MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 327

Episode Date: May 2, 2016

Ariel Helwani speaks to James Vick, Gunnar Nelson, Neil Magny, Tiffany van Soest, Joanne Calderwood, and Chuck Mindenhall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce, and more. And the best part, O-DU replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. That's why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you? Try O-D-U-for-free at O-D-O-D-com. That's O-D-O-O-O-O-O-com. It's the Mixed Martial Arts Hour with a mixed martial arts hour back in your life on this Monday, May 2, 2016. Hello again, everyone. I'm Ariel Hawani inside our New York City studio.

It is great to be here on a rainy Monday afternoon. I was just in Montreal less than 24 hours ago. I went to Montreal after last week's show. It was great to be home. I got to celebrate my son Oliver's fourth birthday. It was wonderful being there with friends and family. But now it is back to reality, back doing this show, and I am very happy to be here. And you know what I was happy about last week?

It was a relatively quiet week in the world of MMA. Now, you know, we're a little spoiled as far as those who cover the sport. There's always a lot going on. And less we forget that the UFC 200 main event was officially announced. In the weirdest way possible, it was announced early Wednesday morning on Good Morning, of all places. And we'll talk about this later on in the show. I kind of feel like this was a bit of a fumble. I mean, how many people watching Good Morning America on that Wednesday morning are actually going to watch the pay-per-view by the pay-per-view on July 9th? How many people

learned more about the UFC, got more into the UFC, learned more about John Jones and Daniel Kormier. To me, it is much more valuable to go on a sports center or any other kind of sports show to do it. But, you know, it's a milestone for the UFC and somewhat ironic that they did it on a platform like that after Connor McGregor, who's been tweeting up a storm this morning, after Connor McGregor went on and said, you know, less than two weeks ago that he was tired of doing the Tim and Susie show. That is the Tim and Susie show, with all due respect. I mean, did you watch it? And I love Good Morning America. Jesse Palmer, he's a great Canadian boy. But let's call it like we see it. Speaking of Connor, yes, I get a lot of people asking me,

Have you reached out to Conor McGregor? I mean, don't you know me by now? Of course I have. He put out a tweet just moments ago. You know, call me no press, more press. He's not in the mood to talk to the press. And I get it. This story continues to evolve.

It's become a saga. The UFC seems to have moved on. It's now John Jones versus Daniel Cormier. That's the new main event for UFC 200. And later on in the program, we are not joined this week by the great New York, Rick. He is on, as I said last week, his 48th honeymoon. I really, I mean, I'm being honest here. It is literally his third.

Okay, I'm exaggerating when I say 48, but literally I think it's his third honeymoon since tying the knot to his beautiful bride. But this train continues to move along. In fact, all our ducks were in order. Everything was a lot. I mean, we were, we were, I was sitting here for 30 minutes doing nothing because everyone brought their A game. New York Rick being replaced in the back by Adam, who is killing him as far as

as prep is concerned. So I just want to put that out there, New York, enjoy your time. but this train moves along without you. So you can have your mitis on the beach in Honolulu, but we got a show to do, my friends, and we have a lot to discuss. So later on in the show, usually I go back and forth with New York Rick,

questions, comments, blah, blah, blah. The man in the hat, Chuck Minnenhall will stop by and he will shoot the breeze with me. By the way, the man in the hat responsible for this MMA beat shirt that you see above my right shoulder. I'm told a handful are left. A tremendous cause,

it is going to, all proceeds are going to the higher Higher Heroes Fund, which is headed up by the great Brian Stan. It, in short, ensures that veterans find work and are able to seamlessly transition back into regular life after serving this great country. So all proceeds going to hire Heroes. Great, great foundation. We're happy to be a part of it and do a little, little tiny part. So there you have it.

The MMAB shirt, you can get it over at MMAWarehouse.com. Okay, what are we talking about today? A lot going on. At 2.45, we're going to be joined by the Black Zillians boss, Glenn Robinson. Horrible news yesterday out of Florida. Jordan Parsons, young fighter for Bellator involved in a hit-and-run accident. And it appears as though his career is over. But that's the least important of this news.

He is in critical condition. I want to talk to Glenn Robinson about him, get an update on Jordan Parsons. We are definitely thinking about him as we do this show and wish him the very best. Joanne Calderwood, we'll stop by. She got some good news last week. She's fighting Valéry Le Tourneau in Ottawa, June 18th, in the first official UFC women's flyweight fight. How about that? Jojo is back against Valerie Le Tourneau.

Exciting. 205, speaking of women's MMA, Tiffany Van Suss. You may not be familiar with her if you're just an MMA fan, but she is a star when it comes to Muay kickboxing, recently signed with Glory and Invicta. Want to talk to her? time bomb in the house. 145, we'll talk to Neil Magny, coming off that big win over Hector Lombard,

recently signed a new contract with the UFC. So we'll talk to him first time. Neil Magne is on this program. 125, we're going to talk to Gunner Nelson about his fight this Sunday in Rotterdam. He's fighting Albert Tuminov. But first, let us go to the Skype Machine and welcome in our first guest of the day.

He is coming off a big win at UFC 197 and got some great news on Friday because he is coming to L.A. I should be exact. He is coming to Inglewood, California at UFC 199 June 4th. James Vic will be fighting Evan Dunn and replacing the injured Leo Santos.

This man is blazing hot and he actually called me out last week and I loved it. James Vic joining us now on the program. James, how are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm doing great, my friend. So yes, I'm on my Twitter last week and James Vic calls me out. It says, Ariel, when am I going to get on this show? Is it only for the cool kids? Or I think you said,

am I not part of the Cool Kids Club? Something to that effect. Were you not feeling the love? Is that what's going on here? I wasn't feeling it. I sensed a little, when we did the interview after my last fight, I sensed maybe you were starting to get on the bandwagon, so I figured I'd call you out and give you an opportunity before it left town.

Okay, fair enough. Well, I got to say, I appreciate it. And here you are. So once again, in MMA, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I love that. So it's interesting because when we spoke after your wife, win at UFC 197, you improved to 9-0. You were adamant. You wanted Michael Kaysa next. You did not get him. You got Evan Dunham. Are you disappointed that you got Dunham? I'm not at all. I knew that

I wasn't getting Kiyosso anyway, not the next fight because he just come off such a big win over the number eight-ranked guy. So I just feel blessed that I got into the top 15. I win this fight. Now I'm taking his spot at number 14. Evan Dunham is a solid veteran. He's been around for a long time. It's going to be a good fight. You know, I definitely think I'm going to win. I think I'm going to win easily. And I'm moving up 15, basically 15 spots in the ranking. So I'm not disappointed at all.

I'm thrilled to death. When you say easily, what comes to mind? How easy is this fight going to be, in your opinion? I mean, obviously, I'm going to try to finish him. I'm going to go for the finish. But if it doesn't present itself, I think that I'm going to win this thing handily a decision. I think that all I got to do is basically the same thing I did my last fight.

and he's not going to be able to take me down. He's not going to be able to hold me down. My jitsu is good enough that I'm not really worried about any of these guys taking me down. And I can get up pretty much any time I won't. You saw my last fight. The guy took me down, but I was holding me. I landed more strikes from the bottom than he did from the top. And I think that there's no way this guy's going to outstrike me.

So I see myself either winning an easy unanimous decision or catching them with something and getting a finish. Now the notable thing here for me is you're coming back a month and a half after your last fight at UFC 197, you have been, you know, for lack of a better term, plagued by injuries. You take these long breaks and sometimes you are forgotten about. Are you healthy? No problems after 197? Yeah, absolutely. 100% healthy. And that was the, you know, the deciding factor is I was healthy and, you know, this is the career-changing opportunity for me to break into the top 15. And I got the email about 10 o'clock at night on Thursday and I got me.

back to him by Friday morning and told them I'll take the fight for sure and everything worked out good and I'm ready to go. I fought 15 minutes, you know, eight days ago, nine days ago. I'm in shape right now. I didn't get out of shape. I didn't really take any damage. So I'm back to training. I already did a two-hour session this morning. I'm going to train again tonight and then I'm here at my home gym and Fort Worth, Texas, failing to M.A. And then I'm heading back to Team Wood Irvin Wednesday in Maryland for the rest of my camp. I noticed on April 28th. So that would be Thursday, yeah, you tweeted Dana White.

You said, thank you for everything you've done for me. Thank you what you did recently. Were you referring to getting that fight? No, that was something else that, just something else. You know, I don't want to talk about it. Oh, that's not fun. You got to come on this show and talk about things. We can't keep secrets.

We're buddies now. Well, the UFC helped me out with a couple of things. I mean, I don't know if I'm supposed to discuss it, so I don't want to. Sorry, man. I don't know if I'm... Fair enough. But they're treating you well. basically. You're happy with them.

I'm happy as can be with the UFC right now. I'm living the dream. I feel so blessed. So here we are. Like I said, a month and a half later, and you're getting this fight. Do you feel like you're finally over that hump? Because to me, again, it's amazing. You're 9 and 0. You've had five fights in the UFC, but you've been in the UFC for three years. And a lot of these tough live guys that, you know, you're a part of that season. They've come and gone. They've had, you know, these runs. Kesa's doing great. Crookshanks out of the UFC. I mean, but a lot, you look at that cast, a lot of them went on to the UFC. Some have had full careers in the UFC and have recently got cut, things like that. It feels like you never even got started in a weird way. Like,

you're the sort of the forgotten member of that cast. Do you feel like you're over that hump now? Like now your career is about to really start in the UFC. You're going to go on a run here? For sure. I really, my goal when it started the year was to get three fights and to break into the top 10. So I think it's about to happen. I'm going to win on June the 4th and be number 14. And then hopefully by the end of the year, I get another fight and get. get put in the top 10. And then from there, it's, you know, I have another year. In my mind, I have a goal within the next two years.

I'll be a world champion. And everything came together for me. It was, you know, a lot of hard times with the injuries and stuff. But the good thing is I wasn't injured that whole time. I've had a lot of time in between fights, just a lot of bad timing with certain things where they kept me out of the ring longer, too, where I would have smaller injuries come up after a surgery or something. I pulled my groin and then I had to, you know, wait another five, six weeks.

But I've progressed a lot in between the time period. I think a lot of the guys, they had great, a lot of them have had great careers in the UFC, but they also been cut. It's almost like they try to take too many fights too soon. And I was building a for myself. And now I think my skill set is up to part. And if I can fight with anybody in the world and do good and win. So it was a blessing and a curse at the same time, but I'm ready to go now. And I think I can fight anybody in the world.

How frustrating was it to watch those guys that you were in the house with, you know, get big fights on big stages. And, you know, like I said, you're not being discussed. in the same conversation as them, even though your resume and your talent is very much on part, if not better than them. It was frustrating. I mean, you know, I was really close with a lot of guys in the house, so I was happy for them as well. I wasn't, you know, I'm definitely not a hater from that perspective.

But it was frustrating knowing that basically seeing all these guys knowing that I can beat these guys and I'm over here broke, working a full-time job, you know, half the time I'm in the UFC because I can't, I'm not healthy enough to fight and make money. So, you know, it was definitely frustrating. But I knew that, like we talked about in my interview after the fight, you know, I believe it's my destiny to be a world champion and my destiny can be delayed, but it can't be stopped. What was that job? Man, I was working while I was teaching private lessons. I coached at the UFC gym.

I bounced at multiple clubs. I did a lot of, you know, a lot of club work where I was security and stuff. And I mean, it wasn't a bad job per se, but, you know, I don't want to be up until three in the morning doing a job. I really don't want to do. I really just want to get up and practice full time. And now this, after I got that bonus last fight against Jake Matthews, I was able to, now granted, I didn't fight for a year. So I kind of, you know, basically went broke again because, you know,

Australia took so much money in taxes out of my, out of my bonus. But I was able to train full time. I had the hip surgery, but I could start, I started boxing again after about a month and a half after hip surgery. And then I could train full time within about four months after that. So I still had a solid probably. five, six months of training when I, when I wasn't fighting after the surgery. So I, and I was training full time twice a day.

I don't really, I don't really just do camp. You know, I train year-round twice a day as much as I can. So I progressed my skill set a lot. So this last year has really helped me after the surgery because I had enough money where I didn't have to work and I just trained full-time. Now, when you say broke, I mean, how broke is broke? Are we talking like $0 here? Not, not $0, but, I mean, I didn't, you know,

I didn't make as much money on the Australia fight as people think. You know, they took $16,000 out of that bonus. And then my purse wasn't that great. You know, you know, then I've recently, you know, got a better deal. But I, so, you know, I made about 50 Gs in that fight, but then you don't fight for a year straight, you know, and then you got to pay taxes. You got to pay your coaches. Yeah.

You know, you have to pay all this different stuff. You know, and then 11 and a half months of no fighting, you know, with no job. But I'm really very frugal with my money. I just save, you know, I'm real cheap, so I saved my money. So it lasted me, you know, it lasts me the whole year. I mean, I'm not, I wasn't completely broke, but I was down to, I needed to fight it. Sure, if not, I was going to end up having to go back to work.

So back in the day, when I used to frequent the clubs, you know, I used to be a big club goer, believe it or not, the bouncers were like these big roided up guys. You don't look like those guys. Do people try to step to you and then find out shortly that you're a UFC fighting and you can kick their ass with, like, one punch? Does that ever happen? Because you look on a story.

assuming at first glance, right? Yeah, for sure. One thing helps me is I am skinny, but I'm tall. I'm sick three, so that helps somewhat. But, yeah, I've had a lot of, I've had a lot of rough bouts at stories. Usually it's kind of funny because usually when I was, if I'm taking someone out from inside the club, I always go for the neck. I grab the neck and I squeeze it a little until they stop fighting.

And then when they stop fighting, I'll drag them out. You know, I'll go rear naked and I'll switch it to the side headlock. Wow. The bulldog check. And then I'll take them out. We get outside a lot of the times of the clubs I work that week. Once we got them outside, a couple guys, I try not to hit them, you know, directly if it came to that because, you know, you don't want to break your hands. You don't want lawsuits.

So it's kind of funny, but I would leg kick a lot of people. I've led kicked several people. You know, it usually takes one leg kick, and it's over because, you know, who's used to getting kicked in the thigh if they're a regular person, you know? Wow. And we also had pepper spray. So once we got them outside, they kept talking and then try to run up on us, we'd made some also. It was a pretty fun job, actually. But this is like, this, I honestly, I was kind of joking when I asked you this.

So is this like in a bad part of town that you have to resort to leg kicking people and stuff? Well, it was one of the, it's here in Fort Worth. It was one of the more popular, the recent spot I worked that, well, the recent spot I worked at, the last recent spot I worked at, the weekends when I worked. So that was pretty simple. There was nothing there. Okay. But the one before that was worked there.

I worked at a strip club for about four years. Wow. You know, strip club, all you get is just, you know, the low end trash people that. Look, cheap beers, and they're going in there trying to talk to girls, and when that doesn't work out for them, they resort to wanting to fight somebody. So it's always like that. And then you get bartenders who are getting tipped good money, so they keep overserving these people when they get drunk. And you have to, you know, sometimes you got to do what you got to do. What a mess.

Any of these patrons recognize you from the reality show or the UFC, or was this before the UFC? Oh, yeah. No, a lot of them recognize me, especially from the ultimate fighter, because I worked there. I worked at this particular club for about four years off and on. And I had to deal with them where I would leave and go to camp for two months. And, you know, they would support me and let me go. And then I would come back and be able to be able to get on the schedule again full time. Because I was best friends with the general manager there at the time.

And I actually lived with him for like a year. So I was like a second son to him. So he was up and let me come and go whenever I wanted and work as many hours as I wanted or as few as I wanted as I needed to for money and stuff. And I was real, for the people who was, who were regulars there, I was well known and no one really messed with me. But you'd always have guys coming from out of town, you know, and they'd be drunk and we'd have to, you know, we'd have to handle up something. I feel like some of the people listening to this show would say, this is a dream job. You get to hang out there every night.

You get to see all of these women and stuff. Is that not the case? Because I feel like a lot of people would actually think that it's a fun job to have. It was fun. It was fun. When I was single, it was real fun. And, you know, but at the same time, you're just around a bunch of people that you're nothing like. Like, I don't drink.

I drink like twice a year. I don't party. I don't stay out late. I don't go to clubs on the week. You know, so I was there strictly for money. And then, you know, there was, you know, benefits of working there, obviously. But at the same time, it got old, you know. Like, you know, you're in a strong woman.

You know, if you go there once every six months, it's cool. But you go there every day, you just kind of get, you know, just. I get so used to it. It's kind of pointless. It's not even flattering anymore. Yes, yes. I can understand that. I just saw you were on a fishing trip, and this is a secret, this is a secret interest of mine. I've never gone fishing, but I want to go fishing. Perhaps we can go sometime. And I saw your pictures on your social media. You can see Twitter handle right over there, James Vic MMA. Those are some big ass fishes that you guys got. I think you were with your girlfriend, right, on this trip. Yeah. Yeah. And what kind of fishes were those? Those were gigantic. What kind of fish was that? There were catfish. We caught them out of the lake. We put them how we do it. You know, I'm a country dude.

We put trot lines out. So you connect basically how we do. You know, you have trees coming up out of the water in lakes and stuff. And you'll tie a line to the water right below the bottom of the water line. Okay. On the tree, run the line, you'll run the line all the way across. And then you'll drop hooks. You put a strain about that long, about a foot long, two foot long.

and you'll run it down and you'll put a hook at the end of it. And by law, you put the hooks three foot apart. So you'll have this long line and you'll have hooks coming down it. And then you put a weight on it and you sink it to the bottom of the lake. And then you bait the hooks and then you run your lines, you know, two or three times a day, morning and the evening and sometimes midday, depending on hot, the weather is. But the weather's pretty good in Texas where it's not too hot, but it's not too cold. Right now, so it's really a good time to fish.

And you go out there, you set the line, you bait the line, and then you come back a few hours later and you'll run the line, you go take someone in the boat, two people, one guy lifts the line, and, you know, two people will lift the line up, and you catch a fish on, fish on the line, you throw it in the boat, take it off, and then you rebate the hook, and then at the end, and you say you may have like 10 or 20, 20 hooks going down from here. Wow. So fishing with one pole, which we do that also, fishing on one pole, if you have two or three, say you have three lines out and you have 20 hooks on each line, you have 60 hooks to catch fish on.

So it's a good system. We caught probably a good, just, I was out there only a day and a half because I, you know, I took the fight and had to come back. I was planning on staying for a whole week. Oh. My dad and my brother still out there, but, um, uh, we caught about 40, 40 keepers and then we skin them all up, hang them in the tree. We skin them and then, uh, batter them up in, and cornmeal and frown and have a big fish.

Wow. What a foreign world to me. Holy moly. I've never experienced anything like that, but it sounds like a great time. That's amazing. Well done. Yeah. Those were, those were gigantic fish.

Um, I asked you about this after the fight, and so forgive me for asking again, but I think, you know, on a different stage here, obviously very interesting and important to discuss, because I remember when you were tweeting about your sister and putting out the GoFund page. She is, so explain to people what she battled through and how she's doing now, because it did seem, at least from an outsider, that, you know, obviously pretty scary and serious stuff. Yes, sir, she had a tumor right here behind her skull that had completely eaten. her sinus cavity and it was going down to her eyes and they said it was going to make her blind if she didn't get it taken out like ASAP. And she had insurance, but she had to pay like a huge deductible because the surgery was expensive because they had to fly in a doctor all the way from like it.

It was either from like Florida or maybe even a foreign country. I don't remember because she got it had gotten it done here in Dallas and the neurologist and stuff. I guess that's what it was called with the brain or whatever. they didn't want to do the surgery because they were they were they were there was complications where where they would mess her brain up because they basically it had completely eaten her sinus cavity and her skull it was eroding through the bone like her her bone right here in the forehead was so thin like you could probably punch it and it would have caved in it was

it was that it was that saw and so they went in and they they had to cut a hole out all in there they scalped her from here they peeled the skin down they had to cut all that old rotting decaying bone out. They put a titanium plate in there. They cleaned the, uh, the tumor completely out. And they, uh, had her on some like strong medicine, uh, like a lot of strong stuff to, to make sure nothing would grow back. And they had her after the surgery. She had to stay in the hospital for a few days. Then they had her go home for a couple weeks. They had her come back. And then they had her do a checkup after that for like every two months, for like six months. And now it's been in, I guess, in July, I think maybe July or June or August, it'll be a year.

and she still has real bad headaches and stuff because the way they had to cut her skull and cut through her skin and stuff, it's like a lot of, I guess, tissue damage and stuff. And there's a lot of, it's a big scar there. And, you know, it pulled it apart. And then they had to pull it back together. And she still feels like nerve and tissue damage there. Wow. But besides that, she said that'll eventually go away.

It may take a year or two for it to go away. But now she's, she's, it's all good. And it's gone. and there hasn't been any signs of it coming back or anything in the last the last 10 months or however long it's been how old is she she's 32 32 yes for kids wow and it's rough um from what i understand she was at your fight right at 197 well no i thought she wasn't my fight when i was taught because she was supposed to

come in the i didn't get to talk to my family i was texting them back and forth but i was you know busy so i thought she was supposed to come in the last minute she couldn't she could she realized she couldn't she couldn't she couldn't afford to come basically because it was you know too far or whatever I had a free ticket for but because she even she has four kids yeah yeah you know so she um I mean she she's married and everything her you know her husband worked but she uh you know they have four kids you got to save money of course so she she the last minute she didn't end up coming so but she's able to she's able to live a normal like she's she's fine as far as like living her life and going about her daily stuff right

I'm sorry she's doing 100% recovery now That is amazing. Wow. Well, I wish her all the best. That's an unbelievable thing. And I can't imagine what kind of stress that was for everyone involved, including her. That's a pretty incredible story. Okay, so let us end on this. You said that you really wanted that Kiasa fight. That's the one you want. If you get through Evan Dunham and they say, let's just play this game, Keisa next or a title shot, which do you take? Oh, come on, man. Okay. I'm going to take the title and then I give him a title shot after. Okay. I just wanted to know how badly you wanted it. I want it so bad, though.

I mean, that's the only other fight that I would choose over him is a title fight for sure. But I doubt after being ranked 14 when I win this fight, I doubt that I'm getting a title shot. I just like playing those hypotheticals, you know what I mean? But, hey, strange things have happened. You still there? Oh, you swapped on us, but I still see you. See me? Yeah, I see you, even though you're, there you are.

But I got to think, I mean, you beat Evan Dunham. You're right there, and I mean, I don't think he's too far away from you. So that might be the time to get on the mic and formally call this guy out. I was going to, and they didn't give me an interview after my last fight. Week. What's up with that? I don't know, but then I checked the, I watched the card when I got home, and I guess because all the prelims were decisions, nobody got an interview, so I felt a little better about that. Yeah, what a card that is.

Did you see that card $199? It's a tremendous card. Yeah, I saw that. My boy Dominic Cruz is fighting on there. That's right. I'm happy about that. Your old coach. So you leave Texas and then you're going to Maryland to stay with your coach Lloyd Irvin?

Yes, sir. I'm going to stay there until basically, you know, until we leave to head to L.A. Okay. Well, I look forward to it, man. Welcome to the show for the first time this particular show. Great to have you on. Thank you for calling me out. I respect that very much.

and I love the fact that you're getting right back in there and fighting again at UFC 199 against Evan Dunham. What a fight that is. I know a lot of your fans are excited as well, so wish you the best. I hope my interview turned out decent. There was some clown when I tweeted that, some clown on Twitter was like, oh, you're not charismatic enough to be on Air to Juanita show.

Get out of here. Don't listen to those people. You actually kind of remind me, you're like a more charismatic version of Donald Seroni with that accent of yours. You ever get that? I'm not, I'm country, but I'm not a cowboy. I don't want a cowboy.

I really don't know how to ride a horse either. We were too poor to have horses growing up. Don't tell him I said that either. Appreciate the time, James. All the best to you, and we'll see you out there in Englewood, June 4th. Yes, sir, thank you. Appreciate it.

There he is. James Vic. Amazing. Nine and O in the UFC. Excuse me, 9 and O overall. And he is 5 in O in the UFC. And people don't talk, don't talk about him enough.

It really is amazing. Impressive wins over Ramsey Nidgim, Nick Hein, Jake Matthews. Really impressive run thus far in the UFC, but because he has been so inactive and decimated by injuries, plagued by injuries, he has kind of fallen out of the spotlight, but here he is. Picked up a win last week,

10 or so days ago, nine or so days ago. And returning June 4th, And look at that card. Look at UFC 199. It is a very strong card, an amazing card. Now, before we move along with the show, I need to tell you guys about my good friends over at Seekek. I am so excited that they are the newest members of the MMA Hour family.

I kid you not. I love Seekek. Let me tell you about them, all right? Obviously, you've tried to buy tickets. You've obviously been frustrated. You've been looking for tickets. You can't find the right one. You want to go to an event, you want to go to a sporting event, you want to go to an

MMA fight, and you just don't know where to go. I'm guessing at some point in your life you've been frustrated trying to buy tickets online. Most sites make it very complicated. They all try to sneak in huge fees at checkout. That's why you need to try Seekek. They've made it easier than ever to buy and sell sports and concert tickets. True story, I wanted to go to a New Jersey Devils game a couple of months. months ago take my kids to their very first NHL game. And I said, I kept hearing Seekek

on all these different podcasts. So I said, you know what? I'm going to try Seekek. I'm going to download this app on my iPhone and I'm going to see how this thing works. And it was amazing. It was so easy. I got the tickets, great seats like eighth row. And I was so excited about it that I was able to do it all on my phone. And it really was as advertised. Honestly, it's amazing. They pull all the tickets available on all the other sites into one place. So you save time, you never miss a deal. You can even set alerts for upcoming events, and Seekek will let you know if ticket prices fall. Even better, every ticket on Seekek is ranked based on values.

So you can immediately find underpriced seats. And before you buy, you can use Seekek's detailed maps to see the view from your seat. It is the coolest thing. Honestly, it far exceeds any other ticket buying site or app. Best of all, Seekek is always honest and upfront about the price. Unlike StubHub, they show you the full ticket price from start to finish and never try to trick you with huge fees on the checkout page. Now, this is the best part.

My listeners, listeners of the great MMA Hour show, get $20 off their first Seekiekeek purchase. This is how it goes down. To get that $20 rebate on tickets, download the free Seekek app. Go to the Settings tab and click Add a promo code. Add a promo code. Settings tab, click, add a promo code.

Enter the promo code MMA. Those three letters, MMA. Seekek will then send you $20 after you've made your first ticket purchase. Simple as that. You got to do it if you're a sports fan, a concert goer. If you're an MMA fan, you want to go to 198, you want to go to $100, you want to go to Belator. This is the app for you. It's easy.

So trust me on this, download the free Seekek app right now and enter the promo code today. I am not taking you down the wrong road. This is the place to be for M.A fans. This is the place to be for sports fans. It's as easy as one, two, three. Just put it on your phone and get it done. Trust me on this one. Come back to me and let me know.

didn't lie because I'm not lying. Now back to the show. Okay, the UFC is back this Sunday. They have also a very good card in Rotterdam. They'll be making their debut in Rotterdam. The Netherlands. The main event, of course, is Andrei Arlowski versus Alastair Overeem, teammate, teammate. Antonio Bigfoot Silva versus Stefan Struve is also on that card. A very interesting fight on that card, in my opinion, is one taking place in the Walterweight Division, Albert Tuminov, going up against Gunner Nelson. What a great fight that is, and we are being joined by Gunny himself right now. He is on the phone. Gunner, how are you? Very good. Thank you. How are you? I'm doing great. Thank you so much for joining us.

Okay, so let's start with the big news right off the top. I know a lot of people ask you about this, but I have to ask you right at the top. Very, very pressing matter. What the heck is going on with that tree outside of your house? Who cut it? Who's responsible for this tree? You were expecting that, right? Yeah, I would have to take responsibility for that tree. Although I did not chop it down myself. I had it chopped down. Oh, so you hired someone to chop this tree?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, I used to work for the guy chopping down trees. Funny enough. Used to work for the... Yeah, he came. The story is your neighbor had a tree that, I guess, was bothering you, and then you decided to cut it down, and now he's mad at you?

Is that the story? This is all over the news. If someone Googles you, tons of media outlets have written about this story in Iceland. This is big news over there, apparently, this tree. It's a pretty ordinary thing to chop down these type of trees because their roots ruin all the pipes, and they really amiss in gardens where there's houses and stuff.

There was three trees, the same type of tree. And two were in my garden, and then one was just in his. And I rang him like four months before I'd done it. And it was my understanding that it would be okay that I took it if I just paid for it, you know, so he didn't have to pay for it. But then I took it, and he went, you know, he went to the papers, and I think he's going to press charges, or that's what he says. I don't know.

It's a bit weird, to be honest. It is a bit weird. I couldn't believe it. When I googled you this morning, I saw tons of articles about you in this tree. At first, I thought it was a joke. But it's good. You're in Dublin now, so you've escaped the media frenzy surrounding this tree, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I had to leave the country, you know? I'm just joking. Of course. So you returned to action on Sunday. You have this fight against Albert Tumenov. Of course, the last time we saw you was in December. So you took a bit of a break there after the Damien Maya fight, which obviously didn't go your way. Was that your plan?

Did you just want to take a break from fighting after that fight? Yeah, I think it's good after a fight like that. There's a lot to learn from and to take a little break and train. And it was over Christmas as well and stuff. So I got to spend some time at home with my family. Actually, this whole camp was pretty much in Iceland, so that was really good, you know. So that fight was one. I mean, people were so looking forward to the fight.

It was a grappler's. fans dream to see you two in there, sort of like the old generation and the new generation, and of course it did not go your way at all. Looking back, I mean, can you pinpoint? What went wrong? Like, what were the lessons that you took out of that experience against Damien? I mean, there's a lot of little lessons there, but the big one for me, like, I, it just, I don't know, I just did not feel myself, you know.

However, if it was his pressure or whatever, I just did not feel. feel good and it's fine. I honestly don't feel like I showed up and I performed as I as I can, you know. But, yes, there's a lot of little lessons, you know. There's a lot of little technical or tactical mistakes, I believe, more than technical, you know. Is it possible that you, you, you, you, you, or I should say underestimated him, that maybe you thought, or I should say underestimated, excuse me, like that he ended up being tougher than you thought he would be? He was definitely tough, and I knew he was going to be tough.

And I don't think I underestimated him. I always knew he was going to be really good on the ground. I've faced ground fighters like this before, maybe not in M&A, not at his level, but I've been on the ground and grappled with really good grapples before. Yeah, it's kind of hard to explain, but I just, yeah, for some reason I just did not feel myself in this fire.

I really felt like I honestly just got tired after after like two minutes off the very first round. Wow. Just didn't feel like I was in my own body, to be honest. Have you ever experienced anything like that before?

Yeah, similar. This was probably the worst case and probably also because because of the level of his ground game. game, it just highlighted everything, you know. But, yeah, sometimes I've felt this, and it's something that I've been working on, you know. It was, you know, I've read that you've said this in a couple of interviews that you didn't feel

like yourself. Was it just that morning, that day in the locker room, or is that how you were feeling all week in Las Vegas leading up to the fight? Was something just off? No, not the whole week at all. It just kind of comes and goes on random times. It's like, I don't even know how to, again. explain it sometimes, but, and I, to be honest, I really don't even want to talk about it, I just want to leave it, you know?

Okay. I'm just working on it. And, and that's it, you know, it's just one of these things that I just work on. And I have nothing to say about it, really, you know? I wouldn't really know where to start to talk about. I guess maybe someday I will be able to explain it better. But as of now, I'm just not, I'm just focusing on, on what, you know, I need to be doing and I feel a lot better you know I feel very good uh fair enough and I totally respect that um just wondering after the fight did you consider did you consider not fighting anymore did that ever come into play did you consider walking away from the sport or were you always coming

back yeah no no I i i i to be honest i've i feel like i've never been better when i have good days and stuff you know it's like my my my skill level is really high i feel and i'm just like everything seems to be coming together very nicely most of the time and and so I really I mean I really love fighting

I love this game and so I really want to carry on and I never I never thought after this fight that I was going to quit that was never my never a go-to thought you know it's more you know

whatever happens to whatever you go for you just such a old comment you know it's just your it's just your path and embrace it and carry on so Tuminov who you're fighting on Sunday he's looked fantastic as of late in the UFC he has won five in a row

I'm wondering if you've even paid attention to him are you the kind of guy that keeps an eye on the fighters who's sort of in your bracket as far as the rankings are concerned has he been on your radar did you know anything about him when they offered you him yeah I'd seen him

I had seen his fights or a couple or maybe two or three fights before I knew I was fighting him. Yeah, he looks good, you know. He looks really good on the feet, especially. I haven't seen much of his ground game, but he looks tough and durable, and he's, yeah, he's got really,

he's got a, like, kind of a good pressure on the feet, you know. Fast hands, good kick. you know, and so he's been looking really good against everyone, you know. Yeah, I would agree with that. Yeah, 100%. You mentioned that the majority of this camp has been in Iceland. Any particular reason for that? Of course, you know, Iceland is, at least for people like myself living in New York,

it feels like some fantasy world, you know, just like I can't even imagine what it's like. It just sounds so amazing to be there, but somewhat secluded. Yet ironically, you know, two weeks ago, because of everything going on with your teammate Connor, McGregor, it felt like it was the center of the MMA universe. So, A, my question is, any particular reason why you were there for so long that the whole camp, or the majority of the camp was there? And B, did it sort of defeat the purpose once everyone was talking about Iceland and his situation, you know, getting that sort of seclusion that you were hoping together, you didn't end up getting, if you know what I'm saying?

No, I'm not exactly sure what you mean, but I really enjoyed training over there and having the guy saw it was always great and you know Connor was over for for a week and it just happened to be that week where everything went off and yeah I'm not sure what were you asking about that if that was bothering me or not or yeah well exactly it I mean everyone was talking about Iceland I know some you know some media people flew there and trying to get interviews with him and with your father Holly as well did it did it start to feel like a lot of outside you know distractions and things like that while you're trying to peek and get ready for your fight.

Oh, right, I can see it. So, um, no, it just felt like home to me, you know,

um, I didn't really, I didn't, it didn't really bother me all that stuff, uh, around Connor. I mean, I was following it,

obviously, but, um, yeah, there's, to be honest, I've always kind of liked when, when the spotlight is,

is on someone else. Yeah. You know, while I'm working on my stuff, you know, and it, And obviously the spotlight is on the corner, so it seems me fine, you know. You know, I don't mind having the spotlight on me for a little while, but I wouldn't really,

that's not why I'm here, you know, that's not why I'm fighting in the UFC. I wouldn't really be drawn to that, you know. Of course. I like fighting. I like martial arts, and I wouldn't really be drawn to the spotlight, to be honest. I'd imagine that's sort of the ying and yang that you and Connor present, right? Because you're so different from each other and opposites attract, right? I mean, you could not be more different than him as far as personality is concerned.

Yeah, well, we've heard that January times. Yes. Patty Houhan tweeted while you guys were there that it was the first time that the entire, you know, team was in Iceland, the SBG guys, since before the UFC Dublin show in July of 2014. Is that true? Is that the first time? And did it feel like old time? Did you like that having the guys back?

Did it feel sort of like you guys were starting all over again in a weird way? Yeah, it was great having everybody over. I've obviously been over here. A lot of times in Vegas and training with all the guys. But it was great having everybody in Iceland now training with our in our club with our outcome team and the guys in the team obviously loved it as well. it doesn't feel like that long to be honest because we used to train there all the time and yeah it's it's a really nice place to train you know all the guys from on dublin even

even love to come over to iceland i had carl pender it over with uh philmolpeter they were just the two of them were over and stayed with me for three weeks before all the other guys showed up so um yeah it's been a great camp and i know the guys love being over there and just focusing on training, you know. One thing I've always wanted to ask your father, how do you pronounce the name of your gym there in Iceland? It's hard for someone who doesn't speak the language. How do you pronounce that?

Molnish. Mildgnes. Okay. Yeah, it's the hammer of Thor. It's like, have you seen Thor? Yes, yes, of course. The Hollywood movies, yeah, they pronounce it there decently, or they try to at least.

I won't try to do it again because I'm not that good. But I have seen some of the videos that your team has put out, in particular the sorry video. You know the one I'm talking about? This has been a revelation to me. You don't know this video? I don't know what you're talking about. Well, I know you can watch the show because you're on the phone, but I'll play a little bit of it here. What is going on here?

Because this to me, to see this side of you. And I got to say, your father is really the one wearing all black holding the sign if you're watching live. He's really the star of the show, in my opinion. But what is going on here? Where do you, there you are there, wearing that yellow jacket. I mean, at least it looks like you. Maybe it's a doppelganger. Where did you guys come up with this? Why did you do this? I've had that yellow jacket for a long time. It's something else. Yeah, it's something else, right? Yeah, we, it's something we do for every annual party.

We have this annual party beginning of the year, usually. And it's just do a bunch of videos and remake some famous music videos. Last year, I think, or the year before we did Chandelier. Yes, we actually have that. We can play that as well.

We have that clip. I queued that. That was a great one, too. I liked Sorry better just for the record, but yes, here's Chandelier. Keep going. Yeah, they're just getting better and better now. more professional. I thought the

story video was very it was just on point. I mean, to say it's on point is almost an understatement. The production value was exquisite. Did you enjoy doing that? It was fun to see that side of you. Oh yeah. It was just we literally, we've done it in a day.

We've done it in like even not even a full day. We put this white thing in the gym, in the main area, the training area in the gym and we had our choreographer, you know, a girl from the gym who was a dancer, just picked up all the moves, and we did our absolute best. And we just had a, you know, had a great fun.

People were just messing about there. Yeah, it's just a fun day at the gym, really. Oh, I love it. And then, of course, very fun for everyone to see the video at the annual party. Have you started to think, like, what's your dream one to play? out. Anyone that comes to mind? Is there, like, a dream song video that you'd like to actually put together with the team?

I know there's got to be one. Bjork? Maybe not. No, I want to do something like, something American, to be honest. Okay, okay. Yeah, something like that. Let me, let me do some study on this.

I haven't really made, or really thought too much about this, but if the next, time we'll talk, I'll have my preference on next year's video. Great. Okay. How's fatherhood? Your son is so cute. Wow, it's amazing to see him. He looks like a little... Thank you.

It just, I mean, it kind of looks a lot like you. I mean, with the blonde hair, it's great. How do you like fatherhood? Does this change how you approach your fights, get ready for fights at all? Well, yeah, you have to... Obviously, you want to spend as much time with him as you can, so

you want to stay, you wouldn't be traveling as much as you... as I used to, but it's, yeah, it's something else, you know. You wouldn't really know unless you've had kids. It just, yeah, it gives you inspiration, and it really just lifens everything up. You know, whatever you're doing with him, and you see him learn, and he's at the age now, he's going to turn two now, and at the end of May, and he's climbing everywhere, jumping off everything, he's a little rascal, you know, he won't stop.

And it's just really, every time I see him, he's got some new tricks. It's life, you know. Have you fed him the sheep's head yet? Has he tried that delicacy? Yeah. He eats everything, all types of meats. He's not, he's not going to be vegetarian, I can tell you that. Yeah.

You know, you try to give him spinach or carrots and bell peppers. That's about it, I think. He doesn't really dig the green stuff. You plop down the actual sheep's head in front of him, and he has no problem he digs in. Oh, yeah, he loves lamb, and sheep says it makes no difference to him, I think. He's more of a man than I am already at less than two years old. Unbelievable.

Okay. Have you been to Iceland? I have never been, but I'd love to go one day. It looks exquisite. That water, it looks amazing. You need to come over. I'll give you some sheep's and shark meat and... Oh, I don't know about that.

Some of the good stuff, you know? Let's not get crazy, but I do appreciate the invite, and I'd love to take you up on it. Okay, let me ask you about this. I'd be remiss if I don't ask you. Can you just offer your take on what's going on with your friend, Conner? Do you think he fights again? What do you make of this craziness, that he's not on the card? How crazy is this?

Do you think it's absurd that we've gone to this point? What do you make of it all? I think it kind of happened because he wanted to really focus on his training for this fight, and he felt like going over there and doing all this media stuff, was going to take away from his training. And I think that's the reason why he kind of got enough. Enough of that, you know. And like he says he's done dancing.

you know, like a monkey, and he wants to focus on training, and I understand that. And he felt like going over there was going to come down on his training. So he decided to retire, and he was retired. And he said the same thing to us as everyone else. He wasn't like just putting it up and saying I'm retired, but really he wasn't. But he was going to retire. And then I think he kind of changed his mind, and I wanted to see if he could come back. I don't know exactly how he was thinking of it through, what exactly was the deal.

But I believe he's definitely going to come back and fight, you know. Exactly, I'm not sure, but maybe 201 or 202. I would definitely put my money on that he would be back. You know, and I believe the money is there as well. As a Walterway, would you prefer him to go down and fight out like 155 or 145, or do you think it's good for him to be fighting in your weight class? I would have likened to see him in the 155 division. Yeah.

You know, but it's really just up to him, whatever he wants to do. I think that 145 is maybe you'll go. I know he can go back down. and defend his title. No problem, but I just think he doesn't want to do that cut again. It's a nasty one, and I agree with him, and I understand that. So I think maybe I would like to see him going into the 155 divisions before, you know, going all the way up to the welterweight.

But, you know, he'll do whatever he feels like. Well, one last thing on this. based on what you heard, did the UFC offer to take your gym in Iceland and replicate it in Las Vegas? Did you hear this at all? That they were going to take all the stuff and move it? Were you down with that?

Did you even hear this? Because that's what was said before. Yeah, I heard something about this, but I don't think this was anything that made any sense. They're going to move our gym anywhere, and I don't really see the point even. Sure. Yeah.

I did hear something like that, but not through something serious. Not like we run the gym, and I just saw it on some website, you know. Okay, fair enough. Well, Gunner, it's always great to catch up with you. I appreciate it. Good luck in the fight this Sunday. Good luck with that tree situation, you know, back home. I hope it all works out.

And always great to watch your fight. You know, always love watching you. And I think this is a fantastic fight. You versus Albert Tuminov this Sunday. It's live on Fox Sports One here in the United States. Appreciate some time on a Monday night in Ireland, Gunner, and again, all the best to you. Good luck on Sunday.

Thanks very much. My pleasure. Thank you. There he is. Gunner Nelson's stopping by. Great to talk to him. Looking forward to seeing how he rebounds Sunday afternoon here in the United States Sunday night in Rotterdam.

So we stick with the welterweight division. A man who is streaking as of late, he has won 10 of 11, have wanted to get Neil Magny on this program for quite some time. finally linked up with him. It's coming off a big win over Hector Lombard, and he is joining us right now. On the phone, Neil, are you there? Yes, I'm here, sir.

Great to have you on the show, finally. Wow. It has been a long time coming, and you are killing it, my man, coming off that big win over Hector Lombard. How many times have you watched that fight against Hector Lombard, honestly? I've literally probably watched the highlights

that it probably 100 times, not even kidding. Every time I open my social media, that video's playing over and over and over again. I just feel like it can't get old. But wait a second, you say the highlights. Why not the full fight? Well, I just haven't had a chance to get the full fight yet.

I mean, it's not on UFC Fight Pass, so I just don't even able to catch the highlights of it. I haven't able to watch the full fight just yet. Going back to that moment, even when you watch it, when you see how things went, because that was such a crazy fight, 10-8 first round, arguably for him, 10-8 second round for you.

When you see the end of that second round and how long the referee, Steve Percival, let it go on. Are you just astounded? I mean, how could that be? It's crazy. Yeah, I mean, I was definitely a little bit frustrated the referee at the time that he let the fight go on as long as he didn't that second round. But I'm not sure what he was seeing or what men were allowed to go that long. But I just try to forget about it at the time and just kind of go right back to what he needs to do to win the fight.

It was kind of a hard position to put me in as well because Hector is in a position that he wasn't able to defend himself. and for me being a martial artist, it wouldn't make sense to just keep counting the guy out and give him more damage than he needed to take. So it was kind of a weird balance where I was in a fight. I didn't want to get more damage

than he needed to, but I need to win the fight as well. So it didn't put me in a hard spot at the time. Was that almost uncomfortable for you? You say, like, as a martial artist, to be in that spot where you think and know the guy is out, doesn't need any more damage yet the referee's not stopping it?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's one thing if the guy's fighting and getting out in improvement his position, but it's something else and the guy's completely covering up and his ego has not letting him tap or something like that. I mean, he took literally 40 unanswered shots

where he was just laying there, hoping that the ref would call him so that he wouldn't have been the one they quit, but for some reason, the ref just refused to do it. Great. How close were you to being out in the first round? I remember most of the first round.

I mean, I don't think there was ever a point where I was completely out in the fight. I was very conscious at the time, so I can hear the rest of saying, Neil fight back, nail your position. I can hear him say, watch the back ahead and things like that. Though I was hurt, I don't think I was ever

unconscious or out of it at any point. Did you hear that Lombard is now going back to 185? Do you take some pride in the fact that you kicked him out of the Walterweight division and moved them back up to 185? Yeah, definitely. I mean, to be the first guy at beat or to finish him at Lombard

in his entire career and being the only got to be him at Raltowate, it does feel pretty good to be the guy at literally beat him out of division. I mean, that's something I can brag it off for years and years to come. So that part definitely felt good. A nice feather in your cap, and you went to his adopted home country to win to boot. So that's a great performance out of you. And the UFC has rewarded you, right?

Because you just signed a new contract with them, correct? Yeah, definitely. I didn't leave Australia before I had a new contract in the UFC offering another four-fight deal and gave me quite a bit of a raise as well. So I've been true good for that. I just really appreciate the UFC recognizing my heart. hard work and reward me for it. Now, this is interesting because you had one

fight left on your old contract, correct? Yes. And as you know, free agency, a hot topic in our sport these days, but you chose not to play out your contract and resign before the contract is up. Why did you decide to do that and not roll the dice like some others have?

I just know that U.C. is where I want to be right now. I mean, I set out the come show out these U.S.C. and I feel like I haven't accomplished those things yet. So at the time, it just wasn't, I didn't feel it necessarily to play to open market or free agency at all and check out the waters elsewhere. I just feel like I have a lot of things to achieve in the UFC unless I need to be right now in order to do so. Now, like I said, you've won 10 of 11. You're streaking. You've had some big wins, in particular as a late, Lombard, Gasslam, Eric Silva.

And on this show, I don't know if you know this, but at times I've been a little critical of you. I have no problem saying this because I feel like you've been winning in such impressive fashion against big names. and then they put the mic in front of you and you don't ask for anyone, you don't call anyone out, you're just too nice. But, but, but, it seems like things are changing a little bit because I noticed on social media

you were calling out Nate Diaz. You actually were calling someone out of this. You did this recently, right? That wasn't an imposter. That was you, correct? Yeah, that was definitely me. I mean, the opportunity came up where I saw Kammergard pulled out of the fight and Nate Diaz didn't have an opponent at the time.

I just thought it would be a great thing for me. I mean, turning the World Trade Division, and everyone who's ranked above me is already pre-agrified the fight, things like that. So in my mind, I thought, why not take the fight against Nate Diaz?

I mean, there'll be a huge opportunity for me to keep relevant, give it an oppressive performance sort of fans, just stay relevant in the sport. You always say, you know,

you'll take whoever the UFC gives you, why call them out now? Why did you change your tune? Have you recognized that calling people out is actually beneficial to your career? Um, it may be,

but honestly at the time, I just started an opportunity and I went for it. The opportunity to fight on UFC 200. would have been huge. Just fight a guy like Nate Diaz coming off from the press to win over,

Khan McGregor, would have been huge from my career. So many of the time I just thought the opportunity wasn't necessarily any person against Nate Diaz in particular, but the opportunity that fighting him would have brought, especially at the UFC 200. So as we sit here and speak on this Monday afternoon, Nate doesn't have

a fight, Connor's not on the card. Any chance? I mean, have you asked the UFC? I know Dana loves you. He talks about you all the time. Do you feel like you might actually get this fight? I'm not sure if I'm going to get it enough, but I definitely did put it out there. I let the U.S. you know that I'm definitely interested in it, and I'm back in the gym training. So if that's the fight they want to put together, I'll gladly accept it, and I was ready to go. I'm not sure what the plans are with Nate Diaz.

I'm not sure what Nate Diaz plans to do as far as him sitting out and wait for Carmen Greger to come back and then take a fighting against him. So it's all on the air right now. I mean, one thing I don't like is sitting on the bench, not having a fight. So I just thought it would be better for me to be proactive and toss him out and get back in the card. Yeah, because in 2014, you tied the record for five fights in one calendar year. Clearly, you are an active guy you like to get out there. Is that the dream fight for you right now? I mean, styles-wise, that is a beautiful fight. I mean, just given, you know, your height and reach and his and just the way you fight and the way he fights, I have a hard time envisioning that being a bad

fight. Is that the dream fight for you right now, a fight against Nate at 170? Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's like, that's a fight that would be great for my career right now. It's like that's a fight that be great for the fans as well. I mean, I don't think he or I would hold back in that fight. It would just be an all-out war where the fans get the fight they can very appreciate. And they might be along with the fight like Steph Bonner and Forge Griffin. I mean, I'm not sure that both will leave it all in that in the oxygen and then just go to war. So I don't see anything bad coming about with that fight. At this point, though, if you don't get that, if he goes back to 155 and does this thing there,

how far away, I can't imagine that you're more than one fight away from being in that title talk, if not already, right? I mean, beating Lombard, you see who's ahead of you, and I know the Maya fight still kind of sticks out, but you have to be in that discussion, don't you think? Yeah, I definitely feel like right there. I mean, one of the biggest things for me, I think I was similar to the top, too,

like if that title shot is just getting to the point that the fans want to see it more than anything else. I mean, I'm pretty sure if I put another performance, another perfect performance or fans, like, oh, man, New Langu's amazing. I wish he's got a fight for a title. That's what's going to give me that title. and I'm definitely not going to get it by singing in the college waiting the next three, four months

and seeing how things play out. I mean, Carlos Conn is a perfect example of that. I mean, he was out for a year. He came back, followed the number of 13-ranked guy, beating him pretty good and he got a shot right out there. So at this point, I realize that the numbers don't mean everything, and it's all about who the fans want to see fight. So what do you make of, like, what Tyron Woodley has done sort of waiting for that fight?

It might work out for him and might not. Like, someone in the division who likes to be active. you make of that situation? I feel like he's definitely on the dice. I mean, I know at the time it was something that Day and White promised him, but at the same time, I'm pretty sure that I was just Dana-N-wife speaking out of emotion at the time, depending what he was feeling. I mean, on paper, or in reality, it doesn't make much sense that he would get a

tired of shot up or staying out for a year because the opponent didn't make weight. I mean, in the fight business, I mean, the fight's not efficient, so it actually happens. You can't just take an account like, oh, there's got to make weight. I mean, they're going to make the shot because that. that counts as a win. I mean, anything to happen in the fight business and take that as a win and give a guy a tie shot off it. I don't necessarily do with it, but if he gets it, good for him. I hope they were soft for him.

But in my opinion, I don't think that's how it should work out. You know, I remember seeing, I think I've talked about this on this show, I remember seeing you walking down the street in Rio after UFC 163, the Sunday after that fight, you had just lost to Sergio Marais in the first round. And it was clear you were bummed. I don't know if you remember that. kind of walking with your head down. And then you came back, you know, and I just, you know, I just, you know, I thought like, you know, he's obviously bummed that you fly all the way to Rio and it sucks to lose. You come back and you lose to Seth Baczynski, um, and now here

you are staring at a two-fight losing streak. Did you think, you know, at that time, you know, three or so years ago, guys were getting cut for two-fight losing streaks. Did you think after that Bizzinski fight that you were done in the UFC? Were you worried about that? Yeah, I was one percent worried about it, man. I knew as far as taking the Denver police exam because I thought my career as a UFC fighter was over after that I lost. I mean, it definitely took some time preying on it and see what was next for me and things like that. But after that second loss, I honestly thought that my time you see if you had come to an end,

I mean, to lose first round and lose to a guy who was, I think at the time, when a two-fight losing streak, it just didn't sit well in my eyes with the UFC. So I thought for sure like that, all right, that was it. You came out, you tried. Didn't make the cut. Good luck next time. That's why I thought it was over at that point. And were you ready to stop fighting?

I was at the time, I mean, I just put so much into my career that I was ready to get things back in order. I mean, I left my home in Chicago. I walked right from the police academy in Chicago. I left the military. I left all these things behind in or pursue my career in MMA. And when it wasn't working off me, I just thought that I just hit that wall in that that was as far as I can go. So I was a position where I need to get my life in order first and then get back to fighting later. So those two losses in a row

Can't put him in a position Where it's like, all right, you know Kind of re-priotized what's important in your life And where's there you're trying to go And then worry about fighting later Do you remember what it was like When you found out that you weren't getting cut And that you were going to get a third crack at this?

Oh, just to our excitement I was like, all right, here you go Who's that? Third opportunity to make the best of it I mean, I remember walking into gym, Smonging ear to ear at time I told me, I got a fight, I got a fight, going back in, coach. And they were always just excited

as I was to be had to go in there and get one more shot. And then, of course, you proceed to win seven in a row. Like I said, you had that one fight against mine, then you've now won three in a row. What the heck changed? Like, where did that, you know, where did the guy who lost two in a row go? And how did you turn into this killer? I think the biggest part was just relying more of my faith and relying that, no matter what happens where I go, got some getting provided from me.

And just letting go to the things I couldn't control. I mean, where then I get cut in USC, no big deal. My life still goes on. And we're not from a great performance, whatever. My life still goes on. So just kind of realizing that it's not the end of the day when I lose a fight or whatever and just letting go to the things I can control. It kind of helped me focus on more things I could control,

which is my training and my mindset when I go out there and try to fight. So back in the day, you used to worry a lot about that? You used to make mountains at a mole. You used to focus so much on the result and your career in the UFC, and then you just decided to let it go? Yeah, definitely. I mean, especially after losing that fight, I was like, oh, man, here I am with Bill's stocked up

and all this other things. And I would worry about, like, oh, man, how am I going to make it through? How am I going to make it to my next spot? And all these other things, and once I quit worrying about what if and focus on it now, it made a huge difference. How often do you think about that Maya fight?

I think about it all the time. I mean, honestly, I don't fault Maya for it. It was almost like a, I know it sounds cliche during guys say that you learn more from lost and win, but in that fight, I feel like that's exactly what it was. I mean, I was at a point where, if you heard my interviews, I'm like, oh, man, I feel good right now. I went seven fights in a row. There's no way this man who's 10 years old is going to beat me all this other stuff and just kind of lost track of where I was going and what got me on that seven-fight win streak to begin with. So I feel like that loss in his day

in my, was definitely humbling and exactly what I needed at the time to give me a motivation in that drive to carry on after him. So, so you, I mean, it's funny because I just spoke to Gunner Nelson who had the same kind of experience with Maya, did you kind of think that, like, the fact that he's fighting in a couple of weeks against Matt Brown, and he's on the cusp of the title shot as well? Like, did you think that this guy was kind of at the end of the road of his career, and, you know, he was a little over the hill? It's fair to say you were kind of underestimating him going into that fight?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, one of the things that made me underestimated for sure was the 10-year-age difference. To me, I was 10-year-old and he was. He was in a lot of wars in the UFC. people like that. So I for sure thought that my youth was going to play a huge factor in the fight. But when I went out there, that actually wasn't the issue at all. I mean, he came to prepare to know exactly what he had to do and they just died. You fought Brazilians like Maya in Brazil. You went to Mexico to fight Calvin Gaslam,

Lombard in Australia. And from what, you're born in Brooklyn, right? Brooklyn, New York? Yeah, I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. When did you leave Brooklyn? I left Brooklyn And I went to Right before I start high school So I went to high school in Chicago And went to college in Southern Illinois Which part of Brooklyn?

So I grew up around I did a lot of moving around When I lived in Brooklyn My mom was a single mom So I literally changed schools every single year So I went from Flatbush to Canaris To Bush to just bouncing all over the place

Then my mom was able to find a place First to stay So I mean how awesome I mean that card in November In New York Wouldn't that be something? Is that the dream to come back to New York and fight at MSG? That would be amazing.

Yeah, I mean, with all my family still being in New York City, I've been an amazing fight for me. I mean, just fighting as massive gun gone alone just growing up there and knowing the guys like Mike Tyson and fought there and always out there. I mean, to get a golden master who's going to fight there, that would be great. I would like a dream come true for me.

I feel like you've done them so many solids, the UFC. They owe you this one. Brooklyn Boy to fight. Have you told Dana White this? You stepped up for them on short notice. they owe you this one, right? I haven't spoken to date and why about it just yet. I'm planning on being in U.S.C. 200 out in Vegas that week,

and that was a conversation I was waiting to have face-to-face, like, hey, I've been there for you guys time and time again, just having up short notice across the world, not just the country, but across the world, fighting main events, co-made events, whatever it may be. This is one thing I would truly ask for. Just be a good opportunity to fight on that NARGO time in Mass and Square Garden. It's the first time ever.

It's going to be a history-making event. I doesn't want to take part in it. So that's just one of the questions I'll wait to ask, face to face with him. That's a smart move, and I think you deserve it. By the way, part of that maturation that you talked about after the Maya fight, I love that. You went on Twitter and actually asked him if you can attend one of his seminars in Las Vegas, I believe it was, right? Would the old Neil Magni not have done that?

Probably not. My ego probably would have kept me from doing so. But after I lost, I look at it one in two ways. I can look at it as like, oh, whatever. I lost two. one of the best juice guys in the world and just leave it at that. Or I can pick that guy's brain and say, hey, how did you be the way you did and try to apply it to my fights later on? And that's exactly what I did.

I mean, he took some time out of his data, like, give me a couple of pointers of things that I was missing in my flights, things like that. And I thought he made a difference. So I'm sure Gertford absolutely that he gave me as far as like when he come to his seminar and even stick the time of his data to teach me a few things. Did you get the impression that he was really telling you what was going on? because there's a chance you might meet again at some point. So did you feel like he was holding back, or were you guys really talking and sharing secrets and all that? I feel like it was truly genuine.

I mean, just from talking to him on the right back to hotel and everything, I mean, it just seemed like it was coming from a good place, and he had no reason to hold back that information. I mean, DeVille is a martialist first and a fighter second. So for him, passing the knowledge to a younger martial artist is what he's about. I mean, it's what a black belt does. So I feel like that's exactly. he was doing at the time.

That is amazing. I remember that vividly. You went on Twitter and you asked him and he's, and I couldn't believe it. And that was, how long after the fight was that way? That was not that long after, right? Just a few weeks?

Yeah, I don't, yeah, honestly, I was that long after. I mean, I think it had to have been, you know, I was a few months after you. I fought Gassum and Eric Silver both.

And that was pointed out to me was, was, was the back control position where I was so eager to get, uh, get some punches going that. as they control the position first and you just pointed out how I can control that position better and it made a difference.

Amazing. I love that. Okay, so to wrap, you don't want to sit on the sidelines. You want to get back in there. You got the contract. You're living the life. Perfect world. You want to fight on one of those cards in July or even before that? I mean, what's the perfect scenario now? Perfect scenario for me is I'll get to fight in Chicago in July. Turn around to fight in New York City later this year. I mean, that would be the best way I see it going. If it happens, it's great. The tough part now is once you've time the ranks, the selection as far as we're able to fight,

it becomes smaller and smaller. So I'm hoping as going as far back as the top 15 to get an opponent just so I can fight on either or both, for that matter, in Chicago and turn on and fight again in New York City. Wow, that is amazing. What a breath of fresh air to hear that. Someone who's climbing the ranks who's knocking on that door and is willing to take an opponent who's, you know, lower rank. That's amazing stuff.

That July card is on Fox. that would be a great platform for you as well. Appreciate the time, Neil. Great to have you on the show for the first time and looking forward to watching you climb that ladder. It's been a lot of fun thus far. Awesome. Thank you.

I really appreciate you having you on. All right, there is. Neil Magny. Brooklyn Represent doing great things for that team out of Colorado, the Elevation Fight Team. He is on a roll, three big wins for Neil Magne. Appreciate his time very much. Okay, let us move along.

Very much looking forward to our next guest, as well. She is killing it in her own right. She is one of the best Muay kickboxers in the world, and soon she will be transitioning over to mixed martial arts. She recently signed with glory kickboxing, left-line fights, and also recently signed with Invicta. This is a fascinating story. We are being joined via the Magic of Skype by Tiffany VanSuss. There she is in her car, I believe. Tiffany, how are you? I'm doing fantastic. Am I on? Do I hear some feedback? there or is your radio on?

My Bluetooth is on here. Is that better? I think that's better, yes. Oh no, I still hear the feedback. We'll try to fight through it. Here we go. It's pretty much down now. Okay, that's good. Where are you, by the way? Are you in the parking lot or something? Yeah, I'm running around doing my medicals and stuff for my fight, which is why I saw my glasses on because my pupils are dilated. Oh, okay. And I'm about to go get an MRI on my brain. Oh. Busy day.

Well, I appreciate you squeezing us in. It's great to have you on the show. Okay, so a lot going on with you, and I kind of want to work chronologically here. You know, you were killing it for line fights, and then out of nowhere, you went on social media and said that you had to sell one of your belts because they weren't paying you. Have they ever paid you? Yeah, I was paid. The issue was resolved.

Everything's all good, and I'm ready to just move forward from here. Okay, but did you feel like they paid you because you went on social? media, like you sort of forced their hand? Yeah, you know what? Closed mouths don't get fed, and, you know, I was very, very patient. And there was a lot of unreturned correspondences. And, you know, I finally had to speak out. And unfortunately, it came to that.

But luckily, we were able to resolve it. I was paid. And here I am now. Did you actually sell the belt or you didn't have to get to that point? No, fortunately I didn't come to that And were you a free agent or did they cut ties because they just couldn't afford you anymore? That was, my last fight with them was the last fight on my contract, so I was a free agent. Did they even entertain the idea of bringing you back?

Or did you not even want to go back? I didn't want to go back. I think it was just, at that point in time, you know, I'd done everything that I could, everything that I wanted to do within line fight, and all signs pointed to moving on, so sure enough. And here you are, and things have worked out. Were you worried, though, because Glory doesn't really have a women's division, so were you worried that there would not be that many options for you in female kickboxing?

MMA was kind of the plan after Lion Fight anyway. So I'd already planned to sign with an MMA promotion and to start doing that. but then we got the call from Glory, and they were interested. So as soon as we got that call, that was awesome. Wow. So I was really, really excited when that call came in. And so, of course, we wanted to sign with Glory. And then it just worked out that I was also able to sign with Invicta.

So are you just doing sort of feature fights for Glory, or are they going to build a whole division around you and have a belt and all that stuff? From what I hear It's looking like there might be a division built around this So right now this would just be a feature fight And then we'll see what happens after that But I mean that would be great to be a glory world champion as well Were you prepared though to never

You know fighting kickboxing again and transition fully to mix martial arts Yeah I've come to that I knew that that Muay Thai in kickboxing was something I could probably always find my way back to eventually, but yeah, I was prepared to fully just soak up the MMA scene. Why leave something that you're so good at and go to this world that you're somewhat of a novice? I believe you're one in one in MMA. Is that accurate?

I've not had like a professional sanctioned MMA fight. Okay, amateur. Is it fair to call it amateur? Yeah, fair to call it amateur. Why would you leave, and you're relatively young, why leave the world that you were dominating to go to a new world. Why did you want to do that? I'm young, but I'm not that young. It's time to start making some money. I want to be able to set myself up

for a very comfortable future. And unfortunately, it's not just, it wasn't just one or two promotions. I mean, the sport of Muay Thai in America is just not that popular. And it was just, you know, getting kind of frustrating, a little disheartening. and I felt like I did as much as I could and stuck in as long as I could,

but it was also time under so much opportunity knocking, you know. It was time to answer the door to that and finally do MMA. You live now in Bali, correct? Correct, yeah. How big is female Muay Thai over there? That's non-existent. Non-existent, geez. So you had to make the move, and now you go to Invicta as well.

is it just a coincidence that, you know, Glory and Invicta are with FightPass, or did the UFC people help broker this deal as well? I think it was just a coincidence that it worked out that way. Okay. When are you, because your glory debut is May 13th in California. When's your Invicta debut? It's looking like September 23rd. Oh, look at this. Some breaking news.

Who are you fighting? I'm not sure. I'm not looking too far past two weeks from now That is true, right But will you be fighting at 115 in MMA? Yes Okay How, you know, on a scale of 1 to 10

How comfortable are you on the ground these days? Getting there Every day, the new challenge And a new adventure working on the ground But I'm confident in my instructors, my coaches and I'm confident that when it does time to hit the ground In the cage that

you know, I'll be fully prepared. When you do make your MMA debut officially for Invicta, will you be training out of Bali still, or are you going to come to the United States? Both. I'll be doing the majority of my training camp in Bali at Bali, Muay, and MNAMA. And then, I haven't decided

on a camp here in the States yet. I'm going to be doing a little bit of training around. I've always been based out of San Diego, so it's got options there, but got options in vain. Vegas as well. And so after this fight, maybe it'll take a little bit of time, check out a different, a few different places to train and then make my decision based off of that.

Did you ever consider trying out for the ultimate fighter? I know they just featured the straw weights. Was that a consideration for you to go straight into the UFC? No, no, you couldn't pay me enough money to be in that house. Why not? You're not a fan of the reality show? Absolutely not. No. Okay. You don't strike me as the type that would be a fan, to be honest, after talking to you for a little bit. Part of the interest in coming to MMA was that because you saw, you know, how big Ronda has gone and Misha Tate and these people, do you feel like that's just smart? Like, if Maitai was paying you and you were fine there, would you have just stayed there?

But because these women are becoming megastars, is that part of the reason why you want to do it as well? No, it's not really, I mean, it's about the money a little bit, but for the most part, I mean, If Muay paid what MMA pays, then I'd be happy doing that forever. But for the entire length of my Muay career, people have been asking me, when are you going to do MMA? Are you going to transition to MMA? And I've always been like, no, no, I'll wait, I'll wait. No, I'm really happy doing Muayai.

But I finally just got to a point where I'm like, you know what, I got to at least give it a shot. I'm young enough. I've got the skills enough. I've got the resources. You know, so, I mean, I don't want to think what if. I don't want to spend my whole life wondering. Like, what if I did do MMA?

You know, so I felt like, you know, I had won a few titles in Maitai, a few different weight classes. I felt like I've done a lot for the sport, done a lot for myself. I'm proud of what I've done in Maitai. And so I figured, why not pursue something else? Why not give it a shot and at least see how it goes. Yeah, I love it. I think you're the perfect fighter for in Victor, because you have a name, you have a very loyal following.

You coming over there is a big event, so I think it makes a lot of sense for them. Now, correct me if I'm wrong here. You have a background in karate. You used to practice karate as a youngster, and you were only allowed to start fighting once you turned 18. Your parents didn't allow you to actually compete. Is that accurate? Yeah, pretty much. I competed in karate tournaments, which is not full contact.

you know, forms and point sparring. When I started learning Muay Thai at the age about 16, I had expressed interest in, you know, taking a fight, and they were just not having it, and so I figured you know, they wouldn't really have

any say once I was 18 and I could sign my own release. Wow. So that's what happened. What a rebel. Were they pissed at you when you did this? Not really mad. They're more nervous than anything. Kind of like, I can't believe doing this, you know, and just one, right?

And I figured, yeah, because my intention really was. I wanted to do it just to see if I could do it, like, because I was tired of point sparring from karate, like the, you know, like light to no contact. I wanted to try just one full contact fight. I just wanted to try one Muay fight and one turned into two, turned into three and four, and then that was that. Now here you are nine years later, and this is your career.

what did you want to do? Like, did you even have any aspirations? Like, what do you think Tiffany would be doing with her life if you didn't find this? Oh, man. The plan was to be like a strength and conditioning coach or an athletic trainer. Okay. But now I can't even imagine my life, you know, anywhere else. I can't imagine doing anything else. I feel like I was born to do this. It's amazing how that works out. Now, do your parents support your career now? Do they watch your fights? Yeah, they're at every fight. They fully support it. I mean, at times it is hard for them to watch. They'll watch through their fingers like this, you know. But, no, they, they, they, they see how much I put into it and they see that it wasn't just a phase and that this is my

career and they're fully supportive. And when you, you know, when you actually go and fight and all that, your friends, are they, like the people that you grew up with, are they, they're not in this sport, I'm imagining. Do they think you're crazy for doing this? Or maybe originally? I was always a little bit of a rebel, a little bit of a wild child as far as athletics and stuff growing up. On the soccer field, I was always, I grew up playing soccer my entire life. I was pretty aggressive. I pole vaulted in high school. Wow. I was always competing in karate, so I don't think anyone's really too surprised that it ended up being a professional fighter. pole vaulting, that's amazing. I haven't met a lot of pole vaulters in my day. Do you still do that?

No, no, I only did that in high school. Wow, were you good? I held the record at my high school for a while. Look at you. Wow, well done. So how do you transition from kickboxing to MMA? I mean, obviously there's the discipline of kickboxing in MMA, but how are you going to go back and forth? Because you want to focus on one thing at a time, right? It can get a little bit confusing, I would imagine. So how are you going to juggle those two balls? Right now, obviously, since I've got a kickboxing fight coming up, the majority of my training is based around that. But as soon as this fights over, I'm going to have to just double up on my groundwork and

stay sharp on my feet. And then the real thing, I think the most difficult thing that I'm going to have to figure out is the in-between stuff, like how to, I mean, obviously the groundwork is, you know, is my main priority because it is my weakest area. But the transition, like just the really subtle changes, I'm going to have to figure those out as I go. But I don't think it should be too much of a problem. I've been training MMA and helping out, you know,

some of the girls in the UFC, like Carla Sparsa, I've been working with Jessica Peney and for years. I've been sparring partners with them. I've been, you know, learning from them a little bit here and there. So I'm not completely foreign and completely new to MMA. But now it's just really about sinking my teeth into the groundwork and training it for myself instead of as a partner to help these other girls. Do you feel like you're on the cusp of big sponsorships, you know,

really people coming on board and jumping on the time bomb? You know, because you've been sort of, you know, tucked away in the Muay Thai world, but you see what some of these women are getting. Are you itching for that? Do you feel like that's right around the corner for you? Yeah, it's only a matter of time. I like the confidence. Is the goal tend up in the UFC?

Do you want to eventually fight in the UFC? Of course, yeah. All right. I wasn't sure. I don't want to do it just to, I don't want to do this just to do it halfway. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it right. Go big or go home. Absolutely.

How far away do you think you are from that? Like in your mind, two years, three years, one year, what do you envision? Maybe one or two years Okay What a story that would be All right But first things first It's glory on May 13th in California

And your fight will actually be on Fight Pass as well Correct You'll be on the fight pass portion of the card Great That's big But not for a title Yeah

No Okay All right I look forward to it Great to have you on the show I wish you the best And thank you for squeezing us in With all these appointments

You know all the stuff That you have to do before the fight I appreciate that greatly Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. All right, there she is. Time bomb. What a great nickname. Tiffany Van Suss. She'll be making her glory debut on May 13th. She'll be making her Invicta debut, as you just heard, on September, what did she say? 23rd? Okay. I just got a text message. We were supposed to be joined in a bit by Glenn Robinson to talk about the Jordan Parsons situation. But he texted me that, unfortunately, without going too far into it, he has had to postpone.

And I completely understand. In case you miss that story yesterday, Jordan Parsons, young fighter who fights for Bellator, he was actually supposed to fight on the May 14th card in San Jose. He was involved in an accident. Unfortunately, a horrible accident, a hit-and-run accident. And I was told as of last night that he was in critical condition. I was also told that he sadly had to have the bottom half of his right leg amputated, which is just, I mean, horrendous.

This man, you go on his social media just seemed to really be loving life and in a great place. Rashad Evans tweeted last night that he was in a coma. seemed to be obviously a well-liked fighter at the Black Zillians and a young man who had a bright future ahead of him and just a horrible turn of events. There is a GoFundMe page that has been set up for Jordan Parsons and I tweeted it earlier. I will tweet it again in a bit.

And we just wanted to have Glenn on, who of course is the head of the Blacksillians and the owner of the Jacko Hybrid Training Center out of Deerfield Beach, California, excuse me, Florida. I wanted to have him on just to give us an update on how he's doing and just see, you know, if he's going to be okay. I mean, forget about the fighting, just if he's going to be okay. Because as I said, Rashad Evans tweeted last night that he was in a coma and, well, he was

okay to come on earlier this morning, but he just informed me via text message that that's not going to happen anymore. And of course, I completely understand there are more important things for him. than talking about all this on my show, but I definitely wish the best. And I know the M.M.A community being the tight-knit community that it is, always supporting its own thinking and rallying and hoping and praying that Jordan Parsons is able to pull through here. We wish them the very best. So we will transition now and welcome in our next guest.

Very much looking forward to. And I know a lot of you are as well to talking to the one. and only Joanne Calderwood. She got some great news. Last week, she'll be fighting Valerie La Tourneau in Ottawa, Canada in the first official UFC women's flyweight fight. How about that? 125 pounds. Joanne, how are you? I'm good to area. Good to see you as well. It has been a while. Long time no speak. You've been avoiding me. I'm not sure about that. I don't think that's accurate. We can get into that if you must. So, first of all, what fantastic Skype we have here. connection over in Scotland, so I appreciate that greatly. You're looking crystal clear, but

I just have to ask you about this because you inform me, you've changed your phone, right? You're going old school. Where's this phone? Yeah. What is going on over here with this phone? Look at that Nokia. Why do you have that phone now? So before I went to Canada, I gave my iPhone six to my mum because, like, you know, like over there, my network wouldn't be working. So I was just like, well, there was no point in having a phone. So I just gave it to my mom. And yeah, I've just been living off of my iPad whenever I need any Wi-Fi or internet connection with anyone. This reminds me a lot of Roy McDonald.

I don't know if you've ever seen his phone or if he's upgraded, but for a long time he was rocking the flip phone, the older than old school one than you have. And I feel like he told me like it was kind of liberating for him. He didn't want all this information. Do you like it as well? Yeah, I love it. Like, I've only just got that phone. Like, before I didn't have a phone. I just had my iPad when I was in Canada,

and I kind of got used to it and kind of enjoyed it, you know, a little bit. Like, when I went out and stuff, I didn't have my phone and I wasn't, like, distracted. So I just thought that it's something I should look at when I get back. And then when I got back, obviously, it's a little bit harder being home and not having a phone. So I was like, you know what, I'll just get a wee cheap throwaway phone and got that and it's been great.

I like it. I respect it. Everyone's been making a fool of it, but it's all good. It's a good. I'm sure like in two weeks they will have it. Well, for now it's a good conversation piece. So I say stick with it as long as possible. So let's start chronologically here because you went in July in Scotland. What a moment that was for you.

and you were actually coming to New York around October November. You were going to go train at Marcello Garcia's, unbeknownst to our audience. You were actually going to visit us in studio, which was very exciting to us. You're over there in Scotland. It's very rare that you're here. So that was exciting. And then we get the news that you are fighting Paige Van Zant, which is even more exciting. You're fighting in December.

And then we get the news, unfortunately, that you got injured. And you still came to New York, but you didn't want to come on this show. You didn't want to talk about it. What kind of place were you at? Were you devastated that you? you weren't getting to fight, you just didn't want to talk to anyone? Yeah, like everything was going grateful. They started camping and obviously this was my first kind of major injury and I was,

other things were going on and stuff. So this was kind of just like a cherry on the top. And I've been going in this spiral being up and then something happening and going down. So I've managed to deal with the kind of vicious circle. And yeah, at that time I wasn't like, you know, I was going to come on. And then I was like, no, because it's shit talking about it. I felt like I had let a lot of people down, not only myself, but my fans. And everyone was, like, so excited about the fight.

And I was like, I've blown this amazing opportunity. And, yeah, I was just like, and being in New York, and my two friends were away training. And I was, like, just dragging my arse through New York. trying to like well I was doing my Christmas shopping but it wasn't what I wanted to do you know what was the injury that you suffered umcl I sprained it and wrestling like the week I got back from Thailand okay but you didn't need surgery right no but you did I just had to take time off and and rehab it how difficult was it for you I don't know did you watch it live the fight you know rose ended up replacing you of course and we know what happened in the fight she dominion

page and submitted her. How difficult was it for you to either A, watch it live or B, you know, find out shortly thereafter what happened? It was very hard, but at the end of the day, like, I knew at that time I had, I was, I knew I was going to Canada and I had this new journey and I was looking forward to going on. And even though I didn't have that fight, I was, I'm glad the two of them put on a heli of fight. And it does suck. like as a fighter, you know, like when you watch any kind of event, you want to be the one in there. So when you know that it should have been new, then it sucks just that little bit more. Did you stay up to watch it live?

No. No. I always just watch it the next day. Okay. Yeah, who wants to stay up that late? I don't know how those European fans do it. It's unbelievable. But I give them credit as well.

So you say you're going to go to Canada, specifically the greatest city in Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, you go to the mecca that is TriStar Gym. Why did you decide to make that move? You have obviously been a part of the gym in Scotland, Grip House, right, forever? Yeah. And then you decide to make the journey over to Montreal. Why did you decide to do that? I just decided that I needed a more professional team around me. I wasn't really getting the MMA. I needed to be more. my Jiu-Jitsu more MMA-based,

my wrestling more MMA-based. And I was just kind of looking to go to Canada because it's a place I want to go. And I had been watching Farazzi's instructionals on YouTube, his YouTube channel. And then I spoke to Joe Duffy at the Glasgow Card and he's like, why don't you come over and try it? And obviously, Stevie Ray, one of my teammates have been there,

and he he rated it so i was like you know what i've got nothing to to lose and it just seemed like they've got the dorms and stuff so i was like fuck it i'm going to go and see what happens how did the team in scotland react to this news that you were going to go train over there well the team in scotland like i think everyone knows like i had been in a relationship with my head coach for like seven years so like we've been separate separated for a few years now but at the same time we're still trying to work together and then we weren't working together and now like at that time we had completely like there was no like four weeks before my Scotland fight there was completely no going to be any working together so

that kind of that was hard for me to move on with my career because I've always had someone there tell me I should do this and dealing with everything so I just felt like I needed a new team around me and I had to build this up and everyone at the Grip House understood and everyone wants me to do well over here so I'm sure there's a few people that thought it was a bit shit and stuff but at the end of the day I've learned I've had to do what's best for my career and it wasn't at that time and even now it's not it's not good I need to be the best and to be the best you need the the best people or around you and not that just that, just the number, like the UFC people that are at TriStar,

all the sparring partners I'm exposed to and the high level coaching that I was exposed to was just at the top level you need, you need all that stuff. Yeah, you know, I don't know if you remember this, but I believe last time you were on this show, you talked about some issues that you were dealing with, but you never actually said what you were dealing with. So I'm assuming, I had no idea about any of that stuff with your coach. Is that what was going on? Is that why you just didn't seem to be yourself in the fights and all that? I know it's just been like for the past two years since I came out of the tough house. It's just been one thing after another and it's not it's but now everything's good and I'm focusing

on the future. I had a few counseling sessions and stuff and I think that done me well because I was always like thinking of it the past and I was always like thinking of what people were saying and that kind of stuff. And it really hurt me that I couldn't be part of the team anymore. And yeah, you know what it's like. Everyone's got their ship to deal with. But now I just kind of want to concentrate on the future and obviously I've got the fight that I wanted and looking forward to that. So you get to Montreal, and it's a new country, a new gym, a new team. Obviously, there are some familiar faces.

You know some of the people. What was it like initially for you? Did you feel comfortable? Did it take some time? What was that experience like? It was amazing. Within the first two days at TriStar, I felt like I was at home. And it was just obviously, I love training, and I would train with anyone.

But it was just within two days. I was like, yeah, I'm at the right place, and I just felt like I settled in, and everyone was really nice, and I got on well with everyone. And as the head coach, I was like, I connected with him and knew that we would get on well in a working relationship. Does it help? I mean, it feels like there's this European invasion at that team. Also, Tom Breeze, Arnold Allen is killing it. He's there as well. Does it help having, you know, some European.

there? Does that mean anything to you? Does it make you feel more comfortable? Yeah, I would just say the banters, they're more on with it, and maybe they can understand me better than some of the other guys, but not like I would go if there was no one there, you know. Right. But it's just a little bit nicer, especially they guys, they're cool and they're funny. Now, you mentioned these dorms. A little known fact, I went to L.E. elementary school with the guy who owns the building that houses TriStar and these dorms, a man by the name of Robbie Stein, which is kind of crazy that he owns it. And we went to

elementary like 20 or so years ago. What was that like for you? What's it like living in the dorms? Because predominantly it's men living there, right? Yeah. There was a few girls that came and go for a few weeks. But yeah, it's mostly the guys that are in there. But they just treat me like a sister and it's all good and Robbie, Robbie's there every day and yeah, he's, he's some character. It'll be glad to know that he's on here, but... Oh, that I name dropped on? Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, okay. But so how does it, how does it work? Do you get your own room or is it, like, how does that work? Because you're living there for like four months or so, right? Yeah, I've got my own room and, and shower and stuff, but, like, how does that work? in my bathroom and all that kind of stuff in the kitchen with the guys. Does that get a little annoying to be living with fighters for several months? I was, you know, I was used to it with tough.

I've done the tough, like, for girls, and I would say, like, the guys are obviously better. Yeah. But, yeah, it was tough. Like, that's why I came home because I was, like, home sick. And, you know, it's worth it when you've got that fight at the end of the, when you come in at night and you're like had a long day and you're like, you just want to go to your bed, but,

and be in your own company, but when you have a fight, you know, it's just, it kind of drives you that wee bit more. But with the family and stuff, I was just homesick and although everyone was nice over there, but, you know, it's like it's not like the same. Sure, your poor mother, she must have been missing you like crazy as well.

Was it tough for her to have you leave? Yeah, but, like, I don't know if you see my video on, Instagram she was like I surprised her I didn't tell her I was coming home oh yes she knew it she knew I was homesick and she knew I was a little bit down and stuff and she's like don't come home you regret it and all that and then I turned up on the door and she opened the door in her dressing gown and she was like what you're doing here that is amazing so so you came home but you're planning on going back right yeah yeah yeah when do you go back I came home I think like in a week So I'm just waiting for my flight details.

Okay. So you just came home to sort of recharge your batteries? And renew my passport. Oh, okay. 10 years old. Oh, my. And now, I have to ask, what did you think of my city, my hometown, Montreal? Did you like it?

Did you get to go around and see, did you get to, like, live it up a little bit there? Yeah. I went out a few times as well, and it was lovely. Just the people are really, really nice. and I mean, it was cold and stuff, but I didn't think it was that bad. What about the French? How do you get on with that? Bonjour.

I just like say bonjour. And then hello and then, you know, that I can't speak French. But I tried a little bit, like, to say savannah and just tiny little bit, but I should probably learn it. Now what about one of my, go ahead, sorry? But everyone loved my accent. And then it kind of made it. a little bit easier because I felt bad. Of course.

They can understand. What about one of my favorite places, which just so happens to be right next to TriStar, the orange julep? Have you been there? No, but it's just around the corner. It's right around the corner. You got to go.

Yeah, but I had like mixed reviews from it. People said it was good, and people said it was rubbish. Who's saying it's rubbish? They don't know what they're talking. It must be one of those foreigners. Are the healthy, healthy ones? Well, maybe, yes, it's the healthy ones.

then I can understand. But I was like walk past it and think if I could like run up and do a Superman punch and with a That would be a great picture. Yeah. For those that don't know, it's a massive orange. It's gigantic in the middle, right next to TriStar. I do suggest before you start cutting weight that you go over there and try it out. By the way, being at TriStar, did you ever run into George St. Pierre?

Was that kind of crazy? Like a legend being in the gym? Is he nice to you? Is he showing you any tips? Have you had any interaction with him? Not so much GSP He does the class

Every Monday It was really good Getting technique off of him And stuff And he's a really good coach And he'll always Like give you examples of When he's used it in the fights

And stuff So I thought that was pretty cool But No mostly Rory That I spard with Rory a few times You sparred with Rory Yeah Wow

That's amazing Yeah He's like He probably walks around. What does he walk around at? Like 190 or so? This is only like, we're only like kind of my messing about playing like. I thought full sparring.

I thought full sparring. No. What was that like? He would not go out. It was really cool because I really, I enjoy watching Rory fight. And I know he likes to kind of play around the way I do. And it was just cool to see and then cool to actually do it with him. Rory is the man.

Okay, so this news comes out that you're fighting Valerie Lutrano, who coincidentally is from Quebec, you're fighting her in Ottawa, so this is great for you, right? Because you're going to be in Montreal leading up to the fights. It's only 90 minutes away. Is that the plan? You're just going to stay till the fight? Yeah. Yeah.

And the interesting twist is it's happening at 125. The UFC doesn't have a flyweight division for the women. Why is this happening at 125? I don't know. I don't know. because that because funny story is

Sean asked me Sean Shelby asked me to fight an opponent on Canada and I says yeah but can we do it catch weight

because it was like in seven weeks and what is the UFC's plans for making a flyweight division and then I just asked them

out of chance I knew I was I've kind of thought I would have been like shut up bitch and get on a diet. You've signed your contract at 115. But actually he got back to me and he was like, let me know. And then next thing, he was like, okay, well, but Valerie at 125.

And I was like, perfect. Let's do it. And then he's like, okay, I'll try and get the green light. And then he did. And then Bob's your uncle. You don't ask you don't get. Yes, Bob's your uncle. Amazing.

But really, like, I can't, well, I could probably make $1.15 in the next seven weeks, but I just didn't want to kill myself. And it's been hard to, like, I haven't been walking around at my normal walk around the way. And I don't think I could, like, when I done it when I was going in the house two months before, and then when I was in the house, I was, like, miserable. I was like eating like two eggs a day and like just chicken and spinach and I just I just don't want to walk around like that. Obviously I want to walk around healthy and happy so it's been hard and usually for when I make 115 I usually need like 10 weeks notice and just bring it down gradually but the fights that were coming up were like short notice and I'm like if if if it's 125, I could easily make these fights and I could take them on short notice,

but 115 just like it would kill me. Did Sean say to you that they're planning on actually starting this division and having a champion and all that? Do you have any insight in that? No. No. He just says, because when I asked and he says, oh, let me check because we don't even have that division. I was like, yeah, I know. Yeah. No kidding. You know what? You know what? I think there's going to be a lot. lot of girls that want to come down and want to come up.

So I think it's going to be an interest if they do bring it in. I don't know if it's a one off, but you know what the UFC's like. They're usually one step ahead and they've probably maybe been thinking about it and let's hope they have been. Is that the perfect wait though for you? If they do open up that division, is that where you would prefer fighting? Yeah, because I like to be active and to take. to take fights on like this one like not that bad it's like seven weeks but even like to take

one at four weeks and stuff I would be able to make 125 so that would be perfect and why do you like this fight against Valerie so much she's a tough out she hasn't fought since her fight against yawani on jacek in November but she's a tough cookie she's she's a she's a tough out as I said why do you like this match up I just like her because the fight she gave joanna and she's a really good fighter and like you said she's really tough and I see it as a good challenge and before like when I had been asking Sean for I wanted to get on the Canada card so I was like saying give me Randa give me Valerie like I'll fight any of them just to get on the Canada fight and then he was a bit kind of like all but Valerie's just coming off the title fight and that kind of like

made me more determined that I wanted to her as the fight because I felt like I knew I could prove me and I could prove him and prove anyone else wrong that she was coming off. I lost to Joanna, the champion, but at the end of the day, it's a fight. Will Farras be in your corner for this fight? Yeah. All right. How about that? So like I said earlier, I mean, I never knew why and I tried to ask back then, but one of the worst kept secrets in this sport was that you just you weren't there like there was something going on but no one wanted to talk about it is it fair to say that jojo's back that you got your mojo back jojo's mojo is back that you're feeling good you're confident this is the invicta calderwood this is the one going into

tough like you feel it because i kind of sense it via this Skype that you're you're a different person than the last time you're on the show is that accurate do you feel that way now yeah okay all you needed was to go to montreal that's it yeah and have some amazing people around me and obviously I got counseling a wee bit so that helped as well and now I'm just like I just know I can't control anyone else's there I just feel like I'm more happy at myself and yeah and I'm looking forward to getting back in there and enjoying it again does this kind of feel like the start of your UFC career like you want to forget about those other fights and now you can really prove to the UFC fans who you are as a fighter I'm not really

forget because like you know everything happens for a reason and stuff it just took me longer than i wanted to so and i took obviously a loss in a stupid fight so uh like being like my last fight like i was a bit kind of over keen and uh uh through a maddie is uh one of the guys says at the gym so obviously you have to be smart in this game and don't want to do that again, but yeah, everything happens for a reason, I know, and everything's looking up now. Well, that is fantastic news. I know you have a very loyal fan base. They must be, I know they're very supportive, but they must be very happy to hear this. This is great. Welcome back. It's

great to have you back on the show. It's great to have you back in the fight game, feeling good, smiling again, loving life. It's a beautiful thing. So I wish you the best of luck on June 18th in Ottawa. Beautiful place. Have you been to Ottawa? No, I've seen the pictures, though it looks amazing. Yes, it's our nation's capital. Yes. So it's a very important place. And I think that's a great fight.

You versus Valerie Littourneau at 125 pounds. Joanne, really appreciate the time. Thank you so much. I know you're back home, but you took out some time for us. Thank you. Good luck with the temporary phone over there. Good luck with the passport. And good luck in training back home in Montreal.

I think that's a great place for you, and I wish you all the best, June 18th. Can't wait for the fight. Thank you. Thanks, I have a good day. Same to you. There she is. The one and only, Joanne Calderwood. What a pleasure it is to have her on the show, as always.

Just a great person. And great to see that she's got her smile back. Like Sean Michaels way back in the day. He lost his smile, got it back. Joanne Calderwood's smile is back, ladies and gentlemen. That's fantastic news. And what a great fight that is. What a great card.

I was just looking at the next few UFC cards. They're back on Sunday in Rotterdam, debut show in Rotterdam. And then you've got 198, which is just outstanding. That May 29th card is equally great for different reasons, but equally great. You've got June 4th, UFC 199. I mean, have you seen 199? Have you looked at 199? UFC 199 is something else.

Let me just go to my trustee And like I said earlier, just for the guys in the back, we won't go to Glenn Robinson next. Obviously, we'll go, y'all must have forgot inside the vault and then we'll talk to Chuck in a minute. But, okay, Ovary Marlowski, this is the card.

Overeauxky card in Rotterdam, that's a great card. Overimarlowski is the main event. Stefan Strew versus Bigfoot Silva and a point to fight for both of them. Albert Tuminaw versus Gunner Nelson loved that fight at 170. The return of Jermaine Derondami.

It's been a minute. My main man, Nikita Krilov is on the card. Carolina Kovalkievich against Heather Joe Clark. Some other interesting. Rustam Chabilov against Chris Wade, who I'd love to have on the show in the near future. Chris Wade, New York's own, gigantic New York sports fan,

huge Knicks fan. And he's doing a great job as of late. So I'm looking forward to that fight very much. that's the featured prelim, if you will. That is Chris Wade versus Rustam Habilov. Magnus Settemblad is on the card. Who else? Who else? Nick Hein against John Tuck.

I mean, it's just a great card, top to bottom. Oh, how about this one? Horaguchi versus Siri? That's a great flyway fight. Haven't seen Horoguchi in a while. So that's the card this Sunday. Prelim started at 1030. That's on FightPass, then FS1 at 12.

and then main card at 2. Then you got 198. Vitor Belford against Jacques-Rae. Is the co-main. Main, of course, is Verdun v. Miochich, 45,000 seats stadium. Anderson Silva versus Yariah Hall on that card. Chris Cyborg's debut against Leslie Smith,

Shogun against Corey Anderson. Will that be Shogun's last fight? Damien Maya versus Matt Brown is getting criminally overlooked. That is a fantastic fight at 170 and a very important fight as well. And how about Worley Alves versus Brian Barber Marina coming off that win over Sage Northcut. Love that fight.

Nate Marquard on the card. John Lindnerker versus Rob Font. By the way, send this segment to anyone at Zufa that ever says that I'm too negative. Here I am just completely fawning over their next few cards. Thomas Almeida versus Cody Garbrand, May 29th main event. That's a Memorial Day weekend card. Fantastic, important bantamweight fight. Hennon Boreau versus Jeremy Stevens in the co-main event. Hennon Burau's first fight at 145 in the UFC. Tarek Safedine against Rick Storrh. These are great fights.

Masvedel versus Larkin. I think this is what happens when there's a week off from UFC. It's like amazing. Imagine if there was a month off how much we'd be looking forward to these cards. How about Josh Berkman versus Paul Feldner? How about Sarah McMahon versus Jessica I? That's also on that card. Oh, and by the way, buried on the fight past prelims,

Al Jermaine Sterling versus Brian Carraway. If I'm the people at FS1 and I see that Al Jermaine Sterling and versus Brian Carraway, I'm a little bit bugged. I'm a little bit annoyed. But that's not our problem. We get to watch it anyway and that's a great fight. Okay, 199.

Luke Rockhold, Chris Wydenman, Burrow, excuse me, Cruz against Faber, Max Holloway versus Ricardo Lomas, Dan Henderson versus Hector Lombard, Dustin Porre versus Bobby Green, BJ Penn versus Dennis Seaver, Clay Guida versus Brian Ortega.

What the heck is going on? Evan Dunham versus James Vic. Jessica Penny returns against Jessica Andrade. Tom Breeze back on that card? I mean, this is tremendous stuff. Then we move over to the Ottawa car, which I think is great as well. We'd look to cover that one.

Patrick Cote against Donald Soroni. Roy McDonald against Wonder Boy Thompson. And how about Roy McDonald on Twitter? Just absolutely killing it as of late. The new Roy McDonald is... I forget the new Roy McDonald. I've said one of the things that's pissed me off over the years has been people saying that Roy McDonald is a boring.

guy, a bad interview. That's not the case. Roy McDonald, who is the subject of our y'all must have forgot clip, by the way, has always been one of the most fascinating characters in this sport. Always. You just have to stray away from the typical questions. I love Royne McDonald. And now more than ever, he's just been fantastic.

So that's on the card. Royne McDonald, Wonder Boy Thompson. A hugely important fight in the Walterweight Division, but also important now because, of course, Rory on this show telling the world that he's fighting out his contract. Saroni versus Cotei. Steve Bosse versus Sean O'Connell. I love that one. Elias Theodore versus Sam Alvey.

O.A.M. back on the card. Olivier Obain Mercier. Randam Marcos. Joanne Calderwood against Litturnault. Just a fantastic card. And then we move along to the cards in July with Dos Santos versus Eddie Alvarez. Joe Duffy versus Mitch Clark, speaking of Canadians and Joe Duffy. That was announced last week.

Also announced last week for this card. The first, that's the Thursday, July 7th card. This is the fight pass card. Look at these fights that's on the fight pass card thus far. Top three fights. Dosangos versus Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title. Mitch Clark versus Joe Duffy, Duffy's first fight since losing to Dustin Poree. Roy Nelson versus Derek Lewis.

I mean, that's amazing stuff. And then we get to July 8th, Yawanyao Jacek against Clydegedeia, and then of course July 9th, which we found out last week, is going to now be made evented by John Jones versus Daniel Cormier. It's been an interesting afternoon

for our old friend Connor McGregor. He has been relatively quiet on social media as far as interacting with fans, but man, oh man, has he broken through today telling one fan that he beat UFC 100 by around 400,000 buys, which alone was 100,000 more buys than UFC 197 made in total. So if my math is correct, he's saying that his last paper view, I'm imagining,

the fight against Nate Diaz, beat UFC 197 headline by John Jones versus OSP by 100,000, that that card did 300,000. Also saying that he holds. the pay-per-view gate, TV, fight-pass, and embedded record, and that he's a bigger draw than Brock Lesnar. Also saying that he looks forward to his end-of-the-year unification bout, but like I said before, as he put it, quote, these featherweights don't understand. He was just going back and forth with a lot of people. Good to see him getting out there. And yes, I have tried to reach out, but, you know, he's doing his thing and I respect it,

no doubt about it. The man is getting more media out of just a couple tweets and Facebook messages than he can get anywhere else. So might as well as the good people in Louisiana like to say, let's see Le Bontan roule. Okay. In a minute, we are going to be joined by Chuck Mindenhall, who's sort of working as our New York Rick today. He's going to be cultivating some questions.

He's gathered a few from the website, from Twitter, et cetera. and we'll shoot the breeze with him. We might be joined by a guest, a surprise guest a little later on, but that is TBA or TBD. So we'll go back and forth with Chuck. No Glenn Robinson, as I said. For now, though, let's pause. Let's go.

Y'all must have forgot inside the vault. Last week, I promised you this clip. We didn't get to it, so I thought, why not? April 30th, 2011, one of the most memorable events that I have ever covered, UFC 129 in front of 55,000 insane Canadians, the majority of them were from Canada. Five years ago this Saturday. A year later, my son Oliver was born. So that's a special date for me. Happy birthday to Oliver. I love him very much. April 30th, 2012. This is birthday, April 30, 2011, UFC 129, the first ever event as far as UFC is concerned in the great

province of Ontario. And congratulations to the Toronto Raptors, Toronto Raptors, I should say, for finally getting over the hump and making it to the second round. That's exciting stuff. People in Canada, including my good friend Drake, are very excited about this. Nevertheless, that was a big night for the UFC, a big night for Canadian MMA. Mark Hominick fell short against Jose Aldo, but had one of the greatest walkouts of all time and a song that, I know Jones did his thing with it, but that song needs to be retired because Hominik put it up here and no one can match that.

He fell short, massive hematoma, George St. Pierre, sends the fans home happy. Even though it wasn't the most exciting fight, he defeats Jake Shields in the main event. Top to bottom, it was a great card. It was a very memorable. I mean, that week was just insane. I remember going to the CBC, which is like our version of the BBC and doing an interview there about the rise of the UFCs five years ago now. And that was surreal in its own right. I'll never forget it. And I kind of feel like Toronto, if I'm being honest, is do an event. I know there's a Canadian event coming up in Ottawa, June 18th, and at least another one planned for later on this year.

I think three in total for this year. It'd be nice to get one in Montreal, obviously, although I think that 186 kind of killed Montreal for the moment. Toronto, I feel like, is prime for another event. Anyway, this interview took place at that event. It's a post-fight interview with Roy McDonald. It's amazing to note. Rory McDonald beat Nate Diaz.

in a welterweight fight on that card on the prelims. Wasn't even on pay-per-view. Roy McDonald, Nate Diaz, prelim fight. I spoke to Rory afterwards. This is six, five years and two days ago at UFC 129. We've been talking about Rory today. Nate, of course, in the news, was successful in his return to the welterweight division

against Connor McGregor. I thought it would be fun to look back at this one that I promised you last week that we never got to run. So here it is. My post-fight interview at UFC 129 with Rory McDonnell. And then after the interview, we'll be back with Chuck Minnhal to take your questions and comments. Ariel Halwani post-fight at UFC 129 alongside Rory McDonald, who defeated Nate Diaz tonight. And, Rory, another impressive victory for you.

And it's interesting, you know, going into this fight, you were talking about how much you learned from the Carlos Condit loss. And it almost seemed like when we were watching it, we could see how you learned so much from that loss. You were a lot more patient. You didn't get too excited. And you seemed very comfortable on your feet. Would you agree? Yeah. I learned how to use my technique at the right pace,

to bring no emotion into the cage and against my opponent. My last fight, I carried a lot of emotion. I got very psyched out because of the crowd and the energy that was in the building. And I didn't let that happen, and even with double and more fans, you know, I kept a level head and threw it the whole fight. As the fight went on, you dominated him more and more. Were you expecting the fight to be that one-sided? Yeah, you know, I'm disappointed I didn't get the finish.

but I felt like as the fight got closer and closer to the finish, I was getting closer and closer to finish him. Obviously, he's very tough, and I couldn't get the finish, but, you know, it doesn't always happen, not this level. You had a few highlight real moments there, especially in the third round with the three suplexes, and you were throwing them around like a rag doll.

Have you been working on that? I mean, you look a lot stronger than maybe some of your earlier UFC fights, but you were overpowering him out there. I feel like I'm a very strong, explosive athlete. I've done a lot of work in the last 10 months with my coach, John Chaberg, and strength and conditioning field. So my power and explosion has gone through the roof, and in positions like that, it shows.

You think you could have suplexed them a few more times, or did that get you a little tired? No, I was ready to go more, but I felt like I needed to pace myself and still fight smart. You know what I mean? I had to keep that level head and not go. over the top like I did last time. He's a guy who's fought at 155 as well,

considering how much you overpowered him. Do you think he'd probably be better going down to 155? Probably, like, the strength difference is pretty noticeable when I was in there. He has very good technique, but, you know, at the higher end, when you're in UFC, it's so hard to fight bigger guys because everyone's so well-rounded and so much great skill. So it's, you know, it's probably better for him to go. go to 155, but who might have said?

It's his choice, you know what I mean? Did he talk to you in the cage? A little bit, but I can't even really remember. I was so focused on my technique. It was pretty loud out there, right? What was it like for a guy who's 21 years old, the Canadian to be out there in the Rogers Center in front of 55,000? Yeah, it was amazing, you know.

It was cool to see. It's such a big stadium, you know what I mean? Filled up with the sport. I remember watching it when I was just a little boy, and, you know, the front row of a tiny arena would be empty for our main event, you know? and now there's a stadium, you know, filled, and I'm fighting in front of it. It's a dream come true, man.

Could you grasp the enormity of it all as you're walking out or maybe even after the fight? Did you take a second to soak it all in? After the fight, yeah. Before the fight, I was so focused. You know, I had a couple looks around, but I really didn't really even think about it. So we're talking to you in the middle of the night,

John McDessie, Ivan Menjavar, yourself. I mean, things are going very well for your team there. I mean, there's one more, right? There's one more important one. You guys could look very good at the end of the night. Yeah, I'm very happy with my teammates, and I'm so proud to all of them. Win or lose, I know we put in the work, and they all did great, even though some of them didn't come home with the victory,

but I know George is next, and he's going to shine like he always does. Is there one guy in particular that you'd like to fight next? Not really. I want to keep fighting good guys. I feel like my skill levels at that point. I still do feel like ring experience, I still need that. You know, I'm still very young. I've only had, what, 12 fights now.

And, you know, a lot of the top 10 guys have had a lot more ring experience in the UFC. And there's only one way to get that is to keep fighting in the UFC. So, you know, over the next couple of years, I'm going to keep getting that, and maybe I'll get closer to the top level of the sport. Well, it's been fantastic watching you evolve, and congratulations. I know you've been waiting for this one for a very long time. Great stuff. Can't wait for your next one. Thank you very much. All right. So there you have it.

Roy McDonald, after his big win over Nate Diaz, interesting to note that Nate returned to the lightweight division after that fight. Went back to lightweight. Be Takenori Gomi, then Saroni, then Jim Miller, lost to Benson in a title fight, then lost to Josh Thompson. Remember, and for a minute, it seemed like where was Nate Diaz going? rebounded against Gray Maynard and then was very inactive, was fighting once a year. Lost RDA, beats Michael Johnson in December, and then of course beats Connor McGregor and everything changes for him. Now he's training with Jean-Claude Van Damme. You see that on Instagram? Nick and Nate training with J-CvD. I mean, what a sense I have to say about this? J-CvD picks his spots well and links up with the 209. What a stroke of genius that is.

Going to take him to the next level. I guarantee. to you of that. Before we get to the man of the hat, just want to give a shout out to our colleague and friend, Mark Romundi, who's going through some health issues right now. Perhaps he's watching this show to take his mind off of things. Probably not, but we do wish him well and we miss him, and we hope that he returns in good health in the very near future. All right, let's go to the Skype Machine and welcome back the man of the hat. There he is, Mr. Chuck Minnall himself, which I must say last time, Chuck, I don't know what's going on over there in Connecticut. Last time your Skype was a lot cleaner than it is today.

What's happening? Do you not pay your bill? I don't know what's going on, man. I have a little rain here. Maybe that's affecting it. That's probably it. So I have tasked you with the important duty of getting some questions from the website, from Twitter.

This is something that New York Nick demands we pay him the big bucks to do. And you just kind of did it on a whim with your eyes closed. Is that right? I just want to say, man, this is like, I'm the third string coming in. When Ramondi can't make it and Rick is gone, here, I get the call. So, yeah, but it's a pretty simple task, you know. Don't crack it up to be something a little more difficult than it is. And for the record, don't look at it as third string.

You know, I know Romandi likes the airtime and he enjoys kind of sitting on his computer all day. Rick is obviously paid to do this sort of thing. And I read, you know, I said, you know, Chuck would be great at this. So that's the way I'd like to view it. I appreciate that, man. I like the call. I like that call. By the way, the t-shirt that I mentioned earlier, the MMAB t-shirt,

that your lovely wife actually designed, right? She put that together. And you made the whole thing happen. You got it on MMA warehouse. Let's get a shot of that shirt just one more time here. I know we won't see Chuck on the screen, but since I'm talking about it, there it is, right over there. The MMAB shirt, you got the nose, you got the beard,

you got the shirt, and of course you got the hat. Your wife designed this. Yeah. Put it on MA warehouse. Proceeds go to higher heroes, and it's almost sold out, right? Yeah. I got a note today saying that there was only a few of the largest and extra largest left, so the stock went pretty fast. So I guess if you're going to get one, you should do it today. Look at that. Unbelievable. All right. Great job by all of you. Okay, so what do you got? What do you got? You got any questions? Any good stuff out there?

I want to launch right into this thing. I'm just going to start asking questions. That's it. Well, trust me. I know where I'm going. I just freeze a little bit. No, no, no. Look, I'm all business here. I got some things I want to ask you, but let's get the ball rolling here. Any good stuff out there? I mean, people are still talking about Connor and all that stuff, right? 200. What do we got? What do we got? That's what I was seeing a lot of, a lot of Connor McGregor. So I thought I thought of the kind of Connor McGregor thing just to get rolling. But I got a lot of the same question basically asking us what we thought of him taking to Twitter today and having the impromptu Q&A, I guess, with some of his fans. He was pretty selective, I guess, in what he was taking. but what do we make of this? Well, you know, that's an interesting thing. That's actually the first thing I wanted to ask you about. I'm surprised that it feels like even it felt to me, this is my take, and I want to hear your take. It felt to me like he was playing this perfectly.

He was, you know, doing the whole retirement thing. He comes back. He puts out his statement and he tells the world, you know, I just want to train. I don't want to dance for you that. And I feel like he should have kind of just stopped there. but now the UFC is moving along and they're just saying like look man we'll put you on another card this train's moving without you and he keeps pushing and he's doing things that he's not used to doing like interacting with fans and it almost feels like he's he's like that guy saying please come back

please come back and i don't want to see i don't want to see them see him in that light you do you kind of feel the same way here like it's this is not the right approach anymore somewhat because i mean to me it's like he's so antsy you know what i mean like we've talked so much about how he stands a lot to lose by just not doing this tour and then not being in this spot. It's basically postponing whatever his next payday is, everything else, and then having the spotlight again in a different way. But to kind of go about it like this, I don't know, I get the sense that he's antsy

and he doesn't know what to do with himself now because I think he is a natural promoter. I think that's what he likes to do, even if he doesn't want to have to fulfill, like, you know, some of the obligation they were asking him traveling around and stuff. But I just, you get the sense every time he does something like this, he's sitting there like ready to jump out of his skin, wanting to do something to to keep the pot stirred and get people talking again. And I guess that's exactly what he's doing, because here we are again talking about it.

But it was a little bit interesting seeing what he was, kinds of things he was addressing. You know, we're used to seeing his audacity and everything like that. But, you know, him basically being bigger than Brock Lesnar and all the records are breaking, you know, the Pachial, Mayweather's style. I mean, it's always fun to see it.

And you're not sure where he's going to take it. And so it becomes kind of a compelling piece of theater all on its own. But I do get the sense like you do. that he should have maybe stopped while he was ahead. I think it would have carried more import or something if he just disappeared for a while. You even got in there with a question of your own. I did, actually. Did he respond to you?

Did he respond to you? I'm pretty sure I'm blocked. No, no, I don't know. I don't think he, I'm sure he was getting a deluge of questions. I just threw one in just to see. Because I saw there was a couple people, a couple of feeds that I recognized that he answered, so I thought maybe I'd sneak more through. What did that be something?

An exclusive interview via Twitter. for Connem Gregor. Are you surprised, Chuck, that the UFC is sticking to their guns? I mean, at this point, I can't see them putting him in the co-main event, although it feels like he still wants that fight very much. Are you surprised that they have officially stuck to their guns on this one and said, we're moving on? Not really. At first, I was a little bit surprised.

It's only because of all the precedent we've seen with that McGregor had established with UFC basically getting what he wanted. Even getting the rematch with Nate Diaz was a personal request, something he wanted. do at 170 pounds so i felt like they were bending uh giving over to whatever he wanted to an extent i felt like there was just that moment where they said we can't we can't keep doing this you know we got to send the message to him so he comes back down a little bit and meets us wherever um so i i guess not because they're you know the uc stubborn i mean that's what they uh that's part of the reason they've gotten to where they're at is because they're so stubborn they stick to the guns

there is a principle that they play regardless who they're dealing in we've seen them buttheads with the number of, you know, television, apparel, et cetera, et cetera. I just feel like in the end, it's always going to be the UFC that the UFC looks out for. So I feel like they dug in and they're just keeping it that way. But this, but Savin said all that, would I be shocked if all of a sudden he was going to show up on that card or something? No, I wouldn't. Because I, you know, if somebody wants to play, you know, play the game, like he said a little bit, like Dana White always said, play the game a little bit.

I feel like they would make that concession. Obviously. Obviously. I will say this, I think it was a mistake to take him off the card, even though he was asking what he was asking for. I do respect the fact, though, that they didn't relent. I mean, as a father, you know, when you lay down the hammer, you can't go back. So I actually will say that I respect the fact that they didn't relent. And in a weird way, UFC 200 is going to sell itself because it's UFC 200.

No one's buying 198 as good of a card that it is because it's 198. no one buys the cards for the numbers. 200, they will buy for the number. So now they almost get the best of both worlds because they'll get 200. Tickets are almost sold out. They killed it with ticket sales last week. And now they get Connor for another card down the line, so you get two for the price of one.

They actually end up winning here in a weird way. They're the winner, right? They won. Yeah, I agree with you. And I was listening in a little bit on the Connor Nelson, I'm sorry, Gunner Nelson's interview with you just a little bit ago, and he was saying, you know, 201, 202 possibly. And that's the way I kind of see it too

Because even in that media exchange He was having today or on social media He was basically saying the end of the year Would be the unification bout For the featherweight In other words, that's still something he has on his horizon So there would be a fight in between That's just the sense you get

I would guess I mean if he's going to do that though It would have to be UFC 201 wouldn't it? That's like toward the end of July I believe That's where it's set up That would make a lot of sense To make that a big event right off the bat Coming off of 200

So I would feel like that, if he's going to fight in November at MSG, if he's going to be a part of that whole thing, I think he would pretty much have to be on that card. So I guess we'll wait and see, but I feel like the UFC, you're right, because it's a milestone event, there's UFC 200.

It has good fights from top to bottom. Like you mentioned, a lot of times, there's a name on every single fight on that card. There's really no duds. There aren't a lot of mismatches, things like that. So I feel like the card itself will carry, not just with diehards, it's going to cross over because of that number alone.

regardless if he's on there or not. But I know a lot of people are really angry about it, having been dangled with that fight, and then they don't get it, and they feel like they're missing out on something. But as we were kind of discussing last week, on the MMA beat, I mean, it's just you look at that card and you think if this card had been assembled

without mention of Connor McGregor ever being on it, everybody would have been pretty pleased, I think, with this card, man. I mean, it's so set up to be a big event. So I feel like in the end it's going to look very good with UFC 200, and then maybe possibly 201 with Connor on it. You do wonder though, if you put Connor on 201, which I believe is July 30th, you do wonder though if that hurts 200 because will fans then decide to skip out on 200

and see their guy, Connor, Connor's a bigger draw than anyone in the game when it comes to pay-per-view and ticket sales. Is it actually a mistake to put them so close to each other? I don't know. I don't know if it would be, I get what you're saying too because this is between pay-per-view, too. It's a pretty truncated little window there. It's two events in July. They may look at something like that, but timing-wise,

I still think if they want him on MSG, I suppose they could go into August. That would still probably give them enough time for 202. But ultimately, like you were saying, I think the number and the sort of celebration, the new arena, all those things that are kind of happening with 200 and all the festivities

leading up to it with all the cards that are happening in Vegas, all the things going. I think it's going to still, regardless, I think it's still even if they were dangling McGregor out at 201. I think so, but it may affect it to a little bit. But ultimately, I think, because we're talking about a lot of casual dollars for both events, I think that both would still be very strong. I also wonder, though, because they say that they're not going to put them in New York, although Dana White seemed to go back on that a little bit at the press conference

in New York at MSG on Wednesday. If it's 201 or 202, it can't be Frankie Edgar or Josealdo, because they're fighting at 200. They're not going to turn around that quickly. So is it still Nate, you still care to see the Nate fight at this point? Like, has the ship sailed on that one because it's not happening anymore? That was never the fight that anyone really, let's not forget. This is the amazing thing that happened last week. When that fight was announced, everyone crapped on it. No one wanted to see it.

And now it's the fight everyone wants to see, which is amazing. And more to his point that he's able to kind of supersede all this craziness. But if it doesn't happen at 200, do you still care? Or do you at that point, if he doesn't fight at 200, save him for New York and just have him fight the winner of Frankie and Alda? I don't know what the heck they're going to do with him. It's a mess. We're a fickle bunch, we're a fickle bunch, man. We want what we want.

When we don't want it, we want it, we don't, whatever. That's life. That's life. So I still think that we get that fight. Only given that those two guys now, I feel like we've wrapped our mind around the fight. You know, like as a collective, we've come around to it on whole. I wouldn't say that everybody wants to see that fight. I still don't like the arbitrary weight of 170 pounds.

I still think that they could have it at 155, and then it would at least be something different there, and you'd think like, ah, we're working towards something new. But I still think that's the one in the cross-air. I mean, Connemagreger wants that fight more than anything. I think he wants, you know, that's the guy he lost to. How does he respond? I mean, today, when he was on social media,

it felt like he still was very much honed in on that particular fight. I feel like Nate Diaz, because that's a huge payday for him, would still want that fight. I feel like all parties involved, except for maybe a smaller, a decreasing, you know, part of the, following of MMA wants to see that fight. So I feel like that's still the fight to make, especially if you want a timeout where you can have Frankie Edgar possibly at MSG against Connor McGregor, which to me would be

an amazing fight to put on that card. That's still intact. So I think that Diaz McGregor one is still the way to go. You still run that risk, though. I mean, he could be 0 and 2 in his last two fights, fighting a big guy, and then going back to defend his title. Health-wise, you know, we saw this with Roy Jones. back in the day. I don't like to see a guy jump up that much and then go back down. I mean,

I just feel like his body and Gunner was talking about this as well. 155 seems to be the weight for him. So I do agree with you. If they are going to do that Nate fight, again, they're going to go back down, you know, this road, which it's somewhat getting a little bit exhausting. Like, aren't you a little bit exhausted from all the, this saga is, ah, I'd like to see it at 155. Yes. I remember you, you tweeted that recently, how it's, didn't you tweet that, how it's exhausting to keep up with? Something that effect. There's just, I mean, there's so many. like little internal games and there's so much enthusiasm. People would spend all the time on every little whim.

And I was just, I don't know, I was in that mood or something. No, I was just pointing out. And then, of course, Josh Gross comes out and tells you that you shouldn't follow the nuances. You got to love Josh. Sometimes he comes in there. Shutting me down. Yeah. Yeah.

So, okay, so let me ask you this. Prediction. How does this story end up? When does Connor fighting against who? What is your gut to? Do you have any sort of inkling at this point? Well, my gut feeling is that he can't stand the idea of not being in the actual spotlight. So I feel like he wants to get in there.

You know how he's been. I mean, that's been what we've seen with him. He's a guy who knows how to work the spotlight. And when it starts to not hit him in the right way, I think he wants it to be the way he controls the narrative again. I think he gets in there. I really believe when Gunner was saying that he could see 201 or 202. I know Dana White echoed that same thing during that press conference at MSG. I think that that's what they'll do.

That's what my gut feeling says. I'd be shocked, honestly, if they held him out all the way to November, because I don't think he would want that. And whenever they reach their compromise and when they work things out, I think that they'll work it out that he's going to be on one of those two cards. What a saga. But, again, this saga is making him into a bigger deal.

It's good for everyone involved, especially if they... He's had a remarkable capacity of keeping himself relevant moments like this. It's crazy to be. Remember the whole ACL thing when he barely was... Yes, that's true. It's like a star was sort of preceding him at that point, but he maintained calling everybody out in the division. He just does a great job of remaining relevant and the story itself through everything.

He starts tweeting, and I get people tweeting me to say, go look at Connor. Like, it feels like the MMA world stops when he decides to tweet. It's unbelievable. Okay. What else is going on? Anything else? Oh, I don't know. You want another question?

Yes, I want another question. Thank you for asking. Yeah, okay. Okay. That was my question. What do you think of Derek Lewis versus Roy Nelson? That fight makes a ton of sense to this reader. To this reader. Yes, I love that fight.

I feel like that's a fight where the UFC says we have two guys with fan-friendly styles that we're just going to put together on this fun weekend, celebration of MMA. Derek wanted the fight. Roy wanted the fight. I mean, that to me was just like sometimes these fights fall in Joe Silva's lap, and that's one of them. Yes, I agree with you 100%. I felt like this thing dovetailed very nicely. The timing because they were on the same card.

Yes. They were on the same card, right? Yes. So it was like that whole thing dovetailed nicely. And sort of where they're at in their careers, because you see a guy who has a name like Roy Nelson who's been up there for a long time. He'd lost three-fights and a role before that whole Jared Rochall thing that happened. So he got back off the Schneide. He won that one.

But you got Derek Lewis who's been very – I mean, I really don't remember – I don't think he's had a decision. since he's been in the UFC. I think you'd have to go all the way back to like a Bellator. I looked this up at one point before, like a ton fights ago where he had a decision. So I feel like Roy gets a mole and a guy wants to accommodate him in a good, a fun fight after the last one that kind of went down. And you get Derek Lewis who, you know, that's what he does. That's his whole style. So he's one of those up-and-coming names to a guy who's like a burgeoning personality, like very, his character starting to come out more and more.

He was very sort of introverted when he came out in Orlando. It's amazing. how shy he was and everything. And suddenly here we are like not even two years later. And he's, he's at this point. So it's been fun. He's got that trajectory. Roy Nelson Bied where he is.

I feel like it makes a lot of sense. He shows up on this program wearing actual red underwear on his head. And do you follow him on Twitter? Some of his tweets are fantastic. Yeah, they are. I like the one. You know the one I'm talking about where he's dropping the kids off at the pool. Oh, yes, yes, yes.

He can cross over thresholds pretty fast, so I can dig that. By the way, someone just tweeting me now, I am Brent, saying that Venezuelan Vixen, who is Giuliana Pena, maybe one of those who doesn't like when Connor tweets, check out her last tweet telling Connor to shut the F up, just out of nowhere. Like, not in response to anything. She's just, she's had enough of his tweets. So you can count Julia. There she is.

But yes, I love that fight, and what a feather in Derek Lewis's cap if he can beat Roy Nelson. I don't want to call Roy Nelson a gatekeeper. Sometimes that term is used negatively. He's more of a litmus test, right? If you can get by Roy Nelson, you're a player. If not, you go back down, you work yourself up. They need some action. By the way, speaking of the heavyweight division, this might be one of the more important stretches in recent memory for the heavyweight division

with this Arlovski overreem card on Sunday. week, of course, Verdume Miocchich. That's super important. Kane is coming back a month and a half later. I mean, all of a sudden, the heavyweight division, which has felt dormant for a while, right? I mean, Verdume hasn't fought in 11 months. Isn't that crazy? Verduem hasn't fought in 11 months.

How about this? I think we're always snagged on the heavyweight division. I think we're always being held up by one thing or another for it to get moving again. Kane Velasquez hasn't won in three years. Yeah, I know that that's a crazy stack considering where he was he's doing all these The commercial with Ronda Rousey and everything you think that he's at the top of his game and you realize Something like that but that this actually dovetails into this next question because Somebody was wondering if over him should deserve a title shot if he's the one against Starlovsky

Okay, this is a fantastic question I don't really know I don't I Okay, so so you so you have this the good The good thing for the heavyweight division right now is that you've got some players. The weird thing is that there's this mess because you have Overeem who beat JDS

and has a win over Arlofsky. You have Ben Rothwell who beat Overeem but recently lost to JDS. I mean, there's just all these permutations. I do think though that if... Okay, and then what happens if Kane comes back smokes Travis Brown, you know, what do you do with him?

If Travis Brown beats Crank Kane, what do you do there? although he's lost of Redoom. I don't really know. I do have a feeling, though, over him, given his popular fan base and the fact that he's so popular that Lorenzo Furtita seems to be a fan of his, I feel like if he wins on Sunday, he gets the title shot. What do you think? Yeah, I think so, too, and especially given that he's, you know, he's won, it was three fights in a row after hitting the skids a little bit. So he's rebounded very nicely, and it would be his win over JDS will look that much better given how JDS looked,

because it's that convoluted, like, how JDS looked against Rothwell. you feel like maybe he beat a JDS that was better than when he looked that night, you know, like, or better than he seemed that night. So I think that you look at those four guys, if he adds Arlovsky to that, who had this big career resurrection before he lost his last one of the Osage. So I think you would just be able to look at his four fights in row and say that's, that's more than enough. And especially considering that he's in a spot, you know, he renegotiated or he just signed

his new contract. I don't know if there's any language that basically kind of gets him that shot or something like that. but I feel like they've been grooming him for a long time. They've wanted to kind of put him in a big title fight going all the way back to the Lesnar series or that fight and everything. So it comes down to that, and I think this would be the perfect time for them to do that and get new blood, I guess, at the top of the division again, above guys maybe like JDS,

who's been up there and, you know, depending on what happens with Burdum. But I think that that would be the guy. As long as he does it and he does it in his typical fashion where he lands some crazy knockout or something, I feel like he'd be the guy. Let's not forget, he was supposed to fight for the belt at UFC 146 and had to be removed because he failed, you know, this drug test. But he is supremely popular. He still is.

And I think as far as draws go, I mean, Miyuchich Verdum is lucky. They are lucky that that card is so stacked. I don't know how much they draw on their own. That's been a weird thing about the heavyweight division. The cane fights haven't drawn very well on pay-per-view. So I think Overeem, you know, he's this big hulking figure, although he's not as hulking as he was before. I'm really curious to see what happens in this fight, by the way. I don't think that we should sleep on Arlofsky.

Let's not forget, in Arlofsky's corner, Jackson and Winklejohn, they know Overeign better than anyone. They're responsible for this resurrection. Those guys are the masters at game planning. You know what I mean? What a bad spot this is for Overeem in a weird way. Like to have this fight as the last fight potentially on his road to getting that elusive title shot, to fight his coaches. They're not in his corner.

Wow. That's a fascinating storyline. And considering he's been a bit of a journeyman when it comes to gyms. He's been a very nomadic and where he's trained and everything. So if he's truly found home where he's at, you know, it adds another complication to the whole over-rimed story. So, you know, these types of things are fun in a weird way because you always feel like there's a partition of brotherhood or something that comes up.

They actually had to really downplay that saying, like, we're not buddies and everything. but the coaching staff obviously is torn and it becomes a little bit of a civil war or something like that. But I do look forward to that fight and we can't really sleep on Arlofsky because here's a guy who basically, I know we talked about on the MMAB who resurrected himself after the world season fight and losing that fight the Anthony Johnson and suddenly just rising and winning what six or seven fights in a row to get where he was at. I mean beating Travis Brown in that ridiculous fight. I just feel like that guy has really listened to his coaches. He's really honed in on what he does well.

he stayed out of punishment like we were seeing his jaw tested too much back in the in the uh in those in those days when he was losing i feel like he's he's corrected a lot so um it'll be interesting to see and if uh if over him i feel like if over him gets it he's going to have to deserve that fight he's going to have to win it emphatically uh somewhat speaks uh speaks you know to how how close-knit the the team is with arlofsky that they chose him without really any hesitation to corner him Jackson and Winklejohn. By the way, just for your own, you know, your own knowledge, if you do speak to Overeem before this fight or after, please don't ask him about his contract in any way, shape, or form. He does not appreciate it. Even if you say congratulations on the new

contract, he will take that as a slight. Doesn't he get pulled over by the police every time he's asked about that question? I just... I remember that interview. That was a good time. All right, what else we got? Anything else? else? I hope so. Let's move on there. Somebody who was asking, are casual fans missing out on Robbie Lawler? Because obviously he's been around a while and it doesn't seem like people talk about him,

even though he has these ridiculously competitive fights that are action-bound for five rounds. So what do you think about that? Well, I do think it was to his benefit to take this break, right? I feel like Robbie has become somewhat of a forgotten champion for a minute, but that's not the thing. He comes off that fight against Roy McDonald, has a little bit of a break. No, not too long of a break. I mean, it was only like five and a half months or so. And then has that absolute insane fight against Carlos Condit early January. So this break, to me, given all the, you know, the destruction that he's been through in his long career isn't the worst thing in the world. I do feel for him to a degree,

though, because had Connor won, there was a lot of talk of Connor fighting him for the 170 title, as crazy as that sounds in hindsight. And if that didn't happen, there was some talk of GSP fighting him, and that's not happening anytime soon. So it does feel like his options went from, you know, greatest payday of his career to just another title fight. You know what I mean? Yes, 100%.

It's funny, too, because during the whole, he's been, he was behind Connor McGregor and Aldo during that whole tour. He's sort of happily in the shadows of that whole thing. And so it was fun to contemplate, I guess, if McGregor was going to be the guy. suddenly he would be like going against a guy who it was like twice removed from him, who was taking all the spotlight. Suddenly he'd be in that position.

That's obviously not going to do it. I feel like he has been a little bit stranded through the, through our news cycle of waiting to see what's happening with GSP, what's happening? I feel like the UFC has been kind of gauging. What can we do next for Robbie, with Robbie Lawler, given that there aren't, you know, really clear cut guys at the top to face them. You have Carlos Condit and, you know, you got, you got Rory and Stephen, Wonderboy Thompson. They're going to fight.

I mean, you've got some options there, but they need to play out a little bit, I feel like. But as far as him, I mean, I feel like he's just one of those weird heirlooms from back in the day that people just forgot about it. I feel like we put him away, and they never wanted to bring him back out. And I feel like he's still in that spot, even though he's had possibly two fight of the year candidate. I mean, he'd have the one against Roy McDonald, which I think hands down was the fight of the year of last year. And then he had this great fight with Condit, which you could do a rematch. You could do anything with Robbie Luller at this point. The guy just, he's an incredible story.

That whole comeback story, the way he fights, his whole demeanor. I feel like he's the prototypical fighter. It's almost pre-storic to see him kind of into the cage. You see this guy who's been doing what's doing. I'm just not sure, though. It must be a charisma thing. It must be something about him not being able to, they've been bringing him to events a lot. I've seen him, you see his face more and more.

But for whatever reason, that's just not. It hasn't translated into like must-see outside of like die-hards. And why that is, I don't know. I think he has turned the corner to a degree. I do understand what you're saying. I've actually tried to have him on this program, you know, with all this going on. And he was not too interested in that. Let me ask you this.

As a consumer, take off your journalist hat, put the fan hat on. And let's just say, yeah, yeah, I know you got many hats. Connor's out of the question. GSP's out of the question. To me, it seems like at least right now, things can change come June when Rory and Wonderboy fight. But right this second. And I'd like to see them book him in a fight. sooner rather than later because I think if Wonderboy beats Rory, he's without question the number

one contender. Anyway, let's put that fight aside. Taryn Woodley and Carlos Condit are the only options right this second for him. As a fan, which fight do you prefer? As a fan, as a fan, I would, man, I would go with Condit. I just think that that's, there's, there's so many great storylines there are basically going back. I know that we've talked about a little bit, like the rematch fatigue that people are going through but when there is a great fight like that that basically is contested toe to toe for that amount of time i just feel like you can't go wrong and something like that particularly with carlos condott nudging himself out the door a little bit if he doesn't get it he just doesn't see the point of starting over you know taking on other fights at this point so

uh as a as a as a life raft maybe to bring him back or something for carlos condit i just think that that would be the fight i do feel it i feel like the wouldly fight is one of those ones that feels slightly obligatory on some level because we've been we've been talking about it for a while he's kind of been the the guy who's like one a or one b in that contender spot for a while um but unfortunately the the more you're out of the spotlight the people you know people care less as time goes on and i feel like he's one of those guys who slips into the shadows too easily um but conda is still there that that fight is still very fresh on the memory and if not i would i would definitely go with the Roy McDonald

winner of that fight, especially if it's Stephen Wonderboy Thompson. I mean, like you said, that's a slam dunk fight. And at this point, if he beats Roy McDonald, I would be like, we've got to watch out

for Wonder Boy, Tom. I feel like he could be the next star of the game or something. He could legit be a crossover star. Like, that's someone that I think the UFC should actually do a better job. How many people have talked about aesthetics he put on in that Johnny Hendry's fight?

And it wasn't, I mean, it was Johnny Hendricks. I think that goes a long way, too. If you follow the game, you know how Johnny Hendricks fights, you know, what he likes to do, you know, he has the wrestling area, but just to see him picked apart in that manner, almost as if it's choreographed. And I know, I don't want to use that word like it was fudge or something, but choreographed and just how beautiful it came across, if he does that anything remotely close to that again, I feel like he would be that guy.

The UFC is not an organization, an MMA is not a sport that necessarily needs to be marketed to young kids, though I feel compelled to... sit my four-year-old son down and show him what Wonderboy Thompson can do, right? Because he comes across like a Power Ranger, like a superhero, right? It's amazing. And then you, you meet him, and you talk to him, and you see the way he conducts himself. He really does feel like this cartoon, this cartoon superhero. So yeah, they've got something special with him. And that's why I feel like that main event, which is kind of sandwiched between 199 and 200 and all those events, is going to get overlooked a little bit. But it's, there's, there's no.

no more interesting main event title or not on the line. There's no more interesting main event in the next few months than that one, in my opinion. I agree with the 100%. I would put that on par in terms of a non-title fight, but a fight that you just want to see going to the Ferguson Newmaga made out of a fight. I mean, we've tried that one a couple of times. Each time it gets close, I get very excited about seeing that fight and that doesn't happen. But I just hope that this one happens because that's the attitude I have. I feel like Roy McDonald's going through what he's been through being in his free agency stuff and kind of

going through that last fight and all the different things going on. What version of him do we get? You know what I mean? So it's fighting in his home country and then Stephen Thompson. I just, sometimes the trajectories when they hit like that, they just make for a very, very compelling fight. All right, what else we got?

All right, let's see here. What's the, somebody was asking, what's the biggest matchup currently not made in the UFC at the moment? Is it Anthony Johnson versus Glover to Sherro. Huh. I don't know how I feel about that.

I mean, it's a great fight, but I honestly feel like Anthony has done enough to get a title shot. That is a question. Let me think about that. Do you have one? I think what they're saying, too, is people who are not actively booked right now or don't have a booking. I get it.

People who are fighters. Did you have a chance? I mean, you read the question earlier. Did you think of one? Let me think here. I mean, other than maybe Diaz McGregor, which is technically made right now, I mean, you know, there aren't. There are fights where you look at like Ronda Rousey against Cyborg or Ronda Rouse against any number of them,

but all of them right now are currently booked. So in the vein of what this person is talking about, I couldn't think of anybody because most people have some kind of, they're booked right now. Sure. Maybe they haven't booked. They haven't done anything with Ferguson, right? Yeah. I wouldn't mind seeing that fight put together again, but I wonder if people would be. That's just my own personal preference because I wanted to see that fight like I mentioned.

I don't know if other people are at this point, like, don't even try it because it's just not a bad combination. It won't happen. But maybe something like that, but I will say that it generates a little bit of it. That division needs it. They need guys who are going to draw some attention because right now I feel like we're at D.C. And John Jones and then you, what from there? It's Anthony Johnson and then, you know, kind of drops off. Maybe Gloverter says I feel like those are the next two guys, so maybe that would be a good matchup.

Okay, now that I've had a chance to think about it a little bit, a few that come to mind. And I know Frankie Edgar's book, but I still feel like Frankie versus Connor was the fight to make, is the fight that should have happened. And it's unfortunate, at least for Frankie, that it's not happening right now. So that one comes to mind, but he is booked. So maybe it's not 100% what this person is asking for. It's not the sexiest fight of all time, but I'd love to see. T.J. Dillishaw versus Huffel Sonsal. Both aren't booked. A Sonsau beat Dillishaw before he became champion, right? I mean, that feels like it was a million years ago, and how many people can actually remember what happened in that fight.

So I feel like that's an interesting fight. I just want to see Tyrone Woodley get booked in a fight, period. I mean, by the way, Woodley versus Neil Magny is not the worst fight in the world. I'd be down for that. You know, especially if Woodley's not going to get that title shot, I don't think that's the worst fight in the world. those are a few fights that come to mind and yeah i guess anthony johnson i mean he will be on the sidelines for for quite some time i wonder what they're going to do with gustafsin as well that's that's another interesting one and oh by the way i'll just throw this one out there because it means a lot to me and i've been banging the drum for for a little bit and i know the middleweights are fighting for the belt uh june 4th but i do want to see i do hope that michael bisming sticks to

his guns and does get that title shot i know there's some people you know there's you know some guys coming up Robert Whitaker. There's some interesting options. But I want to see Bisping. In 2016, Michael Bisping should get that title shot. And at Holly Home, it's kind of crazy to me that she's not booked in a fight as well. So those are some names that come to mind. I would throw in maybe the GSP Robbie Lawler. Like if GSP's coming back to those guys, if they were able to do it, obviously something like that. But if guys who are actively out there, you've named some pretty good ones. Yes. So the next one, somebody was asking about Good Morning America.

What do you guys think about Good Morning America become a platform for UFC breaking its news? Okay. Well, I am happy that someone asked about this because I wanted to talk about it. I spoke about it a little bit. So I don't know if this is a platform for the UFC to break news. Remember, this wasn't the original plan. The original plan was to go there with Nate and Connor, which would have been quite the scene in itself because of who they are. But they used it as a platform to break news. You watched it, I know.

I watched it as well. It was clunky. I mean, there's really no other way to put it. It was clunky. It felt forced. It felt hokey. You know, the UFC, like when Rhonda was on, that felt a little different because it was just one interview and she, you know, she used it as this platform to sell Holly

home. The other stuff with all the little vignettes and the Tim and Susie hosts, which, you know, I mean, it's amazing. It's exactly what he was referring to. And even like all the guys sitting there, they all felt half asleep to me. They didn't sell Jones and Cormier. They're not going to show the brawl on Good Morning America. I wonder if they get, honestly, I wonder if they get one pay-per-view buy out of that spot.

You know what I mean? It didn't feel like it accomplished anything. People sort of poo-poo all over the MMA demographic. And right, you know, you can look at it and be like, yeah, maybe there's a point to be made about that. We know we deal with the MMA demographic all the time. So you see all kinds of sides of it. But I watch something like that and I truly wonder about that demographic. And I wonder about like what happened along the way for that to become like,

like the show, you know, it's like this bubbly morning show where they're drinking their coffee and having this one conversation. Finley vailing tragedy, essentially. Like, let's go to the 911 call of Kid Rock and this and that. And here's somebody who died doing this. And the Fuller House neighbor who's upset about the house. I mean, all this weird stuff. And then they break, you know, segue into the UFC fighters that are there.

And they're just shadow boxing. Like, that's what they do all day. Like, it's just so bizarre. embarrassing in some way but I don't I mean if that's if they want to if they think there's a crossover audience that can somehow make sense

of that and people want to you know tune in to see you know the fights for based on what happens on there I you know I guess that's the way it is but that show to me is just what a non-parall I feel like there are just two different worlds completely in fact I don't I don't want to get too

much on the sub-bub but I don't even understand the world of of Good Morning America, to be honest. It's just one of those things that I feel like that's a part of society that I don't even get. So I'd rather they didn't do it that way, but I understand, I guess, the novelty of doing it that way. I guess I understand it as well. I mean, look, I understand putting someone like Paige Van Zand on that show. She's on Dancing with the Stars.

People are seeing her on a weekly basis. She's got a great story. She's got, you know, she's got this look that people at first glance are like, what? you're an MMA fighter. I mean, I understand like a one-on-one interview with Page Vanzan. To have all these characters there to fly Daniel Cormier, you know, from the other side of the country to do this and just have them sit there. And again, they all looked half asleep.

To me, it did not inspire me to watch the fight as an M.M.A fan. I know they weren't trying to get me. I just have a hard time believing that some, you know, some housewife or some retired woman in Queens, New York, sitting in her kitchen, you know, making coffee or tea is going to watch this and be like, yeah, guys, girls, we got to watch July 9th. What was that? I guess you're right, too, about, you know, if Connor McGregor's on there,

maybe it becomes something different. He's very infectious, obviously. Like, if that guy, if I have somebody like that on there, maybe he does reach into a lot of more homes and people are like, wow, who was this crazy Irish? But you're right, the assembly of guys that they had, the people they had there, it really didn't make sense to this particular one. It made more sense, I guess,

when Rhonda Rousey went on there to announce her fight because it felt like some kind of strange crossover platform because there was that audience for Ronda Rousey. But ultimately, man, I could do without it. And I certainly don't want to have to be awake for the next one when that happened. And how about, I mean, were there some wolf tickets involved in the sense that they were saying it was a UFC takeover when it really wasn't a UFC takeover. It was like certain segments here there. But I was thinking takeover, this is a two-hour show that's now being devoted to the UFC.

That was a very strange tease. It was a 7 a.m. here on the East Coast, and I was watching at 7 a.m. I don't think they got to anything until like 8.4 or 830 or something like that. It was an hour and a half of my life that I won't get back. Let's, uh... Okay, and I understand why they would want to do it. I understand why it's a big coup for them. So I get it. I just don't know if the payoff was what they expected. What did you make, by the way, of the MSG press conference? I was in there. You weren't there as well, right? I was not there. I liked it. You liked it? I know a lot of people. I liked it.

I liked, well, John, maybe it's because John Jones got through his hurdle. He got over his hurdle. He came out unscathed. He's able to take this fight. Maybe it's something like that. But I just felt like he was in the best form you could see him. I was really, I was really happy to see him in that form. I felt very natural.

Yes. He was laughing. He was like, there was nothing insincere about it. He gets caught up in these moments where people are like, oh my guy, he's in his artificial mode, he's being fake or whatever. To me, that was completely organic, what he was, his whole back and forth with Daniel Cormier. I thought it set the table very nicely for the fight again, but I also felt like it was very

organic, that bad blood that had to be put on hold is right back to where it was, and it's actually kind of evolving at this point into just more subtle and inside jokes that everybody's in on at this point. So I felt like I liked it. I personally really thought it was, I thought he handled himself well, and of course Daniel Cormier handled himself well. So it got me a little more stoked than I was, I guess, for the fight. And for me, it made UFC 200 feel like it was going to be better than we were projecting.

Honestly, that's the best main event for UFC 200. That's as close to Brock versus Mear that they can get in the sense that it's a year and a half long build. They last five a year and a half ago. These guys hate each other. They're not, you know, no one's as big as Brock as far as those two are concerned or anyone not named Ronna and Connor. But it does feel, okay, this is a legitimate. pedal fight. It feels to me like, and I know this may sound weird, it feels like Daniel brings out the best in John Jones in the sense that when he fights a guy like OSP that he feels like he has

to be so nice to, it always feels disingenuous. When he can be himself and show up in his t-shirt and just crack jokes and put Daniel down, it feels like we're seeing John for better or worse. That's John Jones. And I prefer to see that John Jones. He's a lot more comfortable. So I agree. As far as press conferences are concerned, I thought that was one of his best because he just seemed like himself. Same here. And for everything you just said, I just, I believe he needs, he needed that guy. We didn't, we couldn't find him for a long time. Daniel Kormey came along. That's his antagonist. That's the guy who's going to, he's been there.

He's masquerading with his belt. There's a lot of factors going in, but the bad blood has just reached that point where it's like, you have to do something about it. And I liked his demeanor and how he's just like, hey, we're finally going to do this. And it was just very relaxed like he's been visualizing. He's been wanting to be there. And Daniel Korme, it's great too because he knows how to egg him along and I feel like that's, it just makes for, it just makes for a fun, a fun fight for me. But I was more interested in it coming out of that than when I went in. I guess that makes it effective. Yeah, the, the dynamic is great. It was fun seeing like the same three, four people asking questions. It felt like a Saturday Night Live

skit where they kept like showing like Mike Strachka emerges and just starts asking questions. And then he asks again and he asked again. Yeah. I was good to see him. He kind of showed up when he was needed. Yes. So somebody was at. asking, gentlemen, please discuss the new Reebok fight kits. Oh. Did you foresee them making such radical changes? You consider those radical?

Have you seen the kits? I think somebody's being facetious. Oh, okay. It's funny. When I spoke to people close to this whole Reebok fight kit situation, they told me that around July or so they were going to introduce sort of phase two. And if you've been listening to their interviews and following their narrative, they've always said that typically a company like Reebok gets around 18 months to come out with a new line,

and they only got six or seven. So just wait for phase two. Great. Phase two, if these pictures from the sports business journal are to be believed, it doesn't look all that different. I mean, there is an infusion of color, but it's the same design, just a little more color here or there. It's, if you haven't seen it, think what Connor McGregor wore when he fought Josado, he had the green trunks. That's pretty much it. I mean, it's just a little more color. I was expecting more. I was a little disappointed.

What did you think? Well, yes. I mean, first of all, aren't you colorblind? Like, doesn't it all look the same to you? Yeah, and that should say something. It does kind of all look the same. But even I was able to notice. I was like, it just occurred to me.

But anyways, I guess that's baby steps, right? It's like baby steps towards something new. But I guess color being a very basic, a very basic change. And I feel like when you're watching in the most simplistic form, one of the turnoffs that I don't know if it's just the volume of fights or whatever, but one of the, I don't know, it's gotten really stagnant really fast is just seeing black versus white, black and white, black and white. So I guess if you're just taking the baby steps and you're just trying to do something,

a little bit of color doesn't hurt, especially if they're able to customize, I guess, to the specific colors. I don't know what that means. I don't know if they're still sort of enforcing this, like, this national thing where you had to kind of go with your country's colors, or if they're allowing you to kind of choose your colors because guys like Rich Franklin or Anderson Silva, who had very specific colors, you'd like to see them at least be able to come in the colors they want. And if they're addressing that, then I guess the most basic form, I'd say, like, good job. I don't see it as a radical change, but I say color makes some difference.

You know, it's like it gives it, it's a little easier on the eye to see people with that kind of personality, I guess, in there. I still, I still feel like they're missing the boat with the individuality, you know, the approach. Like, like, that's what the fight game is all about. That's, that, that was a big thing for Mike Tyson to show up, you know, wearing that towel over his, his body and the, the black boots with no socks and all that. I mean, that was, that's a big part of this sport. And it's weird. Go ahead.

Chuck Liddle. I mean, just with this, like, ice, you know, like, things like that. I agree with you 100%. You'd see them. It was all part of the brand. It was all part of the, you know, the whole experience. So that has been stripped away. I truly didn't know how this, the rebod.

deal would affect everything as it went forward. I wasn't sure if it would just make it look cleaner, make it look more professional. To me, it really doesn't do that. It just makes it look like clinical or something. There's some like, you know, I don't know, it's just, it hasn't succeeded in the individuality. And I hope they figure that out. If it's not going to happen now, at least they're adding color, but hopefully they figure out how to let people be themselves going forward when they revise it all. Yeah, like Ben Rothwell not being able to wear his whole get up there, to me feels like a mistake. He's still able to to wear the, you know, he's going to wear the kit in the cage, but to not let him wear

all that seems like a mistake. And also, I hope that it evolves at some point to the point where the fighters get at least one sponsor on the shorts, because they keep talking about how this is the case in professional sports, how, you know, there's a uniform and all that stuff. Well, it's not 100% true because let's just take basketball. LeBron James has his own shoe deal, and he makes a crap load out of his shoe deal. So yeah, he has to wear the Adidas jersey, but his shoes are a huge income for him. In football, it's the same. So in soccer, it's the same as well.

So where is the extra income coming from the fighters? Sponsorships used to be a big deal and still are for Bellator fighters, for Invicta fighters, for World Series of Fighting Fighters, for boxers, and now they're just getting it cut out. And an interesting thing like Dan Henderson didn't get the fight. He didn't get the fight a couple weeks ago against Leromachita. He didn't make his Reebok money, but if he had a lot of money, but if he had sponsors, there's a good chance they still would have paid him because they're paying him for the training camp. So it has to evolve in that sense.

I mean, it's coming. Like I said a year and a half, two years, let's revisit. Well, we're past a year since they announced it. We're approaching a year since it went into effect. I still feel like the jury is out on this one. I mean, I still feel like I'm siding with the con territory as opposed to the pros. I'm with you on that. I feel like, too, they have to maybe modify to or come off it a little bit because

I don't know. It's one of those things like when you look at free agents, I feel like one of the underlying things that keeps coming up is they're not able to have those sponsors. It becomes a hindrance to the UFC and to Reebok or, you know, that partnership to restrict them to that level. So I guess we'll see how that whole thing evolves. Do you want another one? Yes. I also wanted to say I was in Montreal this past weekend.

I was walking downtown and there's a huge Reebok store. And I poke my head in. This is on St. Catherine Street, which I know you're a big fan of. And I poke my head in, and I got to be honest, I didn't see a lot of UFC stuff. And this was a big store. You know, I didn't see a lot of jerseys. Really? Yeah. And I thought for sure, like, oh, this Reebok store, you know, you see.

Now, there was a, I saw a thing, like a sort of, not a billboard, but Rhonda had a picture there. But there wasn't like, I couldn't, you know, like when you go to champ sports and you can go through the NBA jerseys and you've got Kevin Durant and Kobe Brown. It wasn't like that. It wasn't like I could go through them and see Roy McDonald and, and, and, and, and, and, you know, And, you know, Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley. That wasn't the case. That's surprising. Right?

Weird. That's surprising. I wonder if it's, I wonder if that's a, maybe those were tucked in the back. You realize it went selling or something or if that's just, I don't know. How about the fact that they all look the same? They all look the same. Except for the writing. It's true.

It's true. It's a sad state of things, man. But so somebody asked, what's the most exciting event in prospect that you went to? One that you anticipated the most. kind of going into it. And that's basically the question. Well, I have a soft spot for the international events. Like we were just talking earlier before you came on about UFC 129.

You were at 129, weren't you? I was, yeah. That was special. I mean, being in the Rogers Center and I remember seeing that setup for the first time walking in and the place was empty, that was super cool. That's something that I'll always remember. So I love the international events. Like being in Europe, being in Dublin, I've talked about that for ad nauseum at this point,

being in Sydney, being in Abu Dhabi, those are the ones that really stick out. Sometimes the ones in America kind of feel a little bit, you know, same old, same old. True. What about you? Well, you've been to a lot more places than I have, but I will say that the Ireland, I feel like it came through, like translated when you're watching it. That Toronto card was a lot of fun just because of the novelty of the market going into that market and then just having GSP on that car, seeing the interaction between him and his fans,

and you realize like, wow, man, north of the border this thing is huge, you know, like it was, that was a lot of fun. I would still say, though, that if you're talking about strict anticipation of an event where I was really excited to go, I would probably still go with UFC 117. Just the way that was for a while, yes. And sort of shattered the whole, you know, I guess you would say got into, you know, this personal space of Anderson Silva to the point where it got. Yes. He was then forced to have to go in there and prove. everything in that cage. That's sort of, that became the whole game changer in a lot of ways because

of how he sold that fight. And there was a real ticklish spot in that whole thing to say like, you know, truthfully, he may have Anderson Silva's number. He's the type of guy who might take him down and wrestle him and do things that other guys couldn't. Like Dan Anderson did at USC 82, where he took him down just from like the first round, but he couldn't sustain it. I was like, well, Chale Sonnen's just going to sell out. He's just going to go in there and he's going to try to wrestle him the whole way. And it played out just like that. It played out in in one of the more epic fashions. But as far as just how it felt going into that fight,

I still feel like that was the most excited. I've personally gotten for a fight. Just given how he sold it and what happens when they finally go get in there. Yes. You know, I couldn't agree more. Remember that press conference in San Francisco in that hotel? Chale really came out and was just annihilating Anderson. And Tiago Alves, I believe, was next to Chale,

just cracking up the entire time. that was unbelievable. And yeah, we were tucked away in this really crappy hotel in Oakland. That was the host hotel. Were you at that same hotel? It was like this compound. And it felt like we were just like, it almost felt like we were like these caged animals. And there was this buzz building.

And funny story, I was working for AOL at the time. And they asked me to speak at this, I forget the name, but it was this Asian journalist convention. Convention like geared towards Asian journalists. and they asked me to go speak on this panel with some great journalists, but I don't know if you don't, you know, if you know this or not, but I'm actually not of Asian descent. But I was still, I was still, yes, it's true. I was still honored to be a part of it. So what I did was I left. I missed the wayans. Remember that amazing way in scene? I flew from Oakland to L.A. for the day on Friday to go speak of this thing and then flew back to Oakland that night, that Friday night. And why I bring this up is it, the buzz, sometimes the buzz doesn't catch for these. events. Sometimes it exceeds our expectations. And I felt like it got bigger and bigger that week in Oakland. In fact, the week before was the event, the Sunday night event in San Diego, John Jones versus Vladimir Maichenko on versus. So I actually stayed. It's the only time I've

ever done the MMA hour remotely. I did it from my hotel room in San Diego. M.C. Hammer was on, believe it or not. This is a lot more than you bargained for here with this story, but I'm getting into it. I can't wait for you anymore. It's pretty good. So San Diego, I see. I see. stay there for a day, do the MMA hour on that Monday, then I go to Oakland, then I do the media day there. There's the press conference on Friday. I go to that convention in Los Angeles, and I remember thinking to myself, like, I'm leaving the scene of the crime and then going back into the real world and then coming back to Oakland that Friday night before the event, you could feel the buzz return. It was amazing. And then sitting there, Cageside, one of the

rare times that I got to sit cage side for an event and seeing the whole thing unfold and thinking to myself, like, we're five minutes away from Chal Sunning calling his shot and becoming the UFC champion. It was, oh, my God, yeah, you nailed it. And it changed the game. I mean, I really believe that that was the event where people, like Connor McGregor, I believe guys like him benefited 100% from

seeing how Chal Sunna put himself in that position, how he drew the interest that he did. It's just I think it really changed the game. That was the moment when you say, there is nobody that you should be reverent enough when you're fighting. If you're, if you're that showman, if you're going to be that guy,

there's no such thing as that sort of reverence. You can go after anything and anybody, and I felt like he was the first guy that really truly took that and just ran with it. And that whole lead-up was a lot of fun. And I feel like now we're in the position where we love it. We're used to it with guys like Connor McGregor, and it probably stems from something like that event.

You know what I mean? Absolutely. And also, how about this? Something that I always remember about that stretch, that was a great one-two punch from the UFC. UFC 116 was Shane Carwin versus Chuck. Chuck Minhaal, Shane Garwin versus Brock Lesnar. And that was a somewhat surreal fight because Carwin was punches away from becoming the heavyweight champion.

And the following month was this Chale Sunnan fight. And within a span of a few weeks, both Chale and Carwin tested positive, failed their post-fight drug test. So they could have had the heavyweight champion and the middleweight champion, the new champions, get stripped. They dodged massive bullets on that one. That was insane. I remember SI.com writing about Chale, and I was thinking like, wow, you know, this was back, you know, when was this? 2009, 2010. I was thinking like, wow, sI.com is talking about the UFC, writing about the UFC.

This could have been a whole lot worse for the UFC. So it all kind of worked out for them in a weird way. I think it's interesting talking to you because you're like, you'll see you flipping through the little files and then you pull it out and you've got a million things to talk about. It's amazing to watch you. Well, thank you. you got time for another one? Absolutely, yeah. What do we got?

Let's go three more. You got three more? Yeah, I've got more here. Almeida versus Garbrand. Almeida is one of my favorite rising stars in UFC. I feel like a lot of people are overlooking this great prospect fight. What do you think about it? I love this fight.

It's interesting that this is the main event for the Memorial Day show, and they're not doing a pay-per-view on Memorial Day. They're doing it the following week in Los Angeles. It's kind of interesting how they switched that around. But Cody Gar-Brand versus Thomas Al-A-Dade. Thomas Almeida is a very important fight. It's a very interesting fight at 135. I've talked about this.

Give me your thoughts. I think right now 135 may not have the biggest draws, but with Cruz's champion, and I do believe he's become a bigger draw and a more interesting guy and a better interview. I mean, he's just a fascinating character in his own right. I'll still never forget what he told me after beating Dillishaw in January. One of the greatest lines anyone's ever told me about the moment he became happy

is when you realized he didn't need the belt to become happy. I feel like that division What they've done with that division is the complete opposite of what they've done at 125 and it's not their fault in the sense that at 125 Demetrius Johnson is just so active that he keeps running through all these guys

Cruz was inactive it allowed for new stars to emerge but if you look at that I mean let's look at that top 10 at 135 it's unbelievable it's just filled with young stars Dillishaw no Brow's not there anymore

I don't know he's still ranked Dillishaw Faber Stirling a Suncel Michael McDonald, Thomas Almeda, Caraway, Mizugaki, John Dotson return, Linneker is still in the mix. That's crazy. That rank, I mean, that's amazing.

That's an amazing. So, yeah, that's crazy. I actually, I hadn't really thought about all of them. Because what they have, too, is a lot of the young guys who are on the, on the up-and-coming, like Sterling being another one of those guys, and then they've got guys who are just coming in, and then they have sprinkled in with the guys who've been the staples of that division, like a favor cruise in those.

So I feel like, yeah, so you've got so many compelling fights. And that is, I guess, a silver lining of cruise. crew's falling out of action the way he has because suddenly there's a whole new crop of guys that you could match him against if they're able to get to his if he's able to retain the title and they get to him that become very compelling um and this particular fight almeda versus garband i feel like uh it's it's one of those it's one of those strange ones uh i'm always a little conflicted about because i'm like they're they're almost at the exact points of their careers like they're very young up-and-coming guys both looking for step-ups

and competition, both who looked, you know, very, very good in all of their appearances, essentially, and then they get thrown at each other, and you hate to see one of those guys get pushed back at all. You'd rather see them make their way into a bigger fight. If it was like a number one contender fight, say, which I don't know, maybe it's possible, but I doubt it. But you'd like to see it have those types of stakes to see them cross, but at the same time, I have to look at and think, then again, they are very young. I think what is, Alme is like 24 years old, Garbrand's right around that age, too, right? So a setback from one of these guys, you feel like they're just going to learn from it.

They're going to be around for a long time. They may cross paths again. I feel like there are two future stars coming together. And that's another one of those silent, those ones that's going to be buried by other fights going on, that'll be a lot of fun to see how it plays out. And whichever guy does emerge, I feel like that guy's probably arrived. You know, he'll be at the moment where he could start to be in contention and start to call out the champ. You know what I'm saying?

So it should be a lot of fun. Garbrandt represents sort of that that new team alpha male fighter with, you know, Dillishaw leaving, Benavides leaving Castillo out of the UFC. But again, that card, that's a sneaky good card. Almeida, Garbrandt, Stevens Burrow, Safedin's Story,

Mazvedel versus Larkin, Berkman versus Felder, I versus McMahon. That's a great card. That is a good card. Yeah, for giving... Al Jermaine versus Carraway? Yeah.

Just a fight. Just to fight that. Some of the Memorial Day cards that they had in recent. Like, I know it's not happening there, but the Memorial Day cards have been a little bit jeeps. Remember when they're trying a whole big thing? And they kind of went down the train a little bit. So I like the looks of that card quite a bit. What else we got?

What else we got? You're doing great job, by the way. Fantastic work. Somebody was wondering, I guess we talked about this a little bit on the MMAPE, but you weren't there. But somebody was wondering what you, I guess, particularly thought about Demetris Johnson's sort of newfound fame, because it seems like he's turned a corner. I know we were talking about the LMAB. Seems like he's gotten a lot more love

for this last fight over Sahuah. It does feel like he's turned the corner. It feels like, how about this idea? It feels like putting him in the co-main event behind the John Jones and Connor's saying that that pay-per-view didn't do great. I'm not surprised it didn't do great. But it does feel like with him,

the pressure being off him, maybe that led to a better performance, maybe that led to a more dominant performance. It feels like things have changed. If you look at his Twitter, the engagements, the people writing back to him, and him kind of being himself and allowing himself to be himself on this Twitch platform, even his interviews last two weeks ago in Las Vegas, it feels like people are starting to come around.

And the unfortunate part of it all is that he has no dance partner now. He literally has no one interesting to fight right now. There is not a single name that comes to mind as far as a – and let's give credit to Suhudo. I think he did a nice job of selling that fight. I still think that the fight came too soon. But there is literally no one for DJ to fight. If he's going to fight Dominic, I think that's fun.

But I don't think it makes sense for Dominic at 135 with all those great young contenders right now. I have no idea what they're going to do with DJ. I'm 100% stump there. So yes, I agree. But the timing feels weird because he has no fun fight to look forward to when talking about DJ. Yeah. I completely agree with you. I thought for some reason, I don't know if it was because of it was because of,

a Suhudo. Maybe it's just a cumulative thing where you've seen him up. Maybe it's because he was in the co-main event where you're not putting the pressure on him to be the main event. Whatever that combination was, there was a real good feeling that he did. He not only showed up and was, had this sort of benevolence or warmth or something to his performance or coming in. Like, I felt like he was a guy that we were talking about a little different, a little different key. But for him to go in there and do what he did to Suhudo, I thought that translated very well to set the table for the main event and everything. It just seemed like, collect that sort of aesthetic seeing him perform again and as dominant as he's been and

now getting into the record territory where he's starting to come up on becoming historic figure in the UFC. Yes. Whatever it is, it's that combination of things that I think is helping him turn the corner. But I agree with you 100%. We were touching on a little bit on Thursday. I'm just not 100% sure what they're going to do with him. You know, you'd mentioned, I know that was sort of a, you were to spitballing, but, you know,

putting a house of guys, you know, sort of rehearse. eating all the guys that have been in the division or maybe a couple of like the scroggins and those kind of guys throwing them in there and letting them fight it out to get to him maybe something like that but how long can you keep him i guess waiting for that to happen so i don't know what you would even do with them in in the meantime but um the u.s.c definitely has it because he's the first guy that i really believe that it comes to mind who has cleaned out his division it was something we used to throw around all the time like you hear dana white say soon as they can clean out the division he's truly cleaned out his division so it's like he could do it's either he's

going to take on somebody that won't be there, won't deserve it, or he's going to have to fight a U of a 135er and start drumming up interest on that or making his way that way. That would be unfortunate. That would be unfortunate because I want to see him, yeah, I want to see him break that record. So I want to see him stick around at 125 for at least the next two fights so he can tie it and then break it. I do think that the only way to go, at least right now, there's no one coming up. There's no real great, you know, pre-agents out there.

I don't really know what they're going to do. I mean, he has fought guys that you have come. Remember, Moraga was fighting on the Facebook prelims, and then they put him in the main event on Fox. So they can come up with something. They could come up with a Wilson Haste or someone like that. I wouldn't put it past them. They have to keep him active.

But it's going to be interesting because I know his contract is coming up. He's got a couple more fights left. It's coinciding with him breaking the record. DJ is not Connor, obviously. He'll never be that. But he does have his quirks. And when you get to know him and start following him and appreciate him, he's a fun guy to watch.

I mean, like I said, after his fight, if you can't appreciate him, I don't know if I can call you an MMA fan. I know that's a bold statement that pissed off people, but what more do you want out of an MMA fighter? And also, how do you not appreciate a guy whose biggest worry on Fight Week when he's defending his title against an Olympic old medalist

seems to be pressure washing his fence, which by the way he got around to, it seems. How about that photo? Yeah, what a great photo. I mean, those abs are something else. Yeah, so DJ's the best. I love him. Yeah.

Okay, great, ma'am. Last one. What do we got? Last one. Well, let's see. Let's see. If it's the last one. So somebody was asking, you know, Jones didn't really make it known that he was undergoing, you know, so he was facing other things going on, going into his fight with LSP, and with them being his mom. So they were asking about what we thought about that, him kind of concealing that and bringing it up after the fact. Wow.

It really, to me, I mean, wow. You know, I saw his father there, who's a lovely man. And I saw his brothers there. And usually his mom has been there. And I know that she had been battling some vision issues and battling diabetes. And he mentioned at the press conference on Wednesday that his mother was losing the battle to diabetes and had to have her leg amputated the week of the fight. And I can't imagine how he was able to fight with all that going on. Now, he went on Twitter afterwards and said that he was regretful of the fact that he used the term losing the battle to diabetes and just said that she was in a battle.

so he didn't want to maybe, you know, and I can understand that as well. Amazing. I mean, it makes the performance, you know, there's a lot going on, obviously, with John Jones, and then you add that. But I don't know if you noticed before he got to the cage when he was, you know, when you're supposed to put the Vaseline and all that and get the last check, before he did that, he went to his family and hug them. And perhaps that's why, you know, it makes a lot more sense now.

So, yeah, I mean, I honestly, I understand that. from what I heard, Daniel Cormier actually went up to Jones afterwards and said, you know, all, you know, I know we've had our differences, but I wish the best to your family and all that. Apparently they had a nice moment backstage after that, so it kind of tells you what kind of a guy Daniel is as well. But yeah, I mean, wish are the best. He just kind of dropped that out of nowhere. I mean, I can understand why he didn't want to say it, but it kind of puts his performance into perspective a little bit, I would imagine. I mean, when you look back on his career and we're criticizing him for not putting away OSP, but he dominated a fight on his one scorecard 50 to 44.

I mean, he dominated the fight from gate to gate. Maybe he didn't have the killer instinct that he did. But then you think, like, well, he didn't have any personal bad blood with OSP. He didn't have any reason to really risk himself. He was trying to get his belt back from Daniel Korme who's sitting cage side and all this thing. You look at it and you put it all back together, especially given the circumstances of him being in jail just three weeks prior. um the opponent switch and then something like that went on behind the scenes um you know and also just you know his whole driving thing having to be chauffured around everything else that goes on i feel

like you're going to come out of it it's like one of those uh those moments you'll look back on and think like wow man he i can't believe he navigated through that that period as well as he did much less you know in the moment maybe we criticize him but in retrospect maybe we'll look back and be like wow that was he was carrying a lot um some of it his own his own doing obviously like he needs to get himself into a better position with the law and all that stuff. But with all the other stuff going on, I feel like he showed pretty admirably. By the way, are you excited about Ronda Rousey's new three movie deal with Lifetime? What do you think of that?

Are you a big lifetime guy? I feel like we're circling back to Good Morning America, Democrat. I don't know. I do feel like, I guess one thing I see about that is I'm like, well, she seems to be maximized. her star power outside of the fight world, she continues to let that unfold. And you wonder how much, how long she's going to stick around. Every time something like that comes out, I wonder like how much, will we see her again? I think we see her again, but how long will she keep this going?

How much of that will just become her, you know, being a celebrity and moving on. So that was the only thing that kind of crossed my mind. I can't imagine, to be completely honest, I really don't know much about lifetime. I know my mom and whatever they've watched it, but I don't know so much about it. It's not Hollywood stuff. I mean, it's more made for TV films. So interesting. Rhonda did emerge this week.

She's been on the beach. People have caught her working out and things like that. So let's see if that coincides with a return in New York. It would seem like the stars are aligning. They've always said they wanted her to come back in November. And let's see who it's against. It's an interesting time for Ronda Rousey. Slowly but surely she's coming out of her shell.

I don't know if you saw the embedded with Travis Brown talking to her on the phone. They had her listed as Brown's girlfriend, so they're out and about with that. I feel like at this point it'd be silly for her to downplay any of that. I mean, she just got her own where we're at. Like, you've got to catch up wherever our knowledge is. She just has to accept it and be like, okay, this is what you know. I'm not going to. Because I felt like it got so contentious during this whole thing as the way it was happening.

It was just sort of untenable to be a press member with her. being as defiant with it and all that stuff. So I think it's a lot more healthy for all involved for there to be direct communication without being in the open. Yes, no one knows about that more than this particular site. I mean, holy moly. So, yeah, I agree.

Honesty is the best policy. You know, Mark Romandie. We love you, my man. Great job, Chuck. Any final thoughts? Any parting words? You're done. That's fun.

It's cool. You've had enough. He's honeymoon. So I sent him a note earlier and told him, I try to fill in best I could. So hopefully I hung in there. Well, I got to be honest, between Adams' work, everyone on time, your work here, I mean, who needs the guy? Who needs him? He's dead weight. He's dead weight. You've heard of the story, Wally Pip, right? You've heard of Wally Pip, right? You've heard of Wally Pip. First Baseman for the New York Yankees takes a day off, gets replaced

by the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrick. He wasn't the Iron Horse at the time. And what, 2,100 games later, Wally Pip, never to be heard from again. Is it possible that Chuck Mindenhall is the Wally Pip? And by the way, I think I made the same joke the last time New York Rick took a show off. But yeah, I think so. I'll take it. Okay. Anytime I can be careful, the Lou Gehrig, I'll take that. Yes, that's right. We'll end on that. I'll see you Thursday for the MMAB. I'll be there. There he is. Chuck Minnall, everyone filling in admirably for the one and only New York Rick. A couple more notes before I say goodbye on this Monday afternoon. Hopefully it's not. raining. In case you missed it, our good friends over at Flow Combat, they broke the news last

night that Josh Thompson unfortunately is out of Bellator's next event on May 14th. What a bummer that is. I was really looking forward to Josh Thompson versus Michael Chandler. And it doesn't seem at least right now that Chandler has an opponent lined up. There was some campaigning for Benton Henderson, but that's not going to work. And Benson just went through a five-round, pretty tough fight against Andre Koreshkov. I don't love that idea, especially if it's on May 14th. Maybe later, back at 155, I like it,

but I don't like it in 12 days. So that's unfortunate because that doubleheader was great. I mean, that to me was almost the best that Bellator can offer in some respects. Phil Davis versus King Moe in a number one contender fight, the Light Heavyweight Division. Hopefully the winner can face the champion Liam McGeery who has been battling a

knee injury coming off of that. And then you have Josh Thompson versus Michael Chandler. I mean, that was great. So it's going to be interesting. Do they slide in Will Brooks finally one more time before his contract expires this summer? What a strange situation that whole Will Brooks thing is. Where is he going to end up?

Deleted his Twitter, back on Twitter. Anyway, they also announced Sergey Cari Totti. Rathetanov versus Josh Applet, Appelt, Josh Appelt. I think that's it. So Sergei making his belt or debut on that May 14th card, that is the same night as UFC 198.

So got a little weaker, but perhaps it, I don't think the UFC was really responding to that, to be honest. They stacked the deck for their own reasons. That card was supposed to be a fight night card. and then things changed with the Verdume fight in February getting canceled, and then they moved it to Curry Chiba, and then they put it in a soccer stadium, and then they decided, hey, we need to revitalize the Brazilian market,

and they absolutely loaded it. I will actually not be covering that one in person. The stars didn't align on that one, but I do look forward to sitting home and watching all the fights from home. Also, speaking of, our friends over at Bellator, some news coming out today regarding Kimbo Slice, who will be fighting in July against James Thompson. Kimbo Slice, of course, was last seen in Houston, Texas, fighting Ken Chammrock and he failed his post-fight drug test. This, according to Dave Doyle of MMAFighting.com,

Kimbo Slice has reached a settlement with the Texas Department of Life. licensing and regulation on his Beltor 149 drug test. Slice, who tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone and an elevated testosterone to epitestosterone level following his TKO victory over DeFier Harris. Excuse me, it wasn't Ken Chammarrock. Ken Chammock was in June. Data 5,000, of course, how could we forget, was in February. Belator 149 in Houston will pay the commission a, get this, $2,500 fine and have his fight license in Texas revoked. MMA funding confirmed an initial report by mhmate junkie.com. As I mentioned, Slice supposed to fight James Thompson, July 16th in London.

And that's pretty much it. Got that 90-day PD suspension in Texas are far less severe than in most of the country. And North America, 90-day suspension with a fine up to 5,000 for a first-time offender. As part of the settlement agreement, Dave wrote, Slice waived his right to a hearing before the board. So that's that. He'll be free to fight on July 16th. Pretty crazy stuff going on in Texas.

And I also wanted to pass along the news that Junior Dos Santos underwent a shoulder procedure. You can read about that on M.AFunding.com. So that's going to sideline him for a little bit. And also maybe good news for Alster Overeem, who did beat JDS, but JDS coming off that big win over Ben Rothwell. Interesting times at heavyweight. That will sideline him for a little bit. going to be interesting to see if Overeem can win on Sunday. What are the odds there for that, by the way?

Yeah, Overeem's a minus 2.11. Arlofsky, a plus 195. Sounds about right. Struva of a favorite over Bigfoot Silva. Gunner Nelson. Wow, Gunner Nelson and underdog. Interesting. Gunner Nelson plus 160 against Albert Tuminov minus 165.

That's kind of interesting. Any other ones? Chris Wade, an underdog. I love that fight. Chris Wade versus Rustam Chavilov. Chris Wade, a slight underdog against Rustam Chavilov. John Tuck,

slight underdog as well against Nick Hyne, some close ones here. Wow. Kiochi Horaguchi, a huge favorite against Neil Siri. Kiochi Horaguchi minus 485 and Neil Siri plus

$4.15. That's interesting as well. Dominic Waters, a underdog, an underdog against Leon Edwards. That's a fun fight. Dominic Waters plus 206, Edwards minus 229. Wow, how about that one? Anyone, any of my friends in Ireland taking a flyer on Neil Siri?

And also want to remind you that the UFC is back on Sunday. It was a relatively quiet weekend in MMA this past weekend. Titan had an event. But it's a big one coming up for women's MMA on Friday, May 6th, Angela Lee, who's 5 and 0 in one championship, she will be fighting May Yamaguchi for their inaugural atomweight title, 105 pound title. That's a big fight for women's MMA. And she has become somewhat of a rising star, especially in Asia. They are really backing her one championship.

So that's one to look out for Friday morning. so Hodra Gracie competing on that card. So look out for that. And then Invicta is back on Saturday. They get the stage to themselves on May 7th. And Tanya Evinger is defending her Bantamway title against Colleen Schneider. Also, Livia Henata Sousa will be defending her title against Angela Hill, the 115-pound division. And another solid card from Invicta, Mizzuki Inouye,

fighting on the card. Charming Tweet on the card as well. Megan Anderson against Amanda Bell. That's a fun one. So, um, another, it's all, you know, not the deepest card of all time, but always interesting stuff out of Invicta FC. All right. I am done. You can hit my music. It was good to let my hair down a little bit on today's show. You know, not as stacked as far as guests are concerned, but you know, sometimes it's nice to just talk to all of you, sort of Not a direct communication, if you will, but hey, look at this. We're ending on time. They always get mad at me for going over our 4.30 slot.

I'm ending on time here. Last couple of weeks, I've been going way over. Here we are doing the damn thing. On time. How about that? Again, all the best of Jordan Parsons. I tried to check in with Glenn Robinson, but unfortunately no update to provide as of right now. So all we can say is we wish him the best and hope that he makes a speedy recovery.

What will happen this week in the world of mixed martial arts? After that 200 announcement, Good morning, America, all that stuff. It got a little quiet, which was nice. I will not lie. Will things ramp up? Certainly the UFC schedule ramps up beginning this Sunday. So stay tuned for that. We'll be back on Monday to recap everything.

And, of course, the MMA beat. Get them while they're hot. The T-shirts right over there is back Thursday as well. I want to thank everyone who stopped by today. I want to thank everyone who tuned into today's show. Thank you very much to James Vic. All the best time, UFC 199. Thank you very much Gunner Nelson, Neil Magny, Tiffany Van Suss.

Thank you very much to Joanne Calderwood. And thank you very much to Chuck Minhal for filling in great stuff as always from him. Back next week, same time and place, totally say Pais. Somebody. Defenders and cybersecurity are always there when we need them. They should get a parade every time they block a novel threat and have streets, sandwiches, and babies named in their honor. But most of all, they deserve AI cybersecurity that can stop novel threats

before they become breaches across email, clouds, networks, and more. DarkTrace is the cybersecurity defenders deserve and the one they need to defend beyond. Visit darktrace.com forward slash defenders for more information. Support for this show comes from Chase. If you're a fan of women's sports, you're always looking for ways to get closer to the action. And your Chase card can get you exactly that. With a Chase card, you can experience more. That means access to pre-sales, preferred seating, and more savings.

For more information about how to step into a world of more with Chase Experiences, visit Chase.com slash experiences. Benefits available only to eligible Chase card holders. Deposit and credit card products provided by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. member FDIC. Terms, conditions, restrictions, and limitations apply.