MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour: Episode 481 (w/ Urijah Faber, Ali Abdelaziz, Rashad Evans)

Episode Date: May 20, 2019

On this episode of The MMA Hour, Luke Thomas speaks to Urijah Faber about his upcoming grappling match with Nicky Ryan, a potential return to MMA, Sage Northcutt’s recent KO loss at ONE, more; MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz about the latest with clients Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kayla Harrison and much more; Rashad Evans about being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, his career, and more. We also take your questions on the latest news in MMA on A Round of Tweets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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over-deliver. Service fees exclusions in terms apply. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. It is Monday, May 20th, 2019, and this is the MMA hour. Right here on MMAFiting.com. Thank you guys so much for joining me. My name is Luke Thomas. I am the host of this program.

I really appreciate you guys being here today. Hope you had a great weekend. Fairly busy in the world of combat sports between WSS, Deonté Wilder's knockout, UFC Rochester, a whole bunch of stuff that was happening. So a lot to talk about on today's show. We're going to be joined by three guests here.

Number one, Uriah Favor will join us. He has a grappling match coming up with Nikki Ryan. little brother of Gordon Ryan, King Gordon Ryan, who we had here in studio. So we'll talk to him about that, plus what happened to Sage Northcut over the weekend. That should be a lot of fun.

That'll be 1240. At 1 o'clock right here in studio, Mr. Controversing himself, Ali Abdel Aziz will be here. We'll catch up with him. That should be a long conversation. And then towards the end of the show, we're going to have the newest entrant

in the UFC Hall of Fame. How about that? Rashad Evans will join us at around 1.40 p.m. or so. Plus, as always, guys, you're going to be my guest, It's not one, two different ways. We'll take your tweets for a round of tweets using the hashtag the MMA hour. Thank you guys so much for sending them as always. And of course your calls as well.

844-866-24-68. Danny and I will field those calls on the sound off. Yeah? Okay. They put a coffee 55 feet from me that I can't drink because they thought this one through. Danny made the coffee today. And Danny said he was going to threaten it to put honey in it. Danny, I would rather you put what's in my daughter's diapers in my coffee than honey because I am not a crazy person.

All right, let's do this, Danny. It's time for a round of tweets, is it not? Let's do it. If it's not one problem, it is the other. All right, put it into raw sugar. Yes, I can live with raw sugar. That's fine. All right, put the clock up, and once that goes up and the first week goes up, we shall do this.

Here we go. There it is, five minutes. Touching it. Inappropriately. Okay, here we go. Hit it. All right. What was your reaction to the Wilder, K.O.?

Expected that, but damn, that was a brutal right hand. I don't know how good. Someone pushed back on me on this one a little bit. I don't know how good of an all-around boxer that Wilder is, but he is an all-time great puncher. And that punching ability makes up for a lot. And people are like, well, what does the difference between being a boxer and a puncher? A lot.

Remember, boxing involves a number of tricks about setting up offense, movement, footwork, angles, sophistication of setups. It's a lot more than just throwing a big heavy punch. But throwing a big heavy punch, obviously, can be hugely beneficial. When it comes to that, Wilder has some of the best power I think I have ever seen. He's easily the best power puncher of this generation and maybe the one before it as well. He is a frightening man, a frightening man. Go ahead. next.

What did you think of Michelle Pereira's UFC debut? Who would make a good next opponent? The Jabberwockies? That guy is amazing. Do you see what he was doing up there? Dance it? First of all, he's super athletic, right?

He looks like what Ido Portal would look like if he was a good MMA fighter, you know? And then also just a little bit off of his rocker, which makes for like the, which I don't say pejoratively. It's like, say it as a compliment. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Like Nico Price? I don't know.

I'm not sure exactly. What would be good, but somebody kind of crazy like him. And by the way, isn't it kind of interesting? There are certain fighters like Johnny Walker and Michelle Pereira. They're not identical, but these guys have a bit of sort of a wild open, high amplitude kind of striking style who take risks and do things. It doesn't work for everybody. But for the right kind of fighter, it works a little bit. Next.

Hey, Luke and Danny. Great work. You two are underrated as a duo. I do say so myself. But do you think Felicia Spencer defeating Megan? Why would you tag her? please stop tagging fighters. Could be good for the future of women's featherweight.

She seemed to do well with the media and nerves. Yeah, she's real talented. She's very, very talented. Finding a legitimate talent who, you know, part of this, again, developmental process. The institutions play a role in that. But the ones who make it easy on the institutions are the ones who go a little bit further.

Felicia Spencer still, I think less than 10 fights into her career, looking the way that she's looking. She has conceivably pretty bright future. So we'll see. Next. Who is a current top-level fighter that you think will make a top-level coach? Ooh, that's a good one. Probably Tyron Woodley, I think would be a really good one.

I think he's really, really smart, has an understanding of the game. I don't know if he would want to be a coach, but I have a profound respect for his ability as an analyst. Obviously, he's a fighter as well. So he'd be a good one. You have to have a certain disposition to do it. But Cormier, obviously. Obviously, another good one.

Yeah. Next. Do you think the UFC promotional machine has helped or hinder the development of fighters like Kevin Lee and Darren Till? And put them under pressure to deliver highlight real performances rather than grind out the basics. This is what I mean. Kevin Lee is so talented. And Darren Lee, Darren Till, I believe, has a bright future. I think he needs to find the right way class.

I don't think that's Walter Waite for him. But yeah. And look, part of it is these guys bring it on themselves, right? They encourage these fighters to say these grandiose things. I'm the best. I'm ready for Habib. I'm the, you know, Darren Till, you know, before the UFC Liverpool event, I'm the best guy in the world. They end up, they end up writing checks that ultimately,

they can't cash in certain ways. And maybe they feel that way. But I just feel like we incentivize a certain level of, we call it fight promotion, and it is. But then it ends up becoming this thing where you can't, it's like Andy Kaufman, you can't quite tell what's real and what's not, who the joke is on. It bleeds into reality rather than having a much more concerted

effort at development. There are a lot of fighters that could go very far, but for the fact that, you know, probably just have taken gold medalists and just throw them to the wolves. We don't do that. Thank goodness. But yeah, again, these guys who are in their 20s, it is stupid to write them off, y'all. Do not do it. At the same time, be cognizant of some of the challenges that they face. Next. How much harder is it to score a 10-8 round as a jujitsu specialist in the eyes of the judges versus a wrestler or a striker? Don't know, never had to judge. Couldn't tell you. Next. Pettis versus Masvedol, Jiu-Jitsu match scheduled for June 15th.

Isn't that risky? I mean, Pettus could get injured and then that means no Pettus versus D.S. fight on 18 August. Possible, but seemingly unlikely. Both guys repped by the same people. They're going to be going hard in the gym anyway.

I'm not saying no, but I wouldn't see it as the huge stress. One more, one more. If we can. Most of the major karate-style strikers except Raymond Daniels have been, in the last year. Has the code been cracked on the point fighters? Again, I think there's probably been some development made in that regard, whether the code has been cracked. All of them are kind of different.

They're not necessarily all the same, but you see the best ones don't like Douglas Lima. They don't really bite on the fakes and faints as much, and so they're able to just sort of do like a little bit of what Shogun did to Machita. Just not really biting on anything and then just going to the leg kicks and stick into your Moitai game. All right, what's the word on Mr. Favar? All right. So apparently we have them. Let's do this. So he has an interesting fight coming up against, I say fight, I should say a grappling match. Polaris 10. This is going to be super interesting. I'm looking forward to this.

Uriah Faber taking on the brother of the guy he recruited for the quintet thing. It's going to be Nikki Ryan. We have him on Skype right now. Let's go to him. It is the one and only. Uriah Faber. Hey, hey. There. he is. Hi, Erya. What's up, brother? How are you? How are you doing, man?

I'm doing quite well. Hey, let me ask you about an Instagram pick you put up, because you and I have something in common. All right? Uh-oh. No, no, it's good. It's good. It's all good.

It's all good. You just had a baby girl. Did you not? I did, man. Yes, sir. How old is she? She is now about nine weeks. Okay, so mine is about four weeks, a little bit less.

right out of a baby girl as well so so i saw the picture either your baby has the greatest head of hair i have ever seen or there's something you put you all put a wig on her is that her real hair yeah that's her hair man she came out like that so that is crazy yeah she's she came out with like uh like a like a full head of hair and it's been growing quickly i mean she was in she she's all sorts of kind of advance. It's been pretty funny. Like, I have a video in there like 10 days old and she's laying on my chest and

I'm like she's staring at the nipple. She starts smiling and I start laughing and then she starts laughing. It's crazy, man. Well, congratulations, man. That's pretty awesome. How are you enjoying it? I'm still in the

we haven't sleep trained her stage. Oh, no. You know, not to rub it in, but our baby's been sleeping through the night from the get-go. Wow. You know what? I hate you, Your Honor.

I don't know how this. Well, I can't grow a beard, so there we have it, you know. Can't win them all. Can't win them all. You win a lot of them, though, but congratulations. What's your baby's name? Violetta. Oh, that's cool.

And yours? It's awesome, man. Cali. Of course. The A-L-I. Cali Rain, R-A-Y-N-E. I could think of no better name for the California Kids Child than to be that. Well, congratulations, you're right.

It's a beautiful time of my life, and I'm sure yours as well. Let's get this. I want to talk about Polaris 10, May 25th in just a second. First things first, I know you saw your prototype, your friend, I'm sure, as well. Sages won debut. I didn't like that fight for him. What is your assessment of what went wrong there? Yeah, absolutely.

You know, first thing is first, I was there with him on that fight. And, you know, 25 seconds in, really, he got stuck to Cosmo, who's an amazing kickboxer and a big, strong guy, you know, came out and pressed the action right off the bat, did like a couple stutter steps, like switch step fakes to kind of rally, corral stage in. and the stage went one way than the other way, first time in a ring and literally gets manhunted with a nastiest punch and crushes his whole

his whole face. Basically splintered his chin, I mean, splintered his cheek into 30 pieces and broke his orbital bone. He had eight different fractures, and literally they had to

pick the pieces of the the bone fragments out, 30 different pieces out of his face. So a bunch went wrong, 23, 25 seconds in. We didn't really see much of a fight. Cosmo's seven-time world champ, his stage was fighting 185 pounds under the impression that nobody cuts weight in one FC. And they do hydration tests because of it, etc. and yeah I mean we didn't get to see much of a fight to be honest do you think Cosmo cut weight he did

look bigger I mean I can't speculate necessarily I know that I talked to a couple of the other guys that were cutting weight and I you know Sage is is such a faith-based guy and takes things as they're said and of course everybody's cutting weight I was trying to kind of wrap my head around the thing and you know you have to do a hydration test and they weigh you in a couple days in a row so it makes it really difficult but I talked to multiple guys there that were cutting weight and it is what it is

so I mean I wasn't that wasn't the main problem there Cosmo is an incredible fighter you know season Moyta. kickboxer, 7-1 as a mixed martial artist, and, you know, just came across the, came across the ring and landed a nasty punch and ended it for stage there. Sorry, I had an alarm. I was just sleeping. I just woke up. I know. I appreciate you getting up. 12.48 a.m. So. All right. I appreciate you getting up to making this possible. So have you talked to Sage? He put the post up. had like a what a nine-hour surgery he seems to be always in good spirits no matter the the outcome good or bad

is he doing okay from what you know yeah i saw him today and i was there in the ambulance when he was when he was headed to the hospital um you know for a guy that has an incredibly high pain tolerance he was telling us the pain he was in was as you can imagine having your face smashed like that was was incredible um stayed positive throughout at all is surgery supposed to be four hours and ended up being nine hours? And he came out on, you know, delirious on whatever they give you to put you asleep for nine hours and was cracking some hilarious jokes per usual. And he's on the men, man, which, you know, for anybody that doubts the valor of being a mixed martial artist

and the danger of what we do. I mean, this is a lesson, absolutely. You know, you're not his manager. You're only his friend, so I would just ask this and we'll move on from the topic. Going forward for his next fight, especially after a bad injury like this, do you think a more considered approach

about it being in the cage, the right kind of opponent? I mean, he's still in development, development, isn't he? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And, you know, especially, there's a lot of stuff going into this fight. He'd had to pull out a couple different times on dates.

It's been almost 11 months since he, or 10 months since he'd actually had a fight. Didn't get to see him fall through with practices for a long time now because of some little injuries, etc. And in retrospect, there are some warning signs of maybe not to take this fight. And like you said, you know, it's not like you go into a fight. you're going to get your face smash, but against some advice the fight was taken. Not that we don't believe in Sage, absolutely, but in the future, I'd like to see him at 170 pounds, and I'd like to see him at least be able to fall through with an entire camp, or at least, like, you know, more than he was able to. Again, that's not the reason why he lost the fight.

He fought a great competitor, and it's his first time in a ring, and, you know, kind of a freak of a thing happened with his face shattering like that, I feel like. But, yeah, in the future, maybe, you know, coaches having the final say on whether or not a guy goes out there is a good idea. And I think, you know, talking to his father who loves stage very much and believes in him, you know, hard lesson learned for all of us. Now, let's talk about you here very quickly, if we can. You had indicated some interest recently that the UFC, they're going back to your hometown, Sacramento,

I believe in July, July 13th, something like that. I don't have the date right in front of me. And this would be something you'd be interested in participating in. Like, give me a sense of reality here. How serious is this possibility? It's very serious. You know, no one really used to see behind the scenes of what goes on, when events are putting together or being put together or anything like that.

And throughout my time being retired, I've been offered fights on a couple different occasions and learn my lesson if I'm starting to get tempted or thinking about it just to get myself in good shape. And I've always stayed in the gym, obviously, being at the team and helping mentor the guys and training all year around, et cetera. So I've probably of last, you know, of the last six months, given a little more consideration after being offered a couple of short notice fights,

then I'm like, man, that's kind of tempting. And the reason I retired in the first place is just because I wanted to felt like it. I was, you know, feeling like, okay, if I'm thinking about it and maybe at the time. And it's the same reason why I'm thinking about coming back out. and taking a fight. Sounds like fun. A little fomo. I know as the age,

I do really well against the guys still. And, you know, if I'm going to do it, you don't want to wait longer. You know, I'm 39. I've just turned 40, which is crazy. I kind of tease that once I did turn 40,

I'd like challenge myself, kind of life hack and do some fights and got the new baby. So, you know, Some names have been thrown out there for opponents, and it's real possible. What would we know? Like, when would a date pass where we're like, yeah, this is not going to happen? Pretty soon.

Okay. All right. You have piqued my interest, Mr. Favor. You know, I saw something. We're going to have Ali Abdel Aziz here in studio. He had mentioned, I think, on a different radio show that, as you know, again, same show. UFC's going to Sacramento.

UFC wanted Cody on that card, and I think he had advised Cody to maybe wait a little bit longer. I actually like that advice. I wonder what you make of the idea, like, what would be the right circumstance for Cody to come back and get the best foot forward? I think step one, just getting healthy. You know, it's been kind of a big battle for Cody as of the last couple of years staying healthy. And, you can probably see by following him on social media, et cetera, that he hasn't necessarily been 100% or been in practices, et cetera. So step one is get yourself feeling 100% and then make the decision that you're going to put in the hours and be able to physically put in the hours to prep and get yourself where you need to be.

And Cody, being a young guy that's got all the talent in the world just needs to make those decisions himself and also gauge his body himself. So yeah, absolutely. I think that's a good idea from what Cody's been telling me. it's not a smart move at the moment. All right, so let's move to this competition you have coming up, Polaris 10. This will be Saturday, May 25th. Here's how I know that you are officially an insane person, your eye of favor, because you got Gordon Ryan to be part of the quintet team.

He just ran the table on everybody. Then you agreed to go against his little brother. It's not like you don't know how good Nikki Ryan is. I'm guessing you took this bout, because you know exactly how good he is. Yeah, of course. You know, I'm a competitor. My favorite way to work out is Jiu-Jitsu.

One of my favorite parts of mixed martial arts is Jiu-Soo, and I'm a fan of it as well. And, you know, this is my third time competing since I've been retired. And the first time was against a multi-time world champion, Paulo Miao. I don't know if you were able to watch that match. It was on Chil Sandin show on Oregon. That was on my birthday, actually. And I think you guys may be seeing a theme of me challenging myself and doing fun things around my birthday.

It's the way I celebrate, I guess. But I had done that match against Paul and Meow, and then I had another one in Quintet against Sakaraba, who is my favorite fighter of all time. you know he's about 200 pounds and I was 155 at that point and this this last one I actually got to hang out with the with uh Gordon and and Nikki and spent some time getting to know him and have a lot of respect for for their dedication and commitment to what their their passions are you know intelligence and dedication and and full on uh you know devotion to to what their passions are.

And so I'm like, you know what? The challenge is something that they'd offered me prior. And I said no, like, however long ago because I was busy and just kind of sounded weird and I didn't really know the guys or anything else. Once I got a chance to roll with them in Las Vegas and learn a little bit about the story and what this Nikki is trying to put together as a young phenom who's dedicated to I said, Jitsu, I said,

absolutely. And I might as well do it now. The longer I wait, the worst it'll be for me. And, you know, it's funny. They've been a little buildup for this Polaris thing, and I don't lift weights.

They're like, oh, yeah, I want to get some video with you lifting weights, and they do a little promo where I'm, like, doing curls. I mean, I literally, you know,

my favorite way to work out is, is, again, you know, doing jiu-jitsu and whatnot. And, and they've got him rolling jiu-jitsu. Like I'm lifting weights and he's doing jiu-situ, but we won't get it twisted.

I love to roll jits, and I'm looking forward to the challenge, and I'm looking forward to helping showcase one of the coolest, youngest talents out there. All right, so tell me this, and making this setup as competitive. Obviously, you're a decorated M.MA fighter. He's a rising phenom in jiu-jitsu.

You have a little bit of commonality there. What advantages do you think you hold over here? him. Tell me why I should have faith in your abilities to win. Well, originally, I was thinking I might be a little bit bigger than him, but then they called me and asked me if I'd go up to 155s instead of 45s because apparently he's hit a gross spurt of about 20 pounds since the last time we saw each other in Quintet. So I think he's a little bigger than I am now. The other thing is he's been on home stay since he's 13. or so, just training

Jiu-Jitsu full-time. And that's, you know, 13, and I think he's 17, almost 18 now. So that's, you know, four years, maybe almost coming up on five years of a pure dedication to Jiu-Jitsu. For me, I've been a dedicated athlete

for, since I was approximately 13 years old, myself, a course in wrestling, while going to school, I wasn't on home studies doing it full time or anything. I wrestled in college, Division I was top 12 in the nation, Division 1 wrestling, second in the nation for freestyle, university nation. And then for 16 years, almost his entire age, starting from about 2003, I guess it's not quite 16 years yet, but getting there, I've been trained in jiu-jitsu alongside boxing, kickboxing,

everything else, and I'm pretty good at it. So, you know, he's got a dedicated, committed, which is a very powerful thing, a couple of years to just be completely enthralled. He's got a great coach and coach Donahur and all. all the guys out in New York City. But at the end of the day, we're both competitors. He's a little bit bigger than I am. I'm a little bit older, a little bit more experienced.

I would say I'm probably a little stronger than he is, being a full-grown man. And we both know the game of Jiu-Jitsu really well. And so my money's on me. I'm sure his money's on him. And the Jiu-Jitsu odds are probably in his favor. The common sense odds or not common sense of the human nature odds are maybe in my favor. And, you know, the dedication portion, I would say he's a more dedicated jih Tjitsu player than I am at the moment.

But over the years, I think I've stacked some years of jiu-jitsu experience in my favor. So it's going to be a good one, man. We actually rolled together in Las Vegas for a little bit. You know, obviously not in a competitive, like, situation like we are now. But I'm looking forward to the challenge. My favorite way to work out. It's kind of like a game of chess, but with your body, as mixed martial arts is. And I'm excited for the world to realize there's a kid out there that has decided he wants to get great at something

and has dedicated his life to it and is getting some pub out of this deal. And probably a good little payday too. I'm sure he's getting paid pretty well. Well, I hope you both get paid well. I cannot wait to see it. May 25th, Polaris 10, it's at the pool, lighthouse, for more information.

Of course, you can go to UFC FightPass.com. It will be on UFC FightPass. Your right favor. And the main event takes on Nikki Ryan. Of course, you got Craig Jones on this card. Danahir Phenon is, well. Nick Rodriguez is on this. Richie Martinez out of 10th Planet, Cal Uno. A whole bunch of donks are on this one. Uriah, I hope to see maybe you in July when you compete.

If not, you are still an ageless wonder. Thank you for making time for us here today on the show. All right, brother. Thank you, man. And congrats on the success of the show. And of course, the new baby. Tell me again, the baby's name and how do you spell it? It's like Violet. Just it's the Latin version. My wife's Latin. So it's Violetta. Man, that's awesome. Congratulations. I'm going to go check you out. I'm going to go stock your photos and check out the new edition, man.

Congrats. And hope you get some sleep. Yeah, I'm working on it. Same to you, Yerai. Thank you so much. Thanks, brother. Looking forward to Saturday. That should be a lot of fun.

All right. Let's go to our next guest. I believe he is in studio. Is he ready, Danny Segorah? Guess no. All right, here he comes. This should be a lot of fun. I hope.

We'll move this backpack. There we are. Bringing him in. Is that, what, what, do my eyes deceive me? Do my eyes deceive me? Look at this guy. How are you? Have a seat. I didn't think I'd see you. Man, that's a Lebanese flag. Wow. Yeah, it is. I got it, you know where I got that? I got that in Biblos. What about your boy Khaledaha? Who? He's from Belvoir. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Isn't he like he's based out of Germany though, right? No, he's Lebanese. He has a Lebanese flag, but I'm saying doesn't he live? live? No, he's a whole of his family. He's in Beirut. He lived, he lived, he both. So my mom was

from Lebanon. I'd never been there. Yeah. I'd been all over the world. I'd never been there. I'd never been there. I'd been to Jordan. I'd been to Israel. I've been there a bunch of places. Although before the war, so I don't have the thing in my passport. But I went to Biblos and I just wanted a flag. It was like a dollar. So I decided, you know, I'm going to bring it. I'm going to put one here. I have one of my home studio too. That's cool. Yeah. Lebanon is a nice country, man. Yeah, you've been there? I did. I did. I was younger here. It's a little different than the rest of the air world. It's like,

it's very, Egypt is open, very open now, too. See, I went to Egypt in the 80s. I have no idea what it's like today. It's different. Yeah? Different.

And I had gone to, so I've been to this one, I've been to Jordan. Jordan was fine. Israel was obviously totally different. But this one, I got to tell you, what was the last time you in Beirut?

No, I was like 15. Okay. So here's what happened. Like, they traded like a New Orleans vibe for like a Miami vibe. Yes.

Because all the oil money came in from the Gulf shakes? For sure. So it's like Rolex here, Ferrari there. But it's lost a little bit of its like melting pot. You know what I mean? For sure, for sure. You're very quiet. Why are you so quiet?

I'm just going to, you know, feel in the studio. Yeah, so you've been here before. It's not your first time. I've been here before, yeah. Thank you for having me. Yeah, of course. So what do you, but first of all, you're here for what? PFL.

I'm here for PFL. We're going to talk about PFL a little bit later. Looking forward to that. Yeah. Let me start with a couple of questions, actually, about you? I'm just sort of thinking this in my head. Fair to say you're the most powerful manager in M.M.A.

Man, I'm a white belt every day. Every day I wake up in the morning. I'm a white belt. You will never see me. I'm the best manager on this because a lot of people, you see a lot of manager out there. They say I'm the best, I'm the best, but you can be on top today,

you can be on bottom tomorrow. And I just to stay on top, every day in the morning you have to wake up. You know, I'm a white belt. I might get to work. And maybe by end of the day, I'll become a black belt. But on the most,

morning, I'm a white belt again. And to be clear, this is one thing, I think there's a lot of things people say about you that might be true. Something is to say that are not true. One thing that folks should understand is your clients are fiercely loyal to you, which I know from personal experience and having conversations about them. How many clients do you have? Overall?

Yeah, I guess. Over, probably like over 100, over 110. I thought it was like 200. I have development program, like I don't really count them. Like, guys, young guys coming up, like in Russia or different countries. Okay. It's, he can, you know, close to that, not 200, but close to that. And like a bunch of the U.S.

But guys in Belator, BFL or the UFC, probably around 110. And do you manage all of them or are they through dominance? No, I am in charge of everything. I have, but, you know, I have people I empower, like, I have a guy named Rezvan. Like, he, like, I brought him under, he handled all the Russian guys. And he's like my brother to a great guy. I have, you know, Ronnie Mark, you work with me. Honey Marks?

Yeah, yeah. He's still a fighter, but he still was a lot of Brazilian guys. I have, you know, my sister and I, La, Yelda. I have a Gurne Brie. I have Dan Egey. You know, he's a UFC fight. He's my right-hand guy. He's amazing, yep.

I got Puna, who's fighting the main event on the contender series, June 19. That's him? Yeah, that's him. I didn't connect the dots. You know, listen, honestly, everybody worked with me, train. Everybody, they did Jiu-Jitsu or they fought or they're fighting, they have something to do with martial art because I think is better. All right, fair enough.

Let me ask you a question about your worldview here. I'm just trying to figure this out. What is, because your clients, I look around on like, main event, title fight, main event, title fight, or, you know, whatever. What is the best position for a manager to take to get your clients the best fights? What's your judgment about that? Yeah, like listen, if you look out the way, you know, the way everything right now, you know, you have 125, Henry, he's the champ. I represent.

And he got the 135, Marlin fighting Henry for the 135 bills, right? This is two belts, right? 145, Frankie is fighting for the build. 155, Kabib is the champion. Osman, 170 is the champion. And I, you know, middleweight, you know, I have Calvin. It was almost Kelvin. Calvin, you know, he's just, he's a winner.

Like, he can't lose. He's still young. He's still young. Yeah, he can't. And this is a guy that he should fight out one saving. He's fired a middle way, you know. People, Calvin is not this big, you know, but he want to fight. And I believe Cory Anderson, he will give John Jones run for his money.

If anybody, I know. I said, I know. I said that about Henry. When I said about Henry, going to beat Demetre Johnson, people think it was crazy. When I said, Osmondon is going to be Tarumwoodley. people thought I was crazy. I was just talking, try to promote. But I know how good Corey got and how good he is.

He's very methodical. You don't see out there Corey like knocking people, I was submitting people, but he's a very smart fighter. But John Joan is the greatest of all the time, of course. He's one of the greatest. And the way to kind of, you have to, I communicate with coaches a lot. You know, I train with a lot of these guys too.

I know how good they add. I understand matchups. And listen, at the end of the day, when you're on a certain level, if you're in the top five, You should be fighting everybody. It doesn't matter. If you're on top 10 or two five, top five.

No, but I guess what I'm asking is, like, how do you, what's the best way to negotiate to get your fighters into these, like, sweet spots? Listen, people think... Is it just having a good relationship with the UFC? Like, what's the... No, having a good relationship with the UFC with Belator with BFL. Like, I'd end there they, too, but I can have the best relationship ever, right? But these guys have to deliver.

It's not only me. Like, it's not... Oh, I'm superman. I'm getting guys start a fight. You know, I represent some of the best fighters in the world. They put themselves in a position to get a title shot, right? And literally it was Frankie situation, right? Everybody was competing against Frankie and this and his.

Alex Vonowski is an amazing fighter, great kid, you know, like, just you can't say anything bad about him. But you listen, Frankie been in this company for 10 years. He got passed over so many times, he got a lot of title shot. He put, you know, his title shot on the line with Ortega. And that was part of the deal. He said, you know what, guys, I'm going to go ahead. And I'm going to fight. I need to fight.

And he saved the main event. Ortega was in the same position to fight Jeremy Stevens for an interim belt. He turned it down, right? And I very much, all I have to say, you know, I spoke to the UFC brass, Dana and Sean and Hunter, all this guy. I said, guys, listen, this is the deal. Frankie went out there and got to win. He's been such a great guy. And he deserved the style of shot.

Here's the thing, though. I just couldn't disagree. I'm sorry, couldn't agree with that more. I agree with it. Correct. I just can't buy the idea that he got that without you having a relationship with them. Because here's the thing. I went to the office. Yes, I did.

Frankie has, look, here's the truth. And this is what I said. The win for Alex over Aldo is, it's a big deal because that's the one thing that Frankie doesn't have. But I also said on the show, or MMAB, whatever, that I do like Frankie's winner for Chad more than Alex's one over Chad because it was 2015. He iced him quickly. Correct. Right. But here's the thing.

It's like this whole thing like, oh, he did a solid for the company. I don't buy that. I don't buy that. Yes, he did. I don't buy that that's logic. What I buy is that you have a powerful relationship with them that pays dividends in the end. But I don't, I can't take this credit. You can't make them.

I understand. But I was just like Dana White is like a very emotional guy. He liked Frankie a lot. And there was big factor of this. But he understood, he looked at Frankie career what he has done, right? And I know this business, how good you done for me lately.

This is the type of business we're in. But I really went, and everybody thought I was going to talk about Kabib, this, this. I said, listen, I'm not here to talk about nothing else. Just frankly. I'm only about fucking Frankie. And I talk and I very much say, you know what? And I made my case.

And I said, for the first time you're right, we end. And I said, thank you. It's a bigger fight too. Like in the end, it's a bigger fight. It's a bigger fight. I think, listen, also timing, you know, the UFC talking about going to Australia, right? Where you save this fight card for Australia, you have Max or Frankie fight and Alex. It's timing too.

Like, you know, in a business standpoint, it's better for the UFC to have Alex to fight later if they still going to have the Australia card, right? Because if they have Arasana versus Whitaker, Frankie versus Alex or Max versus Alex, the winner, in a business way, it worked out for this. Well, you know what? Everybody comparing out there how good of a guy, Frankie Edgar, is. And, by the way, 37 years old. 37 years old? Yeah, correct. And in a way, yes, I did put everything on the line for him, and I will do it every day.

Which is your role. But here, let me ask you this question, because I was thinking about this. Do you support the class action lawsuit by the fighters against the UFC? And here's why I would ask, because I don't know that I agree with everything that those guys are claiming. but I don't see how we can get a more equitable share without some kind of mechanism, whether it's legislation or the lawsuit. It would just be weird for a manager as powerful as you,

and I acknowledge you are powerful, to not be in favor of that. Honestly, just honestly got the truth. I don't know what the lawsuit is about, because there's so many lawsuits going on. Like one of the things... You submitted a statement for them, though. Yeah, I did.

I have it here. Yeah, I did because I, but I ask that. For a lot of the stuff, it's not the only me submitted. I think other people submitted too, but I asked the minute time. You're Ali. Here's Ali. Here's everybody. Yeah, but I many times I ask a lot of my fighters who pick up the phone and say, hey, I live in Brazil. I live whatever.

You know, people, they don't want their family members know, right? So let me set the stage for the audience here. The claim and the statement that you had made was that you don't like when the salaries get publicly disclosed because it causes problems for the fighter. I got to say, I don't understand that, Ali. For me, as a manager, I like it to show my guy's making the most money, right? How else do the fighters get more pay if it's not public and they can't negotiate? This is the deal. Okay.

For me as a manager, I want all my fighters, their money. Some of them, you can see all their money, right? And by the way, no one's confused. Like, Habib's fighting McGregor. Like, everybody knows he's going to get paid. He got paid. He got paid. You know, like some of my fighters, like Fabricio.

Now, Osman coming now, to me, he said, I don't want to see, nobody see my money. Now I have to go back to the UFC and said, hey, I don't want, you know, but that may see yes, they may say no, but a lot of time I pushed for, but for me as a manager, I want all the fighter paid to be disclosed, right? But I work for these fighters. And if a fighter come to me like Verdoom, right? He said, I don't want nobody to see how much I'm making, right? Yeah.

You know, Frank in the same situation, he said, I don't want nobody out to see how much I'm making. Yeah, but that's when you step in and you say, right, but that's a bad idea because no one's going to get paid more until everybody knows what everyone's going to get paid. But listen, at the end of the day, case, but that's literally how it's done. But I manage, you have a point, and I agree with you. But I work for this one people. A lot of managers, they want to manage everybody at the same time. It's not.

I manage everybody's career individually. And I work for them. Like I said, they are my master, and I work for them. But then why submit the statement on behalf of the UFC? Because they come to me and said, listen, you ask us at least 10 times. I did. You know, I can say, I think Verdun. Frankie

Rashad I saw a couple guys Did you manage Rashad? Yes of course Okay I'm out of the loop Sorry Yeah but in a way

But this is something I asked for And they asked for a statement And I'm gonna keep Continue asking for it Because everybody You're gonna be like Oh I shouldn't do that If my ask

Yeah but here's the thing I know you're Look your clients get the good They get the good fights You got Marlin and Henry competing right Yeah but here's the thing

It's like I don't understand How the most Powerful Manager in the game Is taking the UFC's position. I'm not. But that's what the statement says.

No, but the whole thing is, I asked them for that. I understand where you're coming from. Listen, I asked him to give me that. They didn't come to me and said, Can we give, can we hide the money? I asked them, the fire, I do not want to be the money disclosed. I'm telling you, I'm trying to do Osmond now. They tell me no, we can't do it anymore.

That might keep, you know, I'll probably try to get it done, to be honest with you. This is what Osman want, right? Because Osamon said, man, I'm going to go back to Africa. I don't want to worry how much I'm making, you know. And it's up to him. It's his business. Remember, this guy's private contractors.

I understand. How do they do it in other sports, though, where they have these huge amounts of money and everybody is? Other sports have union, have fighter association, have so many different things we don't have. Listen, at the end of a fighter's union? I'm in for a fighter association. What's the difference? Like the MMAFA? I don't know too much about the thing.

I think, honestly, the fighter association is great. Because fighter will have benefits. Like, union is like, guys making 10 and 10, right? Coming to the UFC, how are you going to take 30% of that person what they're going to go home with? I want fighter association. A guy who represent everybody,

represent managers, protect manager, protect fighters. Yeah, I think the sport, we're going towards this way, have to happen. What do you think about one and their agent certification program? Are you in favor of that or no? Different managers I've spoken to are kind of like, they're like a little column A, little column B?

Where are you? Chartre is my friend. I like Chhatriya. Like, he's a Hensu Gracie guy, right? He remember, in the thing, he says exceptions, right? Like, no way, me or other manager, we've managed some of the best fighter in the world, right? If I have a free agent tomorrow,

who's a UFC world champion, and I go to him, said, hey, Chacharie, I got this guy, I'm gonna be one of the exception. Yeah, Billy. He can't be like, I'm going to Asia live for one year, and after that I'm giving you my free Asian. Yeah.

Right? Yeah. I didn't understand what they were like, they made the Asian residency a requirement. One of the things I don't understand too, like it's a little bit of a conflict. Like, and we all had conflict in the past.

Me too. But how you have your own management company, you know, and you have a promotion. Oh, that's right, because they established that too. That's right. No, they have it.

But I don't understand. Honestly, I have so much stuff on my plate. I know Chachari's a really good guy and I know he always do the right things. I know in personal, on a personal level, right? But I just don't understand.

He said it was exceptions. And I think he let the door up for exception. I would just rather see, and I know it's difficult because if you get the exception, what's your incentive? I would just rather see some more solidarity among the managers being like, it's just not fair as a blanket rule to do this rather than, oh, I got a carve out, so now we're good. But you exclude, like, listen, the top managers in the world,

they're not in Asia. Exactly. This is my point. They are in the U.S., right? They're not. And if you don't want to work with me, you don't work with, like, other guys, you're screwed. Because who are you going to sign? And I asked this two of the Kawah brothers.

I was like, are you guys in favor of this? And they said the same thing. It's like, I think we got an exception. It's like, okay, that's good because no one should be prevented from working with them. I just don't, like, the managers never be like, oh, this is bad for managers. They just go, oh, it's not bad for me. To be honest with you, like, if you're a promotion, you want to execute yourself out, you can go ahead. I got BFL.

It's true. My first stop is BFL for everybody. I'll make it clear. If I was a fighter, I have a fighter. I'm going to make a stop. My first stop, I want to make a million dollars a fight. And from five months, I'll make a million dollars. If I was a fighter, I'll be fighting for BFL.

So let's talk about PFL for a second. So I don't know if you know who this gentleman is. I do not know him personally. There's a journalist by the name of, I want to make sure I get the name right. God, I fucked this up. Sorry. He did some numbers on PFL.

What they found was that you have a lot of guys in PFL, right? Bro, I have... You have so many guys in PFL. But check this out. Hold, let me just read these numbers out to you. So, Dominance MMA management managed to secure spots of the PFL roster for 28 fighters through 2018. This is the last season. Total number of fighters that appear through the entirety of the season, a total, meaning that fighters represented by Mr.

Abdel-Aziz accounted for 30.4% of the roster that goes on. That means that they were involved in 42 of 76 matches, equating to 55.2% of total bouts. and 58.9% of total bouts in the playoffs. And here we go. The final on New Year's Eve saw the number yet again. It sparked to 71.4% of the fighters were repped by you. You got a good thing going with PFL, huh? I love PFL.

But guess what? I manage almost saving you guys in the UFC three times as much as any other manager. Why nobody talking about it? Because I think, look, here's the thing, because you used to work a World Series of Fighting and you were a matchmaker, right, for time, and manager. Commission may you split it off, which you did. That didn't make me. I made a choice. Okay, so you split it off.

And it was the right thing to do. And it was the best decision I ever made. So I just think folks were wondering, like, are we still, are we in the same arrangement without just a different name? This is the deal, right? I manage some of the best fight in the word. And you just said it earlier, right? If you're a fire out there and you want to be where represented, I don't call guys

to manage. I stopped doing this a while back. They call you now, right? I just, I prefer to be invited to the party and I get invited, right? And you got a lot of guys out there. And one of the things, too, is PFL. This is what managers do, right? And it's okay.

They'll go to the UFC. The UFC say no. They go to Belator say no. And they make the third stop, BFL. Rather than going PFL first? What I do, normally, all my prospect, no ones, I'll ask them two questions. Do you want to make a million dollar,

or you want more 12 followers or Instagram followers? Also, you get a lot of activities. in PFL. Yes. It's no politics. You get in two fights. You get in a playoffice. Like, in a way, like,

did I favoring my guys match in up? No, it's a tournament. There's a format. Like, nobody can control it. Yeah, but the end is, like, who get, like, I don't know what your take is, but if I got, if I got 70, what is it, 71.4% of my fighters in there,

that's a nice paycheck for you. But listen, I'm, hey, I make, I make, I make a lot of money everywhere. Guess what? Guess what? But everybody with me make a lot of money. You said it earlier today. Yeah. I said,

Oh, my guys, they're really happy. It's true. When the last 10 years, right? RDA is the only guy that left, right? He didn't really leave. His contract was up, and him and Rafael Cordero got some going on, and I got a cut in the middle. Rafael is my friend. No, but I'm saying, generally speaking.

This is true. Hand of God, I've talked to a lot of your clients. They are loyal to you. This is a fact. And, guys, you know why? Because I care. Also, it seems like you have good relationships with the promotions, and that helps getting big fights. Of course, because I, like, everybody wanted to be an eagle.

Like, I don't agree with Dana. I fight with Ray Safel constantly. But he's my friend. But I'm a gym. I see him at 5 o'clock. We're cool, right? He's probably harder to deal with than any other. I'm just saying, there's like, for example, do you know, what's his name?

I forget. Holly Holmes manager. Do you know him? I forget his name. Lenny, something. He's got a super adversarial relationship with UFC. And that's traditional among managers, right? It's to, like, butt heads with a promotion.

Because fundamentally, they have different interests. There's this new thing happening where MMA promoters. and managers kind of get along? And I don't know what to make of that. Listen, at the end of the day, if I have to bend over for my guy to get a fight or get more money or do something like this and put my eagle to the side, I will do it.

If I'm going to go out there and trash Dana White and trashed Cockcock, Crocker, and Trash Free Seffo, what is that going to do for my fighters, right? They, you know, like they have power over me. Why, I cannot just be fair. I'll be firm. And I'll try to get the best deal for my fighters, the best fights.

And listen, how many world champion I managed? A lot. A lot, right? But I made sure they didn't get passed over. I made sure, because a lot of times, if I was a promoter, right? When I was a promoter, I'm going to put a guy in a position to become a world champion, right? Because I'm going to put him to fight for the title. First of all, this guy is marketable.

This guy's going to do the right thing by me. He's a great fighter. Or he's going to give me problems when he become a champion. Because a lot of guys become a champion, said, hold on now. I'm the man now. Screw everybody and ruin it and the promoter this is one of the things they look at to be honest with you I think the UFC shot their stuff in the foot by the rinkin things because the rink before they used to the rankings Yeah, because now if you're number one

95% you get a title shot you know, I'm saying? You know, you know in all likelihood. Yeah, in all likelihood But right now I like I said, I have many many masters and I serve many masters, right? I will do whatever I can and I will do whatever I can and from my client to have a house, to have a car, to have health insurance, and I do. And being friends of the promoters the best way to get there. I don't have to be friends with nobody. Like if Allah, I'm not gonna be, listen,

like Dana White, I, I, Dana White somebody, you know, grown up, I kinda, I was so involved, I kinda, in a way I was, I looked up to him, right? Like, you know, but did me and Dana get into it? Yes, a lot. But did anybody know about it? Never, do I respect him?

Absolutely. Okay. You know what I'm saying? Ray. You know what I'm saying? Ray is a different scenario. To treat people about their status. I treat people the way they treat me.

You understand? Ray, like Scott Coker, I have the most respect for him, right? Like, you know, I just kind of, I have this relationship with people. I know how to manage a relationship. But I'm also a person. If you cross me, it'll be bad. Because I'm not going to just shut up. You know what I'm saying?

Like in buffet lines. You gotta stop that, Ollie. You gotta stop that. Listen, I don't end of the day, you're right. You know, you're right. You got too much to lose. You got way too much to lose. I get emotional sometimes and sometimes I regret saying I do.

And I'm just kind of, and I feel like sometimes I just get emotional and I feel sometimes I, I... Also, don't you like Usman's chances over Covington? Oh, man, this is... You know what I'm saying? Like, if you really think he's going to win and there's a very good chance you will. But it's not about that. It's just about certain things.

Like, like, MMA now, like people talk so much shit. It's too much. And it's like, if you're gonna talk shit, back it up. You know what I'm saying? Like, back it up. But in a way, like, you can't just talk shit and see him, you're all friends and all this kind of stuff.

And I understand, I'm 41 years old. I have children and I represent a lot of clients and I have, listen, at the end of the day, that I would take my action back? Yes, if I will repeat yourself. I think I was in the wrong in a way, I should not betray myself like that publicly. Let's talk about some of your clients.

Let's get to it. Habib, it looks like he's going to be fighting in September in Abu Dhabi against Poria. You know, nothing's confirmed, but when do you think there might be some solidification of this planet? We're working on it. We're going through a couple things. I think it's going well. You know, it's just, but, you know, the fight is not finalized here.

There will be a good date for Khabib to come back. You know, Khabib, he gave me, like I said, he wants to fight September, December, and April. You know, this is the three date he gave me. I let the UFC know. Puri is a great opponent. You know, you have a lot of lightweight fight coming up. You have Saroni and Ferguson coming up. you have this guy

you have this guy Connor you know but it's funny because if Connor go out there and get a win he might he might over leap all these guys again you think that's possible listen at end of the day is a promotion right

at end of the day he wanted a a rematch we said no Connor did yeah yeah yeah you guys officially said no Kabib said he said it publicly and you know no he's not getting a rematch he got to go out there and just get a win has UFC indicated they want a rematch

Listen, at the end of the day, everybody knows this is the biggest money fight you can make. The UFC's a company to make money. Connor got a rematch every time he lost, right? Yeah. And outside Floyd. Right, right. But in a way, like, you know,

I don't think he deserve it, you know. Who do you think is a tougher fight? Porreier or McGregor? Porre did look good against Max, man. Max is not, Habib. They have different fighting styles, but... Poree is a great fighter. You know, but it's level to this.

You know, I like Porea a lot as a person. I know. I trained with him before. You know, there's never a bad headline about him? He's like a dad and he trains and he stays out of trouble. I know him personally. We stayed together for almost a month, train, a whole month. He's a great guy, but, you know, he's a great opponent.

He's dangerous. He has a lot of volumes. But, listen, 27 people tried, 20 people have fell for the same exactly. You're going to get put on your back. You're going to panic. You're going to get outworked. And you're probably going to get finished. Let me ask you one more about Habib now because you've got a million clients.

He comes from a part of the world that I do not understand. And I put hand in the air. I don't make, I'm not an expert in any capacity about Dagestan or what that part of the world is like. Right. But during Ramadan, he did sit down with Ramzan Khadirov. Let me ask you this. What should the average MMA fan, in particular like a gay MMA fan? Ramadan?

During Ramadan. This month? Yep. Who is it? Last week, he sat down and met with Ramzan Kadirov. Now, again, I don't, it's a complicated scenario. And I acknowledge it's complicated. I do.

I mean that sincerely. I'm not trolling you. That's okay. But if you're like a gay MMA fan or an MMA fan generally, how should they view Habib in that life? Because when Habib is here, he's Mr. Respect. He doesn't. Again, the whole thing with McGregor, they get ugly with each other.

But everybody else, he doesn't. But that's a weird, so that's an unfortunate association to have. Listen, how to end of the day, you know, if you go, me, Donald Trump, right? If Donald Trump said, you know, it's a different in the Thai board, right? Certain things if Putin said he come here, you have to go there.

So we have certain rights in this country. We can say everybody F off, whatever, stuff like that. But certain parts of this culture is about respect and it's about, you know, the elders and, you know, it's a little bit,

it's not only politics, but at the end of the day, like, I don't know, what Ramadan Kudraff did about gay, not gay. Human rights observers say that he has instituted a gay purge in Chechnya. Listen, human rights said, you know, in Iraq, a lot of people who sexually abused. But you know, I don't believe, listen, at the end of the day, I don't know, it's politics, right? And I know people mix politics with sports all the time, right? And I think, you know, Russia have sanctioned, the United States have section against Russia.

I think we hear CNN, like it wasn't CNN. I don't believe. I don't, like people, the whole thing is they expose certain peoples, but what about us? I look up myself in the mirror. The way Habib treat people and the way I treat people, if somebody come to me, told you and said, look is this, and look is this, and looks this, I don't care.

And Kabib doesn't care. The way you trip me, the way he treat you, this is a relationship, right? If you don't disrespect me, don't, but this is where we come from. I understand. And Habib, every time I've interacted with him, been professional as can be. I'm just saying... Khabib, one of the nicest, most loyal, most respectful, a human being you ever meet. Understand what I'm asking. I'm not asking you if he's a bad person, because I don't

necessarily, I don't think that. What I'm asking is, I don't have friends like that. Yes. So how do you explain that? But the whole thing is, like, everybody said, Ramadan does this, Ramadan, this, right? At the end of the day, it's not our business is what he does, because we don't... It kind of is. But in a way, like, I don't know the guy. I never met the guy. You understand?

He lives an hour from Khabib, right? If Kavib said, you know, I think he went there, somebody died, actually. Like somebody's mother's died. Okay. And Habibu went to Chesney, right? You understand? And if a guy there, he's a president of a country,

you're going to shake my hand or shake my father's hand? What I'm going to say, I'm not going to shake your hand and I'm in your country? Can you do that? Here's the thing. Even if you want, let me tell you something. I acknowledge. Even if you want, you cannot.

I acknowledge. In that part of the world, it's totally different. I get it. Even if you want to shake somebody's hand, I bet you. I just don't find that. I just don't, I think if you're a fan that's watching this and you're a gay UFC fan, I just don't think that's a satisfying answer. But the whole thing is, I don't know what his position.

I don't know against gay, not gay. You never talk to him about? Talk to who? Habib. I never talk about this kind of things. I'm just asking, I don't know, I don't know. But the whole thing is like a lot of people say a lot of shit, right? I don't know what this man in Chechnya think about gay, not gay.

this is, but the whole thing is, this is, I don't know nothing about it, because I don't believe anything the media say. If I don't see it in my eye, I don't believe it, right? But at end of the day, listen, if it's a smoke, is a fire, you know, it's a, you know, and everybody from the side of the world, right, if in Egypt, if you live now, some places it's okay to be this way, if it's not okay to be this way. And this is the culture, right? But at the end of the day, I'm going to judge my action towards people. You never see Kabib went with a crazy statement talk about a woman or a gay or this he never do that because at the end of the day he mind his own business he does his thing like he said he's a very respectful guy right

but at the end of the day if he's a leader of a if you go to a country if you go to chesnear right and you have the president of chesnia or president i understand they put pressure on you i get it i get it again it's a comp i acknowledge up front it's a complicated scenario it is i just i'm trying to i'm trying to think of like what mama fans who might be in the united states who look at and they're like that's really not a it's kind of fucked up like it's a little But at the end of the day, I really don't know the deep doubt, the truth, everything. And listen, I'm okay you bringing it up to talk about it. It's all right.

There's no problem. It's your job. Thank you. I appreciate that. Let's talk about Kayla Harrison. Yeah. She didn't think it was a nice win. I thought it was a nice win.

I agree with you. I'll tell you why. Getting three rounds against somebody who could put up some resistance is super valuable. The fight ends. She comes out crying. I get it. She's crazy competitive. How is she doing now?

And please tell me, you told her, that was good for you? this is the first thing I told you know you see me walk into half the the other cage I said listen to me that's the best thing ever happened to you we got three-round experience we know it's no question we cannot go hard three rounds your gases tank is there your conference is there as the best thing happened that Kayla let me do you something we thought we remember round the rounds she was around and Dana White said round the round so you beat up guys and and this and this and I'm telling you Kayla will beat some guys up she I train with her

I've seen her in person. She came to my studio. She's... She knows what she's doing, but experiences everything in MMA. You have to have mad time, right? And I think that was the best thing to happen for her.

I believe pound for pound she will be the greatest woman ever seen of all the time. But she's grown. Listen. What was she so upset about the fact that she didn't just

demolish this person? Yeah, listen, she want to go out there and get six points. You know, she want to go to there and get an E-Pohn, like Judo match. Like, she still have the Olympic mentality. I'm going to go out there, and get a quick opponent and move on, right?

But it's a different sport, it's a different element. And I think it's going to make her stronger, going three rounds. And I think her confidence is going to be high. Because she understands she's going to be three, four, five round. Maybe in the final she's going to go five round, right? She always, you always question yourself when you go to new sport. Judo is a five-minute match. I'm doing three, five-minute.

Now we understand Kayla Henderson is not a front-runner. She can go three-round. She can go hard and she doesn't go through her own She can go hard to run. Right. Because she's a little bit fired like Kabeep, right? She doesn't stop. She's ground and pound.

She tried to pass. She's trying to mount. She tried to take you back. You don't see Kayla Harrison holding you down, right? You don't. She's a, she got the ed factor, man. A lot of people doesn't have it. A lot of people doesn't have.

She have what it takes to be the greatest. And I think she would be the greatest. You said something about Cody Garber recently that I got to tell you, I really appreciated. Yeah. UFC wanted him out of July. For folks who meant, this happens with the UFC all the time.

I know for a fact, when they go to Milwaukee, they call up the pedicists because they're, you know, native to that area. For sure. And you advised against it. I think that's the right call. I didn't like the way he fought in his last fight, but he's very young and he's very skilled. What is the best path forward back for Cody Garberon? Listen, Cody Garbram, probably one of the... Sorry, just interrupt you.

We had your A Faber on just a second ago. He made a point about Cody's health needs to get right first. I wonder if you could eliminate. Listen, at the end of the day when you get knocked out like that, I don't think you should be fighting again. The UFC's doing a job. They're going to Sacramento. They offer Cody a main event spot, you know. And this is the right thing to do for the UFC,

but it's our job to be like, you know what, guys, we're going to go back. You know, Cody's been having problems with his hand, especially getting knocked out like that. I think your brain need a break. And I talked to him and say, Corey, listen, that's the deal. You know, listen, the kid is a born fighter. And I think, you know, he's one of the best pantom width we've ever seen. Believe me, he is.

But in a way, he's too much of a fighter. When you touch you this kid, punch him, you know, he wants to come and kill you, right? He's too much about fighters. And I think he need to get himself right, physically, mentally. And I think we're going to see a lot of changes coming up, you know, the way he's going to fight, you know, and he's got to go back to the dominant cruise era. That's exactly what I was going to say.

Dude, he was so smart in that fight and patient. When he was having fun, when he was enjoying it, when he's embracing it, right? And, you know, and he's... Is he getting... Because back then he adjusted buckles in his corner, who was, like, sort of like, guiding, the training, and, you know, I don't know what to believe. Buckles says one thing about Team Alpha male, Team Alpha Ball says one thing about Buckles.

I don't know what's what? I know Buckles. Buckles was one of the best trainer they have. You know, they have Danny's amazing too. They have Chris. But Buckels, they're all great. They're all great kids, right? Listen, at the end of the day,

I don't have nothing best about Justin Buckles. And I think Cody have nothing to say bad about Justin Buckles. I think the only problem Cody have, Justin Buckels left for a month and he went to get, and he got a fight. And if he felt you, my coach, you should not fight when I'm fighting, right? But as a coach, just honestly got the truth, Justin Bucco, it was awesome for Cody.

He did everything right by Cody. Cody loved him as a coach. This is what I seen, because I see, you know, I have nothing to say bad about Justin Buckel. And I think, but just a little bit off too, a little bit crazy, and we're all crazy, right? You know, Cody just wanted to be there, not fighting and be with him. He left for a month, but it's okay. It's his passion. You know, he wants maybe to fight, right?

But I have nothing say about Justin Buckle. I think he's a great coach. So can Cody get back to championship level while staying at Team Alpha Male? Listen, at end of the day, I never told fighters where to go to train or not to train because I don't think it's cool

to take a fighter from their team. But, you know, Cody, you know, something have to kind of... I think Danny Castile is a great coach. I think Chris Holdworth is a great coach. You know, your eye is not his coach. Your eye is... You might see Iraq fighting, but I don't know.

I don't know, you know. He's a gym manager. Right, right. You know, but at the end of the day, this is up to... Cody because he understand who can bring what to the table but the Cody what he need right now somebody to say hey shut up move on you need to do this and do this and do this and did this right and I think it's more mental for Cody than anything else that skill level Cody have unbelievable Jiu-jitsu he probably want he have

unbelievable grappling unbelievable wrestling you just never see it but we don't see it right but in a way listen you see Cody come again but he's gonna come right and I told him I'm now I will not allow you to fight I And he, Cody, respect me enough to listen to me. Believe me. He, I'll allow him. I think it's the right call. I'm going to make sure your hand is good.

Your head is good. Yeah. And you have 10 weeks of hard training camp healthy. The issue, the issue for Cody was, look, it's the UFC. If you win, you win, if you lose, you lose. They love him. Right. But my point being is, look, you're fighting tough guys all the time.

For sure. I don't mind that fighters win and lose. What I minded was somebody who was championship caliber, clearly fighting below themselves. You know what I mean? Correct. Like when he just said, I'm going to go and, ah. You're right. It's like, he's an eagle.

He's eagle. He got punched by a guy. He's like, fuck that. I'm going to, excuse my language. It's all right. It's Ramadan. He said, no, I'm going to get you. You hit me, I'll get you.

And the whole thing is, listen, the UFC loves Cody. I hope all my fighter loved by the UFC like they love Cody. They really think so highly of him. They really want to put him position. But is my job now. I said, listen, let's move back a little bit. Let's build on this, right? You know he could have fought Al Jemian Sterling

But you know he thought Munoz is it's it's you know I think El Jemini is less than just fight I think Munoz he just want to be in these fights and I'm gonna stop in my foot a little bit about who he fight who he's not gonna fight and I think the UFC on the same page You know they want him to see him come back and he will come back when it's time for him to come back and he's healthy Let me have an area of disagreement with you with the 125 one 35 pound belt okay, so you know this if you read anything I write I'm a big believer in Malimer Raich. I think that dude is crazy talented. So, no matter what, I mean, I'm dead serious.

Correct. There was no way you were going to make a 135-pound fight without him, in my judgment. Like, that was the easy, once Dillershaw got stripped. You can't. Or whatever. You can't. It's no way. It's not possible.

No. But then it was a question of who you put in there. Now, I recognize putting the 125-pound guy in there is a bigger fight, belt, belt, blah, blah. Yeah. I hate that fight, Ali. I hate it. I like Henry. And I really have tremendous respect for Marlon.

I'm glad he's getting a title opportunity. Yes. should go to the next 135 contender. Listen, you have a point. You know, listen. You have a point because, you know. Is the U.S. you doing it because it's belt, belt, like champ champ? No, I think that was the UFC.

They promised Henry. You beat him. You're going to go up to 35. And one more. But that was part of the deal, though. That was part of the deal. Like, this is what I said. When people said, oh, you kiss Dana White his ass.

I don't kiss nobody's ass. That was part of the deal. I said, we'll fight TJ for the 133. at 125, but that was part of the agreement. It was a verbal agreement. And I said, when this guy's give me a verbal agreement, they don't go back at it. And I'm saying, I'm not even saying it's a bad fight.

It might be a great fight. No, but, and I said, that was the agreement. Because the question is, we wanted to fight TG at 35. He said, no, I want to fight on 25. I said, no problem, pay me this much money. Come down, if I beat you, you have to guarantee me a title shot at 135. And that was part of the deal.

The money was different, structured different, everything was different. And Henry is just, the UFC did that because they promised something. And he went out there and knocked T.J. out, right? He went there and knocked him out. Now, how are you going to tell Henry, I'm not going to give you a title shot? You can't, because you promised him. You know? Look, if they made that promise, I don't know what to say.

For sure, but let's not end of the day. Did the next guy deserve it? Like, I think what's his name, Pudra Munius, if he wins, I think he deserves the next title shot. 100%. Yeah, that's fine. Let's move along here very quickly. What is your opinion of MMA media? Present company not included.

I think MNMedia's getting better. I think is MMA getting better. I think, but I think, like, listen, I think MMA media, like, it can be very dangerous because they instigate a lot of shit too, you know? And the whole thing is with this Kobe thing, is, you know, one reporter, he instigated some stuff and have Kobe said things about me.

publicly, right? But he instigated it. And he knows he can pair me to Dan Lambert and all this kind of stuff. And COVID, of course, he has something. He's going to run his mask and say something. And he put him in a fire line with me. You understand?

Because, and in a way, like, we can promote. But it's not the media. Like, if you throw punches, it's not the media's fault. Correct. Like, you chose to do that. 100%, but certain things, like if you're going to call me a fag or this. Or terrorist, blah, blah, blah, whatever.

Listen, he can come. The only thing I'm going to do on terrorize, when I see you if you're gonna call me that. You can call me that. It's okay. People call me that for years. It's all good. Keep calling me.

At the end of the day, like he said, all I, my fighters love me. I do my job well. Let me ask a favor on behalf of MMA media. Yes. All right. And I'm coming to you in good faith here. Yes.

You have been open about this practice because I heard it on a podcast you did. If MMA media criticize you, you won't let them talk to your fighters. True or false? It's true. Part of it, yeah. Not me.

Not per person. me personally? Like if someone's like, oh, Ali is not a good manager, why? No, that's not true at all. If they curse, like for example, if you're going to go out there and curse eyes. Frankie? Yeah, you can't talk to Frankie. I understand that.

I will put a dead bolt on you. So you're saying on the record, if someone says something about you, not like, I'm not calling like the terrorist snitch thing. I'm saying if they say something like, hey, I don't think Ali is a great manager, you, you will still facilitate interviews? Not about great, no, not if you don't think I'm a good manager, it's. Okay, so how is that in your client's interest? Let me tell you something.

We have rules. Dominism and Me, right? Yeah. It's your company. Domain Mayor. Everybody know this, right? We don't really talk to shit to each other. Marlon and Henry think they fight them for a title.

You don't really see Dominism and fight us talk to each other online. In fact, there's a lot of solidarity. Camaro and Habib get along. Yes, yeah. It's a lot, everybody at my house, I have 30, 40 people having dinner, right? But everybody know we have a code. If you're going to talk shit about one guy, everybody's going to stick together. Okay, but that's not in your client's interest.

It's not, Ali. It's not, if somebody makes, if someone makes a good faith criticism, I'm not talking about hating. I'm not talking about sabotage. I'm talking about, if you're going to go, okay, you're right. Because the media, dude, the media's got a job to do. We have to tell the truth. But you have to tell the truth. If you say something and it's truthful, I'm okay with it.

But if you're going to go out there and trash me on Twitter or talk shit to me on Twitter, and you think you're promoting. You know what I'm talking about, right? You think you're going to talk to me this way? Of course. I'm going to get you. I'm just asking you to reconsider the position about between what constitutes unfair hating and what constitutes legitimate criticism.

And the ones who do legitimate criticism, they should have access to your fighters, Ali. It's in their interest. It's in their interest. You know what I'm saying? Okay, like I'll tell you something. Today, I don't have anybody go on this ESPN show. They have it every Monday. Yeah.

But I got called today. I said, can't get Chris Wade on there, right? Yeah. And I don't talk to this. Chris Weidman. Chris Wade. Wait. Chris Wade.

Chris Wade. Yeah. They have him on other MMA show on ESPN, right? You let him go. I say, you know what? That's good. Go ahead. I did it today.

Yes. But, you know, you're not going to see me going on there. That's fine. Look. You know, you're not going to see me going on there. Look, I'm not saying every media request has to be accommodated. No, for sure. I'm just saying it's a general rule.

Listen, I love John Morgan, right? Everyone in MMA is too uptight. It's too tight. I love John Morgan, but I have some beef with him. And after that, one week, I stopped talking to these guys, right? Yeah. One week later, we all met. We didn't have beef before, but we worked it out.

But at the end of the day, we talk about it. At end of the day, listen, I'm an emotional. I go from zero to 100. Nuh. I am. I am. I am. I'm very calm now because it's Ramadan.

I have to have spiritual personality a little bit. And in a way, like, I am. I take stuff to the heart. I take stuff personal. And especially when you talk about my virus, believe me, when you talk about me, it depends on how far you're going to go with you. super bitter at our own Gierma Cruz. Dude, Gierre Cruz is the nicest guy.

What could he have possibly said that was so bad? Bro, when I always work with Raphael Dusanis, right? I'm going to tell you. He did it. When Rafael Dusanis was fighting for the title, right? He tries to write a story about a guy beat him and now he's a cop, right? And I was like, if you fight him for a world title,

how are you going to write a story about a guy beat me who became a police officer? And I think that was so just, you know, He did a couple things. Like one of the things, too, you respect me. When you need to talk some of my guys, you talk with me. And I love that about you, right? And I really appreciate that, right?

And this is the way I run my, like in the way we talk about the UFC, I don't want to go talk to my guys, and he can. But in a way, if you're going to go behind my back, behind my back, why you need a manager for it? The father said, I don't fucking need you. And I think this individual we talked about, he always tried to cut corner. And I think it's a Brazilian thing.

Just be straight up. And it's, you know, it's the been a professional. You know, but I never met the guy. I have no Elwell against him. I really don't. That's the thing it really got me a ticked off of him. And I think it was kind of, like,

a guy fighting for a world title, you're going to write an article about somebody just beat him and become a police officer? It's news. Listen, it's clickbait. It's news. How good is Rafael Dussan, you say? He's amazing.

He's amazing. You see how good he is. But the story is not just how good he is. That's part of the story. There's another story. Correct. But listen, like I said, I get it. You're not, you're not like...

A manager not supposed to do. I understand. I understand. Like, I understand. I understand. I share Matt with these guys. I swat with the guys. I understand. I'm just like on behalf of M.A. Media. I'm trying to get them a better deal. Without the media, we will not be here. I appreciate everything the media do. I really truly do. And I like a lot of the media. Some of them I really don't like too much. And some of them I really like. Some of them, but you see me. When you see me, I go shake your hand, I'll shake everybody's hand. I never think I'm bigger than anybody. But listen, at the end of the day, I'm always going to be me. Sometimes I'm gonna be mad at you for one week,

the sixth week we're gonna be okay, and it's okay. Okay, last question before you go, two ones. You're gonna be at PFL on Thursday, correct? Yes. Right, gonna be rings out, I see you a ringside every time. Listen, at the end of the day, I don't like going to fights. I really don't. But like going to UFC fight on big events, I hate it. But the only show in business I like to go and watch is PFL. You have to understand, man, I invest a lot of my time of my life in this thing.

And there got a lot of fighters there. And I saw, forget about the fighters. I become such a super fan watching this thing. You know, and it's a, PFL is such a great, it's a great environment, it's a family environment, they treat guys good,

it's not like politics and security walking. I'm just sitting, I don't move from my seat, I don't go to the back, I don't do nothing, I just enjoy. We got Rashad in the line, so we got to go. Last one, and I want to, again,

I hope you understand I'm doing all this in good faith. I am not. For sure. Okay. So I know there's been an adversarial journalist who's going after you a little bit, Mike Russell.

I have tried to follow his work. I've had some difficult trying to follow. No, I'm not trying to be a joke. He, I think, is doing his best. And I've talked to him personally. I don't know what the truth is. But I looked up something. There is a, what's the name of the website here? Fukra Files. There's some story about your background. Now, I looked it up. I don't understand that either. I don't understand either. But here's my point. There's clearly something here. Yes. Why not just acknowledge it? Answer for it. You clearly have built something amazing for yourself. Yes. And then just move on. Rather than saying all of it is just made up. I don't. I don't know what the truth is, and I'll be honest. Yes. But there appears to be something here. But look at you now.

Look at your winner. So why not just acknowledge it? And then we can all be done with it. First of all, like, you know what? I did whatever I did today by hard work and dedication and really hard work, right? And a lot of people attack me all the time. You know what? I used to bother me so much, right?

And I used to, I know me so much, right? And I used to check people's Twitter and things like that. I can give a flying what, what everybody say, right? If, you know, listen, I'm like... But if you don't answer for it, the questions will persist. I'll answer. I'll answer stuff all, like, made up and all craziness. So you're saying it's all made up?

It's in several books. It's in Enemies Within. It's in this book. Let people write books. At the end of the day, you see me get... Can I write my own book one day? Yes, you can. Can I write my own book one day?

You absolutely can. But whatever people say, at the end of the day, it's foolishnesses, right? Right? I'm a license manager in almost every state in this country. Right? You know what I'm saying? Like these they do like background checks, they do this kind of stuff, right? Why I got to acknowledge nonsense?

Why I got to acknowledge people, this person you talk about who's an MMA manager? We have like, like it's- Michael Russell's not an MMA manager. Oh, he was. Is he? Oh yeah, he was. Do you have proof? 100% I was seen it to you.

But I'm not gonna, listen, at the end of the day, he does whatever he wants. It's, I have no, I used to like, I want to do this to this guy. I have no ill-will against nobody. Ham, these people writing stuff, this is at the end of the day, listen, I got something good. I'm very grateful for what I have done. It's only going to get bigger, right? You know, at the end of the day, I have a conflict with worse seriously fighting, right? I was a matchmaker and a manager, and I was.

I never denied it, right? How many matchmaker and a manager you have right now? It's illegal. No, but how many you have in a sport? Well, you had, what's his face over at LFA, but he had to split up two. Bro, he's still a manager. And source. He's still a manager.

One FC, these guys are not a manager? Like, come on. Like, people doing it. But guess what? Everybody want to come with this little Egyptian guy. You know what I'm saying? I'm not pretty prepared for myself. We started with the interview here because you're up here.

But guess what? But whatever I do, I want to be the best, right? But at the end of the day, if you come, what's a good manager? What's a standard for a manager? Guys doesn't steal from his fighters, right? Guys doesn't get good deals, right? Guys doesn't manipulate his fighters and steal their monies. I mature all my young fighter,

Justin Gishy, I said, hey, don't fucking pay me. Go get a house, right? Every guy, I manage young guys have a house. You told me one manager pushes guys to get houses. Look, I've said it a million. I said it a million times in this interview. I know your clients, they love you. This is the fact.

I'm just saying, but, Ali, there's this stuff out there, and I don't think it's all made up, man. Believe me, believe me. I don't know what's up because it's a complicated story, but I don't know what the truth. Guess what? Let him bark. Let him bark, let him talk.

Okay. But for media who talk about it, there should not be retribution. Because it's confusing and it's out here, dude. But in the way, if you come to me, if somebody choose a book and write about me, right? You know, a lot of this stuff, people writing, like, it's crazy. Like, like what Connor said, right? He said, I have that. There's no truth to what he said.

It's crazy. There's no truth to what he said? Zero. Okay. Zero. You have to understand, man. Like, if you have five passport, Toronto 911, right? Like I should be in Guantanamo Bay or like I should be like how I'm never in this country?

I've tried to follow the story. I've tried to follow the work. My man, listen to me. Listen, you've served in the United States Marine, right? I did, yes. You know, I have a lot of respect for you doing this, right? Listen, a lot of things in life you're going to do and you're not going to talk about. And a lot of things in life you're going to do and you're going to be embarrassed about

to talk about, right? Yep. I have nothing. I have never done anything to be embarrassed. Paris talked about. I try to, I'm not perfect. I made me stay grown up, you know, but I never hurt anybody, killed anybody,

like robbed anybody, did a lot of bad things, right? But I, I'm here because I'm living my American dream, and I earned every bit of it on the way. Let me end on this because Rashad's on hold. We've got to go to him, because he's in the Hall of Fame now. Yes. A lot of people don't want to do tough interviews in MMA, and you did one today.

That's fine. They don't come, they don't answer, everyone high. I know what's happening. I know it's coming. So I appreciate you coming here and give me your side of the story. It's my pleasure. It's my pleasure. All right. I'm like 15 minutes past. My man, Joe, we'll see you out here. Thank you, Ali.

See you on the road, okay? All right. Let's go to him now. We are so past the time. I am so sorry. I shouldn't do that to a Hall of Famer. I hope he's still there. I hope he's not too mad at me.

Danny, is he ready to go? Yes, no. All right. We have him on the line now. Rashad Evans is here. Hi, Rashad. Hey, what's up? What's up?

That was an intense interview. I was listening to. Rishat, I'm so sorry to keep you waiting. I should not keep royalty like you waiting like that. So I want to start this interview by saying, I am terribly sorry and I really appreciate your patience with me. No problem at all. No problem.

I was patiently listening. All right. Well, first of all, congratulations, man. You must feel like a million dollars for a couple of reasons. One, you got in the Hall of Fame, too. I saw on Facebook you got to surprise your mom. Which one's cooler? Oh man they both were they both was cool anytime you can surprise mom it's always cool because she always like rich shy I didn't even know you was coming you know she always getting loud so it's always good to give her the surprise but uh the surprise on saturday man that right there that that caught me off guard you know it was um it was something that you know because i know what i've done and i know you know i think that okay that warrants you know a bit of a bit of recognition

but I never, you never, I never foreseen myself feeling the way that I did once I got that recognition, you know, and it was, you know, hearing the fighters speak and hearing, you know, how you may have impacted them and just knowing the impact that I had just through my efforts was for me was like that point where I was, I was trying to make it through the video without busting out crying. Well, all right. First of all right, congratulations for getting into the Hall of Fame. It's got to be the biggest honor.

First of all, like, how do you feel about it? And I mean in this sense, did you feel like you were a shoe in for it? You must have felt like you were a decent candidate. Yeah, I felt like I was a decent candidate, but, you know, I've, you know, I don't know the process of it because, you know, it's still, you know, fairly, fairly new. You know, we're still fairly, you know,

getting our Hall of Fame inductee, you know, induction underway. And it's not, you know, it's not set in. stone. There's no criteria, you know, so you never know if that criteria, you make the criteria. So, you know, I hoped I would, but you just never know. And when they, when they brought me on the floor, because the way they did it was so smooth. They were like, you know, it wasn't a lot of people there in Rochester on the floor. They said like, hey, in between fights before the main car really starts, we want you and come out of the floor just to, you know, say hi to people

and be a presence on there. And they were teasing us, yeah, you guys are the celebs, you know, They were giving us a hard time about it, and we were laughing. So I didn't think anything of it. So I go downstairs, and I'm sitting there, and then I see my nephew, and one of my good friends, Kenny, they're sitting right there. And I'm just like, wow, they gave us some great seats. And then when a video started, like Brendan was talking, I wasn't really paying attention. And then the video started, the producer came down and said,

put your phone down. And I look up, and I'm like, oh, man, it really went all out for me at Camaro, because they put a whole video together. So I'm watching the video. I'm like, man, there's no Camaro. I'm like, hold on, this is only me. And then it started to like, you know, come to my mind, like what this could be. And then I just got wrapped up to any emotion of it, you know, it was incredible.

Did you cry? Oh, yeah, yeah. I almost one of those cries where it was just boo-hoo sobbing like, oh, we shouldn't make him cry ever again on TV. What did you make of their montage? I thought it was beautiful. Oh, my goodness. It was amazing.

It was amazing. And I thought it was particularly well because, you know, it didn't just only touch on, you know, who I was as a fighter and what I've done in the fighter, you know. It talked about, you know, what I do and how much I care about, you know, the athletes that I come across and how much I try to, you know, be that person for some of these athletes to achieve their dreams. And for me, that was important to be, to be recognized because out of everything I've done, I think that's one of the most, the things that I'm most proud of. that I can look and like, you know what? That guy right there, I helped him when, you know, you know, he didn't have too much and he just had a dream. All right, so let's talk about your career a little bit.

Now, the ending of all these careers, unless you're George St. Pierre, is pretty goddamn hard. But you've had some time to reflect on it. You've been working the ESPN desk. You're doing a great job, of course, before that Fox Sports 1 as well. Looking back on your career, you must have deep satisfaction about it. I want to ask about things that didn't happen, but in seeing the montage and now reflecting how satisfaction,

Are you? I'm really satisfied. You know, I couldn't, you know, I couldn't be happier to be honest. You know, even though it didn't end the way that I wanted to, it ended the way that it needed to. And, you know, that's one thing I had to reflect on and just accept on, you know, except just moving forward in life. But, you know, there's a lot to be proud of in the career that I had.

And, you know, watching that montage, you know, it was like, you know, I felt. got the emotion behind some of the things that I've accomplished too because, you know, I haven't put myself in a position to have perspective and being able to have the perspective on Saturday, just kind of see that was just, was just an emotional thing. The highest highs, give me some of them. The highest highs, you know, no secret, you know, not my biggest knockouts, you know, stepping on the scene is that big knockout with Sean Salmon at the, at Hollywood, Florida. And then, you know, the big night with Chuck Liddell that changed my life, you know, that one was a big one just not only for the results, but just going into that fight mentally speaking, I felt as I answered the call.

And I felt as that was me stepping into what I like to call my mastery, you know, and that's that level where I started stepping into the skill level that I know that I'm good at and mastering what I can do. and, you know, it was an important time for me, but that was, that was a, that was a great high. Is there any kind of like low-key high? I mean, you know, you're beating force Griffin, getting the belt, winning the ultimate fighter, that's got to be pretty big. Is there anyone that's like a little bit of an under-the-radar high that was meant a lot to you personally, but that maybe wouldn't necessarily occur to the rest of us? You know, you know, for me, let me think here, let me think was a big one for me.

beating Tito the second time. Tito, that was a good one for me. That was a good one for me. But, you know, for me, a big one was when I beat Phil Davis in a way that I was able to dominate him in a rustling, that was for me a feathered my cap because he was a Division I national champion. And, you know, before that fight we talked about, he talked about how much of a better wrestler he was for me than me. So that one was like, that felt, that felt good to go out during the show and that, nah, you weren't, you're just lucky I was in your way class. But, I mean, not even to say that, not even to say that Phil wasn't, wouldn't beat me in college.

It just feels good to say that, you know, because we fought. All right, fair enough. Now, some of the lowest lows, I mean, these seems pretty obvious. I don't want to dwell on them, but just as a matter of articulation because the career encapsulates both. Was there any one moment in your career that, I mean, it was assuming more towards the end probably. that you just really hated more than the other. Yeah, you know, when I lost to Dan Kelly, that was a moment for me where I was just like,

dude, what is going on? You know, not because I didn't, you know, Dan Kelly's a hard-nosed fighter, but, you know, I just feel like my skill of him where I can fight it is a lot higher and I did not exhibit that. But, you know, it was kind of sad for me just because, you know,

towards the end of my career, you know, my desire to want to compete that, that flame that that seemed you know that burning desire to have me not afraid to compete against guys who was

6 foot 7 6 foot 8 and outweighed me by 30 40 pounds you know that that dog that was there it kind of just it changed and it changed because you know

my life changed and and you know dealing with the things that I had happened in my life you know while I was in my career you know all those things change you as a fighter and and then you know towards the end, you know, the piece of me that made me fight, the dog in me, that that piece

that I was trying to heal, it got healed up a bit, you know, and life, and life wasn't the same, mentally speaking for me, so competing for me was a lot harder in a different capacity, you know, so that was an adjustment that I had to make, but coming to peace and coming to understand the fact that I don't need to fight in order to, you know, or I can still be able to be me without fighting and be able to come to peace with being able to stop fighting. That was a process, but it was a process and it was something that I'm glad that I decided to stop, you know, that I decided to do. You know, it's so funny, we're living in a world where Rory McDonald talks about

his sort of new spiritual relationship and how that has kind of changed his perspective on whether or not he has the Constitution to hurt a man. You heard Rose Nama Yunus sort of dealing with something a little bit different, but similar in the sense that they had a certain kind of attitude about what they were trying to find at MMA. And when they heal more as people, it goes away. It sounds like that's a lot of the reasons why fighters kind of move on for what you're telling me. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, that's where I was at because, you know, there's a mentality to fighting that,

you know, a certain, you can't have a yielding personality in order to engage. endure. You know, there, there's just, uh, just a canticrous, you know, mindset that you, you almost need to have in order, at least for me, in order for me to be able to be the person that I need to be in a cage. And, you know, when, um, you know, I started to heal outside of the cage, because for me, I was always using fighting as a way for me to, uh, to, to, to, I guess, you know, for therapy, for better sense of a word, you know, but when I got injured for those two years I was off, you know, that, that was over. And, you know, I was, and then I started drinking a lot and, you know, started, you know, doing all kinds of, you know, different kind of

substances and stuff like that. But then at the end of the day, it just wasn't, it just took me further away from, from where, from where I was or where I wanted to be. And it wasn't until I started to face myself and face the reason why I even started to fight in the first place. that's when the healing came in. That's when, you know, the dog and me started to be tamed and started to, I guess, relent and wanting to have fighting be the expression that it uses to feel good.

Everyone is going to have their own perspective on this, but I wonder what yours is. What do you think your legacy is? I don't know. You know, that's a real tough question, you know, because, you know, like I still haven't had that perspective, you know, But, you know, I hope is one that that's about giving, you know, because more than anything, you know, I want, I want to be, you know, yeah, I was tough. Yeah, you know, I did my thing when I did my thing.

But at the end of day, I think a life is truly measured by how it would impact others. And I want to be able to be able to be one that impact a lot of people. You know, this is a weird question coming from a white guy, but it's just an obvious thing. If you watch Dana White's Tuesday night contender series, there's just a lot more African people. American fighters than there used to be. Now, you've never been one of these guys who's been sort of an outspoken, you know, really public-facing advocate for, you know, diversification in the UFC in terms of their talent roster.

But nevertheless, you serve as a shining example of what is possible. I wonder how you feel about the changing demographics in terms of who's fighting inside MMA. Well, you know, I knew, I knew, you know, eventually it would happen. And that's part of the reason why, you know, my team was the way it was. was and I want to left Jackson's, you know what I'm saying? So, you know, I understood, I understood that and I understood there is a lot, you know, a lot of athletes, a lot of black athletes who may not, you know, be getting the best training or whatever the case may be or even know, you know,

where to get the best training. So, you know, I was able to attract a lot my way, too, but I think that in general, I think, I think it's great for the sport in totality, you know what I'm saying? Because You know, you're bringing in another, you know, style of athlete's style of body type or whatever the case may be. But, and also it brings, you know, it brings us all closer together. See, because the more we can start breaking down these, you know, these differences of why you're different than why I'm different, the more we can just kind of get to the underlying reality of it all. and we're all people and we share one thing

that we all can never divorce from which is consciousness and that's all there is in life is consciousness everything else is is an illusion there's only consciousness and we all share that go on sorry I was gonna say

can I give you my two favorite Rashad Evans moments yeah go ahead number one when you was there in Atlanta when you fought John Jones you walked out to Immortal Technique that was one that was a big one and then I don't know

if it made the highlight. I cannot remember the one they played for you when they announced you were going to be in the Hall of Fame. It's when you did the Red Fox Heart Attack thing after knocking out Chuck Liddell. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You said the moral technique, right? That's

the moral technique. That was the one I knocked out Chuck Ladell with the one. Which way they planned the was it? Oh, yes. It was a point of no return. something like that?

Yes, yes, one and over turn. Those are two of my fans. You were just, you know, just full of swag. And then after knocking out, Chuck Lidow in Atlanta, the crowd was so quiet

and you were so, you know, I told you so, was just written all over your body. You know what I mean? I went over to check on him, but he was still laying down and he was looking bad

so they didn't want any camera over there. So he pushed me away. And I didn't know what to do. So I was like, Hey, I shocked you. I'm coming to join you. Is the big one a little bit? Well, if I may, Rashad, I have to, we've got to close the show here,

but I just want to say one thing that I really took away from your career was the mentorship is one. As you noticed, obviously you were a high achiever, you know, fighting out of your weight class at certain, many times, of course. But the thing I took from it was just consistent professionalism, man. you were always trying to do right by the game, always trying to do right by yourself. Maybe you feel like that's not true, but from the outside looking in, whenever I saw Rashad Evans on a card, I knew I was going to get a well-prepared fighter, I knew I was going to get a guy who was honest with the media, I knew I was going to get a guy who cared about his teammates and who just understood what the ingredients of success were.

And you rolled the dice, and more often or not, it came up for you. So for me, when I think about Rashad Evans, I just think about consummate high-level elite pro. Man, that right there, that, you almost brought tears my eyes, man. I appreciate every word you said, man. That right there, I mean, I can't, I can't. I don't have anything else to say, man. I'm very humbled by your words. Thank you.

Well, you're a great one, Rashad. I look forward to the ceremony in Las Vegas when they formally have it. And enjoy upstate New York if you're still there. Yes, sir. I'll talk to you soon. All right, we got to go. Thank you so much, Rashad. All right, very quickly, because time is of the essence.

please put Danny up on the screen here. I have to apologize to the audience because two hours is simply not enough. Danny, come up on the screen here if you can. Please, poor fa. Danny, I have bad news. Yeah, it was good. There is no time for the sound off today.

I literally cannot do it. All good, man. Great interview with Ali, by the way. That was good stuff. So here's what we're going to do. Next week, I'm going to come up early. All right? And what we're going to do is we'll work it out

or we'll figure it out because I know next week's a little bit weird with Memorial Day. But one way or the other, Right. Just quick reminder we're having show on Tuesday. Tuesday next week. Yeah. Whatever the case.

I'm going to come up early and I'm going to record a whole session of sound off from this week as well as whatever happens for the following week. Okay? We're going to get a double dose of the sound off. I'm literally already late. I've got to get going. Dude, yeah. No, don't worry about it. All good.

All right. So keep those calls coming. 844-866-24-68. Keep sending those tweets using the hashtag the MMA hour. there's Danny. I'm Luke. Until next time, stay frosty.