MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 311

Episode Date: January 11, 2016

Ariel Helwani speaks to Chris Weidman, Donald Cerrone, Urijah Faber, Al Iaquinta, Muhammed Lawal, Eric Del Fierro, and Owen Roddy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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On this Monday, January 11th, 2016, well again, everyone. I'm Mario Hawwani. Inside our New York City studio, so great to be back here for another show. Remember back in late July following UFC on Fox number 16, I said that my most anticipated fight of the next few months was, without a doubt, T.J.

Bill Shaw versus Dominic Cruz. And I didn't want to fully get invested and excited about this fight because, let's be honest, A, a lot of fights fall through. B, we were dealing with a fighter who's had a history of injury problems. It just felt too good to be true. Then the UFC books it on the East Coast, which is great. I'll get to that in a second. They book it in that slot that Connor McGregor and Dennis Seaver occupied last year. after the NFL playoffs got a huge rating on FS1 Sunday night show.

They booked this sort of title unification bout for early January. And I have been counting down the weeks for that fight. To me, it doesn't get any better than this. And back then, we didn't know about the new storyline, the new layer to this fight, which involves T.J. leaving Team Alpha male. Faber coming off a win now, just chilling on the sidelines, waiting for who's next. In my opinion, this is a win-win situation for the UFC. You can either get TJ versus Faber, teacher versus student, or the trilogy between Cruz and Faber. You can't lose.

Huge platform for two of the best who don't usually get a big push. And in particular, that division, it's all happening six days from right now. That's what I'm getting at. We are finally here. We're in the stretch drive. UFC Boston, Cruz Dillishaw for the undisputed UFC Bantamweight title. It's happening this Sunday. It's a great card. Pettis Alvarez, it has, for the most part, remained intact. I know some things have happened over the past couple days, but the big fights are all there, and that is very exciting. Now, we are coming off a rather quiet weekend in the world of MMA as far as fights are concerned.

A lot of news out there, and we'll get to that later in the show, 197, and Diaz brothers and all that stuff, it will all be discussed. But as far as fights, it was quiet. This weekend, that's not the case. We've got Invicta on Saturday. We've got the UFC on Sunday. And that reminds me, it's great that it's a big fight that we've been waiting for. It's great that it's on the East Coast.

The only gripe, if I can, complain, is that it's happening on Sunday. And as you know by now, when a fight happens on Sunday, that means we are delayed by a day. So next week, the MMA hour will not be on Monday because I'll be traveling home. It will actually be on Tuesday. Tuesday, yes, that's right, Tuesday, because we need to regroup. gather ourselves, digest what happened Sunday, and this happened last year as well with the with the Connor McGregor Dennis Siever fight. So make a note of it. Next week's show is actually going to be January 19th, Tuesday, January 19th, same time, same place, just one day later. That's next week.

This week, though, there's a lot to get to. Great show, great lineup. I'm very much looking forward to it. Let's get to the lineup. Let's get to our first guest. At around 310, we're going to be joined by Donald Soroni. I spoke to him briefly, as you may have heard last week on the show in Las Vegas. Oh, there goes my

Bob Sap CD. Down for the Count. Which is ironic because he's coming off a win. So something weird going on over there. But in his usual spot, down for the count,

Bob Sap over there to my left. Anyway, Donald Seroni will be joining us. Of course, fighting Timine's February 21st at 170. Was docked some pay because he did not

adhere to the Reebok policy. We'll talk to him at 310. always a good time talking to Cowboy. The aforementioned, Uriah Faber will be stopping by a 245. Ally Aquinta will be stopping by at 225, coming off knee surgery. Looking forward to talking to him. Connor McGregor's striking coach and a legend of Irish MMA Owen Roddy will be stopping by. Rowdy Oden O'N Roddy will be stopping by a 205 to talk about Connor, his own career, Irish

MMA, all that good stuff and more. A lot of people looking forward to that. As am I. Chris Wyman will be stopping by. his first interview since his loss to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194. He jumps on at 145, and King Mo Llewal will be stopping by at 125 to talk about his win at the Risen tournament, where he goes from here. Does he really want Fador? It's interesting. Last week, I believe New York Rick ran down his list of guests that he wanted to hear from in 2016. I believe Iaquinta and

Llew all were on that list. So whatever New York Rick asks for, he shall receive. And that's the case this week. Of course, as always, we'll hear from you later on in the show after the Donald Seroni interview and also we'll go inside the vault. I got a good one this week as well. But first, in my opinion, there was only one way that we can really start this week and this show with one particular guess. I mean, there was just one answer. And I really wanted to hear from Dominic Cruz's longtime coach and friend Eric Del Fierro as we prepare for Cruz's return after more than a year away from, you know, the third ACL injury, the win over to Camusugaki, long road to get to UFC 178, then sideline again.

And now here we are finally preparing for him to, you know, to fight T.J. Dilshot to become the undisputed UFC bantamweight champion again. So now we are being joined on the phone by Eric Del Fioro. He's first up right here on the MMA hour. Eric, how are you? Good, Ariel. How are you doing? I'm doing great. A pleasure to have you on. and I know it's a big week for you, and I'm so excited. I've been looking forward to this since July, since T.J. beat Hannah Brown in Chicago.

And I want to ask you, it has been such a long road for Dominic to get to this point, to fight for the belt again, to regain what he never truly lost. He's still, in my opinion, part champion because no one beat him for the belt. But for you, someone who's been there with him through every step, all the highs and many lows, what's it like as we begin this week, as you guys are about to go to Boston? What's it like for you? Like, what are the emotions that you're dealing with right now? I mean, we're just excited to be back in there, you know, getting him back in there and him being healthy and just looking forward to him performing.

How healthy is he? I know it's never 100%, but is this as healthy as he's been, you know, like since he was champion and all that? Yeah, I mean, he's got no injuries right now, so that's the main thing. So, yeah, he's healthy. He's ready to go. You know, we literally had a very good camp, no complaints. you know, no injury to speak of. So that's a blessing in itself.

So we're ready. Do you recall when he was given that clean bill of health, like when he was 100%? Because I always feel like when it comes, you know, when we're dealing with a big injury, part of the journey is just to get to 100% and then you prepare for the fight. Do you remember when that shift happened? No, I don't. I mean, honestly, the thing within the ACL and something that severe, it's you're never going to get a hundred percent clearance from any doctor in a sense i mean

they're they're always super careful they teach you like you know they treat you like you're a 16 year old you know instead of a professional athlete so you know the the rule of thumb is about nine months to a year that aCO is supposedly 100 percent healed and then you know obviously through that whole time you're building up the muscle back to what it was and and you should be able to perform at at what you were before according to the experts I think we've probably became experts now. Yeah, and that's the interesting thing, and that leads me to my next question.

Because you guys have been down this row before, three ACL injuries, the groin injury, all that, were you doing, as as as coach, did you do anything differently in this camp to not repeat the horrible history of the past? No, I wish we had a way to pinpoint exactly how these injuries happen, and there isn't. There isn't no specific thing.

I mean, I couldn't tell you how it happened. And I think they just come, you know, through wear and tear and the amount of stress. Dominic put on his body through the years. And, you know, other than that, I really have no explanation for it. There's not one thing that I could tell you, oh, he, you know, he was wrestling or he was doing this or the other. There was nothing out of the ordinary, no specific technique that hurt him. I feel though... Go ahead.

Go ahead. No, no, no. Go ahead. I was just saying I feel like MMA training is slowly evolving. people are figuring things out, what's better for them. They don't have to spar as much. They don't have to put their body through hell. Have you changed at all the way you want your athletes to train and prepare?

And in particular, one that has a history now of injuries. Now, the thing I would say with somebody that's had an injury like this, and I've had other athletes have the same type of injury, the hardest thing is overcoming that fear of, is my injury 100% now? Yeah. So the only way, you know, for us as coaches to get them prepared or understand that his body is 100% is we got to put him through the grinder in a sense. He's got to simulate the fight. He's got to feel what he's going to feel in the fight and know that his body's not going to fail him in a sense.

No, I mean, he's performed. He's done what he's supposed to be doing and his body's doing great. As far as Dominic is concerned, was that a challenge? Did he need some time to get over that mental hurdle, or is he one of those guys that gets over it rather quickly? How can I explain, Dominic has an obsessive personality, meaning, and I think most successful people do. I think, you know, all of us that have a chosen career path kind of obsessive what we do, and we don't really work on a time clock, including yourself, I suppose. Yeah.

You know, we don't have that 40-hour work week. I think Dominic's no different. I think Dominic pushes the envelope and hence why he's had injuries because he's trained so hard for fights and I think once he felt that his knee was 100% then he started testing and more and more and challenging and making sure that

there's nothing wrong with it. I love that you brought up Dominic's personality because I really think it's starting to come out in the public from his analyst's work and now he's starting to do some play by play and his trash talking has just been out of this world what he has done as far as the buildup

to this fight next to T.J. has been nothing short of amazing and very entertaining. Does that translate into how he is in the gym? Because I feel like he's really turned the corner. He's putting himself out there. He doesn't care anymore. I mean, when he was on this show,

it was probably the best interview of the year last year when TJ just was coming off that win over Hennon. He was dropping bombs left and right. And I'm wondering if you've noticed a change, or is this just him changing as far as what we see in the gym he's still the same guy? I think it's a contrast of personalities that's showing this side of Dominic.

This is the same Dominic that's always been there. I think the Dominic of Uriah Faber era was what we consider the bad guy. And in this situation, for whatever reason, he's the good guy. So I think the public perceptions just changed a little bit over the years of what Dominic is and him being more comfortable. And I think he is a little bit more quiet or conserved. And it's just a contrast of personality is what we're seeing. sometimes in the media we like to talk about

fighters getting under their opponent's skin getting in their head and sometimes that just kind of feels like hyperbole just something that we talk about but if you look at the Connor McGregor and Jose Aldo fight I mean to me it was very clear based off of what happened in the fight that Connor was in Jose's head do you believe that after all this Dominic is in T.J.'s head I think it plays a factor

I think I think TJ's pretty confident and a skill that this isn't that big of a factor. I think he's fought in the big spotlight before. I think the challenge is for T.J. is knowing that Dominic's coming off such a huge layoff, and

everybody expects T.J. to perform, where Dominic's got all the odds against him. A lot of people seem to think that once Dominic left, T.J. took his crown and almost took what he was doing, modified it, made it his own, but took a lot of what Dominic was doing and what he

did to become champion. And TJ will not subscribe to that notion. How do you feel about that? Because Dominic is very, he's very persuasive when talking about this, that he's sort of, you know, how do you feel like TJ essentially copied what Dominic was doing? I, you know what I, I could, I can, as a fan, I can appreciate T.J. Dilshaw. When T.

When T. When T. T.J. first fought, uh, uh, Burrell, I'm one of the few guys that picked him to win, and I thought he was going to win rather easily. Hmm. And he's developed a good style over the years, and he's done great with it. So whether he copied Dominic or not, I mean, I think all these guys are martial artists. I think they all pick something off of each other and every other athlete out there.

And then every few years there's a guy or a female that revolutionizes a sport. And I think Dominic was one of those guys in the forefront of it, for sure. So like I said, you were there with Dominic every step of the way. Was there ever a point where you thought, I mean, this guy, luck isn't on the inside, he's not going to realize his potential, he won't be able to cash in? Like, did you ever think after one injury or the other that, unfortunately, the stars just aren't aligning from him? Like, was there a point where you lost faith that it just wasn't going to work out for your friend

Dominic Cruz? No, not at all. Really? And if you know Dominic Cruz, he wouldn't let you believe that either. Wow. You know, and part of being a coach is, you know, writing the wave with these guys and helping them realize their dreams. And, you know, Dominic, it's just a different personality. You know what I mean?

And he's, he never once said, I'm done. Wow. I'm sure there's situations where he thought, man, I don't know. I don't know if I can make it out of this one. I don't know if I should hang him up, this, that, whatever. Then he would take a step back. We would sit down. And, you know, at the end of the day, I mean, you got a love.

what you do, whether you're making money, whether you're chasing fame, whatever it is, whatever reason you're doing it for, these guys were competitors before the fame came with it. And Dominic just loves to compete. And he, you know, by his own admission, said, you know, my story doesn't stop here. And I'm a coach. I'm with you, man. You want to keep fighting? We keep fighting.

You want to rehab? We keep rehab. I have no hesitation to sit here and train eight hours a day, 10 hours a day with you until we're back in there. So, you know, it's just, it's just a fun for me as a coach to be part of the story. But even, you know, like an ACL injury, as you mentioned, is not like, really, I mean, it's one of the worst because you need such a long time to get back to 100%. And sometimes you don't, in other sports, you see guys come back from an ACL, they're never the same, let alone three ACLs and all the other stuff as well. Can you say right now that he is the same

fighter as he was before that? I mean, obviously it's been a few years, but has this done any? No, obviously things have changed through the years, for sure. And his style has evolved as well. You know, the thing is even through the injuries, the time off, he was training. You know, so when people say, oh, he hasn't trained, he hasn't done anything. Now, this guy wasn't sitting on a park bench, you know, eating pigeons. He's been training. And there's been limitations to what he was doing at that time, but he still kept evolving.

His grappling got better. His wrestling got better. And there is probably certain moves that he doesn't do the same as he did before, you know. So, sure, I'm sure the things have changed through his, you know, style where, you know, I mean, the kids had, I think, two or three broken hands, elbow injuries, shoulder injuries, broken ribs, you name it, he's had it. So, yeah, he's had to adjust and change his style to, you know, progress. You watch a lot of film, I'd imagine, right?

Sure. When you look at TJ, what's his, what's his, what, what's his, what, what, what's his, what, What impresses you the most? What's his greatest strength right now? His confidence in his style. He's real, real confident. He's real, he's real good at setting his pace and maintaining kicking range. He doesn't spend too much in that boxing range, and he's just real, real comfortable in there. And it's very impressive to see, considering his shot at the title came more of us. I think somebody fell out of that fight or something, and he was the one that

got picked to jump in there. And he went into that fight super confident. Between the two brow fights, which performance did you like better from his perspective? I think the first one. Why is that? I think the first, I think it was,

it proved what we already knew about Boral that he's, you know, that dictating the pace on him and making him faint and miss was going to take him off his game. And it was just super impressive that he was able to implement it.

I think the second time around was literally not even at the same level anymore. Right. He just had his number. I don't even think it was a justified rematch. So I didn't see what the point was of making that rematch. Yeah, I think a lot of people would agree with you. So on the flip side, can you pinpoint the biggest holes in his game right now? You know, at the end of the day, this fight comes down to what Dominic wants.

You know, it literally comes down to Dominic going. and they're saying, this is my belt and I'm my back. You know, I could sit here and give you every hole we've gone over, every specific rhythm, every specific techniques we're looking for. But at the end of the day, the mindset that Dominic has is what wins him this fight. So what is that mindset? Because it felt like against Mizugaki, he was like a bad out of hell. He was a man possessed.

We had not seen that out of him, that kind of aggression out of him. Is it the same this time around? Have things changed a little bit? Like, how would you describe where he's at six days before the fight? I would say he's back to his WC days, mentally-wise. He's literally, he's focused. I mean, he's focused. He knows what he has to do.

You know, this is not an easy opponent by any means, but it's nothing that he hasn't seen before. You know, and the thing about predictions and the thing about, oh, I'm going to do this to Dominic, I'm going to do this to Dominic. It's everybody says the same thing, you know. And Dominic has a gift, not a coach Eric taught him this. He has a gift that he makes adjustments in a fight by himself. Sure, there's, you know, four coaches in the corner yelling shit, but he's in there making adjustments. He's in there making reads.

And he does it with everybody. And I can change sparring partners every minute and around. And within 10 to 30 seconds, he's already adjusted to the guy. so you know literally it comes down to Dominic showing up adjusting and just getting after it

I mean he's he's gifted for sure do you have any idea how many rounds he sparred for this fight oh man I have no clue we put in quite a bit yeah yeah we put in quite a bit

I mean honestly we used to we used to do two two days a week of sparring I think for this camp we picked up about three days a week a couple of times. Oh, wow. And a lot of drilling.

Yeah, it was, we had a little crash course at the beginning just to make sure we were dialed in into that, making sure he's adjusting within the first few men into that round. So, like I said, he's doing great. He's doing great. He's healthy. And, I mean, that's all we could ask for. Did you bring in anyone different, anyone new to simulate T.J. style? No, I mean, we have guys coming in and out of camp.

Yeah. nonstop. So there's no, like I said, the hardest thing with people with TJ's style is not necessarily somebody that can emulate it. It's more how fast you can adjust to it. Okay. You know, it's, you know, they fight off rhythm. They fight off rhythm.

They drag you out. They try to load you on your lead leg. So it's more understanding what he's doing, reading it, and don't get oversellers. You know, just stay composed and work. By the way, Dominic has, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, I'm sorry.

I was just going to say, Dominic has received a ton of praise for his analyst work, and he got a shot to be on Fox not that long ago. I had the opportunity to sit next to him for the entirety of UFC 192, and it was just what an honor and pleasure was to just listen to the way he breaks things down and sees things from a complete different perspective, a lot smarter than I'll ever be as far as MMA is concerned. Did you know he had that in him? I know this wasn't necessarily a job when you guys were starting out,

but did you think, like, this guy is a brilliant mind. He could do this on TV, like, some of the greats. Did you know that, or is this a revelation to you as well? No, I mean, we've always brainstormed to fight. He's always helped me game plan for other guys here in the camp. So he's always been a wealth of knowledge, and there's other guys in the camp that I use as well. I think it took him a little bit to get adjusted to the cameras. You know, but I thought he's, yeah, he's definitely, he's got a different IQ for sure for fighting.

And, you know, he knows how to break it down. And we sit here and brainstorm fights all the time. So, no, I knew he had it. I just didn't know he was going to do. shine on TV like that. But I mean, it's expected. You could put Dominic in any situation. I guess he's got a very obsessive mind that likes to succeed at anything he does. Yeah, he actually told me that the only person he likes watching fights with is you because you're on the same level as him. Like, everyone else he kind of has to dump himself down to. Obviously, so I don't know if you, if the feeling is

mutual there. It might be an intense thing to watch them because he's moving all around and he's talking. Do you enjoy it? Yeah, yeah. We brainstorm fights all the time, and we sit there and just thoughts around ideas. Sometimes I just listen. I just listen to see what he's reading and see him from seeing the same things of that. Do you think he can become a great coach as well? Oh, for sure, for sure. I think everybody has it in him, and I think he's a great leader, and that's one of the assets that he brings over as a coach. Do you foresee that happening at Alliance that he becomes a coach once this whole journey is done? I don't know. I mean, that's up to him.

Yeah, he writes his own story. You know, I think he helps out now as a, you know, a member of the team. But I think he's, you know, he's got his own career path of what he wants to do. And I think when he gets to that point, you'll figure it out. Okay, so let's put a bow on this. You've been around this game a long time. You've been in very big fights before. But if your friend and student and fighter gets that belt put on his waist after this insane journey,

I mean, it's almost unimaginable what he's at to over. come. Do you have any idea how you will react to that? Do you think that the emotions then will be greater than anything you've ever felt? Oh, man, I don't know. I don't know. It did, and for sure, it'll be intense. It'll be, you know, it'll be an awesome situation for sure. I couldn't tell you how I'm going to react or how I should expect to react. Yeah. But, uh, I mean, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to that journey and I hope everything works out for us. What about the cold? Are you looking forward to that as well in Boston? Not at all, man. We're We're in San Diego, California.

I don't even known a cold weather jacket. Oh, my. What are you going to do about that? No, that's actually what I was going to go do today. Try to find a jacket and some gloves. I don't even own gloves. As a New Yorker, I'm happy this is happening on the East Coast, but I kind of feel like two Californians should be fighting in the state of California.

It's a little strange that it's in Boston. Don't you agree? I agree. I agree. I wouldn't like nothing better than do you have it here. Final thing. I know we talked about predictions, and it's kind of hard, Rinald, but do you see the something key?

coming up in your mind, how this is all going to go down? Do you actually envision it? No. Nothing. No. I know. I look at the whole fight. I look at a big picture, and then we look at specifics of every round. So whether it goes one round or whether it goes five round, there's a specific game plan for us, and we're just hoping we can execute. All right. I can't wait. The world can't wait. The M.A. World can't wait. It's going to be amazing. This Sunday in Boston, Dominic Cruz versus T.J. Dilleshaw for the undisputed UFC Bantamway title. Eric, best of luck to you and the team. Thank you so much for the time and safe travels.

And good luck with that cold in Boston. It is frigid, by the way. It's unlike anything you've ever felt. Thank you, Ariel. I appreciate it. Talk to you guys later. All right, there he is. Eric Delfiero, the head coach over at Alliance MMA in Chula Vista, California, where it is a lot warmer than it is here on the northeast coast of the United States. So good luck to him and the team.

I just cannot wait. The more I think about this fight, more excited I get. I hope you all share my excitement. It's going to be a lot of fun. And you know, I'm happy that our next guest is King Mo Llewal because, in my opinion, he is one of the brightest minds in the game as well up there with Dom and Cruz. And he may not get the attention and respect that Dom gets because he doesn't work as an analyst on somewhere like Fox, but make no mistake about it since back in the day when he was doing MMA Live and even before that, King Mo, one of the brightest in the game. So it was almost strategic for me to put him right after Eric Del Fierro,

because I want to get his take on this as well. He joins us right now. He joins us right now. He just won the Risen tournament, was in Robbie Lawler's corner, and he's on the phone right now. Our old pal, King Mo Llewal, on line one. King Mo, how are you? You're killing, man, what's going now? It's been a while. You know, I couldn't believe it. You weren't on our show once last year, and I'm ashamed of that, and I apologize for that.

So it's been a while, and I'm so happy to talk to you again. Congratulations. But I got to ask you, because we briefly spoke about this when I saw you in Vegas. Can I get the King Mo breakdown of T. Because I feel like you being the mind that you are and having the mind that you do. you're as excited as I am for this kind of fight, right? Yeah, I think it would be a good fight. I think it's going to be awkward because I think both guys

have a hard time to gauge each other's distance due to the movement. But I really think that the fight favors, and I like Cruz, but I think the fight favors, Phil Scha, because he's fresh still. He's fresh, you know what I'm saying? He's still been fighting. His time is there. I don't like the layoffs, you know what I'm saying?

And a lot of times when you get in the layoffs, the layouts, you know, guys have long layoffs, because they're going to be a big, a hibald fights usually lose, you know what I'm saying? And not because they only got the skill set, because the Tommy's off. And I feel like this can be, this can be, this can be the main difference.

Unless down the Cruz did something different, and Brian and had good sparring, and he had like a hard lot of sparring, you know what I'm saying? Right now, the favorite is Dill Shaw. So you're leaning towards T.J. Well, just because, just because of layoff, you know what I'm saying? I'm not, I'm not,

I'm a predictor of fights, but I just feel like, if you have, if anyone can be a favorite, it has to be a deal-shot because, you know, he's fresh, he's our role, he's fresh, confident, and he's been at it, you know what I'm saying, where Cruz has had a layoff, you know what I'm saying, few layoffs. Don't get me wrong. He looks phenomenal his comeback fight when he fought Mizigaki or whatever, Miziguki, or he said his name right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He looked great with Missa-Gookey, but other than that, like, he got intricate and, you know, just the layoffs, man.

They message you. Okay, let's transition to you, as I said. You just won the Rise in tournament. In my opinion, you were the story of that entire three-day event. You fought three times. You want a lot of money. And it feels like to me, as I said to you, it feels like there's something about King Moe in Japan, wearing the wrestling shoes.

There's magic in the air. Am I crazy here? Or do the shoes help you? Does Japan help you? Why does it feel like you're on a whole different level when all those things come together? I'm asking a good question I don't know you know

it's crazy because I only train with shoes I train barefooted but Mark Coleman was like Mo look I won this term

of wearing shoes you didn't wear shoes too were both wrestlers so I was like you know what I'm gonna put the shoes off for the first fight

I put them all man and I get to a magical you know what I'm saying wait so you weren't planning on wearing the shoes before he spoke to you yeah but I'm gonna go

bedfooted wow because in Japan the canvas in Japan like the surface in Japan you fight on, it's like straight like canvas, man.

You ain't go slip. You know what I mean? You get, you get broke burns and Matt burns on your knees on your feet. Where in America it seems like the canvas seems more slippery. And you feel, I mean, other than that,

you feel like it helps you with your shots, with your, with your box? Does it help you in any other regard? I don't know. I really can't tell. I just, I feel comfortable with them.

You do feel comfortable. Yeah, I feel comfortable with them because, you know, I competed in them for so many years of the wrestling. You know what I'm saying? Like, it just felt something like that's just wear them. And when Coleman told me to wear them, I'm like, you know what?

I'm going to do what Coleman says. I'm going to listen to the hammer. You know, he's a Hall of Famer. I'm going to listen to him. And I did. It paid off. Now, to the American public, your three opponents, in particular of the last two,

relatively unknown here, great fighters, had great performances, but not household names. How much did you know about these guys? I knew. what did I literally just watched a few film on

I watched a few the matches the fights and I was like you know what I had not wrestlers quick hands there's

big and strong but other than that I think I'm going to mess with them I think my rhythm my range and my wrestlers got they have them spooked

and come to find out my second fight the guy was a Gio Olympian I didn't know that wow and then the third fight the guy was

with the top prospects in Europe, and that guy was big, he was big, man. He weighed in 96 kilos. I weighed in 97, but he looked like he got bigger if the tournament went on. But with me, I lost weight if the tournament went on. I ended up being like 209, 210. You know what I sound like three or four pounds. Why? You know what I'm saying?

Just because of food, man, like, I like the food in Japan, but the thing about it is, when we got, we go to the venue about 8.30 in the morning, when we can't leave the venue to get real food, so they give us bento boxes with, like, rice and, like, little pieces of, sushi, room temperature sushi that is, just to eat. And I'm like, man, I ain't no damn room temperature sushi. I ate a little rice and that's about it.

You know what I? It was hard for me to get small and you can get full in Japan. Wow. So they make you go there at 8.30 a.m. and then what time locally are you fighting at? Well, we head there at 3. So we get there around like 9.30. And we do a ring check around 11 a.m. And the fight will start to about 4 or 5.

Oh, wow. So if you're like the last fight, you know, the last fight, you probably been there for 12 hours before you fight. Now, I know this was the first, you know, the first go for, for Reison, but as a fighter, what was your experience like? Do you, you know, are they a well-oiled machine? Are there a lot of issues that they got to iron out? What was your experience like?

It was good, man. Obviously, with the first show, there were always going to be, you know, issues, you know, but I think that they'll do a better job if they have more shows, but to me it was good. They did a great job. I like to because I got to meet Hickson Gracie and, you know, what, you know, what he's hearing, you know, I met Takata. I made some, you know, some names that we can have some throwback names, you know what I'm saying? To me, it's a MM8, you know what I'm saying? MMA head, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah. It was good seeing those legends. Do you prefer the ring over the cage? You know what? I prefer what pays. Hey, did the cage ring? I don't care because a good fighter will adapt. Right.

That's true. So you won 300,000, right? Is that USD? Yeah, yeah, yeah, USDA. Did you get the money? It's good, they're wiring it to me. They're wiring it to you? Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I should have it about today or tomorrow's like that. Did you get any of it? No, no. I'm like, a woman, you can't take the cash and go through the cusses and a risk of getting snatched up. That's true, that's true. That's crazy. That's true.

That's a good point. What about your body? I mean, to fight on. December 29th, then have a day off, and then to come back on the 31st and fight twice, at the end of this whole ordeal, how are you feeling physically? Jet lag, for the most part, you know, it's like, I didn't, I felt sore, but, you know, it was more of my hands and, like, there's more of my hands, my knuckles were sore. But I felt all right, you know, just the fight there, and the flight got me,

and then when I went to corner Robbie, I felt even more because I couldn't sleep. And then I came back to the gym, started training a little bit, moving around, and I'm still jet lag. I can't sleep. Still? Yes, still can't sleep. Geez. So what are you doing in the middle of the night? Watching TV.

I don't know. Watching TV is what I did. It's so funny that I saw you, when I saw you in Las Vegas, just chilling in the lobby. There you were. Headphones on, rocking the Bellator sweatshirt, because literally 12 hours prior, I'm talking to the guys from ATT, and they're telling me verbatim, word for word, they're saying that King Moe might be the best teammate that we've ever had at the gym. He is unselfish. He'll go corner anyone, no matter if he's fighting the following weekend. And there you are.

You fly straight from Japan to Las Vegas to corner Robbie after you had just been through all that three fights in the span of two days. Was that a no-brainer for you? Did he ask you? Why not just go home and chill out with your family? I could, but the thing is, like, you know, it's my team. We're a team, we're family. So, you know, you're there for your people, you know what I'm saying? Because they'd be there for me, you know what I'm saying? I'm not going to let nobody down.

You know, Robbie, I've been helping Robbie for the past few fights since I've been to the American top team. And he asked to the corner him just like his last fight. Because let me tell you something, the giant-headed fight, I was in that camp, game. I was part of his camp, like, for real, like, you know, doing some sparring stuff with them. You know, he did ground and pound on me, and I told him a dirty box on me. I tried to take him down. So me and Robbie, you know, we got a pretty good connection, and he has touched Cammy there, who's a one of the part of one of the best kept secrets in MMA.

He's been in MMA for a while, and now he's starting to get a shine, but y'all will hear more about him. But, you know, they needed me there, and I decided to be there. It feels, and also, by the way, Kormier said the same thing. Your number one, as far as teammates are concerned, everyone echoing these sentiments. Have you found a home like ATT? You had to jump around a little bit over the last few years. Do you feel like this is it?

Coconut Creek, you found your place? Yeah, you know, Trades because, you know, ATT is my place, AKA is like my stepbrothers, you know what I'm saying? I always go out there, mainly because San Jose is just too expensive, man, too expensive for me, you know what I'm saying? Like, I could afford it, but I would pay for something that I wouldn't feel them, you know what I'm saying? Like you get two-bedroom house and you're paying like $2,800, you know, I'm saying, I'm rushed for it.

So I was like, nah, hell no. But other than that, like, you know, I heard from, I heard from my Ha'Landah, I heard from Daniel, you know, I heard from Sean Bunch, you know, Luke, from some AKA. I mean, AKA. I even heard from the boy Chale, you know, say, Chale hit me up. Wow. And I heard from my people, my brother's at ATT, so, you know, I got family in both places,

both coasts. Okay, so you were in his corner for the fight, Robbie's Corner. Now, I know you're honest guy. did he do enough to win that fight? Yes, and I'm going to tell you why. Please. Here's the problem, M.MA, they don't take into consideration in defense. You know what I'm saying?

Granted, like, the third round, I was looking, Carl's through a lot, but he really ran much of substance. I feel like Robbie laying enough and landed a hard shot. It comes down like this. Who would rather be at the end of these rounds? At then the first round, I would have been conned. At the end of the second round, definitely Robbie. And then the third, Robbie.

In the fourth, Carl's Condon. In the fifth, Robbie. That's why I just fights based off of that. Like, who's where to be? Like, in a nutshell, who's where to be that pushed him to shove at the end of these rounds? Who got hurt the most? Who had the hardest shots? That's how I look at it as.

Now, Carl's Condon and him came to the great game plan. Let me take something. Winkle John is the man, though. I can't say enough. He's a man. This dude's coming with some good game plans. You know, Greg Jackson is a man, too. They have a great system.

great camp. I can't say, I can't say nothing bad about them. The game plan they had, threw me off. I thought, like, I thought that a conde would be a little more passive-aggressive, but this dude came with it. He was there, walking us down, and then Robbie had dig deep

in land big shots. And I hope, you know, I wouldn't mind to see a rematch. If not, no rematch, let's see Robbie fight, you know, TSP. Oh. You know what I'm saying? I like to see a big fight like that. Yes, I agree with you as well. this fight has caused a lot of, you know, talk about judging and the state of judging and whether it should be fixed. This happens every time there's a close fight. But I believe it's not the right system. I don't know if this is the fight that really people should hang their hat on and say, this is why it's not the right system. Because at the end of the day, it feels like everyone disagrees on just, you know, one round, the third round. How do you feel about the state of judging, 10-9 system, all that? And do you have any idea, because I know you're a smart guy, you think about these things, on how to fix it, if it should be fixed?

Okay, um, first of all, they should have younger judges. Yeah. The East Coast has it worse because the East Coast, by the time these fights happened, it's past these judges bedtime. That's true. You know what I'm saying? That's not a bastard, but some of you're so older. I'm glad they should do more, you should do more seminars.

You know what I'm saying? Like, having judges go to the MMA seminars that understand what a proper red kick feels like compared to a slapping right kick. Understand what the proper guillotine feels like besides the deep guillotine that's not able to successfully. performs, they should have more judges at these fights. And they said the judges just take turns scoring every fight. Because then what's going to happen is if the commissioners look at these

fights, they're like, okay, they should judge that consistently off. They should be like, you know what? Go home. That's what, you know, Mr. Missouli. Look, at first I had beef with them, Missouli. But I talked to him and heard of the system, and he does the same thing. He's like, no, I have these judges, judge fights, and then I look at them, and the ones they're off, they're consistently up.

I get rid of them. Now, that's smart. I think you have that, along with, like, seven dollars, like monthly seminars, a seminar every three months. It'd be good because I feel like some of these judges don't understand. They've never fought before, so they don't understand what's effective, what true effective aggression is. Yeah.

They should probably get paid more as well. You got these guys judging these multimillion-dollar fights, and they're making, like, $1,000. So, I mean, I think... Yeah, the things that you should pay based upon the fight and then based upon them going to those seminars. Because everyone on seminars, that means they're up to par with what the new trends in MMA are. Okay, so let me ask you this.

I sincerely feel like the best fight that Bellator can put on right now is you versus Phil Davis. As far as credentials, and I'll throw a lien in there as well. I feel like any variation of U3 is the best that they could do right now. Just fascinating times in that division. We were close to getting that fight against Phil at the Dynamite Show, but you had to pull out at the 11th hour. How difficult was that for you? Because it felt like the rising thing means to me, like,

Mo's back and all that. That could have been the case back in September, if not for the rib injury. How difficult was that, especially since it seemed to happen, like, right before the fight? Man, I hate it. And the thing is, you felt my rib, you saw it.

Yeah. You know, everyone's like, Mo's straight, you moose. Why would I fake a payday? You know, why would I back out of a payday, man? You know what I'm saying? Like, it was difficult point. I tried to do whatever it took to continue with the fight,

but I couldn't go. You know, it was just rough, man. And it was embarrassing because, like, you know, I wanted to fight, Phil. And I think I could beat them. You know, see, I think the fight could still happen. But, man, it was just tough pulling out. Because that would have been a big-time fight for me. You know, see, that's fight for me to shine here.

So where are we at as far as your next fight for Belta? I know you just fought three times. Are you taking an extended break? Is that, you know, on the table? What do you think is going to happen for you next in that organization? Man, I don't know. I went on fighting in March, April, May, June, July, September. If I could fight like six, seven times this year, I'm cool with that.

Will your next fight be in Bellator or for Ryzen? I'm pretty sure maybe Bellator, but if Ryzen wants to fight somebody like Thadur, I'll definitely do that. Okay, so. I wouldn't mind fighting Fado, you know what I'm saying? To me, I win the tournament, he won his fight. I'm kind of a heavyweight, money weight, you know what I'm saying? I'll fight anybody that's there. They know it's a good name.

Good name. People want to bash and say he's washed up, but they don't know. You know what I'm smaller than them. So if anything, I'm in the disadvantage. You know, say, he's a name. He's bigger. You know what I'm saying? He's more experienced.

But I'm going to fight him. I'm going to fight anybody. I feel like that's the perfect fight for that organization because you're a well-known commodity in Japan. Of course, he is. You both won on their debut event, essentially. Is that being discussed at all? I see your campaigning for it on Twitter.

is that a realistic option? I don't know. I just threw it out there because it's made sense. Sure. You know what I'm saying? Me versus Phil Davis makes a lot of sense. Sure. You know what I'm saying?

Me versus what's that news name at 185? Brandon Halsey makes a lot of sense. You would fight at 185? I could be up, no, I'm like right now as you speak. I actually went to practice when about 2.10. Wow. But why? I don't get big.

I don't get big. I don't really get big. I just, I'm, I'm, I'm, it big to me, it's like 215. And that, and that's this, and I'm barely there. But things are going well for you, at 2.05, even this heavyweight tournament. Why cut all that much weight? Well, you know, it depends. If I can't get anything, I'll just go to the next thing. If I can't get anything I want, like, right away, well, what's wrong with one way to five?

I like people, I like money. I like getting paid, you know what I'm saying? I like the options. So it's just, it's just more opportunity for me to get paid. Okay. So, so if it was, it was. If it was your world and we were living in it, what's the ideal situation next for you and when? Me and March or April versus Fedor at Phil Davis? Well, you gotta pick one. You can't sit on the fence here.

I said fade or, you know what? I said either one. But which do you prefer? You don't have a preference? No, I don't have a preference. Someone pays the most. I wonder. I wonder about it.

Because in Risen, you don't necessarily have a contract, right? you were just fighting in that tournament. Well, I guess if you would have lost the tournament, you would have received something, but you don't have necessarily, like, did you have like a long-term deal with them or any kind of deal with them,

like an Asian deal, anything like that, or would you have to strike a new deal? I don't know. That's just my advisor, Mike Hogan, to tell me, you know,

he used to imagine, that he's my advice, you know what, you know, so he just gives you advice on what to do and what's around. So I have to,

I'll let him see what he thinks. Is it fair to say, though, that King Moe was back after, I mean, people forget what you've been through. I mean, it felt like for a while your career was in jeopardy, and maybe even your life, your health, right? Yeah, yeah. That's why I love this story so much. Are you back? Is it official? Listen, hey, you remember coming to America when Hakeen gave Randolph and more than more money and said, look, we're back.

That's how I feel. Wow. You know what I'm saying? That's all, so I'm bank. It finally feels like you are back. Like, you are, I mean, there was so much promise, so much exciting. And you never really lost it, but when you go through the staff infection and to see what you did in Japan, I'm not ashamed to say. I was very happy for you, my man.

It was a beautiful thing, especially in Japan with the shoes, and you get the big check and you put the crown on Sakaki Barra's head. I mean, it just seemed like you were back. Although, I must ask you, no ladies this time walking down to the ring. Why is that? Man, because there's so much going on, they can't find them for me. What do you mean? They couldn't call someone up. I asked them, they're like, we'll find you some.

They're like, King Most of them. We'll find you some. Come fight, Tom, they can't find them. They can't find them enough for weighing in nothing. So I was like, you know what? It's one-man show. I'm going to go solo. Is that a new trend now?

Hopefully not. You know, I like, I like the females, man. You see me? I'm giving shout to Godfather. and you see me hit the diamond cutter for my fight. DDP,

what's up, man? That's right. Oh, by the way, before I let you go, I got to ask you, your old friend, Mara Rinalo making his WWU debut,

did you hear it last week? Yeah, listen, yeah, I've watched it, yeah, man. Morrow is the man. I'm proud of him. I'm glad he's doing it.

And now, but it takes things even bigger to the next level, hey, I heard the Bullet Club is going to WWE. The Bullock? What about A.J.

Stiles? and Shinske Nakamura, right? Yep, well, Shinske is not a bullet club. It's just Anderson and Dot Gallow's and AJ. They're going to represent the bullet club. I think I heard some bailiffs jump in because he's the founder. But Nakamura is a man. He can wrestle.

I got to say. The King is Strong style. I don't watch any of this, but I hear it's big news. Should I get back? Is it time for me to get back in NXT? I don't watch none of this. I don't have time for it. Listen, it's time.

It's time. not too late. Go watch Russell Kingdom 10. Go watch that and be prepared to be impressed. Really? What is, what is, what is Russell Kingdom? Russell Kingdom's like the Japanese version of like WrestleMania. Oh, wow. Do they bring like New Japan wrestling? Oh, is it just New Japan or is it other organizations as well? Like Noah and stuff. Well, Riga Viner has representatives there too, like Jay Lee School was there. The Young Bucks had matched. The Young Bucks and then I saw Rickishay was there. Rikershay, Rikaze, Rikaze,

Rupongi Vice, Rikinay's a man, too, man. God, you're missing out. These boys can really wrestle. I don't know who you're talking. And when was Russell Kingdom? Russell Kingdom was, I think, January 4th. Oh, just... Yeah.

You could have... Did you go? No, you were back? Were you planning on going? Because if you didn't have... I wanted to go until Robbie actually is going. I was like, you know what? I ain't going.

You see, that's what I'm talking about. You probably really wanted to go to that. You were probably dying to go to that, right? Oh, you know, yeah. Yeah. Because look, my original plan was they had the bullet club walk me out to the ring to my fights, but they got there too late. It couldn't be there. Imagine how that would have been.

With the crowd, instead of the ladies, I should say. Would the crowd have pop for that? Yeah, man, the bullet club, you understand how big the bullet club. I don't know. The bullet club is big out there, though. Just check it out, man. Okay. It's a big.

All they're a group. I mean, there's a group. Okay. I just saw Sting Sting got inducted into the Hall of Fame. Did you see that? Oh, yeah, I'm asking that. I don't know how I feel about that, to be honest.

I mean, he's not really a WWE guy, but I like the fact that it's all-encompassing, unlike the UFC Hall of Fame. So maybe I do feel good about it. Yeah, you know, the U.S. They're doing the own thing. They're, you know, they're doing it to them,

but at the same time they, like, Mill Masters, he's inducted. He never wrestled with a wrestle one time. They kind of like wrestling over. well. Right. The U.S. is just the U.S.C, not MMA.

They don't worry about the UFC. They don't worry about MMA. You know what I'm saying? But they're getting paid, so I don't knock up for that. Okay, last question. Last question, because I love your insight.

I love hearing you break things down. Deonté Wilde, while they're fighting this weekend, if he fights Tyson Fury, who wins? I go with, you know what, Tyson Fury is nimble. I go with Deionte, because I think Deiote has a power to actually hurt him.

and has a speed. The Tricasuri, he's crafty, but I think DeJon Taylor would walk him down and stop him. Do you think that's the fight? Better than the clitical... That's the one you want to see? I don't know if it's going to happen, because you got Joseph Parker out there.

You got Anthony Joshua. You know, you have a bunch of other, you know, Provoking. You have a bunch of other good boxes out there. A little who is Ortiz. You know, so I'm cool seeing any of those guys fight each other. All right.

Look at King Moe, just breaking it down. I missed you, my man. I really did. And it's great to have you back. It's great to just see you back on top, doing your thing, with or without the ladies. You killed it. You were the star of the show, in my opinion. New Year's Eve in Japan. It was a beautiful thing to see. Congratulations on all your success. Congratulations on being back. Welcome back to the show. Don't be a stranger, King Moe. All right. I'll hit you up, though. I appreciate it. All right. My man, King Moe. Thank you so much. All the best to him. Great to hear from him, as always. All right, let's move along. Let's go to the phone lines now. And let's welcome in another favorite of the show.

Al-I Quinta, stop me by, but this time there's a twist, not via the magic of Skype. Via the phone? Is that true? Al, say it ain't so. Fucking bullshit, man. What's happening? I don't know. I think the microphone on my computer is broken. I dropped it too much. Why are you dropping your microphone? No, the computer I dropped. You drop your computer.

Is this raging out, getting mad about things, and drop it? Why is that? No, not. Usually, I just, I'll put it on my bed, and I'll listen to, like, a podcast or something while I'm falling asleep. Yeah. And then I get, like, I'm moving my sleep, and I wake up when it hits the, like, drops off the bed and it hits the floor. And I'm just, you know. Oh, this is a little, I mean, I like to see your face, you know?

Or there's something going on with you guys and maybe. That's possible. That's probably just me. No, it's possible. By the way, what are your go-to podcasts? Other than this one, of course. Yeah, obviously. Yeah.

No, I usually listen to all the Joe Rogan once. I'm running out of the Joe Rogan with... Who's the big guy? That guy's hysterical. Joey... Oh, Joey Diaz. Yeah, yeah, Joey Diaz. That guy's awesome.

He's great. I was going back in time and catching up on all of his... The ones that he was on. I'm running out of them. You have a little bit of time now. You just came off knee surgery, and it's a unique kind of knee surgery. Explain to the uninformed what the procedure was.

See, this is... I came prepared with pictures and everything for you, man. Are you serious? Yeah. I mean, unbelievable. You know, what we should have done was, if my man New York Rick back there was a crafty one, keep the video and then just have you on the phone.

Why could we have done that? Ah. You see what I'm seeing? You see the pictures, but now, you know, that ship has sailed. It's a typical, it's a typical move. Anyway, tell us what you did. You're kind of hard on New York, Rick, huh? Well, I just mean, look at it.

There's a certain standard. All right. Anyway. Okay, okay. So, yeah, they took my kneecap, and there was cartilage underneath my kneecap that was well, like three years ago, it was three years ago, got torn in the semifinals of the ultimate fighter. So there was like a little chip in the underneath of my kneecap cartilage, articular cartilage underneath my kneecap.

So they went in there, they took that little chip of cartilage out, and they drilled holes in the bone to draw blood. and kind of my own stem cells were supposed to regrow and produce cartilage that would fill in that hole. And it worked for a little bit, but not great. The first year, I was pretty good, and then from there it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. And every fight I was saying I was going to get this knee surgery done. And, you know, towards the end of the camp, it would get worse. The more that I trained, it was really getting on the bad.

bearable and I would fight and I'd say probably the last three fights I was saying to myself I'm going to get this fight over with I'm going to get the surgery and then take time off and I'd fight I won and I took two weeks off and I felt great I was like I don't need that surgery I can I can uh you know I could do it I can get through through another fight so take another fight and it just kept getting worse and worse it was like a spiling the downward spiling just kept getting worse. So when Bobby Green fell out and then Gilbert Melendez, that whole thing happened with him, I was like, you know, I was pushing through it.

I was, I was in great shape. I was ready to fight. I was ready to make a statement, but my knee was still giving me huge problems. I was, you know, I just said, you know, I'm not going to take a fight with a guy. who's an unranked guy with my knee in this condition. I'm going to get it, get it fixed, get this surgery done. And, you know, I figured it would have been six months, and I'd be back in the cage and doing my thing.

But it was a pretty frustrating process, and it finally just got, well, I just made it happen. So it was, I got it done. They, they took the cartilage. They drilled a hole in my knee. Wow. And they took the cardilage out underneath my kneecap. So they made an incision.

They raised my kneecap up. And on the backside of my kneecap, they drilled that bad cartilage out. So there was a hole in my knee. They took donor cartilage and they plugged it in there. And then they put me back together. Wow. Pretty crazy stuff. It was a surgery that was not recommended by any doctor.

In fact, they told me that it was probably one of the worst ideas. You see, doctors, they're pretty, as far as intelligent as they are. They're pretty petty, and then, I don't know the word to do. They're like, you know, like, oh, he does this, but I do this, and you shouldn't do it with him. And they all kind of talk shit about each other. You know, everyone said that, you know, that Dr. Williams, what Dr. Williams told me was he could understand people doubting him 20 years ago when he first started for this procedure, but he's been doing it for 20 years. And he's seen a result in upwards of 80% of people with doing this surgery, you know, successfully. 80% of everyone.

He did 80%. So, you know, it turned out to be a good surgery. So I'm not a normal person. Sure. I'm not some fat guy playing golf that can't do a squad. And all now, now the surgeries, you know, not successful in my eye. You know, all I need to do is to be able to get back in the cage and fight. And 24-7, that's, you know, I'm not worried about going to work.

I'm not worried about it. For the last four weeks, I've been rehabbing this thing meticulously. And it's feeling so good. It's amazing how awesome it's feeling already. I'm off the crutches. I don't know if you... Did you see Aljo's little Instagram video? Yeah, I saw you in the back there, working up a sweat.

Yeah, you see me riding the bike? Yeah, look at you. I saw that. On a Sunday night, no less. Sunday night. Unless it was a latergram. What's that? Was it a latergram or was that live?

No, that was, yeah, that was live. We were in their Sunday night. Is it true, though, by the way? Is it true that your career was actually, you know, kind of up in the air at one point? I mean, in my eyes, no. Uh-huh. Kind of. I don't know.

It was the kind of thing like the only doctor that wanted to do that was willing to do this surgery that I felt, you know, comfortable with. So six months ago, what was it? It was right when that fight, it was, what, June July or something? I don't know. It's just been, the whole time. It was way back. It was like eight months ago or something. I went to Dr. Riley Williams in a hospital of special surgery in the city.

He was recommended to me by Dr. Allen, who worked on Chris Wyden's knee, who was one of the best. So you know what one of the best is recommending this guy, he's the man. So I went in there and I walk in. He's got a very pretty nurse, you know. He walks in. he's the man. He's like, look,

this is what you got to do. I've been doing this. I do this with the NBA guys. I do this with these guys. And he broke it down. He cared. He asked me, he basically told me my injury,

told me where I was feeling pain. He told me how. And I left that place stunned. And I was like, yes, thank God. This guy, I found him.

He's my savior. He's the man. Dr. Williams is going to get me back. So I was, I was on cloud nine, and then I, you know, I submitted it to the insurance, and the insurance didn't cover it because it didn't happen in a fight, and it didn't happen in training. I don't know, for some reason the insurance didn't cover it.

And then because hospital is the one most expensive hospital in the country, I believe, you know, but you get what you pay for. Sure. There was a little bit of, I guess maybe a hesitance for me to be covered. So it turned out I wasn't going to be able to afford the surgery. So I didn't really, I didn't know where I was going to go. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't afford to pay for the surgery and then be out and have, you know, sit in my house and rehab for that amount of time.

So it was very frustrating. I went out to the Fighter Summit, and I spoke to Lorenzo, which is something that I probably should have done in the first place, but I don't know how to free... I don't get in touch with this guy. I mean, you know, it's like...

I talked to the medical department in the UFC, and they're like, oh, we're only going to be able to cover this much, and I'm like, I can't cover $60,000. And I'm like, well, I don't know what to tell you. This is what, you know, blah, blah. So I talked about it. So I told you, you know, we're only going to be able to cover this. So I talk about it.

So I talked to Lorenzo, he was like, look, man, we got to get you back in there as fast as possible. You know, let's make it happen. So, again, I'm going home. I'm like, yes, this is going to work, which is going to, you know, I'm going to get Dr. Williams, the man to get this done. And then they got a couple other doctors in, and then the talk began about back and forth about who to go. with and what to do. They recommended I do stem cells and I wasn't too, I wasn't too, I didn't really want to do the stem cells. They said it was going to take six weeks to see any kind of results

and there hasn't, there hadn't been anyone. I looked on, you know, I was waking up in the morning. I had nothing. I train a couple people. I do private lessons. Basically the rest of my day, I was on the computer doing freaking research about articular cordage injuries to the femal condo. I could be a doctor at this point. I did so much research on this stuff. So, you know, I did the stem cells, which I didn't want to do. And it took, you know, it took six weeks, but I exhausted every possible avenue that you could possibly go down. And this is it.

This was the guy, Dr. Williams. So I went and I called him and I said, listen, man, you know, this is, this is the deal. I'm having a little trouble. And I'm very frustrated. These doctors are telling me this. Everyone's telling me that. You're telling me one thing. And these other doctors got in my head and I'm like, maybe this isn't, maybe he's not the man like I told he was.

Maybe he is, you know, just like the, so he said, you know what, come in, see me. We'll talk, we'll sit. I come in again. He sits me down. He draws me up diagram. Rams. He makes me, again, asking all the questions, what did you do, what this, this and that? And he goes, look,

we have this cartilage that you needed. A donor just can't, you know, a piece of, you know, whatever it is, the cartilage that you need. We have it in the bank. Why don't we set you off for surgery Monday? And we'll see. We'll see what happens. So we'll see if they come around to covering the whole thing or whatever. So I was on the phone, and this is the, this is when, what was it, the three fights in three days or whatever it was.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So this is like coming down to the wire. I'm trying to get a hold of, I'm speaking to the medical department who's trying to get me in touch with Lorenzo. I'm freaking tweeting at Dana White to please give me a call because I need to, you know, I was literally going out of my mind. just, I was just sitting in my room. I just wanted to smash my head against the wall because I felt like no one was, you know, I was kind of just like all on my own. It was, it was so frustrating.

I can't explain it. But, you know, I said, then I went in there and talked to him and they said, listen, you need three, you know, Dr. Williams worked with me on his end. He charges like, dude, the guy makes $20,000 of surgery. He does him all day. Do the math. Yeah. It's insane.

Yeah. All day. Every day. That's crazy. So he worked with me. He was like, listen, I'll give you, it was like 75% off. Wow. He was like, I want to be the guy.

I want to be, you know, he wants to be the guy that got me back in the cage and whatnot. So I was like, man, you're the man. So I was going back now. And, you know, I had to put a down payment at $3,000. So I was like, do it. Boom, $3,000. Do the surgery, and then we'll figure out the rest after. I had no idea what was going on.

So I called out, you know, Dr. Davidson's been a big help. Yeah. He talked to the medical department at hospital special surgery, and they're getting that hospital build down. And, you know, they're going to cover it. So it's, it all worked out. It was such a frustrating process. And it was hell for me for six months or whatever. But at the end of the day, it's all good because I got my new knee.

Yes. Someone was walking on this thing five weeks ago. That is wild. Isn't that crazy? That is crazy. Kind of creepy, but crazy. Awesome. I'm so happy.

I'm happy this worked out because I was checking in with you throughout the entire process. And I'm happy that you detailed it like that. The doctors do deserve the credit when they're able to pull this off and do what they tell you. I know there's a lot of money and stress involved. So let me ask you this because we've unfortunately run out of time because we got you a little late, but we will make up for it in the very near future. What's your perfect scenario as far as when you come back and against two? I'm hoping like July would be great.

August would be okay. Okay. against two I don't know I'll see too soon see where the division's at there's a bunch of guys

who have been you know mentioning my name who I haven't forgotten about and Bobby Green I was supposed to kick his ass so maybe we'll bring that one back we'll see maybe

Gilbert Melendez will come back from his his thing and yeah that'll be a good one and then I know I don't know what Khabib's doing but he's been he thinks I'm an easy

fight because he keeps asking for it for his little comeback fight. So I'd love to show him that, you know, it's not definitely not going to be as easy as he thinks it is. So that'd be a good one. Well, the good news for... Yes, go ahead. No, no, you go ahead. I was going to say...

I was probably just going to say something stupid. No, we like that. We like to hear that from you. I know you do. The good news for now is that you're on the comeback trail. The surgery's out of the way. You're feeling better. You're working out on a Sunday night.

That makes me very happy. So, next time... Every Sunday night. Every Sunday. This is all we do. Okay. This is all we do. Al Jermaine Stelling's printing out Groupon's, he said he's going to give me to all the bantam weights in the division, and they can come train with us on Sunday, too.

All right. Fair enough. Next time we need to have you on Skype. We need to see your face. So it's almost good. We did a little taster here, and then we'll check in with you as the rehab continues. For now, we have to say goodbye, though. I'm so happy for the news.

Get well soon. Keep it up, man. And I look forward to seeing you back in there sooner rather than later. Thanks, man. You got it. All right. There he is. rage and ally, Quinta, great stuff from him.

Let's go from him. A very important member of team, Sarah Longo, to another very important member of the team. Checking in now with Chris Wyman, who's joining us, I believe, from an airport. Chris, are you there? Hey, what's up, Ariel? How are you doing? I'm doing great.

Thank you very much for the time, Chris. I know you're kind of tight for time. So let's get into it. This is the first time that you've talked to anyone publicly since you have seen 194. If you can just give us an update physically, how are you feeling? Because that was a tough one to watch.

It seemed like you took a lot of damage. The fight may have went on a little longer. How are you physically right now? Physically, I'm good. During the fight, I was, you know, obviously my face was beat up. Other than that, just some other little dings that I had to take care of. But face was good.

Luckily, I didn't get too concussed. So it didn't mess me up. I didn't get too messed up. But I'm good. Have you watched the fight since it happened? And if so, do you feel like it went on too long? No. I mean, you know, I never went out.

I was almost, you know, I was still fighting back. So I don't think they should stop it. I think Herb Dean did a good job. I understand where people are coming from. I would have been upset if they did stop it earlier. I wouldn't have been complaining, but I'm also not complaining that they kept it going. Okay, so it's great to hear almost exactly 30 days later, almost a month later, that physically you're feeling fine. Emotionally, though, I mean, losing the title in that fashion, how are you dealing with the loss, you know, less than a month later?

You know, at first, you know, I've had some amazing wins in my career and the moments we're always surreal every time, every victory. You know, you imagine winning so many times and then when it finally happens, it's just a surreal feeling. And the way I felt after the loss was by far the most surreal feeling I ever felt. It felt like a bad dream that I just wanted to, you know, go back to sleep and just make it not happening again. You know, it's a felt like a bad dream. So it's definitely been a surreal thing. but emotionally and mentally now, I feel like I'm in a way better place than I've ever been.

I'm more excited about the future, more motivated than I've ever been. You know, being champ for a while and being undefeated and having some of the biggest fights early on in my championship career against like Anderson-Silver and Michita, MV2 on Luke is a big fight. But it wasn't like the biggest fight of my career. Motivation was there for me to train hard and stuff like that.

But I felt like I was kind of going through the motions through camp and it just felt like it was just another fight I got to win and the true excitement while I'm walking to the cage and you know while we're touching gloves it just wasn't there it wasn't the biggest fight of my career

you know it when you when you compare it to some of the other fights I've had but it should have been you know but it's true it was just a great experience for me you know I could play back a million things in that fight I could have done differently but I'm really happy I lost I feel like if I would have won that fight if I would have

somehow figured a way to beat him up, you know, I wouldn't be, have the opportunity that I have now to grow and grow as a fighter and truly reach my potential, which now I feel like I have the freedom to change things that I've wanted to change for years, but, you know, you don't want to fix things that aren't broken. Right. It kind of stops you from making changes, but now I feel more free than I've ever felt to change the things and do things that I wanted to do. and without feeling any, like, you know, I'm cursing myself.

So I feel great. I'm real excited about the future. I feel like this just is going to create a whole different monster inside of me. And I'm excited to go out there and fight again. So, yeah. What in particular are you looking forward to changing now? You know, there's a lot of things, little things. You know, there's my nucleus will always stay the same.

Matt's there very long ago. Those are my, that's, that's, that's my family. So it's not like I'm changing my camp or anything. I have my coaches. But there's little things to be determined. I don't want to go into anything right now, but I just don't want to be speculating like I'm leaving the camp.

By the way, I'm talking, or anything like that. Okay. That those guys are my family, and I know how people will take my words and try to, you know, spin them in a different direction. So those guys are my family that will always be my nucleus. I'm not, you know, abandoning anybody. but it just allows me to change myself in ways I wanted to change myself for a long time.

So I just feel, I feel great. It felt to me like you won the first round, you lost the second round, you were winning the third round until you threw that kick, and that was sort of the beginning of the end. Can you, again, since this is the first time that you're talking about it, why did you throw that kick, and you regret doing that? No, I don't regret doing that because I'm happy. I'm happy I lost. Right.

Everybody could talk about the kick, and, you know, I do feel like I was winning the fight, but I was running on, like, two cylinders, and I feel like I deserve to lose that fight, and I'm happy I did. Wow. If I, you know, I just felt like he was circling that way, and I just felt to go for a spin and back kick, he capitalized on it. It took me down, and then, hang on it was it? Okay.

He capitalized it took me down, but that doesn't mean it should be done to the fight for me. Right. You know, it's not the spin and back kick that I'm really critical on myself about. You know, it was it a pretty spinning back kick? Did it change the momentum of the fight? You know, definitely. But there's things that I should have been doing that I didn't do as soon as I hit the ground. And there's reasons on why I didn't end.

And there's things that I'm excited about to change to do things differently. So I feel like everything happens for a reason. and I feel like there's a big plan for me and this is part of the plan. It's almost... Go ahead, sorry. I was going to say, it's almost a little bit shocking

to hear you say that you deserve to lose. How long did it take for you to feel that way? To go from the heartbreak because it was also so much shocking just to see you in tears walking out of the cage there was a lot riding on this fight, but to hear you actually have this positive spin on it and say, I deserve to lose

and you're happy that you lost and all that. When did you come to that You know, it's one of those things. I felt weird. I mean, the camp, the lack of excitement, and I'm not making any excuses. I trained hard, but lack of excitement about it. I just couldn't trick myself into being extremely excited about it for whatever reason. Yeah, so I just, I don't know.

Wait, what was the question again? I'm sorry, I'm walking to the airport. No, no, it's okay. The question was, how long did it take for you after the fight to say, you know what, this is a blessing? This is good. I deserve this. I'm happy.

Yeah, I'm sorry about that. No problem. It was like a slow thing, so you kind of feel like these things that are a little off during camp, and then you're walking in the cage and fill it a little off, and then you lose. It was surreal. It was just weird, you know, losing. But then shortly after, you know, you realize, you know what, This is far the plan.

This is what was meant to happen. He was a better man that night. And there's a million things in my mind that I know could have gone differently and I could have done differently during camp and in the fight. But at the end, I have no regrets. Like, I really don't because now I have the ability to come back even better. And if I would have won that fight, I don't think my improvement from fight to fight would have been there.

I think I would have stuck with the same thing. you know, if it's not broken, don't fix it. So, you know, being undefeited and, you know, for that long time, you just don't feel the need to change things. But now I have that gift to be able to just be free and whatever I feel I need to do, I could do. Not any, without a second guessing myself. I recall in the countdown show you said that you still got time?

Okay, I'll meet you on the plane. How much, hang on, how much longer? How much longer? Okay, I got like, I guess I got a short time that I thought. I got like three minutes, I guess. No problem. So they're going to take me off the flight. Okay, I got two questions for you, okay?

First, what was, you spoke on the countdown show about, you know, you got your kids, your son loves you being champion. What was it like when you had to tell them you weren't champion? Yeah, that was, that was the hardest part of everything, man. There's nothing like, you know, you've seen my son and my family. So involved in my life, and you've seen him on the countdown shows, and especially my son, he's just so vocal. He knows his daddy's the champion.

He's so proud of me. He knows I'm fighting Luke Rockhole. He thinks him to, you know, he wants me to throw him down and beat him up, and he wants me to be the champion again. He knows daddy doesn't lose. I was undefeated forever, and he just knew that I don't lose. And so for me to have to tell them myself, because no one else told them, you know, they fell asleep.

Right. You know, in Vegas time it's late, so they fell asleep. and for the fight. I made sure no one told them that I lost. And that morning, you know, they came to my room and I had to tell them the news, and especially for my son, it was very hard for me. I get emotional just thinking of it now.

It's very hard. But at the end of the day, you know, it's a month ago now. He still loves me. I'm still his hero. You know, he's still, it's his me champion. He knows that he's going to have a good next fight. He knows he wants. wants me to beat up Luke Rockhold next time. He wants me to get him back. But it was a good learning

experience even for him, for him to learn for his life. Yeah. You know, that's not, but sometimes you do lose, but that's not what defines you. It's about what you do afterwards. And I get back up again. And I'm backed up better than ever, and I can't wait to show everybody who I truly am. Okay, and the last question, perhaps the most important one in the mall, what's the plan here? Because it feels like, at least to me, that next fight for Rockhold is still very much up in the air. I mean, he's talking about Vitor and Romero's kind of getting pushed off to the side. Your name has been brought up by him, of all people. What's next for you? Do you have any idea? And what do you want? That's the fight I want. You want an immediate rematch? I think that's the fight I deserve. And that would be the biggest fight of my life. That trumps my innocent civil fights. That Trump. That Trumps. my little machita, my Vitor fights. It trumps everything. That's the biggest for my life.

I'm going to be a completely different animal, motivated more than ever. And I'm going to go repay him a little bit of what he did to me. With no personal vendetta, no emotion, but just competitively just go out there and just completely demolish him. Have you told this to the UFC? board with this?

Yeah, well, yeah. So the next day, Lorenzo was, you know, such a great guy. He came to my room and we hung out and he spent time. We watched football. We just talked life. And I let him know right there and then that, you know, that wasn't me in that case that night. And anybody who knows me, anybody who's seen me trained, whoever anybody who's trained with me, anybody's pretty much seen any of my flight.

They know something was off. And they're right with no shoes. He was the better man at night. but I'm going to be a completely different person when I step in there with him next time. So do you think you're getting it next? Is that what's next for you? That's all I'm focused on.

Wow. Right now, right now I'm training already. And I'm just so hungry and determined. And the only face I see is Luke Rockholds. Okay. Let's leave it at that. You have a plane to catch, right? Yes, I do.

Everybody actually left me. No, no, no. Okay, I'll let you go. Thank you, Chris. Tremendous stuff, and we'll talk to you soon. All the best to you. I don't want to be responsible for that. All right, take care. All right, bye, bye, bye, thank you.

There he is Chris Wyman, about to catch a plane, but I think he said it all. So amazing. You know, I didn't know what to expect. I sent Chris, you know, no secret. Contrary to what Michael Bisping may tell you, I'm not biased. I'd like to think that I call it like I see it. That being said, there are certain guys, like a Chris, like a Connor, where maybe it felt like, you know, from,

And that's just foresight. That's just me saying, I think this guy's going to be champion. Hanging your hat on a certain prediction, a statement or two. And, you know, he became champion, and he had a great run. And it was fun to be a part of that. I sent him a text after he lost and just said, you know, I didn't ask for an interview. There's a certain, you know, we're human beings as well. Of course you want the first interview.

Of course you want to talk to him first. But you've got to respect space, and especially after you come off of a thing. something like that. So I didn't ask for it. I didn't reach out to him, didn't speak to him on the phone, essentially up until this point. So I wasn't really sure

what to expect out of him because you remember that shot of him walking out of the cage, crying, he was thoroughly beaten down, and it's great to hear that physically he is okay. But I really wasn't sure, you know, some guys need

six months to come back. Some people don't talk. I mean, it was on a much smaller scale. The world wasn't, you know, watching that particular fight and to a degree rooting against him. But, you know, we still haven't actually heard from Ronda Rousey. Again, much smaller scale.

The paparazzi isn't going after Chris Wyman right now. But still, some people need time before they speak to the media and you hear their voice, you see them. And I understand that. He said he wanted to come on and he wanted to come on now. Maybe now's the time to campaign for that fight, whatever. But I wasn't sure what we would hear. Excuses.

I wasn't right. This and that. I mean, you got to get them. As far as handling a loss, of that magnitude, that might be one of the better, that might be one of the better interviews from a loser that I've heard, a month out. I deserved it. I'm happy. Very few, very few complaints, very few excuses focused on what's next. I mean, kudos to him there for that. So it's going to be interesting because it feels like for whatever reason Romero isn't getting

that fight, at least right now. I mean, Luke was trying to do anything he could to not take in. And I understand where he's coming from because Romero's in the biggest name, doesn't speak English, it's gonna be hard. It's all on Luke. Wanted the Vitor fight, have a hard time seeing that happen right now,

especially after the Anderson fight fell through, so I don't know if they're too keen on doing that right away. Could it be Chris Miami? That'll be very interesting. You know, UFC not shy about making immediate rematches, especially as of late. It's gonna be interesting, but I got to say, blown away by what Chris Wyman just said there

and how he dealt with the loss, very impressive. So UFC 194, of course, one of the biggest events of 2015. The co-main was Chris Wyman, main event, of course. Connor McGregor, Jose Aldo, 13 seconds. Wow, we've talked about it, unbelievable. Now, on this particular show, we've talked to a lot of people surrounding Connor McGregor who are a part of Team McGregor. We've talked to, of course, on many occasions, John Kavanaugh, his head coach,

We very recently spoke to Ido Portal, his movement coach. We also spoke to Mr. McGregor, Tony McGregor, Conner's father after the win at UFC 189. We have not talked to up until now one of the most important people in Team McGregor. One of the guys who has been there with him essentially from the get-go and also one of the most important figures in the history of Irish MMA. one of the men who is largely responsible for this Irish MMA explosion that we've seen all around the world as far as the UFC is concerned in particular. This is a guy who is a pioneer in many people's eyes, and it was so interesting to see the reaction to the simple mention that he was going to be on this show today. A lot of people weren't writing back to me about Connor or Uriar or Don. They were all writing about how excited they were that Rowdy Owen Roddy was going to be on this show.

If you don't know the name, you should. You've certainly seen him. He is Connor Greger's striking coach. He is a coach over at SBG, also at his own club, Primal MMA, and as I mentioned, a pioneer of Irish MMA. And he joins us right now on the phone. Owen, how are you? I'm good, Ariel. Thanks for the coin words.

I'm happy to be on the show. It is a pleasure, my friend. Thank you very much for the time. I've wanted to have you on for quite some time, and I apologize. It took us so long. So there's a lot to get to with you, but I have to ask the obvious question first because everyone's buzzing, and I don't want to put you on the spot here. But from your perspective, is there anything that you can tell us regarding Conner's next fight? We all presume it's going to be Hafeld Dosangos on March 5th, yet here we are less than eight weeks out, and there's no announcement.

What can you tell us about it? Yeah, well, all I know, just from listening to Conner, is that he is fighting March 5th. the opponent is up in the air. It could be DeSanos. It could be whoever. But the thing is, Conner, Conner's looking to fight March 5th, and realistically, everybody wants to see Conner, so the opponent is not really important.

But, yeah, so I'm sure he'll be fighting March 5th, so just stay tuned. And that is consistent with what he has said in the past. The opponent is just a, you know, a blank face. But for you guys, have you guys begun actually training for March 5th? Yeah, well, we're getting into camp now, and, you know, realistically, we don't really get our camp. We train consistently a couple of changes when it comes to the opponent, but nothing to feel much changes, so we're always in camp. Okay, so now I want to talk about your connection to all of this, because like I said, you're always in his corner, you're his striking coach when he's doing open workouts and everything, all along this ride, you're front and center.

but as long-time fans of yours and Irish MMA would know, you fell just short of realizing your dream of fighting into UFC. Just short, you hung up your gloves a couple of years ago. Being a part of this ride, does that give you, you take some solace in that, like, okay, you didn't make it, you didn't get to step foot in the octagon as a fighter, but you're there every step of the way with not only Connor, but some of the other SBG fighters as well,

or was it something you had to get over mentally? Like, you know, we're all human beings. you want to realize your own dreams. How do you deal with those emotions? Yeah, well, I mean, yeah, it was pretty tough. So, you know, I said in May, maybe 15 years ago, I was 17 years ago. And my goal was to get to the UFC.

There was no worries for it in the UFC. Nobody really knew about it. And, you know, I got in in the early days when John was still training. and, you know, there's maybe five or six guys in the country that even knew what NNA was. So, yeah, I got in back then, and my goal was to get to the UFC,

and, you know, slowly but surely, you know, Orlando started to come on the UFC's radar, and for me at that time, I was, you know, pretty much at the forefront. But, yeah, I just think I was a little bit before my time. I hung up the gloves after a loss against Wilton Hayes. It wasn't down to the loss. It was just the fact that I was doing so much.

I was walking out of John's gym. I ran my own gym. I was walking out of college. I was pretty much spread to 10. So I called it a day and just focus on the coaching. You know, to all that time as well, I was spoken with Connor and I was one of his main training partners for a very long time. One of his main sparring partners.

He was one of my main sparring partners. And then, you know, both of us being self-paws. we used to pat each other an awful lot and, you know, as I slowed down I kind of took up the role as as being as Padman and just really kind of helping them out with that and that's what people kind of know me for

today. But yeah, I fought for a very long time. I had a decent enough career, some good fights, some good wins, a few losses, but yeah, it was a great career. I really enjoyed it. But it's a little bit better, you know, just hanging up the gloves before

the Irish invasion came along, but I think people know and respect me for what he did in Ireland in the sport, and I'm happy with that. Well, you know, there always has to be a pioneer, and I think many people will put you in that category, so you can take a lot of pride in that. But your last fight was in 2012, the aforementioned Wilson Hayes fight. Prior to that, you had won, I believe, seven or eight in a row, and you had this huge fight against Shannon Googerty in July of 2012, which almost felt like, okay, this might be the fight that gets you to the UFC, you were fighting a former UFC fighter, you win that fight

from all accounts, I've watched it afterwards, but it was pandemonium in the arena because you had a great comeback and all that. Did you think in your mind that that was it, that you were finally going to get your chance after that one? You know, I don't know. We still kind of went on the radar at that stage.

You know, it really took Connor. It took Connor and Connor's confidence and his ability to to get the UFC to take notice. I thought I was getting there slowly but surely. I thought maybe I needed one or two more fights. I thought maybe after the Wilson fight, Nevada won that

I probably would have got the call because I think Conner was after getting signed at that stage as well. And yeah, I thought it was up next but I didn't get to win and I kind of called it a day after that. I was going to call it a day after the Wilson fight pretty much anyway, but yeah, So that was there.

So now with the rise and MMA and Ireland being so popular, have you been ever approached by any promoter, anyone to say, come on out? I mean, you can make some more money now. It's a lot more popular. You can fight on a bigger platform as far as TV. Have you ever been tempted to come out of retirement? You know, I have been approached.

I've definitely been approached by a couple of organizations. And then, you know, when I was fighting, the money was terrible, you know. And that was one of the reasons why, as well, you call it a day, you're trying to do three times a day for six weeks and you're getting tennis fire. But yeah, I have been approached, but I won't come now with retirement.

Although after every fight I watch, every weekend, I watch a UFC, I get the butterflies, they get excited. I'm like, you could deal around. You could come back and hang with these guys. Yeah, now, I wouldn't come back. I've too much now, you know. I have two gyms running, and it's just two half of me to do.

And, you know, when you hang up the gloves, I think it's important that you stick by a lot of fighters. They hang up, they come back, they hang up, and they fight late into their career. They do damage to themselves, you know. I think it was the right time for me to call it a day, and I won't go back. I'm happy with what I'm doing.

Like, I mean, I'm getting to see the world. I'm getting to experience, you know, stuff that nobody, nobody gets a experience, you know, to be part of a world title, you know, a champion, a UFC world champion to help him to get to where he is now. That's good enough for me. I was talking to John Kavanaugh recently, and he said, this was his quote about you. He said, quote, if I had a choice between me or him as my coach, I'd pick him. I genuinely mean that.

That's incredibly high praise from someone like him. When did you realize that you can become a great coach after fighting? I mean, I coached for most of my career. When I met John, maybe, as I said, 14 years ago, I first off, I couldn't pay for my face, so I cleaned the mats and I cleaned the mats for about a year. And then he asked me, said, do you want to teach the kids program for me on?

and, you know, it'll be good for you. You'll be good for you, you know, when you're coaching, you have to understand positions and techniques a little bit better. And I was teaching the kids program. And I just kind of fell in love with teaching. You know, you get a great buzzer of teaching somebody something. And then a week later, you see them, you know, work that technique on an opponent, on an alive opponent.

You get a great buzzer over. So I kind of started to enjoy that. And I've always been coaching. hosting teaching classes. And, yeah, maybe I'm a patient person as well. I give a lot of time for people, so maybe that kind of helps. Do you recall the first time you met Connemer Greger, and if so, what were your thoughts?

Yeah, yeah, I do remember. I met Conno McGregor and Tom Egan at the same time. Tom Egan obviously fought in UFC 93. but I met the two of the guys in a small gym and one of John's first champs in a health cross

and the two of them you know it were very new Conard knew nothing he was a good striker and Tom had a bit of kickboxing done a little bit of

jitzaum but not much to kill him and you know I was getting ready for a fight and stuff and he didn't couldn't believe that I actually

fought but you actually compete you actually get in to a cage or into a ring because there's no cages like

and you fight and they were kind of shocked so we were moving around and I was moving around with Tom and then I was moving around with Connor and I remember kind of moving around and Connor kind of hit me and I was like shit she's this kid hit hard man so I took him down and I

submit him like I was here but I remember I remember I'm just getting up off the ground and just not being phased at all but you could almost see in his other guy he was like I could knock you out evening that shot I landed would have knocked you out if I wanted it

and that was from day one kind of having that 100% belief in himself and that was the one thing that stuck with me you know all kind of's career remember seeing that

and I'm from day one before session no jihitsu no wrestling but still I would have knocked you out I would have beat you like and you always gonna add that

and it just kind of stuck with me like even for this day I often think back and I'm like Jesus man he had you had you know we had that in him from day one, which is not many people have that.

Do you recall what the turning point for him was? Because, I mean, now the confidence that he possesses and more so than that, just the skill that he has been putting on display and how he's finishing these great fighters, legends like Jose Aldo, you know, that wasn't always apparently. We forget that the guy does have two losses on his record, albeit those losses were many moons ago. But do you recall when the turning point came for him, in your opinion, you thought that this guy actually has the potential to not only be a great European fighter,

a great Irish fighter, but to be one of the great UFC fighters as well. Yeah, well, I mean, I didn't remember a very long time ago as well before any of his losses. I remember saying to people, like, this kid, I remember saying that Conner says you could easily go to the UFC Conner.

There's nobody that has your ability, your striking ability, your ability to be able to get yourself in positions. and land shots so clean. Nobody has that. And from kind of very early on, I would say that to him, you know,

just walk on your wrestling, walk on your jitza and stuff. I remember saying it to his dad before his loss, his first loss, I was like, now, Conner's going to the UFC, and then he lost,

and I was devastated. I'd done his corner for that fight. And he got cotton in a knee bar. Topped up, but he was still very inexperienced. he took a bit of time off after his force loss he was still very young came back after about maybe six months

started training the game put a good run together and he fought Joe Duffy and he fought Joe Duffy you know we all know what happened Joe Duffy submit him in the force but I'll never forget Connor was back in the gym that Monday

training and he was like I made a mistake I'll fix the mistake and I'll new one And for me, you know, that was the point where I was like, he's got it now. He's not going to worry about losses and that. He's going to fix the mistakes. He's going to keep improving. And after that, he was a bit more mature as well.

So I just think he was able to take things and destroy it. But after that fight, he just became a totally different animal. He really focused on his jih Tjitsu. He put the ghee on. He trained jiu-jitsu day and day, he trained a lot. more wrestling. He just lived in the gym. From that point on,

that's where Connemagall we know now. That's where he came from, you know? One of the aspects of his game that I appreciate the most is that he doesn't waste punches. He's like a sniper out there. And when he hits you, in particular,

with his left, it's lights out. I'm going to give you the credit for all of that, since you're his striking coach. I mean, this left hand. I mean, he was a good... sorry? No, go ahead, please. I mean, he was a good striker when he came into the gym.

But, you know what? It wasn't, it's, he's just very, very good at reading people's bodies. That's where I find. I mean, even when I moved around economy south and he used to spare him, he knew exactly what shots were coming. He could put you in a position where he knew that you were going to throw, you know, were left straight and he would have to

count it to him and he's very good at that even over the years now he's just refined that and he can seem to do it a lot quicker let's get guys coming into the gym Connor would have never sparred them and within 30, 40 seconds

he can work out what shots they're likely to throw make them throw them he'll slip them and he'll put the shots in to finish them and he's got great time and are you know

But yeah, you know, I mean, we've done pads, we've moved around for many years, so yeah, I've helped him, but it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, is what I think is, is special, you know? Another thing, I mean, I can't, we were talking about your emotions, but I can't imagine how surreal it must be, and I've talked about this with, um, coach Kavanaugh as well, but for you guys who are fighting in these, as you put it, these GAA halls and on a very, you know, you know, smaller scale. I mean, here in America, we weren't talking about, you know, Cage Warriors and stuff in the early days. Now it's getting a lot more of attention because of who they've produced. But can you, like, would you ever have a moment where you stop, you smell the roses, you say there are 10,000 people at this way in, in large part to see, you know, my guy, there, there are 10 million, you know, $10 million in gate revenue that has just been produced. We're fighting at the MGM. Do you ever sit back and say like, holy cow,

I can't believe it's all come to this. It's gone from the. It's gone from the, these small GA halls to this. Do you ever have those moments when you're at the fights, or is it only after the fact, or you haven't even been able to do that yet? Yeah, no, we do. I mean, I do definitely when, you know, as I said, I fought in front of, you know, two and three hundred people. They're paid nothing for it.

You know, and realistically, I never actually seem, I always thought maybe I get one or two fights in UFC, I'd make a few above, and I'd buy a half, house and that was my goal. But, you know, I will say, Connor always believed that he was going to be the best

in the world. I remember when Jose Alda was, you know, at his prime, he was smashing everybody. He smashed everybody in the WEC, went to the UFC, and I'm smashing everybody.

And I don't know what the Conner's like, Jesus, you know, Aldo's fucking solid isn't he? Conner's like that, I can see holes in his game. He says, like, he knew he was going to be the UFC kind of he knew he was going to be the champion at some stage

and slowly but surely as he won the the Cage Warrior yourself that was that was a big big thing for that time then he won two bells then he got signed with like oh he's doing good then he you know he had a fantastic win and then he had pouring in

and slowly but surely you're kind of start to believe yourself but still when you're sitting you're walking out with him and there's, you know, 10,000 Irish fans, a 16,000 Irish fans screaming. It is very surreal, and you just embrace it, and you enjoy it.

I mean, what I'd be smiling here to ear, you know? I love it. I think it's fantastic, you know. And the same of Connor, he loves it. You watch him coming out of the yellow Alder fight, and he's smiling, he's looking around, and he's getting a great buzz out of it. And we do as well.

It's unbelievable, but it's amazing. and I'm very grateful to be part of it and to have experienced it, you know. Has life changed more for you as his coach and because of all the success that you guys have had as of late? More so than, you know, all your big wins combined? Yeah, yeah, I mean, my career as an MNAA foyer, like my career as Connor McGregor's partner and striking coach far to pass as my career as an M&A for you.

Well, you know, I think my career is an MNA fighter has given me a lot of respect as well. So, but, I mean, I couldn't have wished to be Conron, a fighter, you know, fighting for a UFC title and then for him to win it in that fashion, you know. And, you know, this still is only the beginning for Connor. You know, people, he's going to surprise people again and again. I really believe that, you know. No matter who gets the fight against them on March,

you're going to see an improved Connor McGregor. You're going to see something spectacular again. People just need to chill in, and people need to get on the bandwagon instead of believing it because he goes special things, you know? And if everything goes to plan, we'll see him fight RDA on March 5th, and he can make history then,

because no one has ever held two UFC titles at the same time. how do you feel about this? He just got the featherway title. If this actually comes to fruition, how do you feel about him jumping up to 155 and fighting a guy who, and I know you can appreciate his striking because he's done great things

and especially has really come together under the tutelage of Hafeel Cordero? How do you feel about this move for him at this point in his career? You know, I think potentially it's a great match for Connor, you know. I think, you know, there's no doubt

how good DeSanos is, but, you know, for us, for me and Connor and for John, you know,

we see, we see holes in, and the Sanios game as well. And, you know, when it comes to striking, you don't,

you don't want to make even the slightest mistake when you're fighting Connor, because the slightest mistake, you'll, you'll be waking up,

you know, looking up at the ceiling. But that's what happens, you know? So, you know, potentially, it could be a great matcher,

but, you know, I still believe that if anybody's in there, Connor's at the first start standing, okay? And if you're in there standing with Connor McGregor, you know, you're in a lot of danger, no matter who you are. And you like this idea of him going from 155 to 145 and backup, you know, to continue to fluctuate between both weight classes? Yeah, I mean, I mean, I, possibly I think 155,

is a better option now because of what he's done. I've 1.45, but there is always the Fanky Edgar fight that people are going to want to see. So maybe if he goes back, fight Frankie, then you can leave that decision. Okay. But we'll say, you know, as I said, like, you know, Connors have to be the fight anyway, you know, 1.34 is 155. But I think there's a lot more matches than 155 now. So, you know, we'll cross our part when it comes.

It's an amazing thing because if he gets by Frankie, you can make the case, at least for right now, that he has cleaned out that division, wins over Porriere and Max Holloway and Dennis Siever and Chad Mendes and Josaldo and then Frankie. And after just one title defense, that's unbelievable. And then he goes up to 155. So he continues to impress.

You impress, my friend. I wish you the very best throughout your career now as a coach and a gym owner. and congratulations on your success, not only as a coach, but as a fighter as well, because as I said, you may not have gone to the UFC,

but from what I gather and from what everyone says and how passionately they speak of you, if it wasn't for people like you, and there's a very small and select group of you, if it wasn't for people like you, there would be no,

Connor McGregor and Patty Houlihan and Cahal Pendry, the guys who are in the UFC Ashing Daily, of course, as well. So congratulations and all of that. Happy for your success. and again, thank you very much for coming on the show and we hope to speak to you very soon as well.

Well, I really appreciate you. Thanks for having me on and yeah, I look forward to speaking to again. Thank you. All right, there he is. Rowdy, Owen Roddy, the striking coach for one. Connor McGregor, also headman over at Primal MMA, coach over at SBG, Ireland and the man who has been by Connor's side

along with John Kavanaugh and Artim Lobov and Tom Egan, for quite some time as well. You see him in his corner every time. Sort of the, much like John as well, the ying to Connors Yang, not as boisterous and brash and outspoken,

but I think for many reasons, that being one of them, why they work so well together. So congratulations to him on his success. Looking forward to March 5th, as you heard there, he said, look, can't speak too much about the opponent. We'll be there March 5th.

So I think if you're an Irish fan, you'll be happy to hear that. Also reached out to Conner's team in the midst of all of this during this show, and they said that the report that came out from Kambacha, at least from their end, they don't subscribe to that. They're not the ones holding up any kind of announcement or deal, and we'll get to 197 when we take your questions and comments later on.

But for now, let us transition to the man who was coaching opposite Conradger on this past season of the Ultimate Fighter. A very, I would imagine, and I may be going out on a limb here, a very interested observer, and a man who will be very, I think, interested to find out what happened Sunday night in Boston, as T.J. Dulleshaf fights Domina Cruz for the Bantamway title. Talking to our old friend Uriah Faber right now on the MMA hour. Uriah, how are you? Doing good, what's up, dude?

Happy New Year, my friend, long time. Yeah, it's been a minute. It has been a minute, as the kids say, yes. I'm doing great. I'm doing great. It's good to have you back on the show. There's a lot to get to with you, so let's get right to it. First, I'm wondering, because I spoke about this last week,

will you be in Boston to watch this fight in person? You know, I wasn't at first, and then the UFC insisted on it, and I was actually going to be going to Mexico. Oh. And hanging out in Saolita and Porto Vallarta, but I'm going to have to put that off and go out there and check out the show. Now, how do you feel about that? Are you happy to attend? There's a lot going on, or would you have rather you kind of sit on the sidelines and watch from afar? Yeah, either way is fine. I'd be watching either way. Sure. You know, it is what it is.

I'll be happy to be there and get a live shot at what's happening, but, you know, Mexico is nice too. Yes, Eric Del Fierro told us earlier on that he doesn't own a winter jacket, and he's going to need one in Boston. What about you, the California kid? Please don't tell me you're going to be wearing flip-flops over there. I'm going to bring some flip-flops and see if I can manage him. I wore some flip-flops in Sweden, you know, here and there. and it was freezing there. But I'll bring a couple of outfits

so I can make a game time decision. So you're coming off that win over Frankie Science and we'll get to that specific performance in a second. But I'm wondering, I said this is a win-win for the UFC this fight. It's very rare when you have two fighters fighting for the belt and then you have the next option chilling on the sidelines and like I said, it's a win-win. If TJ wins, there's the obvious matchup there.

If Dominic wins, there's the obvious matchup. That's a very rare thing. Have they told you, though, that you're getting the winner of this fight regardless? Absolutely not. They don't roll like that. That's a buzzkill. But, I mean, I can assume that, and that's what I'm prepared for. I think, you know, it makes sense.

That's what the fight people want to see. And I've been in the top of the division for a very long time. And, you know, it'd be a waste not to have that happen. Okay, so your emotions, I'm not. I'm curious about them as well. Cruz, long history, TJ, longer history perhaps, but some things have happened that have changed your relationship as of late. What are your emotions going into this fight?

How do you feel about the actual matchup? It's going to be an interesting matchup. I think I don't want to give away my insight on either guy, really, but I think it's going to be an interesting matchup, and I think a couple things could happen. I don't think it's going to be a one-sided affair in any way, shape, or form. Of course, I haven't seen TJ in the last few months, but over the last six and a half years or so, I feel like I know enough about him that I think he's going to win.

And I know that Cruz can be elusive. He's maybe one of the best defensive fighters out there, and TJ is more one of the best offensive guys out there, so it's going to be interesting. So you're picking TJ to win the fight for the record? Yeah. Okay, and do you think it's a, you know, a defensive guy? decision, a classic Dominic cruise fight where it's very hard to finish

the guy. You did it, and no one else pretty much has. But do you think it's one of those fights, or do you think he actually stops him? Oh, man. I don't know. You know, it's funny because Dominant got his first finish, real finish, in the history of

his career with Zupa, meaning WC and YOC, which has to be a, I know that guy's a numbers guy, he likes to talk about his numbers of stats and this and that. That's one staff is pretty impressive and not impressive at the same time. But he got his first one against Mizzagaki with a grounded pound stoppage. Yes.

So, you know, hopefully we've seen him put on some, a little bit of a killer instinct over the years, and he's more willing to step in and get nasty in there. But I think he's going to be pretty elusive. I think T.J. will find a way to connect with him. Dominic talks about, you know, he'll be quick to talk about how he has a win over me, but they just played that fight, I think, last night. And it was just apparent to me that he's not that hard to hit. I've hit him a number of times, and I hit him clean on the chin,

put him on his butt, my fist, to his chin, to his butt, on three different occasions during our fight. So I think Tiji will be able to do the same. Now, for the record... I think he'll probably finish him. Oh, wow. You think he submits him like you? No, I think he'd probably knock him out.

Okay. for the record WEC 47 in March of 2010 did win via Dr. Stoppage against Brian Bowles. Not Dr. Stoppage. Bulls didn't answer the bell because he thought he had a broken hand. Okay, fair enough, but you don't want to give him that one. Right. That's what I said.

I said pretty much the only stoppage. If you watch Dominic's interview afterwards, it was hilarious because I was thinking, oh my gosh, what a debagged this guy is. He was all false. all going around, all excited, and saying a bunch of dumb stuff. And then he later said, to those who say want to say that I didn't finish Bulls,

he broke his hand on my head. Which, I mean, you can't argue with that. He did. But he actually didn't break his hand. He thought he broke his hand. Are you surprised to see him return after all those injuries, three ACLs, the groin, hand injuries and whatnot? Like at this point that we're here in 2016,

he's about to fight for the belt. Does that somewhat shock you? No. I mean, time flies in this world. It's like, I can't believe it's been so long, but what a better time than to come in. It's almost like he skipped a bunch of BS, which is, you know, waiting for the pay to get better,

waiting to get the notoriety to get better, and it's in it a perfect time. I mean, this is the best time to be in M&A. It's on a world, you know, world level that it's never been before. It's the pay, the coverage, everything's better. So, you know, it makes sense. And I don't know if you've seen, like,

have you seen their back in force? You know, they had this sit-down with John Anick. They've done conference calls. Have you watched any of this? And do you feel like the rest of the world that, for the most part, Dominic is getting the better of T.J. in these verbal exchanges? I mean, getting the better.

Both of them look like duds. I mean, Dominic's like, he seriously reminds me of like a third grader who is like throwing out little insult and then like running behind this schoolyard teacher. I mean, it's very, I mean, it's not that interesting. I just caught the, I just caught the little tidbit they had the last time. And it's like, I mean, these guys just look like they're irritating. Well, T.J. looks irritated and Dominic looks irritated. I mean, irritating and irritated is what it is. But it's not that interesting.

It's like, you know, I'm not looking forward to hearing any of the talk, and I'm going to do my best to avoid it. I'll just speak my mind when my turn's up. Well, the good news is there's only six days left of it. I just want to read you a quick quote that T.J. said on the conference call on Friday. He said, quote, with me and Faber, that surprised me the way he's been acting as well, because I'm cool with all the guys. And really, that's just a way for him to push for a title.

fight for him to make some money. I've done nothing but show respect. I don't go out there and talk crap about Yariah and there's plenty to talk about. I'm just going to continue to be a humble guy and appreciate what he did for me in this sport. And I thought the most end quote. I thought the most interesting part of that quote was, I don't go out there and talk crap about Yariah and there's plenty to talk about. What did you make of that quote? I never heard that quote.

I don't know. What have I said? What have I said about T. That's what I'm curious about. I don't remember saying anything about the guy other than what really happened. I mean, and it is what it is. It's fine. I wonder what he's thinking.

Here's what happens. That guy gets bombarded. The old mystic Matt Conner-Riggrader called him a snake in the grass and made that thing, and so he was getting harassed at all times. But I never said he was a snake in the gas. I've never said anything. Now, is he? That's up for argument.

I've never said anything about the guy except for that it doesn't make sense. sense to me that he would turn his back on what got him to where he is and perception is reality. So if he thinks that I'm talking about this or that, here's the truth. If somebody, I mean, here's why he was upset and maybe what he's surprised about. I told him he can't not be in our team and come in and train with our team. You can't not give any credit to the team. You can't come in and beat up our guys like he's been known to do just carelessly about

other people's health and wellness. You can't not contribute back to the team. You know, helping pay back into the team. You can't do all this stuff and still be in our team. What he wanted to do was, hey, I'm having this conversation with you. I'm going to let you know. I'm no longer going to represent the team. When they're filming and stuff, I want to film out there because they're paying me.

But I'd still like to be part of the team. I'd like to be in the offseason. I want to come in and do my training there. I want to do this, I want to do that. That's not the way a team works. And so I'm not saying anything bad about the guy other than, no, you can't do that. And he lost it because he knows the reason why he's where he is today is because of, you know, I saw a clip somebody sent me on Snapchat where they said that for the first time,

T.J. has a real coach. It's like, are you kidding me, man? I mean, perception is reality. So, I mean, it's a big FU to all the coaches he's had throughout the years. Um, the bottom line is I've never said anything about the guy. And, I mean, he's upset because he's going to harassed because of his actions, but that's not my doing. That's, that's the world observing and having their own reaction things.

It's not, you know, so he's built himself into a victim. And I don't know where I step into place with that. I mean, I don't think it's, it's, you know, the, the things that have taken place throughout, throughout time with he and I have been nothing. and you can ask him this and I'll see if he you know if there's any way to combat that there's zero there's zero time that I've done anything but try to help that guy from letting him live at my house for free from taking him with me when I go work with great coaches like Phil Nurse and and and you know putting him in with uh with you know the ultimate fighter and

and getting him exposure and coaching him for for whatever he wants to take you know take give credit for or whatnot. I don't really care, but I mean, where is he getting this animosity for me? Just because I said he can't come in and train with our team. It's like, you chose to leave the team. You're welcome to be a part of our team if you wanted, but if you don't want to be a part of our team,

you can't have the benefit of being with our team, but without giving anything back. So I don't know where his animosity comes from, but it's just kind of strange how he's turned himself into a victim and me into the bad guy, and I've been nothing but respectful to him as well. If you guys were

still on good terms, he was still a part of the team, he's about to fight Dominic Cruz for the belt on Sunday, he wins that fight. What would you do? Would you fight him? Would you fight a team member, or at that point would you say, I'm not going to do it? I've already turned that fight down a couple times because of that. I've had conversations with him. It's a very, I guess when you look at someone who just sees their own perspective, it's just such a weird thing to me. for him to be so upset. I mean, I guess when you do something where you, like, turn your back on your roots, et cetera,

it's got to, I mean, there's got to be a weird spot for you. And because of that, I know that it bugs him because he's asked our guys to help him along the process. And what he was planning on doing was, you know, having the best of both worlds. I mean, it doesn't work like that. He's asked, you know, for a lot of our guys to help him out, et cetera. And, I mean, it's got to be weird going to a whole different environment

for the first time in your entire. a career, but, you know, someone that's worried about himself only can only see his side of view, is his point of view, and perception is reality. So whatever the perception is, I'm not going to argue with it because you can't argue with anybody's perception as things, because that's how they perceive, that's their reality. But the truth is, I've done nothing to try to help the guy. It is what it is at this point. You know, he made a choice. And, I mean, I don't think that it's going to matter either way, really. It's, you know, T.J. TJ is putting a lot of work.

He's a hardworking guy. He's done a good job of believing whatever he's doing at the time. When he wanted to believe that Master Tong was the best trainer on the planet, he believed that wholeheartedly. I heard him say it time and time again. And what he's taken from other coaches throughout time, I mean, it is what it is. But I think this fight is going to be a fight between two great fighters

and the best guy is going to win. I'm not sure who that is, but I'm leaning towards TJ. What's your reaction? I would be curious to know where the animosity comes. Is it just because I didn't let him on the team? Or I felt like some things that he's done have been not what a friend would do, that kind of thing? Like where does his animosity towards me branch in other than him not being able to utilize the best team in the world, our team? Well, I will have the honor of being in Boston and hopefully you get a chance to talk to him.

I will ask him that very question. How about that? That's great. Let me ask you this, though. I always tell my guys that I've told a lot of different people this, hey, don't be a victim. I'm not a victim. You're not a victim. You make choices.

You stand by them, you do whatever. You don't get to have the best of both worlds. You can, you know, you follow what you do. I mean, don't be on both sides of the fence. You just go and do your thing, but don't be a victim. You're not a victim. What's your reaction and what can you tell us about the state of the team? Because considering where you're at with TJ now,

and then I see a picture of Lance Palmer and Joseph Benavita is out there at Elevation Fight Team in Colorado, Leicester Bowling, and Elliott Marshall. I mean, how do you feel about this? You know, that's what I told T.J. Ralph about. I said, hey, man, this is purely like you're making a decision and there's actions. I said, I'm not going to do anything to. try to ruin your relationships with anyone else, period. I mean, that's not my place.

Guys, I think it's great guys have great relationships. And we've always been a gym that has allowed and, like, encouraged people to go all over. I've trained at Duke Rufus's gym. I've trained in New Mexico at Lincoln John Jackson, Jim. I've trained with Cobrina in L.A. I've changed everywhere I've gone. I've tried to go in and train somewhere.

We've never been against that. And the bottom line is I'm not going to worry about anything external. The guys that are with us, we're going to develop them into champions. We've done it before. We've had a history of champions. The guys that are not with us, I mean, so be it. It is what it is. You can't cry over spilled milk.

So it's great to have the guys that we have with us. If anybody wants to go anywhere, dude, I don't hold, I'm not handcuffing anyone. You guys go do your thing. So, you know, we had Lance Palmer on the show before his World Series of Fighting Bout, and he was saying it's going to be interesting if you guys do fight, you know, to decide who's going to corner who. Do you have any idea who you'll choose? I've got to, I've got a, I know who I'll be having corner with me. It's not a big secret.

I don't think he's going to be having anybody. I know for a fact he won't be having anyone from our team cornering him against me. I think, you know, at our last fight, he'd asked Justin Buckles to corner him, and I think it's just kind of a testament. We've, and Buckles talking about it, I said, yeah, I don't, you know, I don't have any problem with anything. If he needs that, I mean, there's no secret that Dwayne is a mess in the corner, especially when TG fights. If he's not, you know, smoked himself silly, he's, he's going to pass out or crap himself or something. And so it'll be a nice, a nice calming effect to have somebody from the history of T.J.'s background there in this corner. But that'll be the very last time that Buckles is going to corner T.J.

And he's talked about that. Buckles has really stepped up as a head guy on our team. And we've been making some great changes. Him and Holesworth both have stepped up and been lead coaches. And so it's kind of an exciting time for us. and really it makes the most sense. From an economic standpoint, when you want to talk about the decision T.J. made to, you know,

jump ship, he's going to get paid over there. He now opens the door to fight guys like myself, like Cody Garbrandt, like Chris Holder, the Holdsworth ever, you know, has a full recovery from the head trauma. And whoever else we have coming up, which are big fights, doesn't have to pay into the team. I mean, there's, you want to talk about monetary benefit. There's that there, but the truth is, you know, T.J. is a product of our team.

He gets a win over Cruz. That's a product of what he's put in throughout the years. It's part of us. And, you know, we're proud of that as well. Okay, so you didn't answer exactly who would be in your corner. Who would that be? I mean, you just have to see when it comes. Oh, okay, okay, okay. That's interesting. Where are we at with the head coaching search? Is it Justin Buckles? Is it someone else? I know Campman recently left. Where are we at with that? So we have had a talk, and, you know, Justin throughout the years has been a big coaching factor.

You know, he's helped out a lot, but he's also been having his own career as well where he'll jump in and have fights. A lot of times, you know, kind of short-noticed fights, et cetera, but he's finally had a talk and said he really wants to step up and take the lead role. And I'm not going to be fighting for forever. I'll be fighting the next two years at the most. Having buckles there, step up, and then on the other side, Holdsworth, unfortunately, he's suffered some head trauma, and we've been waiting for him to recover,

and he just talked to me and said, you know what, I really want to step up. I mean, that guy is a frigging world and all. It's none of those he undefeated as a professional and mixed martial arts won the ultimate fighter. He's a black belt for many, many years now. his striking. He's been with every coach that we've had and knows everybody's system.

He's a huge asset. So those two guys are really stepping up and kind of doing a lead coaching split. We have multiple practices that we run. It's the same system we always have and having those guys step up. And we've been working together as a team to develop even more, some of our proprietary stuff. We have our series of moves from our choke series to our. We're a Naked Choke Series, to our, you know, striking series, et cetera. And we've been developing that a lot.

So, I mean, it's funny that throughout the years people have had this big eye on the head coaching position. But we've got a whole array of coaches that are kind of splitting the responsibility with Justin Buckles and Holds with taking a lead with that. And Danny Castillo's been helping out a lot. And Lance Palmer's helped out throughout the years. But I'm having those guys really step up and take a stand has been awesome. I'm curious if behind the scenes you and T.J. have had a chance to talk and he reached out to you. You reach out to him and say, look, this got out of hand. Can we talk again? Maybe we don't have to fight. Would you be open to that at all or is that ship sailed? I don't know. I honestly, because I have no idea what goes on in the guy's head, before my last fight, when he asked Justin to be on our team or to corner him, he came backstage and said, what's up, dude? Shook hands before the way-ins.

I'm telling you, man, negativity and even self-doubt and fear, that stuff's all contagious. I don't know, you know, the fuel gets fired. I mean, the fire gets fueled almost every day with media and this and that has said. The bottom line is, look, I know who I can write down who my closest friends are. Is TG one of my closest friends? No. do I have an issue with the guy? No.

I mean, it's not like, I don't know, I just don't know where his animosity is coming. I can only think it's because I said, no, you can't act like you're not on our team, but actually come be a part of our team because we have a team to build. We have a history to build. This is, you know, 12 years that this team has been built. So maybe that's what he's referring to, but I see the guy, it's fine. I mean, when we fight, that's a whole different story. You know, that's a whole different story.

but I mean is he is he my my good friend I mean absolutely not I mean that's through actions and that's how friendships are it's not like do you say your friends with someone oh yeah he and I are friends no it's it's through actions how do people you know you know how people treated you how do you treat people etc etc and so I mean in my closing that door no not necessarily but I mean I don't think we're really making steps in the right direction and we're going to be beaten the crap out of each other with some really animosity well so so what do you mean when you say, you know, it's a different story when you fight? What do you mean by that?

How did I say it in context? You got to remind me. I know who just said it, but. I think you were implying. I think that when you train, it's different. Oh, that's 100%. For me, that's 100% true. And actually, you know, TJ is one of those guys where it's almost like he trains,

without consideration for his training partners, like he's in a fight, looking for knees, looking for the knockout, et cetera. But he's never done that with me. He's always been really respectful with me. And you've never seen us elevate things to that level, whether it's, well, first off, I don't do that in general in practice because, you know, that's not how you're supposed to, you know, do your partners. But, and he's never felt that for me.

So, I mean, that's a different story. I mean, a real fight is a whole lot different than practice. And we've got some great ghosts throughout the years, and I guess he's got a lot of, I mean, he's got a bad temper in practice, but he's always kept it under control with me. In your heart of hearts, deep down, are you kind of hoping that Cruz wins so you don't have to go through this whole drama?

There's that rivalry there. You guys aren't friends. You fought twice, nice trilogy, all that. You don't have to go through the whole team alpha-mouth thing. It feels like a cleaner scenario for you. Are you hoping for that? no not necessarily I mean

why I mean I don't know I just more excited for for a fight with with TJ than I am with Cruz

for whatever reason I mean there's it's you know the story is there I mean you can imagine how the feelings are

my thing with Domit Cruz is I've always been trying to find some some sort of some sort of rivalry it's hard me. I like most people. And Dominic Cruz is like the first guy to just be a real jackhole and get on my nerves. And, you know, but that's, that is what it is. It's pretty mundane.

But as far as having real animosity and a real, like, you know, itch to fight, you know, I feel like it's more so with T.J. And it's kind of the fact that he's turned this into him. being a victim, which is really ironic and kind of comical. But, you know, if it's a financial thing, like, you know, like a decision that's been made financially, it's, it's something that has changed from a financial decision to a financial decision, and it is a little bit personal. Final question for you, Rai, and I appreciate the time. It's good to catch up, as always. My mother in particular is very happy that you're on. Always gives me a text when you're about to come on.

Oh, she's listening. She'll text me in a second. What's the state, in terms of the mood of the team? Because that weekend, that was a strange one, and it actually lingered to the... Paige, Chad, you come up, and it's interesting that you were last and you're the captain, so that that was a nice way. But then even several days later, in the same venue as Paige and Chad, Lance loses his belt. So that's a big blow to three of the bigger names on the team. what's the mood like now?

As the captain, as the guy, as the founder, what's the mood like at Team Alpha Male? You know, to be honest, it's been great. And I think, you know, trimming out the fat and seeing who's with us, it's just, you know, there's been cancer. It's like you have to cut out the cancer. And when you have the slightest amount of doubt, the slightest amount of fear, et cetera,

that can kind of spread. And people do it unconsciously. And for me, seeing ups and downs being highlighted, I mean, there's all eyes on us, which is a blessing and a curse. But, I mean, if you look at maybe you know, Winkle John Jackson's record over the last month, if you look at Conner's team, what hit a record is over the last month, you know, it's a very individual sport and there's ups and downs in it. And so it was hard to see those guys lose, but we're no strangers to losing. the sport where there's up and downs all the time and the negativity that's that's that comes from these kind of moments like snapshots in an entire existence of a team is just motivating for the guys that know it's an internal battle i mean a fight is an internal battle if you let anything

external get to you any weakness get to you any fear etc you're doing yourself a disservice so we've just been building building the confidence of our guys we saw Andre Feely have his best performance ever. Cody Nolove, who's a star in the making, is about to have a huge fight against John Lineker, and I've never seen a fire lit under him like I have now. I mean, it's exciting time for us. And, you know, Paige, what a showing of heart that she had against an opponent that was ranked extremely high above her, you know, a number, especially in this shallow women's division,

and a number three and a number seven are, you know, obviously we're pretty far apart. So seeing her reignited with her passion and wanting to get back in here and get better, you know, Chad, if you watch that fight, it was a, they both took the same exact step, the same combo, and he was just on the short end of it. So these are things that happen in a fight, and the inner confidence of folks should not be because of other people's performances. and I think I showed that and it's something that you need to believe in.

So the state of the nation is great. I'm excited for the future. This is a small, small snapshot of the overall picture of Team Alpha Man. We've experienced highs and experienced lows throughout the 13-year, 12-year stint. So it's an exciting time for us. 2016 is going to be a great year. This big fight against Cody and Linear is something that I'm looking forward to. And I'm trying to heal up right now and get back in the swing of things as well

and getting ready for a big performance. My 2016 is going to be a good one. A pleasure as always. Great words there to end another chat. I look forward if we have the opportunity to seeing you in Frid Boston. I look forward to hearing your thoughts after the fight as well. Safe travels out there. Your eye, thank you very much for the time again.

Happy New Year. Congratulations on the win in December. And may the best man win Sunday night in Boston. this is going to be an interesting ride. Thank you again, Uriah. Always a pleasure. You got it. All right, there he is.

The California kid himself, Uriah Faber, stopping by to talk about, among many other things, T.J. Dilloshav versus Dominic Cruz and where he fits into all that. Okay, one more guests to go today. Very curious to hear from this man. It's been in the news as of late.

Of course, more importantly than everything that's been surrounding him, he is returning sooner than we all thought, and maybe we shouldn't be surprised he's fighting February 21st in Pittsburgh, making his UFC Walterweight debut against Tim Means. We're talking to my old pal, Cowboy Soroni, Donald Seroni on line one. Donald, how are you? Well, how are you doing?

I'm doing great. Thank you for the time. So there's a lot to get to with you here on the show, Donald, and I really appreciate you stopping by. People were very, you know, very worked up over this, all up in arms. When it came out that you were actually fined for a flag that you wore on your shorts in Orlando, Can you tell us about this? Is this actually what happened? Were you actually fine for this?

Absolutely. I was fine for it, you know. Yeah, I was fine for wearing an old flag. Patriotically, that's not very cool, is it? I don't think. Especially when they make a pair of green shorts for McGregor, then I get fine for putting an American flag, a small piece of American flag on my shorts.

Does this flag, other than the fact that it's an American flag, flag, you're a proud American. Does it mean anything in particular to you? Did someone give it to you? What does it represent? Yeah, I mean, my grandma, and that's all besides the point, I mean, but just the fact that it was an American flag, I mean, if we just look at just that fact, I mean, that alone is kind of, you know, whether it's superstitious or whether it was a gift for my grandma or whether it's because I love the United States. I mean, it doesn't matter. I mean, I understand a fine, sure. fine, I'll take a fine.

What they did to me was a lot more than a fine, brother. So here's my, I'm not going to tell you the amount because I don't think that's right, but let's just say it was a lot, like a lot, a lot. And so I want to talk to Reebok, and I want to say, Reebok, if you can have the money, that's fine.

I'm okay with that. But let's at least take that money and give it to a charity of your discretion. I don't care who. Let's make it a wounded warrior or let's make it any, military charity that you want since it was a flag and I feel that patriotic let's let's give it back to the people that the reason I get a fight and the reason I get

to walk around and be free every single day that they fight the lives for so let's let's donate that to them I'll even double it I'll even match the charity I'll even match the amount again and give it you know so it's not the fact that that they took it's just I mean over a place it just the amount to me is it was crazy you know A few grand, sure. I would have taken that, like, yeah, yeah, yeah, but the amount they took was ludicrous. Wow. Yeah, my thing to the, to whoever took it is you only have to give it back to me.

Let's donate it to a charity. Let's give it to the wounded warriors or to the women with children that are orphaned because their fathers were over defending our country, you know? So let's do that with it. I think that's a fantastic idea. I'm wondering, did you have any inkling that you would get fond? Did you speak to anyone beforehand, or was this a complete shock? I mean, I told them I was going to wear it, and they were like, well, we might find you.

I was like, well, you know, I'm probably going to put it on there. There's just something that I've done for every fight, and, you know, I guess I'll have to take the fine. So I don't know if the fine they gave me with a punishment for being unruly. But like I said, a few grand. I mean, look at, let's just say the NFL, they have a $5,000 uniform cap, and they make me. millions of dollars, right? And their uniform cap is $5,000. So even $5,000, I wouldn't even be that mad.

But still, come on, the amount they gave me is ludicrous. Wow. Ludicrous. So, yeah. Can you give us, like, a ballpark range? I'm just very curious to know exactly. It's more than $5,000. Wow.

Quite a bit more. Let's just say I could probably go buy a brand new car for a Vietnam vet right now. Wow. That's money. Yeah. How did you find? find out. Just the same way you guys did.

They called me, or they called my management company and told them what they were going to do. So, and they called me, told me, and I was like, that is absurd. So whatever. Yeah, I mean, it's over and done with now, like I said, and then the part that really upset me, if I do it again, I won't be able to fight again. So that kind of buckled me. Who said that?

I don't know if they told Josh. They said, if I put it on again, that's it. But so we'll see. I mean, I plan on wearing it again. They're going to find me. I'm going to wear it again. We'll see. So you did tweet this.

You said you wrote like a million percent that you, if you could and if you know, you're fighting again, you do it again. That's accurate. If we could reverse the times and I could go back and they said, would you put this flag on your short again? A million percent I would do it again. Absolutely. I've got a doubt in my mind.

Did you can say? I'm very proud to be an American. Ariel, very, very proud. And that piece of flag means a lot more to me, you know, so it's just, it's just principle to me and pride. Did you consider, and I don't know if this has the same effect, but I'm just wondering, did you consider putting it, you know, like sewing it on the inside of your shore, something like that, so the world didn't see it?

It was for the world to see, though. Yeah, yeah, I understand. I understand. And by the way, go ahead, sorry. So when we fly our flag high, they don't put it under. ground. They don't put it behind closed doors. They put it on a pole high so everyone can see it, don't they? Yeah. So why don't we just hang? Why don't they say, go ahead and fly that flag, but just put it inside. Just call the Pentagon, tell the White House, hang that flag inside. We don't

even want to see it hanging. So just put it, put it inside. So it's kind of different, right? No, you're 100% right. Just to get away from the fine, but you're 100% right, and I respect the fact that you're so patriotic and it means so much to you. And I'm just curious, when you alerted them beforehand that you were planning on doing this, was this the UFC or Reebok or an equipment person? Yeah, I think they're kind of one and the same, aren't they? I don't know.

I don't know what the boundary line is. I'm not sure. Like where the Reebok guy is working for UFC, I'm not sure. Are they contracted from Reebok or are they hired? I don't know. I don't know what the boundary is there or what their positions are. There's so many people that work for the company, man.

It's hard to, I have no clue. Okay. Okay. And, you know, it's, it's, I'm guessing, you know, you, you, you were expecting something in a million years. Did you have any idea that it would be this much money? Like, did they say, like, if you, no, okay. No, money was never, never discussed at all. No, no idea. So, um, yeah, not, not at all. Have you talked to anyone since this has come out, like saying, hey, why so much, you know, is there a way we can, like, did you pitch them this idea of the, you know, you know, No, you're the first person I pitched it to.

Okay. You're right. You're the golden goose, brother. I appreciate that. I'm upset about it. You know, but what am I going to do? I can't, they take my money. I can't give it back.

It doesn't work like that. They just take it. They have it before they give it to me. Oh, okay. Yeah. So you got a check that was minus X amount? I got no check. I haven't even got a check yet.

Okay. Yeah. I don't even know there's a minus sign on it. Yeah. You owe us money, probably. You're in the red now. Back back, we're fine, and you all into your next fight. No, I don't know.

So, who knows? But something's got to give you. I mean, with you saying that you're going to do it for the next fight, you're in the main event and all that, I would imagine you have a good relationship with those guys, right? I mean, I would imagine you're going to sit down and try to figure this out? Absolutely, I'm going to know. I mean, I didn't know.

I didn't, Ariel, I did not know it was this big of an issue. Like I said, for the NFL, it's five grand. And that's for a million dollars of athletes. Like, I figured, what are they going to find me? A grand, two grand, maybe? I would have paid $2,000 to wear an America flag. That's fine, all day long. So, but now I know how much they really find you.

Holy banana shit, brother. I don't know. So. But again, with all that in mind, you're still going to do it. Yeah. Wow. How does this make you feel about the whole Orlando experience because that didn't go your way.

And this almost feels like adding insult to injury, pouring salt in that wound, right? Oh, man, I got the whole Orlando experience, I mean, it's just, that's the crazy thing about my business, right? Some days are good, some days are real bad, and bad, and bad days are usually real, real bad. I don't know.

I got no excuses. I got nothing about I mean, sure. It just, had I won, it would have been the same fine, I'm sure, but whatever. If there's any forward... Can you pinpoint anything that you wish you did differently in the lead-up to that fight, in the fight, in the locker, anything that you would have changed before the title fight?

Oh, man, who knows? A lot of things. Maybe nothing. I haven't even dwelt on that part, to be honest with you. I don't know what I'd do. No clue. What was the toughest part, and I'm assuming the answer is yes, but because your grandmother was there and everything she's going through,

wasn't so much about you becoming UFC champion? It was more about... Was that the toughest part? No, the UFC champion part had nothing to do with it. I told you guys a million times. But he got me. What can I say? He got me.

I got got. And there's nothing I should have done, could have done, training I should have done. I mean, people say that you need to be training. Whenever I post-fishing is doing crazy, you need to be in the gym training. People don't understand you cannot train 24 hours a day. It cannot be done. It's like, am I going to go home and take a nap, or am I going to go screw around and go around?

and go rock climbing, you know, where I'm staying active and enjoying my time. I'm on the way for it and staying active playing. But those do not affect the fight was what he whipped my ass at 10 seconds. So, I mean, how did that affect any of that? How could I have done anything different? The dude hit me, perfect shot. I mean, there's nothing I could have done differently. I have no clue.

I didn't even put much thought into it. But, yeah, he did a good job. He hit me, hurt me, stayed on the ball. I had the pleasure of seeing your grandmother in the elevator going up to the press conference. And she, you know, I was sort of, I wasn't sure really what to say, but she was like, you know, she said she walked up to you and said like, you know, don't hang your head down, no excuses. Like, that was some serious tough love. Like, don't feel bad about this. What exactly did she say to you?

I was shocked. I mean, she just, she wasn't sad. She was just like, look, it's another day and this happens and we move on. That's it. Big deal. That's exactly. I mean, she said, she said, fucking put your head up and walk off. Look what you've accomplished in your life.

Like, we, what, you know, so basically just fucking, no one here, no one here on this side is going to feel sorry for you, so fucking walk high. That's what you told me. That is amazing. You know? Yeah. Did you allow yourself to lick your wounds at all? Did you give yourself a couple days to feel sorry for yourself or not at all?

I mean, that night, that night was tough. You know, all my buddies wanted to go out and drink, have a good time. And I was like, man, I'm just, I'm all right. I'm going, I'm going to go, I'm going to bed. And the next day, I was fine, you know, here we are. And it is what it is, moving forward. The name of the game in this sport, man, you can't just, it's just how it goes. Right.

Did you miss the IV? Hell yeah, I missed the IV. Good night. Yeah. Oh, we. Yeah. I should have done a test run on that bad boy, but, hey, what are you going to do? Did you take anything?

I know there's some other products. Did you take anything else to, you know, to replace the IV? Um, like pediolite stuff I did. I mean, I drank water and, I mean, I've been doing this for a lot of times. I said, yeah, of course I try, but it's not the same thing. That, that IV gives you life immediately, man. And I mean, I only have, you know, a quarter of stomach. It's not the same size of yours.

So when I drink, I can't just chug a Gatorade. It doesn't work like that. I'll fill up. So it takes a lot longer for me to rehydrate orally than it would for you to. I don't know if you know, but Herb Dean has this new oral IV product that he's come out with. I think it's called Fight Fuel or something like that. Have you heard of this? I have. I mean, to me, that

just tastes like salt water, so, I mean, I don't know how much different... Oh, did we lose it? Your back. It could be the real deal, but there's nothing like pumping, you know, eight pounds of eight pounds of water into your arms, man, that's unbelievable. Yeah.

So is this why you're fighting at 170 next? No, they called me and said, hey, we need you to fight, and I said, okay. I mean, I'm a stay at 55 or I'm going to stay. I don't even care. It makes no difference to me. I'm just going to fight. It was just a fight. Sure. But it must be nice to not have to cut those

extra 14 pounds and all that, right? That's funny. I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner now, trying to put on weight, and I'm like, 179. I cannot get above 180. I cannot do it, and I'm trying. So what if you just love that fight week? It's a breeze. You get to eat meals. You win. You look good. You're hydrated. Is there a chance your days of fighting on 155 are over?

I don't know, man. Those boys that won 70 are big coming down for 200, you know what I mean? Those are some big cats. Yeah. We'll see. We'll see. I mean, I guess it's not the size of the fighting the dog, is it?

That is true, and that applies to you very well. And by the way, how do you feel about fighting a local guy, another Albuquerque guy? Do you have a relationship with Tim means? I do, I do, yeah. He actually lives maybe three miles down. We both live in Edgewood. He lives right down the road for me. So, and we've had plans to train with each other just never worked out.

But yeah, I got, I mean, shit, I'm excited. He throws down. So you've never actually sparred with him, train with him, anything like that? No, none of that. Nothing. But this does feel like the kind of fight that gets you excited. I know you don't watch fights, but you know Tim Means in his style, right? Yeah, he's coming.

He's long, elbows, gritty. You know, it's kind of fight. I mean, literally, he's the kind of guy that you'd fight out of Walmart. He really, you know, was just one of those, what, you really? I mean, if I ran into Jim Means, like, and we had problems, he would throw down. He's just one of those cool-ass dudes, you know? So, yeah, I'm excited. It would be fun.

There won't be any bad blood. There won't be any crazy stardowns or fights on the scale. I mean, he knows exactly we're here to make money, and that's what it's about. Hey, by the way, just curious, if RDA fights Connor, who do you think wins? Uh, and I hope RDA whips his ass. Oh, really? You'd never hear at the end of it if fucking McGregor won. Oh, my God.

Is that maybe the worst part of all this, that you don't get to fight them right away? Oh, man, that super sucks. Yeah, definitely. Definitely cost myself a big thing today, but that's just the way life is, man. You know, I had my moment, and I choked, and I can't dwell on it. I just got to keep fighting and keep moving forward, so. All right. By the way,

maybe McGregor he should just say I want to fight Calvin. I'm like, yes, you do,

it'll be such a good fight. Something tells me your pass will cross because of the history there. So I wouldn't

I wouldn't throw that one out just yet. How was the hockey game over the weekend? It was a good time. It was fine.

Bakersfield, it was fun. A lot of love I got down there in Bakersfield. Yeah. It was good. Yeah.

Absolutely. Who are tougher, hockey players or MMA fighters in your opinion? Man, I think MMA fighters get their dental work done immediately. I see a lot of hockey players missing all their teeth. That is true. I'll see that. So, we'll see. But them boys are tough, man, but it's a different kind of fighting.

You know, as soon as they hit the ground, it's over with. So, where if someone tried to whip my ass on skates, I'll be trying to cut them. That is true. Yes, that is not. Yeah. Hey, are you going to Boston for Paul Feldor? I believe I am, yes. Oh, that's exciting.

Will you be cornering him? No, you don't ever want me to corner you. All my words of advice are, fuck him up. That's not all I got. So I'm not much of a corner. Carlos Condit told me you were going to box him in his boxing debut. Did you know that? No, I had no clue.

That's been sweet. Condit has had one boxing match many moons ago, and he said that the original podcast, was supposed to be you. Did you, how you annoyed? No, yeah. No idea, but you got to remember back in those days, I was taking three or four fights a month as many as I could, so it didn't matter.

I'll fight in everybody. Like, I remember I was supposed to come down here and fight it. I think I fought like six or seven guys from Albuquerque in my kickboxing career, so, yeah, I didn't know. It was gone. I never knew any of their names, so it showed up. But nothing's really changed now because you're still doing the exact same thing. Like you're talking about it, like, it was a little...

You know what I mean? It was a lot of time. Yeah. But you got to remember, conned it then, it's not conned it now. You know what I'm saying? Like, that name would have meant nothing to me. Right. And they didn't tell me it was caught, and I've been like, yeah, cool, whatever.

Let's go. So, but I find out hard to believe because I really wasn't much of a boxer. So, but who knows, maybe. That's what he said. At least that's what he thinks. It would be a lot of fun. Okay. I believe him, I'm sure if they offered me money and say, we got a box this dude,

I said okay, so. Would you do it now? Would you fight a teammate now? Hell yeah, I would. Quick. No problem. No problem. So all this Uriah Fabor, T.J. Dillishaw stuff, that's nothing for you.

No, I bust his ass. Yeah, quick. No problem at all. Okay, let me ask you this last thing. They call me, Dan, say we need to fight Carlos Kong. I was getting a boxing match. I'd say, let's do it. So.

For a certain amount of money, though, right? You're not doing it for free. No, not for free. It has to be money. I like money. So the more and better, so. Did you think he won that fight against Robbie? Yeah, man, he did real good.

I was disappointed. Yeah. It was close. A tough call, but you never know. They say don't leave in the hands of the judges, you know. Yeah. I've been on both sides of that, I feel, you know, where you're not sure if you won and they give it to you

and for sure you thought you won and they didn't give the other guy. So it's all in their hand. It's tough. It's tough. And those last two rounds, they put it on the line, man. So I hope the UFC, really took care of those guys, man, because they put it all out there for them.

Yep, that is true. All right, well, I'm just wondering, it sounds like you're busy there. If you need an extra hand, you never reached out. You know, if you need someone to bang a hammer or something, I don't know, you know where to find me.

You know, I'm waiting. I would love to bring you out here and put you to work here, but I feel like I'd have to just go back and refix the shit that you did. You know, I was on your turf. I was in Albuquerque and I saw you at the gym and then you ducked out from the back. I was coming to ask you if you wanted some help and then you guys just jet it out of there.

You and Felder. So, I mean, I think I held up to my side of the deal. Fair enough. Maybe next time. Maybe I'll fly you in and put you to work. Okay. Teach you a thing or two. But for now...

Hey, maybe we can get Reebok to start an aerial fund and we could get... There you go. What do you think about that? No, no. I like it going to the troops way better than for me. they've earned it I love that idea and I hope that this hopefully

gets the ball rolling here so are you just gonna are you gonna reach out to anyone to put a bow in all this are you gonna reach out to anyone do you want to talk to anyone are you hoping they hear how do you want to proceed here

I'm hoping Ariel Hawani puts it out there headline Throne hangs flag and gets fucked for troops Can I use that Are you the editor Do you give me the okay

You probably You probably couldn't use that one, but I don't know. I'm sure you'll be creative with your headlines. You guys normally are. Okay. Again, one more chance. Do you want to tell us how much? Because I think that really drives home the point.

Like I said, the NFL gets five grand. Mine was way more than that. Wow. So, yeah. All right. I could walk into a dealership and buy you a car right now. Wow. Cash money.

So let's get a, let's get a vet. Get them a brand new car. car or get a couple of them, you know? Let's put that money in a good use. All right. Amen. I co-sign that. Donald, thank you for talking about this. I appreciate it. And if I don't speak to you beforehand, good luck in Pittsburgh next month. You got it. All right. There he is. Cowboy Soroni stopping by with some interesting comments on this fine that he received. Now, I had heard that it was around $5,000 for the others. Came out that Nate Diaz. I had heard that. So it's interesting that he says the five, and he says it's way more than that.

And I wonder at the end of the day if once again this, you know, is being dropped on Reebok and, you know, maybe, you know, the UFC has their own equipment team. So that system is interesting. And it's so fresh. And I kind of wish it was like this process, much like the Usada deal, where guys were maybe given a warning or two or there's someone checking them beforehand. Is there anyone in the locker room? And these are questions that are, you know, are great to ask if we can talk to these people, and I would love to. Are there any, you know, are there any people there in the locker room before you walk out,

just checking you out, making sure everything's okay, that you're adhering to the uniform code, so to speak? Is there anyone there doing that? You have to wonder, a guy's about to go and fight in front of, you know, a couple million people on Fox, that there's someone doing that. So how do you get by all of those hurdles? I'd even notice it. I mean, the fight was pretty short. I did not notice it. I know the rules are the rules, but you do wonder where that money goes to as well. So a very interesting thing. And you know Cowboy, he's been on this show before. It's rare to hear him that fired up. And hard to blame him. So that's an unfortunate situation. Like I said, somewhat adding insult to entry after what happened to him in Orlando. Thank you to Cowboy Seroni, thank you to everyone who stopped by today.

Now we're going to go inside the vault, and I've misplaced the gentleman's name, and I wish I had it. I hope he tweets me again, perhaps live on the show, but we're actually going to rename inside the vault. Inside the vault is no more. There's a perfect name, and I don't know how I didn't figure this out earlier. Perfect name for this segment is y'all must have forgot. Are you okay with this, New York, Rick? I didn't run this by you.

Y'all must have forgot, that's inside the vault. That's the perfect name. That's branded by us. It's a good fit. It's a good fit. So y'all must have forgot. May 2012, right before UFC 146. I spoke to Dominic Cruz,

and this was just a couple of weeks after news came out that he tore his ACL. He was about to go into surgery. The ultimate fighter was about to wrap up. Remember Iia Quinta, who was on the show today, fighting Michael Keesa, live finale. Remember all that?

So this whole thing is going down, and we see him at the media day right before UFC 146. And there's a moment in this interview where I ask him about being there injured, and I'm pretty sure it was two favor guys in the finals and how he felt about it all. And you just saw a different side of crews come out. We had a bit of a standoff, this stare down, faceoff. It was a little awkward, and you can tell he wanted to kick my ass. Credit to him for not doing so. But this was at the beginning of this entire journey.

One ACL injury later, another, a third, a groin. This was May of 2012. We're in January of 2016. This is when it all started. So I thought it would be fun as we count down the hours, minutes, days to Boston this Sunday. To look back at kind of where, you know, this was day one. This was before the surgery. This was, you know, unbelievable what he's had to overcome.

But in particular, because of that moment, they were asking the question and it looked like he really wanted to break me in half right then and there. Here it is my interview with Dominic Cruz right before the tough live finale, right before UFC 146 May of 2012. Y'all must have forgot. Ariel Hawani in Las Vegas alongside the UFC Bantamway champion, Dominic, the Dominic, and Dominic, it is good to see you. We are 24 hours removed from the Ultimate Fighters' final episode.

First things first, though. I see you running around here. I see you going up and down the stairs. We're even on a platform. Are you really injured? Well, with one leg or two, it wouldn't really make a difference to handle you, Ariel. I wasn't challenging you to a fight. I know.

You're smarter than that? Okay. Yeah. But, yes, I'm injured, and you can't fake a surgery, so I go in June 6th, and it's not going to be fun. How much pain are you in right now? Actually, it's a very weird injury because there is no pain. It's one of those things where I tore my ACL, and I'm actually lucky that that's all I tore.

A lot of times people tear ACL, meniscus, LCL, all kinds of stuff all at once, one clean swipe. I got one thing, and that was ACL. The thing is, if I continue to train very vigorously, like I need to to prepare for a fight, the chances of me tearing everything else in my knee are very high. So it's important that I, you know, take it easy, baby it until I get the ACL fixed, start recovery, and then I only have one thing to fix instead of three different things.

Have they given you a timetable if everything goes well with the surgery when you could come back and fight again? They gave the doctors are telling me about nine months. I think GSP's taken about 11 so far. You got to take all the time you need because when you're competing at a championship level, you have to be 100% fighting against these guys. guys like Brawl, Faber, you know, McDonald, all these guys coming up in the division, they're all, you know, trained machines, and you've got to be the same way when you get in there against him. So I don't know exactly the timetable, but I'm going to say it's going to be quicker

than physically possible because my mentality into winning belts is just going into my knee now. You know, I must say as a spectator, and correct me from wrong here, watching the second last episode of the Ultimate Fighter Live was very difficult because, you know, They had that little scene at the end when Henan Brow came out and your eye was there. And just looking at you and focusing on you, it was clear to me. And again, correct me if I'm wrong, that you were going through a lot. You were in a lot of pain. You did not want to be there and you didn't want to see this new guy come in and fight for the interim title.

How difficult was that for you? You know, it's part of the challenge of the injury. It's not just the injury that you're dealing with. It's the mind games, you know? It's giving up the position that I've worked eight years of my life, nonstop, year-round to have. and to have to hand it over to somebody else is one of the toughest things I've ever been through. But that's the challenge. These are the things that grow you as a human being, grow you as a man, make you greater if you're up to the challenge.

And I am. I'm up to the challenge and it's tough. And I'm going to have to deal with it. It's what happens. I can't control situations like this. So I can't overthink it. The key is just staying positive. Like I said earlier, putting the focus into getting my knee back.

And I think the next hard part is going to be watching them fight. So it's still not over. I'm going to be recovering. And while I'm recovering, I get to watch these guys fight, and that's the next step for me that's going to be tough. But I can't really sit and think about it too much. There's nothing that can be done about it. And almost to add insult to the injury is the way things went for you on Friday.

You started off so well on the show. And here we are the finals, and it's two of Uriah Fabers guys. Is that a tough pill to swallow? Um, no, it's fun, Ariel, you know. It's cool. I love it. Yeah, it's, it's, it's a ton of fun to, you know, get swept in the last episode of the show. You know, it's great. So you would recommend that, that experience. Okay, moving along to the next question. What do you think, though, about the whole experience coaching on the show? I mean, is this something that you enjoyed? The show was awesome. Meeting these guys was awesome. You know, building a relationship with them. A lot of them are going to come out to Alliance and train with me. I know they will. A lot of the bloots. Some of the blue team guys are going to come out, some of the red team. The key for this, the point of this show is to get these guys prepared for the UFC

and the rest of their career. I think that I've given them all the tools I know possible to prepare them and show them what it takes to compete at the highest level and to have a good training camp. And I think these guys are going to take that home with them, and you're going to see a great career from a lot of them. Do you see any future champions here or any future contenders? If so, are there a couple guys that really stick out? Yeah, I mean, it's hard to say who sticks out because you look at the entire show,

and the whole show is a roller coaster of wins, losses. The thing about fighting is so much of a mental game that it's whoever's mind is in it that night. Most of the time is going to win it. You can't talk about what's – you can't prepare for what's going to happen to these guys before fights to deal with mentally. You can't prepare with, you know, bad things happening. they got to take it into the fight with them. Those are the things that make a champion or not is how you deal with

the adversities in life and not carry it in the cage with you. You're still able to focus, take care of the task at hand, perform at the highest level no matter what's going on around you in your personal life, and to be able to give the sacrifices that it takes to become a champion, to not go out, to not be doing, eating bad, to be just giving up, be willing to give up anything

to have that belt. That's what will make a champion. And I think a lot of these guys have that potential. We'll see if they use it to the fullest. Okay, final thing, we'll get two predictions from you and then we'll say goodbye. First one, Ally, Quinta, Michael Kiesa. I know they're not your guys, but you've been around them

for a long time now. Who are you picking? I'm taking Ia Quinta. This one, I think that he's going to be harder to hit. His footwork, his in and out, the low kicks that he's throwing are going to set up a lot of the punches that he throws on Kiesa. And I see him just being hard for Kiyasa to get a hold of him take down and getting picked apart.

picked apart in three rounds going to a decision. Again, though, you can't count out Kiesa. That dude's tough as nails. He's hearted through this entire tournament with, you know, one of the toughest things physically possible to deal with. Like I said, to deal with something like a family member passing and to come through and win this, that's exactly what I'm talking about,

not letting things that happen outside the cage effect, what you're doing in there. And he's done an outstanding job of that. I tip my hat to him for his attitude, his positivity, and the way that he's handled this. And, you know, my prayers grow out to him, his family and I hope that he does well on the show but if I had to choose a winner I would say quint is going to be a little bit tough for him to handle and then July 7th Uriah Fabor Henan

Borough who you picking maybe not who you want to win and I have a feeling it may be your I just so that you can meet again but who you picking I think Faber's actually going to win I think that if he's smart he takes down Burau and he does he does great against black belts on the ground that's that's his forte you know staying on the inside tucking the shoulder shoulder on the elbows over the top, not letting the jih Tjitsu guys get up because they don't have that wrestling scramble per se. So as long as he can do that with Barow, he'll be fine.

But Barow is very good at controlling the range. He's got good power, good secrets and combinations. I think that he is going to be able to keep Favre out for a good amount of time on the outside and pick him apart and force Favre to take bad shots. But I think in the end, Fabor is going to be able to grind out a win against him in a decision, I think, And in a five-round fight, I favor favor.

All right. Well, Dominic, I remember two years ago us being on versus talking about maybe one day you and Yeraya coaching. I think you did a fantastic job. You represented yourself in the sport very well. Good luck with the surgery. And I can't wait to see you come back and defend the title. Thank you. One leg or not, I'll still whoop your ass.

I forgot that last part. And I think I said at the very end there, I don't doubt that. One leg or not, I'll still whoop your ass. And yes, that is 100% accurate. But you saw that moment there when I asked him about his feelings towards not having anyone in the finale being injured. And wow, he, uh, he, uh, he almost, I think he almost broke me with his eyes. Just that stare. A lot of fun.

All right. So there you have it. That's Dominic Cruz. Y'all must have forgot. May 25th, 2012. And now here we are, six days away from Boston, Dilleshaw, Cruz, Undisputed. title. Again, a reminder in case you missed the top of the show. We're off next Monday, because we'll be traveling back. It's a Sunday show. We're back next Tuesday, same time and

place. Let's get to our questions and comments. New York, Rick, are you there? I'm here. What about Ally Quinta standing up for you? I mean, we know. Al is smart, loyal. At the beginning of the program, I did say what you asked for you get. So I was giving you props, but I mean, no Skype? Yeah, I mean, no props for, you know, shuffling the lineup, getting things done behind the scenes, making it all work. What about Wydenman saying that he had to catch a flight? Yeah, he was tweeting for the next 40 minutes afterwards. I mean, you could use the phone on the plane, no? Only you, only you would keep an eye on that.

I mean, really. So, uh, yeah, so it's nice to talk to you. We got a lot to discuss. Likewise. I'm assuming, uh, 197 comes up. Diaz brothers come up. Is that all? I think, uh, I think you're on the right track. Okay, let's do it. Let's start with this weekend, though. Oh, yes. Betting line favorite, Cruz versus Dillashaw, timeline-wise.

It looks like the betting line changed after Cruz bullied Dillishaw on TV from Dillishaw being favorite to Cruz being the favorite. Do you think showing those interviews, turn the betting lines around, and if so, do you think it's reasonable that they did or are people just dumb? Does he actually say that? Wow. He says stupid. I tried to lessen it a little bit.

Well, you're the betting whiz. You tell me. For sure, that affects it. anything small like this can affect betting lines so can weigh-ins there's a lot of things

outside of the cage that affect betting lines in fact I've talked about this on the show before but people who have large fan bases often experience money coming in on them more so than people who don't even if they were of similar

skill level and style just because people want to bet on people that they like so certainly I think Cruz bullying Dilleshaw on television could have and in this case it has affected that. But I also

think that the line had opened and now that we're getting closer to fight week shifts like this are not uncommon on fights that are close. Okay so for the uninformed what exactly is the line? I'll tell you right now. Okay, I'm looking at it. I could say it.

Okay. I was giving you the assist there. Go for it. You know, sometimes like like when Jose Caldron is coming down and gives the law to Christ's. Is that a good example? Yeah, I think so. I mean, look, 19 and 20. Anyway, T.J. minus 130, Dominic plus 128.

So then this says Dilleshaw being the favorite to Cruz being the favorite. That doesn't seem to be the case at the moment. Dillashaw is still the favorite. But the answer to can this affect the line? Absolutely, it can affect the line. But in this case, T.J. is still the favorite. and I don't know who I'd go with. It's hard to argue with that.

I'd probably stay away from this one. Well, I think King Moe nails it. I mean, it's not rocket science. I mean, the layoff is a huge factor. It's another ACL injury. You know, he was gone for three months, excuse me, three years when he came back to fight Mizugaki. And look great. Look great, but Mizugaki's not Dillishaw, right?

Certainly not, but if the previous fight was any indication of. Sure. whether Cruz can stay ready and stay sharp. He looked almost better. So I don't know if I'd count him out based on injury, but it would scare me as a better. One thing that I think is interesting, this is a guy who's only lost once,

it does feel to steal a betting phrase, it does really feel like he's playing with the house's money, right? I mean, you don't come back from things like this, especially not in fight sports. Three ACL surgery, that just doesn't really happen. So he would have, you know, he has a great career ahead of him as an analyst and a coach. I think he'll be fine.

But to come back and get a chance to fight for the belt, and I think this was the right call 100%. Some people were saying that maybe they should have him fight. Another tune-up fight because he's been gone for a year and a half now. This is the fight. You've got to make it. To me, the pressure is on T.J. Who switched the teams, who has this whole Uriot thing going on.

He chose Dwayne and elevation over it. All that. I mean, he's the guy who took a guy who took a team. over for Dominic. I hate when people try to make a case for, you know, more pressure here there, but it does kind of feel that way to me. I disagree. Really? Simply based on the fact that from your perspective, from our perspective, sure, it may seem that way. But having seen what we've seen of Dominic Cruz over the years and how competitive he is and how driven he is to be the best, I don't think that that's acceptable for him. I don't think he's a guy who's looking at it like, yeah, I'll

have that career down the line even if I lose this fight. I think a singular focus is winning the title right now and starting a long run with the belt. I don't think there's any consolation if he comes in and has a great performance. I think he needs to be champion because he's one of those guys that has that kind of mentality. So I think on him,

there's a ton of pressure to prove that he still has it. And I think, you know, we're going to see on Sunday. It's going to be a great fight. He is a special kind of cat. He's a different kind of dude than a lot of other ones.

Speaking of this fight still, arguably the biggest bantamweight fight in UFC history, first of all, do you agree with that? Hell yeah. Okay. Do you know? Well, I had a feeling you would. You love this fight. I also love this fight and agree.

Okay. Why is it not being shown on Big Fox, pay-per-view, or even fight pass since they're trying to push that product this year? Why FS1 of all places? Well, first of all, it's the same, as I said earlier, same slot that McGregor fought Civron after the NFL playoffs. So, okay, so because of the schedule, the calendar, last year it was the conference championship. This year it's after the divisional championship. I don't know what they call it the second round. Last year was the third round of the NFL playoffs if you have no idea what I'm talking about. So historically I mean the ratings go up every round but it's still 20, 30 million people watching. And if last year was any indication and I know this year will be the same, they're going to promote the hell out of this thing. And don't forget, Fox wants to build up FS1. They have a vested interest in that. They can't put everything. on Fox. Last year,

highest rating, we'll see if, you know, two fighters who aren't as big of a name as Connor will still generate that

and it being the second round. I'm very curious to see what this rating is, but I mean, this makes all the sense in the world. Fox, the FBC channel, the national

broadcasting channel, doesn't need more ratings. It doesn't need higher ratings. They're doing fine. FS1 is a new property. It's the new kid on the block. They need these big live sporting events. So that's why it's on. And why fight? I mean, I don't know why enough.

This is the same slot. This has become a thing now. And it makes all the sense of the world. They're trying to capitalize on the huge audience that Fox gets during the NFL playoffs. I can assure you that if this was a fight pass only card, they're not giving it a big plug. You know, Joe Buck is in reading a promo about Anderson Silva Michael Bisping. They're trying, this is synergy between the two networks, the big brother. and the younger brother. So this makes all the sense in the world. And, I mean, they've loaded the deck.

You can make a case. By the way, you can make a strong case. And I won't argue against it, that this is a better card than the January 30th card on Big Fox in Newark. Just look at the top two fights. Sure.

You know, Dillishaw-Cruz, Pettus Alvarez versus Bader Johnson, Barnett Rothwell. You can make that case. They're trying to build up FS1. It's obvious. Two things. One, I can't wait.

if this doesn't do the ratings that last years did for Connor McGregor's response. And two, it's kind of funny how it proves that you can't really win. People complain when fights are on FS1. I love that. They're complaining that they're not on FS1. I'm sorry. People complain when they're on fight pass, when, you know, fighters are on fight pass rather than Fox or pay-per-view. And then now they're saying, why aren't they on fight pass?

You really can't win on where the UFC puts it. I think fans just want to pay $60 for all their fights. That's what it seems like. Next question. Conor versus Dosanjos. What are your thoughts on the McGregor Dosanos match, which is reported to be taking place in March? How much more would Connor Star Power increase if he was to become the first UFC fighter to simultaneously hold two belts? Also, what do you think of the fact that despite the USC saying he would have to vacate the featherweighted title? Connor now appears to be getting the chance to hold both belts. Okay, so this is where we're at with this. Thursday evening, Jeremy Botter, Bleacher Report. that the main event for UFC 197 in Las Vegas will be Connor McGregor versus Hafelde Osagos for RDA's lightweight title and Connor will not be vacating his featherweight title. Dana White hinted that he was okay with this because Connor's been such an active fighter and, you know, it's a different time. He hinted at this, by the way, Wednesday on UFC tonight.

Also, co-main event, Holly Home versus Misha Tate. This was confirmed by every big outlet MMA are not under the sun, including our very own outlet, the one that you're on right now, if you're watching this live, MMAfighting.com. And later, words started to trickle in that the plan was to formally announce this, officially announced this, on Fox this weekend during the NFL playoffs. That did not happen, of course. Those games came and went. And here we are, less than eight weeks. I can't recall a fight of this magnitude, a fight card, too big. time fights like this, you know, not being officially confirmed or announced less than eight weeks before. I can't recall in recent memory this happening. So it's a very unique situation,

but you just heard Owen Roddy say that we're going to be there March 5th. So that's one part of the equation. You've seen Holly Holme reference it on social media, other people as well. And now it has come out a report on Combace, who are a very credible source, by the way, because they are, among many other things, the broadcast partner for the UFC in Brazil, it has come out that the negotiations, if you will, the announcement hit a snag because Connor was asking for more money. Well, as I said, throughout this show, I've been checking in on this, believe it or not, and I've been told that's not the case. Now, it's also come out that Connor hasn't signed the contract. Well, without going into too many details, this is old hat for Mr. McGregor. He has a history of

signing things, you know, at the 11th hour. So I don't think that that would hold up any kind of announcement. I really don't know. Maybe they're waiting for FS1 this weekend. I don't know the answer as to why it hasn't been announced, but as of last night, that was the plan. That's what I heard. Now, I did hear on Saturday that the announcement would be canceled, that it wouldn't be on Fox. And I wasn't given a reason why. But that's what everyone wants. RDA wants it. Connor wants it.

Holly wants it. All four fighters want it. And usually when they all want it, they'll get it. I mean, there's little things here or there to work on. But I would, you know, I would hope it gets figured out. And hopefully it gets announced sooner rather than later so we can end the speculation. But you see, you know, you see little tweets from Kavanaugh. He references it.

Everyone's referencing it. it's just another, you know, it's just another day in the fight game. Hopefully it gets figured out. But yeah, everything that Bada reported, that everyone reported from, you know, Sports Center to us to USA Today, that everyone had the same story. So it's going to be interesting to see when they, you know, how they choose to announce this now because everyone's kind of waiting and waiting for that official word so they can go on with their lives and book travel or whatever.

What's the impact of Connor McGregor potentially holding two bells? I mean, this is huge. This is historic. I mean, this is the, this is the, this is the, this is the, this is the, this is the, this is the draw. I don't think the world is necessarily clamoring for McGregor versus RDA. Fantastic match. It's just RDA is not that household name. You know, RDA, let's be real, is, is, is in a, is in a very good spot. The, you know, Seroni could have occupied that spot. Petis could have occupied that spot. He just so happens to be the champion. This is what I said about Aldo leading up to that fight. Everyone said I was ridiculous. Everyone said I was absurd. Everyone said. Everyone said, word. Aldo needed McGregor more than McGregor needed Aldo. RDA needs McGregor more than McGregor needs RDA. RDA is the champion. Good for him. Right time, right place, let's do it. But that fight would happen if it was Pettus, if it was Saroni, if it was Alvarez, it doesn't matter. And that's just the truth. He's trying to make history. Now, there is a precedent. People are

trying to say there's some preferential treatment. When BJ Penn moved up to fight George St. Pierre, he remained lightweight champion. So there's a precedent here. They're not necessarily. necessarily playing favorites. I know Frankie was told one thing in the past, and they don't necessarily like to do this, but Connor McGregor is a huge draw who holds a lot of power, who's active. If he fights four times this year, he'll be as active as any champion. He's been as active as any champion over the last couple of years. You've got to make the big fights. And he wants to come back. You know, all signs point to him wanting to come back, UFC 200 against Frankie Edgar. How can you turn that down? So this is gigantic, this is history. This is the first guy to ever hold two UFC

titles at the same time. Well, wait a minute. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, potentially. Yes, yes, that's what I mean. That's the draw. That's the draw. To see that happen. Obviously, close to my heart, BJPen, the last one to try it. But, you know, even though it's bad, I guess, is the word. I can't think of the word I'm looking for, but a tough luck for Frank Yeager that he doesn't get the fight that he would have wanted with Connor McGregor yet. It's interesting that he was the former champion at 155. He could potentially chase Connor McGregor in 145, 155, whatever it takes to get that matchup. next. So let's assume Connor wins the belt at 155, and there's a different contender at 145 or 155. Frankie could potentially chase him in either way class. So it does open a window for him down the line. It sucks that he's not going to get that fight first, but I think that it doesn't put him in as bad a spot as you might think because he does have the opportunity to chase him

in two-way classes. Yes, and also don't forget, I feel for Frankie, and I said on this show that I would love if Connor fought him first because that's a big fight. It's an interesting fight. And I kind of feel like, as I've said before, he beats him. He can make a case for, you know, really cleaning out that division, at least as it stands right now. As it stands right now, you can make that case. I'm not saying it's fact, put it in stone, but he's beaten all the top guys. Has he not? As I said, I'd like to see Max Holloway get another crack. But he's beaten him. But he's beaten him. Yeah, that's not the same thing. It's not, you can't, you can't say cleaned out the division until it, Max Holloway was at a different point. Connor was at a different point.

Sure. But he could still say that. that. Anyway, that's not really the argument here. The argument is that the silver lining for Frankie, who again, I wish he was getting in and he deserves it, if he can fight at UFC 200, and he's meeting with the UFC to try to figure this out, because I don't think it's ironclad just yet that he's going to get that shot. I mean, don't be surprised if Aldo maneuvers his way in there. Let's not forget about him. But if he can get that fight at UFC 200 and negotiate pay-per-view points for himself, UFC 200 is the only UFC pay-per-view for the next 100 pay-per-views. that actually sells on its name alone, right?

The days of UFC selling on its name are over. It's about the fights. UFC 200 is different, like UFC 100 was different. If he gets pay-per-viewpoints, there's a silver lining. He's going to get paid. And it's just a couple months later. It's not a year later. So not all's lost for Frankie Edgar if he can get that fight.

Perfect segue to our next question. With Home versus Tate and RDA versus Connor, how is USC 200 still possible? won't be the one complaining about seeing them fighting more often, but am I the only one thinking that UFC 200 won't have Rousey versus Home and Connor versus whoever, providing he wins? Not only would Holm and Connor need to win their fight in March, they need to do so without injuries providing this.

They also need to rest, train, and get ready for probably the biggest fight of their career in three to four months after fighting. Is this still realistic? Is this timeline that we've created realistic? Okay, well, I'll say this about Conner's end of the deal. I mean, he did fight in December, and if this fight happens March 5th, it's less than what, it's less than four months. Yep.

A little less than four months. So the timeline will work for July 9th, I believe UFC 200 is. Now, you know, if he gets into a war with RDA, yeah, I mean, there's the risk for Frankie and for Connor. There's the risk 100%. And you could be a little surprised that they're actually taking that risk because 200 is such a big deal. I talked about this on the MMA beat this past Thursday. And this is why I feel like they're going to reach out to GSP and why they're going to try

to, you know, give them a boatload of cash because they need to. need big names for UFC 200. And that gets me to Ronda. I think that the reason why Holly is taking this fight is A, she wants to remain active. She said that. Her agent, Lenny Freskes has said that. They don't want to wait around. I'm hearing, and all signs are pointed to this, that I wouldn't write Rhonda on that

fight card in July. I think November, December is more plausible. She's doing this Saturday Live thing. she's doing a couple movies. I don't know if she's coming back in July. So it could be Holly Home versus Cyborg. It could be Holly Home versus Amanda Nunes. It could be Holly Home.

I don't know, but don't stick to this script because no one has come out and said she's a lock for this card, especially now that things have changed. What does UFC 200 look like without these two fights? Let's say Connor. Okay, well, let's say Connor wins. Is that what you're saying?

Connor Frankie, and he's okay. It's Connor Frankie. it's it's it's it's robbie luller gsp that's what i'm trying for it's cmpunk's debut yeah that's what i'm shooting for um so you got you got two title fights there they're not going to do a third title fight because they did that way back in the day and you know let's you know that was that was a historic failure for them and epic failure they had to refund pay-per-views i believe that was 33 so they're not going to do three title fights so already there you have three pay-per-view fights and then you got to look at the landscape there's you know maybe it's anderson sylva's next fight right it can't be

Nick Diaz and hopefully we'll get to him in a bit because his suspension would end in August if everything goes to plan. Maybe it's Nate, you know, so it's interesting. Yeah, I mean, even without Connor, I think UFC 200 could be pretty good, but obviously if all the dominoes fall into place, that'd be... If you look at what UFC 100 was with Brock and GSP, yeah, I think you need Connor or Ronda, the two biggest stars right now on that card. And I think if all goes to plan for Connor on March 5th, then he's the better lock. Let's assume 197 goes off as it's slated to. Given how well Connor has been able to draw in the past,

coupled with the rising popularity of Hollyholm, do you have any early predictions for how well you think UFC 197 could sell based on the top two fights? Man, you know, that's a great question because I was thinking, man, if they're going to announce this at halftime of a playoff game, that's like 25, 30 million people watching, right? I mean, that's a huge... That might have been the largest audience ever

for any UFC announcement, period, right? I mean, they've done promos, but it's ever been announced to an audience like that. It's not over. It's not over, no, I'm just saying. I was just thinking, like, leading up to that point. And so, yeah, it's two months later, and who knows how many people will stick around

and, you know, who knows just, you know, if RDA will draw... I don't know. I'll say this. I think Holly's star power has grown a lot more than I ever expected. And I didn't think, like I thought it would be kind of like a Wydenman Anderson Silva thing. And let's be real, Wyman didn't really take Anderson's star power. Anderson didn't have a ton of it here in the States. But I think this really speaks to how big of a star Rhonda was. I mean, if you just look at her social media numbers, the amount of media she did, when Holly Holmes speaks, she's big news. People really

truly care about her. I saw her mentioned in Sports Illustrated, just like this pasting thing, this past week's issue. She is a huge, huge name now. She's a huge draw on the sports world. So you couple that with Connor and the title for title thing, the potential, you know, dual champion thing. Amisha's, you know, no slouch herself. It's going to be interesting to see what the rest of the card looks like. It's good. I really, I really can't predict. I don't know. I'm always off with my predictions these days. But I'd have to think, in the the 800 range at least, right? Bare minimum.

Bare minimum, yeah. One more. Okay. Is the UFC making a mistake with the way they are handling their fighters? This person mentions the following. Frank Yeager, Nate Diaz, I think.

I think it's Nate. It just says Diaz. Al Jermaine Sterling and Fighter Pay as a general topic. Who stays with the UFC after the contract expires? From these three guys? Yeah. Well, I don't know if it's fair

to lump. They don't really have the same issues. I mean, Sterling, what's happening was Sterling may be new to us as an MMA community,

but this is a natural progression. Like, I don't think, again, going back to my Knicks, the Knicks weren't personally offended when Carmelo Anthony said, look, I'm going to test free agency. I'm going to test, I want to know how much I'm worth.

Spoke to the Bulls, spoke to the rockets. What's wrong with that? That's the beauty of being a professional athlete. That's what Kurt Flood and I believe was Arthur Miller, that's what these people fought for for baseball players and it's it's been the same in other sport so this is fine i don't think what stirling is doing is combative or you know he's some sort of traitor or unappreciative i don't think it's it's fair the frankie thing is you know that's that's

that's that's that's sucky you know hopefully he sits down with them this week and and figures it out and gets a at least some sort of word that you know he's he's going to fight at ufc 200 and that's you know that's some like i said that's some sort of silver lining for for him. He could take some solace and that. Diaz. Okay, well, let's talk about Diaz here for a second. So Nick Diaz. I don't know which Diaz they're referring to, but let's talk about both of them. I would think Nate, but we can talk about both. Okay, well, let's talk about Nick first. Tomorrow is another NAC hearing. I haven't gone word if it's actually going to air on UFC Fight Pass, but it is tomorrow. We'll be covering it. Two big items on this particular agenda, Van der Leis Silva. I actually reached out to his lawyer earlier today, have not heard back about, you know, if we're going to see some kind of resolution to this saga. But the big one is, as I reported several months ago now, Nick Diaz coming together with his team and Nevada to reach some sort of settlement.

And as I sit here today, according to all sources, the plan is still a reduction of the suspension to 18 months and a reduction of his fine to $100,000. Now, you can make the case, and I would be 100% in favor of this, he deserves no penalty whatsoever. It's based on the fact that he passed those two Wad of tests.

But, you know, going to court against these guys, that would drag out. That would be a lot of money. He wants to fight. He wants to resume his career. So it sounds like if he's going to agree to this, he's relatively happy with it, and then he'd be back because it's backdated. So it started January 31st of last year. It would expire if my math is correct in August. So that's what hopefully, as we sit here today, I checked in right before the show. As we sit here today, that's what hopefully will be, you know, we'll be agreed upon tomorrow. Now, it's going to be interesting. I think that they're going to, you know, vote on this publicly. it's going to be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out. So that's Nick's situation.

And I think they may have not have come out publicly, but Nick's counsel, his local council in Nevada, is the UFC's representative, is their law group. So I think that speaks to them being on his side or not. They want Nick Diaz back. He's a huge draw. They're not going to, you know, maybe they should have publicly supported him a little more,

but they don't want Nick Diaz to go away. Trust me. So that's Nick. Nate is an interesting one. From what I heard, you know, it was interesting that Donald threw out that $5,000 number. That's that's the ballpark that I heard for Nate's quote-unquote fine. And I think we need to get some clarity on this because I think, again, Reebok is being blamed. But much like the stuff with the breakdown and how they get paid, first it was rankings.

Now it's tenure. I don't think that there's someone in the Reebok offices sitting there and saying like you're getting fine. I think the money just goes to the UFC and they decide that they've hired people to be equipment managers, one person from the NFL. So I think we need to be careful, you know, who we're directing our anger if you want to be angry about this. But anyway...

Well, this person addresses the UFC, which I think is the proper channel. Fair, that's fair. Let's talk about hashtag Reebok genes right now. Yeah. Well, okay, well, let me talk about Nate because Nate was in the running. He was in the running for the counterfeit at 189. He was in the running for the fight this time around.

And that's something that hasn't been discussed. You know, there were talks with RDA. He was there. He made a great case. Connor has wanted that fight in the past. And, you know, as it was reported last week, he lost out on that. And I really want to talk to him. I want to hear what he has to say about it. But just think of this. How many times have you watched a UFC pay-per-view and saw Nate Diaz, when his brother's not there, when none of his, you know, his teammates are fighting, sitting front and center, you know, and they do the little, you know, the graphic, and he's shadow boxing and how many times can you think of many times i know i'm not expecting you to say you know

you'll see one you know 92 but it's not often right no he's one of those guys that you just didn't see at the events unless you know one of his boys are fighting he was there at 195 and think about the timing of all this he he was in the running no doubt about it so it's going to be interesting to see when this news comes out you know what he has to say about it and you know how he feels about not getting that fight now because you know that's what he wants and that's what i'll say about nate dyes well then maybe he's getting treated better than we know And maybe, hey, maybe this delay here leads to him, you know, sweeping in and swooping in, I should say, and getting that fight. Who knows?

Although maybe those tweets kind of hurt. I don't know. No, I was playful. As the world turns. Hashtag reboc jeans. Come on. What a sport we cover, right? I mean, no other sport.

I mean, I guess they get to deal with nonsense like what happened with Pac-Ban Jones on Saturday in NFL. But, like, the amount of drama and stuff, and I know some people hate it, but there's just always something to talk about. Jesus. Let's talk about Fador. Let's talk about Fadar's next opponent. Presumably for April, I believe, Ryzen said that that would be a targeted date for their next event. Why is this tweet so big on the screen, by the way? Just because of the way it fills the screen, it's more square.

I kind of like it. They can't always be that way. Oh, okay. It's based on, you know, screenshoting. Anyway, question. Yes. What's the likelihood? It will be one of the following people.

King Mo, Sean Jordan, Sergey Haritanov, Vitaly Minnakov, Brandon, Vera, Alistar Overeem. Well, you can't say or somebody else. Yeah. So let's go with those guys. I'm going to take the opposite of the field. Like when you bet on golf, you can take the field, right? Am I accurate? Well, then that means you have to take, there's one person. Yes, so I'm going to take the opposite of that.

Because are you really asking me to bet on what Sakakibara and the rise of people are going to do? I mean, who in a million years would have predicted Jai Deep Singh as his opponent, right? I was a – well, see, now you ruined it. I was going to give you the credit. and now you pumped yourself up, so I'm not even going to do it. Well, no, no. I was going to say there is somebody who...

No, no, no, but I reported it, but I never would have guessed it beforehand when we were, you know... Well, maybe you know something. Of course, I know many things. So who do we got? Well, then predict these things. It's too early.

They haven't even gotten to that point. Man, I would love to see King Mo. I just feel like it's so much fun. Let's just play matchmaker here with just these six guys. To me, the one that makes the most sense, Well, there's two that makes sense. I see two.

Moe and Ream. Yeah, those two. Because the thing that we didn't understand about Singh was that he is a known, somewhat known commodity in Japan. That's what they need. They need Fador, the outsider, the former Pride champion, to fight someone that they know. They don't know who Sean Jordan is. They know, Harry Tanov, he's fought there. Minnakov, Meh, Vera.

There was a big dumping on Jideep Singh, but Jideep Singh was a capable kickboxer. Just because he was 2-0 in M-M-A, that, you know, turned people who only follow MMA off and rubbed him the wrong way. But he wasn't an active, you know, his better days were right. It wasn't a legit fight. I'm not claiming that Jai Dib Singh was the right opponent for Fador, but what I'm claiming is he wasn't somebody pulled off the street. Fair enough, fair enough.

And there was that sentiment said. But in this case, I mean, Alistair Overim or King Moe are known by fans in both, you know, here in the U.S. and internationally, specifically Japan. So I think those would be the two that I'd have my eye on. I've checked in, by the way, on the three-headed monster that is Alistair Overeem, Al-Germain Sterling, and Benson and no real updates. This is going to take a little bit of time on there.

All of this happened in the last month or so, so it's going to take some time. But again, that's my story of 2016, free agency. MMA scoring, this is a bit of a lengthy one, strap in. As there has been a lot of talk recently regarding how fights have been scored and what judges are viewing in fights when they look to award rounds to fighters. Could there be a clearer outline of judges, for judges, rather, for MMA? Let's just start with that. This person proposed a points system where you're adding points, essentially, a knockdowns

worth this many, takedowns are worth this many, and then you score that round based on that. Way back when, I've actually brought this up, you know, but I think it's kind of like those fight. I don't know if you've ever seen the fight metric guys backstage, but they are literally sitting there in front of a screen with an old, video game remote control. And they just bought some ones. Well, first of all, rewind for a second.

Which one? Yeah, it's a great question. S&S, NES. Michael Carroll, tweet us. Yeah, Michael Carroll. What controller are we using? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a weird one.

It's kind of, it's like a little dreamcastish. Maybe. Could be. And it's probably, by the way, this was the early days of Fight Metric at UFC. It's possible. I used to always be next to them backstage, but it's possible it's evolved. But I always found that to be funny. And they're literally, they're three, you know, young,

sometimes it's a mix, male, female, three young people, persons, whatever, and they're sitting there, and they're just, there's, there's a button for, um, leg strikes and, and, you know, arm strikes. It's just, it's such a crazy thing. So can the judges sit there and do this? Because that's what they would have to do, like Olympic boxing. That's what they'd have to do. Is that better? I don't, I don't like that system, but I do think, because, you know, again, one knockdown is not the same as another knockdown. You run into the same problems of sub, um, of subjectivity, where if, you know, this knockdown's worth five points, this knockdowns worth five points, there may be differences, this takedowns worth five points, this take down. You run into the same problems that you're getting into with the current rule set. But what I think has to be made clear is distilling down how to score the rounds as constructed. Now, if the system changes, obviously there will be, you know, new things to interpret. it. But I think, you know, Mark Remundi had an article just recently on MMA fighting where he talked about, you know, the scoring and taking the classes to become educated on what the actual criteria are. I think, A, educating the public on that, you know, whether it be on the UFC broadcasts or any MMA organizations broadcast, and B, finding judges that can better apply it. But I think it's more about providing clearer guidelines, less so than changing the system. Obviously, I don't think the system's perfect, but I don't have a reasonable alternative. I think the only thing to do for now is to educate better,

both people who have to apply the scoring and people who need to interpret it from the outside before they run around calling for robberies. Yeah, and that's what King Mo alluded to, right? Yeah. Seminars, and we talked about this on the beat, like adding little things to the broadcast so we know, you know, the ex-judge, you know, he scored this in his last three title fights.

They do that HBO boxing. I love that. It makes Tony Weeks. These were his last three scorecards for big fights. That's great. I want to know that. That's transparency. That's good.

And this idea of like a yearly evaluation process, I think, is important as well. I mean, who's judging who here? You know, is there some kind of process where they get their, they're, I know Ratner does this when they're in charge, but that doesn't happen. You know, that doesn't happen enough. So there's a lot. And again, I'll say, I don't think the law or conduct. to say that this isn't a discussion worth having. I don't think the Loller

Condit fight is the one to really use as your example that the system doesn't work. That was a super close fight and it came out to one round. Every time the stakes are that high though, title fights, GSP Hendrix is another recent example. Every time the stakes are that high, the people will be very passionate.

Even though it was a close fight, anybody who watched the fight can attest to that. It's just that the stakes were so high, it seems like now we may lose Carlos Condit from the sport, And he went out like that. It just, you know, tensions are high. But clearly it wasn't one of the worst decisions we've ever seen.

No. Do you like this scoring system of adding up the points versus... I do like it, but I do agree it's too radical, especially in this day and age. These, you know, these commissions... Hey, maybe radical is the way we need to go. To get all these commissions on board and everyone on board, I mean, holy moly, we're all going to be like 80 years old of this. If they try to put this in place today, it'll take. take at least 80 years. Let's just educate these people. I agree. Let's just hold them accountable.

Let's make sure that the right people and not your friends and not people have been doing this for 30 years in boxing or any other sport. Let's just make sure, again, as I've said, when the NBA came to Oklahoma City, the local Oklahoma City referees weren't given a shot at the big time. And so when the UFC goes to Pittsburgh, you know, let's make sure that the right guys are in place. The right females are in place. Let's just make sure that we have the right people. and if you have to work with the UFC to get recommendations on who they think are the best, why not?

Let's just make sure the right people are in place and they're educated and there's accountability. Those, and they're being paid for their wisdom. I mean, those are the most important things. First things first. Last thing on this, in the article that Mark Remundi wrote, Alia Quinta mentioned going and taking the course and learning what the judges are looking for.

It couldn't hurt for other fighters to do the same thing. In fact, all fighters probably should, should put themselves in that position to kind of know what the judges are looking for. Ariel, who's the most intimidating fighter in the UFC when you see them in person, regardless of skill level? Who comes up as the most dangerous slash scary? Like, I wonder if they mean like he's going to be. Maybe not, let's go, I mean, personal safety doesn't seem like, you know, a metric. I don't think anybody's really going to fly off the handle.

But let's talk about who's intimidating. Who has like an aura of intimidation? man that is a really good question um there's no one that i'm really intimidated that's that let's let's take it away from a personal thing well but i'll tell you this like there are a few people that when you stand next to them you're sort of in awe right yes let's go there 100% your boy bj pen every time i stood next to him i was like i i for some reason felt like this is a legend you know like i'm i'm i'm honored to be standing next to you to be talking to you fedor and milaneko the same thing because of the language barrier because I had watched him for years prior.

I never had the opportunity to interview Mirka Krokoop in person up until this point. I would imagine I'd feel the same way about him. You know, there's Rhonda Rousey has that aura. Connor McGregor now has that aura. I feel like I'm forgetting one. There are a couple people where I still don't know. Like every time I interview Cowboy and it's funny he was on the show, I don't know if he actually likes me or doesn't.

like me or is annoyed by me, like Cruz in that interview over there. But for the most part, I'm pretty happy. Like right now I don't have that many feuds. You know, like there's like an Ascran or a Titori, Ortiz back in there, or a rampage. Like I'm pretty good with most people these days. So I'm, I'm very, very thankful for that. To Twitter, when Cruz wins, where would you put them on the pound for pound list? That's, that's, I'm not, I'm not changing that one. That's verbatim. Twitter, yeah. This pound for pound list is crazy.

Like, I truly believe that... But it's interesting, though, that he could jump into a very high number, having not been there, just because of the injury. The whole thing is crazy. Like, John Jones was never not number one. Agreed? When he was brought back, he should have gone back to where he was, and that wasn't the case.

He was number two or three. Now, all of a sudden, he's number one. Like, he moved up last week. He didn't fight. Demetrizz Johnson. Maybe he just grew the beard back and people like that now. So it's very strange. I mean, he'd be in there.

Pound for Pound is a very subjective thing. He's not even... Is T.J. there he is? He's four. I mean, look, I'm the one who argued with Dana White. Chris Wyman beats Anderson-Silvey. He should take his spot. I don't know if I say that, but I do agree that crew should be on that list.

Top five? It's hard to argue against it. I mean, you can certainly discount the time off, but when you look back at the resume, there's nothing that would keep him off there compared to other people on the list. I think they got the top three right, Jones, DJ Connor.

If Connor wins, I mean, it's hard to argue against him being number one, right? I think... He wins another belt? I think you could make the case for John Jones losing his spot in that very specific case and then likely winning it back when he comes back. But I think, yeah, Connor, it's hard to argue against a guy who's holding a belt in two-way classes.

as pound for pound. Yeah. I like one of my New Year's resolutions is, you know, maybe for us as a website to have, you know, a more credible ranking system because there's just too many flaws. You know, I know it's good for TV and I respect that,

but if you just look at the actual people who are ranking, I mean, holy moly. Sure. You know, with all due respect, I just don't know who these people are. And by the way, the list is getting smaller and smaller. You can see them. The list is getting smaller and smaller.

It's pretty amazing. So, yeah. something's got to give there, in my opinion. Well, thankfully, it doesn't affect the Reebok situation like it possibly could have. This is our last one from Twitter. There was talk of a super fight between Widman and Jones. How do you think Rockhold would match up against Jones? Let's assume that would eventually happen.

I think there's a better chance of John Jones fighting at heavyweight than that fight happening anytime soon. I think there are too many contenders at 185, Romero, Jacques, eree, there's, you know, and with Rockhold being champion now, there's a whole fresh set of guys Anderson Silva, Michael Bisping rematch. That would sell a lot, in my opinion. Of course, Chris Weidman making his case today. So I can't see that happening anytime soon at least. Yeah, I think Jones is more likely to go up. Remember, with Weidman, there was the whole like undefeated, undefeated. I view Jones as undefeated. And the New York thing. You know, that was the big, that was another big draw. That's it for today. That's it. We out. Hey, do you know the lines for Boston? I didn't. I didn't look at them, actually. Okay, let's go through them quickly.

Although I think some of these are incorrect because a few fighters are off the card. Well, did you... So which side are you looking at? I'm looking at best fight odds. Okay. Because I think Jimmy Head... Well, Jimmy Hedis is out here already announced that. I'll go through some that I know for sure are still happening.

Okay. Alir Latifi. By the way, great Alir Latifie's story. I was in Florida during the break, and I was at the pool. And who's there? Alir Latifie. Wouldn't you know it? Just chilling. Catching some rays. What is Alir Latifi doing here?

And I spoke to him and he said that he has a friend in Florida and he was finishing his camp there. Still a member of All-Stars in Sweden, but was at ATT to finish his camp and then was going to go to Boston. So how about that? Alir Latifi in Florida. He was a very nice guy. I love this fight. Alir Latifi versus Sean O'Connell. Remember Sean O'Connell in the show? One of the better interviews of last year. What do you got? That's right. Media member. Yes.

Yeah, Latifi. Latifi is a minus 245, O'Connell plus 231. Also, I believe this is Latifi's American debut. I like that they got him off of that Amaya circuit, if you will. So I'm going to skip this fight because I don't think it's happening. Which fight was that? Well, Charles Rosa against Jimmy Hedis. I think Rousse is getting a new opponent.

Ed Herman, Tim Boch. Tim Boch, Tim Boch, Tim Boch minus 205. Ed Herman plus 196. The last one was also over 2 to 1 as well, right? Okay. So this is interesting. Darren Crookshank against Paul Felder. This is the featured fight-pass fight.

Remember I said last week? Get used to seeing bigger fights on fight-pass. This being another example of that. I'm going to say Felder, but I love that. Man, that's a fun fight. That is a fun fight. Minus 240 plus 226. It's going to be interesting in Felder's favor, yeah?

Yes, yes, yes. It's going to be interesting because Crookshank is very good with mixing up his game. He's known as a striker. but I like him. He's like, you know, I've talked about this many times with John Howard, a guy who people recognize as a striker, striker, striker, but he actually mixes it up pretty well. I think Crookshank, you know, mixes in his wrestling well when he needs to.

So that could be a potential dog there. All right. Let's move along. Luke Sanders versus Maxima Blanco. Blanco. Wow, this is interesting. Minus 119 for Blanco plus 113 for Sanders. Late replacement.

Close. Close. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Well, Blanco's, you know, as we know, he's kind of unpredictable. He's up and down. Anything could really happen in a maximal Blanco fight.

Ben Saunders, Patrick Cote. What was Saunders last fight? Ben Saunders, I believe, is coming off a win, but it has been a while. It's been a minute. So I guess I'm going to go... Was in Saskatchew? I'm going to go Cote. Chicago.

Oh, yeah. Over the summer. I'm going to go Coney Robertson. Split decision. I think Cote gets this. the odds in his favor in this one. Sondra's 3-0 in the UFC beat Kenny Robertson versus via split decision, excuse me,

in Chicago, July 25th. So you're wrong on this one. He's the favorite, huh? Interesting. Ben Saunders minus 115, Cote plus 106. Very close fight. I could see that. That makes sense to me.

Ross Pearson, Francisco Trinaldo. Ooh. I'm going to go. Trinaldo slight favorite, I think. Wrong. Pearson? Wrong, yeah. Trinaldo plus 150 and Pearson minus 160.

Matt Matrion versus Travis Brown. Travis Brown. Travis Brown minus 145 Matrione plus 138. Close. Heavy weights. Yeah. Big boys. And we already know Cruz Del Shott.

We spoke about that. So co-mate event Anthony Pettis versus Eddie Alvarez. What a great fight. Pettis. Petis. Big? Smaller. Wrong. Pettis minus 310.

That's woefully. 2.94. I can't. I can't agree with that. Can't agree. Are we putting money on? I might give some love to Eddie Alvarez on that. Respect.

Three to one favorite. Philly's own. I don't know about that. Eddie's looked really good lately. All right. Yeah. Invicta also. this weekend. Yeah, no odds for Invicta, right? Not yet. Those usually come out later in the week.

Cyborg. Headlining. That's Saturday. Angela Hill's debuting for... Oh, that's right. That's right. That's right. Speaking of Invicta, Joanne Calderwood, some other news, joining TriStar this week. Martin Campman retiring last week. As we mentioned earlier, Moro Nalo, great job by him on Smackdown, right? I watched a little bit. Hard to get through the whole thing. Very boring. I watched it all. Morrow's the best. Best in the business. He does kickboxing. He does MMA, does boxing, the greatest combat sports announcer of our generation. I mean, it's hard to, simply because he's done, he can do right now, you hire him, you call him on the phone, he'll do pro wrestling for you, he'll do kickboxing, he'll do boxing, he'll do boxing,

he'll do mixed martial arts, probably a bunch of other stuff that you don't know about. And he'll be the best one doing it. Yeah. I did see like when he was, when he was breaking down the actual action, calling it, like a real play-by-play guy and not just reacting to things, it was, I mean, it was amazing. He was, he was, he was, he was lending, credibility to sports entertainment, to pro wrestling, right? He was calling it like a real sporting event. And because he's synonymous with real sporting events, you know, like with actual, I'm not trying to crap on wrestling here, but unscripted, it made it feel like, wow, this is a real sporting event. Well, I mean, we're coming from that perspective. And I feel like we're not alone.

A lot of people who may not watch wrestling tuned in to see Morrow and had a favorable experience. He's, he's, you can't meet a nicer guy and can't meet, you know, more of a pro, the best. Very happy for success. Also, congratulations to Yawani on Jacek finishing seventh on the Polish Athlete of the Year awards. That's a first for a mixed martial artist and well deserved. The M.M.A. community got behind her. Also, if you saw looking for a fight, see him Punk's opponent Mickey Gall. This guy, if it is him, he's doing a fantastic job.

So kudos to him on that. And how about, yes, go ahead. What did you think of that video, that series, the debut episode? So I'm, and first of all, it's kind of like the second. But I get it. I agree. Yeah. I'm not a huge fan of the hijinks.

I've told this to Roy Karp, who's the producer. I'm not a huge fan of the hijinks. I do like the local flavor stuff, the food stuff. I'm okay with that. But like I could do without the peeing in the cup and then the react. Without the hijinks, what do you have? I mean, that's the show. No, no, no.

The characters, the personality are what brings that out. Like the stuff at the saltwater taffy, I like that's fun. I'm cool with like, you know, the hair. The hockey was fine. I just don't love like the peeing in the cup. that feels a little too, you know, lowbrow for me. I got you. Like, on the road, like, you don't need to see that kind of stuff.

I'm nitpicking here. You want the activities. I'm nitpicking here. I like the idea of, like, you know, going fishing and wherever you are. The hockey thing was cool. That's fine. I know you have to create something for a reality show. And then at the fights, that's always fine.

Sarah is making a habit out of getting into fights with people. But this whole idea of, like, A, finding Punk's opponent this way is brilliant. This time they get Randy Brown, who's going to fight a new. work, a local guy. This is great. This is a great. And he's going to fight on a fight pass. Like the synergy is just brilliant. And it feels like it's somewhat fresh in real time. This is a much better platform than, than Ultimate Fighter right now for me as far as like finding new talent. Agree. Love it. Really like it. All right. We're done. So again, next Tuesday, we're back. Mark your calendars. New York reclaims that I never told him about

this. He loves to do that. And then I hear from his His papa, not his actual papa, his other boss, saying, oh, he didn't tell. It's just, it's unbelievable. One of these days we'll get it right. Anyway, you can hit my music. So a lot to look forward to this week, my friends. Tomorrow, Tuesday, the Vat Athletic Commission, will these shackles be taken off Nick Diaz? Can we finally end this saga?

And what about Van der LeSilva? Does he get a new lease on life? That's going to be interesting. what I'm hearing right now, 18 months, 100K, remember, the nose knows. But I would not hang my hat on anything when it comes to these people because they can throw a curveball at you. So fast, you'd think Nolan Ryan was throwing in. We'll see tomorrow. Hopefully this ends.

And then, of course, Boston, Sunday, six days away, night before, Invicta. And then 197, will this get announced? Will 97 actually get announced this week? We could stop the speculation. That'll be fun as well. For now, we say goodbye. I want to thank Eric Del Fierro for stopping by. Best of luck to him.

So excited for the return of Dominic Cruz. Wow, is that going to be fun? Just seeing those two in the cage moving around, chucking and jiving. Man, is that going to be fun? I can't wait for that, Boston. We will be there, of course. So stay tuned for all our pre-fight coverage. No one may beat for me this week.

King Moe, great stuff. Great to hear from him again. Congratulations on his recent wins. Ally Quinta, great to hear from him. I feel like we cut him short a little bit. bit so we'll get him on soon to talk a little more. Chris Wyman, tremendous stuff. I was super impressed with him. Really appreciate him stopping by. Owen Roddy, thank you very much. Congrats on his success. Your eye, Faber, safe travels to Boston. Thank you to him. And also Donald

Serroney, tremendous stuff, as always. If you missed anything, iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, all the good stuff and more. YouTube, of course. Back next Tuesday, same time and place until they say, I'm out of you. Support for this show comes from Odoo. Running a business is hard enough. I make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other. Introducing Odu. It's the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all-in-one fully integrated platform that makes your work easier. CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce, and more.

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