picture was painted for us. So I'm going to reserve judgment and wait to hear from Ratner, who is invested in this is what he does. I mean, this is his main thing. So I'm not saying Dana White misspoke or let us down the wrong. wrong path, but I don't think it's as black and white as it may seem right now. I am still holding out hope that they are dedicated to cleaning up the sport. Our next question, please give us your thoughts

on the pay-per-view price increase. What was it, five bucks for this one? Yeah, I think, and I think this is what I saw online. I couldn't confirm that I think the next few, the next three or so pay-per-views will also be increased price. Silva Diaz and then the two title fights, UFC 184. I mean, not the first time, so. But Dana had previously said this, that wouldn't happen again. Did he say that? That was done for, what was it, Silva,

Silva Widman 2? Yeah, I don't recall him saying it won't happen again. I remember people being up in arms over him saying long ago that they would never increase prices and then they did. Oh, maybe that's it. I could have sworn after, they said that that wasn't happening again. I'm pretty sure that he never said it after the, fact, I think people were upset that they did it initially after many years ago, him saying

they would never boost it. But hey, don't buy it in an HD. I don't know. I mean, I don't know enough about even how. How do they even get to $65? How does that even happen? Oh, I mean, that's all, you know, they do research and see, you know, what the price people are willing to be.

That part is all, you know, behind the scenes magic. Right. And it happens in boxing as well. It's just. They figured out the price points and I'm sure they know, you know, what's optimal for, for profit. What do you think of the recent FightPass announcement? How do you think it will change things for the paying customer? Are there faults? Or were you surprised by what was announced? Oh, I loved it. I mean, if you missed it, they announced that they have acquired the libraries of some pretty cool

organizations. What was it? TKO was in there, XFO. Was Cage rage, I believe. It was. Yeah. What else? What else? We had, oh, Pancras. Oh, Pancras. King of the Cage. It's cool stuff. I think that's only better now. Some of those organizations are still around. It wouldn't it be interesting if they start airing live fights like they do with Invicta? That was not announced. And I feel like there are other announcements coming up as well for fight pass. But yeah, this just makes it more more worth it. I mean, for me, as a Canadian and as someone from Quebec, those old TKO fights, I'd love to see some of those. I haven't seen all of them. So yeah, why not? Okay, let's hit this one.

Does Jones end up winning the mind games between Daniel Cormiere and John Jones? And how much effect did that have on DC's performance? He seemed more emotional in the end out of the two of them. I think he was more emotional because he lost. I think it's because, yes? He was pacing on the stage. He was acting out of character in terms of his mannerisms before this fight. You know, I don't know if I agree with that because I think he was pacing

and that was exemplified because, you know, he was the first one up there. So he had to do something. No, most guys just stand there. No, I know, but, I mean, it's a big deal. It was a big fight. I mean, I remember Chal's Sunnen pacing when Anderson Silva was coming up. You can't, in my opinion, compare his actions in the 24 hours leading up to that fight to when he fought, you know, Roy Nelson. It's just a different fight, a different feel.

The energy in the MGM was unbelievable. It was not the typical setup with the Wayans being held at the arena or inside the arena because Justin Timberlake was performing that night. It was in some conference room the same place where the UFC 178 Wayans were, which were very memorable as well because of the Irish fans there. So I don't know. I think he was more emotional because he lost and he knew how many times he had stumbled in the big fight or the big match or on the big stage. and, you know, this is some... I said this a few times leading up to the fight.

They reminded me of two brothers who deep, deep, deep, deep down inside really respect each other, but they don't want to lose to each other. They're not okay with the idea of losing if they lost, they'd accept it, but just not to that guy. And he didn't want to lose to that guy,

and that's why I think he was so emotional. But I don't... It's a question for him. I don't think he fought emotionally. I don't think it affected the performance, but I think you're underestimating how much it affected it not in the cage but how much it affected his mindset uh john jones who was typically more wound up and nervous was as calm as ever and dc who's typically we haven't seen this kind of you know uh like a coiled spring feeling uh to him before

this he was the one who was wound up i don't think that can be underestimated in the sense that it will probably affect your mindset Now, I don't think, you know, I can't say, oh, because of that, Daniel Cormier did, because of X, Daniel Cormier did Y in the cage that ended up costing him the fight. But I think that it was evident that he was acting out of character. I will say this about the whole, you know, character stuff. John was amazingly calm leading up to the fight and comfortable. Do you think that matters? I think that matters.

Sure, matters. But I don't think D.C. was off his game. And even from my brief private conversations with him afterwards, he didn't express that as well. How about Anthony Pettis tweeting a picture of him and CM Punk, huh? How about this picture of Felice and Carla? These two made a pack before Tough 20 started. If either them won, they would check the 1K Sunday off their bucket list.

Enjoyed girls, it was well deserved. How about that? Wonderful. $1,000 right there. Unbelievable. All right, Twitter time. Let's hit it. How about this as a factor?

John Jones's length. Was that a factor in shutting down Daniel Korme's offensive wrestling? I think so. I think, I mean, that was the big question, right? The big question was, could Daniel get inside? Could he cut off all that length that he has? I mean, John Jones has the longest reach in UFC history and pretty long legs as well. I mean, it's tough to get inside.

It's tough to cut that off. and of course once Daniel did get inside, he had a tough time taking him down because he's, I mean, look, we talk about D.C.'s background and his credentials. As Izzy Martinez said, Jones's wrestling career was cut short. We don't bring that up often. He probably could have made a run at a national championship, at an Olympic team. But he had to cut it short, and he had to face some real life, some real life issues, and he had to go out there and make some money. So I think sometimes we underestimate John Jones's wrestling. As crazy as that may sound, I think, you know, and especially when we start talking about MMA wrestling. But yeah, definitely. I think it was a big factor in the fight.

It's tough. It's always going to be a factor. John Jones's a great thing he has in his back pocket. That said, I thought Kormier did a very good job of getting inside with the uppercuts when he was clinching early. That was the best for him. Absolutely. Absolutely.

I think he was able to do a good job of keeping a steady pace against Jones. He wasn't hampered by the teeps and the kicks to the knees that a lot of fighters are when they're facing John Jones because John Jones is able to stand, set, kick the knee. Cormier was able to, you know, not quite circle because he wasn't really going around Jones, but he was going forward in a way that was keeping the pressure and minimizing the distance. And then when he did clinch up, he was able to land effective uppercuts. but, you know, John Jones is just too damn good. That reach matters. But I think that wasn't the biggest factor. I think more the factor was that John Jones can keep an impossible pace,

whereas Cormier could not in that fight. John Jones stated he would move up to heavyweight for the right opponent and purse. How about Brock Lesnar? Oh, come on. What's so crazy about that? You would have watched that fight? Of course I would, but I don't see it happening. I mean, I don't even think it's worth entertaining.

What? Oh, timeout. What? CM Punk is now in the UFC. Yeah. And you're saying that this is the stretch? This is the thing that... No, this is not the stretch, but it doesn't make sense.

Why would Brock Lesnar come back to fight John Jones? Because it's a huge money fight. Yeah, but I think if you want to bring back Brock, you can't not bring them along too slowly, but you want to put them in there against John Jones. I don't know. I think John Jones is one of the better things he can get. if John Jones moves up to heavyweight,

wild champion, you've got to give him the Anderson-Silva treatment. You've got to put him in there against a lower-level heavyweight like Anderson against James Irvin. Okay, that's from John-Jones' perspective. From Brock's perspective. No, I'm not thinking about this from Brock's perspective.

I'm thinking about it from John. John is the one with the longer career, with the legacy, with all this stuff. Well, Brock, yeah, put him in there against Fador. I don't care. Put him in there against anyone. Put him there against you. I want to see Brock back in the Octagon.

But for John, I don't think it makes a lot of sense. Yeah, no, it doesn't make sense. Well, I mean, depending on the paycheck. I mean, maybe Brock is that lower level heavyweight, to be honest. That's what I'm saying. Look, if you think about this fight, John Jones is facing a guy who's, let's be honest, you know, was a UFC champion,

but he wasn't the best, he's not the best heavyweight we've ever seen. From Brock's perspective, he's facing a guy who, while super dangerous in a weight class below, doesn't really crack opponents in a way that puts them out with one. He doesn't have that kind of one-punch knockout power that a lot of guys at heavyweight do. And that could give Brock an opportunity to maybe use his wrestling. I don't really hate it from either guy's perspective,

especially if they can make a boatload of money, which is... I mean, I think there will be a big size difference, even if it's at heavyweight. And, you know, Brock's striking was never all that great. So what is he... So he's going to have the same problem D.C. had. How is he going to get inside and take him down? I don't know.

I mean, yeah. Look, if they announced that fight today, I would be crapping my pants and excitement. But why I said don't entertain it because I have a very hard time believing them ever putting that one together. In my opinion, there's a better chance of Brock versus Fador in the UFC than that fight happening. No, I mean, certainly I don't see it as a likely scenario, but I don't think in this climate, I don't think anything would surprise me anymore. Yeah. Next question.

What's next for Berkman? I'm sure he surprised many with his performance against Lombard. That's interesting that you're asking about Birkman and not Lombard. There were a few questions about Lombard as well. Let's address them both. Okay, by the way, what happened to the Rich Franklin question? You skipping that one? Oh, did I skip one?

Yeah. Is it gone? Because I think I remember it. Yeah, CM Punk versus Rich Franklin. It reminds me of Rock v. Mere. It could be the big fight Franklin wants in his return. No. No one.

If you called that one back, just go, no. Yes, because it's dumb. because Rich Franklin No, I mean, Rich Franklin is a guy who's a former champion And I get the Brock versus Beer comparison But here's the problem with that comparison. Brock isn't punk.

Punk isn't Brock. Brock has the wrestling credentials Or had the wrestling credentials. Punk is coming in like a fresh canvas With nothing on it. So I think you really have to bring him along a little slower than that even if Franklin may be at the end of his career.

So no, I don't like that. He should be fighting a guy who's 1 and 0, 0, 2 and 0, something like that. Now, as for... Let's hit him. Lombard, then Berkman. Okay, well, here's the thing about Lombard.

Right now, yes. If it's going to be Johnny Hendricks versus Robbie Lollah of 3, then it should be Roy McDonald for the number one contender. But, and I know we're running out of time, I have to, I have to say that I am so incredibly disappointed that Roy McDonald isn't getting that title shot. And this has nothing to do with the fact that he's Canadian. It has nothing to do with the fact that he is currently training at TriStar, Montreal,

whatever you want to say. It has to do with the fact that this is a guy who lost to Robbie Loller, in November of last year and came back in 2014 and did everything that the UFC asked and he fought three very tough guys. Damien Maya, Tyron Woodley, Tarek Safedine, beat them all rather convincingly. Then they go out, they do media, they do interviews

and they say he has earned a title shot. Not only that, he's going to be fighting in his home country of Canada. Finally, he is getting that title shot and guess what, he earned it. Then you fly him out to UFC 181, you make him sit in the front row and watch that fight. And Robbie Loller, in my opinion, wins fair and square.

And then he's doing interviews and all this stuff and you start to see the doubt come in. and then you take it away from him. And now he's going to have to fight someone because let's be honest, he doesn't want to sit on the sidelines for 10, 11 months, waiting for that title shot. He's in the prime of his career.

He wants to make money as well. If you are upset about the CM Punk thing, I hope you are 10 times more upset about this because this, in my opinion, is a bigger black eye on the sport than the CM Punk thing will ever be. It's like losers getting title shots, but in my opinion, it's worse,

because in what other sport you get promised a title shot, and then it's taken away. For no other reason other than the fact that, oh, the last fight was somewhat close and we could probably make some money. And it's also a mistake to do the trilogy that quickly. Haven't we learned from some of these other fights

that we've done too quickly? Have Johnny Hendricks go out there and fight a Lombard. If you beat them, you build them up, you put it on the same card, it makes more sense in my opinion. And at the end of the day, and I hate using this word, it's just not fair to young Rory McDonald. My opinion, he earned it, you gave it to him. It's not fair to take it away.

So, with all that being said, it's not happening. Tough luck for Rory. He should fight Lombard and the winner gets a title shot. Berkman? Oh, Berkman? Hmm. I mean, most people thought he was going to go in there and get pasted by Lombard, let's be honest. Yeah.

And apparently he had every injury and illness in the world as well. Sure. You know, there's some options out there. Perhaps the returning Damien Maya, perhaps the loser of the Jake Ellenberger, Josh Kosteck fight, if they do fight another day in the UFC, maybe even the returning Carlos Condit. I don't know. He's having a kid any day now. We wish him the best.

so who knows if he'll fight any time soon. It's clear he's back in this capacity, and I think he belongs here. Look, anyone who criticized that fight, I think it wasn't all that fair as well, and I can understand why Hector was disappointed. But, man, Josh Berkman stood there in front of Hector Lombard with his hands down

and took his best shots. He deserves credit. And gave himself a chance to win. What he was doing was taking shots to trade one back from Hector Lombard. So no matter what you think of, you know, Josh Berkman, you've got to give him his promise for that. And I love this pre-fight interview. He has come a long way.

Props to Josh Berkman. Yes. And you know what? Let me thank John Jones and Daniel Corrine for not hugging after the fight. Finally. Yes. I've been waiting for this. Yes.

Thank you guys. Is Bisbing trying to line up a fight with Nate Markhart? He was on Twitter afterwards, you know, talking about steroid and all this. Bisping was on fire, but, you know, they've had a longstanding issue. They've been going back and forth. I don't see that fight happening. I don't know. Maybe, maybe I'm wrong.

Neat did not look good in that fight. Yeah. And you know what? I don't think he looked great against Tehuna, even though he won. I don't know. I don't see it happening. But, you know, look, if it's offered to both men, I'm sure they take it. I just don't know if they're at the same spot right now. All right, some odds and ends. Question.

Are we over going to get Dana's scrums back? Everyone asks this question. The answer to it is, we got it back. He did one on Thursday. It was a little more low-key, no cameras involved. but have you been reading the site? He did one with like 10, 15 reporters. I just think that, you know, look, this is a guy who gave us an hour of his time on a Thursday and a Saturday after these fights, and at some point I always was worried about this. He was going to get a little tired of him.

And I think he got a little tired of maybe things taken out of context and just, you know, giving us all this time. I mean, if Dana stops ever doing them forever, he will have given us more time than anyone in the sport. So you can't really complain. I know it's a big part of the sport, but there's nothing wrong with maybe some of the fighters getting a little more attention these days. Now that there's no scrum, we could talk to Seroni after the fact, Luke Rockhold and anyone else who's available. So it's not the worst thing in the world. I would love if they continued. I think it's a very important part of the sport.

It's great to pick his brain. But I can understand even before the fact why he would be a little annoyed when he wants to promote UFC 182. That's his job and all the questions about other things. That's not really what's important right now for them. And I get that. So who knows? He did it on Thursday. maybe this year he'll come back doing them slowly,

but I don't know if they're dead. He just took a break from him, and he brought it out on Thursdays. Let's see what happens. How much did you pay to plant the guy in the Hawani nose shirt and asked the question about you at the CM Punk Q&A? Zero, but I will admit, I know that man. That is my good friend, Andy Mayer,

a huge fan of the sport who I've known for quite some time. In fact, he was my wife's first boy. boyfriend when they were like eight years old at Camp Walden and Lake George. Yes. Now, I don't know if they did much, but, you know, those are the facts. Wait, what? What? He is a big fan. He attends all the events. Now, even went to Mexico, and he walks around with the Hawani No shirt. He's just a big fan. He loves CM Punk, and he did that to sort of rib me, if you will. He was, he was one of the better questions of the thing. Yeah, that is true. That was a disaster. But as I told him, you could have just said, you know, Halwani knows. He didn't have to make the whole question about me, but I appreciated it. I thought it was a relevant question. for CM Punk. I mean, there's,

what are you going to ask him about, to be honest? And what about punk kind of no selling me? He called me a little bit odd,

right? No. No, no. He gave you the respect. But I love Andy and by the way, Andy A-N-D-Y,

M, I think it's M-A-R. This guy is the Forrest Gump of M-M-A. He finds himself in the most unbelievable situations and you should add him

on Facebook because he posts all his pictures obsessively and you should see the people who he met. He even showed up at the post-5 press conference. It's amazing.

So he's a great guy. Forest Gump of M.A. You heard it here first. Yes, there he is. Whoops, I went to wrong direction. And, oh, obviously. Did Sensei Segal coming in at the last minute impact the way DC fought after his game plan, quote unquote? All I'll say is, it seems like Sensei is losing his touch.

Perhaps. Shots fired at Steven Seagal. Perhaps the times they are changing. Damn. That's it? Yep, that's it. We're done. All right.

Well, a great show. Great to be back. hit my music. Five minutes over. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm trying to abide by your stringent rules, your limitations. We're a little rusty, perhaps, because we've been away for the last couple weeks. But what a fun show this was. Great to be back and great to have a lot of exciting things to talk about. It's a very interesting month in the world of mixed martial arts. A great way to kick off 2015. UFC 182 in the books. next week it's boston

week after that it's sweden week after that it's las Vegas again Anderson versus nix and guess Nick and guess what Knicks uh screw the nix I can't even watch the next anymore disgusting

disgusting franchise an embarrassment they should be they should be shipped to shiboygan Shibugamu Shikudami anyway just got sidetracked

I'll be at all those events so that's exciting and plus Beltor is back there's a lot going on Thank you very much to Sean Alshadi. One of the very best in the business. If you haven't read that article about RPW, you are missing out. Read it right now.

Thank you very much you, Dan Henderson. Good luck to him. UFC on Fox 14. Gary Musassi. I'll be there. Tell it to Arena. Can't wait. Thank you very much to Ben Ascran.

Looks like his day was seeing Punk went well, so that's great to see. And wish him the best of luck in his next title fight. Thank you very much to Israel Martinez. Izzy style. Congrats on the win. Thank you very much to Tim Sylvia. Congrats on a career. Great career.

And thank you very much to when you're in a favor. Check out the Alphamel calendar, team alpha mail.com. You missed anything? iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, MaffaFaunee.com. Until next week, we say patient.

Saamadio. 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 need. It's an all-in-one fully integrated platform that makes your work easier, CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce, and more. And the best part, O-DU replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. That's why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you? Try O-D-O-4-3 at O-D-O-O-O-com. That's O-D-O-O-O-O-com. Ever feel like your work tools are working against you? Too many apps, endless emails, and scattered chats can slow everything down. Zoom brings it all together, meetings, chat, docs, and AI

companion seamlessly on one platform. With everything connected, your workday flows, collaboration feels easier, and progress actually happens. Take back your workday at zoom.com slash podcast and zoom ahead.