MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 288

Episode Date: June 29, 2015

Ariel Helwani speaks to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in studio, BJ Penn, Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes, John Kavanagh, Marc Ratner, Jonas Bilharinho, and Graham Boylan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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back in your life on this Monday, June 29th, 2000. And 15, hello again, everyone. I'm Ariel Hawani. Inside our New York City studio. And how about this? I got a co-pilot.

The champ is here. Polish royalty is here. Joanna Janjewichek. And by the way, before we begin, everyone says your name still, till this day, different. Is it Yon Jacek? Am I getting it right?

Not at all. It's Yon Jacek. J-J-Chicch. Yeah, it's D. Yon-J-Chic. Yeah. Yeah, pretty good. Yeah, pretty good, pretty good.

People are learning. Yeah. People are learning. This is what I like. We'll get it. But still we can call you Yawanna Champion. Yeah, you don't mind that. There we go.

So she's joining us in studio. This is very exciting. I really appreciate you being here. Of course, you're here to unveil the new Reebok kit, as they are calling it. That's tomorrow. We'll get to that in a second. But let me get into today's show, and then we'll get to our guest in studio, because I don't want to want to watch.

waste any time. It's very exciting to have royalty here, as I said. Polish royalty in our studio. How about that? We've never had that before. All right, what's going on today's show? Well, at 350, we'll take your questions and comments. Hit us up, as usual, using the hashtag DMMA hour. 335 BJ Penn. Do you like BJ Penn? Yes, I like. Legend, right? He's going to be in the Hall of Fame. Did you know that? No, I didn't. Hall of Fame July 11th. You're going to be there in Vegas. They're inducting, BJ Penn. That's nice. One of the greatest ever, yes. The Prodigy. He will be on the phone at 335.

320, we're going to talk to a man named Jonas Bilarino. He is a training partner of Joseo Alto. He was there when Joseo got hurt. There's a lot of controversy going on, you know, about Josealdo's rib. Do you think he'll fight? I think he's going to fight, but... If you had a ninja rib, would you fight? Yes.

You would? All right. There you go. She's a tough one. So, Jonas will join us at 3.20. 3 o'clock we're going to talk to Chad Mendes. Chad Mendez is the plan B for that fight, of course, against Connor McGregor at 240.

We're going to talk to Connor McGregor's coach, John Kavanaugh. 230. We're going to talk to Mark Ratner about the failed effort to get MMA legalized here in the great state of New York. 220. We're going to talk to Frankie Edgar, who didn't get the plan B for that fight against Josie. Who did you have picked, Mendez or Edgar? I don't really know.

Okay, fair enough. I think the show must go on, you know. I like it. it. Dana White would like that as well. Yeah. At 2 o'clock, we're going to talk to the former Cage Warrior CEO Graham Boylan, who has a pretty big announcement to make. And at 155, we're going to go inside the vault. So here we are in studio with Joanna Jaunjjcheck. J. Jeechuk. There we go. Almost good. And I want to remind you also that today's episode of the M.A. Hour is being brought you by NOS. Do something epic. Hashtag with this Noss,

I will. Follow them on Twitter at NOS Energy Drink. So, Yohanna, I want to make you feel at home. This is what we like to do as can I'm Canadian by the way. I'm not American. Yeah. Even though I'm here in New York. So I want to make you feel at home. I got you this. I live near Greenpoint Brooklyn, which is a predominantly Polish neighborhood. So I got you this Polish newspaper. You can read it on the subway. Okay. I will. How about that? What does it say? What's the name of this paper? Genic, no, Genic, like a new magazine, something like this. Have you ever heard of this? No, I didn't. Okay, but it's nice, right? Yeah, it is. Yeah. Okay. So this is for you. You can read it. Lots of Polish people here.

in New York. Yes. I live near Greenpoint. It's all Polish people. Um, restaurants, pharmacies, bakeries, all that stuff. Did they eat some pierogi? I didn't have pierogi. You must try. I was going to, I was going to bring you some, but instead, I brought you something else. This is for you and your team. No cookies and pasta. How about this? This is, my hands are very clean. This is a famous, this is Polish donut, right? Yeah, it is. How do you say? With chocolate, a poncheck. Pone check. Okay, this one has jelly. Yeah. You like that? And this one is the most popular with jelly. I got you two with jelly.

So for you and your team. Okay. Thank you so much. Truly Polish, right? Yeah. This is what you eat over there. But I ate some American donuts yesterday. Well, obviously when you come to New York, you'd rather have American as opposed to Polish.

But I wanted you to feel at home. Okay. Thank you. Because this is your first time in New York, right? Yeah, but I like it so much. What do you like about it? Everything, you know? Everything is huge, different.

So I like it so much. So I remember when I was very young, I was dreaming about the, trip to New York so I'm happy you know like EFC yeah like bring me to New York they they made my biggest dream come true again it's amazing they're treating you like a champion right yes now I can feel it and I'm very happy because this is what I said if you give hundred percent they're gonna give you 200 back so I'm happy even business class right even yeah wow that's a big deal yeah I like it so much. Okay, so here you are, you're here, and we have a lot to talk to you about, you're here for the Reebok announcement. Yep. You're a Reebok athlete now.

Yes, I am under the Polish Reebok. Okay. So, but I am EFC fighter, so, you know, I'm going to represent Reebok in a fight week as well. But you're only for Reebok Poland. That's, that's who's sponsoring you, correct? Yes. I've got the contract with the Polish Reebok, yeah. Right. And in Poland, is Reebok a big deal? Like, is this a big news story? Yeah, it's kind of a big deal, so I'm happy to be faced of Polish Ribok. So it's going to help me grow up in Poland as like a MMA fighter. There, in my opinion, here right now in New York, it's the greatest collection of UFC stars ever. I mean, everyone's here, Rhonda Rousey's here, Chris Wyatman's here, Verdum is here,

Robbie Loller, Connor, Conner, they all came for this big announcement. Have you met any of them? I saw Dimitrus Johnson yesterday, Alexander Gustavson, Paige Van Z, I heard that Kormir is in the same hotel, but I didn't see him. But I could wear the clothes. We had photo shoot. And I can tell you, honestly, going to be good collection. You're happy?

Yeah, I'm very happy. Do you have a say in what you're going to wear? Do you have a say in the style? I mean, it's important, right? Yeah. Do you have a say? Do they ask you what you want, how you like it? Yes, yes.

we had some list. We could choose between the top bikini or wherever. You know, they want us to feel comfortable and that's all. Will you wear Polish colors, red and white? Yeah, but you're going to see special line, champions line. Oh, wow. So now people can buy your stuff in stores. And it's good to be the champion under this new era

because now you get 40,000 per fight, right? Yeah, it's a good deal. deal. So I'm very happy. You know, I think that the UFC is simply the best. They are the biggest organization, MMA organization in the world. So, but I think that the Reebok is one of the biggest like a sporting company. So I think it's a good deal. And you're not losing money because you've heard some people. I mean, you feel confident that this will work out for you. Yeah. And I know you're big into kicks, as you call them. Yeah. A kicksaholic. Are you happy? Are they going to give you an endless supply of kicks now? I've got so many.

new, new, new riboc kicks. So, yeah, I like the classics. Yeah. I've got some pink. So, yeah, are very nice. So I like it so much. What about the pumps? Pumps?

I like pumps so much, but the old style, you know. Yeah, the old school ones. Yeah, old school. With the basketball at the top. Do you have any of those? Not yet, but I've got the email yesterday from my colleague, and they're going to send it to me. But what about just you being here?

I mean, a year ago, here and America, no one knew who you were, right? You were just about to debut in the UFC. You defeated Rosie Sexton, Cage Warriors. So there were some rumblings. The division was starting. Now here you are as champion among these legends. What's it like for you are? Do you feel like you're still kind of a fan, like you're looking up to them? Or do you feel like you're a peer of them? Like, it was a crazy year, you know? Even on the beginning of 2014, I didn't expect that I'm going to be a EFC fighter, but now I am a champion and I defend my title already. So I'm very happy, you know, and like after my last fight in Berlin last week, June 20,

I can feel that people know more about me. They're recognizing me everywhere. So I'm very happy. Even though that was a fight pass show, it felt like it was a turning point for you, the way people were talking about you. I mean, maybe some weren't quite sure what to make of you after the Asparza fight. It was a great fight, but okay, let's see her defend the title. I mean, that was as dominant as can be.

Do you feel that way now? Like you're getting a lot more respect, a lot more admiration from the MMA community? Yes, yes, I do. That's got to feel good. Yeah. What about when they compare you to Chuck Liddell? What do you mean? Did you see that?

Dana posted a video of Chuck Lel punching. Oh, yeah, I was very happy. It was very nice, you know. It was in a day of the fight probably. Yeah, I like it so much. That's an amazing comparison, especially for him to make that comparison. Yeah, I'm going to be elegant. Yeah.

like in few years, I'm going to be Hall of Fame. You're going to see. You think so? Yeah. Better than Chuck Ladell? Maybe not. Same. Why not?

Just say it. Do you think that you'll have a bigger impact on fighting, period? Not just Women's M.A. than Ronda Rousey, when it's all said and done, do you think that considering your game, you're striking? Because that's what people really love to see. And we compare Rhonda to Mike Tyson and things like that. But to compare your striking to someone like Chuck Ladell, that's a huge compliment. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, it is. But every fighter is different, you know, so yeah, everyone is different. But I'm happy that they put me in the same line with him. You've never met Rhonda, right? No, I saw her. But I wish that I'm going to meet her. And, yeah, I think she's simply the best.

You're going to meet her this week? Yeah, probably is. And she tweeted about you after the fight. That's got to feel great. Okay, so let's talk about what happened in the fight. Originally, one of your managers, Shuharada, told me that you need surgery on this broken. I'm supposed to. What happened?

Now you don't need surgery. Yeah, I don't need. Like, in the first round, my tamp was dislocated, and then it was broken. It got broken. So I went to the hospital right away after the fight in Germany. So they did the X-ray. They put the cast, and they let me go back to Poland and meet some days. doctor, they said that I'm going to need the operation. So I went to the good medical center in Warsaw,

in Poland. So, yeah, they did the exams again, and they said that I no need the surgery. So I'm very happy. Now you're going to L.A. after this, though, right? But I'm going to meet the UFC doctor. Right. Yeah. So is there a chance you still might need the surgery or 100% no? Yes. Yes, and not. We will see. We will see. But I feel good. You feel okay. Yeah. What are they saying? If you don't have the surgery, how?

So I can be back like in three, four weeks to training. That's it. Wow. So if I'm going to have the operation, it's going to be like three months. Okay. So you're hoping no surgery? Yeah. Because I want to fight on the end of the year.

That's your plan. Yeah. Any card in particular? No, not yet. I feel like you want to fight on a big one in the U.S. That's what you like. Yeah. Yeah, I would like to fight in U.S.

So maybe before the Christmas time, because it's very important for me. But of course, there are going to be big show in LA on the end of the area. Right, right. So maybe we'll see. You want to eat a lot for Christmas, right? Yeah, I'm going to spend this time with my family. Right. So you said that you broke your thumb, you fractured it in the first round.

Yeah. So you had to fight a long time with a fractured thumb. How much did it hurt you? Were you able to feel it? Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, I could feel it. After first round, when I got it. got into the corner, I let my trainer know about, but, you know, it was a fight.

Sure. So you just have to block it out. Have you ever broken your hand in the middle of a fight? No, never, never, ever. So what was that like? For 13 years of a fighting career, I didn't have any big, big problems and injuries. But internally, mentally, how did you deal with it? Did you start to panic a little bit? No, it was extra power for me, you know? Why? I don't know. It's a fight, you know. Like, we cannot show that we, that in the fight, we cannot show to our opponents that something happened. And I don't know, I'm not a model, you know. I'm a fighter.

And I just wanted to show to everyone that I'm going to be a champion for a while. Did you think that you would dominate her like that when you were mentally, you know, thinking about the fight preparing? Did you think it would go like that? I thought that this fight is going to be more, more tough. like Jessica gonna fight more. But yeah, I felt really good, you know. I said that it's going to be a war and it was a war.

So she makes me angry before the fight a little bit. What happened? Why did she bother you? The wang? Yeah. What was that all about? Yeah, she was acting strange, you know. I like the turdowns and everything around, but yeah, she was acting, no, not nice. She gave you a ring. Yeah.

And you threw it away. Yeah. But you gave her a necklace. Yeah. Two necklaces. Yeah. So how can you be bad at her? No, one.

One was for me. The gold one. The gold one. It was a pasta, right? It was kind of pasta. Did you make it? Yeah. Sure.

You actually stayed up. You stayed up that night and made this thing. How long did it take you? Like a few minutes, you know, before the weighing. It was actually nice. I saw a picture on your Instagram. Were you upset that she threw it away? Not.

I expect that she did. Yeah. But you said that she bothered you at the way in, but you also gave her a gift. So it was kind of a tit for tat, right? Yeah, she paid back. She paid back. Did she bother you back?

Like, anything happened before you went on the stage? Were you guys talking to each other? Yeah, she was nice. You know, we had first face-to-face two days before the official weighing. Right. So she was acting nice, and I could see that she's quite tough girl, you know. She posted this picture of you, and she said that you're, you look like this character, I think, from Lord of the Rings or something? Did that bother you?

She showed to me that she was afraid already, you know? Why is that? Why? Yeah, what makes you think that she was afraid? Because the Golem? Yeah, yeah. He's so ugly. Yes, but were you offended by that?

Yeah. I mean, that's not a nice thing, right? Yeah. So did that bother you? Not really. Not really. Yeah. I just thought that was maybe like a step too far.

Yeah, maybe yes. So when you were fighting... I like to play with my opponents, you know. It's not a trash dog, you know, but it's all about the... The mind games. The mind games, yeah. I feel like now people are going to start to try to do this to you because they see the way you go. So they're going to try to come after you because it...

They're going to beat me up. What do you mean? Like, I can feel like if somebody's going to play with me, I'm going to be like a really badass, you know. more and more. Even, it's going to piss you off even more. You want to punish them now, right? Yeah. Did that happen in this fight?

Did you want to punish her? Yes, and not because I still have so much respect to her. So it's more about the sport side. Right. She was tough, though. We can play before the fight, but in the octagon there is not excuse, and it's more about the sport side, about the fight. so I must be focused on the time.

She took a lot of big shots. What are you thinking like, wow, what do I have to do to actually finish this person at any point? This fight was like nasty. I mean, like, you know, she got cut. Yeah. So I was punching her all the time. So I wanted to finish her quick, but I was ready for five rounds, both. That's all.

Did you think it went too long, like they should have stopped it earlier? Yeah. Yeah. It should happen in the second round. How did the German people? How did the crowd treat you? It was very nice. Yeah.

I could feel the energy. And lots of Polish people were there. So, yeah, I could hear them. So correct me if I'm wrong. I heard that in the arena, they were chanting Asha. Yeah. Asha is a short, it's still Joanna, but the short. Short name.

Asia, you write like Asia. Yeah, it's like your nickname. It's not. No. Like, you've got the, my twin sister, she's Kate. Okay. So, but the long name in Poland is Katarina and the short one is Kasia. So she is Kasia, I am Asha.

Asha and Kasia. Wow. Where does Asha come from in Yonah? I don't know. It's like still Joanna, but it's like unofficial. Unofficial, Yana. Not yet. That's not something that's unique to you.

Anyone whose name Yohanna would be called Asha? Yeah. And so the crowd was chanting this. Yeah. Why weren't they chanting Yowana, though? I don't know. More easy, Asha, Asha. Did you hear them in the fight?

Yeah, sure. That's pretty cool. Yeah, I like it so much. Did you know that all these Polish people coming? It's all that far, Poland and Germany, but did you expect that you would have that kind of, you know, a backing over there? Yes, yes, I did. Lots of friends. My family, my father, my boyfriend, my sisters were.

there. So, yeah. Also, do you live in the same apartment as your boyfriend, your sister and her husband? Yeah, because it's my apartment. Yeah. And my sister and her husband, they are living with me because they bought the apartment, but it's not finished yet. So we're living together.

Wow. Because they got married last year. So, but I'm happy because I'm very busy. You know, I'm training, doing other stuff all day. Sure. So they are there with me. So they help you out. Yeah.

So it's four of you. Yeah. Four of you living in... It's big apartment. It's big. Quite big, yeah. It's... How much longer, though?

Longer? How much longer are they going to stay with you? Like six, six months. Wow, that long. Yeah. They're doing renovations. But I'm happy, you know. Yeah.

It's a new apartment. Do they pay rent? We're sharing, you know. They pay some bills for the internet or whatever. Right, right. What does your boyfriend think of this? He might get a little annoyed, right? I mean, like, it's nice to have some privacy,

sometimes? We have. Yeah, yeah, okay. You know, I like to, I like when my family is around me, so I like it so much, you know. Yeah, yeah. Every weekend we're spending together. We're going to the countryside to my parents' house. Yeah. How far do your parents live from you?

It's like 20 kilometers. They were living in the same city, but they moved like eight years ago. It's a nice place, lake, forest. Oh, yeah. And this is your twin sister, right, that we're talking about? Do you have any other siblings? I have older sister. Do they fight?

No. Do they think you're crazy? One is accountant. The other is working at the office. Is she your accountant? My twin sister? Yeah, she is mine accountant. That's good.

Yeah. That's nice. But do they think you're crazy? Like when you were younger, did everyone always know that you would go into this kind of thing? Or did this surprise everyone? No, they didn't expect. What did you want to do when you were younger?

I don't know. I wanted to be a doctor or basketball. ball player I used to play but for a short time so but I'm happy that I am a MMA fighter you wanted to be an athlete yes but I didn't really have the pro athlete in my family so I didn't have the somebody to push me but I'm happy because now I am an idol of for my cousins how old are they like different age okay but you know you give them they like sport yeah you give them hope that they can be a pro athlete as well. But when you were growing up, the UFC wasn't popular

in Poland, right? Yeah. It was. Even, no. Oh, it wasn't? No, it wasn't. It was more about the pride at that time. Pride fighting. So what was the first time you recall watching MMA? You know, I didn't watch that much fights, you know. I was so busy. I was focused on my training. So that's all. But even before you started training, like just as a fan, as a person, you know, did you ever sit down and someone say, hey, you have to watch this? And then you start thinking, ooh, this is interesting. I could get into it. No, I don't think so. So even when you watch... It was more about me. Right. It's all about you, isn't it?

Yeah. Are you that kind of person? No, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm going to share with everyone. So when you saw pride, it was after you started training? No, it was more about Muay Thai and kickboxing that time. Right, right, right. So I started with MMA three years ago. But as a fan, did you watch kickboxing and boy tie on TV? Sometimes, just sometimes.

You know, there are two kinds of people. There are some people who say, like me, I'll be like, oh, I want to watch all the basketball on TV. And then there are some people like you who are saying, I don't want to watch, I want to do. Yeah, I'm doing this job, but I do not have time to watch even the EFC shows, you know. Really? Sometimes I do, but I do not have really time. for it. But also they're American time, so they're in the middle of the night. Who wants to stay up that late? It's difficult. Better to go sleep and take some rest.

Sure. Read the results in the morning. Yeah. Do you go on the web, like on the internet? Do you read Yeah, we've got some huge portal, portals, MMA portals in Poland. MMA rocks. Yeah. That's a good one, right? Yeah. Do you go to any of the American ones? UFCCOM? It's kind of a trick question. You're supposed to say MMAfighting.com. This website. Yeah. Right. One of your favorites. MMAfighting.com.

There you go. Yeah. Well done. What about the media there in Poland? Not just the sports media. Have they started to give you more love, more attention? Yeah. After my fight in Berlin, I went to Warsaw for two days for media.

So they knew more about MMA, about EFC, about female MMA. So I was kind of happy, you know. They're giving you respect. Yeah. I had lots of interviews. That's nice. Do you like doing that? Yeah, I like.

I like this part of my job. Sure. I want to ask you about something. I want to play you this clip. I was very surprised people are talking a lot about this. You were in a rap video. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Here it is. I think we're going to play it right here. It's my entrance song. That's your entrance song. That's right. There it is. Right? Oh, you can't hear it,

but you've heard this song before. Yeah. Can you tell me what is actually being said? There's you right there walking down the street. They want to, like, the story is about the girls, people from the, you know, the hood, from the city. Sure. So it's more about the motivation.

If you're not going to give up, you can be somebody. You can be a famous rapper or famous athlete, fighter, whatever. So was this song written for you? No. No. No, but I've got in touch with the clothing company. Okay. And they've got the music studio.

Uh-huh. So they've got... When was this done? Before you won the belt? Before. Before. Before. It was in 2012, probably. This is 2012. Yeah. So you're just Muay Thai here.

Yeah. Not even M.M.A. I had some. Some. Did people know who you were? Like you being in this video, was that a big deal at all? Or were you just someone that they're putting in because, you know, you're fit? Not that big.

Not that big, but, you know, I think sport and music is very close, you know. So I was happy that I could take part in this clip. Who's the rapper lady? Renna? Renna? Yeah. Is she a friend? Yeah, she's.

This is great for her because you said this was done in 2012. Yeah. So now it is a big deal. Yeah. Are you going to do another one? I would like to. Why not? Yeah, yeah.

It was nice. Even though I don't understand what is being said, I feel like. like I get the story. You like it? I love it. The music's great. I love hip-hop. But I like that it's like empowering women and you can, you know, don't let anyone push you, right?

I mean, that's kind of what's going on. And you come out to the song every time? Yes, I do. I like it. Is Polish rap big? I mean, rap in Poland? Very big. It is big.

Is that your favorite? Yes, it is. But I like Justin Timberlake as well. Really? So much. Yeah, I like him. Why Justin Timberlake? Because I'm so girly, you know.

sometimes. I feel like you're, you try to fight your girliness. Like, you don't want to be as girly as... You know, I'm like, me sporty, you know? Sure. Sporty spice. Yeah. Right, yeah, yeah. So it's all about the sport, you know.

If you can meet one American celebrity, would it be Justin Timberlake? Yeah, why not? That would be your dream. Why not? You know, he's friends with Dana White. No, I didn't. Yeah. So I must talk to Dana tonight.

He's a big UFC fan. He tweets about UFC all the time. Okay, I didn't know. Could you imagine if you met Justin Timberlake? Wow, look at that. Actually, funny story. Dana was at an award show with his kids, and apparently Justin Timberlake was a little rude.

And he went in interviews and stuff and was like, oh, that Justin Timberlake, he's not a nice guy. Oh, look, you're bleeding over there. Was that you? No. Oh, the guy. Oh, because you beat him up. Nice.

Well done. Anyway, where's your name in this whole thing? Does it come up? I don't know. That's not cool. You're the biggest star of the whole thing. I must talk to them. Yeah. Oh, there it is. Yeah. Here I am.

Anyhow. So Dana was talking, oh, Justin Timberlake's not good. And then they became friends. Like, it was a big story. Like if you Google Dana White Justin Timberlake. I will check it later. Wow, what a moment that would be. You get to actually meet Justin Timberlake. Okay, so back to your career. We have this fight on August 1st. Are you going to be there in Rio? I think you should be there. Claudia Gedelia versus Jessica Aguilar.

Probably, but now I'm thinking about the holiday. taking some rest. Sure. Because I just fought last week, eight, nine days ago. Sure. So I'm going to stay in the U.S. for two weeks longer. So then I would like to go home and go for holiday with my boyfriend. Okay.

So after this, you're going to L.A.? Yep. Then to Vegas, then to San Diego. Right. Jessica Andrea are going to fight there. She's under the same management as I am. Are you friends with her? I didn't meet her.

Okay. But... Supporting. Yeah, we've got the same management, so I want to support her. So you're going to... Then I will go to... Let's Go probably. Oh, really?

Yeah. For the EFC fight night. To be like a guest fighter? Yep. So then Rio, August... It's too much, right? Yeah, it's too far, I think. Yeah.

But I say yes, but I think I'm going to change my plans. Yeah, you deserve some time off. Yeah, thank you. Who do you think is going to win that fight? I think clubia gadela. You think so? I would like to. Why?

You want to get a rematch? Yeah, sure. Why? You want to prove that it wasn't as close. Yeah. I just want people to talk about me, not about the close fight with Gadela, you know. Do you feel like that's... This is what I'm going to do.

That's the one thing that's still lingering out there that... Not at all, not at all, but, you know, I'm a champion. I defend my title, so I want to do it with Gadela. Sure. do you feel like, I mean that wasn't that long ago but it feels like a lot has changed. You have two dominant wins. I mean, the fight happened.

I'm a different fighter. Yeah, that's what I was going to ask you. I'm a different fighter and Claudia Godella did a few steps back. You know, she didn't fight for a long time. Yeah. Yeah, I'm different and I'm going to win easy this time. So how are you a different fighter? No, I'm better.

Now I know that I've got the chaos power. You know, my wrestling defense is getting. better and better. Yeah. So I can, I can, I really can play on the ground, even with Gadela, you know. Did you not have that confidence back in December in your ground game? What? Did you not think, okay, maybe I shouldn't.

Like, now you feel, you feel very confident, right? Yeah. When you fought her in December, was it different? Yeah, it was my second fight for UFC. And, you know, I fought with the best fighters, you know, but I didn't fight with, that good grappler. So it was something new for me. It was the second fight in the strawweight division.

So now I'm different, really different. How about the weight cut? Are you comfortable with it? Yeah, it's easy. Yeah, no problem. Not bad, yeah. And also, she kind of threw that punch after the end of the fight, right?

I don't care about that. You don't care about that? I forgot about it. Were you mad at the time? Yes and not. She said sorry because she realized that she could get some problems because of that but yeah

that's it she wasn't honest you don't believe that she's sorry yeah so maybe you are pissed off you're going to make her pay no I'm not no no no no but for the record and what do you know about Jessica Aguilar because a lot of people say she's still number one

she's not she's not she didn't yeah she fought some good female fighters but she's not that good I think you know I you're not impressed I watch her one fight but I don't think so that she's going to win with Gadela. There seems to be this thought now that there's a very big gap between you and everyone else. No one's close to you.

Yeah, yeah. Do you agree with that? Yes, but I know I must be very focused. I must pay attention. I must work harder than before because they're going to watch me, you know. All of them, they're going to watch me, you know. Who's the biggest threat in your opinion to you? I don't know.

Who worries you the most? Nobody. Nobody. Wow. Some people, including Matt Brown, you know, Matt Brown, UFC fighter? Yeah. He fights at 170, the immortal. In the past, he said some negative things about women's in May, but after your fight, you heard about this?

Yeah. He was asking if you're the best striker, period. Do you think you're the best striker in the UFC? I don't know. I don't know. Now you're being humble. We're not used to you being humble. Okay, I am.

You are? Yeah. You believe that. Yes. When you watch other people, you say, I'm better than these people. No, they're doing great job, you know, but I like to watch my fights. Sure. You'd rather watch yourself than other people.

No, no, no, no. I'm not selfish. How many times did you watch the Jessica fight? Just one time. That's it. It's in Open TV right now. So Extreme Sports Channel in Poland, I've got the day. deal between the UFC.

So, yeah, I watch it. When you walk down the street, now that it's on open TV, do people recognize you? A little bit more, yes, yes. You know what's interesting? You never fought for KSW. No. How come?

Because I was focused on UFC. I knew that I want to fight for the best organization and they are simply the best, you know. But in Poland, people are more about the Polish organization. But even when you were coming up, you never fought for them. First fight, second fight? No, no. I would think that they would want.

You know, it was, for me, it was always more about the sports side than about being a superstar, you know? Because it's in open TV, the fighters are very popular in Poland. But for me, I don't care about this part of my job, you know. But now it's all coming together, now you're becoming popular and... I want to be elegant. I want people to remember about me as like a fighter, you know? Not about the superstar.

But what I'm saying is it feels like both are coming together. You're fighting. You're getting respect. Now it's time for... The superstar to come out. Yeah. What about your mic skills? You know this term?

Mike skills? No. Yesterday on the show... Yeah. Excuse me. Last week on the show I said, I don't know what impressed me more. What you did in the cage or what you said after the fight. You're very good on the microphone.

You were saying, who's next? Oh, my God. It's unbelievable. It's different. It's not like Connor McGregor. But actually you kind of remind me of him in a sense because you're very confident. Yeah. And you exude confidence.

You ooze confidence, as they say. And you almost like call your shot. Like there's like not even a chance that you're going to lose. And he's like that. You know, are you fan of his? Yes, I am. Okay. You have to think about it for a second.

Why? You can't lie to us here. He brings something fresh, new. So, yeah. It's going to be interesting fight. What don't you like about him? Hmm. I don't know.

Okay. I don't know. Fair enough. Anyhow, who taught you how to speak so well on the mic? Did you study people? Were you one who watch videos and say, oh, I want to be like that? No. It's a big part of the game, right?

You're just being yourself? Yeah. That's it. Yeah. You have no inspiration. You know, it's... I want people to know about me, you know, more and more, you know. I'm not a typical female fighter, you know?

I'm the best. This is what I say. And I'm going to keep this belt. And I do not going to. give up. So I just wanted to let them know that they must pay attention. I feel like for you, you don't want to even be known as a great female fighter. You just want to be a great fighter. Yeah. That's important. Yeah. That's true. And I think you're getting that respect. Thank you so much. I think Rhonda is getting their respect too. But again, as a striker,

it's very interesting to hear, you know, fellow male strikers who sometimes could be a little bit, you know, chauvinistic, as they say, they look down on the few. Here, they're just saying that you're on the same level as the Chuclidels of the world and all that. That's a huge deal. Look at you. It is. It's big. I'm happy. Yeah. You think you could get even better? Like we haven't even seen the beginning. I'm getting better and better. So it's good. It's all about my team, my sparring partners, my management. So I'm very happy, you know. I've got a chance. I've got the talent. And now I'm working so hard to be the best. Yeah. And how long you want to do this for? For maybe four years longer. That's it. Maybe five. Maybe five.

Wow. And then we'll see. I want to be a hell of fame, you know. Yeah, of course. Not young anymore. What are you? 27? I'm going to turn 28 next month.

Yeah. In two months. So that's not. But you don't want to be 40 in fight. No, you know, but I'm thinking about my private life in the future. Of course. Family. Your boyfriend's supportive?

Yeah. Yeah. Is he a big fight fan? He is. He is. Like before? He was a football, soccer player. Soccer player.

Soccer player. He was. So, yeah, he's a big fan of me. It's got to be amazing, yeah. I would think he's your biggest fan. Maybe your parents. Yeah, my father. On the beginning, he didn't like it,

but now he's like one of the biggest fans. I can imagine. His little girl beating people up. Yeah. Amazing. So, you know, now we're starting to learn more about Polish culture, Polish athletes. You're putting Poland on the map as far as MMA is concerned.

You're the most famous Polish fighter in the world right now, right? So I wanted to play a game with you Okay Before I let you go It's called Name that poll Not yet, not yet Take it away Take it away

Yeah Okay so you know Polish people They're called Poles right So I started doing a lot of research And there's a lot of famous Polish people In the history of mankind A lot of people that I didn't know were Polish

So you made me do my research So I'm going to show you a picture Okay Of a Polish person And you have to tell me What their name is Who they are I will try

Do you feel like you know lot about Polish culture, Polish history? Yes and not. Okay. No, I'm focused on my job, you know. Yeah, but these are people. Of course, you have to know. Yeah.

Okay, so the name of this game is called Name that Poland. Guess what? We have some music. Do we have the music ready? There it is. Oh, you can't hear it. Put the headphones on just so you can enjoy the music. This is called, I don't know if they play this in Poland, but it's called Polka

music, right? Polka, yeah. You know this? Yeah. This is nice. Okay, so this is it. There you go. Can you dance Polka?

No. Okay, all right, so here's our first Polish person. There he is. This is a very famous man. Do you know who this man is? Mikkovi Copernic. There you go. Nicholas Copernicus.

Born in 1473, died in 1543. Who is he? Tell us quickly. Astronomy? Yes, a mathematician, astronomer, physician, a scholar. In my city, we've got the castle, and we've got the big figure of Michael. You know, I didn't know that he was actually Polish. Copernicus. How did you say?

say his name again. Mikhail. Michael, yeah. Oh, that's right. Okay. Copernicus. Yeah, his nose. Yes.

Similar to Jessica's. Wow. Well done. Great haircut as well. So there he is. There's our first one. So you're one for one. Well done.

He was born in Thorn, by the way. It was a city in Prussia, an autonomous region in the old kingdom of Poland. Okay, there we go. Don't cheat. You're looking at the names. What's going on here? All right, here's the next one. Here we go.

Name that pole. Who is that man? Chopin. Wow. Wow, look at you. Frederick Chopin, born in 1810, died in 1849. What a young man he died. Tell us about him.

What do you know about him? Now I forgot, you know. Okay. Obviously a very famous penis. He's like one of the famous, yeah. Sure, sure. He was born in Zelazoa. Zelazov, Vola.

Yes, very good. And near the Krakow, where was the UFC Fight Night? Oh, that's right. In Warsaw. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, he died at 39 years old.

Wow, how about that? Okay, so two for two. How about this? Are you having fun? This is good. Look at you representing Poland. Okay, here we go. Here's number three.

Name that poll. Maria Konopnizka? I mean, this is unbelievable. I'm more impressed with you right now than I am in your fighting. She was a writer. Not quite. She was a physicist. And a chemist.

Isn't Konopnitka? It's, oh, no. Quodowska, Korea. Yes. Yes. Yes. But she looks like. I thought you said the same thing.

No. Oh, okay. I said Konopnikka, but I want to say to Curry. Mary Curry. Chemistry, yeah. I had no idea she was Polish. Yeah. Unbelievable.

This is a legend right here. So Mary Curry, a Polish physicist and chemist. She's arguably the most famous female scientist ever. Like you're the most famous female fighter, female scientist. She was born in? I don't know. Warsaw. Warsaw.

Yeah. She passed away in 1934. Well done. Okay. So now you are, I'm going to give you that one. Okay. Okay, so you are three for three. All right, let's go to our next one.

This is a tough one, by the way. Name that poll. Easy? Carol Voitewa. Oh, how about, so this was interesting. When I was looking for his picture, all the pictures were him wearing the Pope. Too easy. My guy in the back, New York Rick, said there's no way you're going to get this.

There he is. Pope John Paul, you're not a fan. Yeah, I'm big fan. Oh, you're big fan. I've got like lots of emotions right now. Why? Why is that? Because I am a Catholic.

you know, so he's like an icon for me, you know. Pope John Paul II. He's Saint right now. He's what? Santh? What's that? Saint like... Saint.

Saint? That's right. Carol Wojsh? Vojtewa. Voitewa. Wow. John Paul II. John Paul II.

Where was he born? In Wadovice. That's right. Oh my gosh. You really know your stuff. I wouldn't know this about Canadian people. How long did he last as a poll? How long was his tenure?

I don't know. I don't remember. 26 years 26, yeah How about that? He was the 80 something, yeah Did you know he was the youngest

Pope? Yeah. Ever? Yeah. Amazing. Okay, now it gets a little tougher by the way, okay? So, so far you're four for four.

Okay. Are you having fun? Yes. Do you want to have some donut? No, later. Maybe later. All right, here we go. Let's go to our next one.

Name that poll. Polanski. What is going on here? He's a director, yes? Yes. An Academy Award winning four-time nominated

Polish film director Roman Polanski, born in 1933. Lots of bad stories about him. This guy is a controversial figure. You know, he's had a very tough life. But he was living in Italy, probably, yeah? Yes, yes. You know, he lived in during the World War II and he had to hide because he's Jewish. But what happened? His wife, his wife. Was it his wife? Yes, his wife was murdered. Oh, I didn't know. Yeah, she was pregnant. Her name was Sharon Tate. In 1969, Tate, who was pregnant at the time, was murdered by serial killer Charles Manson's sect, but then in 1978, Polansky pleaded

guilty in the United States to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13 year old and then he had to flee, right? Bad news. That's bad stuff. Okay, so there he is. Roman Polanski, look at you. On fire now, five for five. You are killing it. Okay, let's go to the next one. I think, I don't know if you're going to get this one. Here we go. Lech Valenzza,

Polish president. The Polish president himself. Say it again. Lech Valenza. Is he still the president? No, long time ago. It was communist that time. That's right. So do people like him or not like him? Yes, so much.

They like him. What about Polansky? They don't like him. They like him. Controversial. Yeah, controversial. Yeah. So anyhow, this is the former president of Poland.

He's a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. And he's credited with changing the Polish political system. So people like him. Solidarity. Yes, there it is. Solidarity. In 1989, after the fall, of the Soviet Union, he persuaded leaders from the formerly communist parties to form the first

non-communist coalition government. Unbelievable. He's still alive? Yes. Yes. You know, it's interesting. In 2000, he ran for president, but didn't get any support. Did you know that?

Yeah. Why? I don't know. You vote? It got changed, you know. Do you vote? That time not. But now you do.

Yeah, I do. I feel like people want to have you on their side. I feel like a lot of people. the politicians. You know, last time they chose new president. Yeah. So I've got lots of pictures that they put me on the list, you know. Wow. That's dirty. And you didn't make it made fun of it. Okay. So this so now we're six for six. Yeah. This is amazing. Did you think you would do this well? I didn't think so. Okay, here we go. This one's tough. I don't know if you're going to get this one. Here we go. Name that poll. I don't think you're going to get

you know, I feel this is a, you know, it's almost not fair on my part. This man is Mike Shoshiewski. Do you know who Mike Shoshchewski is? No. Well, he's Polish-American. His family is from Poland, but he's a very famous basketball coach. He is a coach for Duke University, one of the greatest coaches of all time. Hall of Fame are legend. So I didn't know. He's the son of a Polish-American.

Catholic parents. This man, you need to know who he is. Mike Shishowski. So it's a bit of a trick. I tried to trick you, but he's Polish-American. You see his name, Sheshvsky. K-R-Z-Y-Z-Z-E. Shishvsky.

She was born in Chicago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow, you got good eyes. How about that? All right, so you learned something new? Yeah. Very nice. Okay, so I still say you're six for six.

That was kind of a curveball. Okay, who's next? Name that poll. How about that? Yonna Krupa? Wow. So what do people think about her? She's very famous model here and she's on TV.

She's working for TV, doing some, you know, all kind of stuff. She's very famous. Do you like her? They are laughing about her accent because she speaks more English than Polish but she's very nice You like her? Yeah, I like her

Have you ever met her? No Beautiful lady Yeah, she is Yeah Lots of famous Polish models Are beautiful Yep

And are famous But she's famous here in the US Because I think she has a reality show or something Yeah probably Do they follow her over there in Poland They don't like her anymore No, they like her They do

But they're bigger names She's getting a little old, right? Yeah. Yeah. Anyhow, this was a younger picture of Joanna Krupa or Yohanna Krupa. No, but she still looks the same, you know. Still looks the same. Always young.

Where was she born? I don't know. Warsaw. Warsaw. She's been in every single magazine possible. Okay, there she is. Still alive, 1979. She was born.

Okay, here's the next one. Name that poll. This is another tough one. How about that? What do you think? Marching Gortat? No, close. So I was going to do Marching Gortat, but that would be too easy, right?

This is Machek-Lechek-Lech. Lampé. Lamp. You know him? Yeah, I heard. You heard of him. You know what's a funny story about him. He was drafted by my beloved New York Knicks way back when, like in 2000 or something.

And I really thought he was going to be a great player. But then they traded him to Phoenix for Stefan Marbury. Is he a big deal there? Not really? It's more about Marcin Gortat. He's the best. Yeah. The most famous NBA player?

Yes, he's doing the charity game between the Polish army and famous people. So he's You were supposed to play in it, right? Yeah, I'm supposed to, but I cannot because of the injuries. That's too bad. Are you upset? I'm not. I'm going to watch it.

You're going to go there? Maybe I will see. On TV? Yep. No, I'm going to be in Glasgow. Oh, okay, okay. Was that the first time they asked you to do it, to be a part of it? Yes.

That's a big deal. Yep. Have you ever met, Marcheen? No. He's wearing a Polska. But we have the same friends. Oh, wow. He's wearing the, that's the national team?

Probably is. Yeah. Mucha clumpy. I wonder if he's still playing these days. I think he's actually playing in Spain. He's born in Lodz. Wich. Wudge.

How about that? Horrible. Why are we so bad at speaking the Polish names? It's very embarrassing. Okay, here's our next one. Name that poll. Here we go. How about that?

Dorota Ravcheska, the nickname Doda. Doda. I heard that she is the... Your eyes are big. Well, she is a very nice-looking lady. a Polish Britney Spears Yes, she is

Yeah How do people feel about her? Different Do you like her? Like a Yes Pop star Yes, she is

Yeah You know she has Hebrew writing On her arm over there You see that? Yeah You know what that says? That means To love Radik

Radik, yeah Her husband He was a soccer player Okay Now he's like A superstar Imporn Kind of like

Celebrity, yeah. Like a socialite? Yeah. How do you feel about them as a couple? Not a fan. They're not together anymore. Oh, what happened? I don't know.

So she has a tattoo with his name and they're not even together. It's crazy. That is crazy. That's why, don't do it. Don't do it. How do you feel about marriage? Do you want to get married? Yes, I want to.

But no tattoos and names. No. It's just, what's the point? Yeah. Yeah. Is she still famous? Kind of. Yeah.

Do you listen to her music or no? No. Okay. Here we go. Name that poll. We only got two more left. How about this guy? Actually, this is the last one. This is a tough one, but I wanted to keep him last. Close. You know, it's funny. I was going to do Andrew Golata. Let me think. Okay, okay. So this is another tricky one. It's an American.

Is it a wrestler? Yes. Was he the wrestler? Polish Canadian. I don't know. Killer Kowalski. You know him? No. Walter Killer Kowalski. One of the greatest. professional wrestlers of all time. Oh, so I didn't hear about...

He's the son of Polish immigrants and he grew up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I mean, this is a legend right here. This man has trained many of the great wrestlers of today. You're going to read about him. I thought it would be good. Galada too easy. Killer Kowalski.

That man, I mean, it doesn't get any bigger than him. I must check. Do you like professional wrestling? Not at all. Okay. You didn't grow up watching that? It's very popular in America, but in Poland, not that much. No.

Maybe that's why you don't know Killer Kowalski. All right, so there it is. Name that poll. What did you think? Yeah, I had fun. You had fun. Sometimes I don't know if you're telling you the truth. Did I win some? Yes, you want a third donut, which I have right over here for you. And this newspaper. I should have done that at the end as you're present. But I got to say, I was really impressed with your knowledge, especially of the early ones, because I didn't know Shopan, Maric.

I didn't know that they were from Poland. Yeah. Because Chopin's a French name. Yes, it is, kind of. And soon one day, you know what, in 50 years. someone's going to play this game and you're going to be up there as one of the famous Polish people and there'll be a young girl or guy and you'll be, is that what you want? You want to be known?

Is that what you're most proud of, your Polish heritage? Yes, why not? Yeah, we would like to. Maybe one day, MMA will be in the Olympics and you can represent your country. We see? I'm going to be very old at that time. That's true. Well, maybe not.

What's the dream? Now you're a UFC champion, your Reebok athlete. I presume you're making some good money. You have a nice boyfriend. Yep. What's the next dream? I just want to be healthy, stay close to my family, and other things will come. They will come.

No rush. No. All right. Well said. I appreciate you coming in. Thank you so much. This has been an honor. Yeah, this has been an honor for us.

You are a great ambassador, and I think that, like I said, I think I said it to you a couple weeks ago, you are the breakout star of 2015. Who knows? By the end of the year, you might be the fighter of the year at this point, right? You're killing it. So congratulations to you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

And it was a real pleasure for us. There she is. Yohanna Youn Jacek. Yeah. Almost good. One day. One day we'll get it. For now, we can just call her Yawanna Champion.

That is 100% correct. She is in New York for the big Reebok UFC fight kit unveiling tomorrow. It's at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. You can watch it on UFC.com, other websites as well. Do you know what you'll be doing over there? Have they told you? It's like some kind of fashion show? Yeah, fashion show.

Wow. I'll be there too. That's nice. Cool. You sound excited. So yeah, it's going to be some kind of fashion show. Some of the best fighters in the world are going to be there, and I hope you get to meet Ronda Rousey.

That'll be cool. That'll be fun. All right. What are you doing the rest of the day, by the way, in New York? I'm going to meet my cousin and in the evening. I will have some dinner with Dana, Lorenzo, and other fighters. Oh, my. I'm happy.

Do you get a little nervous around those guys because they're so... No. I don't know them. Most of them I don't know. Sure. Yeah. Dana is a big fan. From day one, right?

He was on that bandwagon. He called me after the fight, you know. I was crying like a baby in the changing room. Why? I don't know, because I've got so emotion. Uh-huh. And, you know, he said that he's happy for me and he's happy that I am part of the UFC. But it's important for me, you know.

I'm happy that I can be part of UFC. Sure. And so were you crying? You know, the biggest dreams come true and because of EFC and I'm very happy, you know. So I was crying like a baby and I could hear that Dana was happy, but he's got the emotions as well. Sure. So it's a beautiful thing. But after the phone call, everyone was looking at us, at me.

And I was like, I like crying. And I was like, what? They fight at me. And they were like, oh, stop. What is going on? So you were crying because he called. Yeah. Because it was like after the fight.

You know, I won. I did good job. So I was very happy. Very nice. All the emotions come out. You can relax. I'm very soft. I like that. I can appreciate that. All right. So all the best to you again. Thank you and your team for coming here. There she is. Once again, you want a champion. And we're going to take a little break here to reconfigure. So in the meantime, we're going to go inside the vault. We're going to go back to February of 2011. The last time, in my opinion, that we had a great European champion in studio. This was the old days. the AOL days, we had the great Fyodor Emilianenko. You know him? Yeah. Are you a fan? Yes, I am. Have you ever met him? Nope.

Okay. Anyhow, in February of 2011, he was in studio on this show. Oh, that's nice. So we're going to play this clip as we say goodbye to Yohanna and reconfigure the studio, and we'll be back in a minute right here on the MMA hour. It's the mixed martial arts hour is back in your life on this Monday, February 7th. 2011 and dare I say Josh the biggest show in our two-year history what do you think yes the biggest bar none you know we made a lot of promises on this show we've offered a lot of things to you guys

but I don't think we've offered anything quite like this I'm so excited for this show let me just say that in the second hour we will be joined by John cholish and Giann valante who are competing on the strike force Silva versus Fador card this Saturday night at the Ozza Center in new Jersey and of course the main event of that show features a very much anticipated heavyweight fight between Antonio Bigfoot Silva and Fyodor Amelianenko. Fyodor Emilienenko, what a huge name in this sport, a man who we told you was going to be on several months ago. Unfortunately things didn't happen. But today, my friends, we've done one better than getting him on the telephone. He is in studio with us right now, joining us live and in the flesh.

Fyodor, Emilienenko. How are you, sir? I'm fine, thank you. Thank you so much for coming. It means a lot to me that you would take some time out of your schedule to come here. This is, without a doubt,

the most anticipated show in our history. Thank you very much for your warm words. Thank you. And you know what? I wanted to offer you a present for coming here

as a sign of my gratitude for you coming, so I got you this. It's a little small, but this, for me to you, some, this is Russian vodka, right? Is this the real deal or is this a kind of American knockoff? It's normal, not a natural or is it sort of American kluke. I'm not an expert in vodka. If you want, if the interview is getting boring, you can have some. If not, you can share it with your friends.

Okay, I'll share with my friends. Very good. Okay, so we have a lot to talk to you about, so let's get right to it. A lot of people have been very anxious to see you fight again. Your last time that you competed was in June. Why has it taken you so long to compete? You're fighting on Saturday night, but why has it taken you so long? Very many people now with no longer.

All are very happy and are, because the last year's It was only in June and what now, why that's a big a period? Why had been so much time to

return to return to? We had not we could come to come to the company Strike Force.

But now all good, but I've been a new contract and all all

both of all basically, I think I'm now, I will now now

I'm going to It took us some time to negotiate with strike force company, but right now the situation is great. We agreed on all contract issues, so the contract is prolonged, and right now I will be coming to America more often. How many fights was this contract for? How many fights was this contract? I don't know. Vadim, say it.

Maybe I'm not going to speak about that right now. That will be Vadim who will come and talk about that. Very well. So I'm wondering, obviously when we saw you last compete, tough night for you. You lost to Fabrice Roudoum. Technically, the first loss of your career,

you had lost many moons ago, but due to a cut, and a lot of fight fans didn't really consider that a loss. How did you deal with the fact that you had just lost? When you went home and thought about it, how did you come to terms

with the first loss of your career? How you how you were with your first with your first there was a there was a

very technical pernation when you put in but first the first kind of the first time this was

what was you've got how you have been when you were ever when you were when you were

back back back back back, I've never never, I've never never ever I've,

I've lived, I'm I'm I'm don't know about this so after the fight, I came back home immediately.

But I was not really very nervous about that loss. I continued to live the way I used to. And frankly speaking, I didn't think about that and I don't think about that. So everything in his life goes its way. I thought you were very humble after suffering the first loss of your career. And I'm wondering, and some people obviously like to look deeper into words,

I'm wondering if you considered walking away from the sport after suffering your first loss, retiring. I think, like you, like people, have you, like, your loss, not been, have you been, you know, after this perjohn, to, you know, to, you, to, you, to, you, to, you, to, know, to go, to go, to-poy. I have

I've already I've got not because because there's because it's a because of the year

for the all the sportsman of the age, I think I think I'm going to

think about to think about the career and and the trauma are

they're they're they're not I'm I'm I'll be

I'm to tell the truth are certainly I was thinking and I'm thinking about retiring, but this is not because of the laws.

I used to think about that before it. This is just because of the age, because of my age, because for the heavyweight sportsmen, my age is considered to be a pretty big one. So sometimes I'm thinking about maybe, you know, finishing my sport career because also my former injuries, you know, remind about,

started reminding. about themselves but I hope that I still will have some time to fight. How many more years would you like to fight for? How many more years? I think maybe about a year

and after it it's God's will. A year meaning you only like to think for a year period and not really think about... A lot of people say if you want to make God laugh tell him your plans for the future, right? So does he only like to think in one year intervals, or does he think maybe in a year he could be done?

You think, as you're, like, when we're building our plans, God, God, God, God, you're going to be able to be or, you think, you'll be to and go ahead? I'm a contract, is, I'm, like, for sure, for example, For a lot, a little more. And so,

I hope about only on the Holy God. And in no any of any case, not goaded in the period.

My contract, which was signed, it was signed for a year, maybe a little bit more. But to tell the truth, definitely,

I rely on God's will and I don't make any plans because everything in God's hands. So they have offered you a

fight against Antonio Bigfoot Silva. That's your first fight back, and it's part of this Heavyweight Grand Prix. I'm wondering, what did you think of the Grand Prix when it was first, you know, presented

to you, do you think that this is something that can really put the Strike Force heavyweight division on the map? What you think, when you're, like, now, this, right here in the tournament, this grand prix, and what you think, how you're trying to reactively, when you're and how you think it, it's, like, it, kind of, it will, kind of, it will, kind of, will be strike force and will give him this tournament

I very very good I'm very much I'm very much in every every round will be still more

more strong sportsmen this always interesting and I've really used in this tournament

in this what what what's what is of the Vesdares, then I think that

Strike Force will be popular because All right, so that's Fyodor Amalienenko, you heard enough of that.

That's from February of 2011, the old AOL days. That was a real thrill back then to have the legend

himself in studio prior to the Bigfoot Silva fight. So he was in between losses. as it would come to be, and that translator was quite the character as well.

Thank you very much, though, to Yowana Yowin Jacek for stopping by. That was a lot of fun. I enjoyed having her in studio and playing that game. You know, sometimes it's fun to let loose a little bit with so much going on in the world of mixed martial arts. Of course, I failed to mention at the top of the show just because we had a guest in studio that we are coming off a huge win, a career-defining, at least for now, for one Yowell Romero and that was on Saturday over Leo Machita. Some controversy if you want to call it afterwards. We will weigh in on all of that later on in the show as we take your questions and

comments. So of course a lot going on in the world of mixed martial arts as always. 189. Still kind of up in the air. The event will happen. Connor McGregor will be there. Aldo's participation perhaps up in the air. We'll get to all that. Don't worry. And of course we are covering this story. from all different angles with Edgar Mendez and John Kavanaugh and Joe Nash later on in the show. So we got you covered. For now, though, we have some pretty exciting news to discuss. We are being joined right now on the phone by the former CEO of Cage Warriors Fighting Championships. I'm talking to Graham Boylan, who joins us right now from, I believe, London, England.

Is that correct, Graham? Hi Ariel. I'm actually in France at the moment. I'm helping a friend with a bit of work in France, which is why I've had a bit of problem trying to get Wi-Fi to speak with your guys in Skype, so we've got to do this on the phone. Not a problem. I wanted to see your face, but your voice will suffice for now. Thank you very much. So that's quite kind of you. Well, it is a pleasure to have you on the program for the first time. Of course, Cage Warriors, if they're not. There is someone out there, and I'm assuming if you've seen this show, if you watch this show, you know all about Cage Warriors, produce some of the biggest names now in the UFC, including Yawanna Young-Jechek, who her last non-UFC fight was for you in Cage Warriors. Of course, Connor McGregor, Cajal Pendred, Ashling Daly, some of the biggest Irish names fought for you as well.

But recently, you announced that you were leaving Cage Warriors as CEO, and its future was very much in doubt. A lot of people are just kind of assuming that Cage Warriors was no more. But then yesterday, excuse me, last week on Twitter, you said you tweeted that your six-month break is over and you were kind of itching to get back in there. So explain to us what's going on. In December after our last London show, we had a lot of big meetings and they dragged into January. We had a lot of fighters on the roster and there was a lot of things going on internally with the current owners. so it was it was time for me it was a five year

six day a week 24 seven run when we ran cage warriors and did what we did like 60 something 68 shows or something internationally it was a long five years and it was life

for five years in and out just like you're doing now so I took a break out I taught an off and off I'm not going to wait around for the meetings to finish and eyes to be dotted and teased to be crossed and called it a day. And over the past week, we've had a, out of business brought me back to speaking with the guys.

And we finished up Friday. And I've acquired the brand. Wow. So you are the sole owner? Correct. Was that something you were looking to do? No, never something I was looking to do I was hoping everything would move on in the direction that I had been moving

because in the end of 2014 I left a pretty large brand and a large organization considered to be one of the top five in the world there to move forward with all the deals that we had put in place and there was a lot of countries we had partnerships with to move forward and carry the brand on. And I think a lot of things stopped.

Everything moving forward. And they didn't really feel the love to move forward. And a lot of deals didn't happen. That was supposed to happen. And I wasn't a priority for the current move forward. So, like I said, other business brought me back into a meeting They're friends, friends of mine, and I love them dearly. But at the end of the meetings, we reached a deal where I've acquired the IP,

and I know Home Cage Warriors. Well, congratulations on that. Are you, like I said, do you have any partners, any backing of any kind, or is it 100% you? It's 100% me for now, but I've got a lot of meetings when I arrived back in London with a lot of people who have contacted me out of an email I sent out last week because some previous people I was talking to. And what you got to remember

Cage Warriors was owned by a bunch of investors in the Middle East, and we had a lot of potential alcohol sponsors and gaming sponsors, which weren't allowed for religious reasons and cultural reasons. Who were the shows who the went on, but now that it's solely me, I can reopen all those doors and all those talks again and move her forward.

What I want for the brand, there's one giant step and leap, what I want for the brand. And, you know, it may be rebranded to something else with the people I'm speaking to, providing we can come to some kind of arrangement and all moves forward in the right direction. So why even consider rebranding when I feel like the Cage Warriors name, especially as of late with the success of Connor and some of the other Irish fighters, means a whole lot, you know, it means a lot right now, a lot more than it did just a few years ago. Why would you consider rebranding? I think the rebrand when you see the name of it may be something you may take that question back on. Hmm. Something that we know? I'll have to leave it at that for there. Let me have the talks first and see where it comes. Okay. So it seemed for a time that it was pretty much a dead promotion. Is it strange for you now? Like you thought you were done. You left. And now you're back. And now you're back in probably even more so than you were before because you're the owner. Is this a strange thing for you?

Well, I looked after a lot of guys in my time off. And I spent a lot of time. I mean, what do you got to remember? I own four gyms around the world. So I was never off off. I just wasn't. promoting and moving shows forward under the Cage Warriors' name. Sure. But I was still quite heavily involved looking after guys, looking after fighters and my gyms, etc. So it was nice to have time off shows, don't get me wrong. And it was me out of the picture, but I had a long think after I had meetings with my guys, and I told I've given this brand five years of my life, and we've taken it.

My team and I took this brand. from three cardboard boxes to one of the biggest shows in Europe. It's a big brand. It's a historic brand. And I'm not going to let it go that easy or let it just drift away, consider them what we've done over the past five years.

So I'll have these meetings over the next month to six weeks and we'll see what we're going to go with it. But the sounds of talks I've had already, we're not even sitting down with guys. It seems pretty positive. if yet. Back then, was it a profitable brand?

Do you feel like you can make money being an MMA promotion owner? No, it was always a profitable brand depending on the country you went to, Ariel, if you went to certain countries,

there was no profit involved. If you went to other countries, there was massive profit involved. And it depends on the industry that you're moving into who you're working with in what country. So Cage Warriors visited over

10 different countries. We put on shows in countries where most organizations wouldn't even dream are going. And there were big international shows and out of them

we produced big, big, big names. You know, I think Cage Warriors, in terms of giving guys to the big show, 60-something guys have gone to the EAC

since the inception of Cage Warriors. You know, that's a big number. Of course, yeah. It's a huge number. Something to be proud of. When's the first, show of the new Graham Boylan era? We'll try,

maybe get one or two in before the end of the year. Okay, once... Right now, right now, I'm more looking, I'm not looking at this, I'm even looking at this year. But there's talks on for maybe one or two before the end of the year. I'm speaking with a lot of people for 2016 to kick off.

I've already touched base with all my previous TV partners. They're all on board, so the TV footprint doesn't change. It'll still be shown in over 120-something countries. So that's still there. But there are the plans I want for what Cage Warriors stands for in Europe. And providing we can move those plans and get that plan to happen, I'll be a lot more happier for the brand to move in that direction.

Can you shed any more light on that? Not a lot right now. You know, providing the talks go well and the talks do happen, then maybe that's something that we'll be putting out there soon. But it seems quite easy and mystical, but unfortunately, it's just a huge plan that I want the brand to go in in the direction that I have gone. And until those talks I had, I don't know if it'll go there or not yet, but the talks are happening, which is a good thing.

There were some rumors that there were talks of Cage Warriors being on UFC FightPass, either the tape, library, or actual live events. Is that something that you're still interested in? Of course. I mean, I think Fight Pass is a great model. You know, any fight fan has got all MMA fights in one place. So to have Cage Warriors on there would be a massive, massive thing for European fight fans. and to boost

fight passing itself because right now I think you've got maybe 10 people in the UFC where all your fights are on. Cage Warriors. Joanna, your guest, champion has just left. Conor McGregor, Joseph Duffy, Nicholas Dalby,

Tom Breeze, Arnold Allen. Their entire history is in Cage Warriors, you know? So, to have all the future styles coming through Cage Warriors on that archive, along with going through with fight passes. It's a massive thing, and it's good for everyone

involved. So since purchasing the company recently, have you talked to the UFC? Have I thought... The company, I left. When I left back from January, I had been in long conversations with the UFC yet.

And I think you're aware of the news. So we will see where it goes as we lead forward. Okay, but you haven't talked to them in the last few days. since you bought the company again? Not in the last few days, no.

I'll pick up for them. Okay. You were famous for doing the New Year's Eve show and all that? Are you going to hope to do that this year? Is it too soon? It's a possibility. Like I said, this only happened at the end of the last week, and I spent most of last week weighing up

whether I was going to get involved enough. for over the past two months I've been inundated and it's been quite overwhelming the amount of messages, voicemails, calls, emails, Facebook messages, even though I'm not even on Facebook,

I've got a page there where people messes, but I don't want it. Okay. Asking for Cage Warriors to come back, asking for me to come back and do shows. You know, it was kind of the fans and the fans and the fighters and the managers and the clubs

and the amount of messages that I've had over the past two months on top of the conversation I had with the previous owners and the deal that was made. As parents of why I'm willing to step back and have these talks and move it forward from there. So I've gone out a few days of

weighing the options up, having these conversations, these meetings in the next couple of weeks and if it's back, it's back big. And... It's coming back bigger than... It's coming back bigger than what it was. So, possible expansion into the U.S., I know there was some talks of that as well.

Yeah, that was all laid down. I was all ready to go. Like I said, eyes and teas and dotting and crossing everything, held everything up. So I've got to re-engage and pick all those conversations back up to move that forward. so we can carry on producing the likes of Juana and Connor and everybody else that came from the promotion.

So I must have my team a game. We just got to play, play the cards out and see who's interested in coming to the table to play cards with us. Is the old team back? I know you had a very well-respected matchmaker and Ian Dean who was working for you. Is he back with you as well and some of the other people who worked with the old Cage Warriors?

anyone that was previously there I'd imagine we'll be more than happy to come back to him Ian Dean has always worked with me and we make a great team so Ian has carried on working for Cage Warriors the whole time while they were deciding what to do and he's fully on board moving forward as well so and you know the European scene since Cage Warriors did the last show in October has left a massive, massive vacuum. You know, there's nowhere for guys to fight. There's no exposure for them if they do get a fight on a show.

A lot of the shows that are running, there isn't a great deal of medicals that go on at those shows. Some shows don't even have doctors there. So a lot of the guys who are contracted to Cage Warriors, you know, it's been a massive eye open for them, clubs, coaches, and managers alike over the past four months, five months,

because it is very limited options that are there for them. So, it's good for the sport that Cage Warriors gets back in a full swing, which I'm pretty confident it will very soon.

So that these guys are somewhat to go and so that the bigger shows a year from now have the future Connor McGregors and the future Juana's and the future Joe Duffy's and Nicolese,

with Dowbies and Tom Breed's and Aaron and Allens because where are they going to come from and how are they going to develop if there's no shows now after only five, six months of Cage Warriors sitting on the shelf. Two last quick things. Are you going to still keep your management company? I know you represent the likes of Joe Duffy. I believe it's called and correct me from wrong, Intensity FM. Is that the name?

Intensity fighter management, yeah. Exactly. So are you going to still keep that? And also I want to know a perfect world. your first event be? If you can get everything together that you really want, when would that first event be? October, we'll hit October and we'll probably hit December. We got in the management company. We'll play out the Cage Warriors role for a bit and see where it goes, but it's probably another subject for another show. I could list at least 15 promotions.

10 to 15 promotions owners who have management companies attached to them. I think it's a I think it's a very in done thing within the MMA industry and because the sport is so small

it's something that is just let be as the sport grows and gets bigger. Obviously that's something that is something that needs to be washed out of the sport in time. But with the sport being the size that it is now, I think the days for guys running big organizations and shows and having a management company to build and push these guys, you know, it's everybody wins in that department

and until everybody stops doing, I don't think any one person is going to stop doing it. Very well said. I don't think there's financially in management, there is a massive money in it. it's more a case of the it's a win-win when you've got a promotion looking after a guy because that guy gets a lot of exposure and get to push forward

if he's got the talent and in time it's fingers crossed that that guy may be able to give something back towards what that promotion did for him you know so it's a maybe it's a subject for another show for a long debate

but there's a lot of pros and time So there's a lot of pros and cons on that. Sure, they have something in the boxing world called the Muhammad Ali Act, which prevents people, although it's come up as of late with PBC, whether or not they're going around that. But it's a fascinating topic for now. We have to say goodbye, but Graham, I really appreciate the time. Really great to have you on, and I'd love to have you on in the very near future. I congratulate you on this fantastic news.

For European MMA and MMA in general, I know a lot of people were big fans and sad when they thought Cage Warriors was no more. great to hear that you are the owner now and that the brand, at least this incarnation of the brand will live on. Maybe you'll have a new name, whatever, but it's great to see that this organization will continue to fight another day. And I want to thank you very much, by the way,

for coming on our show and breaking this news. It means a lot to us, and we appreciate it greatly. Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure to be invited on Ariel. And look after yourself and enjoy the rest of your show. Thank you. There he is. Graham Boylan, the new owner of Cage Warriors, news coming out of France where he is right now, but it's huge news for European MMA and MMA in general.

We appreciate his time greatly. For now, let us move along. Let us welcome in our next guest. This was a man who was looking at his phone passionately and maybe anxiously for around 24 hours or so, trying to see if he'd be Plan B for the Connor McGregor sweepstakes at UFC 189. That did not happen. Chad Mendes got the call, as you know, by now. We have to talk to Frankie Edgar to find out what he thinks of all this.

joins us right now on the phone. Frankie, are you there? I'm here, Mary. Oh, man. Hey, great to have you on the show, Frankie. So what was your reaction? You tweeted that amazing picture, you know, sitting there with your beautiful daughter,

looking at your phone, waiting for the call. What was your reaction when you found out you weren't going to get that call? Yeah, I was a little surprised by it. You know, I mean, I felt like somebody called and asked if I was willing to step in. So I almost wish they didn't ask me at all. You know, I hope so for nothing.

So did you find out from, you know, the media, the press release, or did they call you beforehand and say, look, this is why we didn't go with you? No, I found out actually that, that what I was told through my manager is that Aldo was going to be okay, take the fight. And then, but then later I read that, you know, the contingency plan would be Mendoes would get it if Aldo is hurt and I can't fight. but I mean, you know, I would like to have been considered, but I mean, it's got to be a tough spot for Mendez right now, you know, not knowing if he's still going to fight. You know, I'm sure he'll know before the 11th if he's going to be the guy, but still just to kind of be training and still not know that's got to be a tough spot too. Yeah, training, cutting weight, all that stuff. Were you prepared to do that, though? Were you prepared to prepare for, you know, the next 10 days or so, go to Vegas, cut the weight all that, just to be on standby?

I mean, I threw my hat in there. You know, I said I would. So if they said that's what I had it done, I mean, I already said I already committed to it. So I would have had it done it. You know, I would have liked to have known, you know, more indefinitely if I was going to fight or not. But, you know, like I said, I stepped up and said I would. So I got with that and take the role Mendez said. I know you mentioned your manager Ali, Abdel-Aziz, but have you had any discussions now with the UFC brass?

You were disappointed. and you know, you're always that guy, you're a very positive guy, and we appreciate that from you, but have you talked to any of the UFC people and said, look, why didn't I get this call? Why didn't I get this opportunity? Considering what I've done over the last few fights?

Yeah, you know, I mean, you know, the people said, and then there's number one defender. I guess they're going by numbers, but, you know, I, you know, kind of, you can't go away. I'm trying to have to get a,

I put my mouth here, but you, you know, you go by the rankings when, you got to go by the rankings all the time, not just sometimes. Yep. Of course, you're referring to someone like Alexander Gustafin getting a title shot or, you know, Nick Diaz, things of that nature, right? Correct. Correct, yes. And are you surprised, I mean, we, go ahead. No, no, yeah, you know, I mean, I understand the business, and that's what they're looking for it. I mean, you know, but in this instance, I felt like, you know, all right, you're talking with it.

He's number two, and he's number one, I'm number two. I mean, you know, it's a fine line right there. So, you know, they went with him and then he goes to me. I can't be crying about it right now, though. So since Mendez's first fight was Jose Aldo back at UFC 142, he defeated Cody McKenzie, Yautzine Meza, Darren Elkins, Clay Grida, Nick Lentz. Then he lost to Aldo. I'm just running through who Mendez has fought as of late. He lost to Aldo at 179, and he returned to defeat Ricardo Lama.

Since you fought Aldo, you defeated Charles Olivaura, B.J. Penn, Cubs, Swanson, and your eye of favor. Are you kind of, like, dumbfounded as to why you are not the number one contender? Yeah, I am, you know, I mean, I'm not taking any from Mendes. Obviously, he's a stud, and he goes in there, won his last fight by knockout, but, you know, his last fight, the last two fights, he's one-on-one, you know, he has only one fight, on one-street, got a four-fight win-street. So, yeah, I am a little surprised. I think at one point after the Cubs fight, or at some point, I was the number one contender.

I think it was after his fight with Aldo, actually. I was the number one contender. Then all of a sudden, somehow it got flopped. I don't know if maybe you didn't vote for me, but in the media rankings, maybe. But I somehow went to two. Well, for the record, I don't partake in those rankings, so you can't blame me. So what do you do now? What happens to you now?

If you're not the number one contender, I think you were expecting to, get a title shot after beating favor, right? Yeah, that's what I was, you know, hoping for, at least get the winner of this McGregor Alba. You know, a lot of ifs, though, of course. I mean, you know, but I really, I mean, right now to me, up in the air, everything happens, decisions will get, we'll get asked out maybe July 11th.

You know, when the fight happens, we'll see what happens. Do I get a winner of that fight, whoever it may be, at the free possibility? Or do I have to fight for a fight against that title? your management team, Dominance MMA, told me that you were planning on going to 189, you were going to sit in the front row, and then if you didn't get the title shot, you were going to, I don't know if someone's attacking you right now, but yeah, if you didn't get the title shot, you were going to go to the offices, the Zufa HQ, and you were going to

riot if you didn't get that tell shot. An old school New Jersey riot. Is that still the plan? Yeah, I know, my management is, you know, has certain ways of doing things, but I'm going to go to the, I'm going to get to the I'll take some next to the Expo. But I'll be going to all. And, you know, I think they don't like Nicole or whoever, we'll figure out what happens after the result of this fight. After the Faber fight, did they tell you explicitly that you were the number one guy?

You know, no. Okay. Okay. But, yeah. The proof was in the pudding, in your opinion. I mean, when it went to cup, with cup, was supposed to get the cup. Oh, did we lose him? You know what I mean?

So I beat him, then I go and beat your eye. I don't understand how you. go down from that. All right. Are you even willing to entertain the idea of fighting anyone else? I'm not going to sit around our way forever. Okay. That's, you know, I'm fighting.

Yeah, I want to fight before this year's out. And, you know, of course, I want to fight for that title, first and foremost. But, you know, if they go a different round, I'm not going to sit around a way now. And what's the best case scenario for you? What do you want to see happen as far as the 189 fight and as far as the winner? Yeah, I really, I mean, I think the best. case scenario is Algo and McGregor do fight and it's a one side it's not it's not a close fight it's not a controversial fight and I get the winner that's the best case

scenario are you hoping for Aldo over McGregor or vice versa I don't get I don't care man I really don't yeah I did say at one point I'd like to be the guy to take it from Aldo you know he's been on top for so long you know he has kind of has that worry about him and I think that would maybe mean a little more but if if McGregor's the guy that could do that, and I can take it from him, that'll still meet the same. You just want to fight for the belt? Yeah, yeah.

I mean, that's why I do this. You know, I mean, I'm not doing this just that. You're my first guy in sport. You want to be the best I could be, and that's a champion, you know, and it comes to a lot of cloud, too. So, yeah, you hold that title once before, you know what it is, and you want it back.

But, again, I'm not going to sit around a way for it, though. And quite frankly, you're a little annoyed that you weren't picked? Yeah, definitely. Definitely annoying. But, again, I'm not one to sit there and, you know, decisions made. I've got to keep moving, and I'm worried about what's next.

There's a lot of ifs in the air right now. I think July 11th to figure out what's really going on, and I guess that'll be my future. Okay, last question. Of course, you haven't talked to the guy. You don't know exactly what he's dealing with. But if you had a bruised rib, would you fight in a fight of this magnitude?

Have you ever suffered something? something like that? I had bruised ribs in college, you know, during wrestling. I was, you know, but everything's different. I can't really say, you know. I would like to say I would afford it. That's what I'd like to say, but you never know. Okay.

Well, I appreciate you handling this with class. I'm not surprised, by the way. I know you're upset, but you handled it like most people would expect Frankie Edgar to handle it. So kudos to you, my friend, and good luck getting what you. what you want on July 11th and beyond. Take care. All right, there he is.

Frankie Edgar. You can almost hear the disappointment in his voice there, especially at the end. I think a lot of people were maybe banking on him getting the shot or thinking that he would be the backup plan. But they ended up going with Chad Mendez at the end of the day. Let's be honest, not, it was tough. You know, it was a tough call to make. And I'm sure it's a call the UFC doesn't want to make. If you missed it by now, you may not know the situation.

This is essentially it. Jose Aldo reportedly injured his ribs in training last Tuesday. This was reported by Anahisa of Combace, and that led to a 24-hour stretch of not knowing what was going on. Everyone was kind of running around, worried, freaking out, fans freaking out, fans freaking out. I'm sure Connor McGregor to a degree, not knowing what's going on as coaching staff, the UFC. They've obviously poured a historic amount of money into this promotion, and it led to this uncertainty for over 24 hours, to be honest. It was around, you know, I don't know, 30 or so.

And then Wednesday night, the UFC issued a press release saying that Josealdo has given them every indication that he will fight a UFC 1809, but if he doesn't, if for whatever reason it gets worse or he can fight, whatever. Chad Mendes is the backup plan. So Chad Mendes is going to get paid to make weight, to be plan B, to essentially have a very short training camp for Connor McGregor. And, of course, you know the history between Connor and Chad Mendes. It's a very sellable fight.

It hasn't been promoted as much as Aldo versus McGregor, but it's a big one. You know, it's one of those fights that, all right, we figured if Connor would win, he'd fight him next or in two fights. Mendes wasn't that far along. Remember before UFC 179, Chad Mendes was on BT Sport and, excuse me, McGregor was in studio on BT Sport and they brought Chad Mendes in and they had this infamous back and forth.

Connor said he would rest his balls on Chad Mendes' head, et cetera, et cetera. They have a history. So right now, what we know is, Chad Mendes is plan B. Aldo, as of right now, is okay. He's not out of the fight. His coach, Andre Petanaris, told the media on Friday,

we're going to reassess next week. But as of right this second, the fight is still on it. It made for kind of a weird viewing on Saturday for that Fox Sports One fight because they're promoting it. You're so excited, but yet this is kind of hanging in the air. It's this black cloud. It's a weird situation.

Hopefully it all turns out. We all want to see Aldo versus McGregor. everyone wants to see one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history. Okay, let's move along. We'll talk about this plenty later on in the show, but let's bring in a very good friend of ours, a man who is usually very upbeat, jovial, always in a good mood. Last week, I don't think that was the case. He is the UFC's VP of Regulatory Affairs. He is the one and only Mark Ratner. He joins us on the phone now from Las Vegas. Mark, how are you? Hi, hey, real good. Just, yeah, I'm still disappointed, but I'm very much.

much over it. We'll just go forward. You're over. What was it like when you came? And of course, we're talking about once again, New York State, after the Senate passing the bill to legalize mixed martial large for the seventh time, the assembly does not step up. It doesn't do its duty to its residents. It does not vote on legalizing the bill. Time runs out. Unfortunately, here we are, once again, MMA, not legal in the state of New York. What was it like when you came to realize late last week that this wasn't going to happen for another year? Well, first of all, the week before we had the votes. I really believe that. We had,

by our count, our lobbyist and from the majority, the speaker or the majority leader, we had what they needed. But every day they didn't have a vote, I could see the shadows coming in. And I was convinced by last Monday that somehow we were going to run out of time and that's what really happened. But I'll give you the best analogy I can get. This will be for all your people there. Yes. This would be Charles Schultz and the comic strip peanuts.

Yes. Charlie Brown and Lucy. And we'll make Lucy, the New York Assembly and Charlie Brown MMA. Yes. And every time that Charlie Brown went to kick the ball, Lucy pulled it away. and that's exactly what happened with us. We thought we were right there, and somehow it got pulled away, and that's my best analogy.

But we're a fighting organization, and we'll fight some more, and it's not a question of it, it's just a question, and it will happen. So that was actually my next question, because I don't remember, and it probably happened at least once, where Charlie Brown actually finally gets to hit the ball. Do you feel like they're just going to keep doing this to you as long, as the unions are involved, as long as this corruption is still there, do you feel like they're going to do it, or do you think at some point, perhaps next year, perhaps you didn't

have enough time after the departure of Sheldon Silver, do you think you are going to connect with that ball finally? Yes, I really do. We're so close. This was the closest we've really ever been, and we had what we needed. In the Democratic Caucus, we had the 76-plus votes, and I still really believe that if it came to the floor we would have between 95 and 110 votes. That's how, that's why it should happen and it will happen. Was this not really a question of, you know, corruption or them not, you know,

bring it up for a vote? Was it really just that you ran at a time? Do you believe that, or do you think that at the 11th hour, people got involved and stopped this from happening? Well, it's the kind of thing that we'll never know for sure. I just felt that every day it didn't happen. There would be other things that got in this way. And with that legislature, they have rent control and they have, they have a lot of different things. And certainly, MMA is not one of the biggest things to them, where it is to us and to my company here. So I think it's a combination of a lot of things. And it didn't happen. Very disappointed because I could taste it this time, but never to the point where I was 100% sure. Was this the most? Was this the most of the most of the

Because every time I ask you about this, when I see you, of course, something that's near and dear to my heart as someone who lives in the great state of New York. Maybe I shouldn't put the adjective great there, but you get the point. Everything else is pretty good about it, except for the taxes. Wow. They're a pain. But anyhow, were you more confident this time than ever after Sheldon Silver left? Did you really think that this was going to be the year? I was more confident in the last couple weeks when they put the amendments on. That's when I got a little more confident. Before, I never thought it would, I thought it we had a 50-50 chance. Once they had the amendments and people started to move some of the assembly guys, we had the votes. Then I was certainly cautiously optimistic. And as I said, every day that it didn't happen, I got a little more pessimistic until it didn't. Were you comfortable with the amendments put to

the bill? For the most part, yes. I thought that, that, The insurance-wise, it was okay. Their insurance was so low, I think it was $7,500, some horrible amount, and obviously we always do $100,000. So there's some people, maybe some of the small promoters wouldn't like that, but for the health and safety, you certainly have to have that. And one of the things that keep saying is health and safety, yet they have amateur fights going on every week there with no insurance,

no great officials, for the most part, no doctors, no ambulances. It's just this ludicrous, nonsensical that they would allow amateur fights to go on and not professional. Did you have a chance to speak to anyone in Albany and ask them what happened this time? Why did things go wrong? Tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll be meeting with our lobbyists. Okay. A lot of our guys are in New York right now for the Reebok show.

showing tomorrow. Sure. I'll have a lot more information tomorrow. Yeah, wouldn't it have been nice to unveil this rebuck thing, but also celebrate finally? I mean, what timing, right? Was that the plan?

It would have been... That was the hope, sure. Open some 100-year-old scotch. Yes. Do you have a 100-year-old scotch? I don't, but Lorenzo does. Yes. And by the way, the session is done.

It's no more for 2015. They ended it, you know, last week. But does the work start now, or can you only start working in January when it starts again? I mean, what can you do to ensure that time doesn't run out this for 2016? Well, I think the most important thing is to try and get a vote in the first quarter instead of trying to get in overtime. And that's one of the problems we had. I would encourage, and like I said, we'll talk to lobbyists tomorrow to ask we're voting the assembly first.

We know the Senate's there. Yeah. and see if we can do something in that regard. So, yeah, we'll be meeting, we'll keep meeting on this, and I'm sure I'll have my 26 or 27th trip to Albany coming up next January. So it's just, it's fine. It's disappointing, but the worst thing ever happens is we have to go to Newark. It's not so bad.

We do good business in Newark or Boston or Philly, so we'll just keep on going around, but eventually, It will happen. And by the way, for the record, it died in the tourism committee. Is that accurate in the Assembly, right? Well, it didn't even get to the tourism. Oh, so how many more steps before it gets to the floor? Like, let's say where it stopped for 2015, how many more steps were needed?

What was needed was to get to the Democratic caucus and have them, say, you have 76 votes, and then it could really go to the different committees. But by not even having that with people leaving and going home and having other plans because it wasn't overtime, it never got that far. Okay. Can you guarantee to our listeners that it will happen next year? To the best of my abilities, I'm quietly competent again. Yeah, we're just going to keep knocking on that door until we beat it down.

But this is, like I said, a fighting group. group and we're not going to give up the fight. And it was no secret that the UFC was hoping to put on their first event at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden on December 5th, Chris Wyman, Luke Rockhold, that appeared to be the no-brainer. Do you have any idea what they're going to do with that date now? That I don't. The speculation, it could be in Canada, I just, I don't know who would be the fight there.

That's for Dana Lorenzo. Also, I said that they're in New York right now. So we'll have a lot more information there. Certainly when everybody's here next week. So we'll. And we're looking forward to next week. That's the big week of the year. Of course.

And the UFC doing very well. Big show coming up, a record gate for America. Does the UFC, in your opinion, need MMA to be legalized in New York, or can it survive, thrive without it? Oh, it can certainly survive without a problem. But if you want to be a major league sport, you need every place. and this is the only place in North America. As I said, it's nonsensical that it's not there.

And I love wearing the button. New York, we're open for business, except for MMA. By the way, you mentioned next week it's a huge one. UFC 189, July 11th. What do you think? What's your gut telling you will? Josealdo fight with the injured ribs. I believe he will.

As far as everything I've heard, that he will. I'm looking forward for him to be in town. I haven't heard today how his healing is going, but our doctors are monitoring, so I'm encouraged. And I know Chad Mendes is working out hard, but I'm thinking that Aldo will fight. And, you know, in your time as the head of the Nevada Athletic Commission, have you ever had a situation quite like this? Gigantic fight, guy gets injured, it's leaked, and now you have to have a plan B. Do you recall this ever, you know, happening under your watch? No, I've had guys that I heard were injured.

We had them looked at medically. I do remember once where Tyson was supposed to fight, I think, Buster Mathis and broke his thumb or injured his thumb, and we had to have some x-rays, and we found it fit, and so he could not fight. And that fight ended up in Philly. I do remember that one. But, no, I haven't had this exact scenario, but the commissioner will have their doctors,

and their doctors are involved right now to talking with. our doctors and then the Brazilian doctor. So we'll make sure that he's able to fight and ready to fight. Will they only sign off on him on Friday of the Wayans July 10th, or do you think they can beforehand? Oh, I think they can beforehand. I think they can look at him as soon as he arrives. Okay.

Do you know when he arrives, by the way? I do not. I would assume somewhere most times the Monday or Tuesday of fight week. Right. Final thing for you, by the way, it's a big day tomorrow for the UFC with the Reebok fight kit unveiling. Also, it's big because the next event, 189, the new anti-doping policy

comes into play with USADA. Of course, a lot has been made of this. It's a historic announcement for the sport as someone who has been on the front lines as far as regulation and all this stuff is concerned. How do you feel about it? Are you happy with this? Yes, I'm happy with it completely.

What we have to do is really fine-tooth The whole procedures look like we're going to Scotland. I have to see how we're going to do Scotland with the U-Sada. I'm going to sit down with them right now there in Brazil, meeting with the Brazilian Commission. So, yeah, we still have to get some details, but this is the best for the sport, and by far the most progressive of any sport in the world.

And I'm proud that we've taken the next step. So I'm delighted. Why Scotland? Why did you bring up Scotland, by the way? because that's the next big fight that we're self-regulated and glassed out. I want to make sure how we're going to do it there. But I will leave you with one thing besides my parable that I already gave you. Chris Prozingis for the Knicks will be fine.

Oh, no. Come on, not you. Really? Absolutely. Why? Why do you say this? You knew all about him? You knew all about him? Yeah, I knew about him. He's been playing since he was 14 years old.

He's only 19, but he's a real pro. you won't be disappointed. Maybe not this year, but you'll be fine with you. All right. Well, I feel better because I respect you so much. I also had, I'm name dropping here, Jonah Ballo, who is the editor-in-chief of New York Knicks.com. He visited us in studio just moments ago, and he actually spoke to Chris Deppes last week

after being drafted. He's very excited as well. So that's two people I respect who are giving them, giving him a ringing endorsement. So I don't know. I'm not sold. You know what else? I'm not sold on Albany. I'm not sold on our government here, but hopefully things will change. I get that. All right.

Well, anyway, thanks for having me and meet the NBA Summer League. I'm running the clock a little bit there, so I'm getting ready for that. Mark, it is a pleasure, as always. I'm hoping to attend Summer League, as I'm there for 189 in the tough finale. Perhaps I'll see you in action. But great to have you on the show. I wish it was to talk about some exciting news in New York, but we'll wait for next year. As the bump said back in Brooklyn in the day, wait until next year, right?

that's exactly what the Brooklyn Bum said. Absolutely. Thank you, Mark. Thanks, ma'am. All right, there he is. Mark Ratner, the UFC's VP of Regulatory Affairs. Okay, let us move along now. And some of you have noted, of course, this was always the plan. It has become a tradition prior to any Connor McGregor fight to have John Kavanaugh, the head coach over at the straight blast gym in Ireland on our program.

And I was planning, I was planning on having him on the show next. week. Made sense. Fight week. But with last week's craziness, with all the uncertainty, we had to have him on this week. I mean, it was a no-brainer. So we go now to Las Vegas. Usually we're either in Ireland or Boston or wherever the hell he is. This time he's in Las Vegas. He's at the Mac Mansion, I believe. He joins us via the Magic of Skype. And there he is. Mr. John's happening on himself. How are you, John? No bad robe today. It's too warm. Come on. It's a tradition. You can't mess with traditions. I know, I'm just, I'm melting. I'm used to Irish weather, and we're all suffering here, but...

Yeah, you look like you're really suffering over there, by the way, at that house with the pool and all that. Yeah, and actually, just the gardener just started up behind me with the leaf flower, as timing would be. Yeah, here we are anyway. The audacity. Okay, so we have a lot to get to with you. We talked to you on June 29th. 250 p.m. Eastern time, as of right now, in your opinion, is Connor McGregor going to fight Jose Aldo?

If I had to bet, I would think it's Aldo. Really? Why? I think there's a lot of money on the line. He's never got, as far as I've been, you read a lot online, but as far as I've read, he's never made the pay-per-view points to get, to make money on that. And I think that's a big deciding factor. No doubt it is a little bit tender to touch. Maybe he has a bruised rib, but a few extra zeros on your check might make you suck it up.

Yeah. Do you believe that's what happened here? It's a very strange situation, right? I mean, let's be honest. It's very rare for a fight to have this kind of cloud hanging over it, to have the local media, if you will, break the news that this guy is injured and then, you know, have this uncertainty. Do you believe that they put this out there to get more money? Um, no, short answer. I don't, I read a lot of the conspiracy theories. Um, I just think that the, they have a particularly big camp, um, the, with a lot of new people in

it. And, you know, this is not uncommon in the lead up to a fight for a fighter to get a knock or a bang. And, you know, you're rushed off the hospital to get everything checked. checked out, you know, it's happened in the past with Connor. You know, me and you almost had a falling out over it because you asked me a direct question and I lied in the lead up to a fight before and then it came out afterwards about his tongue. But that's how it should be done. It should be kept in-house and it shouldn't be spoken about until after the fight. That's my opinion anyway.

What I guess was unique in their situation was that there's a lot of new people and, you know, they look at him getting, you know, a knock to the ribs and falling over and being brought to hospital. Someone's going to tell someone, someone's going to tweet to get a few extra followers. That's just how social media is nowadays. So I don't think it's all that surprising how it all has evolved. But I do think now it's been, I guess we're almost at the one week anniversary of it happening. I'd imagine that by this stage he's feeling a lot better. You know, the training is more or less done for the fight at this stage.

I'm sure he's been hard at it since the world tour. So to just have to put up a little bit of discomfort that, you know, it's very rare you go into a fight without feeling discomfort somewhere. Yeah, I think he'll do it because I think there's a lot of money on the line and maybe he's going to call it a day after this one. Okay, there's a lot to unpack there, but for the record, short of insulting my family, I would never have a falling out with you. I don't know about how you feel, but that's not how I roll over here.

So I just wanted to clear that. You know the incident I'm talking about. We had a bit of a back from forward on WhatsApp. You were like, oh, dude, I asked you about that. And you said, no. That's fine. I don't like lying because I do like you, Arias. Well, I appreciate it.

So you think, you know, I'll touch on what you said last. Do you think this could be it for him? This is it. This is his last fight. Do you believe that? Just some of the things that I've heard being said. You know, he seems to be very, you know, have a very close relationship with his coach. And he seems to be calling at a day.

and just, you know, I watched the programs, you know, we've seen bad blood and countdown and stuff like that, and just some of the comments. And, you know, the guy, he's a young man, but he's had a very tough 10 years in the sport. A lot of guys at his age are only starting to peak, whereas he's been at the top end of his game for a long, long time now. And there is only so much. You know, you just had, I was watching the interview there with the, with the, with the, other European champ, Juana and her broken Tom. Connor, I think, summed up well, this game breaks you down.

It's just a matter of time before bones start breaking, ligaments start giving. And it's a short career, and he's had a fantastic one. And after this fight, he gets a big paycheck because of the pay-per-view bonus. He could retire a content man, and he's a fact. family man and maybe he takes over, you know, the role of doing what Penderas has done a fantastic job with for so long. So I wouldn't be hugely surprised if this was it. And I appreciate you watching earlier. I noticed you say the other European champion, very subtle, but I appreciate that as well. What was your reaction when you got the news? I know you've talked to, I believe the website

is 42.I.E. Is that the website? Where you've been writing these great journals for them. You talked about Connor essentially saying, oh, they're all the same and rolling back into bed. What was your reaction when you got this news last week? Yeah, well, we, it was kind of funny. I'm actually sitting in the kitchen now. Okay. And I was literally sitting at this table. And over there is the entrance to the house, the front door.

And it was about this time, actually. And we're all sitting around. It's kind of early for us. What is it now? Almost midday, which is pretty sort of early morning. And just Dana White and Laurent will just. just like burst in through the door. Didn't even knock on the door, like just walked in

because we don't actually lock the door. Okay. And you can imagine like that was pretty surprising for those guys to see. And Dana's just like, where's Connor? And I was like, well, he's in bed, of course. And he's like, get him up. And I was like, what's going on here, you know? And, well, you know, he told us the news that this was when the news just broke.

So it was all up in the air. They didn't really know what was happening. fractured, not fractured, bruise, not bruised, whatever. The following morning was when the Dana called me, again around about this time and said, would you accept Mendez as a replacement, as a late replacement if Aldo can't fight? And I said, well, look, I'm leaning towards saying yes, but I do have to run this past Connor. He was like, yeah, no problem. and my bedroom is directly facing his

went over and knocked on the door and Dee answered and Connor was still in bed of course and I went in and he literally just looked at me from the pillow and I said it's looking like it could be Mendez if Valvo can't do it what do you reckon and he said they're all the same

and I said I figured you say that and I went back out and said we're in wow and that's it and that was it No, no negotiation, no asking for more money, none of that. Well, that's, like, my side of the thing is training and fight. Okay. And I said, as a trainer, you know, and I'm in, I guess you've got to go talk to paradigm management.

I don't, I just, Conner's life is so busy. I just don't involve myself on anything besides the striking and the grappling. And you had no reservations because, let's be honest, Mendez is a completely different fighter than Josaldo, right? Yeah, like to be honest, I think at this level in the UFC you have to be able to fight anyone at any time. You know, if you look at his last fight with Aldo, he fought on defeat quite a lot. He only went for a couple of takedowns. And, you know, I'm interested to see Connor with someone like that. I've seen it many times in the gym because, you know, we have high-level wrestling guys.

You know, Europe, specifically Ireland anyway, isn't particularly known for its wrestling pedigree in high school and stuff like that. But your own countryman GSP didn't come from any great wrestling pedigree and went on to become one of the best wrestlers in mixed martial arts. And I honestly think Connor is right up there being one of the best grapplers, wrestlers, in mixed martial arts. And to see that style go against Mendez, you know, first and foremost, I'm a fan of mixed martial arts. I would be interested in that contest. So whether it turns out to be Aldo or it turns out to be Mendez, I have the best seat in the house, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the styles match up.

But as a coach, I'm with Connor a long time, and we prepare for mixed martial arts, not for kickboxing. Are you doing anything differently, though, in the past week? I know he's now in Connecticut. He's going to be in New York tomorrow. Are you doing anything differently in the final days, now that you have to prepare maybe for the possibility of fighting Chad Mendes as well? Well, no.

Like he left on Saturday and he will be gone for a couple of days, doing more media stuff. And this is kind of the final week, so it's sort of done at this stage, you know. And it's not like for an exam, you stay up the night before and try to learn all the answers. That's not going to work in MMA. It got me through in my college career, but it's not going to work in it. fight. If we weren't doing grappling and wrestling for the last couple of months slash years, you know, what am I going to, what are we going to learn in 10 days out from it? But, you know,

Gunnar Nelson has been a big part of this training camp. That's, that's one of the best wrestlers in the Welterweight division. And that's a regular sparring partner of Connor, as is Colp Hendred, as is wrestling coach Sergei. Like, we train everything all the time. Given your experience and what you know about injuries, bruised rib, fractured rib, I mean, from what I've never experienced it, but I hear it hurts a lot. Are you surprised that he's going to go on with the fight at least for now? Well, you know, it's one of those things. It's like if you say broken leg, you know, a complete fracture of a bone, you have an understanding of a long that takes the heel. A bruise rib is a funny one. what for one person can be

debilitating for another person can be slightly uncomfortable so it's hard to say like Conor's the ligament and Conor's tongue in the lead up to the Porreye fight for some people that's that's horrendous like every time you go

to put your hand in your pocket or something you jam your tom it's funny like you ever get like a little cut in your finger and you suddenly realize just how often you use that you start hitting it off everything And it's almost kind of like that. And, you know, what the Connor do, he put a cast on it, and we trained what could be trained around that, and carried on.

Maybe with this injury with Aldo, like I said, it's a week since it happened. I said I've read lots of different things. One of them was that he was around us sparring and he finished around the sparring. I think that's a big positive. It's not like he took a shot and just dropped and was gasping for error. He seemed to take it, finished around, and then it got gradually more uncomfortable,

maybe as the training hormones wore down, the natural anesthetic and stuff like that. So it's, you know, it's really on him and really on his coaching staff that they have to make the decision based on. And I'm sure he's gone into fights before with a little knocks and bruises and he's got a way up,

biggest paycheck of his career and slightly sore and house sore on a scale of 1 to 10. that's that's all him. Yeah. What a fascinating scenario. And by the way, was, was Mendes the best case scenario for you? If Aldo doesn't make it, we heard Frankie Edgar, he was just on the show. He was rather upset. He didn't get the opportunity.

What I was told was Nate Diaz very much in play, and he has confirmed that. What did you want? The belt. You know, I was, like, the Diaz fight was thrown out there. And that was like, come on, the trash talk. I'm like, yeah, it's not a big part of what I'm interested in.

I love mixed martial arts. However, that would have been interesting. It would be hard not to just find that fun. But, you know, really, since Connors being in the UFC,

I saw nothing else other than him having the World, the 145 World Championship, go up a weight class to where I believe he'll be even better, certainly a lot more comfortable and not having to, you know,

certainly not having to make him, that weight cut and get the 155 belt. So number one for me was the belt. So when I got called 24 hours later and it was to say it would be for the belt either way, that was exciting, you know, because not too many, you know, ATT just recently got their first champion. And, you know, to have a UFC champion is not too many gyms have accomplished that. And for me personally, coming from, you know, small country and starting off in a small little shed to have a UFC belt up on the wall is a

lifelong dream realized so number one for me was that was for the belt and I have to say I was listening to Edgar earlier on and I did think it would be him I believe he's had a tougher lead up you know he's had

four great wins against I believe tougher opposition than what Mendez's faced I guess the Mendez fight, you know, the bad blood kind of angle of it. So, you know, I'm sure it was a tight decision to go between the number one or the number two and how do you call who's the number one, who's the number two, all these questions. But I concern myself of what I'm in charge of and that's the training. And they say Mendez, it's Mendez.

Somewhat ironic that it feels like Connor has received more respect for this whole situation. you know, when, like a week ago, if this doesn't happen, people will still say, oh, he's ducking, you know, he's ducking wrestlers, oh, he got this opportunity, he didn't deserve it. Now, here's a guy who is not only saying, yes, I'll fight Aldo, I'll fight Mendez on 24 hours notice of need be. And Mendez was the guy that everyone was saying, you know, the kind of fighter that people were saying he was ducking? I think things have changed as far as the public perception of Connor is concerned. How is he dealing with all this? Is it really just business as usual, no problem? You know, let's go to New York. Was any of that change or thought about being changed because of this new situation? I still think people don't really get how Connor is. I'm genuinely saying this. He would fight both of those guys on the same night. It's all he's interested in is fighting, whether it's training for it or competing in it or reading about it or studying it or watching it or talking about it.

It's this one thing that takes up his life. And I'm sure he would love to do it. He really enjoys fighting. He really enjoys competing. So whether it was going to be Edgar Mendez or Aldo, it's not a disrespectful thing to say that he would like to fight all three of them. It's an enjoyment thing. It's an excitement thing that he truly believes slash knows he's the best of this game. And he wants to test himself against all comers.

To answer your question, no. Not too over the moon about having to do a lot of traveling and, you know, getting up early in the morning to do these interviews. But it's part of the game and it's part of what comes of being arguably the number one star in the UFC right now. And finally for you, I know obviously on the surface, this is not your typical training camp. You're in this mansion in Las Vegas. You haven't been home in months now. You were in Mexico for a little bit for Calp Hendry.

Now he's on the card. Now you have three guys on the card. I mean, what a whirlwind this has been. But for you, I mean, how unique has this all been? At its core, is it the same thing as if you were in, you know, at the gym in Ireland? Or because of what your, you know, your surrounding is like, you're living with these guys, you're in the same house as Connor. Is this truly a totally different experience than you've ever had leading up to a fight? Not majorly.

As someone reminded me of a stat that in Connor's last 10 fights, in five of them, the opponents have changed late notes. and again to reference one of your guests there at grain boyle in for a cage warriors fight he had an opponent change on a way in day um for a cage contender bout he had an opponent change in a day or two as no does as well like so it that actually felt kind of familiar and back home my house is sort of sort of like my apartment but i always have a bunch of fighters staying with me so we're always getting ready for fights and so there's a few familiarity to being around a group of guys and eating a certain way and our day is based around what time we're training at and what we're going to be training. Colipendra just arrived last night. It's kind of like a nice little boost to have a new face in the house. Just weird seeing him after just being in Mexico and him. Here we is again out there harassing his way into another fight. Yeah, we're just kind of a weird little twisted family or something that just likes fighting. I don't know how to explain about

than that. So it's, it's, I guess I'm just getting used to being comfortable with change. You know, if you're not comfortable with change, I don't think MMA is for you because dates change, opponents change, styles change, media obligations. Every, every, every day is very, very new and you just have to be able to just kind of roll with it and not get too attached to any one thing. Hopefully it's Aldo on July 11th. If so, how does he win? How does he win? as Connor win? Well, I think

Aldo has gotten really, really good at being kind of shorter wrestler guys that are learning how to strike. And that's sort of an accurate enough description of his last few opponents. But now he's fighting

somebody that hits a lot harder than him. And that's just a factual statement looking at how both have finished their last few fights. Some of Conners have been destructive knockouts, his have been decisions. So Aldo is very fast, and he's a good kind of points fighter, racking up points, but he doesn't have the kind of stopping power that Connor has.

But he does eat a lot of shots. He comes out of fights quite badly damaged. So if he's eating a lot of shots from kind of smaller wrestlers that are learning to strike, what's going to happen when he faces somebody that's an expert-level striker that has fractured people's faces with one shot as knockouts in under five seconds. I think it's going to be pretty one-sided and I can't see it going past one round.

Wow. And it will be a knockout of some sort? Either clean or a referee dragging him off TKO stoppage. Will you advise him to target the ribs? No. No, like he said, Connor said himself in interviews, is it's he the beauty of uh the most beautiful stop in a fight is that clean that you know that's one of my favorite little clips of his i i i've been bushing that that slip uh left hook i actually kind of think that that that could be the shot wow um i think i'll look and overreach a little bit

sometimes and maybe that's slip left hook and that's that's good night and hey how about cage warriors pretty good for you right a place for your fighters to have a home now for the up-and-coming guys it's great news it's great news to have another show that has a lot of professional fights I mean I think BAM are doing a great job as well

I think you'd be remiss to not mention them they have provided a home for a lot of pro fighters and there's a couple of other shows smaller shows starting to put on a couple of pro fights with their amateur cards but for someone like me

that has a very large fight team to have another European, UK-based, all pro shows is fantastic news, and I hope we can continue where we wore with Cage Warriors and continue to provide them with their champions. Well, John, I sincerely appreciate you taking some time out of your busy day over there. I love you Irish guys. You're all glowing now from this tan, from this Las Vegas weather. That's weird, isn't it?

It's amazing. You just seem so relaxed, and despite all of this, you seem to be in a very great place. So again, thank you very much for the time. It's a pleasure, as always, to have you on the show. And good luck with whatever happens on July 11th. I guess the good news for all the Irish fans is Conor McGregor will be there. And I think for a lot of them, that is enough. I wish you the best.

I'll see you in Las Vegas. And thank you for the time. What do you want to say? You want to say something? Well, I was just going to say that was a big part of our decision-making process as well. That, you know, we knew a lot of people, even me personally, like family members, cousins that are taking out large personal loans to get flights. over here and he already had the date change once

with the May card and that was a large part of the process that we definitely were not going to let all them down so whoever the opponent was we're going to put on a show for the Irish fans. I think that speaks volumes to his connection with those fans. Thank you so much John appreciate the time, good luck to you.

Thank you sir. There he is. John Kavanaugh. A man who I think if all goes well for him on July 11 should definitely be considered for a coach of the year. He has done a fantastic job with his team. right, let's move along. Now let's talk to the other side of this equation. We've been talking about him all show long. It's time to talk to Chad Mendez. What a story this year. This is turning out to be for Money Mendez. Chad, are you there? I'm here, man. How are you doing? Wow, amazing.

I'm doing great. Chad, what was your reaction when you were told your plan B? If Aldo can't make it, you're in? I mean, I was pumped. This is a huge opportunity for me. You know, obviously it sucks because it's not, you know, 100% ideal with the time. But, you know, this is something I'm not passing up. You know, I stay in great shape you around. So when I got the offer, I jumped all over it. You know, I said, let's get the contract, let's find this baby. Did you campaign for it?

Did you have to really pound the pavement? No, I didn't have to say too much at all. You know, I actually kind of just sat back and was waiting to see what the hell was going to happen. You know, when it first came out, I didn't even know if it was true. you know, there was, you know, there's always some, you know, some media that like to just get some attention. So they'll come up with some bold headline that, you know, is not true. And, you know, I saw it for the first time I sent it to Jeff and Mike. And I'm like, you know, is there any truth to this?

If it is, this could be a big opportunity. Let's get on it. And they're like, you know, we haven't heard anything about this, but we'll look into it. And about a hour or maybe two hours later, I get a call from Mike and, you know, asking, you know, do you think you can make weight in a couple weeks? and, you know, this is something that, you know, might be going down. So just be ready. And, you know, I told them I could and, you know, I've just been getting ready ever since.

How much did you weigh when you got the call? At that point, probably about 63, 64. And is that okay for you? I mean, would you weigh that much around two weeks before a fight? Yeah, I mean, I usually don't start really cutting until about two weeks out from a fight, sometimes three weeks depending, but, yeah, I'm usually walking around 60, about two weeks out. So that's pretty common. You know, it still sucks.

You know, cutting anybody to wait always sucks. But, you know, that's part of the game, and that's what I'm here to do. So I'm going to get it down and get in there and fight if they give me the opportunity. Basically just sitting back waiting now. And, of course, you last fought in April, great win over Ricardo Lama. How active have you been in the gym since then? Thanks, man. Yeah, I mean, for me, it's kind of getting in and out of the gym.

When I'm outside of camp, I like to do active stuff outside. I'm a big cyclist. I do a lot of long rides and stuff that basically just get outside, getting outdoors, get a good cardio workout. But, you know, just more than anything, just clear my mind. But, you know, so I do a lot of that kind of stuff. You know, I just ran the tough mudder, which is like 10 and a half miles or something up in the Tahoe Hills. you know, no oxygen up there and, you know, killed that race.

You know, so, I mean, I've been doing a lot of stuff, been training myths with my coach, Joey, you know, getting in there and wrestling with all these guys that came off from now. So, you know, I definitely feel like I'm ready to get in there and, you know, fine-tune everything in the last couple weeks, and I'll be on point. Yeah, and speaking of that tough mutter, madness, didn't you do, like, a quarter of that thing with Paige Van Zant on your back?

Yeah, I think we're supposed to do. to do like, I think it was like a half a mile with someone on your back. But that's like after already climbing all the way to the top of the mountain and going through a bunch of crazy obstacles. So, yeah, it was pretty tough. But it was fun. I mean, more, I think it was more of a challenge for her having to put me on her back and run.

So I got the light into the deal there. That is crazy. I mean, what was that? Wait, she actually had to put you on her back as well? Holy moly. And she did it? Yeah, she's tough, she stayed with me that entire time. Like, I was booking it, and there was no time where I was, like, having to sit there and wait

at all. Like, if there was a spot where I basically was walking, there's some of that stuff, you just can't run it, too steep, you're basically doing lunges up through this, like, crazy, rocky terrain, and, you know, she's right there on my tail in the whole time, so she's tough. I was impressed. Yeah, I'm impressed as well. I'd even see it. Okay, let's go back to the whole...

situation. So you're in this, I guess, this scenario now where you have to get ready, you know, even if you make the weight and you don't get the fight, you'll still get paid, that's great. But mentally, waking up in the morning, going to the gym, I know you're always in shape, you don't need much motivation. But what's it like dealing with a scenario where you can finally get your hands on this guy, maybe if Aldo doesn't pull out. You know, like, if he does pull out, excuse me, what's it like dealing with that mental scenario? You know, as soon as I got this call and they told me he started getting ready, I basically just shut out any possibility

that all those coming back. I'm basically treating this like I'm hiding Connor for the title. And, you know, I'm getting my weight down. I'm coming up with the game plan, going over it, fine-tuning cardio. You know, I'm pretending like, you know, I'm getting in there and I'm fighting. So,

you know, that's my mindset. I wake up every morning. You know, I sit there and game playing stuff when I'm laying in bed before I actually get out every single morning that you know, I wake up. I'm excited, man. I think this is a great matchup for me. You know, Conner's a tough guy, but Connor's a guy that I know I can beat.

You know, and he better pray that Aldo can get in there and fight, so I'm going to mess that dude up. Are you surprised that he accepted the fight with you? I am. I am very surprised. You know, he just went through an entire training camp for a guy that's a Muay fighter, and now he's facing a guy that is going to put him on his back. So, you know, it definitely changes the whole game plan, but, you know, I just heard his coach talking. you know, this is a fight that a lot of people from Ireland are coming to sea,

taking out big loans and stuff. So, I mean, it'd be pretty messed up on his part to have to back out now with all his friends and family. You know, there's a lot riding on that, a lot of pressure on him to keep that fight going. So I don't think he has a choice. Is this a personal fight for you? I remember, you know, prior to 179, he was on that show, you were on that show, he said some things. You know, took some shots. You weren't ready for it.

You didn't know that it was going to happen. You spoke about that on this show. I mean, this is a guy that you obviously don't really like. He said, you know, he called you Mini Mendez, a little Minnie Mendez or something on TV on Saturday. Is this personal? Like, are you just chomping at the bit to get your hands on him? You know, he's definitely said things to make this personal.

The guy just loves talking crap, though. I mean, that's Connor. He's an actor. He's a guy that's selling fights. You know, this is what he loves to do. You know, but I'm not going to get in there and fight emotionally. I'm going to love to beat the crap out of his guy. guy, don't get me wrong, but there's nothing this dude's going to say or do that can, you know,

take me out of my game, push me too far, and make me fight emotionally. I'm going to get in there. I'm going to do what I do every single time. I'm going to put the pace on. I'm going to put him on his back. I'm going to make him uncomfortable, and I'm going to beat the crap out of him. So, you know, bottom line, this is what I was born to do, and it's time. What do you think it might feel like if on Friday, July 10th, they tell you Aldo's here he's

gonna, you know, at that point, you've done the whole trip, you've made the weight, all that stuff, and then he's right in front of you, and you can't get him. What do you think that's going to be like? How are you going to handle that? I mean, that's, that's going to be difficult, but, you know, and if that happens, I get paid. Yeah. You know, I sit back, I watch a great fight. At that point, probably had to have made weight, so I'll probably have just picked out at a big buffet in Vegas, and I'm going to sit ringside and watch them to battle it out, you know, and basically, pick apart and kind of just fine-tune the game plan even more by watching and then sit back and see what happens.

Did the UFC tell you or your management team that if this fight doesn't happen for you, you're 100% next? No, there's no time. I know me and Frankie are right there in line. So, you know, there's no 100% talk at all going on. But, you know, I think it really just depends on what happens. if those two get in there and fight. You know, if Aldo wins, I could see Frankie be the next person. Obviously, just because I fought, you know, I fought although I fought them twice now,

Frankie fought him one time. So I could see him putting Frankie in, but if Connor wins, you know, hopefully I'd be the next one in line to get in there and whoop on them. And speaking of Frankie, I know you're both battling for the same thing and your competitors and all that, but does a part of you feel for the guy? I mean, you could definitely make a case. It was a very tough call. Who knows what they were, you know,

what it came down to. But do you feel for the guy that he didn't get the call? No, I mean, I do, man. I have nothing against Frankie. You know, I feel like me and Frankie are right there in the same spot. So, you know, ultimately that was up to the UFC, you know. But, you know, obviously I feel very honored that they chose me. But, yeah, I mean, I feel like Frankie could make a case just as much as I could.

Yeah. Well, I think that takes a lot for you to admit that. So I give you a lot of credit for that as well. So are you watching a lot of Connor now, or do you know all about this guy? already. I mean, definitely, I'm watching them, you know, obviously, like I said, fine tuning the stuff that we're going over, but, you know, Connor, the guy I've been watching since the very first fight in the UFC, you know, I knew that with his mouth and, you know, all his flashy stuff, this is going to be a guy that if they didn't put in there with the

wrestler and would get beat on his way up to where he's at now, I'm going to be fighting this guy very soon. So, you know, I've been watching him, I've been studying him, the guy that I've watch fight a lot, you know, previous fights before the U.S.C. And obviously, all fights in the U.S.C. So, you know, like I said, the game plan is there. We've already known what it is. It's just all about fine-tuning it now in the last couple weeks and getting the weight down and getting in there.

How do you foresee beating him? I've been asked that a lot lately. I mean, if I can go out there and knock this dude out, I definitely think that's a possibility. You know, he takes a lot of punches in fights, and he comes in with his hands down a lot, kind of gets cocky in there a little bit. I feel like I have the power and the speed to put this guy out. You know, if not, I can see myself taking this dude out, taking him down and submitting him.

You know, I've seen past fights where he's lost, get submitted. You know, the guy, he'll tap. He, you know, he's got that give up, that quitting him. You know, I'm really going to test that in this fight. And if not either of those two, you know, I would be, More than happy to go five rounds of me putting this dude on his back, beating the hole in his face the whole time. So, I mean, any of the three sounds good to me.

So you think he's mentally weak? You know, I don't know. I don't think we've seen him tested. I don't think he's fought a guy that knows he's the baddest dude in the planet. You know, I feel like I have that mentality, Algo has that mentality. Frankie has that mentality. You know, he doesn't, he hasn't stepped up to that game yet.

You know, and this is going to be a huge test for him. have you ever injured your ribs before? I have in wrestling. And knowing what you know about it, knowing what you know, are you that confident that he won't make it, Aldo won't make it to July 11th? Yeah, I mean,

depending on what the actual true injury is because I've heard conflicting things, but, you know, I have separated cartilage and had to wrestle through a match and it was one of the most painful things I ever had to do with my life. So, you know, it's definitely,

something that can completely shut someone out of a fight. So, depending on what it is, yeah, I could definitely see all throughout. Wow. Amazing. So now you're just pretending that you're going to fight. That's what you're telling yourself. I guess pretending is in the right word.

That's your parent. You're not even telling your coaches or whatever, your manager. Let me know, you're just, in your mind, you are fighting Connor McGregor on July 11th for the interim title. Oh, yeah, that's exactly what it is. I mean, I'm getting medical done. figuring out my corners, getting flights all set up.

We've got media stuff here filming, you know, it's, to me, this is the real deal. And until I'm told otherwise, I'm fighting Connor for the belt. And by the way, who will be in your corner if you fight on the 11th? As of right now, I got Joey. I got my dad, obviously, my dad's in my corner all the time. Lance is going to be there. Cody Nola is actually fighting on his card as well. so Lance is a corner of both me and Cody

and then Martin Campman so we got a star lineup ready to go feeling good about it I think Faber is going to be there as well corner and Cody so favor will be there the whole time with me helping helping me out as well awesome well good luck to you man

I don't know I think a lot of the fans as I said are just happy the Irish fans are happy Conner is on the card I saw a lot of them say they'd like to see him fight you because of the history between you guys. Of course, I think there's a lot of people want to see Aldo get the fight. It's such a strange thing, but, you know, kudos to you for taking it on short notice and doing what you have to do. And I will say good luck to you in getting that fight. And of course, good luck in the fight if you get it as well.

Awesome. Thank you, man. This is a weird, it's a very weird situation, but I think this is history in the making, and I'm glad to be a part of it. So, yeah, let's see what happens. Well said. Thank you so much, Chad. Appreciate it. All right. Thanks, buddy. There is. Chad Monty Mendez, the plan B in this whole scenario. And, you know, I really like today's lineup because I feel like we're covering it from all angles. Of course, earlier on in the show, we spoke to Frankie Edgar, then we spoke to John Kavanaugh. We even had Mark Ratner's take on the whole situation.

Of course, just spoke to Chad Mendez. and the most interesting part of this scenario involves the injured fighter, Joseoaldo. What happened? How did this get out? Is he going to fight? How does he prepare? A lot of questions. Of course, you'd love to talk to Josealdo about it, but we have the next best thing.

We have a man by the name of Jonas Bilarino, and he is the jungle fight, bantamweight and featherweight champion. He is a man who was brought in from Team Nogera to train with Novuniao to. to essentially mimic Connor McGregor, to be the Brazilian version of Connor McGregor. He is a fantastically entertaining fighter. Even kind of looks like him with the hair and all that. He has a lot of great insight on this whole situation. He joins us now via the Magic of Skype from Brazil.

There he is. Jonas, how are you? Hi there. Good to have you on the program. You're actually sideways. So what you did before was better than what you're doing now. There you go. Like this?

That's perfect. Yep. There we go. How is my pronunciation of your name? It's Bill Arrino. Bilarino. Yeah, but people in English usually say Bill Harino. Oh, yes.

I try, you know, I have my colleague, Guillermo Cruz, tried to teach me how to say it correctly. So I apologize, but I wanted to get it right. So it is great to have you on the program. I'm very impressed, obviously, you've had a great career. And when you were brought in from Team Nogera to help Aldo prepare, it was big news. From what I understand, you were there when he got injured. Is that correct? Yeah, I saw.

What happened? He was fighting with a guy, Alcidas, a spar. I had just trained with him, and then Alcetis tried to spin back kick him, and he slipped and got his ribs. And did he react right away, like, oh, my God, something serious happened, or did he keep fighting for a little bit? How did he react to this news? We knew he was in pain because although never complains about nothing during trainings, and he was like a little bit, we saw he was on pain, but he did the round until the end, and after he talked to the Dapenaros, the Novi-Urnao head coach, and he asked him to stop training.

And, you know, after 24 hours and this news kind of coming out, did you think that he was going to pull out of the fight? I don't know. I think probably not. I'm going to be optimist about it because although once this fight is so bad, I think the fight will probably happen. Okay, but at the time last week, when you saw the injury and it was in its freshest state, did you think that he was going to pull out back then? Yeah, I thought it was nothing because it wasn't a hard kick. So I think we'll probably fight and I hope so. I hope so.

So I'll be with him on Tuesday To see what is he capable of doing during trainees or not But my opinion by now is that he is going to fight Well, that is great news When's the last time you saw him? I saw him on Thursday Thursday and what kind of pain was he in He was walking slow

To don't feel the pain on ribs Because it's disturbing man You cannot punch, you cannot move, you cannot breathe, but the pain was still fresh. I don't know right now. It probably, it's better. If the pain got worse, he will probably don't fight. But I think the fight is going to happen. I don't think it would get any worse.

Have you talked to him since Thursday on the phone? Yeah, yeah. And what's he telling you about how he's feeling? Oh, it's a little bit painful. there are some kinds of pain that we can hold during fights, and there are some kind of pains that we cannot hold. So I hope so that it's one of the one that we can hold. We will test him on Tuesday.

Okay, so Tuesday's a big day. Yeah, Tuesday is a big day. Okay, and mentally, how's he dealing with this now that he has this issue? What's his mental thing? He's very strong mentally. Once he decides to fight, the pain won't be a problem. Okay. Do you have any concerns, like knowing what you know about the injury and the preparation?

Do you wish he wasn't fighting? Do you wish he stayed on the sidelines for like two more months? I don't know. I'm divided because I won this fight so bad. And I know he can beat Connor. He totally can beat Connor. Connor never fought someone like Caldo. Connor keeps saying, oh, he never fought someone like me.

okay but neither did him fought someone like Aldo and he's way more different than people that Connor fought although he is so much better and I really want to see this

fight so if he thinks he can fight he should fight totally and you know considering the magnitude of this fight how important it is and some people have criticized Aldo for being a little injury prone as of late was he taking it slowly

in training? Was he trying not to take any risks or not spar as much, whatever, so that this wouldn't happen? Yeah, yeah. As I said, all Cidus and all were training, and it was all soft. No, there was no hard trained in that time. All Cidus slipped on the floor, on a sweat floor, and his kick was a little bit awkward, I don't know. Yeah. And got him on the ribs. It was completely unexpected. It was an accident, total accident. Are you and the team disappointed that this news came out? Because now, Connor McGregor could attack the ribs. Of course, of course.

That's one of my concerns. Yeah. So how did it get out? I don't know. Connor said he's going for the chin. It's all up to him. I don't know. When all those punches start raining on Connor, I don't know what will hit the sides.

but for now it's all okay Connor's saying he's aiming for the chin I don't believe him but what can we do but as far as this this very important

and sensitive news coming out you know did you guys talk about oh who's talking to the media because it's very rare for an injury you know to get out there in the press before such a big fight it was all over the media before I got home

I don't know how it spread so fast. I don't know. Crazy. It's unbelievable. I didn't talk to anyone before I saw on every news. Will you be going to Las Vegas with Aldo? I don't know. I got to keep training, but I don't know about the necessity. If they think it's best for the fight, for me to go, I'm going to go. But for now, I think I'm going to be on training.

They haven't told you the fight and the flight is next week, right? Yeah. And they haven't told you if you're going or not. No, it's not decided yet. Okay. And then what about you? I mean, there's some buzz. You're undefeated two-division champion.

When's your next fight? I don't know. I'm waiting UFC to call. Yeah. I hope it's soon. I really want to fight the UFC. I already got invited by Ballator, but I denied the offer. So the only way I live Brazil for fighting is going to the UFC.

Didn't you try out for Tough Brazil recently? Yeah, I tried out to 155. But by the time I was 135 champion, and they thought it would be a big jump. A 135 guy fight on a 155 division. But what they didn't know is that I was already planning to move up. So now I'm two divisions champion. Yeah, that's amazing.

For jungle fight. But are you done with jungle fight? Uh-huh. Why? I don't want to keep defending belts on jungle fight. I want to move forward. Okay. If I defend my belts in jungle fight, I will stay right where I am right now. Okay. So I want to move forward. If I have to fight again here in Brazil, I'm going to look for another big show to keep collecting belts.

Probably face-to-face. Right. What do you mean face-to-face? It's a big show here in Brazil. Oh, it is. Okay. Excuse me. Maybe perhaps Shuto. Isn't Andre Pettanaris, the head guy over there? I'm sorry, I last year. Maybe Shuto Brazil.

Oh, yeah, Shuto Brazil. It's a great show. Sure. It's a great show, actually. Okay, so, and finally, a lot of news was made when you said that you were trash talking to Aldo, and he kind of lost his mind because you were trying to play Connem Griger. What were some of the things that you were saying to him? Oh, think that that Connor say all the time.

I said, you got nothing although. I say, stop joking. Why you got for me? You can do better. I say, I'm going to have your belt. All kind of shit. And at first he was bothered by this? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But now he's completely focused. Okay. How do you think he wins? First time I was cursing him, he lost his mind. But now he's okay. And you even do his hair like, your hair like Connor, right? Yeah, I used the hair like that, but it was a coincidence. People are thinking I'm using beard and the hair like that because of Connor, but no, no, that's still Jonas.

So how do you predict that Alda wins? Probably knockout, but I won't be surprised by anything. Although he's prepared for everything, literally everything. It was a good camp other than the rib injury. Yeah, we still don't know. how we're going to figure this injury on rib, but before that, he was doing the best camp ever. Wow. And I'm sure it was

good for you, too, to be a part of this, right? As a team Nogara guy to come see and train with the champion, that's a huge, that's a huge privilege, right? Of course, it's a huge step for this sport. It's a huge step for this sport. I'm completely happy to

be part of the evolution, you know? Tino-Gera guy helping a Novo Union guy, is the evolution of the MMA. I'm just glad to be a part of. Yeah, that is great. Very cool situation and great for you as well to help Aldo prepare for this fight. Hopefully, we're all praying. Hopefully the fight actually happens and Aldo's okay. Let us know tomorrow when you see him. Let us know that all is good, all right? Okay, no problem. I will show be posting on Instagram and Twitter, all things, all news.

And just check there. You'll all be there. At Jonas Speed. Uh-huh. That's your name. Jonas Bilarino. Biharino. Yes. Bilarino.

Right? What do you think? That's okay. That's fine by me. That's good. People here in Brazil say it wrong. I won't mind. Obrugado, my friend.

Thank you very much. Good luck to you in the team. Appreciate the time, and I hope that we will see you in the UFC sooner rather than later. Oh, thanks. Thanks a lot for all the AMMA fighting fans. Thanks for this sport. See you around.

guys. All right, there he is. The man on Twitter who is known as Jonas Speed looks very much like Connor McGregor, the hair, the beard, but more so than that, his movements has done a nice job of mimicking Mr. McGregor, and McGregor taking a subtle shot at Aldo bringing in new training partners, saying, oh, you know, I don't have just random people surrounding me here. with the guys who, you know, brought me to this point, with the guys who helped me prepare for this moment.

And while Jonas didn't injure, Aldo, he made that very clear. It was an interesting thing to say, a difference in philosophy. But he is a great fighter. If you haven't seen him, check him out on YouTube. Very entertaining. A lot of fun. And I hope that we get to see him in the UFC sooner rather than later, as I said. All right, one guest to go, and we have saved the best for last, my friends.

It has been, honestly, it has been a year. year, a year since I've been trying to get our next guest on the program. And then when the news broke that he was finally going to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, I thought, wow, this is my chance. Well, it took some time there. We finally got it done. I am so excited. I am so honored. I just can't even put into words just how great it is to say, B.J. Penn, the prodigy, is joining us right now on the phone right here on the MAA. B.J. Are you there? What's going on, Ariel? Wow.

It is so great to hear your voice. Did you know I've been trying to reach you for a year? Every angle possible, your brother, your mother, Rich. Finally, the great Aunt Evans made it happen. He was the only one who could get it done. Thank you so much for coming on. It's so great to have you on the show. Great to be on the show.

Right on, Ariel. Great to be on the show. So congratulations on this big news. You are being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on July 11th. What was your reaction when you found out that, all right, here it comes, Hall of Fame or BJ Penn? I was very excited. You know, a great way to go out and a great way to kind of just, you know, finish it up

and, you know, put myself at ease a little bit. But, you know, you know what was even better than getting inducted? Well, I don't know. I didn't get inducted yet, though. But what was even better was just everybody's positive support from it. You know what? I didn't get any, you know, any backlash or any this and that is just everybody's so positive and it was a very nice way to end the show.

Backlash, who would disagree with you going into the Hall of Fame? Did you really think anyone would have a problem with this? No, no, no. No, I don't know, just, you know, just, I guess sometimes I'm a very controversial man and, you know, but everything was very positive and was very well. taken by me. Who called to tell you the news? How did you find out?

Dana, Dana, actually. Wow. You know, Dana, Dana, let me know. And what was that like? You know, considering your history with him, and I know it's a lot better now, but, you know, a guy that you've been very close with, you had your ups and downs, and you ended, you know, on a good note.

What was it like to hear it from him? And what did you guys talk about? He just said, you know, to keep it. I think he was keeping a date from me for a little bit, but he said to, you know, keep it quiet, and they're going to do something. And they don't let me know, you know, because of BJPen.com, they don't let me know ahead of time what's going on.

So, you know, they really got to push it out there before I get it out there. What's going on over there with BJPen.com? Are you happy with, you know, it's a controversial website. You know this, right? Controversial as in, it's, you know, it's, you know, That's all we do. We just push news out of there. And I think it's a different type of website.

It's not affiliated to anybody. It's not affiliated with the UFC. It's not affiliated with USA today. It doesn't have any big affiliation with anybody. It's very independent. Right. The thing about BGipen.com, it's very, very independent. We don't have anybody leading us in any way with whatever we do.

Of course, you know, I have friends in the industry, you know, of course. You know, that's how we could be led, you know, by friends. friends of ours, but, you know, besides that, you know, we're, you know, that's all it is. It's just an independent news agency, and we, you know, we, you know, we, we do, we do our right traffic. Yeah, I would imagine, especially with your name attached to it. So like I said, I've been trying to get you on this show for a year. I wanted to talk to you. We missed you. We got a guy in the back there in New York, Rick, who's probably your biggest fan. This guy, he worships you back there. I want to know, what has the last year been like for you? What have you been doing since you're

fighting against Frankie Edgar? I've just been hanging on the heel, watching the kids and just cruising. You know, whatever businesses I got going, I'm just trying to take care of those as much as I can. And, you know, I try to keep myself either, you know, busy physically or, you know, or something. And I really like to be involved with business.

I mean, hence you see Bjapan.com out there, you know, trying to make a buck. And, you know, it's just, you know, it's just moving forward with whatever I got going. Do you miss the fight game? You know what? I don't miss. I don't miss three-month training camp. I don't miss that. I don't miss fight week.

I don't miss the three-month training camp. I don't miss fight week. But I do miss being the baddest man on the planet. You ever get that itch? You ever see a fight an opponent and say, I could fight that guy, I could beat that guy? Oh, I think that all the time. You know, and then I see what Mike Tyson is coming back now against James Tony.

Yeah, I don't know if that's 100%. But you know, what's amazing, though, is... Oh, go ahead. I'm sorry, Ariel. No, no, no, I was just going to say, I'm not sure if it's 100%, but yes, I've seen those reports as well. And he's obviously older than you. Yes, and it does blow me away, though, when I see, you know, You know, Verdum just got, you know, got the belt at 37, and then you see Mark Hunt still fighting at 40 and, you know, all these different things.

And, you know, it is amazing. I don't know. You know, it's just, they're out there. They're doing it. You know what? Looking all these years back, you know, it ain't the speed. It ain't the technique. It ain't the power.

You know, it's who wants it the most. And that's, you know, over time, you know, maybe, you know, as you. start getting into it, the people start coming along that love it more than you do, you know. And you know, but here you go, you got, you know, like, Mark

Condo, he was right there for a title shot and he, um, you know, and he stayed around for a lot, he had a couple of losses when he got to the UFC, stayed in it, and he was one fight away from a title shot. So, or no, he was in the title, she was in the interim fight, right? Sure, yeah, he fought, yep.

Yeah, he was in the fight, yeah. Look at that. stuff like that. I'm like, man, tell me if you didn't just stick around for a little while, something would just click and you just, you know, you'd be back. Of course, we... Back on top. You also... Or one fight away or whatever. Yeah, and you have Robbie Lawler, who's a champion. You have Barnett who's coming back. Right. That's what I mean. It's crazy. Yeah, it is. You know, what about how it, how it all ended in Las Vegas around a year ago?

I mean, a lot of people, including myself, would say that's not the BJ Penn that, you know, we remember that we loved so much. It just didn't seem like it was you out there. I don't know if it was the weight cut, the technique, the game plan. Does that bother you that it ended like that? No, definitely. Definitely. I was in my mind for a long time.

But, I mean, I'm sitting here right now, you know, I mean, the first thing that a fighter would want to do at a time like that is go go go right back in the training camp. And I go, I got to go do this again. I have this and that. I do feel that it is one of my, you know, I do feel that something I'm proud of as I sit here right now, that I can just kind of let stuff like that, you know, kind of go.

But, I mean, as being a fighter, it is hard, you know. But, I mean, if you're not standing in the octagon, then you must be retired, you know. Do you still watch the sport and follow it? Do you get excited about the fights, or is it too hard to watch them? You know, but there's so many fights now. Of course, I can't keep up with everything. But I'll watch a big title fight, you know, and I'll watch, you know, I probably know the Hawaii fighters and I know the champions, you know, that's about what I know. And then, I mean, as far as watching on television or keeping up and then, of course, BJPen.com, I'm going to check that.

So I kind of know, like, little stuff, you know, going on. But if I'm going to sit down and change my day or take a Saturday and turn it on, it's probably going to have to be like John Jones versus. Cornier or, you know what I mean, Kane Velasquez versus Virgil. I didn't even get to see that fight, but you can't have to, it can't just be a regular title fight. It's got to be two guys with like one of the old one of the old must go kind of thing.

You know, I just want to see the best fight. Sure. You know, a lot of fans have asked me to ask you this question. Of course, you've retired from the UFC. It sounds like that's, you know, pretty secure. But what about a metamoris, an IBJF, something like Are you interested in going back to your grappling routes so fans can still see you in action? You know, I would honestly, in the last year I haven't really even, I don't think, I've been,

I went in the gym and I did some cardio and some stuff, but honestly, I haven't even done martial arts this, this is last year. I've just been kind of relaxing and just catching up with stuff that I missed out on in life. And instead of being in the gym all the time, I get in the gym and do cardio and stuff from my health and try to, you know, stay healthy with that kind of stuff. But I haven't any, I mean, the truth is, I haven't even done martial arts this year. Okay. So it has...

Stop buying the gym and just a little stuff, yeah. Maybe in the future, you think? Because you're a young guy. Well, I guess I'm young if you see that the guy just won the UFC Heavyweight Championship at 37, right? Right, right. I don't know. It's just how much you're into it.

You know, maybe sometimes it's not ages. It's miles, you know. Right. I have a car with, you know, yeah. So who knows? Never know. But you don't think you'll ever fight again, right? Yeah, I don't see myself with a strong will to one who, I don't, you never know.

You never know what the future could hold. You never know what could pop up. But, yeah, I got no desire to jump into a training camp and try to, you know. try to go out there. Wouldn't it to be something, you know, we have this sort of second coming of a great Hawaiian fighter in the form of Max Holloway, representing Wainai, right? The great city of Wynai. Wouldn't it be something if he can get finally the UFC to come to Hawaii?

I don't know if you'll fight in it, but that would be pretty cool for you, right? That would be awesome. That would be awesome. What do you think of Max? I'll definitely go and watch. What do you think of Max? I think Max is a great guy and very confident, and he's, he's, he's a great guy. He's on it right now.

I just, you know, stay to what he's doing and stay focused. And I will not be surprised at all to see that guy, you know, walk through everybody as time goes on. And he's still so young. He's still only 20 years old. I think he's a little older than 20. But he still... What is he now?

Is he 22, 23? He's under 25, for sure. So he's... Okay. He's got a long ways to go. So now that you could put a bow on your entire career, what would you say was the greatest moment? What's the moment that you're...

you think about maybe when you're, you know, sleeping, your, your, your head is on your pillow, you know, you're saying good night to the day. What's that moment that, wow, if I could just go back to that moment. My greatest, yeah. My greatest moment in my whole career is when I became the first non-Brazilian to win the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships. Wow. That was my greatest moment. So not UFC related, not the belts, nothing. Yeah, my martial arts career. Why is that? that started it all. And, you know, it's just kind of like you hope, you know,

and when they go and look back at judo, like, hey, who's the first guy that won in Japan that was in Japanese, you know, and that's, you know, kind of, time goes on. It means more and more to me. Wow. And what about any regrets? Anything you look back and say, I wish I did this differently? Yeah.

Too few to mention. Really? But, I mean, you can walk away with your head held high, right? I mean, we all have regrets in our life. But I don't think it's anything that really eats you up inside, is it? As life goes on, life shifts gets harder, and that's the mark of a man, just keeping your head up, right? Not taking the easy way out. Just keep your head out.

So you're going to be in Las Vegas for the induction on July 11th, and then we have one of the most anticipated fights ever. Later on that night, UFC 189, Aldo v. McGregor, and I think it's very apropos that you're being inducted because you're the man who put the lightweight fighters on the map. If it wasn't for you, who knows if we even have an Aldo or McGregor? It's a nice tie-in. Do you have any thoughts on these fighters? I know Aldo there's a connection there from Novo Nia. But what about McGregor?

This is a guy who's taking the sport by storm. Are you a fan of his? You know what? BGPEN.com is definitely a fan of Connor McGregor, right? With the traffic that he brings in on different stuff. Right. No, I'm definitely enjoying this whole build-up to this whole fight. Connor's keeping it interesting and then Aldo's, you know, the greatest of all time for the featherweight.

So, you know, I'm very excited. I want to see what happens. Who do you think wins? You know, this whole thing with Aldo's rib, you know, I don't know what's going to happen with the whole fight and everything. But I don't know, maybe, you know, maybe it's just, maybe it is Conner's time and maybe it's that good. Maybe it's just, you know, maybe he's not that good at all. I still don't know. A lot of times I'll be sitting next to someone who doesn't know the sport that good,

and they look at me, they're watching, and they look at me and say, what do you think about that, what just happened, and I'll say the same thing that you thought. So I'm kind of just as the same as everyone else. You know, we're going to find out if Connor's the real deal still. Have you ever fought with injured ribs? Yes, of course. I mean, going into a fight, I mean, are you ever going to get a chance to go in 100% to a fight? And if you're not hurt, then you probably didn't train hard enough or whatever, you know.

But, you know, it's a strange thing that the news is already out there. Yeah. Because if you did have a herd rib, you'd be hiding it, right? Sure. You wouldn't be telling everybody, and then do it anyway. So it's just, you know, it's a controversial night period, I guess. Right. So I hear that you live, I guess you live like in the woods or something.

It's very hard to reach you, right? You live in an area where the cell reception isn't great, right? Oh, yeah, yeah. We have a little farm down there. But I'm in Hilo, and I'm over there a lot of either side. But the other place at Whitefield Valley, they don't have too much. It doesn't have any good cell reception out there. Are you happy?

Are you happy? Yes, yes. Well, that's good. Very. That's great to hear. BJ, I got to say, as I say goodbye, I'm getting, a little emotional. I miss you. And, you know, I've, I've tried so hard to get you on this show for the past year, and I'll never forget just how nice you were to me as I could be selfish here for a

second, having you on my show. You know, I'll never forget in Australia when you said that you wanted a percentage, and I'll still hold you to that. I have no problem with hooking you up with that, and you've just been so great. They don't make them like you, and I think everyone misses you. It's really great to see that you're being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. I'm so happy that they're finally recognizing you and that you're going to get to be a part of UFC 189. You deserve to be there. And I hope that everyone comes out there to celebrate you because you deserve that as well. One of the greatest ever.

And it's amazing when I hear fighters talk about you with such admiration. You've meant so much to so many people. It's just really nice to see. And it's so great to hear your voice. Honestly, I say that sincerely. So I really want to thank you for coming on the show. and I want to congratulate you on this great honor, and I hope to see you on July 11th.

Thanks for all our kind words, Ariel. Thank you very much. Okay. See me here. Yes. Easy, brada, and say hello to your family, especially your mother. Okay. All right.

Okay, Ariel. You take it easy. You take care. We'll talk soon. We'll talk soon or other than later. There he is. B.J. Penn. Amazing stuff from him.

And honestly, I've been trying to get him on the show for quite some time. Really a year. Yeah, I really got emotional there for some reason. The UFC 2015 Hall Fame induction ceremony will take place Saturday, July 11th at 11am on the main stage at the UFC Fan Expo. It is free to anyone who has an expo ticket. If you are one of the unlucky ones who can't be in Las Vegas for the UFC Fan Expo or UFC 189 or the tough finale or Invicta on Thursday, well, you can watch it live. on UFC Fightpass.com. It will be a one-hour show, and what I'm told is it will be unlike the previous Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

Remember, there's a whole new system in play. Four Wings. We have the fight, pioneer, modern day, modern era, legend, BJ Penn going in as modern era, Jeff Blattnick going in as well. Frank Trigg versus Matthews number two going in as the fight, and Bust Rutan as the legend. And also, by the way, which I ran out of time, so I didn't mention this,

but my good friends over at MMA History Today, who just launched their own website, mMAHistory.2day, reminded me that on June 29, 2001, a 22-year-old BJ Penn proved that he is much more than a grappler. I'm using their words, he knocked out Dean Thomas at UFC 32. How about that? Fourteen years ago today. Knocked him out in two minutes and 42 seconds in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In just his second pro fight, remember his first pro fight, UFC fight, UFC, UFC 31. That was in May of 2001, his TKO win over Joey Gilbert. So there he is, the prodigy. I really want to thank Aunt Evans of the UFC for hooking us up. That was quite the journey. but he got it done. He's the man, and we appreciate that greatly. All right, that does it for today's interviews. What a rollercoaster of emotions. Mr. New York, Rick, what do you have to say? It's good to hear from BJ Penn. It is good to hear from BJ Penn. I missed him. I know you all missed him. Yeah. I wish there was a way that BJ Penn could be more involved in the sport. I mean, I'm sure there is a way. I don't know. I don't know if he's the guy for that, though,

just because I feel like it's so hard for him to not want to get back in there. That's a tremendous point. I think that the distance is required almost. Because you can tell just like the way his voice changes. When he talks about fighting, you get the sense that he still wants to do it. But, you know, people around him or himself or whatever the case may be, make it known that the time is over. That might be the best.

point you've ever made on this show because you're 100% right there are some guys who just need to go cold turkey right i think he's one of those guys yeah you could tell man his demeanor completely changes when you start talking about the possibility and the itch and all that stuff um i'm just wow i got emotional there for a second and so exhausted because it really has been a year since i've been trying to have him on the show not to so much talk about you know i didn't really want to talk about the edgar fight i think most bj pen fans want to you know, not remember that anymore. Forget it, right? Sure.

But just to see, you know, you want to try to put a bow. And there's, you know, you can talk to him, but you need like an hour to really try to put a bow on this illustrious career, this amazing career, historic career, legendary career. And I'm really happy that they're inducting him. I think it's great what they're doing with the Hall of Fame. And it was great to finally speak to him. So anyhow, those are the interviews. There's probably a lot to talk about. We got 30 minutes, much to the chagrin of Devin's Salmon.

and company, right? Yeah, I know. They want more time. They want more. Well, talk to the good folks over at Vox Media. Let's get into the questions because there's a lot to discuss, including your old Romero, who we haven't talked about and who I want to talk about greatly. Okay. Let's start with Machita, though. What are your thoughts on the recent performances of Machita? Do you think it's fair to say he is on the decline,

or has he simply come up against some tough opposition? I actually thought he was looking all right in the Romero fight until the ending. What do you think makes sense for him next? Who said on this show last week? Who said on UFC tonight last week that Machita was coming back too soon? It had been 35, excuse me, 70 days since his last fight. I thought he was coming back too soon. Then when you find out, and look, I'm not playing Monday morning quarterback.

I'm not instituting revisionist history into this discussion. But quick turnaround, surgery, dominant loss, smaller cage against a guy who had been out for quite some time. The deck was stacked against Leo to Muley. And you're right. He did do pretty well early on. I thought he won the first round. I thought Romero won the second round and then, of course, it ended in the third. I just thought, you know, I'm not ready to write off the other machita. I'm really not. And who knows? Maybe he's better as a light heavyweight, maybe the weight. I don't know. But I really want to almost, and this sounds weird, because I don't want to discredit what Romero did, but I can't put as much stock into this loss as I did

into the Rockhold loss. I thought the Rockhold loss made him look old. I think this one, he lost, fair and square, it was dominant. But I think he came back too soon. And so I want to see him come back eight months, six months, at least, and then we'll see what happens.

And then we can say, all right, too old, it's time, et cetera, et cetera. He's older, but remember, he hasn't taken a lot of shots. He hasn't been beat up, you know, early on his career. Lately he's been taking shots. The Widman fight, the Rockhold fight,

this fight, Dalloway was easy, but three out of the last four, pretty heavy-duty stuff. I want to see him take a break now. Okay, now we're getting to Romero. Did the media and the fans rush to conclusions about what was said during his post-fight interview? Because of his bad English, should we have waited until the post-fight press conference to where he could explain himself in Spanish like he did? Also, what were your thoughts on some media members claiming he lied at the post-fight press conference about what he said? Okay, well, this is one that I've been waiting to discuss, and there are a lot of,

there are a lot of angles here, and I want to get your thoughts on it as well. But here's my timeline. Romero wins, blown away, incredibly impressed. He gets on the mic. He's obviously very heated. And I want to get my thoughts correctly here

because we've just been talking for the last three hours, and it's not the best time to get your thoughts in as coherently as possible, but I'll try. Gets on the mic, he's obviously very heated, he's passionate, he wants to get something off his chest. He tells America to wake up. up. He's speaking not about... At first I thought maybe he was going to say, hey, Jacare, hey, Wyatman, I'm coming. Clearly he's not. He's a very religious guy. No secret there.

His nickname is Soldier of God. He has a menorah on his banner. He has a John 316 headband. Have you ever seen any of my interviews with Y'O Romero? Romero? I mean, you can ask him what he had for breakfast this morning, and somehow he ties it back into religion. Every single answer is about religion. It's unbelievable. He's just a deeply religious guy. Good or bad, disagree, agree, the man loves his religion. He's passionate about it. All right, that's what we were expecting to hear. He tells America what happened to you. I'm paraphrasing, and then he says, don't forget Jesus. Now, I will admit, considering the historic, amazing news of Friday, 24 hours prior, same-sex marriage legal throughout the United States, amazing, perhaps some of the biggest news in the history of this great country.

Considering what happened, we all thought he said, no gay Jesus. Many people thought. The majority of people thought this, and it was disappointing. You just beat Leota Machita, and this is what you're going to talk about, this is how you were going to taint this victory. Whether or not you agree with it or not, it's a controversial thing to say. and there's no place for that in the octagon. There's no place for that in sports. People talking about religion, people saying, you know, God helped me and all that.

I mean, that's going to be a part of sports. It has been a part of sports. The phrase, the scripture on his headband, very much a part of sports, John 316. And so it was disappointing, but if you look at my Twitter, I was not quick to judge. All I said was, this is exactly what I thought he said, and that's disappointing to say the least. Didn't call him a bigot, didn't call him any of that. I wanted to see what he would say at the press conference. I wanted to give him a chance to at least explain himself.

Now, if you read what he said at the press conference, if you actually read it, it sounds like a bunch of what, hocus, Pocus, American Dream, what are you talking about? But if you actually listen to what he said and you actually watch him say it, it's clear as day that he was not saying what many people thought he was going to say or saying what many people thought he did say. this is a guy when you watch him at the press conference, when you actually listen to what he's saying, you hear confidence in his voice, you hear conviction, you actually hear a guy who's pretty upset that so many people misunderstood what he was trying to say. This is a guy, I mean, just actually just actually actually actually very educated about the subject he was speaking on.

And again, disagree or agree. That wasn't what he was trying to say. it was clear as day to me after listening to him at the press conference that we misinterpreted what he said inside the octagon to John Anick. Couldn't be more confident of that, more sure of that. Now, was he referring to what happened on Friday? We don't know. Was he referring to the tragedy in Charleston? We don't know. Was he referring to America not being as religious as he would like? Well, probably. But those questions weren't really asked of. him at the press conference. What were you referring to? Why were you so passionate? Is there a chance

that it was because of Friday's announcement or ruling? Absolutely there's a chance. I mean, timing is right there. You can't overlook that. But you know what happens when you assume. You make an ass out of you and me. You cannot assume these things. What we do know is a fact that this is a guy who's very religious, who feels very passionate about this, who will always bring it back to religion, no matter what. He's nicknamed the soldier of God. He's nicknamed the soldier of God. He's nicknamed the soldier of God. He did not say no gay Jesus. Now, was he referring to it? Well, that's up to you. You can decide that. You can ask him that, whatever. But he did not actually say that in the cage. And people who are continuing to stick to this script are doing him a disservice. And it's not fair to him.

Now, you can also make the case that, look, biggest win of your life, you just defeated a former champion? Why are you even talking about this? Why are you getting so worked up about Jesus not being in America and America not being religious? Why are you even going that route? It's not the time. It's not the place. It's not the right sentiment for a post-fight interview. You can make that case. But perhaps for a guy who calls himself soldier of God, perhaps it is the right place.

Perhaps it is the right sentiment. Perhaps his mindset is, I'm going to win. I'm going to be in the winter circle so I can preach to the people. Religion is a very touchy subject. I know people feel very strongly about it both ways. I know people feel uncomfortable when athletes bring it up. I get that. I respect that.

But you can't rip on the guy for bringing it up. It's his time. It's his moment. We want people to call out other fighters. We want them to say fun things on the mic. That's what he thinks is best to say on the mic. I can't begrudge him for that. And maybe I get the religion thing a little more than others. I think a lot of people who don't believe in it are very quick to judge sometimes. I think a lot of people who said that they were maybe offended by what they thought he said. Well, maybe, you know, open your ears. And look, religion can lead to a lot of disagreement. It led to a lot of tragedies. and useless conflict and all kinds of wars and just a lot of bad stuff. It could lead to a lot of good as well. And I come from a pretty religious background.

I have no problem with saying that I pray every morning, that I went to a Jewish school. I get these sort of things. But I also feel like I'm pretty progressive and, of course, thought that Friday's news was the greatest thing and wish that everyone can live in peace and happiness and harmony and should be able to decide what they want to decide. But I can't hate on J-O-R-R-Mero because he doesn't tell me what I want to hear. because he doesn't tell me that, you know, I want to fight Jokre next. That's what he wanted to say. You can feel like, hey, he should have said something else.

That's your prerogative. That's a fine argument to make. But he didn't do anything wrong. He didn't cross the line. He shouldn't be reprimanded. You know, could Fridays, again, could it's historic, the news could it have led to that sentiment? It could have. Again, the connection is just 24 hours.

but he never said what we all thought he was saying and no one asked him if that's what he was referring to. Now, if he came out in the press conference and said, look, this is what I was referring to, and I hate it, and it's bad and it's wrong, well, now we've got a problem. Now you may have offended many people. Never said that. And I thought the way he said what he said,

the tone, the conviction, the confidence really spoke volumes. It's a guy who knows what he's talking about. That's pretty much my take on Y'O. Romero. What do you think? I'm not about to follow that up. But yeah, I think, you know, the appropriate course of action is to find out what he was talking about. And we don't know yet. But I have a feeling somebody will ask him and we will find out eventually.

Sure. You know, at this point with the people, you know, around him, I don't know if you'll get into it. They'll probably say, hey, man, you know, you probably don't want to go there. It's not in your best interest. We may never know what led to that. but look at his history. This is a guy who brings everything back to religion. That's why we may find out.

Because he may want an opportunity to talk about it again. Sure. I'm saying if he meant what happened on Friday, if he meant that historic news, if that's really what was bothering him. Again, this is a guy who doesn't speak English all that well. When I first met him, he couldn't speak English at all. He's trying to verbalize his thoughts after a fight inside the octagon.

I'm not dismissing what could have been the reason for his thoughts, but all I know is what he said. and I feel rather confident in saying here on the show that he did not say what everyone thought he said. You get what I'm trying to do? That I verbalize that. No, that's fair enough. You're not, but I think that, you know,

some people will say that you're letting him off the hook, that you're not taking enough of a stance, but my attitude is just, you know, what you said about, you know, nobody following up there is the most apt thing to say, that we don't know, for sure, what he intended by what he was saying. So regardless of what you think he said, what he really said,

we don't know the intention because nobody really asked. Yeah. And don't tell me it was obvious and don't tell me you assume those aren't things that, at least as journalists we can do. People do whatever they want. You can hate him now. Go for it. Don't ever support him.

That's your prerogative. Just like, in my opinion, it was his prerogative to say that he thinks America. I mean, I think it's a pretty, you know, look, I'm not going to get into all that stuff, but I mean, that's a pretty, you know, big statement to make. This is coming from a very religious guy. He's allowed to say whatever he wants about his take on America, but you can't offend people. And I don't think what he said on its surface was offensive. You may disagree, but again, I don't think it was offensive.

Lorenz Larkin. How far can Lorenz Larkin go in the Walter Wight Division? He looked great against Ponsonibio. How saleable? No. How sellable is a potential remand? match with Robbie Lawler. Salable, yeah, that's a weird word.

How many victories will he need? I don't know if it's quite there yet, but I'm very impressed. Remember, this is a guy who, when he was fighting in Strike Force, as a 205, he was kind of flabby. It was clear that 205 wasn't for him. I think we all thought 185 would be for him. Not 170. He looks to be in incredible shape. That was a really fun fight.

He's a new player, and it was a good showcase for him, but I still think there's a long list of people ahead of him at 170. We have a caller. Let's skip to that one for now. Oh, wow. Who's on the line? We have Jeremy from Texas. Jeremy from Texas.

How are you, my friend? Hey, man, how's it going, Ariel? Howdy? What's on your mind? I have a problem with, like, all these fighters that are, like, training so hard, like, two weeks before a fight. I don't think that you're going to get any better in, like, defense takedown or your kicks or, or, Anything like that. That's why these injuries are happening.

I believe your cardio could probably increase doing something else, like swimming or running. But as far as physical activity, I believe like the muscle memory is already there. And I don't think you're going to increase your level of fighting in a two-week time period. All right. Well, I've been to a lot of fights. Yep.

Okay, go ahead, area. No, I was going to say I appreciate the sentiment. and I think to a degree you are often correct, but I don't think it's fair to say that about Aldo this time based on what we know about the injury because you heard it from Jonas just an hour or so ago and we've heard it from the guy who actually caused the injury, you heard it from Andre Pettanaris as well.

This was a freak thing, and it appears as though there was a wet mat, he slipped, and hit him in a bad spot. Now, in the past, Aldo has been somewhat injury prone and often fighters are, but I really think that the UFC is trying to educate its fighters as much as possible, and that's just one organization, but they are the leader about how to train properly. And I think Connor is putting out the blueprint that you really need to be the guy.

And everyone comes around you to help you. And guys are doing things around you, but the days of being in a small gym, and everyone's preparing and sparring right next to each other, and one guy rolls into the next, which we've seen time and again, need to stop. I mean, you have to be a lot smarter than that. So, you know, we don't know exactly what goes on in all the gyms across the world, but I do believe that fighters are getting educated. And by the way, let's not forget this isn't boxing.

This isn't any other kind of sport. This is a fight sport where you are using all your limbs. Everything's a weapon, and you're going to be prone to injuries. So these things are definitely going to happen. It's just a part of the sport. All right, my man, we got to run, but I appreciate the call. Okay. Thank you.

All right. There he is. Caller from Texas, Jeremy. I want to keep rolling here because I don't want to run out of time. What else we got? Josie Aldo's predicament. if you're Josealdo, do you take the fight and the huge payday, despite being well below 100% knowing that if you end up losing, you are essentially guaranteed an instant rematch and likely another huge payday? There's a lot of assumptions here, but let's just go with it. Or do you pull out of the fight to protect your legacy, your pound for pound ranking, your chance to break Anderson Silva's consecutive title defense record, etc. But you potentially risk throwing away the huge payday that was mentioned before, particularly if Mendez wins the interim title. I'm curious to hear what you would do in Jose. Aldo's position. It's hard to truly answer this question without being Jose Aldo, without knowing just how injured he is. And this is such a confusing situation because I am so, look, I'll say this. On the

MMA beat last week, I said that I thought it was irresponsible for the Brazilian media to report this news. And I said that I thought that they failed Jose Aldo. And I could understand why some of my colleagues from Brazil took exception with these comments. And quite frankly, I don't. don't like criticizing fellow media members. I think there should be a lot more unity and we should support each other as much as possible. And so I try to clear the air with them as best as possible. I've also, you know, I've somewhat changed my stance because this is such a unique situation. It's almost unheard of for an injury to come out before such a big fight, a fight of this magnitude. I mean, how many times have we heard? I mean, I've heard things. I can't even tell

you how many times I've heard things before a fight. I mean, look at John Kavanaugh. I just confirmed it about the thumb. That was more widely known than other injuries. And I won't go into the list because it just sounds like, oh, look at me, I knew these things beforehand. But the point is, I do believe that there is some kind of code. There is some kind of code between fighter and journalist. Same way there was a code back in the day between the Yankee beat writers and Mickey Mantle, who did not report that, you know, Mickey was out drinking and partying a day before or a night before a big baseball game. Countless other stories as well.

There's a code there, I think, to a degree. And once you put this news out and the fighter still remains in the fight, I do believe that now you are impacting the fight. The journalist is becoming part of the story, right? You are actually putting out something that will impact the fight if the fighter is still in the fight. If they're out, then it's fair game. The fighter is out.

all that to say it comes into play if you don't get some kind of blessing from the fighter, the coach, it's really those two guys, maybe the manager, to put this out.

If they give you that blessing, well then I mean they're okay with it. Now we don't know who put this news out, ultimately. We don't know who the leak is, so to speak. But if you look at history, How often does this come out? 0.1% of the time? 1% of the time?

And I don't even know what I'm getting at. I don't know if you ask for more money. I don't know why they would want this out. I don't know. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable reporting it. I don't really know how to wrap my head around this whole situation. It's so unique and somewhat unheard of, especially in our young sport, that it's just a tough spot. I don't want to lob bombs.

I don't want to criticize Anahisa, the people who report it are very respectable. They're great people. I enjoy, you know, working with them. I wasn't trying to knock them specifically and personally. But there's just so many different weird things that have happened over the past week that it's really hard to wrap your head around it. What I will say once again is this. Only Aldo knows.

If he's truly hurt, you want to roll the dice and get the payday, go for it. Can you live with that? in 10 years when you think back to Connor McGregor beating you because you were hurt and you should have waited three more months, will that eat you alive? Only he can answer it. If he's feeling better now and he'll find out tomorrow maybe if he's feeling better, you know,

if he's banged up a little bit, well guys are banged up, you know, it happens, it's part of the sport. Can he live with it? That's the main question. Can you, you may never get a rematch. You may never get a crack at this guy again. Can you live with fighting him injured? If you are truly as injured as your team is now saying you are, can you

live with that. And that's, you know, that's something only he can answer at the end of the day. So I hope it happens, but, you know, I hope it doesn't happen against his will. I hope it doesn't happen to the point where he lives to regret it. Yeah, that kind of sucks. But I will say this, one last thing on it. I don't know if it comes up. I will say this. I think no matter what, Connor had to remain on the card. And it's rare that I'll say that. But because it's such a unique situation where so many people are flying in from, from, you know, the UK, from Ireland, from Europe to come watch this guy. I think to a degree he owed it to them. And B, I also think when you talked so much over the past year that you could beat everyone on the same day and that no one was

on your level, what were you going to do? Say no Frank Yeager, no Chadmendes? You had to back it up. And I think that people are now respecting him more. And even John Kavanaugh said he would fight them on the same night. So I think keeping Connor on the car was a no-brainer. And I do think that's a consolation or that's enough of a consolation to keep everyone happy. They want to see Aldo, I get it. I want to see Aldo, too. But even Connor versus a broomstick would have sufficed. This is the Connor McGregor show. He's the star. He's the reason they're making the trip. He had to remain on the card. Let's assume that this fight goes off. Hey, Ariel, your thoughts on having the Irish and the Brazilian national anthems performed for U.S. 189.

Love it. Let's do it. This person actually called in and requested that this question get asked. Yes. I love it. I'm appeasing them. Boxing style. And they also said, do you think you can mention it to Connor? McGregor. Because as we know, this is Connor promotions, right? I think Dana or Lorenzo are the ones to talk to, but wouldn't it to be nice if because, you know, the promotion, the world tour, the ads, all that has been just a little different

for this fight, would it to be nice if this one felt a little different? If they pulled out something like this, right? And be amazing. Yeah. And I think it'd be worthy. It's international fight week. These national anthems are a good point. That's a good point.

our tribute. So I think something like this would be a nice touch. I couldn't agree more, and it also has been very much, even in the ad, it's Brazil versus Ireland, right? That has been a part of this story. And the world tour and all that, oh, it would be great. Get like some national

hero from Ireland and a national hero from Dublin, excuse me, from Brazil and have them sing the anthems, I think that crowd will go apeshet. I agree. Can you confirm what happens if Aldo is cleared to fight, but then Mrs. Waite he couldn't do the cardio due to his injury.

I know there was the case of Chale and Paulo Filo, but what if this was to happen? Is it a no-brainer that McGregor will still fight him, but the title wouldn't be on the line? Is that decision down to the Nevada Athletic Commission, or is it a company decision for the UFC? I think it's too full, but remember we had it on, we had this situation play out in Bellator.

Kendall Grove, why am I blanking on? Halsey? Yes, Brandon Halsey. So Halsey missed weight, and it was still a title fight for Grove, but not for Halsey. So now there's a vacant title because Halsey won the fight. That's happened in boxing as well. It's never happened in the UFC. The last time a title fight ended up not being a title fight because of a situation where one of the fighters missed weight, that was UFC 67.

Travis Luter versus Anderson-Silva. It almost happened with Robbie Loller versus Johnny Hendricks. and what would have happened there was Lawler fighting for the belt. Hendricks couldn't win the belt if he missed weight. Remember, that was the vacant title when GSP left. I believe the same situation would play out here. McGregor could win the belt, but Aldo couldn't. That'd be one hell of a story.

God. I mean, at this point, I just want to see Aldo v. McGregor for the belt. If everything, you know, I don't want anyone to fight against their will or truly injured. I don't want to see that, but I just want to see the fight that we've been talking about for so long. I mean, when this news came out, I was really depressed. and I just really want to see it happen. With all due respect to Mendez or Edgar or anyone else, I think that's what we all want to see.

Speaking of those two gentlemen, why do you think Mendez was picked instead of Edgar to be the replacement? You know, the story that I heard, and it was kind of confirmed here on the show, was that he's just the higher-rank guy. And, well, that's kind of interesting, because the rankings haven't always come into play. Maybe that's a good thing.

Maybe that's, well, maybe it's a sign that they're actually going to start listening, more to the rankings or abiding by them more. I will say this. I do think Frankie has the resume. I mean, I really, I kind of felt bad for him when this came out. Now, maybe he doesn't want it under these circumstances at the end of the day. There's that term again. I was surprised at what Mendez because he just had the title shot. He's on a one-fight winning streak. Edgar beat Faber, and, you know, you look at the guys he's defeated also like Charles Olvera. Look how good he's looking as of late. And we'll win over BJ is a big deal regardless. And Cubs Swanson, I just, I just,

thought he was going to get it. So look, you can't, you can't say that Connor's ducking because they're similar fighters, not the exact same, but they're similar. And I hope all this talk that he won't fight a wrestler and all that will go, you know, out the window because this is a guy who's agreeing to fight a wrestler and also, you know, agreeing to fight Aldo. And he doesn't care what the scenario is at the end of the day on July 11th. So I hope all that silly, silly talk goes away now.

Yeah. I mean, in Chad Mendez's defense, he, did look very good against Joseo he definitely pushed him but I don't think it was a controversy no no it wasn't a controversy but he pushed Joseoaldo in a way that

you know very few can so I don't think that him stepping in there I'll say this I thought he did better against Aldo than Edgar did I thought there were moments that he looked like he was closer to finishing the fight so if you know if he's the one who steps

in there against McGregor I think it's it's fine i'm not i'm not up in arms about it if it was me i think edgar has the better resume as you said uh but i'm not too upset that that mendes would be the one to get the shot i think both guys are pretty worthy sure and i'll also say that uh there's that built-in rivalry in store i mean you could tell these guys don't love each other there's that great interview from the bt sports show um where he said you know he'd rest his balls on his head and all that stuff i mean there's there's there's heat there. Could you imagine what that way in show is going to look like, you know, or feel

like, sound like on July 10th? Just the fact that Conor's there, you have all these Irish people there, but if it comes out, like 30 minutes before that Aldo can't get cleared, and I would suspect that they clear them before. And then Chad jumps in there, and I mean, what the heck craziness? Just a whole other layer. And maybe

it's a blessing at the end of the day for the UFC, because it got this fight in the news. But just a bizarre turn of events heading into July 11th. What are your thoughts on Bellator signing Josh Koshchek. Yes. I expect he will draw much attention for them.

Do you have any issue with them signing a fighter that has lost their last five fights, four by finish, and probably shouldn't be fighting anymore? Who is the one that said, pay attention? Remember that relationship between Zinken Entertainment and Scott Koker. Remember that relationship between Bob Cook and Scott Koker. Bob Cook, former matchmaker, four strike force, obviously a coach over at the American Kickboxing Academy, Zinken Entertainment, based in the San Jose era. area, management team to the likes of Daniel Cormac, Camelazquez, Luke Rockhold, Josh Thompson,

and Aaron Pico, Ed Ruth, Phil Davis, Josh Kostech. Four of the biggest name signings that Bellator has had in the past year or so, in the past six months. All Zinken guys. And there's no coincidence here. And I'm not surprised that they sign them. These are the kind of fighters. I mean, if they're going to sign Kimbo and Ken, Koshchek is. is definitely fair game.

He's a Spike TV guy. He made a name for himself on Spike TV, tough one guy, and you got that Paul Daily fight there. So I'm not surprised. You know, I think they need to capitalize on that daily fight sooner rather than later they're already going back and forth.

It doesn't surprise me. And also, let's not forget, the relationship with UFC at times has been somewhat contentious. I think it ended rather good. I mean, as far as his fighting career there was concerned, I remember Dana White giving him props for taking the Eric Silva fight

on short notice, all that, but there have been some issues, you know, over the last decade or so. I think the relationship with Zinken. I think the fact that he still wants to fight, I think the Paul Daley situation, Koker, all that. I mean, I think it all comes into play here, and I was not surprised at all. And I think more of these signings are to come. What are your thoughts about Usada preventing fighters after UFC Fight Night Florida? I'm not sure that this is the, I'm not sure that there was like official mark of this,

but I know they were trying to implement this. what are your thoughts on them preventing fighters from using IVs to rehydrate? People are already talking about the potential of fighters moving up in weight classes and even possible deaths inside the octagon. Are people overreacting or is this a major issue? I think it's an issue because it's such a part of the culture of MMA. Remember I asked Travis Tiger about this. I mean, I don't think it should be a surprise.

Using IVs in this recreational habit is banned by the Wad of Code. It shouldn't be a surprise if you actually read it. And I think a lot of fighters didn't, and now they're coming to realize that, you know, this kind of practice will not be accepted. I always kind of felt, look, this goes back to what Andy Foster said on this show. The weight-cutting issue is a lot more serious than the PED issue. And I always kind of felt like the weight-cutting issue was something that could really come back to HAN us. And I think this is a way of rectifying it. Now, if it means fighters are going to be, you know, forced to move up, if it means, you know, I just, I think it's, it's, look,

I'm not a doctor. I can't talk about the effects. I can't talk about what's really going on. But it just feels weird to me when you weigh in and then like, you know, two hours later after some IV, you're like 15 pounds heavier. That just doesn't seem natural and you're going into a fight. I know that there are some people who are, you know, up in arms about this and I think a lot of people just look for things to complain, especially when it pertains to the UFC.

But, you know, I would like this sport to be as kosher as possible. And this practice, while I don't actually practice it, when you hear about it and you see it come into play and you see what fighters go through to make weight, just doesn't feel kosher. So I hope that maybe this is a step towards fixing that. And hopefully in the interim, until guys actually figure it out, they will be educated on how to do this the right way. It's not just about training and not remaining, you know, and remaining healthy and PDs. It's really, you know, the weight cutting thing is a serious, serious deal. I saw pictures of Todd Hunter, the guy who pulled out of UFC 188 because of weight cutting, he was not in good shape. I mean, this was scary, scary stuff.

I saw it. I don't want to see a tragedy take place in any organization. We've seen a few on smaller organizations with smaller organizations and who have flown under the radar. And I don't want to see that because it would be very detrimental to the sport. And more importantly, just tragic. I mean, no one should die. you know, because they're cutting weight for a fight. Come on.

Not good. So hopefully this will lead to guys fighting at a more natural weight and doing things the right way. Last question from Twitter. Okay. What about Yul Romero's next fight? This person suggests Jacqueray Souza. This is a no-brainer.

For the number one contendership on the same card as Wydman v. Rockhold. Well, now you're just copying my tweets because I said this on Saturday. I'm assuming you agree with this as well. Yeah. You're not going to give me the... Soza should wait on the sidelines, right? I mean, it's going to be the same thing,

because one of them is going to pull out of this fight. They're never going to fight. Why? How many times has this thing been booked? Five times? I feel like the next one is the one. You got a good feeling about this one? I don't see it happening, but I would love for it to happen.

I think either of those guys is worthy. I think either of those guys is pretty much worthy even without this fight, But whoever wins this fight is surely the number one contender. And I'd like to see it. And on the same card as Widman Rockhold is a no-brainer, because then every time you can set up like a little mini tournament, it's something you should work. It's something worth doing, for sure.

Who wins? Out of Jacare and Yol Romero. Yeah. I think Jokore is still a little ahead of Yol at this point. I think it would be a good fight. I think, you know, I think the difference here is that Romero's got some kind of really scary power. Not that Jacare does in.

Jacaray's got good power, but the difference will be in the transitions. And Jacaray is just a little cleaner, a little better in those scrambles. And I think he'd win. And then Wydenverse Rockhole is going to be something special. So of those four, who ends up champion? You're still going with Jacqueray? I mean, I can't hop off the Jacaray chain now, so Jacaray Souza. Wow.

By the way, say his name correctly. Soza. I'm sorry. I mean, if you're going to be. I'm just going to. call him jacqueray how about that why not um yeah well it's a it's a quiet weekend coming up by the way of the things we missed that weren't asked steve bossay uh wow a vicious knockout glad to hear he's okay great win for tago santos um that was whoof that was a tough one

i mean when they when they stiffen up it's tough to watch speaking of which joe schilling would you make of that that was a tough one i mean i think you know the strike that he got caught with was something that you just can't see coming. Yeah. I don't think it matters whether he's a kickboxer or an MMA fighter. You know, that's just when the Superman punch lands, it's night night. And he got caught, and I think he'd say the same thing. Round one looked like a, you know, a replay of what we were seeing in the last fight where, you know, the guy didn't want to stand with him.

But in round two, you can't make the claim that he didn't want to stand up and fight. Should he stick to kickboxing? I think you should pursue. you know, both if he feels that he has a future in both. I think, you know, he's one of the best kickboxers in the world. And I think, you know, his resume says the same thing. So I think that that's where his greatest strength is, but I don't see any reason not to pursue both.

Yeah. I wonder if this is going to keep him out of that hybrid show. Yeah, the suspension, you know, for... It's 90 days, but as long as he can be cleared. Yeah, I mean, it would be up against it if that timeline's accurate, but I have a feeling that he will still. end up fighting on that show. Yeah, so that was a tough one. Also, Czech Congo, victorious on Friday.

Bellator. Beltor had a very good week with their ratings over 2 million people watching Ken Chamrock versus Kimbo Slice. And I would imagine there's more to come there. Also announced on Wednesday, via Dana White, Demetreus Johnson's next opponent will be John Dodson.

You agree with that? Of course. Yeah, who doesn't? That's the right one to make. You got to do that one. Reported on UFC today that CM Punk has moved to Milwaukee, and he's going to be closer now to Rufus Sport. Doesn't have to make the commute every day, an hour and a half each way.

So we're getting closer. No date yet, but we're getting closer. Fabrice Radoom, his team, they want Andre Oloski. Do you agree with that? I do, but I think there's, you know, it's tough for Stepe, but, you know, that's just the brakes and it'll get a shot. Wow, so positive. And how about Alexander Schlameko getting a pretty hefty suspension?

I'm not too mad at it. I know, you know, a lot of people are saying that it's too long, but it might help clean up the sport. The longer, the better, to be honest. I feel like the initial, you know, the initial punishments are going to be, whoa. Yeah. I mean, it's certainly a shock after people not suffering major consequences. But I think that this is the right direction,

even if it's a little bit longer than you might expect coming off suspensions previously that were not nearly as long. It's a bit startling. But I have no problem with cheaters getting long suspensions. You know what they say? Cheaters never prosper. He received, by the way, from the California State Athletic Commission, three-year suspension, $10,000 fine. I love when they give a big suspension, they only find them like $6. bucks. This one seemed a little more in line with the actual suspension. So that's a big one for the

former Beltor middleweight champion. Who knows how it affects his career? GSP, I'm told that people close to him say the new anti-doping policy is a step in the right direction, but we'll see what happens. Still no decision. And one last thing just reported earlier in this show by my colleague, the American animal Mark Romundi himself. The John Jones case is likely to go before a grand jury, excuse me. The Bernalino-Bernolillo County, New Mexico District Attorney told MMAFighting.com that he, quote, and anticipates bringing Jones's felony hidden run case to a grand jury, but is still awaiting key evidence before making it official, according to DA spokesman Kaye Anderson.

We have, quote, requested the outstanding evidence in our office anticipates moving forward. when we have a completed case, Anderson said. The 60-day window, the state has to bring Jones's case to grand jury expires Monday, but Anderson said the state is not technically required to file any new documents with the court yet, especially since Jones is out of custody. You can read the rest of that on M.A.Finding.com, but that's the update. A lot of people have been asking me as of late what's going on with the Jones case. They knew the 60 days were up.

That's the update you need to hear. Tomorrow's a big day here in New York City, the UFC unveiling. It's quote-unquote fight kit, AK, it's U. Uniform. That's 10 a.m. here in New York. Greatest collection of M.A. stars. They're all here from Kane to Verdum to Daniel Corme to Yohanna to Ronda Rousey, Demetris. They're all here for this big fashion show of sorts. Connor McGregor expects to be here as well. So hopefully we can talk to him, Robbie Luller, and Roy McDonald as well. So that's going to be good. Check that out on MMMfighting.com. And that's it. You can hit my music. We got one more show to go before we can get to U.S.

C-189. Who will be in the main event? Who will fight Connor McGregor? We know he'll be there. That much is certain. Unless something crazy happens, but the man plans on being there. Who will he fight? Will it be Josealdo?

Will it be Chadmendes? What a strange scenario that is about to play out over the next 12 days? What a journey it has been to get to this point, and it's going to be fun getting to July 11th. What a week that's going to be with all the hoopla surrounding UFC 189 Invicta on Thursday, Hall of Fame Saturday afternoon, UFC 189, Saturday night, and then tough finale Sunday night.

We'll talk about all of that next week, of course, but for now we say goodbye. I love this show so very much. What a fun show this has been. I want to thank you, Anna Youn Jacek for stopping by in studio. Good luck to her. I want to thank Graham Boylan for stopping by as well. Congrats on the New Deal with Cage Warriors.

Thank you very much to Frankie Edgar. Thank you very much to Mark Ratner. Thank you so very much to John Kavanaugh. Appreciate Chad Mendes' time. Thank you very much to Jonas Bilarino for stopping by. Great insult. And thank you so much to BJ Penn. I have to thank Ann Evans as well.

But BJ Penn, wow. that really was something special. Congratulations to him on being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. We'll see you next week. In case you missed anything, check it out. iTunes Stitcher. SoundCloud, all the ghost of it.

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