MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 309

Episode Date: December 15, 2015

Ariel Helwani speaks to John Kavanagh, Ido Portal, Anthony Pettis, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rose Namajunas, Aljamain Sterling, Javier Mendez, Lance Palmer, and Tony Ferguson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I'm Ariel Hawani inside our New York City studio back from Las Vegas. And what a week it was? From nothing to something to everything. Is there a better way to describe the journey? that Connor McGregor has been on for the last three years, less than three years, two and a half years. As far as the UFC is concerned, we were first introduced to him in April of 2013. I think a lot, and I'm not going to say that we discovered him, I'm not going to say that we were the first ones to talk about him, but at least for North American fans,

I think that you were first introduced to him on this very show in February of 2013. And of course he beat Marcus Brimidge in Sweden, and we were wondering, all right, that's a nice win. It was on Facebook, but it was nice. Then he went to Boston. He got the championship walkout. The lights went down. He got his own media day.

He beat Max Holloway. And boy, does that win look good right about now, right? And then people went, all right, that's good. But what about this guy? What about that wrestler? What about this striker? Busts up his knee. Does an amazing job of remaining in the news.

As he predicted, he brings the UFC back to Ireland. As he predicted, he finishes Diego Brand down in the first round. The card sells out in seconds. And then we start talking about title shots, but people are like, come on, let's see him fight a top five. I don't believe it. He's all talk. He's too brash. He's a one-trick pony.

Okay, fine. Let's give him Dustin Poirier on what was supposed to be the biggest card of the year. Finishes him in the first, as he predicted. All right, but what if he faces, you know, a tough wrestler, a guy, a gritty veteran? What happens then? he's going to get exposed. They give him a seaver, and a lot of people thought that they were giving him a cupcake fight. Well, as he predicted, he finishes him rather early. Then he gets Chad Mendez, and he beats him. All right, but when he faces Joseo Aldo, it's all going to come to an end. 13 seconds. 13 seconds.

That's all it took for Connemar Greger to wash away Joseo Alto. On Saturday night, it was, what can you say? It was jaw-dropping. It was shocking. It was unbelievable, but for all people who have been a part of his team for all the Connor McGregor fans who have been following him since the Cage Warrior Days. And before that, it was as expected. An unbelievable sight, one that I'm still trying to unpack, one that I'm still trying to make sense of. But what we do know is this. Conner McGregor is the undisputed UFC Featherway champion. And like he said, what will they say now? There's nothing left to say. He may find his match down the line, but right now on December 14th, there is nothing left to say. There are no more questions.

to be asked about him. And if you say otherwise, you're just refusing to accept his greatness. He's one of the very best. He's the biggest draw on the UFC. He may not be the face of the UFC. That distinction may go to Ronda Rousey, but as far as dollars and cents are concerned, he is the biggest draw on the UFC. There is no doubt about that. It was a historic week in Las Vegas. It culminated the way it should have with a great and maybe a little too quick title fight. Luke Rockhold also cementing his place among the greats becoming the new UFC middleweight champion. a lot to discuss. There is a lot to break down. We will be doing that on this program. Our very last show of the year, and it's a great way to end the year. Of course, Rose Numa Yunus with a big win on

Thursday. Frankie Edgar, with a somewhat shocking win of his own on Friday. So much going on, and guess what? There's another one this weekend in Orlando. Quickly, I'll run down today's show. We'll hear from you at around 345. We'll also go inside the vault. 325. We'll talk to Lance Palmer. He had a very busy week in Las Vegas, and he defends. his World Series of Fighting Featherweight title on Friday. Rose Namedes, the aforementioned Thug Rose. She'll be joining us at 305. 245, Javier Mendez, the coach of the new UFC middleweight champion, Luke Rockold.

He'll be stopping by to talk about that big win. Al Jermaine Sterling, now a free agent. He backed up his talk. He'll be joining us at 225. Habib Nirmagamadeoff. Haven't heard from him in a while. He'll stop by at 205. Anthony Pettis, who has a lot on his mind these days, especially this week.

we'll join us at 145. And the new MMA sensation, the talk of the MMA world all last week, Connor McGregor's movement coach, Ido Portow will be joining us at 125, but there was only one way we could start today's show. There was no other option. And, you know, they predicted everything leading up to this way. And if you listen closely last week, he also predicted that he'd be on this show to talk about the win.

Of course, I'm talking about Connor McGregor's longtime coach and friend, John Kavanaugh. joins us right now via the magic of Skype, but there's a twist. No white robe. I went with the championship walkout robe. This is the new one. Fair enough. Apropos. I appreciate it greatly. John, thank you so much for the time. Thank you for coming on. I know you're probably a little tired. You probably just got back from the club, right? Celebrating? You have your spies watching me, dude. But congratulations. You can hear it in my voice. My voice has gone a little bit. Well, it is well deserved. Again, congratulations, and we appreciate time. Like I said there was no other way to start this show than with you. I'm so excited to talk about you.

Maybe my favorite moment of Saturday night is that clip, and I hope you saw it. You're walking down. You're just about to get settled. And I know you predicted a first minute, you know, finish. You were the first one to say it, but then you have this look on your face like, oh shit, it's over, just like that. It was unbelievable. What was going through your mind? Yeah, I think Owen and Artem actually get up quicker to me because as he was falling, I seen him land the left hand and Aldo was falling and just, I don't know,

it took a dozen up compute or something was going on in my head and I thought maybe he was going to fall and go straight to guard or he tripped or something. It was too much for me to take in and then we all had our O faces on. Is it a little unsatisfying

in the sense that we've been waiting and talking about this fight for so long? You just kind of wanted to see it play out a little longer? Can you take this away and smile and say, hey, I'll take this any day. I'll take this any day. But I did think there was kind of one of two things that happened that he would be over-emotional about the contest,

over-invested and reach in, which we'd seen him do. And that technique that Connor executed was practiced a lot. Or he was going to come out and wrestle right away, which would make it longer. But he came in and fair play to Aldo. He said he was going to stand with Connor, and he stood up to that and he drew actually a very nice combination. We call that a fade order where you fake the right and leap in with the left hook.

It's a technique we do a lot as well. I thought you do it. I haven't seen Aldo do it before. But with Connor, it is almost cheating having that left hand. Touches people, they sit down. A lot has been made of Jose's demeanor in the cage, how he was the way he was walking out, the look on his face, as opposed to Connor's demeanor, who seemed to be.

be enjoying every second of it. He was smiling. He was calm, cool, and relaxed. When you guys were standing there, excuse me, when you guys were standing there, did you get a glimpse of him? Did you say, all right, this guy seems off. He seems too tense. He's clenching his jaw. Did you know that you kind of had him? I've heard that all right, but every Aldo fight, he stares at the ground. He doesn't like to make eye contact. I could see him in the, where you get the Vaseline put on your face, and he was kind of doing us jogging on the spot. I do think that that is a tell for fighters that they're it's almost like they're trying to run away from the situation.

But in saying that, I taught to walk out and I taught the way he stood in the corners, was atypical of his approach. Connor has, and this quote has been coming up, you know, all, you know, the last 48 hours or so, about the right hand he saw twitching and he knew that it would be there. Did you share this insight? Did you see? Not just from that incident. I taught since the fight with,

was announced, I thought he would reach in. His head was in front of his feet. His both hands were behind. Just an overcommitment because of the, not the stereotype, but the Brazilian people are very emotional. They get really into the fight. Connor can do everything outside, but when he's inside, he's cold, he's calculated.

And he would be able to read it an opening like that. And it just took one, one opportunity. opportunity and well we know what happened it was interesting watching connor in the cage afterwards in july he was very emotional he got down on his knees he was bloodied up a little bit this time of course not really any bumps and bruises didn't even break a sweat and it was kind of like yeah i told you i expected this he was kind of just like all right it's another day at the gym how is it for you can you compare the emotions on saturday as opposed to back in july when he became the interim champion um like i although i did think it would be fast

There was a, like I went back to the change rooms, I felt like I could do some laps of the changing room or something just to get, you know, to kind of get it out on my system. But, yeah, just satisfied, you know, it's a long time coming. You know, Connor walked into my gym at 16 or 17, and we've been together pretty much every day since we've had our ups and we've had plenty of our downs and just to see that happen. So definitively, you know, there was.

There was no, it's not a judge's decision, it's not an early stoppage or anything. It was a definitive finish. It was beautiful. I don't know how in tune you were with this all week long because you were obviously very busy, but the Irish fans were kind of freaking out all week. And a lot of them were coming up to me, very concerned, like almost asking, it reminded me of that Seinfeld episode. I don't know if you've ever seen it where George Costanza goes to the doctor and just

wants him to say, of course, you don't have cancer, you're going to be okay. And it was like they were coming to me saying, is he going to be okay? Is he going to win? They were very nervous. And I think a lot of that had to do with all due respect to Ito Portal. They were thinking that the honorable, Senai Portal, who we will have the honor of speaking to in a matter of moments. But they were thinking that all he was doing was dancing around and moving around for the last few months? And they were wondering where you were you were you wondering where you were you thought about his presence in the camp? So clear it up. Was Connor just trying to mess with us? Were you okay with this? Give us your take on Hito Portel's presence in the camp. camp. Sensei, poor time. I apologize. I'm kidding. Yeah, if you were getting abused, can you imagine the end of tweets and angry messages I was getting?

I spent all my life savings on this trip and you have them doing the kukukukcha or something outside. I had another guy who stopped me as well on today. I'm sorry to see you don't train Connor anymore. What are you talking about? He goes, well, I never see you with him. And I said, oh, you watch embedded videos. He was like, yeah, I said, well, that's a 10-second look at our day.

But seriously, we do a lot of hard training. There's a lot of tough rounds that have to be done in preparation for a fight like this. Actually, for people who know Connor, who know the circle, were shocked when I said, I was actually getting him out at 10 a.m. I was driving up to his house. Sometimes it was a bit of a wrestle getting the duvet often, but I was dragging him out of house at 10 a.m. in the rain and the golden Ireland,

and we were running every day. So there was a lot of that style of hard training that was done in the lead-up. And then for the last seven days or 10 days, which is really just about weight management, we brought in Edo and just a complete change. The yin and the yang, if you want to say, of martial arts that we went to the soft

for the last week or so because, you know, the hardware had been improved at this stage and the software just had to be, you know, maintained. So it was just about keeping the body injury free, sore free. Like he said, he woke up on the day of the fight stretching and feeling excited about the contest, not holding his foot or holding his shoulder. but I do know now I have so many people apparently I'm a genius now that this was my idea but if he'd have lost I'd have been I'd have gotten poor Ronda Rousey's coach's treatment I'd have been the worst human being on the planet but that's that's MMA fans there they're a fickle bunch

absolutely you know it's interesting because I know you're happy I know you're proud of your guy and you're getting a ton of congratulations but I know there is a great part of you that is also you know in a lot of pain for two of your other guys who suffered setbacks this past week. Ardom Lobov obviously lost to Ryan Hall in the tough finale and then of course Gunner Nelson who you've been working with for quite some time you described them as as a brother to you know just a couple hours before the Conner fight suffered a tough loss as well. How do you kind of balance the emotions there because it must be tough to celebrate especially they're right there next to you right that they're hurting right there but also have it's got to be very difficult right

yeah well for artem's fight he was you know he was beaten definitively there's no doubt about that but for art him he'd rather get like really beat up and feel he was in a very tough fight and it was just he was kind of out positioned which was which was perfect by Ryan

it was there were some parts of that fight that I'm looking forward to looking back how he took the back in the first round he's some beautiful jiu-jitsu but artin is artem he just just gets on with it. There was obviously a lot of big buildup to the Gooney fight. I was very excited about that. Anybody who does jujuice is very excited about that.

I thought Gunny did some good things in that fight. Somebody early takedown attempts and Gunny would do what he does. His incredible ability to twist on the way there and actually get top position out. But you've got to bow down to the master, Damia. That was amazing. I'm very much looking forward. to watching that fight back studying it.

Gunny's, like I said, Gunny's always being like my kid brother. I wasn't sure how he's going to take this. I didn't, I've always half to expect Goody to come to me and say, okay, I've enough now I'm off to live in a log cabin somewhere. I just wouldn't be surprised if that's what he does one day. And last night was actually my first time seen Gunny since the fight, just for whatever way things worked. And he's more determined than never,

more excited to get back into it, more wants to fix the issues, fix the problems, make another run at it. So it was relieving for a part of me because, like I said, I wouldn't have been too surprised if he said to me,

hey, thanks, coach, I'm going to leave it at that and, you know, he's off to build an igloo or something in Iceland. But no, he's more determined than ever. So I'm looking forward to learning from this loss

and having a fresh start in 2016 and putting together a string of wands. I saw you tweet a picture of George Lockhart and it was kind of kept under wraps that he was working with Connor. Didn't make a big stink about it, but you said that he made your life a lot easier. And the way cut has always been an issue again on Friday at the Wains, all the Irish fans coming up to me concerned about the way Connor looked.

How easy was it this time around with the help of George Lockhart? yeah I have been following him for quite a while but a lot of credit should go to your good self I heard his interview he did with you and he was saying oh it gets kind of well the way he talks it gets kind of boring with the numbers are you but he was he was kind of saying that but you were saying no no I want to hear the story break it down and I was for me I watch a lot of you I always always watch your show and I was I was like kind of cheering I was like oh thanks Ariel you're making them speak about it more. So I listened to that interview very interesting.

I found it. I'm a kind of a science guy myself, but nerdy guy. So when I heard of speaking to that depth, I was thinking, this is the guy. I want this guy part of the team. So I started kind of twisting Conner's arm a little bit to bring him in. And we brought him in for the last. We start talking to him for about three weeks out.

and the plan he sets out is is beautiful and that it's by the minute you know there's no okay cut out carbs and stick with protein and vegetables and off you go no it was like 11 15 a.m. you eat four almonds 12 o'clock you eat so to have to have an exact plan laid out like that and I must I must give a shout out to Conner's girlfriend Dee she was incredible she was would time all the meals and cook them to perfection. But it was amazing the amount that Connor could eat, the frequency that he had is eating, a lot of carbs and a lot of, you know, nice food like this. And the training was, I taught a lot better because of this.

We had a lot more energy. And the cut was, it's never easy. He's a big, big feather weight. It takes incredible discipline. It's never easy. But this was as easy as you could make it. And I know on the lead-up I did say a lot of, I never want to see him at 145 again. But I half-joked to him when he stood on the scales the first time he, with about four or five hours to go, he was underweight.

He was 1-44.8, which I've never seen. And I said to him, I said, oh, what about pantom weight? Can we do three-way classes? I won't say what he told me what to do. It was as easy as it could possibly be. and it wasn't as scary as normal. So I learned a huge amount from George, and he's a very open guy.

He answers any questions you have. I learned a huge amount from him in the lead-up to this. And in future fights, I'd like him to be part of the camp for the six or eight weeks. It's interesting that you say that, because on the post-fight show, Dana White said that he had a conversation with you after the fight in which you said

this is the last time Connor will be fighting at Featherweight. So is that not accurate? I spoke with Joe Silva. I didn't speak with Dana. Yeah. Okay. And I kind of said to him, I said like what's next? And he was, he said, well, at this stage it's kind of up to use. And I said, okay, well, let's do the lightweight belt.

And he was, and I said, oh, is it true? I kind of half heard a rumor that I had to be Seroni for it to be an immediate title fight. And he said, like I said, at this stage, you tell me what you want. Wow. I was like, I like how that sounds. And then when I saw Connor give his own press conference, which I found pretty hilarious. It's just so funny for me, some 16, 17-year-old kid that I know the training at the end of the training because he hadn't got the fees, the math fees, and I kind of just let it go, or I'd be outside pushing his car. And then he's standing up there announcing what the figures wore for the gate and something like that.

Surreal. You can't help the moment, and it's all a bit surreal. but I actually thought what he said made a little sense that do the lightweight belt and I definitely did think his body could do with a break for the 145 so do the lightweight belt next and then maybe just alternate lightweight belt featherweight belt title defenses because he is a busy fighter fighter I would any time I would like him to take a break I notice the next day he's tweeting about some fight that just got dropped and he wants to be in again so I have to just run with it now This is the way he is.

This is how he prefers to be. So let's take boat belts. It's only a 10-pound difference. It's not a massive difference. And just do one on the other. I was always massive. BJ Pan was always my favorite fighter. And when he was able to do that,

I just thought it was incredible. A true sign of a martial artist that it wasn't about what exact weight are you right now. It was a fight. It was two men and it was a fight. And that's Conner's approach to this. so he's happy to do about weight classes. Does a part of you feel for Frankie Edgar, though,

because he certainly, I think, deserves a shot at the belt, regardless of who's the champion. And I think if Connor beats Frankie, he will have legitimately cleaned out that division after just one title defense. Max Holloway, Chad Mendes, Joseo, Frankie Edgar. So part of you kind of think, like, let's just get that one out of the way

and then we could do our thing at lightweight, or do you want the next fight to be at lightweight? There will always be another guy, you know, That's the sport. But I have to tip of the hat to Frankie. I didn't think it would go that way. And it was a fantastic shot. A beautiful left hook, dropped them clean.

And no doubt that fight will happen. But like I said, I do think the next one will be lightweight for the belt. Maybe that's going to be around about April, March, April, something like that. I think there's possibility of a big New York card around a bit down. I don't know if you've heard anything about that. So maybe that and then July, U.S.C. 200, maybe defend the Fedaway Belt against Frankie on that card. So everybody's time will come. Everybody will get their shot at them.

So people have to be a little bit patient, but it definitely will come. I'd love to see, I think Mike Holloway has done incredible as well. I thought it was a little bit flat on Saturday compared to his string of victories. put together. Saying that Stevens is a dangerous guy, but maybe Holloway and Edgar in the meantime. So you don't mind him fighting before because I think a lot of people think he's going to be UFC 200. You want him to remain that active?

You don't want him to take a break? He's never going to wait until July. No. Even if I was to suggest it or encourage it, I know it's a pointless effort. So I can see a lightweight belt. See how the guy's ground this weekend. See how injured the winner is. take a couple of months and then and then do that midway between now and july and then and then july

go again for uc 200 and again i would be remiss if i don't at least ask you this question the the talk of dissension between the ufc and connor continues to grow is there anything more you can tell us about where he's at right now with them um i don't want to be seeing my uh girlfriend did a little instagram video of us in the back room uh lorenzo coming in with the traditional bottle of Middleton. Yes. And we all toasted, so everything seems to be okay to me. Okay, all good.

That is good to hear. For you, when do you go home? Wednesday. Go home on Wednesday. So I've got another two nights here. What do you think it's going to... By the way, are you at the new McMansion? Because it seems right...

I am. I did. Are you tucked away because it seems rather subdued over there. I was expecting a lot of partying. Yeah. I'm down in my... I'm down in the basement in my... And my bedroom, Conner, is upstairs.

I didn't want to... I wanted to kind of do it in a cool setting, but the house is very echoey. Yeah, I understand. I tend to be kind of loud, so I figured a shoe would come flying out of the room or something like that. He's not a morning guy.

I did... My girlfriend, who was asleep over there. Oh, my. She must be hating you. Hello. She does. She absolutely hates me right now. She's been moaning at me all morning as I was setting up here.

But yeah, no, it has this beautiful. I give you a quick look out the window. This is what I was waking to every morning. Oh wow, yes. It's good to be the king. It would be waking up to that. And usually, Sainse Porkel in his tiny speedos jumping around outside doing handstands. Wow.

Right in front of your girlfriend as well. That is a bold man. Now I feel even worse for making you wake up early. But again, it only felt right to start off the... the show with you. Let me ask you one more thing. What do you think, you know, we talked about this last week, but what kind of sense are you getting of the reaction back home? Is it going to be like a Holly homecoming if you'll? What do you think it's going to be like when you guys go back? Yeah, my mom and dad rang me. They stayed up to watch the fight. Our local poll put it on again.

And they rang me pretty soon after the win and it just sounded like Bedlam back there. And they just said, this is the country's out of stance still right now. so I'm looking forward to enjoying that I have kind of Christmas off now I go home and no fights between now and New Year so you can kind of wind down for a while I've got a really big card in February seems to be most of my gym on the card bomb in February

I'm looking forward to that but take a week or two off now and then hit the ground running again in early January as for Connor I'm not too sure what his plans there. But yeah, I don't know how much more crazy it can be now compared to July, but the Irish do seem to take it up a level every time. What a ride it has been. I'll let you get back to your lovely girlfriend. Thank you so much for coming on this early. And I got to say, being around this sport for a little bit now, it's always interesting. A guy wins a big fight. You'll usually see the coach there at the press conference, head up high, you know, looking to

sort of take in all the praise in everything. everything. I never see you at the press conference. I never see you trying to get the limelight or trying to get the accolades or trying to get the congratulations. And I really respect that about you. Just kind of staying in the back, even seeing you at the events walking around, just kind of keeping to yourself very, I had to kind of run after you to get an interview, a one minute interview for Fox on Friday. So I really respect the way you handle yourself and you haven't changed, at least in the last couple of years that I've known you. So again, congratulations. It is well deserved. It has been so much fun to cover you guys. And I look forward to many big title fights. Enjoy the win. Happy holidays to you and Orla.

I hope to talk to you soon as we gear up for the next title fight. All right. Cheers, brother. Have a good holidays. Have Merry Christmas. Happy New Year, all that kind of stuff. We'll see you. We'll see you at the next event.

All right. Thank you, John. All the best. Enjoy it. There he is. John Kavanaugh, the head coach for one, Connor McGregor, the head man over at SBG Ireland. What more can you say? I say that with great sincerity, the man handles himself very well.

very much like a Greg Jackson. Doesn't want the praise, doesn't want the accolades, doesn't really want to do any interviews. Oh, and I forgot, I'm a moron, I forgot to, so much to talk about, I forgot to ask him about his book coming out. He has a book coming out, and that's a mistake on my part. He's writing it with a man by the name of Paul Dollery. I hope that I am pronouncing his name. correctly, and I'll get more information on that when we talk to him next, and I'll tweet it out there. I apologize. We were running out of time. There's so much to discuss with him, and I promised

him that I would bring it up, and I failed to do so, and I hate myself for that. But I will make it up to him. For now, let's go to our next guest, as I was talking about with John, and really all last week, one of the hot topics of the week, one of the most discussed people all week, was Ito Portel, kind of coming out of nowhere as far as, you know, the MMA scene is concerned and really was front and center with Connor McGregor on the embedded shows at the open workouts. And a lot of fans were wondering, you know, just how, a useful he would be and, you know, what his influence truly was, how they met up. I mean, there's a lot of questions surrounding Ido Portals. So now we are being joined by the man himself. I believe he's also joining us via the magic Skype.

There he is. And I think he's also in Las Vegas right now. He may be in the same location as as John is in. Ido, how are you, my friend? Good, good. Yeah, we're in separate rooms, but in the same villa. Unbelievable. First off, thank you so much for the time. Congratulations on the win to you and the team. I have a lot of questions for you, so let's get right into it.

How did you meet Connor McGregor? How did you guys link up? Yeah, it was meant to be in many ways. Connor has been following some of my ideas, interviews, some of my movement clips for a while now. I think John introduced him to those things. And I got a lot of students and friends kind of sending me some of that stuff.

And I thought it was interesting. Little by little as his name grew and his success continued to develop. and I became more aware and was interviewed a few times about him and yeah, finally we connected and I went over to Dublin to do some work. Was this the first time that you worked with him?

This is the first training camp? That's the first training camp, yeah. Did you know anything about him before people started asking him? Are you an MMA fan? Was he on your radar at all? I am. I was a much bigger MMA fan

back in the day in the early days and then I kind of lost interest a little bit and recently let's say in the last year and a half two years have been more in tune with everything but yeah I was aware I made some more research before I came and you are very much in demand you're you're a very popular guy we may be learning about you for the first time but of course a lot of people know a whole lot about you how difficult is it to actually get you out to Dublin, like for Connor to secure your services and have you with him, you know, over there, you know, how big of a deal is that? I don't think a lot of people truly understand just how busy you are and in demand you are. Yeah, it's a little bit tricky. I have a big business

and I do a lot of stuff already with thousands of people all over the world. We have teams touring, teaching events. We have a huge online following. So I do less and less private work, personal one-on-one work. And I do that still sometimes, but less and less. And with Conner, it was a special interest. Really an interest in the message, in the audience that he can offer, and more important than that interest in the movement riddle that he has to face. and that's unique to the field.

When you first met him, how in tune were you guys? Did you really have to teach him a lot? Was he already up to speed with your philosophies and truly what you do? And I'm also wondering, what was your first impression of him? Because he's a very unique fellow, as you know. He was in tune with some of the outer shells of my work, which is more known to the general public. And you see now a lot of kind of movement,

coaches jumping on the scene and trying to offer them. I know I don't need to take my shoes off to count the number of movement coaches I can put this title behind. Actually, what you got is some strength and conditioning guys who are doing some handstands and some kind of animal movements, maybe some ring work, gymnastics ringwork. So this is more the layers that Conor was aware of through the media, through his research, etc. And when I came around, I was all about introducing much, much deeper layers to the movement game and to the fighting game. And that's what we've been doing, basically didn't do a single

handstand or not much of, you know, not much of a real strength and conditioning because it was so close to the fight. I'm sure you are aware of this to a degree because I'm sure you are aware of this to a degree because I looked on your Instagram and you sort of, you gave a nod to this. But as I was talking about with John, a lot of the Irish fans were kind of freaking out all week long because they thought that all Connor was doing was, you know, these dance moves and playing around with sticks and whatnot. How much did you hear? Because I was saying, I was joking to someone, if Connor loses for whatever reason, it will have nothing to do with you, but you will be the most hated man in Ireland because they will all blame you for it. How truly aware were you of the skepticism that was growing coming out of the Irish fans? Yeah, I became aware of it, you know, but I did not let it diffuse me in any way. And yeah, if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. It was about coming and supporting and putting full throttle behind it. Although the amount of work we got to do was minimal for me. A week and a half here another few days in Dublin, that's nothing to blame or to take really credit for yet.

there are a small chain of decisions decisions that must be made right and I was part of those decisions what to take when to do what to do what to not do it's a huge part of what to not do in training in the session keeping keeping them fresh

keeping them in tune keeping the body very soft, which is very misunderstood. And all this machoism and all this mentality surrounding the Irish fans, the MMA game, I think Connor is very good not letting this detract him off. He feels that sharpness and that ability to deliver a very potent dosage is superior to the drip coffee and everybody else is drinking. He's the espresso man. Very well said. Do you foresee yourself now being a part of his team for the foreseeable future? I certainly hope so. I hope to support him. It was a very interesting time for me, very beneficial for me as well, which is not to be ignored, but I just enjoyed the whole experience.

I like to be on the pressure and I like to do, to do. do things different. Are you also foreseeing a lot of other fighters following his lead and maybe even contacting you to work with you? Are you open to working with others or do you just want to stay with the SBG team and in particular Connor? Right now, everything is open and we haven't really discussed anything yet. I've worked with some fighters before and we have a lot of a lot of incoming requests from anywhere and everywhere. This week was the center attention of pretty much everyone. I got some NBA players, some NFL players reaching out.

Yeah, Tony Robbins reached out. Wow. All because of Connor? All because of your association? Some of them, you cannot tell because my work has been out there and I've received such requests before, but now even more. We've been exploding in the last few weeks.

And when you say we, is there a team behind you or do you fly solo? Yeah, there is a team behind me. Yeah, I have a lot of very close students. People that have been with me for years. I don't hire my help. I make my help. And yeah, I've been very fortunate to receive their help. So a shout out to Odelia, to John, to Rui, to Summer.

to Johnny, to everyone, Liav, Stas, everyone around me. Your involvement in the sport, and in particular with Connor, is fun for me. It's always nice to see an Israeli come into the MMA world, and I'm assuming a fellow Jew. Yes, you're Jewish? Yes. Of course. So I asked you when I saw you in Las Vegas, I was like, okay, so where's home base? So you live in Israel?

Where do you live? And you pretty much said you don't really have a home. You're kind of just living out of a bag. When's the last time you settled into a house? I settle into a house every week. Okay, a different one. But then I leave it again. Yeah, I've been on the road for like five, six years now.

Wow. Why is that? Do you want to be that way or is it just, you're just so busy? Yeah, it just got very busy. And I wanted to spread the message out. And I had very difficult time to kind of delegate all kinds of responsibilities. abilities because I believe it takes years to train someone to do what we do, maybe even a decade. So that knowledge transfer takes time and I wanted to be out there.

So I went around. I went to Australia. I went to Russia. It went all over Europe, US, Canada, everywhere, just kind of supporting that message. I feel like it would be somewhat disrespectful of me to ask you. Okay, so like, what exactly is it that you do because you've been doing this for years? And it's obviously not fair to break it all down to a one-minute response. But for the, you know, the uninformed, for the MMA fan who is watching this,

who doesn't really quite understand the science behind what you do, can you at least sort of summarize the thesis? Like, A, how do you get into something like this? How does one devote their life to just movement? And why is this beneficial for someone like Hannah McGregor to follow these principles? Okay, I'll try to do a good job about this, although a perfect job will never be done. The movement game, very simple, people know very much the technical layers of sports. So someone like John Kavanaugh is an MMA trainer, BJJ specialist.

Those are technical layers to the sport. And then people also know the strength and conditioning side of things, getting the athletes stronger, better stamina, etc. But in between these two worlds, there are infinite amount of worlds and a lot of gray area, a lot of overlapping zones as well. And that's where the movement game is. The movement game takes the technical side and takes the strength and conditioning and takes the mobility and takes the pattern and repaturning work and it blends everything together.

So at times I was taking some technical aspects of the fighting game and tuning that in and working and refining that. And at other times I was more the strength and conditioning guy. At another times I was the therapist and other times I was the nutritionist. There is all these different hats. So as you can see, it's a generalist hat. You're not a specialist, you're a generalist, but you see the big picture much better than anyone else. in many ways. And that requires a lot of studies into a variety of fields.

The movement teacher must be a martial artist. The movement teacher must be a dancer. The movement teacher must be a strength and conditioning coach. The movement teacher must be an acrobat. The movement teacher must be a therapist. It's a lot of work and it's a lot of studies into these fields in order to see the common themes and to see the important things

and to let go of the less important things. How long have you been studying this for? 20 years. 20 years. And how were you introduced to it? I was a martial artist by background, and I just searched for better tools to teach my students. And little by little, as things grew,

I started to research other fields, to bring this information back to my students. But those fields were kind of attracting me, were pulling me out. And then it just hit me one day. It was almost like an immediate realization. It was, it's all movement. That's my obsession.

That's why I love all these things. It's all about movement. And I basically, I search for a movement teacher. That was the next thing. And I could not find one for the life of me. I was traveling around. I was going to study with all these people. And they were not teaching me movement.

They were teaching me some movements. And then I decided to become one. The next realization was it's impossible. It's impossible to teach general movement. And with that realization, I stayed basically taking a goal that will never be achieved fully. But I try to make the best possible attempt at it. So you're the first of this kind. There's never been one before you.

Not that I know of. not in the way that I'm doing things. Many people like to say it was always out there. And of course, everything was always out there. But this format and this way that I'm speaking about movement, my work has become emblematic of it. I'm wondering also, like your physique is unbelievable. Obviously, we see you in the videos and all that stuff.

Do you not use any weights? Is it all from the movement? No, I will use. anything and everything that helped me. But for the upper body, I don't use much weights because I don't see it as this, yeah, I don't see it as a very effective tool for someone who is not interested in weightlifting. For the lower body, I would use more weights. And that's where getting explosive and strong is best done through the weights. If you're, let's say on the scale, you're an A plus at movement, there's no one better than you, you're a guru. Where would you place Conn McGregor after just. a few weeks working with you already with what he does. Because just from my perspective, as an observer, I mean, the way he flows, the way he fights, it's all very impressive. But from your perspective, how would you rank him right now? Connor said it best himself. He's a white

belt. Oh, wow. So it can get much better. It can get much, much, much, much better. It's unbelievable how much better it can get. But the rest of the fighting game didn't even take their first class, as he says. He might be a white belt, but the rest of the fighting game didn't even start to play with those ideas. And, yeah, he's a very intelligent and dedicated practitioner, but the stuff that we do is extremely difficult, extremely difficult. Like this week, he's seen me doing some one-arm handstands around the house.

And he asked me, like, how can I do that? I must do it. I told them, no, you don't need that. You don't need to do that. This will take too much time. It says, okay, how much time? So I told them, it took me three years of six hours a day training to get there. So forget about it.

It's not for you, but he still wants to get it. Where were you on Fight Night? I was very close to the octagon. Okay. Yeah, very good seats. Did you get a glimpse of Jose, a lot of people trying to break down his body language, the way he was moving? Did you know when you saw him, maybe even prior in the week, that this was a guy that was maybe too tense, that he was not flowing enough? Did you have any sort of takeaway on his body language?

I had no doubt, and I had no doubt what is going to unfold. Inside the team, we all knew it. We all knew where it was heading. This is one fight that it was very clear. It was very, very clear. With Gooney and with Artium, it was less, I had a little bit less of any pieces of information to be able to make any prophecy. But with Conor, it was very obvious to me. I spent also years throughout my life in Brazil.

And I know the physique, the incredible Brazilian. in physique. And I know the mindset, it is familiar to me. I don't want to generalize, but it was, yeah, it was pretty obvious to me. Wow. That is interesting stuff. I will let you go, I know, I really appreciate your time, especially I know you guys have been celebrating, and, you know, this is somewhat early over there in Las Vegas. I welcome you into the MMA world, your inclusion and your introduction. It's been a lot of fun watching you work with Connor this past. week in Las Vegas and I look forward to many more of that. Congrats on all your success.

Again, thank you very much for the time and I look forward to talking to you very soon. Todaraba. Thank you so much. Toda, Tadda. All right, we'll talk to you soon. There he is. Ito Portal, a legend, a pioneer when it comes to movement. Conn McGregor's movement coach, fascinating insight from the Israeli Ito Portal.

Okay, let's move along. You know, this week in Orlando, it's a very big UFC lightweight fight. You don't need me to tell you that. It's Hafeld Dosangos against Donald Soroni, the lightweight title picture. interesting right now, especially with Connor hinting that he wants to go up. We were talking about this on Friday as well with Sean Alshadi, Tony Ferguson with a big win on Friday, and he was saying that he deserves the next title shot. And I was saying, well, what about Anthony Pettis? Where does he fit in all this? He has a huge fight coming up against Eddie Alvarez. Of course, he is the former

champion. Wanted to talk to Anthony. He's kind enough to join us. He's joining us on the phone right now. Anthony, how are you? I'm good, man. How are you doing? I'm great. Thank you for the time. First off, I believe I may have seen you out of the corner of my eye on Saturday. Were you in attendance at UFC 194? Yeah, yes, I was. All right, so what did you think of what Connor did? Just as a MMA guy, as a former champion, as one of the very best in the history of this sport,

and a guy who was supposed to fight Aldo at one time, were you blown away by that? Yeah, man, you've got to be, man, finishing Aldo in 13 seconds. It's an amazing thing, you know, so respect to Connor for backing up his word. So, yeah, it was crazy to see Aldo get deep thrown that way. I thought it was going to be a war. I thought it would be more of a fight,

but, you know, Connor caught him. Did you expect that? I think Connor got in his head. You know, all of those not known for coming out there and try to throw bombs the way he did, you know, and then Connor got in his head. He wanted to put his hands on him and he got to hit him, but one guy went down and one guy didn't. So now we have talk of him, you know, maybe going up. Ferguson's out there.

The title is being defended on Saturday and you have a fight in a month. As you started to hear all of this, were you kind of thinking like, wait a second, wait a second, where do I fit in all this? Like, what about me? Where, you know, where's the love for the former champ? Did you hear about all this talk and what was your reaction? Yeah, you know what? I've been here before, man.

You know, coming off to the W.C. win from Ben Henderson to the tie of Grey Mator and Frankie Edgar, you know, I've been in this position before. And you never know what really happens until it unfolds. I mean, all this talk doesn't really mean what's really going to happen. I just re-sign the contract with the UFC, so I'm going to be around for a while. And I was pretty much guaranteed a tower shot with a win against Eddie Lover is. You know, I'm number one in the division, former champ. I decided to take a fight before I go from the title shot again,

and I got my hands for with Eddie Elvarez. So my job right now is to get my hand raised in that fight. So you were explicitly told upon signing that contract that if you beat Eddie, you're fighting for the belt. Pretty much, yes. Sending new contract had down. What happens with me? We had a meeting to figure out what was next.

I decided to try doing a title shot again, was I going to take a fight before it. So we signed a new contract. What the win over Eddie Alvarez, you're next to want to the title shot. And once... You know, like I said, I've been here before. You know, you got a guy coming off a big win like that.

Things are sad. Stuff can throw around. I mean, you never know what really is going to happen. But, you know, I was promised in title shot. I intend I'm not happening. Did you reach out to the UFC brass on Saturday once all this stuff, this craziness started and say, yo, you know, where do I stand here? No, because, I mean, you know, you know, Connor just came off an amazing win.

You know, if he said he's going to move to 170 there, and I say whatever Connor wants, Connor gets. You know, he just beat the whole hell out of a pound fight in the world. So, you know, you got to tip your hat to him, but at the same time, you know, I've been here before. I know how it works and all the games played. I know I know how the GFC works. I've been around the sport for a long time,

and it's my job to have a performance that people are talking about. You get to forgot about quick in this sport. We could run or rousy, you know, coming off a loss like that. She was an invincible human being, and, you know, she comes off the loss, and she's quickly, I wouldn't say forgotten, but people are moving on to the next. So, you know, it's all based on the performance. It's interesting that you mentioned new contract

because, of course, we haven't seen you since March, since you lost the bell. But they gave you a new one. Was it a better one than the one you were on as champion? Yeah, most definitely, man. Better contract, better terms on my end. So, yeah, it was a deal that I was very excited about, and I'm planning on leaving the UFC ever.

So this is where the best fighters in the world are, and I plan on getting my spot back. That's my job right now. I got, you know, re-motivated, hungry again, and I want to be back to where I was at. You know, I let my foot off the gas puddle for a second, and, you know, it showed him the fight. So now I'm back where I need to be at,

mentally. I also understand that you switched up management teams, right? Yes. Can you explain why? Yeah, after the last flight, man, I just wanted to do everything a different way. You know, I'm not saying it was the wrong way. I just, you know, I knew Malky for a long time.

So I signed with first round management. I knew Malky for a long time. You worked with a guy like John Jones. We had a few conversations, and I just wanted to go with the team that, you know, is telling me exactly what's going to happen and it happens. I was getting a little frustrated where I was before, but nothing bad against the old management issues. These guys are where I feel like it's a better fit for me.

And that's one of a couple of changes, if I'm not mistaken. We had Ben Asgren on the show recently. He told us that he's no longer working with you. You're working with Israel Martinez, the great Izzy style. Well, I'm a big fan of. I've seen pictures of you guys working out. So do you have a new wrestling coach as well? And if so, what led to that decision?

Yeah. You know, Melke actually set that up. You know, Melke works with John Jones. John Jones is a big believer in Izzy style, easy wrestling. So, you know, I was like, you know what? Let me try this guy out. Let me see what he's all about.

You know, he's only in Chicago. So what that makes it, that makes it easy for me to get over there. It's an hour and a half drive away from Milwaukee. And I worked with him one time, and I just felt the difference. You know, I feel like he's really, Ben, Ben's amazing coach,

Ben's amazing athlete, but Ben's still a fighter itself. So it's hard to, you know, get the time I wanted to Ben asked him. He can't commit to doing, you know, five, six days a week of wrestling. Whereas, an Izzy is this is all he does.

You know, he's so motivated, he's so hungry to build these champions. It shows him the performances. We'll get Holly Home. You know, Howley Home looked amazing in her fight. And, you know, he has Yaira Rodriguez. Another big reason why I went up to Chicago.

Yeah, he was this young, hungry kid. And it just reminds me of myself, you know, when I first started, small natural talent. And he did he want it bad. So I got my younger brother is 22 years old. I got Eir Rodriguez, 23 years old, Izzy style. I still, I still work with Duke.

Duke's my head coach, I never what. But I just feel like a little change and a little tweets to the game and a little more time focusing on my weakness and the wrestling was where it was at. I got a world title without really focusing on wrestling and now I'm taking the time to actually learn this.

So you mentioned Duke that was actually giving me my next question. I knew you opened a gym with your brother. By the way, how was it going? Recently, right? Yeah, the gym's doing amazing, man. We got almost 100 students in two months. You know, we just switched locations. from one of our old gyms. So we, you know, it's the first pet is martial arts gym. I plan on doing a bunch of them, but this is the first, the first one to see how everything works and to see how the process is going to work. And it's very successful. Milwaukee, you know, supported big time. Our grand opening is huge. And, you know, it's very successful right now.

So, but even though you have a gym, you still go to Rufus Sport, that's still where you train? Or does it do come to you? Yeah, so my gym, yeah, my gym is a traditional martial arts, traditional type one of school, and we have a mixed martial arts program, more based for people that want to learn than that. People have So not fighters. Maybe he wants to fight with Dukes. For us, people that are wanting to learn with martial arts, training like a fighter, getting in shape. Sergio, my little brother, teaching the classes, so you get some great instruction.

And my older brother wins our Taekwondo side. So, yeah, it's more for people that want to learn mixed martial arts and train with, you know, the prejudice brothers. What's it going to be like for you this week and on Saturday? Will you even watch that fight? Does it kill you inside that the belt is being defended and you're not the champion? What are your emotions surrounding this fight? Yeah, it kills me, man.

I mean, it sucks because, like I said, I let off the gas pedal. Yeah. Training camp, you know, it wasn't the, something was wrong, you know, and that's what happens when, you know, you go in that fight like that, it showed in a fight. So it kills me to know that I let that go, and that's my motivation right now to get that belt back. That's why, you know, I'm just back to where I started at mentally,

just hungry, and I want to be the best in the world. And that's my only goal right now is to become the best in the world in 2016. So is it fair to say, like, the weedy stuff and the tough and all that, did that get to you? Do you feel like you lost that drive, that motivation after becoming champion that you had on your way to becoming champion? You know, that's a big question. I definitely think the training changed a little bit. The injuries were happening. I was like, I got to have a big year last year.

I was like, I want to fight quick. And I fought in December, try to fight again in March. A lot of things that had to be changed, I guess, mentally and physically. week. And now I just, I feel, I feel back, motivated and hungry again, you know, showing them to the gym and feeling like it's a place I want to be at, opposed to it's my job. So I feel like this year is the year of not the results, like the Wheaties Box, all the money, the fame, all that stuff. And I'm away from driving from that. You know, I just want to be the best in the world. I want to prove that I was the best and I am the best, and I still have

the skills to do this. And I think, you know, one bad performance, people forget about you quick, but I just come in and do my job come January 17th. And, you know, I'm I'll be talked about again just like I was before. Do you sit back and laugh at all this? Like, is when you hear all the talk about Soroni and RDA, Ferguson, of course, Connor now, does a part of you, does this, is this all sort of, in a weird way, good? Because everyone's, no one's talking. It's amazing.

No one is talking about you today as we're about to defend the belt because of all this craziness happening. It is, as you say, you know, kind of funny how fickle we can be, but, you know, that's, that's sports sometimes. Is that good, is that a good thing, though, in the end for you? I mean, it's definitely frustrating. Frustrating. I feel like my name should be talked about.

I mean, RDA definitely had a great fight. I had no taking that away. My last fight sucked. I didn't look like myself at all. But, you know, that doesn't change my skills. It doesn't mean I didn't need better in a year. I'm not working hard and improving on what I need to get better at. So it's just, you know, these fans in the M.

They are really quick to forget. And whoever wins the last fight or the last, there's so many fights. It's just hard to keep that hype train alive. So every weekend is a new event. I mean, Conner's head his weekend last weekend. Now we got RDA and Cowboy fighting this weekend. And, you know, every weekend's a new event. So these fans have so much to feed off us.

So it's my job to get out there to stay relevant. So, you know, my next fight schedule, I've got a tough opponent, man. Eddie Lvers is no joke. He's been around for a long time. And, you know, for me, it's his job is going to beat Eddie. My job is to be the best Anthony Pettis. I feel like when I'm on and when I'm 100% everything's firing away supposed to go, I feel like no one could beat me in the world.

What are your thoughts on Eddie thus far in the UFC? He had that one fight against Cowboy, of course, lost, and then that super close one against Gil, who you defeated rather convincingly. What do you make of Eddie right now in his career? Yeah, I think Eddie's a gamer, man. He's always ready to fight. No one's finishing the guy.

He's out there banging the whole time. He got caught with some low kicks in the Serony fight that I think changed the fight. But I fought both of those guys, man. I beat Tironi in three minutes, and I beat Tironi in the last thing two rounds. for me it's uh i'm not going to look at it like that way i think i used to look at it that way like all right now this guy's not going to be a challenge i don't have to train is hard i'm the

push is hard this guy's standing in my way to getting my belt back in my way of being the best in the world and achieving my goals in 2016 we've talked about this a little bit how maybe you know like in boxing you need to be the focus of your training camp not just be one of many people in the gym have you learned anything from these injuries i know you're supposed to fight in july and you suffer that injury while wrestling have you learned anything about how to form your training camp leading up to these big fights? Yeah, I definitely think I'm getting better at it, man. You know, bringing in Izzy was huge.

You know, he knows how John Jones does it. He seems he seems to some of the best in the world through it. And, you know, he just came in with a whole different style of training. You know, I'm not showing you up for team practices anymore. I'm showing up for my practice. It's one-on-one. I bring out two or three guys that he trusts that can actually drill with me and get the objective done that day.

And all the training is, you know, objective base. You know, today we're going to work on a position and we're in a master's disposition. and we move on and we move on. And I feel like I can see the growth. Before I was a train with these guys, if I beat these guys up, I feel like, I'm getting better. And if I wasn't being up, I feel like I didn't work harder. Now I feel like I see the growth in my skill set.

Now I'm seeing these positions that I'm recognizing stuff we did in practice and cardio is getting better. And it just feels good to be a student like that. You know, you actually can see the growth in your training camps. So you've been in there with RDA and Seroni. What's your pick? What's your prediction for Saturday? man everybody's asking that actually

I don't know who's gonna show up man I mean Cowboys one of them guys that he gets to that top top fight and he doesn't show but I think I feel like his last couple performance he looked good he looks great I mean they fought before we saw the first fight went RDA was uh you know he was on fire in my fight

you know he was he was in infensible in that fight he was one of them guys that he fights that way it's only hard to beat him so uh you know all depends on who shows up I really don't care who wins but uh I know I know what I want this year and and whoever whoever comes out with their hand race

That's my next, that's after Eddie. So you don't have an inkling, you don't have a sort of, you're not sort of leaning one way or the other? Based on my fighting with him, I would say RDA, and I beat, I beat Cabo in the first round, and RDA took me five rounds. You know, he dominated pretty much all five rounds, so how do you pick against that? So I guess we've got to see how he shows up. I-V-things can be huge. So I guess who has a smarter way cut, who has a little bit of edge. And 155, I mean, everybody's matched up well.

You have guys, you got so many contenders. It's a long list of contenders, and you got somebody hungry every, every fight. So that's who just shows up more motivated and who had a better camp. You told me recently that regardless of what happens in this fight, even if RDA loses, that's who you want next because you want to avenge that loss to exercise those demons. Do you still feel the same way? Yeah, man, you know what? I definitely think that fight needs to happen, but, you know, I'm 28 years old.

My goal is to be the champ, you know, and I think, you know, RDA is, you know, he's definitely one of the best fighters in the world. So if everything goes right, that's how should play out. So if Seroni wins, you still want to fight for the belt now. You're kind of putting that aside. Yeah, you know what? I mean, if Seroni wins, that's my goal to be a champ, man. I got Eddie Alvarez.

I got Eddie Alvarez in front of me. I'm focusing on that. Whoever wins this fight, I guess, we'll take it as it comes. Once this fight's done, we'll have a better understanding of the whole picture. Okay, and just curious about the Conner-Mregor stuff, is that when you watch him, lick your lips? Is this sort of a dream matchup for you? Just the way he fights, I mean, I feel like, just forget about titles and all that.

You versus him as far as moving. It just seems a lot of fun. What do you think about it? I definitely think that would be a fun fight. You know, he says he's naturally a 55er, and it's a different world up here, man. I mean, Jose said, all those say they're 45 for a reason. Yeah. You know, 155 is a whole different beast. But, you know, if he comes up, I mean, I guarantee the fans want to see that fight.

Who doesn't want to see that fight? similar styles he talks to talk and he's been walking the walk. So yeah, definitely that fight definitely needs to happen in the future. Do you see any holes in his game right now? I mean, not off the Aldo fight. You need 13 seconds.

It's hard to see any holes in that game. Off the Mendez fight, definitely, yeah. I mean, we've seen him be taken down repeatedly, not too much off his back. You know, and, you know, he's striking is just different than everybody at 45. Everybody at 45 has that boxing base with kid wrestling. 55 to get up here. Now you've got a whole different

beast of strikers. So I'm guessing you're hoping he moves up to 155 just doesn't leapfrog you in the title picture. Yes, yes. I think if he moves in 55, whoever's the top of the 55, the goal is to get the top of the division. When you're the top of the division, then you make the shots, you make the calls, and that's where I want to be at.

I don't want to be in there trying to beg for a fight with anybody or I need this fight. I mean, I want to be the top of the division and whoever wants my spot come to get it. Right. And by the way, what do you think of Tony Ferguson? Did you watch him? I did watch that fight, man. Impressive.

You know, I'm a dangerous opponent. And Tony throwing them, you know, a little crazy-looking knee bars. And, you know, he does some different things than most guys. And, again, that's where Rundame is going. I mean, it's not that basic stand-up striking and wrestling and jiu-suit that's going to win the fight. It's the guy that's doing the stuff that no one else sees before. I think Tony got that with the elbows. Good submission game.

You know, Barbosa just, he looked like he gassed out a little bit, or he got tired. He was getting hit, and he's throwing big punches, big bombs, and just he didn't have the gas thing that Tony did. Tony took his shots, and he just kept coming. What if they say to you Ferguson Pettis after this fight in Avres? Would you even entertain that or no? I got to, you know what? I hate thinking of other names before I get through who I got in front of me.

Yeah. Because, I mean, anything can happen. Like, nothing's official with this sport. As I know, anything could happen, any injury can happen, something to pop up. I mean, anything can happen. So, you know, for me, you just, you know, let's get through Elvarez.

And then we'll look at the rest of the division. Because if I stay looking at the top 10, I mean, it's changing so much to so many different guys that can plead their case for a petal shop. But, you know, I got, I had the meeting. I signed the contract, and now I have my job in front of me. I got the Loverism for me, and I handle that performance than I'm supposed to. I bet you, I bet you again, I'll never be talking about Anthony tennis. Last thing, will you be watching on Saturday? It's most definitely, yes.

Deciding them if I want to go out and watch it or if I'm going to stay home and watch it. Oh. Definitely will be in attendance. Why, have they invited you to come? out? Man, I like to be there. I think every time I go to a fight, even this weekend,

you come back motivating. Yeah. You can the crowd, you hear the energy, you see the walkouts, you see the fans go crazy with the performances. It's motivating.

So depending on how the timing plays, maybe I'll be out there. If not, I'll be watching out. Do not forget about Anthony's Showtime Pettis. Don't forget this, man. This was your friendly reminder. Anthony, appreciate the time.

Good luck in the fight in January. Looking forward to it very much. Thank you, man. Appreciate it. All right, there he is. former champion. I said it on Friday. I'll say it again. Don't forget about him. I don't know how it all will, you know, shake out. As Connor said, it's good to have options. And the UFC at 155 has some options, especially with Tony Ferguson and Anthony Pettis and Connor. And they've got options at 145 as well.

The best thing about this whole Connor McGregor situation is that it lingers into Saturday in Orlando. this story now becomes a major story and almost props up this event, which I felt would suffer from some sort of, you know, hangover effect. And people would be like, it would have been perfect to end on the Connor win, end with 194, a great event. Was it the greatest card of all time? No, it didn't turn out to be that way. And as I said, it was on paper, I thought, the best one-two punch in UFC history, no doubt about it. And I stay true to that statement. But did it turn out, you know, it's one thing, as Dana White likes to remind us, it's one thing to say it's the best card going in, it's another to actually play it out, I sit here today still believing that

189 was the best card. That was a fantastic night. This was fun as well. I think you got your money's worth, despite the fact that I wish it would have gone a little longer just to see, you know, seeing Aldo and McGregor in the cage together was somewhat surreal. It was an unbelievable sight. After all this time, a year of buildup and maybe even more, you kind of wish you saw, you somehow. You sort of them just exchange a little. This adds to the, you know, the Mystic Mac legacy, his aura. They got options. There's no doubt about that. Don't forget about Anthony Pedestow, that's for sure. And when you talk about options and you talk about the lightweight division, don't forget about Chhabibh Narmaga Madov. Still very much a player. Still a man who can, you know, sincerely state

that he's the number one contender, that he's the young crown champion. He has a win over the current champion, Hafelde dosangios. Got a glimpse of Habib Nirmagamagam made up this past weekend in Las Vegas. He was in attendance, and now we're talking to him on the show. Chabeeb's on the line. Chabibb, how are you? How are you? I'm doing great.

Thank you for the time. So you were there at UFC 194. Let me ask you the same question I just asked Anthony. What did you think when you saw Joseado get knocked out in 13 seconds? Were you shocked? Yes, of course. I never seen like this before. And Irish sense is crazy.

And he supports, this guy's support, Conner's a lot. And he feels this. And, you know, I never seen like this before. You know, like Anthony, like I said to him, you're still very much a player. You're still a top contender in the division. When you hear talk of Connor moving up

and possibly getting a title shot, how do you react to that? I think he deserves. You know why? Because a lot of people won't watch his fight. You know, these people don't care about he fight in five or lightweight. But this guy deserves. He became USA like two, three years ago.

He became like crazy, very big star. and he make a very big job. And I don't know, but if you see give him title shots, it's no problem. No problem. Okay. You made us very nervous not that long ago. When you had to pull out of this fight against Edson Barbosa, excuse me, Tony Ferguson, Edson was the one who replaced you.

There was some talk of, you know, you put it out on Instagram that you might not fight again. And afterwards, you reassured us and you said that it's all okay. back. How close for you to actually retiring after the injury? You know, when I have injured, I'm very upset. I'm very upset with me, with myself. Because I injured, injured, injured, and this happened again, again, you know, this is, sometimes this is broke your mental. And I know fight almost two years, and when it was fights all the time when a lot of fighters fighting, and a lot of, and, and, And I cannot fight.

You know, this is very hard for my heart. Because my heart is one competition. My heart is one fight. This is my blood. And I understand about friends why this guy is very upset. And I am very upset with myself too. You know, next year I come back and I know and I understand I had to change something in my training.

And next year I will try. and I will try change something. I will try to try to try to try and I will try to come back. I've heard from you that, excuse me, about you, that you're very unselfish. And when you don't want to change things up with your team and back home in Russia, you don't want to make the camp all about you. But some have said that, you know, especially as the sport evolves, it has to be all about you as you're preparing for these big fights.

Is that what you mean when you say change things in training? Like no longer just be a part of the team and do what everyone else is doing, have the entire training camp revolve solely around you? You know, but I don't know. I don't know what happened. Why I have so much in use. I don't understand this. You know, I cannot say why I am injured all the time.

But I think I think I. need to change something and I know what I change but I don't want to tell you and tell friends about what I speak but we'll see, we'll see. Can you give us a hint? I will try next year, come back. I will try. Can you give us some kind of hint? What are you referring to? Oh, I need to change something. I don't want to talk about this. Okay. I appreciate it. I'll change. Is it possible that you will be doing your full training camps in the United States now? This is possible.

Why not? Before now, when I broke my ribs, I have to move Thursday, but I broke my ribs Wednesday. And last time, I have planned like 45 days before fight, I want to come to train, AKA, and go to the fight.

This is like six weeks. This is no small days. It's okay. But, next time I come to the K, I think, like seven or eight weeks or six weeks.

I don't know. When you used to give me fight, I make one. And I think it's possible. Why not? I think this possible. I know that it takes a while for ribs to fully heal.

How do they feel right now? Right now, I'm beginning running and lifting, working at me. but I cannot wrestling and you know I I won't take care of myself care of my body and January I beginning wrestling and come back for 100% training okay and and how is the knee was that 100% okay this had nothing to do with the knee injuries right you know when I when I broke my ribs my legs become strong and I

I'm working with my legs, lifting everything, like strange, everything. And I feel now my legs become strong when I broke my legs. Wow. So that's the good news. Because I focus in my legs, I cannot do like sparring, wrestling.

I'm running and lifting, and my legs become little strong. wrong. Well, I guess that's the silver lining. So in a perfect world, what would you like? What would you like to happen upon your return? I still think that the Tony Ferguson fight is a fascinating one, especially since he just won. I wouldn't hate if they put you in the title picture right away.

And I know it's been some time since you fought. It's kind of funny that we're talking to you, of course, right before the title fight, but also right before a show in Orlando, because that's the last time we saw you when you defeated RDA. In a perfect world, what does Habib Narmagamadav want? You know, you know, now this is a very interesting situation in Lightwood because Conor say you want to come Lightway Division. And, okay, I think, I think my opinion. Yes. Conner has to stay in Father Red Division because if you move to Lightwood, a lot of people say, hey, you know, do everything in Firewood.

Because you have one beast here. This is Frankie Edgar. And all people agree with me. This is first. I think Conor to stay from 55 and fight for the title with Frankie. In the Lightwood Division, I think if Rafael Dosanios win, if you want a rematch, I can give him. Because a lot of people say you're fake champion because you lose one and a half year for Habib.

He dominated you. And maybe he won't. I give him rematch, I can give him. But maybe this is no good decision for me because I know fight almost two years and if I fight when I come back five-on-fight, this is no good. Maybe this is no good.

But it's okay. If Dosanias win and he said, I want to fight with Habib, I can give him very much. No problem. But I think, first of all, I need to stay healthy, comeback and next year, I think March is a perfect date for me

and I will, I need fight for somebody and in March and come back fight for the in maybe UFC 200. Oh, okay, so two fights in the span of seven months? I want to fight in March and I want to fight in UFC 200. This is my little dream now. a little dream. About my opponent, if I know

fight for the third, I think it's perfectly who win fight Pettis, Alvarez or I think maybe Tony Ferguson. Yeah. If you see no, give him

title fight, I think we need fight for number one contender fight. Because go ahead, sorry. Tony Ferguson have seven wins league, and he deserved a Tata shot or fight with me like this. Did you watch his fight on Friday, his win over Etzen Barbosa, and if so, were you impressed? Yeah, yeah, yes. I sit down very close cage. I watch this fight. You know, congratulations, Tony.

And he do his very good job because Edson Barbosa is no easy fight. and he ate a lot of shots a lot of punch a lot of kicks but he kept going and built this guy

and he finished this guy and he he like finished guys and I think this fight is for me perfect perfect too you know

we'll see what happened next year I think next year is like become like crazy years for MMI fans for UFC and I can't wait You know, it's interesting when the news came out that you would not be able to fight Edson Barbosa,

there were a lot of people who said, you know, look what happens when you talk too much. Karma got you. There I say, even on this program, that thought process was thrown out there. Not by me, to be honest, but maybe by others. They say, oh, he talked too much, he got what he deserved. Did you get a lot of that on your Twitter, on your Instagram? Did you get a lot of people who said, you know, maybe you shouldn't have talked so much? You shouldn't have been so cocky, and if so, will you change your ways?

I don't know. Who know me? My friends, my teammates, like my brothers, everybody know. I am not khaki. This is not about me. 100% khaki, this is no about me. But maybe a lot of people know, like, how I say what I think. Maybe no like follow me in Twitter. This is no problem. This is no my problem. This is his problem. do my job and if somebody know like me, this is no problem. I don't need like everybody. I cannot, I cannot, you know. And I have haters, I have friends. It's okay.

This is game, you know, and you need play game sometimes. But if a lot of people upset with me, it's okay. Sorry, guys. So you're not changing your ways. No, I'm not changing something for people. I never change something for people. If somebody knows like me, come and say this. You know what is interesting?

All friends who like me or know, like everybody when you meet me, he's very nice with me. Yeah. You're like smile, sharing people like this. Of course. Okay, I understand this. Sometimes, bullshit, sometimes. But I know I have a lot of friends, a lot of friends in USA, in Russia, in the Soviet Union.

And thank you so much, my friends. Who with me, who supports me all my career? But who know like me, it's okay. Sorry, guys. I heard that they sell counterfeit fake, Habibnumagamatov, Reebok shirts on the streets in Russia. Is that true? That's how popular you are. I think so.

You know, but I think I'm popular here because you've seen a very popular here. Right, right. I'm one of the best from Russia in here. That's why I'm popular, I think. And first of all, I think, I'm popular. I'm no like strength. I do. I think I say what I say what.

I think I don't care about camera here, no camera. I am with everybody like real. Did we lose you? Chbby, are you there? You're there? Okay, I think it was getting a little... It was breaking up the phone, but I think it's better now. I want to ask you about a conversation that you had with your father,

who's obviously a big influence in your life, your coach. He's coached many others, some in the UFC. Is it true that he said to you, look, if you want to retire after being the champion, you can do that. But right now we have work to do, and you need to stick around. There's no way. Basically, he was the one that said, you can't retire. Is that true?

This is true. You know, when I put this in Instagram, I am in Moscow, and I meet him after this, like five or seven days. And he very upset with me. You think you can make decision? I said, I said, no, I don't think this. Why you put this?

I put what I think. And he said, you cannot, you can't make decision alone. Because you know Elon here, you know alone this game. You need listen to me. And I understand this is his big dream. He want to make some of his students, U.S. champion. and you know and I understand because

this is my father this is not my coach this is my father and I have to listen to him and I know what you want and I stay with him I stay with him all my life so is it possible if he says to you

I don't mind if you retire you would have retired no I never retired if you say you need fight I fight If I am like six years old and he say, hey, you have to fight, I go fight. Wow. No problem. Because this is my father.

He's my number one guy, number one person in my life. And I cannot, I can't, don't listen to him. I have to listen to him. And you're only 27. Did you even allow yourself to think what you would do if you weren't fighting? Do you have any idea what you would do with your life? I don't know. I don't know.

But I know I am no stupid guy. I'm smart guy. You know, I have had. And I think, but now I don't know what I do. Right. Because fighting in my blood, fighting in my life, I cannot know training. I cannot not know competition.

And this is my life. I have to stay here. I have to training. I have to spy. I'm back. take this belt. This is my big, big dream. Your friend and training partner,

Luke Rockhold, became the middleweight champion on Saturday. I saw you in the cage. You were there with the team. Did being there help you kind of get out of this funk and start to get excited about the return and dream about your own belt? I mean, you know, this time next year, it could be very possible that AKA has four champions,

D.C., Kane, Luke, and you. It's unbelievable. Did that help you? I agree. I agree. You know, look is this unbelievable guy and he's very good person. He's number one person that I met in USA, you know. Wow. He has very good. And I want to say congratulations, my brother, my brother.

And he did all this. Before five, before friends, one of my friends, I say, I cannot see how Chris will him. How? He said that he cannot beat him. Only what he can, he can take him down and hold him well. We're losing, Chabib. Chababab, you still there?

Yes, yes. And I believe him. I believe himself. He believes himself. And Luke is deserved this. Yeah. He's a champion. If he's a footballer's champion, now he has a U.S. champion, you know,

total more champion. This is very tough. Chabee, one more thing before I let you go. And I don't know how real or real, authentic this was, but I feel like I have to ask you. There was a video that came out that appeared to be from ISIS that you were a part of. You were in the video. Can you explain why you're in that video? What is going on over there? Do you know what I'm talking about? I don't know why this people came from your video too. I don't control this. I don't control. I cannot

control this and I understand one because I'm Muslim I am very popular in the Arabic countries I'm popular in focus in Russia and I'm Muslim that's why he put me because other guys to my own pictures I am like a youth contender like professional athlete so he put me all this guy and bullshit guy he he know he don't support us you know like like they not understand and somebody should get because you make this and what I have to talk about it. You know, I am proximate. Habib, it's hard to hear you.

Are you able to go to, I want to hear exactly what you're saying about this question. Before we were able to hear you, now you're breaking up. Are you still there? Yeah. What you see? I can't exactly hear what you're saying. I want to hear exactly what you're saying about this question. I hear that you're saying you have nothing to do with it, right?

I don't understand this. Okay. I'm a question about it. I'm no political guy. Yeah. Can you tell us in Arabic what they were saying when you were on the video? I don't know. He put like, why this guy, he's Muslim and he support Russia.

He put like this. Why I support Russia? This is like bullshit video This is like crazy video Why this guy put me? This guy won't make Some of a problem, I think They're trying

So were they criticizing you in the video What you say? They were criticizing you in the video Were they supporting you or criticizing you? No, no, no This guy no support me Oh, wow This guy talks shit about me

Did you talk to them? Did you clear it up? Like, are you upset about this? Yes, I'm very, upset about this because a lot of people talking about this. Yeah. You know, this is like crazy. This is no in my life.

In my life, gym, training, competition, I don't like, and I don't understand this. I am not a polity guy. I'm not a warrior guy. I'm a professional athlete. You know, my last 10 years, I stay in gym, you know. And this guy put my video here and this guy want to make from a problem, you know. Okay, well, I'm glad. It's a bullshit situation.

me. Good. Well, I'm happy we cleared that up. Chabib, thank you very much for the time. I wish you the best. We miss you in the UFC Octagon. I wish you, obviously, a very speedy recovery, and then you come back 100% healthy and get right back into that title picture. It has been a void that you have left since you've been inactive, but I hope 2016 is a much better year for you. I look forward to your return. All the best to you, Chabib, and we'll talk to you very soon. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. There he is. Habib Nirmagamatov stopping by. I hope sincerely that he is back because he is a very

interesting player. If it wasn't for those injuries, we could be talking right now to the lightweight champion of the UFC. So it's going to be very interesting to see what the UFC does. And he kind of said it himself, he would like to get a fight in there before going for the belt. And I think that makes a lot of sense because by the time he comes back, it will have been two years since he last fought. His last fight was in April of 2014. Okay, let's move along. One of the big winners last week and a man who made a lot of noise for himself leading up to his fight on Thursday at the Cosmo in Las Vegas was Al Jermaine Sterling, the Funkmaster. He defeated Johnny Eduardo. He was very confident going into the fight. Of course, the big storyline going into that fight was that he was

playing out his contract. He wanted to test the free agency market. Was in a huge fan of the contract that the UFC offered him. He rolled the dice and he came out looking good. I want to talk to him about that and a whole lot more. Al Jermaine is joining us right now. via the magic of Skype, there he is. Mr. Sterling. How are you? Hey, what's up, Ariel? Sorry for the delay, but I see that you still have the gold necklace, although I'm wondering, is it a real one now, or is it still the fake one? Well, I didn't cash my checks yet, so still the fake one. You're in L.A. right now, right?

Yeah, downtown L.A. I'm in Cova City right now. I'm going to be heading over to Orange County, I think later tonight or tomorrow. What brings you out there? I got some friends and I'm going to go hang out with some people who shake a few hands, kiss a few babies. Hopefully meet some nice people along the way. Is this a business trip or a personal trip? A little bit of both. Oh, interesting. You're such a mover and shaker, Al Jermaine.

It's very interesting watching your friend there. Were you in attendance at UFC 194? I was in the building, but I wasn't in the actual arena. They set us up at the ballroom, like a cutoff section for just the fighters. And there was a lot of no-shows. There was only like a couple of us in there. But yeah, that place was nuts. So, you know, obviously you're very close to Chris Wyman.

You're a proud member of the team. It was difficult just as a viewer to watch that because I felt the fight went a little too long as his friend. What was your reaction to watching how that fight played out? You know, looking back at it now, I can see your point in saying that. But as a teammate and just knowing how tough Chris is and how hard he works, for some reason, part of me just kept saying he's going to pull together at some point. He's going to get pulled. He's going to regroup. He's going to come back and he's going to somehow come back and just finish the fight. But, yeah, you know, you never want to see a good friend like that take any kind of punishment like that.

And I just hope he makes a speedy recovery. I know he will. And I know he'll definitely be back. Did you get a chance to talk to him afterwards or at least see him. Do you have any sort of idea where he's at? No, not really. I just spoke to Valante, I guess, an hour later, just to see if he was at the hospital or not. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. But that was about it for a conversation. In those kind of moments, you want to just share those times with your family and your true close friends.

And that's what he did, you know. So reaching out to him didn't make any sense to me because I'm not going to get a response. And I'm pretty sure a lot of people are going to get responses, you know. So it's more so his immediate family, and I'm just here to be a supporter of a good friend and a good teammate. And also on the Chris front, did you talk to Ray? Because I know it's a guy he feels very strongly for and gets very nervous and anxious before the fight. How's Ray handling this? I actually haven't gotten a chance to speaking to any of the coaches either afterwards.

And again, it's just one of those things. Yeah, it's just a difficult time for the team right now. You never, you just never want to see something like that. And it's just weird, man. It's just very unfortunate. I would have bet the house on that fight. There's just, there's no way in hell I would have predicted that. And, you know what, hats off to Luke.

Luke did his, he went out there, he did a great job, and he's a phenomenal competitor. I just thought Chris was better in every single aspect in terms of a martial arts standpoint. But, you know, he did what he had to do, so hats off to him. But, yeah, I haven't gotten a chance to speaking to any of the guys as of yet. So the week started out very well for you and the team. Of course, you came to Las Vegas and you kind of had to nudge your way in there. It was one of the, you know, the travesties of this amazing weekend for the UFC that Al Jermaine Sterling, one of the very best of 135 was sort of buried on the undercard of the fight pass show. So you get in there and you nudge your way onto the workouts. You start talking about your contract. You got the great look and everything. Was that a conscious decision on your part? You're like, look, you guys may bury me, but I'm going to steal some headlines here. I'm going to make some noise. Is that what you were thinking? 100% I'm a showstopper man so I'm starting to relish this thing being under the spotlight a little bit more and I enjoy it. It's one of those things it can either make you or break you and for me right now I'm enjoying the wave and I'm going to keep riding this thing out until it crashes but right now I'm enjoying this and it was kind of premeditated I was like man they're going to have the open workouts I got to try to figure out where it is because I'm going to show up and I deserve to be there man we were the second highest ranked fighters on one of the entire a card. So for me, that was a conscious decision. And if they told me no, I would have showed up

anyway. And even if it wouldn't let me on a platform to work out, I would have worked out on the freaking hallway, and people would have stopped and just ask me questions there. So it is what it is. It worked out in my favor, and I definitely took a huge gamble and I'll find out my last contract. But just the offering itself was, in my opinion, was just a little, I don't want to sound sour to it, but it was slapping the face. You know, it was just like, bro, I took a short-nose fight with a number 10 guy in the world in Mizugaki who's never been finished and did what I did to him and then I come out and do the same thing to Johnny Eduardo and I think in a more spectacular fashion and just the way I shut him down I think he's probably a better striker than Mizugaki.

So I don't know man, it's just you rank top five in the world, you're young, people who are to tune into who you are and I know my ceiling is so high you know so knowing where I can be and to offer me a contract like that was kind of like uh well we don't think you're gonna do so well you know that you're saying it without actually saying it you know it's one of those things so that's the way I looked at it as and I was like you know what well if you guys want to say then I'm here and in my mind I'm up here so I'm gonna take that chance and gamble on myself and guess what man you shoot for the stars and hopefully good things have and good things happen. So I'm just fortunate that things played out in my favor and we'll see what

happens. Is it fair to say that you had a bit of a chip on your shoulder because you were on the prelims of the first card of the week on fight pass? Oh yeah. Definitely. At the end of the day, at the end of the day, you have this huge weekend. You have two top ring guys. One just came off a crazy finish over Eddie Weiland and I had another good finish over a top competitor. And it's just like that that fight sells, in my opinion. The band of the weight division is finally starting to move around, starting to shake up a little bit. And people are starting to get hot.

People are starting to get behind it and starting to see, like, yo, these smaller guys are pretty freaking good. And to kind of just say, you know what, we're going to bury this guy on prelim, whether or not that was a play on their part to kind of keep spectators from seeing me. I don't know. I don't want to look too much into it. But you have a potential superstar in your hands, in my opinion.

And I'm going to always think the best about myself, what because that's how anybody should be in their life. So I think they have a potential superstar in their hands and for them to put me on a fight pass in the middle of the fight pass, not even closer to the top billing, was kind of like, well, we're either trying to shut you out or you will see how you handle the pressure

and see how you overcome with this little setback. So I think I did very well for myself and I think I stuck out with all 30 fights. Now that it's all set and done, I think I had one of the more exciting fights and I think I had one of the more exciting finishes and dance moves, so I think, yeah. I agree with that as well.

You always exude confidence, but I'm wondering in the locker room right before because of how much was at stake. Look at them guns, 24-inch. Were you nervous? Were you a little more nervous for this fight than usual? Oh, yeah, absolutely, man. It's one of those things I talked about after the fight.

There was a lot of pressure going into this fight, and I always say there's no such thing as pressure unless you place it upon yourself. And I learned that from a really great wrestler. But for this one, it was just, it was really hard to shake that. And I couldn't deny it. I was trying to run from it everywhere I could. And man, pressure is a real thing.

And you either crumble or you rise the occasion. And I think for me, at the very last minutes, I was able to actually pull myself together and go out there and put on a great performance. Before that, coming into the fight, it was the whole thing with the contract. Then the day of my fight, I find out my dad is out here. and I was out there in Vegas.

My whole thing is my dad and I had a big falling out, so I haven't spoken to the guy in months, and it's just a real weird thing where he just shows up. He's never showed up to really any of my wrestling matches, probably like four of my wrestling matches in my entire high school and college career. And he's not, you know, we never really had a supporting fan base when it came to matches and things like that or where you're doing well in school, things like that.

We never really had those, our parent, I guess our parent figure. in our lives to support us and backs and doing things. So when he shows up to an event like this, for me it's like my biggest fight of my life, last fight on my contract. I'm nervous as hell because I'm just like, man, Johnny Eduardo is freaking good. And I just, I don't know what it was. I just couldn't, it was hard for me to shake it. But I managed to go into the bathroom and slap myself in the face a couple of times

and legit tell myself like you're ready to go out there and fight this guy and just go out there and just trust your training and trust your coaches. Did you end up linking up with your dad? I know I asked you this on Thursday. But did you end up seeing or hearing from him afterwards? No, it was actually his birthday yesterday. I spoke to my brother, and he was just like, just shoot him a text, just tell him happy birthday. And I was, all right, so I just, I wasn't even going to do it.

And I just did it later towards the night. I was just like, happy birthday. He wrote back. I didn't write back anything. It was just something that I wouldn't normally do. But I don't know, man. I didn't. No, we didn't.

To answer your question, no. Okay. And it was very interesting watching you at the post-flight press conference because you were kind of off to the side. And Dana White's there. That's the boss man. And he's kind of being asked these questions about you. First off, he comes out and announces the bonus winners. And I see you looking up to the sky like, man, what do I have to do? What was your reaction when you heard you didn't get one? It's insane. I don't know. I really don't know what else I got to do. I had more punches. I added more punches. And I was like, you know what? I'm not going to stop there.

I'm going to give you guys elbows too, and I gave them elbows, punches and kicks. I don't know, man. I came out with my cool-ass, badass, badass haircut. If we're going to go by performance, I think my overall performance, my handshake and everything, I thought it was pretty badass. I don't know. But I don't know. That's the third time I missed out on a bonus.

I'm just like, man, if I threw those bonuses, that changes my life. But it changes anybody's life just to be able to do certain things. I mean, I'm happy for Tim Means. He had a crazy knockout. So I just, I get stuck on these cars. where there's always great fights. Yeah. I guess that's what it is. You and I, Quinta, share some frustration there because I know he has felt that he's missed

out on some bonuses as well. I'm wondering in the back, before or after the press conference, did you see Dana? Did you talk to him at all? Did you guys have any discussions about, you know, your future with the company? Afterwards you're asking or before? Whenever. Have you had a chance to actually, you know, because it's one thing when the agent talks to the matchmaker, but, you know, when you see him, maybe things change. I'm wondering if you had any face time with him. Yeah, afterwards, after the press conference was over, I sat down for a little bit.

My leg was hurting me, man. I got the shit kicked out of it, and I was checking kick up the right. So it was really hard for me to walk. But afterwards, he came over and put his hand on my shoulder. I was just like, hey, wait for me out back. And I stopped. We had like a three, four minute conversation or something like that. And it was all good stuff.

Nothing bad was said. I guess he was just more so just congratulating me on my performance and telling me that I handle myself at the press conference like a stud and even post-fight. I did everything the right way. And I guess they were a little nervous that I was going to start bashing people and stuff like that. I'm like, yeah, I'm not that guy. I'm not that kid.

That's not what I'm looking to do. I'm not trying to have people who hate me. One, that's not even my character, you know. So, yeah, that's pretty much. He had nothing but good things to say. He told me to just contact him and reach out. but I don't know. I think I might just have my managers do that

because I don't want to get into a shootout with them myself. I'd rather those guys be the guys in the crossfire. Right. Are you confident, though, as we speak here on this Monday a few days removed from the fight, are you confident, though, that your next fight will be in the UFC? Honestly, I don't know. I really do not know.

If I had to give an honest answer to that, I really do not know. At the end of the day, I'm 26. Four more years, time. I'm 40, I mean 30. And, you know, I want to cash out. I'm not asking for kind of McGregor checks. I know I'm not there yet. I'm no, I'm not the shit talker that, you know,

to stir up the controversy and get people hyped up like that on that kind of a level. But I'm growing in popularity. And I think I have a pretty sellable persona. And I don't know, man. I put into all work. I put into footwork. I've done it the right way. And I'm not sitting here asking for handouts.

I want to work for my keep. And I think I've done it. else to ask for what I'm asking for. And I think someone's going to give it to me. So we'll see what happens, whether it's Veltor, World Series, one-fc, whatever, man. The door is open for me. Financial stability is the most important thing at this point in my career.

And that's what I'm worried about. And if it's to be in the UFC to just have the name and not have the earnings when it's all set of done, man, good for you. You get a hand clapping, you get a shake and don't let the door hit you on the way out kind of thing. know, and I don't want one of those kind of exits from the sport. I want to exit the sport with my head intact. And you can see that from my fight style. I fight with a very, a very strategic fight,

and it's not going out there. I just put on these bond burners every single time. And I want to have a bank account that actually represents me being a pro athlete. I'm a pro athlete at the end of the day. You know, what the hell? I need to have a bank account that kind of has the backing of a pro athlete, you know? I don't know. So right now I'm just trying to look out for myself.

I'm looking out for Al Jermaine Sterling right now in his future. Is the game plan to let the exclusive matching period expire so that you can talk to everyone? Do you want to really? Because Dana said at the press conference, you know, they gave you an offer and it seems like they want to kind of stick to that for now. And then they want to see what else you can get. Is that the game plan? I think right now we're just going to go out and see what we can get. Okay.

What offers are out there and test my value. See what people actually put me down. in terms of their book of how much I'm worth to them. And, man, I'm 26, bro. I got, I got a ton of time. I can go, go out, go fight somewhere else or two and make some money. Hopefully, everything goes in my favor.

I still stay undefeated. You know, I win the big fights. And I think if it happens that way and then I come back, I think we're talking crazy headlines. So I think it's special right now. I think I'm in a very unique spot that, I would never had guests that I would have been in, but, you know, good, you know, things, things work out for a reason and we'll see what happens, man.

I'm just, as Sage would say, I'm just very happy to be here. Hey, by the way, speaking of Sage, did you see the payout numbers for that card? Did you, did you happen to, they just came out today. Did you get a glimpse of those? You're just taking the dagger and shoving a deeper, no, well, I just want to know if that gives you more motivation. I mean, look, I'm a sage guy. I think he's fascinating. He's a lot of fun to watch out.

He deserves every single penny. But I'm wondering if you sit there and say, look, you know, not to compare, but let me get a little bit of that as well. 100%. What was it, was it 40 and 40? Or was it 20 and 20 off the back? Because it said it was 40 slash 40. I don't know if it was, it said Sage page 40, 40. So I'm not sure if they were getting 40 a show, 40 to win.

If that's the case, that's huge. Even if it wasn't a case, it's 20 and 20, that's still huge. You know what I'm saying? For a guy only in a second fight, where I came in at 8-8. And so if we're going by those numbers, like you said, what's the difference between Sage and I? You know, we've got the same action figure of body style. I think I look just as good, no homo, you know. But I think he's a good-looking guy.

I think I'm a great-looking guy, too. And I think we have great personalities. He's a smart kid. I'm a smart kid. We're both young. And what's the difference? You know, what is the difference? And to me, it's the UFC pushing him, the PR machine behind him.

And cool. You know, that's the guy they want. But at the end of the day, don't say there's a difference between us in our weight classes and things. Because there's no difference. You guys created Sage. And here I am doing the footwork, creating myself pretty much on my own. And pushing my own social media and doing my things, doing it the hallways. So I'm busting my ass.

So there's no distinct difference between me and Sage. me and Paige. So at the end of the day, it's the PR machines and who they're backing. So I have nothing bad to say about those guys. I like Sage. Stage is a really cool kid. I got a chance to meet him. It's just crazy how positive the kid is just he could have a guy in a, I don't know, like a 50 on his test scores and still be like, man, I really can't wait to take my next test. I thought he really hard. Good things are going to happen. I don't know. He's a funny kid, dude. He's like a cartoon. I would send him. I would honestly send him to the Middle East. and all over the world where there is conflict, and I feel like he could figure it out on his own.

It could be the guy that calls peace, you know, revolution. But, yeah, man, to answer your question, that did bother me. That definitely bothered me. And like you said, for me, it's just like there is no difference between a kid like that and a kid like me or a lot of the other fighters who are coming in. At the end of the day, it's who they're putting the PR machine behind. So, Seitz does have a very good seal,

So I can see why they went after him. You got a bunch of finishes in the first round. Looks great. Young kid. He looks like Gile from Street Fighter. But what's the difference between me and him? I'm finishing these guys too. If anything, I'm finishing top, higher level guys and guys with a lot more skill.

So that's my bargaining chip right there. And I'm fighting world-class guys, and I'm doing it the way I'm doing it, baby. So sign me up for the big checks. That's what I want. Last thing, I know you said that your manager is handling, know, the negotiations. Are you aware of any other promotions that I've reached out to since Thursday? Well, um, Beltor and one of C actually, their guy followed me on social media.

Oh. And he hasn't, he hasn't actually reached out to me yet. Okay. But, um, I'm pretty sure they, they had their eyes on me as well. And I know the guy, a tough competitor over there. And, uh, what's his name, Fernandez? Oh, yeah, Bibiano. Bebiano, yeah.

Oh, God. So. What a fight. Listen, man, at the end of the day, I have full confidence to myself. I'm going to be a world champ no matter which organization I go to. And that's the bottom line. Nobody can tell me different. You're going to tell me not to believe in myself because you could go as whatever, man, go fuck yourself.

You can't tell me not to have confidence in myself. Sure. I believe I could be a world champ of any of those organizations. And I believe I could be a world champ for a very long time in any of those organizations. So it's all at the end of the day, it's a matter of who wants to pay the kid more money to go out there and beat up on some banyweights and choke them out. So that's my mentality right now. That's where my mindset is at. And Funk Daddy is here, baby. Well, I said it to a bunch of people all weekend long, and I'm not just saying it because you're here.

They can vouch for this. One of the brightest young stars in this sport, you got the finishes, the great fights, the look, the great team behind you. You know what to market yourself. You deserve it, my man. GDP, as they say, get that paper. You know what I'm talking about? Get that paper. Al Jermaine, I appreciate it. Congratulations again on the big win and good luck with the negotiations. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Thanks for having me, Ariel. All right, there he is. Oh, yes, go ahead. Am I still on? Yes, you're here. Oh, yeah. You guys can pick up a Humana kind of shirt or Funk University shirt on Aljermansterling.com. I've got to make sure I put in the plug, baby.

Good man. Great businessman as well. Thank you very much. Happy holidays to you. There he is. Al Jermaine Sterling, the Funkmaster himself, joining us right here on the MMA hour. It is going to be very interesting to see where he ends up. You know, he does not mince words. Fascinating. Okay, let's move along and very excited to talk to our next guest. He was front and

center on Saturday night. A huge night for him. One of many in his career now, he has just added another title to his great team, American Kickboxing Academy. He's the headman over there. Javier Mendes joins us right now, the head coach for the new middleweight champion, Luke Rockold. Javier, how are you? I'm doing good, Ariel. How are you? I'm doing great. Congratulations, my friend. Wow, what a performance. When you were envisioning this fight, when you were dreaming about it, and also knowing the current health status that you were dealing with as far as Luke is concerned, did you think it would go down like that? I didn't know how I was going to go down. I was extremely concerned, you know, regarding the staff and having to deal with the two issues, two weeks of it, you know. and I have another fighters go into a situation like that,

and all of a sudden, you know, they have nothing left. And thank God that something didn't appear to be right with Chris either, in my opinion, because maybe something was going on with him, whether it be mental or physical, I don't know. So I guess you can say both of them were operating with some kind of handicap. And, you know, Luke's determination, you know, visioning how he was going to win and how he was going to dominate came true. So you thought, by looking at Chris in the fight or in the lead-up to the fight, why did you think something was off?

You know, it just seemed that something was off. I can't put my finger on it. You know, and they haven't said nothing, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had some of the mental block. I don't know. Underestimates, no, overestimate. I don't know. I just don't, you know, I think we played in an even field because I think we were both handicapped. You know, Luke was handicapped, and I think so was Chris.

I don't know what it is, and I could be making that up, but that's just what I feel. How close was Luke to actually pulling out of the fight? Never. Never, never once. Never, no. No, it's as a matter of fact, he cussed me out a little bit, because I came in before we're going to the fight, and I looked at his leg, and I said, I go, what the hell is because that's nothing. That's just, you know, it's a cut from kicking the pads. And I go, that doesn't look like a cut to me, you know, because he's been on the antibiotics, right? And he's like, you know, and then I tell him, boy,

I don't want you to kick the pads hard because I was afraid he would rip it open, right? Even worse, right? Right. And he said, F that. He goes, F that, I'm kicking the hell out of them pads. And then so then I said, okay, so that ain't going to work. So I better get on the right frame with him. So I said, all right, well, then if it is not what you say it is,

then I expect you to kick the living hell. out of it then, you know, the paths, you know. So, so, yeah, he, he knew, he knew. So that wound that he showed on embedded, was that the one on his, I think it was on his shin, and it was bleeding? That's where the staff was? Yeah, I would know, no, no, it was down below. It was down below, I think it traveled there. I think it, it looked to me, you know, and it was down on his foot on the bottom of his ankle, that's when, that's where the major issue was. That was the major, major issue was there. And, and how long did he have it for? Two weeks.

And how much, you know, the final two weeks, very important, you know, how much of that hamper what you guys were trying to do? It didn't really, you know, he wouldn't let it stop him, you know. He did his sparring. I mean, he had great sparring, you know, and, you know, he had a lot of, this camp was very hard because he had a lot of hardships, you know, but, you know, come on, you know, almost every camp, every fighter has that, so that's par for the course. And was there anything else bothering him?

it seemed like he had some, you know, I got to be honest, everyone was coming up to me and telling me, this was a horrible camp, you know, there was a lot of nerves surrounding Mr. Rockhold. Was there anything else bothering him? No, just nagging injuries, you know. Just, you know, nagging injuries, that's it, you know, and the one thing after another, but his mind was so positive, and his team, after, you know, after practice, we always have team, you know, talk about the situations of practice, and his speeches were always positive and mental, mental, mental toughness and keep persevering

regarding what the obstacles are in front of you. And he practiced what he preached. You know, shows how much I know. I was concerned about his, just sort of his mental state because I felt like he was very tense leading up to the fight. On him, he was swearing. It just seemed a little bit out of character for him. He didn't allow himself to smile that much.

even at the press conference, he didn't get asked a question until 30 minutes in. He's kind of moving back and forth, and it just felt like he, I felt like he was putting a lot of pressure on himself. Did you get that sense at all? Did you try to calm him down? Did you need to calm him down? It just felt like it was a different Luke. And in the end, it was a better Luke, obviously. But I was, I was worried for him leading up to the fight. No, on that end, I was the most comfortable. Really? He was, yeah, he was in total control of everything he was doing.

He was telling us, hey, you guys, relax. What the hell's matter with you guys? You know, come on, I'm ready. It's just a fight. You know, I'm ready to get it on. And we're all, like, all quiet still. And I'm just in my head. I'm laughing. I go, the son of a bitch, got through the deep on the mental game right now

because we're trying to concentrate and get our A game in there, and he's already past us. Wow, that is amazing. I totally misread the situation. I was also curious. Go ahead. Sorry. No, no, no.

No, no. I just interrupted you for no reason. Okay. What did you do, and what did you say, more importantly, between the first and second round because I thought that he lost the first. Obviously, he won the second, in my opinion, and the third, and of course he finished him in the fourth. But it didn't start out his way in the first.

How did you reverse things going into the second? Well, I basically told him to stay relax, you know, stay relaxed. And then I told him, go ahead, kick to the body now, up and down the body. First we told him that we didn't want him kick into the head, I mean, to the body right away, because in practice he would do it to D.C., and every time he did it, the last sparring, DC took him down every single time he went to the body. And Luke said, well, you know, if I kick to the body without pads, it's not going to make a difference.

I go, well, it doesn't matter to me whether it makes a difference or not. You know, you're being taken down by DC every time you kick to the body. So I want you to go to the head, you know, and then when we tell you, go to the body then. So I told him to mix up his kicks then, you know, so that's what I did. And he went on and did that. So like I said, I gave him the second. I thought that Chris was actually winning the third.

until he threw that spinning wheel kick. And then it was, you know, obviously a major turning point in the fight. Luke takes him down. And I thought, honestly, the fight should have been stopped in the third round. As someone who, you know, you're a master at the striking game, what did you make of that kick that, Chris, you know, hindsight is 2020, obviously. But did you think that was a colossal mistake on his part? I think that it definitely was a mistake.

But, you know, I think that one was going to capitalize on each other's mistakes. there was mistakes that Luke made it the first round that cost them take downs and there was mistakes made throughout but definitely that was a colossal mistake because we didn't know what was going to happen when someone was on top of Chris or if Luke can stay on top of him well

Luke proved what he said all along that he felt he had the best you know MMA Jiu Jiu Jitsu out there for top control and he proved it Were you shocked at Herb Dean let the fight go into the fourth you think he should have stopped it in the third Well, let's put it this way.

I was cussing. Oh, wow. I was cussing. I was literally just effing pissed, you know. And I'm not really blaming Herb, per se. I'm blaming the way the system is. You know, it needs to be like boxing where we as corners don't have to go to the doctor to stop the damn fight. Well, we just stand up and the cage or whatever.

And the fight's over. Well, we told the town the fights over, you know. It should be a simplified rule just like boxing. Who knows the fighters better than the coaches as far as what the fighter can do went to cancer. Who knows them better? We do. Not the doctor, not the reps. We do. If we see our fighter, we know he's going to take a beating, we should be able to throw the damn towel

without any interruption from a doctor or anybody. And we shouldn't be reprimanded it for me. If anybody should be pissed on it, it should be our fighter. But why'd you throw in the freaking towel? Let us deal with that. You know, I'm really angry about that because, you know, in Mexico, too, you had the poor Scott Jorgensen. I mean, he was in the same scenario. And I was like, God damn it, you know, this is a,

you know, and when you see things like that, it doesn't make it too sporty to me. So I'm sorry, I'm angry about it because, you know, it just angers me that, you know, fighters are getting injured more than they need to because of what one stupid rule that prohibits us from just doing the simple thing like boxing does. So you can't throw in the towel. I thought you could throw on the towel. It's just sort of look down upon in our sport. Well, and then it shouldn't be like down upon.

It should be, it should be, it should be, it's that's the official rule, then it should be, It should be that, hey, you guys, we encourage you if you know your fighters, don't let your fighter take the punishment. You know, in this case, you know, I bet you Ray Longo, you know, and Matt Serra were thinking, fuck, I want to throw in the towel. I bet you they were. I bet you they weren't thinking, oh, come on, Chris, pull out of it. I bet you they were thinking what the fuck going on. I bet you they were thinking that. You know, they care so much about that guy and they're such great coaches.

I know they were thinking the same thing. They used to be a clearer understanding how we need to stop these fights because, you know, Chris didn't need to take that unnecessary. punch. He did not. Yeah. And I dare anybody to disagree with it. Well, you know, you're 100% right. In fact, my guy New York Creek is telling me that it's actually under the unified rules an illegal action to throw in the towel.

So I stand corrected here. So it's a great point that you bring up. If you were, if Luke was, you know, on bottom there and he was getting, you know, beaten up by those punches in mount, and you could throw in the towel, and that whole scenario played out the same. Just you swap the guys. You would have stopped it despite the fact that your guy put... Hell yeah.

Okay. Hell yeah, I would have stopped it. But no question asked, I would have stopped that damn fight. And then I would have dealt with the consequences with Luke. Right. I would have stopped it. And I know that Matt, and I know that Ray would have done the same thing. I know it.

Because, you know, who knows how Chris will come for that? I would hope he'd be stronger and come back stronger. And, but who knows, you know, who knows, you know. I just think that that fight, you know, if anybody wants a rematch, and we talk about rematches all the time. And, you know, I would think that one weren't a rematch only because it was a competitive fight. It was, in most people's

opinion, on a one-air situation that cost them the fight. So in a perfect world, that's what you want. You want Rockhold Widman 2 right away. In the perfect world, that's what I think what thing is the right thing to do. In the perfect world, I want Belfort. It's a perfect world, you know,

because Luke wants him. So I want what Luke wants. So in a perfect world, I want Belfort, in a perfect world. It seems to me like he wants Belford over Romero. Is that accurate? I think he wants Belfort over anybody. Because, you know,

Luke is a true competitor. You know, he wants to get that one that got him, you know. And yeah, yeah, he definitely wants that one. And I'm all for what he wants. One thing, you know, he knows what he wants to do. And if I go against what he wants to do, then we're not training together. Right.

So I basically, I listen to him, I see what he wants, and I'm right there with him. I'm on board with him. He wants Belfort, then I want Belfort. If he wants Romero, then I want Romero. So whoever Luke wants, I want, but I'm talking from the perspective of who deserves it, I think Wythvin does. By the way, how tired was he going into that fourth round after, I mean, throwing all those

punches in Mount, were you worried that he may have, you know, gassed himself out? Forget about the fourth round, about the freaking first round. I was extremely worried. I'm like, holy crap, what the hell. I go, oh, my God, this staff is really messing with. was up. You know, just like I thought, and then I might think, oh my God, you know, that's like I said earlier. Thank God something was wrong with Chris. Either he was either the blow that Luke gave him, they slowed him down, or something else. Either way, I'm happy

that he wasn't super fresh. Yeah, it did seem like there was a lot of huffing and puffing going on from both guys, and they're not known for having, you know, small gas tanks, so that was definitely interesting. You think it was because of the staff? Well, I know. I know Luke's was because with antibiotics, you know, I've seen it already, so I'm 100%. And then Luke himself, you know, he said, man, I didn't think it was going to take that much out of me, you know? He said after the fight, he goes, man, I was wiped out, you know? And then, you know, I know my fighters, you know, and then Luke, that wasn't the best Luke, that was the worst Luke. That was the worst Luke you can see.

Wow. And now I think people are going to realize how great this kid is, you know. Ariel, if he stays mentally focused the way he is, he will be, in my opinion, he is on track to being the greatest of all time in the middleweight division, if not the whole division. Wow. When did you first meet him, by the way? He was from Santa Cruz. He came over through.

He was with Claudio Franco's Jiu-Jitsu, I think he was a blue belt. He came in with a black belt, a friend of Bobby Chalfour's name Mike Weaver. And he goes, hey, I got this kid, you know, wants to come try it out and spa. And then I go, oh, okay, you know, I looked at him. You know, a tall kid. And I said it was so he wants to spar. Oh, you want to spar. He goes, yeah, I go, you know, you got, you need headgear, you need Mothcard, and this

like was Mothcard. He's looking at me like, oh, God, I have a Mouthcard. So I'm looking, oh, crap. What the hell? So I said, so I joke and he said, why you can go to Target across the damn Mouth Guard? I never thought, and no way in hell that I think he was going to go and get the damn mouth card. So I didn't pay no attention to it then.

Next thing you know, he comes back to the Mothcard, and I'm like, whoa, okay. So I put him in there with Trevor Prangley, and I was so impressed with how well he did that I said, damn, this kid's going to be a champion. So I was bugging the crap out of Bob Cook to go after him to sign him, you know, under them, you know, because I think this kid's special, you know, and I kept telling Bob, Bob did you get? Nah, I don't know where I go, Bob. I need this kid.

I want this kid on our team. He's going to be something special. I was the only one to believe in him. Everybody was like, I do say that. I'm telling you guys. And anyways, one story short, I saw him at an event. And then that's when I, you know, I said, you're going to come down, right? He goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, but he was planning on coming down, but I didn't know that.

Yeah, the first time I saw him impressed the hell out of me. And you've obviously been with him for quite some time. What would you say? I mean, his debut was in 2007. Do you think around then? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, it was around the Kane. It was a little bit before Kane showed up or after Kaye.

We're right in that time frame. So as far as the UFC is concerned, you've been there when Kane won his belt. You were there when DC won his belt. For you, you know, knowing, you know, I know you're very close. close to Luke, you guys have been through a lot. How did you react to it? I don't want you to sort of rank, because I know that's sort of like ranking your sons or your kids,

but emotionally, what was this one for you like? Inside, I was just overjoyed. I was so happy for him. He deserved everything. You know, he, he willed, he made believers out of everybody that didn't believe in him, you know, and, you know,

I was, I was so ecstatic for him, you know, I've never had a fighter so strong and how he approached the game in regards to coming up with his own techniques. You know what I mean? Coming up with his own fight strategies, you know. I help him here and there.

I don't help him a major amount of, you know, help because he does it. He does. He says, ah, if I want to do this, I want to do that, and I go, okay, okay. So a lot of his signature kicks that he does, like the flippy kick. You know, I call it the flippy kick. That's his, you know, that's jump back right hook. that's his.

You know, a lot of things he does. I just correct them, but I feed what he does. So that's why, like I was saying, if Luke wants Belfort, I want Belfort. You know, whatever Luke wants, I want, because I know I'm going to get the best Luke I can get by him going in that direction.

Is there any down your mind that if he fights Belford again next, that it goes completely different than the first time they fought? Well, it's going to go completely different than the first time they fought. Definitely because the jitters are gone, too. Yeah.

He's no longer. I told him, and I said, Luke, be prepared. I go, the UFC is not like the other shows. This is a bigger stage, and it's going to affect you some. So I need to be going to go out, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then all of a sudden I knew right away when it got out and he fell on his ass trying to kick, I went, okay, he wasn't listening to me, you know, and now that's not, that's not an issue anymore.

Right. So he's so relaxed now that, you know, he's not the same guy. It's not, you know, we didn't even get to see how good he could have been. on the Belfort fight because he got caught. You know, it's just one of those things that you got caught. You don't know, obviously, and from him getting caught the way he did, no one would have predicted that he was going to do what he did right after that.

No one, except the people that are with him, us. Final thing for you, Javier, and again, thank you so much for the time. So they announced also on Saturday that Kane for Doom 2 is not going to be in Brazil. It's obviously not going to be in Mexico. It's going to be in Las Vegas. How happy does this make you? Well, happy in one way because then I can do my gambling that planet of Hollywood and crazy sport table like that's where I sleep.

I would like to have had a little bit more time. As a matter of fact, I was still supposed to be in Vegas in that one numbered chair that I always have met. So I had to come back because we have to get to work. Oh, wow. We have to watch the video. We haven't watched the video on the fight. But Kane and I will get together. the video and then we'll look and see where we can improve on basically, you know, we'll go from

there. So we have to watch the video. We have to watch video. And I came back because of that. And so I'm very happy that it's Vegas because, you know, it's one hour flight. And, you know, that I would have wanted a little bit more time. I was hoping. I was already set for March 5th. Ah, okay. But they're very happy that it is in Vegas. By the way, the New York shirt, I liked it as a New Yorker, I liked it. But I don't know. if it played too well with Luke, the one that you were wearing at the airport that was caught on embedded? Were you trying to play mind games there? What was going on there? No, I was trying to play any mind games. Well, you know, I screwed up, but you know who I did

play mind games with? I did play mind games with Longo and Matt at the tough house. And every time I met him, I was asking with them, for sure. How? Oh, yeah. No, I was playing mind games with them. What kind of mind games? I was just being missed a goofball, which I'm normally never a goofball. I'm, you know, I'm not really talking about, but I was being very talkative and very friendly and, you know, this and that. So I was kind of messing with them. I mean, that's what this is about, you know. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's where, I mean, they're great guys.

Don't get me wrong. I, I, I know, I'm very polite and very nice to him that I always will be, but, but, you know, and we, we, you know, just like I would do Greg Jackson. You know, I love Greg Jackson. Him and I, we all, we always, we always try to play games with each other, you know, so far we, we, we, we don't do anything that, we don't do anything that, affects anything that we try, you know. So, and I tried with them, too. I don't think it got anywhere, but still we're going to try, you know what I mean? Sure.

We're going to do our little things. You know, that's what, that's what the good coaches do. They'll do their little minds. We don't, we don't mad dog each other. It's not a personal thing. It's a sport, you know, and it's not personal, you know, because one time you have one fighter and the next, you know, that fight is that you mad do and you give a bad time to all of a sudden he ends up coming to you, and now you're training

and now you're on the other side. Now how do you feel? Right. You know, you're, you're, so it's not personal for us. At least it isn't for me. Right. And it isn't for the other coaches I spoke of. It's just a sport.

And, you know, we do our jobs. Well, again, Javier, congratulations. So very happy for you guys. Another belt comes to A.K.A. another belt comes to the Bay Area. Fantastic performance. Kind of a scary thought that we didn't see the best of him on Saturday. But given all the issues, yeah, I, I can definitely see that. Looking forward, of course, at the cane fight.

Luke's first title defense, all that stuff. Happy holidays, my friend. Again, thank you for the time, and congratulations on Saturday. All right. Thanks for having me, Ariel. All right. I'll talk to you soon, buddy. There is.

Javier Mendez, head coach over at American Kickboxing Academy. So the week started off in full force on Thursday at the Cosmo. The Big Story that night. Rose Namayune is completely annihilating Paige Van Zand. What a performance it was, and she joins us right now via the Magic of Skype to talk about it. There she is. Rose, how are you? I'm doing good.

I'm doing great. Congratulations. once again, you know, I have to say, I felt a little bad on Thursday after the fight, and I'm at fault for this as well. I'm not pinning this on anyone else. But I felt like a lot of the talk was Paige was so tough, Paige didn't quit, Paige didn't give up, and I felt like we weren't giving you enough credit. Did you feel that way as well? Yeah, but at the same time, it's like, yeah, because it was all about like how tough Paige was, but she was really tough in that fight.

But I think people are kind of overlooking my mental toughness in like, I like what Brian Stan commented during the fight when I was going for an arm bar and then I stayed on top all those times. Rarely does fighters keep going for submissions

and risking top position and dominate like that at the same time. So there's certain things that I think maybe it was just there was a lot of good qualities of that fight that certain things just get overlooked, you know. Right. But I think over time, I think people will see it.

Well, again, I was completely blown away. It was, in my opinion, your best performance. It was outstanding. I mean, it was one-sided annihilation, as I said. When you were preparing for the fight, envisioning it, did you really think it would go that way, like that one-sided in your favor? I, yeah,

I seen it playing out many different ways, but, you know, I didn't necessarily see it finishing in the fifth round, I felt like there was always going to be a chance. So I just wanted to keep trying just because you miss a shot in a basketball court. It doesn't mean you don't keep shooting it, you know? Right.

So, yeah, I just stuck to just dominating the whole time. And then once I stopped looking for the finish so aggressively, that's when it kind of just came. Complete side note here. I'm going on a huge tangent. I don't usually do this. But you mentioned basketball, and I remember on the Embedded Show, you were playing basketball. I was blown away by your skills.

I didn't know. Did you used to play? Yeah, I was. It was a varsity team in basketball or in high school. Wow. Well done. Yeah. Do you ever play Pat one-on-one?

And if so, do you kick his ass? Yeah, we have. I just out-hustle him. He just can't keep doing the lateral movement as fast and as long as I can. Mentally, back to the fight. Mentally, when you had her in all those positions and it looked like she was on the verge of tapping, the rear-naked choke was locked in, arm bar, all that stuff. did it kind of play tricks on you saying like what do I have to do to finish this girl like

did you ever get discouraged not really um like the thought of my head was like okay like it was more like a realistic um mentality like realistically um I can't over commit to these finishes but then at the same time out it's just a battle in my head like uh should if I just push just a little bit harder what if I get the finish what if that's what it takes but then it's like but I'm dominating so much that you know I had to come to grips with okay it might go to a decision and then that's when things kind of opened up more for me. She had the proverbial crimson mask, as we call it, the full bloody face. And do you believe that that in a way helped her in the rear naked choke to get out?

Did it make her very slippery? Yeah, I will say that. I mean, yeah, it did feel a little bit slippery at the first initial grab that I did. But also just from the slam, too, I think it jostled things around a little bit. Whereas I felt like it was like 95% there. And then once we kind of slipped on the ground a little bit in the blood, combined with that, I think it saves her a little bit more. The slam was super impressive.

The way you jumped on her back and took her down, is that something you work on a lot? Not really. Like, I don't drill that. But we definitely like just Tony Basilile, he has definitely, you know, elevated my game to the next level where he's taught me to, you know, maintain top position even when going for rear-naked choked because just being able to be a blanket on top of somebody, he's definitely helped me a lot with that and the flowing of the

grappling. The first on-bar attempt that looked tight was, it was very reminiscent to me of GSP versus Dan Hardy. Do you know this fight, UFC 111? I had to go back and watch it, but I've heard people say that before. Yeah, so. So for the uninformed, for the rookies out there, why couldn't, why didn't she tap? Like, what were you doing wrong in your opinion that didn't allow her to tap? Well, the rear neck of choke, like I said, she just, she.

For the arm bar. Yeah, the arm bar. She's just, like, really flexible. And, like, some people, they're just, like, double-jointed. I don't know. Maybe she's double-jointed or maybe I, you know, maybe there's certain things technically that I could have done better. Like, and there's a certain arm bar that you can do that prevents them from spinning out.

And maybe that would have, is what. what I would need to break her arm, but I don't know. I don't know. Do you think that the UFC made a big mistake in hindsight now to book her against you? Like, was it a little too soon for Paige? No, I don't think so. I don't think there is like there's, it's a win-in-win situation, you know? Like she's just been on a role and now she's got that experience under her belt. So whether, like, it just depends on how she approaches her next few fights. Like if she changes her mentality, I think she could do really great.

And if she doesn't, then, you know, it's just a learning process in life. Whereas now there's me, a superstar, being born out of it. So I think it's just all positive. The last time I had you on the show, we were talking about how this fight was almost exactly a year since you're lost to Carlos Sparza. And I thought, even though you needed time off and it was heartbreaking, you handled it very well. You showed up to the press conference. You took the loss like a true pro, even though you're super young as well. And it was interesting to then see you on Thursday night at the press conference, basking in the

the glow of the victory, but she showed up as well. And I thought handled the loss very well as well. What did you make, and she's younger than you, and believe it or not, it's crazy because you're so young. But what do you make of the way she dealt with the whole thing? You know, I think everybody, nobody's the same. So, you know, I think that people benefit in different ways from other things than other. But I think for the most part, it was a good way to handle it, but now she's going to have the pressures of being tough. So now she, you know, I mean, like, I don't think that, yes, the toughness was a good quality in her and it gained a lot of fans, but also the toughness is what got her beat up for five more

rounds. So, you know, it's just something that one of those things where, like, stay true to who you are, but at the same time, don't let other people in hand, like other outside forces, you know, do more than what is really you, if that makes sense. Yeah, and in a weird way, even though this was fight past as opposed to FS1, This one kind of felt bigger than the title fight because it was such a big weekend. There was a lot of attention that was an embedded. They were following you around for a very long time. What was it like for you when you got to Vegas and the build of the open workouts, all that stuff?

How are you handling it all? Well, this main event was a little bit less pressure just because all the other shows were going on. Okay. So being the main event, like we did go five rounds and on paper was a main event, but it didn't necessarily feel like the media obligations were too much. It was just like the right amount, though, because I felt like it was a good natural progression in my development at the time. So it worked out perfectly. And now I'll be able to take on a little bit more at a time, you know, as long as I keep just cutting out the bullshit in my life and stay focused on the task at hand.

And like this one, this training camp for me was mentally one of the hardest ones that I've had up to this date. So it's like – Why? You know, I know that I got a lot stronger from that, and so now I'm just going to, I know that the next step is going to be a level up harder, so I just got to keep improving. Why was it so tough for you this camp mentally? There was just a lot of, like, things that could have, like, there was a lot of things in my life that were pulling me in many different directions. And instead of, like, there was a lot of things that could have distracted me from training. And it's just like I had to just focus on myself.

And it's really hard because I care about people. Oh, okay. It's like you got to choose you first, you know? Right. Is everything okay now? Yeah. Okay. Everything's cool.

Were you? Yeah. But it's, you know, this is a constant battle because there's always people that's going to, like, there's always things in your life that are going to want to distract you. But that's, I mean, it's like either the easy path or the hard path. You know, I choose the hard path just because of all the rewards that come with it. Were you close to withdrawing from the fight at all? No. You know, there were little shaky moments in the beginning, but like it was also just like some little misunderstandings in our team and we kind of like re-resolve things.

And there was just a lot of things going on on top of that. I want to touch into it too much just because it starts to get in my personal life. But, you know, we got through it, you know, and we just because of all the bond that we have with each other and our family and stuff like that. that it just kept us moving forward. So obviously it was a quick turnaround from October, and it was a big fight. Do you want to take a break now, or do you want to get right back in there?

Yeah, I would like to take a little bit of time off. Mostly, you know, because I didn't suffer necessarily any serious injuries in this training camp or this fight, but other than my, I jam my finger. Like one of the kicks, I tried to block. I blocked it stupid. But I don't know, so we'll see about that one. But other than that, it's just more just like a mental break just to maybe like a month off or something.

I don't know. Is that the only injury you sustained in the fight? Did she hurt you at any point? Mm-mm. Wow. There was a couple of those little punches, like in the cliques, like just little nukes here and there, like overtime. Just in the same spot is kind of annoying. And it's like, dang, that kind of hurts after a while, you know?

But no, it's just this jam finger. It's really annoying. And so now where do you place yourself in the division? It seems like you're pretty darn close. Like, do you feel like this warrants a title shot? One more. Tisha Torres, obviously won on Saturday, and you have a history with her. What are your thoughts?

It definitely, you know, raises my stock, if anything. I don't necessarily know about the rankings. Just because I always just like to look at it as it's the person with the belt and then it's everybody else, you know, and it's anybody's ballgame at that point. Everybody's one fight away from getting a title shot if they step in on a late notice for somebody. So to me, it's the champ and then everybody else. And for me, I guess like it does, it does, you know, make the next fight more important and just like all the time. So for me, I'm not looking any other way other than I'm really like I'm closer to the belt than probably most anybody else is other than Claudia, obviously.

Yeah. So what do you think or what do you want? What makes sense for you? Do you have any idea? Not thinking about it just yet. But obviously, yeah, there's other things I got to think about right now. Okay. So I'm just going to wait on that.

And by the what, first fight without the hair, you had the buzz cut. Did you like it? Are you keeping it? I don't know if I'm keeping it. I'm definitely going to grow it back out or, like, just do different things with it. But I really like this. So, you know, I'll just see where my progression goes from here and out. All right.

Fair enough. Well, it obviously suits you very well. And it was cool to see your dog front and center throughout the entire, uh, experience is it he or she? It's a she. It's a she. Even in the casino, I don't know if they usually let dogs in the casino. So you know you're a big deal when? What's that? I said, you know you're a big deal when they let your dog in the casino because I don't know if they usually let dogs in casinos. Yeah, dude, she's like a human anyway. Right, right, right. Best part of the whole embedded thing was the one scene where you guys are going to the airport

and Pat says, I guarantee you that we'll be back in two minutes. And lo and behold, you guys, do have to come back to get your mouth. And I love that. I know. It was great. Yeah, like he called it too. It was funny because like it wasn't staged at all. Like it's so happened.

Like we, he told the guy like, hey, maybe if you hang around, we might come back. And lo and behold, I forgot my mouthpiece. Like the most important piece of all. And yeah, you just like ended up staying there and then like just to film some geese or whatever. And all of a sudden he's like, oh, snap, they're coming back. So yeah. Amazing.

I think it was hilarious. And it was just natural and it wasn't like, you know. Sure. I don't know. And I knew he got a little. little heat for this, but the minivan suits Pat very much. I think he should own that. I know. It's so fun, like, especially, like, I don't know why people have such a problem with minivans, but for me, I feel like it's, when have you ever been in a minivan that wasn't fun?

And we've had a lot of fun with that car, but I'm looking, I'm also going to appreciate having like a nice little sporty car eventually one day. All right, well, you deserve it. Again, congratulations. Thank you for the time. Once again, I know you're very busy enjoying the victory, but blown away and really wanted to talk to you about it because it was so damn impressive. What a difference a year makes for you. Enjoy the holidays now coming off a big win and looking forward, of course, to talking to you again in 2016. Thank you so much. All right.

Talk to you soon. There she is. Rose Namayuna is coming off a huge win over Paige Van Zand. What a performance. And she is 100% right. So very close now to once again fighting for the belt. And yeah, Claudia is there. Don't take anything away from her.

It was around a year ago. I think a year ago yesterday that she fought Ioanni on Jacek in Phoenix. So she's there. Yeah, absolutely. Maybe Rose fights Tisha again. Who knows? But she's super close. I hadn't really looked at those rankings because they're so fickle.

How about Damian Maya? Totally crapping all over the rankings all week long. That was a lot of fun. And saying he didn't understand them. He thinks there needs to be some sort of mathematical formula attached to them. I think he actually brings up a great point. There wasn't a lot for him to gain other than, you know, our fantasy booking ideas for him to fight Gunner Nelson.

And once again, Damien Maya fights the young gun like he did against Ryan LaFlair, like he did against Neil Magny, like he did on Saturday against Nelson, and completely dominates. I think they should do the Tyron Woodley fight. I think that's the fight that makes a lot of sense. I know Woodley probably doesn't want to hear me say that, but I think that makes a ton of sense. We'll see what happens to Alice. I think it's a fun-style match-up as well. All right, let's move along.

As I've been talking about, I'll show along. It was a very busy week in Las Vegas. There was a show on Thursday. There was show on Friday. There was a show on Saturday. A few coaches, as I've come to learn, were there every single step of the way. We're at every single event. One of those coaches slash fighters is the current World Series of Fighting Featherweight Champion.

his name is Lance Palmer. He was in Page's Corner on Thursday. He was in Chad's Corner. On Friday, he was in Yariah's Corner on Saturday. And he joins us right now via the Magic of Skype. Lance, how are you? Doing well, man. Just preparing for my fight this weekend. Just woke up a little bit ago eating some breakfast right now.

Well, thank you for the time. It's a very unique thing because I saw Faraz was there in someone's corner every night. Winkle John was there. But you're an active. fighter, you're an active champion, and you're fighting, you know, by the time Saturday came along six days later, was that difficult? You know, you're preparing for your own big fight and you have to be there cornering your guys three straight nights? For me, it wasn't really anything too crazy. I mean, it was a busy weekend, but I still got my workouts in. I still got the right amount of

rest, and all my teammates know that I'm fighting next week. So the other cornermen were, they were there to pick up a lot of the slack when I was going to get my own work. out soon and do my own thing. But like Urii always says when he's on your show, we're a family and we're a close, tight-knit team. So it meant a lot for me to be out there, and they'll all be out there in Vegas again on Friday for my fight. And by the way, did you come back home to Sacramento and are going back to Vegas? Yeah, I had to get out of Vegas in places like it's like a vampire movie or something. I had to get out of there for a couple of days and go back and clear my mind a little bit and get ready for this week.

It was such a unique week because, like I said, three straight nights, Paige suffered a setback. Chad with a somewhat shocking loss to Frankie Edgar. And then Yeraya kind of ended things on a good note. But going from Thursday to Friday and then Friday to Saturday where you're coming off two straight losses, how difficult was that for the team? It was difficult. I think in MMA you have to have a short memory when it comes to losses. and wins for that matter.

So I think we all did a good job of moving on past each fight and knowing that, you know, the next day there's another fight. There's another fight we had to focus on and another teammate we had to get behind. So and I knew we call your eye the general. So we knew that he was going to go in there and perform regardless of who won or lost the nights before. So it was good to end on a winning note and finish the weekend with the W. how is Chad doing after the loss? I think Chad's all right.

That's one of those things where, you know, as, you know, people say, it's about fractions of an inch and the timing and distance and everything. And when it comes down to that, that's exactly what it was. I mean, he just got caught, you know, it was barely, it was like the tip of his nose almost that he got caught. And it's something you can't, you know, you can't prepare for. All you can do is just you can prepare by training as hard as you can. and working the best position and technique you can,

but little things like that happen sometimes. So I think he's all right and he'll bounce back, but it puts him in a weird position now in the division, I think, because I don't really know where, you know, I don't know where they go next for him here, and, you know, that win would have put him up for the next title shot. So it's kind of a weird time, but I know he'll, you know, he'll take some time off

and he'll come back strong. And from your perspective, as her coach, what's the lesson that Paige needs to learn from a loss like that? That fight, there was so much that was actually positive coming out of that. You know, you never want to see your teammate get beat. You never want to see your teammate, you know, do that for five rounds, getting beat and basically controlled the whole fight. But it's good because she's so young.

She's 21 years old. She has a lot of learning to do. And it's just one of those fights where you become a better fighter just because, being a part of that fight and she'll bounce back. She's, the good thing about her being 21 years old is she has a lot to learn. And that was her first really big fight ever. Um,

I mean, I think it was the first non-title fight for a woman to have the main event. So that, that was a huge fight for a 21 year old to step into against a tough opponent like Rose. I mean, I've watched Rose fight since, I mean, since I don't even know how long,

but I know how good she is, and I knew that was going to be a tough fight going into it. But a lot of things that, you know, she could work on is obviously working on her wrestling, working on, you know, her partners have to push her a little harder. So all of our smaller fighters are 25-pound guys who are amateurs and guys that are helping her, that's one thing I do notice that I'm going to be vocal about is they need to push her harder and make her work harder instead of just kind of letting her go through the flow at practice. Is that a trick you think sometime when you have men training with women? Oh, definitely.

And that's something that we've been really careful about. But we need to have, you know, there needs to be, you know, kind of that gray area that you don't step over, but you kind of push that limit a little bit because that's the only way you learn. You learn in the sparring and you learn how to defend punches by having punches thrown at you. And obviously we're not out there to hurt each other in practice, but I think she needs more intensity from her sparring partners and her drilling partners, because that's really how you get better as your partners. And, of course, the big story this weekend,

Connor McGregor being Josaldo, and that's your division. You're the champion in the World Series of Fighting, featherweight division. As you watch that, what goes through your mind? How far away do you think you are from being in that conversation as the greatest featherweight in the world today? I know, I mean, there's a back burner that we're put on

by not being in the UFC. Yeah. And I know that. So I kind of, you know, I don't really worry about that too much. I just, I feel that I'm the best in the world. So I just work my, work my hardest every day, train with guys like Chad and Eurya. And, you know, I just put myself, I put myself in position to, you know, hopefully in the next year or so be in the talks of the top five and working my way up that ladder in the UFC. but, you know, it was crazy to see.

I actually like Connor. I think he's done great things for the sport, not even at Featherway, just for the sport in general, for the UFC. Brought a lot of attention to the sport and obviously, you know, a unique style that people don't really see. You know, you've never really seen a style like his. And he's, like he says, he's very precise with his technique. And that showed on Saturday. and it was kind of a, it was a strange performance in that 13 seconds for Aldo, though. I don't know if I've ever seen him go lunging forward into a combo like that ever in any of his fights that I've seen before.

But, I mean, I've studied Aldo for a long time just because Chad's fought him a couple times and Uriah fought him. And it was something about it that just didn't look the same when he went out there. He was all jittery right when the first bell rang and Connor. was calm, like he said, and that very first combo, he threw that, he kind of like faked that cross to throw his hook and his right hand was way down and it was over from there. But it was awesome for Connor. I mean, he proved that he's the best in the division right now. So that was, you know, that was a statement by him. I know you recently said that, you know, you're happy at World Series of fighting and you make good money and you believe probably better money than you would in the UFC.

but when you're watching that and you see the hoopla and how big of a deal Connor is right now, does a part of you long for that or are you truly content with where you're at with World Series of fighting? My goal when I first started MMA was to be the UFC champ. So that's definitely my goal. And, you know, Conner's with the way Connor talks about, you know, him making money and things like that. He's got an entire country behind him that the U.S. isn't like that. There's so many fighters from the U.S.

There's so many great fighters from, you know, the United States and different states. So there's no, there's really no way for a fighter in the U.S. to get that kind of backing from their country like he does. He pulls something that's so unique just because he's like their one hope, you know. So it's a really unique situation. And I think that's why he was able to change the game as far as himself making a lot of money in the UFC. So, okay, so you have this fight coming up on Friday, and, you know, it's, again, it's sort of prior to another big UFC event. And you're one of the, it's like, right now, it's like you're, I don't know what's the best analogy, but the forgotten beetle in a sense. You know, like, Uriah gets so much attention, Chad gets so much attention, are you saying, okay, now it's my turn.

I want to get some of this attention now. And this is a week, it's tough. There's so much to talk about Conner, there's a huge fight on Saturday, UFC. Like, you're on this Friday. I wish you can get more people talking about you. Do you feel that way as well? Yeah, I mean, I just kind of do my thing. I go into it.

I mean, I'm super focused on the fight, so I don't really think about that too much. But, yeah, it's kind of, I think World Series of fighting gets kind of overlooked a little bit with the competition and what the organization is all about. But I go into every fight the same just with full focus, and I'm just focusing on going out there and performing the best I can.

And the day after me is obviously the Dosanjos and Soroni fight, but that's also my teammate Danny Castillo's fight. So it's a busy month for Team Alpha male. Oh, did we lose him? I think we may have lost him for a second. I was actually just going to... Oh, there he is. You back?

Lance, are you there? Hello? Yeah, you're there. Oh, sorry. I cut out. By the way... Yeah, it's a busy weekend, though. So, I mean, everybody has already texted me.

You know, Ryat and Chad have already text me, hey, if you need anything today at the gym or, you know, if you want to go to the sauna, I mean, they all have my back. That's great. It's awesome. Who will be in your corner on Friday? I'll have coach Joey Rodriguez, my boxing coach, Chris Holdsworth, and Chad Mendez, and Joe Benavitos. Okay. And, you know, your opponent, Alexander Almeda, is actually, and correct me if I'm wrong,

I think it's the toughest guy you fought in WC, excuse me, WC, in World Series of fighting so far. A guy who actually made it on tough Brazil, but had to pull out because he had some sort of head injury. It seems like he's okay now. Would you agree with that assessment? And if so, what are you most concerned about when it comes to Almeda? For me, I think I look at it as every opponent, every next opponent is my toughest opponent because every next fight is your biggest fight of your career. but yeah he's definitely he's definitely a threat he's a great jiu jitsu fighter

um he's the biggest thing that that that i see is that i feel that i've i train you know chris holdsworth is he's one of the best jiu jitsu guys that i've competed with and and trained with and i feel that i'm fully prepared for this fight but i know that i know that almeda's you know that's his thing he's good on the ground he's good in the scrambles but i feel like my wrestling scramble ability and my jiu-jitsu defense and everything in the in the whole ground game is going to be superior to his but uh i definitely respect his his game by the way you're not going to orlando after this fight to corner danny are you no i'm going to be i have a wedding on saturday in napa valley so i'm going to be enjoying that would you have gone if you didn't have the wedding

i don't know i know favors taking a red eye after my fight to go to Orlando wow yeah that's what i love about you guys, a tight-knit team. And that actually brings me to my next question. How much did the whole TJ drama affect you? It didn't really affect me too much because, I mean, when you see a relationship as close as he and Duane, you kind of, even before the team elevation thing came about, it was kind of one of those things where I had a feeling he was going to move out there. And, you know, I'm still close with TJ. We sat together at the Wayans on Friday. And, you know, I hung out with him a little bit while he was in Vegas last weekend. So I still have a good relationship with TJ.

I think the thing with him and Uriah is a little different because, you know, Uriah brought him in and that's just a different thing when you leave, you know, when Uriah kind of felt slighted a little bit. But, you know, I kind of saw it coming from back when Dwayne left because they had such a close relationship. And we went out together a couple times to train with Dwayne last year, like for his grand opening of his academy and stuff like that. So I kind of saw it. So it wasn't really a surprise to me, but I'm just happy for him, whatever he thinks is right for him to better himself.

Uriah did a fantastic job of building that fight after his win on Saturday. Considering you're still friends with him, would you have any problems cornering Uriah against him? I think in that situation I wouldn't corner either. I think it would be more, I would probably just take a backseat and, you know, watch the fight. And I, a lot of us have talked about that. I don't know who would be, you know, who would corner who, but I don't think, I mean, obviously, T.J. has his team elevation people now, so they would probably corner him, but I don't know who would corner favor. I think it's one of those things where I wouldn't want to be either. I would risk be in the middle of it. Right. By the way, I've heard, and correct me if I'm wrong,

your dad who actually looks like your brother. I've heard he's quite the character. Is that true? Is Mr. Palmer quite the character? Oh, yeah. He's a nut job. He's hilarious. He's pretty, is Wayne the Pain 1 on Instagram, and he's, he's, we made him go private

because he's so, he's so controversial with all of his videos that he posts and everything. But he's, he's one of those guys. He's always just been honest and up front, and he'll tell you how it is. but all my teammates love watching his videos on Instagram. They think he's hilarious. Now, how controversial are these videos? What are we talking about here? Oh, nothing.

I mean, some of it's just, like, fun. It'd be like watching a comedian talk about racism and stuff like that. Like, he'll joke about different stuff, but he's never serious about anything, but he'll always, he'll make jokes. Like, you know, he'll make jokes about old people calling him blue-haired raisins and how bad they drive and stuff like that. He's fun. He just likes to have fun, and he's a kind-hearted guy, but he's definitely a character. And so he's usually front and center for your fights, right? He'll be there on Friday?

Oh, yeah, him and my mom and my brother will be there for sure. I've seen him in the cage. I think after your last fight, I saw him in the cage, right? Yeah, two fights ago he was in the cage when I fought in Sacramento. So what's he like when you're about to fight? Like, does he give you a pep talk? How does he, like, what's his presence like right before you fight? Well, he was like my first wrestling coach when I wrestled, when I started wrestling at nine. So he's just like, he's like, it's your time, bud, let's get it done, have fun out there. You know, just he knows that I've prepared for, you know, the best that I can for each fight.

So he's really intense, though, so most people can't handle him. So for me, for me, it's normal, but he's really intense, but I know what he means when he gets the point across to me. Wayne the pain. I love that. By the way, speaking of coach. is, Campman's gone, right? Is he officially gone?

Yeah, I think he left for Denmark like a week or two ago. Okay, so is someone going to replace him? I know Uriah was looking. Do you have any update? We're still working on, you know, trying to figure out what's best for everyone. We've had a few people in here and there,

just, you know, helping hold Mitz and kind of run some practices. But we haven't, but the team hasn't come to an agreement yet. So we're still on the lookout for somebody who wants to be a head MMA coach. Because we've had a lot of good striking coaches come in, but we need more than a striking coach. We need an MMA coach. Right. By the way, I respect the fact that you're rocking the Torquette and you've got to

represent. But you also have a fantastic haircut that you're kind of hiding from the world here. I had a chance to see it. There it is. There it is. It's not as slick back as it was in Vegas when I saw it. That's a nice deal. Oh, yeah, it's out of control right now, but it'll be, it'll be tuned up on Friday when it's time to party. Time to party. I like to party. I would be crapping my pants. For you to party, who inspired that haircut? You know what's funny is my girlfriend's a professional IFBB bikini competitor.

Oh, wow. And we were at one of her shows, it was like eight or seven weeks ago maybe, and she needed to get new hair stuff. And I was in the hair section with her, and I grabbed a platinum blonde one. And she was like, are you going to do your hair that color? And I was like, yeah, maybe I'll just do the top. So she actually helped me do it. But it was just one of those last-minute things spontaneously just put it on there.

I like it. I like it. It gives you a different look. Keep rocking it. Yeah, something different. I get a lot of crap from my teammates, but they like it. So it's cool. So a pro fighter and a pro-bikini competitor, I'm guessing there's not a lot of, you know,

fast food, junk food in your house these days? Not until after this weekend. She actually eats cleaner than me now. Before she started doing this stuff, she would eat whatever I would eat, but now she eats cleaner than me and kind of like makes fun of my diet during fight camp, even though I'm eating healthy. Wow. Well, I wish you the best, man.

Great to have you on the show for the first time. It was good to see you out there in Las Vegas. Looking forward to it this Friday on NBCSN. Lance Palmer defending his World Series of Fighting Featherweight title against Allegiance. Alexander, Almeida, a great fight, a great competitor, a great champion deserves your attention. I'll be watching and I look forward to it. Thank you for the time. Thanks a lot, Ariel. I appreciate it. All right, there he is. Lance Palmer, champion for World Series of Fighting.

And by the way, speaking of World Series of Fighting, they actually have some news that we can share here for the first time. They have a new logo. The good people over at World Series of Fighting have given me their new logo. I believe we have it. Do we got it? Where is it at? there it is. That's the new World Series of Fighting Logo. And I'm not just saying it because they gave it to me. I think it's a much better logo. The other one, it just had the MMA was too front and center.

I don't know. There was something about it. I like it. The crown. It reminds me of something. Newarkerick, do you like it? Yeah. Okay. Neerichick has no thoughts. No, he can't get to a mic right now. It's a nice logo. So congratulations to them on the new logo, and they are back in action this Friday, as I said. So another fun weekend of MMA. Coming up, Friday, Saturday, Friday World Series of Fighting in Las Vegas, Lance Palmer defending his title. And then Orlando, UFC on Fox. One guy who I know will be watching UFC on Fox this Saturday, as the lightweight title is being defended by the new champion Hafelde Los Angeles against Donald Seroni is another man who had a huge weekend. this past weekend in Las Vegas on Friday. He defeated Edson Barbosa in super impressive fashion. He has the second longest winning streak in the division. He is on a roll. He's making a lot of noise,

and he's joining us right now via the magic of Skype. Phone line. My bad. Tony Ferguson on line number one. Tony, how are you? Tony, how are you doing? I'm doing great. Thank you for the time. You know, I was wondering it was such a big win. A lot of buzz. A lot of people were talking about it. but unfortunately for you, you couldn't go to the press conference and really kind of put an exclamation point where you disappointed that you couldn't go, I know you had to go to the hospital, even after the win, that you couldn't go out there and really make your case,

you know, once and for all, where you stand in the division. I don't think I really had to go to the press conference and say too much, Gary. I think the fight spoke for itself. We went out there and we gave a good show. You know, the night we were watching in the back, there was a bunch of boring fights. So I was in the back, and I was with my crew,

It was funny. You guys didn't get to see too much of the warm-ups, but I did one of those flying squirrel wrestling takedowns, and everybody in the room stopped what they were doing. They were watching what we were doing in the back. For a second, everything was loose, and we were really cool, we were calm. And I knew going into this fight, that's how I had to be. So, I mean, this fight was fun for me.

Apparently, you know, I had to go get some stitches. Now apparently I had to actually go get stitches stuck in an opera room. But I'd much rather have been there, but, you know, it is what it is, and it was fun. So, okay, any serious injuries other than the stitches, anything come out of that hospital visit? No, man, everything's cool. I got, I don't know what they gave me. I forgot what they gave me, but just a couple of Advil and just good to go. As soon as these stitches heal, go get checked out, and I'll be back in the practice room.

Where was it? Was it on your cheek? I forget now where it was, the cut. Yeah, I got on my eyebrow and then on my cheek area. He had pretty good punches. I didn't respect his punches. I should have. I was looking for his kicks more often.

I was looking to check those more than anything, and didn't give his boxing any respect, and I went in there and not moving my head using my face with the punchment, you know. So, next time, be different. Wow, so that's interesting. It's interesting to hear you say that. A lot of people wouldn't admit that after the fact. So you were, you were, is it fair to say you're almost disappointing yourself? Like, you were overlooking a big part of his game?

Well, obviously, we were preparing for Khabegh Mennoff. We were preparing for number three. We want to bust out to it. We were preparing for a Sombo fighter, and I was going to take the game to him as far as was concerned. I didn't have to worry about his boxing because I knew I could keep him at range, but the concern was to be able to take him down and handle it and submit him. And that game probably didn't change too much, but we had a tougher gameer opponent who was a sharpshooter on his feet. We knew exactly how he was going to go. I ducked one of his spinning heel kicks,

so we were much more ready than anything. I did a lot of recon on his film, and I was more than prepared than anything, but I did one time he got me really good was with a spinning heel kick to the stomach. And it was pretty cool, man, but I've been doing a lot of core and outwork, so I kind of ate through that one and pushed forward. But his face changed as soon as that happened, and it was a game changer. Just anything he threw out of me, I just ate up. And just next time, like I said, I just like to take less damage. But we prepared for Osama dude, and that's my case right there.

It feels like every time you fight, you show something different. Your game continues to evolve and really come together. In this fight, the submission attempts were a lot of fun to watch. Is that something you work on a lot? Yeah, I would like to work on a lot more. We were just, for me, it was fun for it to get back into the wrestling part, but submission game is awesome. I love, I love Jiu-Jitsu.

It's one of my cool things. Before the fight, I actually got an opportunity to go to Eddie Brabos and practice some technique, and we were just picking apart at some Barbosa for a second. And, you know, we just knew my Jiu-Jitsu is going to be far superior to his, regardless of, you know, the scrambles or even just technique, his purple bell versus my brown belt, you know, I would have put it out there all day.

And I compete to finish. I don't compete for points. That's wrestling for me. And submission grappling, you aim just to go for the win and victory, to put them to sleep. And if Barbosa didn't tap, he was going to go night night. It wasn't one of those crusher type of submission. That one was beautiful. I was at 70%.

Squeeze. Wow. 70%. That's it. Yeah. So you made a conscious decision in the locker room after seeing some of those boring fights. You said, it's not going down like this. need to pick these things up a little bit.

I need to pick up the crowd, pick up this card. Well, for me, it was about staying loose. And if you go into the floor and try to knock out a knockout artist, you know how a lot of people do. I think that's where a lot of people made a mistake. They try to make it a pissing contest and going to do what the other athlete was trying to do. Instead, I was going for what I was aiming for, which was to get the finish.

I always looking for the finish, always looking for not just a knockout, not just the submission, not even the decision went, but make it decisive. I couldn't let him get ahead on the points as far as like numbers. so it was in there going shot for shot going shot for shot as far as even wrestling as well because when he he tried to shoot and that was what we counted on I counted on him making him mistake

and capitalizing on in all the films that's what ended up happening when he felt that he wasn't when he had to change things up to get my hands to lower you know it said it maybe for a head kick or something that's when he would shoot in but for me I use it to my victory because that's my wrestling

I put that I call a snapdown city and I put a lot of people in that up in that position where, as far as the front headlock is concerned, it opens up for a lot of different type of finishes for myself. I recall after the fight you mentioned your unborn child. Forgive me for not knowing, but do you have any other kids, or is this your first? No, this is my first. So hopefully we'll have about a whole team.

By then, we'll have a squad. And congratulations on that. How far along is your significant other, your wife or girlfriend? Well, about 20-some weeks into it, actually 21 weeks into it. Okay. couple more, we know, about halfway. And so she's got a full fight cap ahead of her. And we're prepared, man, we're good. So all the focus has always been on her, but now I get to put a little more into it. And did you notice, I mean, as a father of two, I could tell you,

it changes every step of the way, but going into a fight for the first time as, you know, a soon-to-be father, did you notice that you viewed things a little different, that you put a little more pressure on yourself? The stakes have changed, right? No, there was no pressure, man. Nothing changed. Anything, I was more relaxed. I cut a lot of way of a lot of fat away from my team and just a lot of just for myself in general. I got up to 201 and put back for this fight. So I was a little hefty, but it gave me an opportunity to clean up my diet living, honestly.

And, you know, even before this fight, I've been maturing since Ultimate Fighter. But it's been ultimate high, bro. Nothing, nothing's been low. the ultimate days in the gym had been great coming home and then being able to see my wife for a couple hours

and then having to go for a run a couple hours later no big deal I love it so this whole part has been a very big experience and it's a learning experience and nobody gave me a blueprint

for this so it's kind of cool it's really cool so when you say 201 did you bulk up or did you just kind of get out of shape sure dude I got I was steaks and potatoes though

I was steak and potatoes and lifting and just relaxing I wasn't doing a lot of sprints. I was counting on Kabid Nurga Mera. That dude didn't look like he was doing a lot of sprints. You know what I mean? And unfortunately, his injury,

I know I joked about him being in a bubble, but he's on my radar. And I don't know if he has a fight yet, or he does. No, he doesn't. Whoever's next, man. I can't wait, so I don't even know what number I'm going to be. I don't even care. It doesn't even matter.

Whoever they put in front of me is going to be next. And I'm going to get their number, man. It don't matter. So you had some interesting things to say about Connor McGregor. Of course, he won on Saturday, and there's talk of him moving up to 155. Would it bother you if he gets a title shot right away? Honestly, he props to him.

He had a good fight. I'd like to see him put more technique into out there, but I'm sure he did too. If he comes to 155, like I said, this is in my weight class. We'll cross pass, and I won't have a problem with it. When you say more technique, do you mean you kind of wish the fight went longer, or were you not impressed with the 13 seconds that you saw? I think everybody was a little bit more interested into the fight going a little bit longer.

Sure. You know, there's so much hype and so much buildup. I think even Connor himself was actually probably disappointed into it. You probably just want to see a little longer as well. Right. I think any professional athlete that puts that much heart and soul into it, you would want and hope that you would get at least a minute or something kind of works for the fans

because at that point it's not just for the athlete. It's just for everybody out there. You're just kind of like, yeah, I have all this technique and I want to just show you guys, and you can't because, damn, that moment's gone. So now I've got to wait how many more months or to up to a year or whatever to make it happen again. That's what I would feel.

Right. But for me, that's why I like the fight to the way I go. I throw it out there before I even get a chance, you know, before there's any kind of finish. That's how my style is. I wear it in town. I make them break up. come down, and then I go for the finish.

Styles are different, but that's why we'll see different. So you've won seven in a row, and the maybe overlooked part of it all is that they're all finishes. And on top of all of that, there's a submission of the night award, there's a fight of the night award, that's the one you just got,

there's two performances of the night awards. I mean, you're really stepping up to the plate here. As someone who's in that spot in that division, and it's a super tough division, it won't bother you at all if he gets a... Do you understand, given his drawing power that he gets a title shot before you? Look, man, my fuel for my fires to be able to provide for my family.

So regardless of who they put in front of me, that's the whole purpose while I'm doing this. So my baby doesn't have to fight. So, like, what, it doesn't matter. As long as I have a job and I keep fighting, it doesn't matter if there's Connor, Pettis, you put Alvarez, you put Soroni, RDA. You put any of those dudes in front of me.

I'm going to go out there, I'm going to get victorious. And regardless of if I get a performance of the night, I'm going to give my best performance. And if they want to pay me, then they can pay me. Because that's what I know I'm with. I know more than what I'm getting paid. But I put my heart, I put everything into it. But this is, like I said, it's for my family.

But you guys don't know that, man, because I don't talk too much. You know, I go in there and I talk with my hands. So you guys get to see the fuel that fire, that intensity for me because I'm not going to let anybody beat me like Michael Johnson did. No way. I'm not going to put my family to that shit anymore. That shit was too much. No, I'd rather feel my legacy right now, hunt everybody down and get my belt, and then boom, there you go.

What's up? Who's next? How many fights left on your current deal? I don't even know, dude. I'm worried about the next one now. I'm 10 in 1. What sounds better than 10 in 1, Ariel? 11 and 1.

That's exactly right. And so that's the next one. You know, people wanted to know about the Mexico fight card. They wanted to know about, you know, this weekend. RDA and Seroni. For me, I don't care who wins. I don't give a shit. Because honestly, I'm going to see them both.

I guarantee it. As far as you in Pedestine-Alvarez. Right. You know, it doesn't even matter who they put in front of me. These guys are all beatable.

The one that I see that wants to come up to 155 pounds is Connor, obviously. And I think all of us kind of got pissed up the other night because obviously we didn't get to see that much technique. Yeah.

Like I said, I'm sure Connor was as well. So there's a lot of interesting questions that are going to be raised that you can go up, is going to stay down, he's going to fight Frankie. It doesn't matter.

But if he does come up to 155 pounds then that adds to our pool. So it's going to make a little bit deeper. And I'm going to be pissed if all that work that I did this past weekend doesn't put me up in numbers. Right. So, whatever. You know, you did a great job among, you know, a lot of big-name fighters, big-name, you know, big fights and all that. You did a great job of, you know, getting some attention.

And that's part of the game as well. I know you see you don't like to talk and everything, but you need people to get emotionally invested. You did a great job, I thought, at the media day. And it's always polarizing when that happens because some are saying, you're trying too hard or something. Did you listen to any of that? And do you feel like you're trying? Like, where is this?

Because you haven't always been like that with the sunglasses. You're intense, man. I love interviewing you in particular in person because, man, you get me, you get the blood boiling because you're very intense. Is this, did you make a conscious decision to do this? Is this the real you? Tell us about it. Well, if you guys are, I'll die hard friends.

You guys have known that I've always worn sunglasses. I've been wearing sunglasses since even before my boys back in Oxnard just to play that song for me. I wear my sunglasses at night. And we would have some great laughs with that because it's just me. My eyes are sensitive. I'm the cuckooey. What can I say? A lot of these guys that come out and they try to be trendy with it,

let a suit after I did it and do these things. I was in the ultimate fighter doing the three-piece thing with the suit and the sunglasses. Being nonchalant, setting that trend because I had to transform myself and be that guy. This is not a new, this is not a new Tony. I've actually toned it down. Wow. Toned it down.

This is me being more relaxed. I like wearing my two-piece suit with my jeans and my nice character. I like being able to relax that way because my whole entire life I've been pretty serious. And you said in this one time, you said this interview that I did was really good. But yeah, that was the first time I ended up being vocal. I'm not very vocal. I feel like I don't have to be. I've been so chilled just letting techniques speak.

But now I guess apparently I have to be a little vocal because the fans want to hear what I have to say about my opponents. So let's hear about this. Listen to this. I'm going to call out Anthony Pettish right now. Regardless if he wins or lose, I like to kick that guy's ass. I think he deserves it. And I think he needs a little butt-wopin.

Whatever, man. I just think it'd be a great fight besides all the fake shit talk because, you know, I don't do that, man. I know I can go in there. I can do work. And I can lay hands on this, dude. You got a lot of respect. I take that respect as soon as I kick his butt, so what's up? When you say that he deserves it, what do you mean by that? I don't say deserves it.

That's what I mean. That's the kind of crap shit talk that I talk. I don't talk very well, man. Exactly. So when I say I'm going to kick his butt, that's what I mean, Ariel. I'm going to go on there. I'm going to kick the shit out of him. You did say he deserves it, though, right?

Yeah, why not? I just wonder, like, did he do something? He's in my way class. He's number one. He's number one. Look, I think. It doesn't matter. He deserves it.

It's cool. He's got it coming. What I was getting at was, I don't know if something happened behind the scenes where he pissed you off. He disrespected you something. That's what I meant. Oh, no, no disrespect. You know what I mean? I don't know him that well.

I don't even know him personally. I have nothing bad to say about him or whatever. I'm just intent, Ariel. That's how I am. You know, I get about the sport and, you know, I leave everything in there. And there's nothing against anything. It's nothing fake. It's nothing false.

It's just I'm very intense. I bring that pressure into this game because, you know, you ask Kobe how he played. Unfortunately, he had to retire this year for the Lakers. but it's that kind of hard and that passage you bring to this game. Instead of me rather talking about talking shit and talking crap because it doesn't go very well for me. It doesn't. So instead I'd rather go in and be like, yeah, he's very tricky.

He's very harsh. He's very cool. As far as his style, he's very slick as far as the Taekwondo. He'd be like Edson Barbosa on a different level. Right. He's more intense. His submission game is there. You know, I could count on him going for different types of transitions,

knowing the game a little bit better as far as on the ground. And I'm not being afraid. So I know the game is switching, he's watching. And if I know that he's watching, he's trying to change the game up as well. He's not trying to be just a one-dimensional fighter. If he is, he's in trouble. Because then you've got guys like me coming for him.

Perfect World. When do you want to return? Ah, as soon as he's stitches, show up. Okay. We'll go back, you know, we'll check it out. Talk to my family. Talk to my management. We'll come up to a decision, come into agreement. We'll approach Dana, Mr. Silva.

You know, maybe I hope Mr. Silver in his suit. Oh, yeah. What about that? He said that he had to go clean it. And he's confident that it'll get it all get out. But were you trying to mess with this suit? What were you trying to do there? No, we're just checking his takedown defense games.

It's pretty good. You jeaned out of playing after that, so I didn't mean to get him off by your stuff. No harm going, man. It's pretty good, take down the fence for such a small guy, right? He's pretty good with a take down the fence. But he'll send me the bill. I'll be glad to take care of it. By the way, just curious.

Way back when you're on the Ultimate Fighter, of course, you mentioned that, you ever still speak to Brock? Yeah, Coach Buck Coach Buck's pretty cool, man he had the opportunity I had the opportunity to talk to him and it was pretty cool, man. When did you speak to him last?

When did you speak to him? When did you last speak to him? Just the other day, not too long ago. After the win? He did on the holidays and I'll send him a text but he said, awesome job. You know, congrats and pay taxes. That's awesome.

You remind you to pay your taxes? Is that it? Yeah. Here are my very daggers. Wow. Great advice from... Good more chicken. There we go.

Great advice from Coach Brock. What a time that was when you got to train with them, right? I mean, you've obviously come a long way. Now you're the man there, as you said on Thursday when we spoke to you. Or Wednesday, I should say, the entire training camp revolves around you. But as a youngster way back when, that must have been quite the trip to be training with Brock, right? Yeah, that was a great opportunity. The first thing was, it was right in the middle of nowhere.

Yeah. You go out there and you're like, all right. All right. This is cool. And, you know, he hooked it up with like a little rental car. So my job was to go to him from, I was to the gym, and go twice a day. And it was, this was awesome. The coolest thing in the world, you got to see Brock Lesnar, Pat Berry, was it, Pat Miller, who else was there, Cole Conrad.

Right. Ryan Tush. You had a bunch of these dudes in it. I'm missing a bunch of names. And then you had guys like, both men and Nick Lentz that I was training with. And then Paul Bradley,

that he was up there over at the academy, that Sean Shirk gym with Greg Nelson, Coach Nelson over there. Right, right. Dude, it was dope. It was an awesome opportunity. One of my manager, Brian Stegman, was out there for a second.

And so it was so cool at the time because everything was just like so tight-knit and the focus was around what I was doing, which was my fight camp. Yeah. And it was beautiful. I learned what Jiu-Jitsu was

because then they were like, hey, put them in your guard and these guys just ate through my guard. So it wasn't like you could, all right, you next, go ahead, go. No, this guy was his goal ahead, get back in guard. I'd go and eat through your guard. And like, oh, shit, man.

All right. You couldn't go anywhere and you couldn't talk to anybody. It was like, I had my wife, you know, at my time, we were talking. I'm like, damn, this is hard. It was crazy. But you couldn't do anything about it

because you were there to win. Right. And it was cool, dude. So that's how I take it into, like now it's beautiful because what I've learned over there when I was on the show is what I do today. And I try to show these other guys, these younger dudes. I'm like, hey, I know how it was. This is how it is.

I know it's hard. And, you know, you don't really have all the coaching. But here, here's some stuff, here some drills, here's some cool things. You can do that, you know, will help you out because that's the coaching I have. And for me, it's really, it was hard to find that coaching. What I have now is I have a bunch of trainers and we collaborate to whatever I've learned and I've shared with them and they've shared it with information with me. And it's a big collaboration because I've learned a thing or two and me by teaching it and then my trainers knowing it and then them helping myself. It's cool because we get to pick apart obviously what's wrong and then fix it because we have that knowledge that I've obtained from the past experiences until what I've learned from now.

with the knowledge and the ability to evolve. That's what's important. You can keep getting the same coaching over and over and over, but then you become predictable. You become that guy that everybody hunts down. And I hate to say it, but I've hunted down some of the best gyms in this nation right here, as far as even in the world, you know, fighting Katta Nore now.

These guys, I don't have a big team, but what we do is dissect it. And we break it down because a lot of these teams are predictable. You have a lot of these guys that come from Stan. end of gyms, and they fight the same way. You know, the pit used to be one of the ones. I hate to pick on the pit. And, you know, Albuquerque is the same way.

You know, who else is there? American top team, same thing. I thought a couple of their guys, Black Zillions. They moved the same way. Henry Hoof had them do the same footwork in those. There's guys from over, where Edison Barbosa was at, it was a different kind of movement. But we knew that the pressure game was supposed to be intact.

So, you know, as far as even, like, if I were to fight Anthony Pettis, we have a game plan. I'm not going to tell you exactly what that's going to be. They're going to be predictable. That's why I said they're one-dimensional. For myself, I don't have a big squad that belongs to these big gyms. So I get to handpick who I want in my corner because that's what we do. I get to look at my opponent, dissect it, and then, boom, put the best people in the back,

and trust that in my training that it's going to work out. By the way, we were talking about this weekend, and you mentioned Michael Johnson, that's your last loss many moons ago, three years ago, over three years ago. He's fighting Nate Diaz. how much, knowing, you know, how intense you are and how much pride you have, how much does it piss you off to watch Michael Johnson fight? Like, is that the one, even more so than a touchdown that you'd love to have, like, in a perfect, it doesn't make a lot of sense, maybe, but does it still kind of eat at you? With the Michael Johnson fight? Yeah.

It's hard to watch the fight. It's really hard to watch the fight. It's, like, kind of like, dang, you know? Yeah. The sport has been one of those, the sports, like, kind of like, hitting this, learn and go. wrestling, starting, vicious raw talent, dude, from when I first started to where I'm at now. Hours in hours. I think I'm going to post a highlight film

from when I first started, and I'm going to post it on my Twitter, and you guys can check it out until when I was fighting then until now, and you guys are just crack up, but how different it is now. And I still have a lot to learn, man. That fight, it was a learning experience that I needed Muayai.

I needed to learn how to check kicks, not just rely on my punches, because you can't just get around, like I said, being one-dimensional. And that was one of the, I have to give them props because that was one of the fight that skyrocketed to where I'm at now. It was one of those things I had to endure because I broke my arm around two. I fought the rest of the fight. I went in there knowing that my arm was broken. the second round

when my coach put the ice bag on my back and I put it hell no put it right here in my arm and I'm looking

at Michael Johnson trying to push the dog or not the dog but push him out of the way to look at him and focus on him

so he knows that I was ready so he could see in my eye and I even hit him with that bitch I hate him with my jazz

boom and I rocked him a couple of times and it sucked man I just bit down and I try to use every ounce of other

pride and energy I had if you want to use that but but in my my pitch that he's fighting an idea? No. Why? What are you pissed?

No, no. I can get a shit. No, no. I can't get a shit. Yeah, yeah. Good for him. If I can't do anything for me. If his numbers jumped and whatever, but everybody knows what's going to happen if we fight and when we fight, or if that fight happens. But my goal is my sets are a different path.

I don't even think he wants to fight me anymore. Henry Hoop was in the back, and he comes up to me, he was like, you know, he was talking in his voice and he was funny because he always gives me respect. And I was like, man, I know you're scouting me, dude. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. it's going to happen. All these coaches are watching me.

Every time I go out there, I wish you guys, we're going to start GoPro in the cell. I'm going to do these live periscope. I have you guys watch my warm-ups in the back. You guys are going to crack up. That's a good idea. There's not much so high, man.

I'm out there right now. I'm going to start posting more techniques. I'm going to open up my facility this next year. I'm going to start teaching my style the way I've been to select you. And it's a different kind of way, and I'm always looking for that finish. This isn't boxing.

This isn't more. white tie. I've learned that lesson. I've moved on. This is M. I'm here to change the game off. By the way, I've always wanted to ask you this. What's the XT and Tony Ferguson XT in your Twitter handle? That's extra tough. That's the casino of my wife and Tony Ferguson. It's just one of our things. And it's been that way for the Ultimate Fighter. It's a brand. She's been my sponsor for a long time, man. She's been there.

It's much more than what it means, but it's cool, a little thing I used to wear my shorts. So when you guys see that XT, that's for us. That's my family. Mike Rio, Katsunori, Cuckuno, Danny Castillo, Abuchahio, Glycin Tebow, Josh Thompson, now Etzen Barbosa. Seven in a row, super impressive. Looking forward to what's next for you. Congratulations on the big win on Friday. Also on the upcoming child. And we'll talk to you soon. Looking forward to a big year for you in 2016, Tony. Thank you, thank you.

All right. There he is. Tony Ferguson stopping by. great stuff from him. As always, good to have him on the show. I believe that was his first time. Thank you to his management team paradigm for getting us him at the last minute. All right. No more guests. Time to answer some questions. Time to talk to Mr. New York, who I believe is back there, still soaking his sorrows away, still a little emotional after what happened on Saturday, not because of his man, Connor McGregor winning, because, you know, he was on that train well before any of you, but because of his man, Jacare Soza losing when it all counted. Where was he?

Did he lose, though? There you are. It was a long reveal. Did he lose? Well, I mean, technically, yes, officially yes. But I get what you're saying. What do you think? I gave him that fight.

I thought clearly Romero won the first round. I thought he won the second and third, and I thought a point could have been taken in the second for that. cage grab because it was so blatant. Yeah. It's so drastically changed the fight. Not that we haven't seen that in the past where a warning was issued and good on Mark Goddard for

you know noticing it right away and taking away the position but I thought a point could have been taken for sure. So that's an interesting point because I thought Goddard did a great job and was certainly assertive but I was talking to Mark Ratner about this at the Post-Fight press conference before the press conference started.

He of course the VP of Regulatory Affairs, you hear him sometimes on the broadcast, when there's some sort of controversy with the refs or a rule, whatever. And, you know, we were talking about it. It was good, and Goddard got a lot of praise, and it is well-deserved. I think he's without it that one of the best, and that's what made that silly hearing that he had to get licensed in Nevada so crazy. But, but, why didn't he take a point away? Like, if you're going to do that whole thing, and it was that blatant, why not take a point away? And Ratner said, A, he actually said, yeah, that's a good point. And B, he said that he'd

like to advise the referees to start issuing those warnings in the locker room. And I think that makes all the sense in the world. Like this whole idea that you get a warning for a blatant foul makes zero sense. If you get a face mask in a football game, and that's not even as drastic as what happens in a fight, you get a 15-yard penalty. The penalty happens right away. There's no warning. So why do you get a, there should be a warning in the locker room right before the fight starts. That's your warning. And then when you do it in the fight, that's a penalty. So I think, Ramirez should have had a point taken away. I wouldn't argue with that.

I think there's something to be said about giving leeway and giving the first warning in the cage. Why? Why does it need to be done? I guess it's like a situation where you're getting warmed up, you're getting into the fight, instincts take over. But look, if they instituted that and every fight started with, you know, anything that was talked about in the back is now a penalty from the moment that bell rings, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I also kind of understand the mentality of, you know, getting warmed up, you're, you're sitting backstage, that's not really the fight atmosphere, then you get into the fight,

and your, you know, your juices start to flow, and that's when you, you know, you may make an error at first. That said, you know, on a football field, on a basketball court, anywhere else between the lines, a penalty is a penalty. I just, I think it's a little different for cage fighting, and I'm not necessarily, you know, one who thinks that it should be super harsh initially. But I think also, you know, I trust the referee's discretion. So if Mark Goddard thought that that didn't deserve, you know,

a point taken away, then at that moment, I guess he didn't. But I personally would not have a problem if they instituted what Mark Ratner was talking about. Yeah, I think, look, Tim Means actually said it perfectly, and kudos to him for doing so. He said, I grabbed onto that thing. And it reminded me of Vincent's. Carter in the dunk competition. Remember when he put his whole entire arm? Yes.

That's what it was. And he's like, look, I know they'll just give me a warning, so why not do it? Yeah, you're right. He's right. Props to you for being honest. That might be the best argument for what we're talking about now. If the fighters, you know, the fighters, and in this case, Tim Means is saying blatantly, like, I'm willing to cheat because there's nothing that's going to happen. It's a problem. It's a problem. It's a big problem.

I thought he won the last two rounds anyway, though, and I don't think it was a 10-8 in the first round. You don't think so. He rocked him. I think he rocked him and he was landing great punches, but at no point did I feel like he was overwhelming Jokkerai to the point where it could have been stopped. For example, if we were scoring the Rockhold Widman round, what was it, round two?

Round three. That's clearly a 10-8 in my mind. Did he get one? I didn't see the scorecards. I think he did. I think two of the judges gave it to him. But the Romero fight, it looked like Jokore was still active, still going for a submission.

he was controlling, you know, Romero's arms. Romero's is a physical specimen, and it's very tough to control him in that way. But I don't think it was a 10-8, in my opinion. At the same time, even if it is a 10-8, that's a 28-28 fight. Clearly, Jok-Rae won those last two rounds. I wish we got a five-round fight there, and it's very rare. You know me. I don't often say that, but I feel like we would have had a more decisive winner,

especially with such high stakes involved. Sure. Unfortunately for Jacer is so close. but hey, you know, that first round, that spinning back fist, even in slow-mo.

Ooh. Like, again, it's sort of like the rose page thing. For him to actually survive that is unbelievable because it seemed like

it hit him flush and it was a great punch. You know, he almost was back with it as soon as he hit the mat. Yeah. It didn't even seem like he was that stunned.

He lost his balance and he was completely fine almost. Now, certainly after the grounded pound when he was a little, wobbly coming up. That was when I was most, you know, concerned that he wouldn't be able to go on. I thought that might be stopped between rounds because of how badly he was damaged in that first round. And then, you know, two, he picked it up and three, I thought he took over and won the

fight. I know Mendez said that, you know, he'd be down for a Wyman rematch. I know Wyatman's team wants that. I have a hard time seeing them do that. So what do you want? You want Jacaray Wyden? No, clearly. Oh, oh. Does that not make sense to kill them off? I mean, Jacer Whiteman... Yeah, I don't think you want to do that. How great of a fight is that, though? It's a fantastic fight.

I just don't think you want to do that. Although, if I'm Jacqueray, I probably want to take a fight like that because you're so close to that title shot. You're getting up there in age. You really don't know how many more you have left before you can finally get that title shot. You can sell a Rockhold

Joccuray fight. No problem. The first one was an all-timer. So I think, yeah, if I'm looking at it from the person, perspective of Jacqueray and his team, you have to take a fight like that so you can stay in the conversation. Okay, I'm sure we're going to talk about the middleweight title picture when it comes to these questions. Absolutely. By the way, just, you know, I had a great time. I actually super enjoyed it. I mean, it was a lot of fun. A little tired, but I felt that, you know, it was a home run for the, it was a grand slam weekend for the UFC.

Sure. I was there on the front lines, didn't really have a chance to catch my breath. As a viewer at home, as someone who's taking it away away from, taking it in away from Las Vegas, did you enjoy it? Or was it a little. little too much three straight nights. I don't know how much of it you watch and you're a very busy guy, but what did you think about it?

I did watch it. I watched all three nights. Weren't you away somewhere? I was in Austin for the pay-per-view. And I was traveling. So I was in the air during the Edgar Mendez

Fox card, Fox Sports card. Oh, wow. But I eventually saw that and I was in Austin watching from a bar for 194. Were people going nuts?

Yeah, there was a ton of Connor McGregor fans and in a random bar in Austin, Texas. Were there a ton of people there, period? Absolutely. I've never watched the UFC event at a bar. Other than that one time at Brother Jimmy's,

but that was like a thing that we created. I've never got for a pay-per-view. They had a cover charge. A lot of people were there. And they in fact showed the fight pass as well as the... Whoa. Fox Sports won prelims and then the main card. They showed the whole shebang.

I was pretty impressed. Is that allowed? I wonder. I don't want to get them in trouble. Yeah, let's... I'm not going to say any names. But did you feel like it was, you know, like do you hear the commentary like is that a fun place to watch it was a good it was a nice place i'd love

to say the name but let's avoid it for now but yeah it was it was a good time um and i was surprised to see how many connor mcgregor fans were there but i guess i shouldn't have been just because of how you know how popular he is yeah all right uh well it was fun what were you doing in austin by the way just vacation just just just fun hanging out wow we got two weeks off yes could have done the vacate then uh that's a reminder. This is our last show of 2015. We are potentially cooking up something for, you know, next week while we're away. But as far as live shows, we're away next week, the 21st and the 28th, due to holidays and whatnot. But then we're back on, I believe, it is January 4th. And that's a big one. That's our award show. It has become a tradition over here. And I like it. I actually like it

this way. I know it's after 195, so it's not a 100% clean. But I like when all the cards play out. And that includes rising, right, on December 31st, Fader's return. So I want to see... Fader versus whoever. You could have, you know, we could have done it today, but I think it would have been weird. We can't dismiss. I mean, next week's card could be the card of the year. Sure. We can't dismiss that. We've certainly got some winners from this weekend. Absolutely. But we're going to do it on January 4. I think that makes more sense. I agree. So that makes a lot of, you know, that's a lot to digest, but it's also something to look forward to for everyone who misses us in the next. And thank you to Alex in the back and the team here.

They're letting us go a little longer today because we had to add a final guest there, and it's our last show. We're going to be away for the next two weeks, so I appreciate that. With that said, let's get to the questions. Now, we have a lot. So even though we have some extra time, let's, you know. Yes, yes, yes. Don't tell me.

Let's move through it. Don't, and by the way, nice little. Let's not go on the rant. Look at you, Ben Wagoner. I mean, really. Excuse me? What are you talking about? With that flag.

Unbillies, it's all subtle trade. It's so funny to me because you and so many others like, oh, but he has to fight. Oh, but he was this? Who was this? Oh my God. You were so late. And for a guy that was really kind of born on our show, you were so late. Can I get some credit for foreseeing this? I mean, they call him Mr. Mack. Call me what you want. Forseeing this. I'd like to see you go out on the limb and pick them. Look, anyone who talked to me off camera knew what I was saying. I said it even in radio interviews, subtly. And I said it was the worst analysis in the world, the worst analysis. But I believe in the stars aligning. And I believe in him just sort of willing things to happen. Things. Look, I mean, February 2013, he's sitting there eating blueberries, doesn't have a pot to piss in. Who knew about Connor McGregor coming off a big weekend like that? We did. Who called it the people's main event? That was Facebook, by the way. That brimage fight was on Facebook. It wasn't even fuel TV. That was Facebook prelums. Who called it? What a long gone era. Facebook prelums. We don't even have that anymore. Yes. Who got Stevie Collins to come on the show to give him the rub to say you're the next man, to pass the baton? Who did? did it? A lot of Connor McGregor on this show. Remember him when he was injured in the hotel room, the whole Diego Sanchez thing? He said, I'm not doing any more interviews. I need to focus on my comeback.

Who did the walk and talk? Who picked him out? Who saw it? Before anyone saw it. Before anyone wanted to give him credit. Go on? Okay, let's answer questions. You know, this weekend was huge. With 35 total fights, I imagine them, yeah. So 34 total fights. What are some of the performances that stood out to you? Whether it be a fight, whether it be individual performers, what stood out to you? This is a great question. Do you want to go first? Sure. For me, certainly Tony Ferguson, who we just had on, just because I think people, you know, realized how dangerous Edson Barbosa was. But at the same time, you know, appreciated Tony Ferguson.

I think this was the fight that really put him on the map where people can't deny him anymore. he's always been a fun fighter but now I think it's time for him to finally get the respect he deserves and if you looked at his resume there was no doubt about the fact that tony ferguson was a legit contender but now i think this was the fight that really solidified him and it's good to see because i've you know i've really thought that he has this talent uh for a long time and he's he's shown it at every stage so um i'm i was excited about that one um frankie edgar yes you know what else can you say first round knockout for and i said it last week. I think he might be the most underrated fighter ever. I think he's, you know, up there as kind of in this like Iverson to the NBA analogy where he's this little guy who competed with giants and made it look easy and doesn't get the respect he probably deserves for having competed at lightweight and been champion for so long there. And now this, you know, new run at 145. I think Frankie Eggers is an all time great. And I think that was a real big statement win. It's hard to deny how could he not get the next title shot.

So that was a huge one. Obviously, Connor McGregor. I mean, what do you even say? There's nothing to even say there. A couple more that come to mind. I'll go a little bit off the grid here. Danny Roberts, hot chocolate. That was a nice win for him.

A lot of people excited about him. Of course, Al Jermaine Sterling with a very impressive win. And like I said, he really bet on himself and came out looking very good. Tim Means with a nice win. That Tiago Santos-Satoz-Selais Theodoro fight, was a lot of fun to watch. Santos is a very impressive. Super Sage.

What can you say about Super Sage? I mean, I really, I can't, like, and people have been sort of giving me, you know, suggestions as to who he reminds me. I think it's Butters from South Park, but there's somebody say that last week, and you said no? I don't know. There really isn't anyone.

He is so unique, this guy. I mean, just the thing with the fight pass and the way he was at the press conference, and everyone hating on him, and look, if he can use the Internet or not, he is such a he is such a fun character don't hate on this guy let's not ruin him please he's a lot and i think he's he's pretty much impossible to hate on i think it's more of like a poking fun at look at look at the buzz now when the payroll came out when the purses came out

oh i see some people i saw chris commosie you know saying like what is he that i mean let's let's call it sage northcut though people are interested in him when we put a sage northcut open workout video or scrum people click on that thing Yeah. So, I mean, he could have been the main event based on the interest. So I thought he did a great job. Michael Keesa also talked a lot and stepped up, I thought, in a very big way. That was a really fun finish against Jim Miller. And what about Rose? I mean, really, I was blown away by that performance. She completely annihilated. I know I'm going a little long in this one, but I think it's important to go through the big performances. John Herrera on Friday night, I thought he had a really fun performance, a great performance against Jobie Sanchez. And also, by the way, it never aired. was talking some mad smack about Demetrius Johnson, calling him boring and all this stuff. I thought the Gabriel Gonzaga fight.

No, I'm just kidding. That was... Nice try. Yeah, that was not really great. Evan Dunham, saw a performance. Tony Ferguson. Of course, we talked about him. Does anyone ask about Ryan Hall?

Because I could go on a whole rant about Ryan Hall. No. Everyone who criticized that fight, I thought, was so off base. I enjoyed every second that fight. Yeah, the numbers don't really scream. Wow, this is a fantastic fight. But to me, it was like, here you have one guy. exactly what he's going to do, and he's so damn good at it. He's incredible at it. And you have

another guy, you know exactly what he wants to do, he wants to knock him out, and he's very good at it as well. And I felt like it was one of those fights where I could not look away. I thought Dana White was wrong when criticizing Herb Dean. I thought that was all in Ardum to try to get out of that position. It was dominant position. And I thought that Hall was active enough, and he was going for submissions. He was going for finishes. He's a lot of fun. He's somewhat of a quirky character, but I really enjoyed that fight. I did not understand people who criticized it. Like, they can all be Rockam-Sakam. I thought it was a lot of fun.

Did you watch it? Of course. And I agree with you. And, you know, obviously personal opinion comes into this. Some people just want to see Rockam-Soccom. They want to see guys in four-ounce gloves throwing punches. But what Ryan Hall does is something that I am interested in. And if you're not, then I guess, just don't watch that fight.

Right. Who cares? Watch another one, but I was interested. I mean, it's not like, you know, Damia Maya actually busted up Gunner Nelson pretty good, but in terms of what was happening, that was, you know, what was it, 90% grappling, if not more. I didn't mind that fight either.

That's my point. Not all of them are going to be exactly the same. Some of them are going to be all stand-up. Some of them are going to be all grappling, and I'm fine with it either way. Also, a couple more, of course, Frankie Edgar, as you mentioned. And by the way, you compared him to Iverson. The answer.

You even note that they have, yeah, same nickname. You didn't even mention that. It's wrong with you. They have the same nickname. Did you know that? I just said, the answer. Well, I know. but initially. Magomed Mustafaev, a huge win for him. That guy's a finisher. He's very

impressive. Leonardo Santos, finishing Kevin Lee, Worley Alvese, who Mike Roberts, like every time I talk to Mike Roberts about his clients, Chad Mendez, your eye favor, Paige Van Zand, always glowing about Worley Alves. I thought that was a great performance. Faber, of course, with a solid win over Frankie Science, and then I could go through the entire main card. I thought, Hallway, not bad. Maya, super dominant. The Romero Sosa one, to me, left a little bit of a sour taste because I thought, I thought it should have gone five rounds, and I thought so was a one. Luke, of course, and yeah, one more.

And to me, the biggest star of the entire thing, without a doubt, Sense Aido Portel. I mean, what he has done for Connor McGregor and the fact that so many people were nervous about his presence, how stupid do those people feel now? I'd love to do that stuff. You see that stuff the way he moves, the gyrations. I'd love to see you do that stuff. Maybe we can, you know.

One of my new favorite characters. Maybe you can do a balance and talk. Rest assured. It's not the last time we hear of Ito Portale in this show. I'm in for it. Okay, Connor, what is he doing next? Would you like him to go up to 155? Would you like to see Edgar fight him at Featherweight?

What's the move next for Connor? Perfect world. Perfect world for me. I want to see the Edgar fight, and this is why. A, obviously Edgar deserves it, and I think the world of him, and I think he's incredibly talented. But I also kind of feel like, to a degree, if Connor beats Frankie Edgar in his next fight, he will have essentially cleaned out the division after one title defense and that's pretty damn rare and that just goes back to

what me and some other smart people were saying and you know me as much as I kid I don't like to do this sort of thing but I always felt that the criticism that Connor received he hasn't fought anyone was absolutely ridiculous well how about this if he beats Frankie Edgar in his next fight he will have essentially cleaned out the division yes I don't know how I feel about that

he will have defeated Max Holloway he will have defeated Chad Mendez Joseo Frankie Edgar. Okay, there's a couple You can make... Llamas is still there. Different time for Holloway. Different time for Holloway.

Holloway was not the same fighter that he was then. Come on. No revisionist history. Yeah, of course, everyone gets better. Conner's better. Yeah, I'd like to see him get another crack at this Connor.

He's better, too. Who's also better? Yes, I want to see it. But I don't think he's claimed it out. My point is, I think it would be a little weird because Frankie, you know, he looked so good and it's such a great fight

and I just, I think it's an interesting fight. It's a fight we've been talking about. We thought, you know, some people thought that he'd be his crypticine, all that stuff. But also, I can understand if Seroni wins, if Seroni wins, that's a money fight as well. And I'd also like to see Hennon Burrow maybe at 145 getting revenge for Jose Aldo, something like that. I don't think he's cleaned out. I don't think that would be smart for Hennon's career to do that.

Yeah, I mean, I think he needs to build himself. But I don't think by any stretch, Conn McGregor has cleared out 145. I think he's beaten, his resume is very good. I don't think he's... There's always someone. Earned that. But how often is it? How often is it that a guy,

defensive title once and has been, I mean, can we finally state right now as champion, the only man who he has defeated, who's not in the UFC is Marcus Brimidge. And you could have argued that he still deserves to be in the UFC, and he just got released. And that was in his first fight. You know, like when John Jones became champion, there were guys that he had defeated, Andre Guzmael, that were out of the UFC. Questioning Connor's resume at this point would be stupid. There's no other way to describe it.

The names on his resume speak for themselves, and Josialdo, who for years, has ranged the best ever, he beat him in 13 seconds. So we can dismiss that completely. But I think there are still matchups that he needs to face in that division. At the same time, nobody's a bigger fan of BJ Penn than myself. John Kavanaugh alluded to it. I would love to see Connor get the belt at 155.

But I don't think we can say his work is done at Featherweight. Okay, fair enough. The Soroni fight is gigantic. I think the RDA fight is a little less because RDA can't sell the fight. And also, Saroni has such a loyal following. Could you imagine Seroonie's hardcore American following going up against those Irish? Wow. I mean, that sells itself.

I also agree with him. Why does he have to vacate the title? B.J. didn't have to do it when he went up to fight GSP, a UFC 94. So I think there's something. That just raises his stock. That just makes him even more marketable. Imagine he's walking around. And yeah, he's right.

He's a very active champion. he's a very active fighter. Why does he have to vacate it? I don't think that makes a lot of sense. So in a perfect world, I'd love to see the Frankie fight and then the Soroni fight, if I'm being 100% honest, but I won't hate on it if they go with the lightweight fight.

As he said, the best part about the fight game, options, and he's got options. There's been nothing to indicate that Connor McGregor wouldn't stay active in both divisions if he held both titles, so I don't see why that would necessarily demand that. Although the UFC seems to be, at least as far as what we've had, you know, said by Dana White, that they would want him to vacate it. I don't see why that would be necessary.

And especially the stock would go through the roof for a guy who held a title in both divisions simultaneously. Oh, and also, by the way, I mean, let's be honest, not hating on him, but Aldo was pretty inactive over the last few years. I mean, this was his first fight in 14 months. And I wonder how much of that affected him. Meanwhile, this was Connor's third fight in that stretch. So, you know, I think that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he's fighting in two-way classes. But that's my perfect world scenario. I just love that Frankie Conner.

I just want to see it one more time. And he's working with George Lockhart now. So maybe the weight cut isn't as bad as we all thought. As a follow-up to that real quickly, do you think the UFC will eventually let him defend both belts in the two separate weight classes? I think Connor is a very persuasive fellow. Even Kavanaugh alluded to the fact that Joe Silvas said, said they could do what they want. You know, we'll see what happens.

I still believe that some things need to be worked out. But he did sign a new deal. He confirmed that in our interview. And by the way, side note, this is a guy who I often say, I said this in an interview with Paul Doherty last week for the 42.I.E. We always want to break down people's personalities, how much they change. You know, he came on this show. I don't know if I ever said this on this show.

When we did the 300th episode, I reached out to his people, and they were like, look, this is a month after the ultimate fighter, that crazy world when, you know, he's not in the mood at the moment to be doing a lot of interviews. And I said, just please at least try. It wouldn't be 300 without him. He's been a big part of this show's success. And they said that when they asked him, he could not have said yes any quicker. He said yes right away. And you could tell when he was on the show, he seemed very happy to be here. And that meant the world to me. I mean, really, the guy's been stretched in over this past year. That meant a lot. On Saturday, as he was leaving that press conference,

and he knows a long night, as far as all the post-fight duties were concerned, a lot of media. media, the action in the cage, you know, it wasn't all that long. I saw him. He saw me. I said, Connor, do you have a second? He said, absolutely. He said, come to the back and we'll do right now. He didn't have to do that. So to me, it still, there are some people, and I won't name names. Over time, they're not as accessible. They change a little bit. And maybe that will happen. Maybe not, who knows. But he has always felt the exact same from the first time I met him. I know it wasn't all that long ago, but it's important to remind people that because even on Saturday, he didn't rub it in his face. He didn't say, ha, ha, he didn't say that, you know, I

kill the, he was super respectful and he always feels very humble in victory. He says that, but it's true, just look and listen to what he says. It's always very calm and humble. And so I felt like it's important to reiterate that because it's impressive the way he handles his victories. It's a great point. He respects Josie Aldo as a fighter, no matter what the lead up to the fight is. Conner's nine-figure contract, is it possible? Man, I'm not going to be the one to doubt him at this point. I mean, that is impressive. 10.1 million gate.

The record, UFC 129 in Toronto, 11 million. That was 55,000 people. This is like 16,000. It's absolutely insane. Again, Rhonda may be the face. He's the biggest draw,

and there's no doubt about it. So, you know, we'll never know truly what the pay-per-view numbers are. But who am I to say that he doesn't deserve it? I mean, yeah. There were many variations of this question. Yeah. Rondo is being, you know, booked in a rematch with Holly Holm?

Is it fair to deny Joseo Aldo that same thing? It's a great question. This is why I would not do the rematch. And I think every circumstance is different. Every situation is different. I saw John Jones speak about this or tweet about it. But this is why, if I'm the UFC, I don't do that rematch. I believe that the public is somewhat exhausted of the whole Joseo Aldo-Kahn-Megger feud.

Let's not forget, it wasn't just the last few. months. It was essentially a year build. It was essentially before Boston. I mean, we all kind of felt like the Sever fight was a tune up fight. And then at the Sever fight, Jose is there, jumps over the cage, that whole scene. That was 11 months ago. And Connor in Rio, that infamous Q&A that really kicked things off. That was in October, so more than a year ago. I think that the audience is, and the fan base is somewhat exhausted. So I think what would be best for both is you have Connor do his thing and let's not rule it out. It could happen. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it. He more than deserves it. But this is different than the Holly home Ronda situation because that

fight came together in essentially two months. Ronda was a gigantic favorite. She's a huge draw in her own right. It was, you know, it was a shocking result. It played out in a shocking matter. Very, very different. And there aren't as many options for Holly that make a ton of sense. Yeah, there's a couple, Misha. But Connor makes money with Saroni. He makes money with Edgar. makes money with RDA. Holly doesn't make the same kind of money with Ronda as she does with Misha or Amanda Nunes. So for all those reasons, and I feel like, you know, just get Aldo active, get him in a fight, build him back up.

I think it would behoove him. So yeah, would I sit here and complain? No, I would understand he certainly, I believe that if a champion loses the belt, he deserves it. But because of the fact that this thing has been so drawn out, that's not the way I would go. That's not the right business move in my opinion. Does that make sense? It does, and I agree with you. I'd like to see, although doing something else before he comes back.

And I hope he comes back. I hope this isn't the end. Well, that'd be a damn shame, but what a career it had been. I mean, even if he retired right now, he's the best featherweight who has ever lived, possibly to be eclipsed by Connor McGregor, but his legacy is cemented. I have seen a lot of people call it a 10-year title reign. That's inaccurate. It's more like a five-year title.

I mean, he's been undefeated for that long, but that is somewhat inaccurate. Can you clarify something for me because you're a great internet? You're one of these kids. You're online and whatnot. That footage of him in the locker room. We have a question about that. Maybe we'll, let's raise it that. This is actually perfect as we were talking about the 10 years.

This user says, I really don't understand why people use the term. Look at what Aldo has done over the past 10 years when considering whether he was going to in this fight. As strange as it sounds, if you respect your opponent too much, you've become reserved in a fight. That's not a good thing when fighting for the win. I'm sure Conner respects Alder for what he has done, but I'm also sure he brings that respect inside the octagon. The question is, why did so many people, and media, I don't know why, consider this, the argument of Aldo's 10 years of achievements to be a major factor when going into the wind. The same logic pops up on many occasions to name a few Silva Wideman, Fader of Verdum, Gomi Diaz. I have an answer for this.

Go ahead. I think that the 10 years of achievement are what you base the skills and attributes that we've seen over those 10 years on. In those 10 years, we've seen Jose Aldo do many incredible things and prove himself to be the best featherweight in the world. And coming into the fight with Connor McGregor, all the things that we have seen on him are the reasons why there were people that thought that he would be able to win this fight. And when you look at Connor McGregor, there's a lot less. uh, tape there. There's a lot less, uh, he hasn't been in front of our eyes for as long and hasn't been analyzed as much. Um, so that unpredictability is, could either work in Connor's favor or against him when, you know, we're, we're seeing, many times when Connor steps into

the cage, we're seeing him up against something for the first time, at least for our own eyes. And especially as he's developed, um, along this path. Whereas Aldo, he's been around and, and in our, in front of us for such a long time, uh, we've seen a, uh, we've seen a, uh, huge body of work. And that's why people looked at that 10-year stretch as something that, you know, that helped them decide the decision. Now, if you're saying that's the only reason, the reason Aldo beats McGregor is because he has 10 years of being undefeated, that's silly, that's nonsense. We just saw so many champions fall that way. Ronda was undefeated. She fell. Hennon-Berow was undefeated forever. He fell. Anderson Silva had been on an enormous run, and he fell.

that's not a good justification, but those bodies of work, that resume is what, you know, allows us to make that kind of predictive outcome. Yeah. Well said. I was just noting that he wasn't a champion for that time. No, this was separate, but it was also the 10-year stay. Yeah, yeah, but anyone who's undefeated for a decade. They're doing something right. They're doing something right.

And it's not just that. I mean, he was annihilating people. He was running through people. He had his own very quick. I mean, he beat Cup Swanson with a four. flying knee in eight seconds. And he was fighting, you know, the very best at 145. Now, later on, you know, he was a little more injured and didn't fight as active. People at times accused him of not going, you know, 100%, but he was obviously very into this fight, maybe too into it in hindsight.

I don't like the whole, you know, analyzing his demeanor, or, you know, the whole thing happened so quickly. And this is a big fight for him, A, B, he had been out for a little bit. I think that the big tragedy when it comes to Josealdo is that he never truly got to capitalize on his dominance. I mean, Anderson Silva, Big Nog, Vitor Belford, these are Brazilian idols, as they call him. And it never felt like for whatever reason. And maybe here in America, it's because he didn't speak English, didn't put himself out there. And I've said it on this show. I said it last week. He was always the guy who I said, I would pay to watch him fight. I thought he was incredibly. And maybe he's that surprising for some because I always talk about, you know, building yourself up in the characters and

storylines and stuff like that. But man, he was just so exciting. He was so dynamic. He was so talented. But it never felt like he truly got to capitalize on being the king of the featherweights. he didn't get the big sponsors, he didn't get the media attention, you didn't see him out there like you saw some of the other Brazilian grades. So that to me is unfortunate. If he never gets to be championed again, it felt like he sort of missed the boat there. Maybe he doesn't want it because all the stories,

I mean, Guillermo Cruz wrote a fantastic story about him, really got to learn a lot about him. It's the guy who didn't really want that. I hope he got paid. I hope he's comfortable and all that stuff, but it feels like he sort of missed that. Otherwise, everything that was said about him and then some was well-deserved.

This wasn't a... And again, I don't hate on him, but it felt like Barow, they were sort of pushing him down our throats. This one, I mean, he deserved all of that. He truly will go down as one of the very best ever. I think time will be very kind to Jose Aldo. Maybe.

I think when we look back, he'll be one of those that his legacy is enhanced the further away we get. Just, I mean, think of how good Frankie Edgar is right now, and, you know, the people talking about, you know, him as an all-time great, myself included.

He beat Frankie Edgar pretty soundly. It wasn't, it was, you know, I wouldn't even say a close fight. It was, you know, contested, it was, you know, highly contested, but I thought Josie Aldo won pretty convincingly. And now Frankie Edgar is, you know, at the top of the heap. So let's, let's, you know, not bury Jose Aldo because of this loss. Amen. Conner is by far the biggest draw for the UFC, and now that he's champion, it really cements him as the biggest earner for the UFC. He mentioned he signed a new deal.

Do you have any details? and also Connor seems to be taking the boxing approach to promoting. He does a lot of the legwork while the promotion supports him in boxing. However, the cost of marketing is split, and so are the revenues. There's something different about Conner's contract that resemble a boxing contract. Yeah, go ahead. I was just going to say, to sum it up more generally, Conner's acutely aware of his positioning.

Is that different than other fighters? And, you know, what do you feel about that? Well, I will say that I don't have the details of the content. contract. I do know that it was sort of drawn out and it, you know, it happened pretty late in the game, I'll say that. But he seems happy with it. And what I like best, and the side note, the press conference was very boxing-esque. I think he kind of played that up a little bit. He was just a little later and it wasn't fair to the other guys to sit there and take it all in. No one was going to ask them any questions anyway once he came. But it was, it was very funny to see him, you know, sit up there or stand there. at the dais. And if you recall, back in May when I interviewed him, he talked about McGregor promotions. This is a guy who gets it. He talks about the numbers. He looks at them. He analyzes them. This is not a coincidence. All this stuff isn't a coincidence. I will say, though, that I love the fact, and this even applies to Al Jermaine Sterling. And, and, you know, it applies to who's the recent, I'm drawing a blank. Who's recent free agent?

Benson Anderson. Benson. There you go. Three hours or 45 minutes. I love the fact that this stuff is okay to talk about now. I love the fact that we can talk about dollars and cents to a degree. It's not quite like boxing or the NFL NBA. I love the fact that guys can talk about being free agents, and they're not viewed as Benedict Arnold's. They're not viewed as non-company men or women. I love what Connor is doing.

In this way, he's also two-degree changing the game. I like that this is a new thing in MMA, that we can talk about this stuff. So I think he's doing a great job with that. And yeah, guys should talk about how much they're working. or what they want to be worth and the game and the numbers and all that stuff, this is good. This is healthy for the growth of the sport. Any other thoughts on the Mayweather-esque? This person says Mayweather-esque post-fight presser by McGregor.

No, look, he could have sat there. I mean, this is a showman. He understood what he was doing. Again, this wasn't his own press conference. It was sort of painted that way by the media, but there were a bunch of guys who were there. He had to go to Fox, the desk at Fox. He had to go to ESPN. He had to do his USAT test.

to do a lot. And then, of course, you saw he showered, he changed. He's going to take his time. He's, quote, unquote, notorious sometimes for making people wait. So he took his time. He knew it was the McGregor show. He knew no one was leaving that press conference. It's not fair to those other fighters to sit there and wait for him when no one's going to ask him questions. So then he walks up and he does it and he does it like only he can. It was great. But they didn't block it off that way. Dana White was not there. A lot of people asking what you thought about that or why? You know, unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to talk to Dana on Saturday night because I guess

he was scheduled to do the ESPN interview. ESPN was there, Jonathan Coachman, Chal Sondon, and Gilbert Melendez. And so they thought it was just easier to then bring him to the Fox desk. Usually at these events, he'll do the backstage interview and then like a winner or two will go to the Fox desk. But he was there. So they just banged that on. It was a solid interview.

So no hate for me, but he left right after. so I didn't get a chance to see him. He did send me a text message late last night, rubbing it in that the bill's lost again, but that was pretty much it. And then by the time I responded, he was nowhere to be found. So I have no idea.

I don't know if it's something worth looking into. You know, who knows? I know there are a lot of conspiracy theorists out there, but I will say, I was surprised that he wouldn't just be there to, you know, revel in the entire thing. It was an unbelievable night. He was at the first two press conferences. But look, who knows?

Who knows what the answer is? Only he can tell us. But I was surprised not to see him because that's one that you want to be at because I thought it was a great night for the UFC's second highest gate ever. The locker room cameras, what did you think of the UFC's idea to put the cameras in the locker rooms of the headline fighters? You know, it's interesting. I think it's a very unique look. It's something that we haven't seen. We've seen it before, but it's sort of new. I hope that the, you know, I hope that the fighters are okay with this. I hope that they know it's there. I'm assuming they do. for the most part, I think it's a cool way to build up to the fight. There was that amazing footage of Connor. I don't know if he's actually talking about the one fight or

another fight, but he's kind of like mimicking the entire sequence that led up to the finish. But then on the flip side, the ugly part is that you get to see Aldo, the broken heart, devastated in the back. So, you know, these are the certain things, these are the sort of things, I should say, that, you know, kind of build for the return and makes people, you know, feel for you and get emotionally invested. And I don't think it's all bad. But to get that look, like, did he want us to see that look? Did he even know?

I don't know. I'm conflicted. Sure. I don't know. I don't even know what my answer is. Let's say you separate the emotion part of it, though. Yeah. Imagine the promo where, you know, Jose Aldo is just sitting in his locker room, heartbroken,

and that's, you know, part of the push when they eventually have a rematch, if they eventually have a rematch. If he agreed to it beforehand, then you got to take the good with the bad. It sucks, but this can hopefully be turned into a positive. By the way, that one video of Connor talking about the finish and then the Snoop Dogg music playing. And then he's on the bike. That is just, I can, that is just, it's a great video. Because him on the bike is just so hilarious.

There's a lot of great stuff being put out there. Wow. Like I said, that video of Kavanaugh and Ardham and Owen Roddy reacting like they're just settling in and then like, oh shit, it's over. and they just walk back up. And then, of course, the thrill of victory, the agony, defeat the other side. You know, I think it's Marlon Sandro, who's just absolutely devastated Pedro Hizzo. So, yeah, this is sports. Aldo has been on that side of the coin many times before.

It happens. Very simple. Is Rockhold still criminally underrated? Well, it's weird. I mean, he has the performance of a lifetime, and Mendez says that, you know, wasn't even his best. And, you know, we're not talking about it as much as we should. was a main event worthy fight, and we'd be talking all about it. I think we've given it enough

attention here, but yeah, two degree, yeah, it's, it's tough to overshadow Connor, especially when he wins via a 13-second knockout. Rockhold is incredibly talented. It's amazing to see him come from just the local, he was the local strike force undercard fighter. He was Scott Koker's guy that he put on there on the local non-televised portion of the card, because he was a local guy who would get, you know, some love and sell some tickets, and to see what he has become, the incredible athlete has become. I called this one wrong in the sense that I thought he was too tense all week. And look, maybe it was the illness though. Maybe, maybe Wyman was too relaxed. I don't know. But I call that one Ray, like when I watched him and I saw, I was like, wow,

he's putting too much pressure. And Wyman was even talking about going into the Anderson fight, how he put too much pressure on himself. It worked out there. Clearly it worked out for Luke. Again, they have options. I don't love the Vitor idea. I think it sells. But I'm, mean, I'm sorry, but I just don't think he deserves it. I really don't think he deserves it. Sure. So, you know, it's, it's, uh, it's, uh, it will sell. It will sell way more than the Yoh-Romero fight. And I can understand why they, why they would do it, but I think Romero deserves it, you know, I don't know, it's weird because I don't think he deserved to win that fight either. Yeah. So what do you do? I'd put Vitor in there. Wow. Because I don't think Romero deserves it

either. So what's the difference at this point? So you go Vitor. All right, fair enough. The one that sells, especially when, you know, I don't think Romero, mistake disclaim. If he came out and finished Jacqueray, then... So what do you do with Romero? Wydenman? One more? Yeah. Why not? Widman? And please, and I'm down with this. I'll do it. And if Rockhold wants it, maybe he deserves it.

It's sort of like when GSP asked for Nick Diaz. But please don't tell me... I hate what people say, but he's coming off a law. He doesn't do that anymore. I mean, Frankie and Chad is a perfect example of that. They don't do that anymore, so stop with that. Herb Dean. Yes. Was he in Lala Land in the third round of Wyden & Rockhold, roughly, you know, 50 unanswered shots with no stoppage. I think that Herb Dean was giving Chris Wyman a lot of respect.

He was giving him leeway. It's a championship fight. He obviously, you know, thinks highly of it. I mean, yeah, I think every fight should be reft equally in the sense that the way that you ref the first fight on the card should be the same as the way you ref a championship fight. But let's be honest, you know, champions usually. get the benefit of the doubt. And I think he was giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I think in turn, with all due respect, I think he did him a disservice. I think he let him take too much

damage. I think that fight should have never gone past the third. I think in between the third and fourth, they probably should have called it off. But, I mean, it was somewhat, maybe it was surreal, maybe it was shocking. I don't know. But the same way that they shouldn't look at the clock, and if there's a second left, they should call it, if that's the appropriate call, I don't think Chris should have taken that much damage. I wonder, I did send him a text last month. I didn't ask him to come on the show. I would never do that. He did respond, shockingly, rather quickly. I said, I hope you're feeling okay all things considered, and he said, I'm all good, and I can't wait to show everyone how much better I am, and that was great to hear. And it sounds like no serious

injuries, which is also great to hear, but man, that kick, he's probably going to be thinking about that kick for a very long time, because I thought he was winning the third round, to be honest. Maybe, but I don't want to put too much stock into that. Luke beat him from Pillar to Post. Really? I thought he won the first. I thought Chris won the first. At no point was he in control of that fight. Luke Rockhold was dismantling him. It was a performance for the ages.

I thought Luke looked absolutely incredible. I don't think there was any point in that fight where Chris Widman looked like the champion and Luke Rockhold looked like the challenger. It looked like Luke was the one who had been there before and was ready to defend his belt. Fair enough. I don't think it was Nami Yunus Page. No, but I mean, that's a skill gap thing.

I said it on the show that Paige is raw, but she's not, her technique is not very good, and that was clear. You can't question Chris Wyatman's technique. He is very good technique. And the skill gap there is significantly smaller, but he did not look ready, and Luke Rockold did.

He looked like he was ready for that fight. considering the staff infection, all that, super impressive. I mean, he deserves all the accolades. I just, I don't know. I really just scoring each round, I thought Chris won the first. I thought Luke won the second. I thought Chris was on the verge of winning the third, but clearly once he threw that kick, it all changed.

By the way, how was, how'd your parlay turnout? Let's talk about it at the end. Okay. Yo Romero, Dirty Fighter? Yes, no. we've had the incident with Kennedy and the stool. We had the fence grab on Saturday. As well as I believe there was something where the referee had to wipe Romero down in between rounds.

I don't know. Is this stuff intentional, though? I don't know. There's a big accusation. I mean, look, I thought it's weird also when they're yelling at him when they, when Goddard stopped the fight. I don't think he really understands English, you know. That's a possibility. But look, as the lake.

great Eddie Guerrero once said, if you're not cheating, you're not trying. Tim Means had, you know, said it lately. I don't know. I'm not willing to, I'm personally not willing to go that far. Yeah, no, I can't call them that. But there are some cases there. I mean, if you want to argue. There's evidence to say that there's something there, but I'm not willing to say.

And it doesn't, it seems more like involved with the team in the corner than Yol-Romero doing anything, you know, people have grabbed the fence before. I'm not willing to cruis-a-got. crucify a guy for that. Right. Even though it drastically changed the fight, that's something that happens in the course of it. Tony Ferguson and Tisha Torres, they looked amazing. What's next for these two? This person suggests Diaz Johnson winner for Ferguson and Torres versus Rosnami Yunus. Yeah, I like Tony Ferguson versus Habib if he's back and healthy in a relative short order.

So I like that fight. As for the straw weights, Roe-Rowice. I think a rematch against T. Shea makes a lot of sense. I like it. I want to see Fergus and Pettis. He called them out. Yeah. Let's see it. Yeah. Faber's drug test comment. Excuse me. Yeah. At the press conference, he said that he challenges the top 10 fighters to a lie detector test to find out who's been cheating. Do you think this was pointed at TJ? Do you think this was directed at him?

I don't know if I can speculate, but it was pointed at someone. it could be pointed at Dominic too. I mean, I think it was just everyone in the top ten. It was just a very strong statement to make. But exactly who. I think we have to ask him that question. But yeah, I thought Faber was fantastic at the press conference, talking about Dominic the dope,

talking about being released from his friendship. That's right. I mean, I love the fact that, you know, the gloves are off here and he's being honest with how he feels and he wants that fight. Uriah Faber has 18 lives. He always manages a way to be in that title picture. And guess what?

He should be. He's a draw. It makes sense both those fights. I mean, you can't go wrong. He's in an unbelievable position. All he had to do is beat Frankie Science. He did so. It was a solid win. Frankie's tough. If you didn't know him before, you probably know him now. But Yariah is in a fantastic position. Credit to him. Perfect segue to the next question, because Yariah has been in this position before. Yes. With losses to the top three guys in the division, is Chad Mendes relegated to keep keeper status at this? What's next for Chad Mendes?

That's a very good question. I think a break is in order. Yeah, man, you wonder if those fights are taking a toll, those big shots. But if you think about this now, Uriah has been here in the same position. Not the draw, not the draw. You know, like Chad is not the draw that Uriah is. No, certainly, but in terms of losing to the guys at the top in the title fights. And the same thing for many guys. How many times have we said Michael Bisping?

What does he do now? He's lost this fight. I feel like there will be a point where Chad Mendes will be able to, something will open up. Yeah, I mean, there are options there. Jeremy Stevens coming off a loss. I don't hate that. Cub Swanson is still out there. There are still options for him.

Does he try to change divisions maybe? I don't know. I know that Connor used to call him like a bloated bantam weight, but I don't know. I think he's, I mean, I mean, like, is there any weight to lose there? The guy is cut.

So I don't think that's necessary. I don't want to see guys, especially with the no-I-V thing. It'd be tough to justify a title shot-down. Just take a break and build yourself up. Yeah, of course. Sure. But, hey, by the way,

as long as Connor is still a chance, champion, he wins a couple, I still think you can sell that rematch because he took the fight on two weeks notice. So it's not quite like, you know, Benavides and DJ, for example. Sure. Michael Kiyasa, what's next for Kiyasa after his impressive victory over Jim Miller? How do you think he matches up with some of the top guys in lightweight? Yeah, well, I love the fact that he, you know, he called his shot and was upset he wasn't getting him to love, and he performed very well. How about the winner of Michael Johnson and Nate Diaz? I like it. I was surprised that Kea

not being ranked highly. Yeah. He's not even in the top 15. I was pretty surprised by that when I heard it

and I heard him making a case for it just because I feel like his career has been pretty solid since coming off the ultimate fighter. Daryush is another

one that I think is fun. Yeah, any of those grappling matches are fun for Keesa because he's kind of fearless. He got into

a jiu-jitsu competition with Jim Miller and he won, which is pretty fun. Porriet Duffy. It moved from headlining to the fight pass prelims, what do you think about this? And now the UFC offered the reasoning.

Eric Winter came to Twitter and said essentially that this was a payback for the fans who were going to get this fight on fight pass. Now they're still going to be able to view it. You know, they have 161 countries that they service with fight pass, so they didn't want to remove this fight and take it away from the fans. I absolutely love it. Again, this idea that, you know, if you're not on the pay-per-view, we talked about that yesterday, and sure, it's a little weird

that such a great fight is on the fight past prelims. But again, it was supposed to be Fight Past main event. It was supposed to be a fight past show. I don't think less of Rose and Page because they were main eventing a fight past show. And this to me is like, this is why you hire a guy like Eric Winter. This is why you put someone who's successful in other fields, especially online, you put him,

and you bring them into the UFC to help evolve the company and especially this new brand that they're trying to, you know, and all science point to it being successful. I heard the numbers for the Page and Rose fight were absolutely fantastic. that's no surprise. This is why you do it, because he can pitch these things and think of these things, and it makes all the sense in the world.

This is beautiful PR for them. It doesn't devalue the fight, and you say, look, we care about you, we feel bad, and so we're going to give it back to you. I think it's great. And, yeah, kudos to them. I think it's a very, very smart move on their part. I find it very strange that in a day and age

where things are watched piecemeal, like you're watching, you know, series online, and you're watching all kinds of things online, that people have such an infatuation with it being part of the TV package. You know where to go find these things. If you're interested to find it, you'll go find it. So I don't really necessarily have a problem with this. And it's the same reason why Uriah Faber headlining the Fox Sports won part of the card every time.

You can go watch him. If you're interested, if you're inclined, you can go find it. It's not hard to find. In this case, Poria Duffy's a great fight. Could it have been on a pay-per-view? Absolutely. But it's not. So go find it.

it if you're interested and it's going to be on fight pass yes i love it silver belfort is that happening and does the winner get a title shot i heard that that's what they want but it hit some uh some roadblocks i don't know if it's going to have they wanted probably um not probably they do want it in brazil that brazil card is very interesting now that verdum and cane moved to vegas as i reported was you know there was a true possibility and it has since been confirmed so what is going to main event that march show. Is this a best case scenario for Vitor? What happened on Saturday? Hell yeah. Vitor Belfort is ecstatic right now because he could very well get that title shot. I mean, Luke is actually pushing for it. So yeah, this is great. And maybe it was intentional that, you know, the fight with Silva didn't

materialize for this fight. Maybe. They're asking me for a prediction. How many belts will AKA hold at the end of 2016, barring no injuries and all the fights that can't? and be made will be made. That, I mean, that's very tough to predict. But if I'm looking at the contenders right now, I think Daniel's going to lose his belt. I think John Jones will beat him, assuming that fight gets made. I think Luke Rockhold should be able to hold onto the belt until the end of 2016. I still think we didn't, Javier Mendes said it. I don't, Chris Widman looked a little bit off to me. He looked a little slow. His reactions looked a little slow. I could see a case being made that he might be, you know, more competitive in a rematch and might win that.

But I'll say, for all intents and purposes, Luke holds on to that. I think Habib, if he's healthy, I don't think there's a lightweight out there that could beat him. I think he's the best 155er. So if he can get his health in order, I think he would be champion. So that be two. Any other top contenders for AKA in those divisions? And the UFC? No, it's Kane, D.C., Habib, Luke.

Yeah, so I'd say they'd have two, which they currently have as well. I think Daniel loses his, but Habib would win one if he got that shot. All right. Mighty Mouse, is he the new number one, pound for pound, now that Aldo's dropped his title? By the way, I disagree with this whole, have you heard of a guy named Jonathan Jones? Now, they say this here. They say John Jones is yet to come back. Come on, he's back.

As much as I love Aldo leading up, I thought it was unfair to John Jones. I mean, he's still an act. He's back. So he's the number one. Y'all must have forgot. By the way, did you notice that I said it on the broadcast? That's my little nod to my fans who watch this show. Our friendly fans, our viewers, our loyal listeners, watchers.

I love doing that. Anyway, I might have used it won too many times after this time, but that remains to be seen. Anyway, it's John Jones, and DJ's up there. By the way, props to Suhudo. It seems like he dodged that Vegas bullet because I thought they were going to put him on the Super Bowl card. That's what DJ wanted, so we'll see what happens. But yeah, he's in there. He's top three.

There's no doubt about it. But I still think Jonathan Jones is number one. Well, if he's top three, who's number two or possibly three? I think Mighty Mouse has got to be two. Yeah, Mighty Mouse is two, and I would say number three without thinking about it too much. I would say it's Mystic Mac. I like it. I could dig it.

Luke Rockled in there as well, I think. Sure. Holly Holme, probably up there. There's a lot. T.J. But yes. Is Connor the biggest star in the UFC right now? You've made a clear distinction on the show.

Yes. Is he the biggest star? The face of the UFC is still Rhonda, and what I mean by that is she gets them on Ellen, today's show. People come up to me all the time, talk to me about Rhonda losing. She is still the person that the general public,

the entire world, when they think of UFC, they think of her first. I mean, I have friends, you know, like friends of my wife and that we went to school with women who know nothing about what I do, and they ask me about Rhonda and the knockout. They even know Holly Holmes' name now. but the biggest draw is Connor McGregor.

And he's right there with her, but they're not asking me about Connor. If you get what I'm saying, he sells more tickets, he sells more pay-per-views, in my opinion. He's a bigger draw. He's a needle mover in that respect. But there's a distinction.

Do you get it? Sure. There's only one Connor McGregor as the song goes. There is only one, Connor McGregor. Yes, and by the way, shout out to those fans. Q&A, Holly Holme, the song that they, the serenading. I don't know if we want to shout out those fans. I'm not a fan of the, like,

not vetting the questions and letting anybody walk up there? I'm not talking about that. I'm just saying the song was pretty damn awesome. The song was great, but before we got to that, it was a little rough. It gets embarrassing. Absolutely.

I couldn't agree more. And I thought she handled it perfectly. I'm just saying the song, that one guy was just amazing. Holly's great. And the best part was at the end. He said, Magraga, has nothing to do in anything.

It was just great. That guy, that was the highlight of my week. I thought this was an interesting one because I hadn't considered it. Yeah. Does it seem like the Dos Anios and Soroni fight is a number one contender fight to fight McGregor? Maybe to a degree because he's such a big draw,

but I will say this. The UFC has to be so happy that he is tied to this fight because I think it just raises this card. It's a great card. Those top three fights, Johnson Diaz, JDS over and we haven't even talked about that. And obviously the title fight in the main event, it all feels much bigger now.

It feels, and it's because of him. And I wonder if they try to get him to Orlando before he gets home. You know, I mean, it just raises everything. So, no, it's a title fight. fight, but I think the fact that he's tied into it a week after, you know, his big win makes this card a lot more interesting. I completely disagree, and I think Connor McGregor is right, that these guys have just

been entered into the Connor McGregor sweepstakes. Absolutely, but it's still a title fight. We can't discount that. It doesn't feel it to me. It feels like this is the next Connor McGregor fight. I don't even know what to say about that. Get Tom Brady's ugly mug off my screen here. I have to look at this thing.

What's wrong with this guy? Did Connor break Chad Mendes' chin, making him more susceptible to Frankie's punch? I don't know. I wouldn't be so quick to discount that I think a lot of times what we see is guys who, that first knockout is the one that kind of sets them down that path. These guys with the iron chin, Dan Henderson, when he first got knocked out, after that, they become a little more and a little more and a little more likely to get knocked out. I think that Mendez has to be careful at this point. I think this is a time to heal up. That's why I said, take a break. But I think that this could be something to think of looking forward.

Because Mendez was in the pocket trading shots with Jose Albao back and forth like it was nothing. And now it's been a little different. So I think that there's something to that, that Connor. And damn, does that guy have some power, Connor McGregor? That left hand is something. It's like a sniper. I feel like I've said that a few times before in the past, too. Do you think Jose being outspoken about the Reebok deal and Fighter Pay will now affect him as he's not the champion anymore?

No. From what I understand, the relationship is pretty good. And I think there's mutual respect there. So, no, I don't think so. Do you think we're losing something, though, that his platform is champion to speak on these issues was important to the cause and now? No, because let's be honest, I don't think his reach is as big as McGregor. And quite frankly, I don't think McGregor is that afraid to say what's on his mind. He's being treated well now, but, you know, who knows? Well, yeah, I don't think we're losing anything here. Connor has a deal with Reebok that's probably a little different than what Jose had. Absolutely. No, yeah, he's a Reebok guy.

Yeah, and so I don't know if we'll get that same kind of candid response on that front. Yeah, because he's happy with it, but he may not be happy with other things. I don't think we should be hoping for those things, right? No, absolutely not. But I think having somebody as champion who was speaking on these issues, is more impactful and that's an unfortunate side effect. Like I said, things are changing. People are talking about things.

Jones is talking about things. Slowly but GSP, Connor. And don't get me wrong. I don't think Connor is like a quiet guy who's not going to speak his mind. He's not. Next thing. From Aljo Sterling's chain

has its own Twitter account. What makes sense for Al Jemaine Sterling next? If he's with the UFC. The chat makes it better. Oh, oh. We're assuming he gets a lot. fight makes sense. I will say, though, that, you know, I find it very interesting that he's not saying, like,

I want to be in the U.C. He just wants to go where he's getting paid, and that's super interesting. For a guy that young and who's doing that well, he's in the dance, and it doesn't seem like he cares all that much. Kudos to him. Maybe he's trying to, you know, call their bluff, but... Even so, but I think he's in a different position than a guy like a Benson Henderson, who is older.

If Algen-Gibang goes out and makes his bones somewhere else, he can still come back to the U.S. Whereas Benson, if he's probably, you know, getting into some longer-term contract, there's probably not going to be that opportunity to come back. Although, you know, guys more advanced than age do come back more these days. It seems to be a trend. I think that his prime years would be outside the UFC, whereas Al Jemaine, he may come right when he's back in his prime. So I don't think there's that urgency to stay with the UFC. I know they cut away, Tom Aeda. It might be a little soon, although I wouldn't cry if they booked it.

Give me half a son-sal. I like it. If he's healthy. Give me half a Suntow. There's so many options for him here. Because he hasn't faced any of these top guys on the rise. I'd love to see him versus any of them. Garbrand, Linnaker,

a Sonsau against Sterling. If you can convince him, how about Almeda versus Carraway? I don't know if they can convince him. Yeah, so those are some. Michael McDonald also still out there. Our friend Bill Steinman sent some behind the scenes footage. How dare you?

That is hilarious, though. Ido Portal was involved in your takedown defense, and your training with him has paid off and has allowed you to... In all honesty, though, I know that's the Sensei thing and all that. I actually, as opposed to maybe others, I won't name names. I actually do believe that what he does is very legit. Now, whether or not, you know, it helps you be a better fight and all that stuff. But, I mean, you can't...

The proof is in the putty. You just watch the guy. I mean, what he's doing is incredibly difficult, and he's a talented man. I'll say this about it. It may not be the difference between winning and losing a fight, but during fight week, Connor McGregor is not going to be outdoing. Sure.

So why not keep the body loose? Why not get into the balance? Why not involve his body and work it in the most, you know, to the highest capacity that he can? I think it's brilliant. You know, it looks funny and it's funny to make memes about and all that stuff. But in terms of the actual, you know, practical application of it, it's what's a better way to be doing it?

rather than like sitting in the hotel room playing video games, he's actually doing things that stimulate his body and his mind. Why not? And it definitely felt like he was calm. He was relaxed. He's showing up wearing his polo shirt and all that. I mean, he just seemed in a very, as he said, Zen-like state. And what's the difference?

It just came to me, actually. You know, nobody's kind of blaming Gunner Nelson's loss on him. I think it was very tied to Connor McGregor's movements in this thing. Like Gunner Nelson was working with him too, and nobody was that invested. I think Gunner was kind of, you know, coming along for the ride. Connor was one who brought him out. If he would have lost, I said this to people in the back on Saturday, he would have been public enemy number one.

And I, people were freaking out, walking up to me in the casino stuff. What is he doing? Why is he doing this? What the hell is going on? They were freaking. Those videos of him doing like the little like chacha thing, it's fantastic. I couldn't get enough of it. Last thing before we get out of here.

Yes. The busted parlay from this event. Busted. It was five fights. Namah Yunus, Ferguson, Covington, Torres, Maya, Covington. You should have talked to me about that one. Oh, yeah, I should have talked to you. Worley Alves. I told you Worley Alves. I won our, I did picks in the back.

I always do with the people I work with, Sunny this time, and Rick, and I won. And guess who I have the sheet. So you pick, let's hear the names. I'll tell you who I pick. But they're like, what do you want to hear of it now? Oh, I want to hear them. You do? I'll tell you who I picked right now. I love to hear it. UFC 184. I'll tell you who I picked. And it actually came down to the wire. I have the sheet. I can, I could probably, where is it? I could probably tweet. Maybe they took it. I don't know. But this is a God honest truth. They were there. I did this sort of

pick thing with both them. I picked Cort McGee. I picked John McDessie, so I lost that one. I picked Mustafaev, so I won that one. I pick Leonardo Santos, won that. Oh, no, no, no. My bad. I pick Kevin Lee. I pick Kevin Lee. I picked Alvese. Worley. I picked Jocelyn Jones Liebarger for some weird reason. It's not sounding so good so far. No, but then I picked Jariah Faber. I picked Max Holloway. I picked Damien Maya. I picked Wydeeman.

I picked Jaceret. And then the one that wanted for me was Mystic Mac. So these guys must not have been very good. Oh, that means that. Damn card. Anyway, busse a parley. Guys, parley suck. Don't do parlays.

Stop it. It's the last time I'm asking you to do a parley. I'm trying to do something fun and you crap all over it. It was good. It was good. So you could have just said that. You didn't tell us how you really felt. Four of the fights, they were pretty dominant.

Rose looked dominant. underdog. I picked her. Tony Ferguson, I mean, what do you have to say about that performance? Torres got it done looking easy. Maya completely blitzed. Oh, man, I could not. When I picked Maya on this show as part of the parlay last week, there could not have been more people telling me how Gunner Nelson's either going to knock him out or submit him. And when they said submit him, I couldn't help but laugh at them. I had to reply to every one of those people individually. Please, I would love to hear from the people who predicted Gunner Nelson by submission. I'd love to hear from those people. Tweet at me. Get at me.

Um, that's it. This is a long show. This is a great one. We're going to miss you people. Yes. Don't hate on us for missing the next two weeks because we just gave you 47 more minutes. So that should, uh, just, just, just, just like, just listen to like five minutes a day. And that should be good until January 4th. It's January 4th, right? That's correct. I just want to get it right because, uh, then people will get mad at him even more. Uh, yes, January 4th. We'll be back January 4th for our award show. You can hit my music. It has been a great year for the MA hour. I think every single year. We take it up a notch, and this has been the best year yet.

Episode 300, fantastic amount of guests. I was going to thank every single one of our guests, but we've sort of ran out of time. Every single person who has joined us, who has given us as charity, time out of their valuable days. I appreciate it. Greatly. I always get a little emotional after every show on my way back home, because I'm like, I can't believe these people actually took out some time to speak to us. It's a big thing.

It's a big ask. And they do it every week. And you people tune in. It seems like the numbers for this show were fantastic. You guys tune in every single damn week and you come up to me. That's the best. And it's funny. People always come up to me and they're like, oh, love the show, love the show, loves the show, love the.

That's the number one thing that people mention when I see them at the events. It warms my heart. We never ask you for likes or subscriptions, votes, ratings. Never ask you for any of that crap. Just ask that you tune in. And you do so every single week and it means the world. I will miss you. take a little break, recharge the batteries, but we'll be back in two weeks.

Can't thank you enough. It has been a fantastic year. What a year has been, and thank you to the guys in the back, in particular in New York, Rick. Without him, there is no show. Alex back there, Mark back there, great team. Really enjoy it. It's my favorite thing that I do each and every week. I look forward to it where we can come back and do this damn thing.

Congratulations to John Kavanaugh. Thank you so much. Check out his book next year. We'll talk about that. I'm sorry for not mentioning it. Congratulations, Ido Portale. Great to have him on. Thank you, Anthony Pettis.

Habib and Ramagamajov. Jermaine Sterling, Javier Mendez, Rosnamayunis, Lance Palmer, Tony Ferguson, and all of you. Thank you for a fantastic year. Happy holidays. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be in Orlando.

I'll be in Vegas. I'll be in January front. Until I'll say, peace. So bad. Support for this show comes from Chase. If you're a fan of women's sports, you're always looking for ways to get closer to the action. And your Chase card can get you exactly that.

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