MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 328

Episode Date: May 9, 2016

Ariel Helwani speaks to Alistair Overeem, Randy Couture, Stefan Struve, Ben Rothwell, Gilbert Melendez, Gegard Mousasi, Scott Coker, Roxanne Modaferri, and Marc Raimondi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I'm Ariel Halwani inside our New York City studio. Great to be here with you for another episode of the show. Hope you had a great Mother's Day. In my opinion, Mothers, this is my hot take to start the day. Mothers, there's no better human being on earth than mothers. So hopefully in some way, shape, or form, you got to celebrate Mother's Day yesterday. The transformation, if I may, if I may wax poetic here for a second, the transformation, when you get to see this happening in front of your eyes, I got to see my wife go from a friend, a classmate to a friend, to a girlfriend, to a fiancé, to a wife, to a mother. That transformation, that final step is unlike anything I've ever seen.

So I hope you got to honor someone special in your life and a special shout out to my mom. Mama knows our number one fan who doesn't miss a single minute of this show each and every week. Believe it or not, she sits down to watch the show and she could probably school all of you in MMA talk. Best believe that. So happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. All the mothers who watch this program appreciate you very much. So much to discuss this week, another fun weekend of MMA action. You know, there are essentially, in my opinion, there are five major.

promotions that as a website, MMAfighting.com, I think we cover on a regular basis. Of course, the UFC, Bellator, World Series of Fighting, Invicta, and OneFC. Now, we talk about others from time to time, but I think those are the five main ones right now. It always changes. Three of those held events this weekend. Friday, OneFC had a fantastic card. Hajer Gracie with a big win. But if you miss the main event between May Yamaguchi and

and Angela Lee, you really did miss one of the very best fights of the year. And I'm not just talking about women's MMA. One of the very best fights, period. A five-round, fantastic title fight to crown the first ever one-fc. Or one, as they call it now, Adam Way champion that's 105 pounds. Angela Lee, 19 years young, born in Canada, I might add, with an unbelievable performance. the action on the ground, the comebacks, the highs and lows for both of them, was nothing short of amazing.

A true joy to watch. If you have not seen that fight, go out of your way to watch it. Just amazing stuff. And I predict we'll be talking about that fight at the end of the year. So one had a great show Friday morning. Invicta had a solid show, Saturday night, Tanya Evanger, retaining her title, then kissing the post-fight interviewer, Laura Sanco. open mouth, I might add.

And I think it was after she puked as well. It was awesome stuff. Former UFC strawweight Angela Hill, proving that they probably gave up on her a little too soon, but this is kind of like a demotion in AAA. I mean, let's just be honest. She becomes champion, and maybe she gets to move along at a more normal speed.

Now she's getting a nice opportunity. And Victa, I suspect we see her back in the UFC sometime in the future. And then the UFC made its debut in the Netherlands. yesterday afternoon, a very special Mother's Day edition of UFC Fight Night on FS1. And what a card that was. Wow, 13 fights. The main four were incredible. Germain Derrondami in front of her home country crowd, very emotional, soaking it all in.

Huge win for her. And then we went to Gunner Nelson. Wow, what a performance. Gunner Nelson, a lot of people I felt were writing him off after the performance against Damien Maya. and it was not much of a performance, if we're being honest. He was thoroughly dominated by Maya. He was on this show last week talking about just feeling off in that fight. Well, he came up big against a guy who had looked very good thus far in the UFC's Walter 8 division, Albert Tuminov.

He submitted him in the second round with the rear naked choke. When Gunner Nelson is on and flowing and just doing what he did yesterday, he's pretty fun to watch. And I'm not quite sure what his ceiling is just yet. And I don't want to put him in there against, you know, the Maya type. And again, Maya continues to prove after his wins just how dangerous he is. Like with Neil Magny, like with Nelson, Ryan LaFlair, to an extent as well. Maya continues to be slept on. He is fighting this weekend against Matt Brown, coincidentally.

But that was a great win for Gunner Nelson and the SBG team. Then in the co-mate event, how about Stefan Struve just needed 16 seconds in his home country as well to defeat Bigfoot. Silva. You got to be happy for him three years that he'd probably like to forget and he comes up big. In a really big spot for him, fighting in front of, again, his home country and fighting a guy who could be dangerous, although no longer as dangerous as he once was. A short right, then some uppercuts, a knee to the solar plexus, and then some elbows from hell for Stefan Struve. Very happy for Stefan Struv. And then, of course, in the main event, Alistair Overeem, extends his winning streak to four in a row, karate kick in the second round,

then finishes his teammate, Andre Arlofsky. Will he get that title shot? You can certainly make a strong case for it. So a lot of fun stuff this weekend. We'll talk about some of that. And, of course, we look ahead to this weekend, another busy one for MMA, Bellator MMA and the UFC going head-to-head, UFC with a much stronger card. It's UFC 198, in my opinion, maybe the best card ever put together by the UFC for a local crowd.

and I'll explain more later. I've talked about this before, but 198 is just perfect for that Currie Chiba crowd. Okay, let me run down today's show, and then we'll get right into our first guest. At around 405, we're going to hear from Invicta's own Roxanne Modifery. She actually has a new book out, one of my favorite characters in MMA, and I always love talking to Roxanne. She wants a title shot in Invicta. We'll talk to her at 405.

At 345, we'll talk to the aforementioned Stefan Struve about his big win where he goes from here. Around 325, we'll take some questions in common, so stay tuned for that. You know how to hit us up. 305, Alastair Overeem, the Ream, he'll be here. Hopefully we'll have a good time. No misunderstandings. Will he get that title shot? We'll see.

245, Gilbert Melendez is going to join us. He can attest to this. I've been trying to get Gilbert Melendez on this show for almost a year. I maybe have asked him 20 times. Finally, he is joining us. If you missed the news last week, he's fighting Etzen Barbosa, July 23rd, in Chicago. 225, Belator CEO, Scott Koker, will stop by to preview this weekend's event for Belator, 154, I believe it is. 205, the legendary Randy Couture, who's doing some cool stuff for Belator.

Always a pleasure to talk to Randy. It's been a while. He'll join us at 205. 145. One of our favorites, Gagher Musassi, will stop by to talk about his fight at UFC 200 against Derek Brunson and also being in attendance yesterday in Rotterdam. And 125, Ben Rothwell will join us. his first interview, I believe, since his loss to Junior Dos Santos a few weeks back. So a lot to get to a lot of people to talk to. But first, let's go to the Skype Machine and welcome in my pal, colleague at mMAfighting.com. The one and only Mark Romundi is in the house. Mark, how are you?

I'm well. How are you? I am doing great. It always feels like you're sitting right here, like we're staring at each other face to face. Maybe I am. Okay, that's just creepy because the internet connection continues to get better. Yes. It's almost like 3D. I like it. Well, it's good to see you, Mark.

Before we get into all the news and everything going on, how are you doing? Because the MMA world stood still last week when you tweeted out that you were in the hospital. I mean, we were just, I could not concentrate on last week's show, just worried sick about you. How are we doing? Tell us. I'm fine, I'm fine. I had a surgery last week. I had my gallbladder removed. It was an issue I've been having for quite some time with gallstones, and I finally got it taken out. Damn. And I should be back this week and back ready to roll.

Not a very invasive procedure, but I was in the hospital for about, you know, I guess parts of five days. Probably lost like 10 pounds. I could probably challenge Mighty Mouse for the 125 title right now. But no, I'm doing fine. No more painkillers. I'm good to go. That sounds very painful. Are you in pain right now, or are we feeling better?

No, I'm feeling better. Okay. No pain. Good. But certainly you kept up to speed with MMMA. I could tell you're tweeting, you're watching things, you're dropping your two cents on a whole bunch of stuff. So I want to ask you because I know you've been following it. And of course, I'm happy to hear that everything is going well and that you're feeling better.

I mentioned three solid events this weekend, three of the, I think the five. Am I wrong with that? Like there's five main organizations that we sort of follow event to event. I think I'm, did I miss any? I don't think so. I mean, that's pretty much right on. I mean, of course, there's Bama here and Cage Warriors and others all over the place, but those are the ones that we go event to event, I feel like.

Putting you on the spot here, I didn't ask you this question beforehand. Who was the MVP of this weekend? Which performance stood above the rest? Who are you most impressed by? And we can pick from any one of those shows. That's actually a really tough question because there are a number of, as I kind of ran down at the top of the show, there are a number of impressive performances. but I just keep going back to that women's fight for, for one, on, I guess, you know, Friday morning for us in the States,

and it was Friday night for them in Singapore. But Angela Lee is 19 years old, and, man, she just seems like she is so far beyond her years in terms of her poise and her abilities. It's almost uncanny. Now, May Yamaguchi is someone that fans in the United States probably don't know very much of, but she is a solid, grizzled veteran who's fought some of the best of the best of the United States. best in Japanese women's M.A. for a very, very long time. She has more than 20 pro fights. And Angela Lee came into last weekend with only five pro fights, 19 years old, and May Yamaguchi's in her 30s. So for Lee to win that fight, the way that she did, and what I think was one of the

top three fights of the year so far, I probably even put that fight right underneath Walricandit. I put tape home up there as well. But I would put Lee Yamaguchi right there. for her to do what she did in that fight, I think Angela Lee is the MVP of the weekend. I think that I think her ceiling, her future is scary. I think she's marketable. She's charismatic. She's an exciting fighter, obviously. I think that was the thing that stands out to me the most.

A few people online yesterday were saying, oh, why don't you get Angela Lee on the show? Well, rest assured, I tried. She is traveling today. Hopefully in the future we can get her on the show. I don't know what her contract situation is. but one needs to sign her to like a 20-fight deal at this point. I mean, she could be their star. Not only, and I know she sort of breaks barriers,

and I believe she's done interviews about this. I mean, just, you know, women in certain parts of that world in Asia, just, you know, they don't get the same kind of respect. And I think that she actually received a lot of hate for being in the main event. I credit, one, for putting her in that spot above, you know, the Roger Gracies or the Hajer Gracies, I should say. But they need to sign her up because she could be the one to really open a lot of doors for her. For them, I should say.

For one, yes. She is the one. She is the one for one. I mean, already at 19 years old, we're talking about her as one of the most popular people in the organization, at least for us here in the States. I mean, when you think of one right now, you think of Ben Ascran, you think, you know, maybe Shunyaoki, you think of Bibiana Fernandez. Then you think of Angela Lee, and she's 19. That's scary. I mean, it's crazy to think, you know, where she's coming in a very short time and where she's going. I was surprised, though, and I don't know if this means anything over there. But when that fight happened, she had like 1,600 Twitter followers. That's pretty amazing. Now she's over two.

I'm not sure what, if they use, like, in Asia, if they use Twitter or if there's like another social media thing there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know there's Facebook in that part of the world, but I'm not sure if Twitter is that big there. Well, again, if you miss the fight, do yourself a favor. Just fantastic stuff, especially on the ground. It was really a lot of fun to watch. And also fun every time you watch a one card to just see the different kind of score. I mean, it's not round by round like it is here in the United States.

It's more old-school pride. They score the entire fight. And personally, I thought they got it right. Okay, let's talk about Rotterdam. And it was a great card. The crowd was fantastic, especially for a country that has been somewhat lukewarm to MMA, more of a kickboxing nation, as Overeem reminded us. yesterday and all throughout the week, but they really stepped up and they treated their local heroes

like superstars. Overeem comes up big, big win over his teammate, Andrei Alofsky. Does he finally get it? Now, let's not forget, Overeem was supposed to fight for the belt back at UFC 146 and he kind of, he kind of disqualified himself on that one. But does he finally get that title shot now? Has he done enough, in your opinion? I think so. I really do. I really, I tweeted yesterday after the fight. I think that how can you argue against Overeem at this point? some people said oh well what have cane belaska is beast travis brown i still feel like what overreem has done in the last few fights outweighs that he's knocked out junio dos Santos he's now knocked out he's now knocked out um he had the big win over the weekend in rotterdam i think he's on a role

i think he's a guy that fans really enjoy i think that you know he has the personality has the charisma and i think this is his last run for a guy who's been around for a very long time he's a legend you know he's a legend in m m and i think it is his time and i think that he should get the winner of Verdum and Steepa? They can do no wrong because I think outside of the champion, of course, he really comes with a very loyal following. People love Overim. They've been watching him for a long time.

He has a history with Radom. Fought him once in pride, fought him again in Strike Force. The Strike Force fight was truly bizarre. And I'd love to see the third one, but you can go back. They own that footage. So you have a trilogy fight that's spanning like a decade for the heavyweight title. And then against Miocch, if he wins, I think that's a fun styles matchup. Now, I do feel like Kane Velazquez, you know, he has an argument.

And if he wins in July, he's certainly in that discussion. But if I'm the UFC, I'm telling Kane Velasquez, you need to prove to us that you can get through at least two more training camps healthy. I mean, you can't keep booking him in title fights and him pulling out. Isn't it amazing? We have a heavyweight title fight this Saturday. And nothing has happened yet. Now, I'm knocking on my table here. No injuries.

I mean, when's the last time we could say that? It feels like it's been decades, right? It's always something with the heavyweight division. Verdume and Miotich are six days, excuse me, five days away from fighting. Kane needs to prove that. So that's why I say go with Overeem, and especially the timing works out. He fights, you know, a week. He fought a week before the title fight this weekend.

Don't kick the hornet's nest, man. Sorry. Let's just let, you know, let's sleeping dogs lie. Okay. Let's not mess around. Let's hope this fight happens on Saturday. But yeah, I completely 100% agree with you. There's a story there with Verdum and Overeem.

Overeem versus Steepet is a fresh, interesting matchup. I think that Overeem is the next guy in line. I'm not so sure about Madison Square Garden like he said on Saturday, but I do think that he is the next guy in line for that shot. MMA Junkie reported that they spoke to a UFC official who said that he is the next guy in line, but it won't be at MSG. And I could see that. It doesn't seem like, and I give him props for dreaming,

but it doesn't seem like the perfect MSG fight other than it being for the heavyweight title. Now, not a lot of people spoke about Arlofsky afterwards. It was all about Overeem. two knockout-ish losses for him. And I still, I'm not calling for him to retire at all. I want to see finally, and I know there's interest on the other side, I want to see Arlofsky, Josh Barnett next. I feel like that's a fight years in the making.

What do you make of that fight? Well, that's a fight that could have happened, right? A long, long time ago, like mid-2000s back in the U.S. when both of them held the belt. And I believe Barnett lost the title, right? Not in the cage, but because of the failed drug test. And then Arloffsky was the guy to win it after that. So that's a fight.

Yeah, like you said, that's more than 10 years in the making right now. That's a really, really cool fight. I'm definitely with you on that one. I could headline a fight night card, even though both guys coming up losses. Both guys had the names. They're both legends. They're both all-time great heavyweights. I'm down for that.

Sign me up. Maybe put that on a card if they go to Russia next year. But Barnett's certainly popular overseas. You do it in Japan. Yeah. Of course. That is a good call. I do wonder what it will be like when Overeign comes back to Jackson.

and I know some people say, oh, you love the drama, but come on. I mean, you don't think that's going to be a little weird? Oh, no, it's definitely a lot weird. I mean, I think that it was very difficult for that team this whole week and leading up to the fight. I know that there were people down there who were torn because Andre is a guy that, you know, they really embraced him. They brought him into the team, and he kind of remade his career down with Greg Jackson

and Mike Ficklejohn. He turned everything around. He went on that winning streak. He became a title contender again. And they really, really love him down there. They love his dog Maximus. You know, he's always in the gym. And Overeem, you know, the same thing.

He came in and he had some big wins. And they were both flying the Jackson Wing banner. And I know that it was really, really tough for those guys down there to have them fight each other because someone has to lose. That's the thing. And no one wants to see your teammate get knocked out. And at the hands of another teammate, it's like a, I mean, it's almost like a lose-lose situation, right? I mean, how, yeah, one teammate got a big knockout win, but the other one got knocked out. out. So, I mean, there's really no winning there.

Yeah, it is very unique. I'm actually surprised they didn't play it up more because it is something that you can sell. But, you know, they did it. They did it okay. It was interesting when Overeem walked into the cage. He went up to Arlowski and his team. And they kind of no sold them, I thought. I don't know. It felt a lot more personal for Arlowski. So I wish there could be like some footage of that. I mean, maybe that's just the soap opera fan in me. Struve with the big win, there's options for him, but I actually want to ask you about Bigfoot Silva because I said afterwards that I don't really want to see Bigfoot Silva fight anymore.

And then some people were like, Hey, dummy, look at Arlofsky and Overeem in the cage. Those are guys who were knocked out, had bad losses. I don't know, for some reason, maybe it's his age, maybe it's the kind of losses as of what. I just, I don't want to see it anymore. And the health stuff that he's been through, I'm good. He's had a nice career.

He beat Fador, but I think, you know, Pat Riley, hair or not, I think I'm good with Bigfoot. How do you feel about that? I really hate saying... I know, I know, I know, but this feels weird. You should retire because this is not the NBA or the NFL or MLB where these guys are getting paid $25 million a year and they have money in the bank and they're good to go. These guys, a lot of times are, they're making money fight to fight.

And fighting is their only source of income. They're primary and their only source of income. So I hate to say, oh, this guy should retire because you got to feed your family, man. So I'm not going to say the Bigfoot should retire. But the one thing that concerns me is I want to go back to when TRT was banned. And it was a pretty big deal at the time because I remember Bigfoot's manager, Alex Davis said that Bigfoot might be the only guy who really, really actually needs TRT because he has a condition. He has a pituitary issue. And he needs some kind of, you know, TUE.

He needs a therapeutic use exemption for something. whether it be testosterone or something else. And maybe without that, he's just not, he really isn't himself. You know, maybe he really does need that from a health perspective, not a performance enhancing perspective, but just to make him normal. So maybe he shouldn't. I don't know. I mean, I'm not his doctor, but maybe he shouldn't get back in there.

I'm not campaigning for him to retire. I'm just saying I don't want to see it anymore. Personal preference. We all have our own, you know, feelings on things. But yes, I get what you're saying. Who are we, I've said this before, about the likes of Shogun Huah, who's fighting this weekend against Corey Anderson. But that's just my personal feeling.

Now, I mentioned Gunner Nelson at the top. Fantastic performance against a very tough guy in Albert Tumanov. He's back. Whatever you want to say, maybe he just had a really, really bad night or fought a much better fighter in Damien Maya. Anyone come to mind for that? Here's my idea, okay? I have a couple ideas I want to throw your way.

Yeah. Nate, Connor, Gunner, Nick on the same card. What do you think of that? I like it. I like where you're going with that, but I don't know. I just feel like Gunner is not a box office type guy. Yeah. I think Nick needs a box office type guy.

Now, if you want to put those guys in the same card, yeah, that's, I mean, the Diaz brothers, I mean, putting him on the same card. Yeah. I think that would be great, but I'm not sure if Nick will fight Gunner. I get the story, like, it's a cool story, but I'm not so sure if Nick would be into that fight. No, it probably won't be. You know, Gunner's going to want to take him down and Nick wants to stand and bang and have an entertaining fight. So I don't know. I'm going to say no on that one. That's my dream, but yes, I agree.

I'm guessing he's probably looking for a bigger fight. Some people mention Magni. I think he's a fight away from that. I was thinking more like maybe Safedian if he wins in a couple of weeks, Dung Young Kim, someone like that. What do you think? You like Magny? I like Magny.

I just like that style matchup. I think that's a really interesting style matchup. And actually, the guy that you just named Dong Jun Kim is the guy that I said right off the bat. that would be a very, very interesting fight because both guys are really good grouters. Both guys have unorthodox stand-up where, you know, Don Hion Kim is knock guys out

and Gunner has not, you know, good striker, not out, but he knocked down Brandon Thatch last year and then choked him out. I think that would be a cool matchup, but I think, you know, you can do that in Europe. You can do that. I mean, there's a lot of versatility of that matchup as well. I know a lot of fans. We mentioned Connor.

They want me to address the Floyd Mayweather's story. I said it was a pretty enjoyable weekend in MMA, except for Friday morning when this news came out, and it won't go away because of Connor, because of Floyd, keeping this going, Floyd Sr. This is just, I mean, what can we say? I got a call on Friday afternoon from my dad. Oh, my. And I thought he was just calling to ask me how I was doing. You know, I was out of the hospital earlier. Yes. And he did. He was like, you know, Mark, you know, how's it going? How are you doing? I'm like, oh, you know, everything's fine. He's like, okay, well, the real reason why I'm calling is, is McGregor really fighting

Mayweather? Is that really going to happen? I'm like, Dad, I'm going to hang up with you right now. I didn't hang up on him, but I told him no. It's just not going to happen. There's just no way. Every time something comes out about this story, I go back to talk to people and I say, I am ashamed that I'm asking you this, but is there any truth at all to this story?

And they vehemently say no. For whatever reason, certain people publicly are, and it was interesting that, Floyd said that he started the rumor. I mean, what are you talking about? You started a rumor? Okay, that's strange. He said that to fight hype. In short, Connor McGregor has a contract with the UFC. He can't just decide to go. And he's playing it up. And I love how people are like,

people are going to me, look, you were wrong. Look at Connor's tweet. Lest we forget that in the last two weeks, Connor has retired. He said that he's, you know, back on 200. I mean, all of a sudden, now they're saying, you were wrong. It's not happening. Do you think, okay, hypothetical, just to appease these, these dummies and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for calling you dummies, but really, I mean, come on.

You're being dumb now. You're really, it's actually getting annoying. But anyway, does this break, if this happens, would it break the Mayweather-Pack-Yell pay-per-view record? Hmm, that's a good question. I don't think it does. But I'm not sure. I can't say for sure because I don't think it does.

if you ask me right now here before we get to the lead up to the fight, I don't think it does, but that's before McGregor gets a microphone in his hand and starts talking. So I think that could make a world of difference, obviously, but it certainly could. I mean, you know, the fact that we're even having the conversation means that it would be just an immense, an immense fight. Why are we talking about this? No, no, we're having the conversation because everyone was asking me this morning, will you address Sports Center put out a quote? I mean, it's like, I can't ignore it.

I've tried to ignore it. I didn't talk about it yesterday on Twitter. It bothers me. I hate it. It's almost, I mean, it's the second coming of the Rhonda Mayweather. How does he do this? He keeps interjecting himself into a sport that he always says he doesn't care about. You know, like one time he talks about Rhonda, then he talks about promoting MMA.

Now it's Connor McGregor. Connor has a contract. He can do this sort of thing. The UFC would never allow it. They would just never allow it. And that's it. Look, let's be honest, though. I think all, you mentioned Rousey, McGregor, and Mayweather.

All three of them get something from talking about the other. It's true. I mean, I think Rousey got something from talking about Mayweather, and Gregor is getting stuff and talking about Mayweather and vice versa. Mayweather gets popularity, not pop, but he gets pressed for talking about Gregor and Rousey. They get the rub, the rub, as they say, you know, from talking about each other. And it helps, it raises all their brands. I hate it.

And all must have made to look stupid in the end, but it helps them. See, this is what happens. This is what happens. You're seeing it with your own eyes. This is what happens when you talk about stupid fights. In the midst of, as I said last week, one of the best stretches in recent UFC history. I mean, May alone is fantastic. Oh, is he back?

May alone is fantastic. UFC 198 is an amazing card literally from top to bottom. Every single fight on that card presents something interesting. And then you talk about Floyd Mayweather and Connor McGregor and this is what happens. I don't know, we may have run out of time with Mark, but we are going to see him later, so we don't necessarily need to calm back, even though I like to say goodbye. It kind of weighs on my mind. We are at the time that we need to move on.

So let us move on. This is what happens. The MMA gods got so mad at me for talking about Mayweather and McGregor for listening to the mob, the masses, and this is what happens. I hope you're happy. Let us never speak of this fight again. This nonsensical. fight. But really, UFC

198 is something else. The only other thing I was going to ask him, but he'll come back at around 325 Eastern and around two hours and talk about 98 and other news in MMA. I mean, you could pick, you ask me right now, like, what's the best fight on 198?

I don't really know what to pick. Are we going Maya Brown? Are we going Chris Cyborg's debut? Are we going Anderson Silva versus Yoriah Hall? What are we picking? Are we going the heavyweight title fight? Are we going Jacques-Rae versus Belfort?

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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, I didn't lie because I'm not lying. Now back to the show. Let's move along to our next guest. As I mentioned, last time we saw him in the cage was around a month ago. That was in Croatia. Obviously, a disappointing night for him, but we do appreciate him coming on, especially with the heavyweights being so much in the news these days. We're being joined right now by Big Ben Rothwell. He is on the phone. Ben, how are you? I'm okay, sir. How are you doing? I'm doing great. I really appreciate you joining us. I said, and correct me if I'm wrong, Is this your first interview since that fight against JDS?

I was actually going to say it. I was going to start giving you shit about it. He's my first interview, so you better be happy. Oh, well, no. I said it at the top, but I wanted to make sure, you know, sometimes I miss things. So like I said, it was a month ago, and it was kind of, I mean, you were on a role, and it just didn't seem like yourself. Have you watched the fight again?

Have you been able to pinpoint what went wrong against JDS? I watched the fight. and it's good they do because what you think happens in your head is a lot different. Honestly, I thought it was a lot worse than when I watched the fight. There's things in the fight that happened, and we'll talk about it, and then there's obviously things, you know, you're not the only one. People can watch and visually tell that I wasn't fighting at my potential, and, you know, the best way I can explain it for in and before the fight is simply a physical malfunction.

Like, that's the best way to say it. Like, a malfunction took place. And really, I feel like I thought, not just the best junior, but, like, that's a junior. Everybody's, oh, my God, it's going to look like the guy from the old. And that's who I showed up the fight. I said, I was coming here to fight championship junior because I do that to people. I bring up the best in them. And it just further proves my point.

And we went five rounds. And this is the way I'm handling this. I watched the fight. I know what was going on. There's things that I can talk about and there's things that I'm never going to say because I'm not making excuses. Hey, I went out there to win the fight, and that's it. You know, I mean, I was healthy enough to go in there and fight, and that's the end of it.

So there's nothing there. Hats off to him for being his night. But I'm certain that I fought one of the best juniors is, and he fought half of me, literally. And, you know, let's just sit the facts. My grappling is probably one of my stronger assets right now, just from what I know. I know the rest of the world doesn't think I have anything off my back, and I don't know anything. Junior's terrified of my ground game. I wanted nothing to do with it.

He was opening up in interview said so, and in the fight, he showed it. And just me not capitalizing it and then just not able to use my grappling, not able to use my takedowns. It was, you know, it was detrimental to me in that fight into getting the fight to go my way. And I stood there in front of them for five rounds, you know what I mean? And went to the end. And I remember watching the fight.

I'm the one landing in the last. shots at the end of the fifth round. So to me, it's not good enough. It didn't knock them out. It didn't win the fight. But there's a lot of there's a lot of positives for me that's like, look, and I'm throwing to the end of the fifth round. I'm in the fifth round. I think I added up, this is close and might be wrong, but I think only eight heavyweets

have ever went five rounds in like the history. And I'm talking all the way back to Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, you know, Kane and Jr., steep. Bay. There's a couple more. So that in itself, I feel like, is something. It shows that I'm there, and I am championship worthy. And, you know, I'll just look back

to my friend Robbie Lawler. You know, he was he made his resurgence. He got to that title fight. Mine wasn't a title fight, but I feel like it could have been. And he lost a fire round decision, only to come back and look what he's done now. I feel like I'm very much, I'm just a heavyweight version of him. I'm following behind. It's kind of like, yeah, I learned a lot in this fire round flight, a lot.

and I feel like junior's junior and he you know hey like I said hats off to him for that night but we're gonna fight again

and I will beat him next time so there's no doubt in my mind when you describe it as a physical malfunction is this something that you think happened in the cage were you feeling off

all week did you foresee it like what more can you tell us about that I just don't want to say anything wrong or anything but like

you know you know I I've just if I wanted to get pulled off the card, I could have medically, like, no problem. But I'm just too stubborn and I'm, you know, I'm just, I guess too tough for my own good. And nothing was going to stop me from fighting. It just sucks because, you know, I have to go back to, you know, why this fight sucks for me. Why is it? You know, losing's bad.

No, it's that I didn't fulfill everything that I said I was going to do. I didn't back up everything that I said. I'm a man on my word. and I didn't follow through with it. So that hurts me more than anything. And it sucks because we went back nine weeks, eight weeks. Well, no, it's been a month extra. So we've got to go back 12 weeks to you and I are on the phone,

and you weren't excited about this fight. Yeah, man, you had all the reason not to be excited. You know, I was on a four-fight win streak, and I took on a guy with a loss. It was a stupid fight for me. So you were... Do you regret taking it? Man.

What? Do you regret taking the fight? I mean, there's some there's regret and there's not i think more not regret but a learning lesson uh i think like right after the fights i need to be locked up and nobody and then throwing and like somebody else needs to take my phone and i just take some take my wall because i like i get crazy after a fight it's when i do the craziest interviews with you it's it's when i'm off the wall and i think i'm i get high off of the winds i don't know what it is but it's obviously i'm not

thinking rationally at the time and You know, it was good for the UFC because they got to the filming event. And it was just strategically stupid fight because I didn't realize that basically Croatia is Brazil. They built an American top team in the middle of Zagreb. And there was no chance of me winning the crowd at all. Like, you know what I mean? Junior's name has been pumped there for the last, I don't know how many months. They love Brazil now.

They love American top team. You know what I mean? And they're very, they don't need to get, you know, they only needed Crow cop to get behind. That's it. They just needed one thing to get behind. the whole country will get behind it. Well, they pretty much did that with American Top Team, and that was great for Junior.

He had, like, a hometown advantage almost. And it's just, like, looking back on it, like, not that I care. I've gone into hostile arenas and won many times. I don't care about that. It's just strategically it didn't make any sense for me. And, yeah, so there's going to be a little bit of regret. But at the end of the day, I went to the fifth round,

and I learned basically there's no dollar amount can tell you the type of experience that I learned in those five rounds, especially the fourth and the fifth round. I learned the most about myself and I, you know what I mean?

Had I just physically been able to apply all of my game, yeah, I think Junior had been a lot of trouble. I think one takedown completely changes that fight. So, and, sorry, go ahead. And just in the fight, yeah, he hit me with a shot that everybody's seeing

and says probably would have knocked out most people. Dude, I was knocked out on my feet and he hit me at that push kick, which I think I take push kicks fine. I can catch him. I know I'd defend against them. I was half knocked out on my feet. And then it just looks bad.

You know what I mean? He pushed kicks me on the floor. And I think as bad as it looks is, it looks worse for him because if I was him, I finish that fight. I finish me, I finish whoever I am in that situation. He let me get back up and get back in them.

I fought three more rounds after that. So I just realized that I'm tougher than I even knew, and I can go through a lot. And there's times where people are like, why did I keep going forward? Because I'm never going to show you how hurt I am. Because the second I started stepping back, Jr., you could see it. He's ready to go crazy. He's ready to come in. And I was just proud of the fact that I was able to man up and keep putting up a front the entire fight.

And it got myself into the point of the fourth and fifth and all, and I completely, my main state was like, you know, I needed a, to get in there and turn the fight around. And I said right to the end of the fifth round, I could have won that fight still. So that's it, long-winded, just, you know, obviously frustrated, but I'm, you know, I might have took a loss of my record, but I'm far from defeated.

In fact, I'm very much the opposite. I think that that fight gave me the fuel and the knowledge that I needed to really take myself to being the best mixed martial artist that I can beat. And that's my new goal. There's no more about the title. I'm done. chasing something that I have no control over.

I'm back to why I started the sport. It's to find out how good I can really be. And with each and every fight from here on out, that's my focus is what I'm, is in myself, and the kind of mixed martial artist that I can beat in and outside of the cage. So I've cracked a lot, and this fight gave me a lot of insight, and that's it. I'm going to move forward.

Well, very good to hear that you're taking that approach. You know, you hear that sometimes. I'm reminded of what Dominic Cruz said to me after he won the belt in January. I asked him if that was the happiest day of his life. And he said the happiest day of his life was when he realized he didn't need the belt to be happy. And you often hear from guys that good things start to happen in their title chase when they just stopped focusing and harping on the belt. So I think that's a very positive outlook. I'm wondering if that came to you right after the fight or was the trip home, a nightmare?

Were you licking your wounds? how long did it take for you to come to this conclusion where you are right now? I think it was kind of like an ongoing, like the thought was just kind of right. I mean, after, at the hotel on the way home, just a lot of thoughts. You're just trying to figure things out, you know, what went wrong, what's happening? What am I going to do next? And that was one of the things that just kind of entered my mind. It's like, dude, stop chasing something.

You have no control. Really, like deciding, like, if you're ever going to get to fight for it, you know, and stuff like that. Like, it doesn't even matter, and it's not going to define who I am. And, you know, the kind of mixed martial artist, that's going to be with me the rest of my life. You know, you can be a champion and be a complete shit person. There's proof of it. We see them right now.

So that doesn't mean anything. You know, all you're a champion, it doesn't mean you're a good person. So I just need to really just refocus on why I even got in this and focus on my gym that's changing people's lives. and focus on things that money can't buy. I think those are most powerful things that you can deal with while you have time on this planet before you die. Because you can have all the money in the world, and guess what?

You're not going to take it with you and you die. But all the good things are all the bad things you've done to people. That will live on forever. So that's what I learned is a mixed martial artist. How does Ben Rothwell right now, considering what happened in that fight, considering what you did to Overeem a couple years ago, how do you react to yesterday's fight

and now the possibility of him being next in line for the title. How does that feel? I don't feel anything. I'm numb to it because it's just the way it is. I mean, what am I going to do? Like, you know, he just got to the fourth, you know, four-fight one streak. You know, if you look at it on paper, him and I are both four-and-one, though. His last loss is to me.

So I don't even care. I know that he's the most recent without a loss, so it's great. So he's getting the door open for him, but I don't give a shit. There's nothing I can do about what other people are doing. And looking at the fight, I think Jr. or I defeat Overeign or O'Ollowski. No problem. Even though Overeem just beat Jr. in December. Yeah, and Junior looked like a completely different identity.

Yeah. What's your theory on that? Were you expecting that? I know you said you wanted that. I don't want to talk about anything controversial. No, no. I wasn't getting that. I mean, he literally...

I mean, the body shots? I wasn't expecting that. I mean, he just, I don't know, I don't know what happened. Did he start believing in himself more? Did he, I don't know. What, what do you? In eight weeks, too, so what do you think? So what do you think?

So, I mean, I got to ask now, in this, in this era, this USADA era, you think something funny was up? No comment. Fair enough. All right. Well, that's interesting because you, you'd like to think that in this era, that stuff, but I'm not that naive. I'll tell you this. Okay. I'll tell you this.

I'm not saying about my phone. I'm talking. This is to every week class, and this is the man's and women's divisions. There's guys still 100% cheating with you saw it going on. Sure, sure. I mean, I know there's always ways. Let's just make it clear. Fair enough.

You know it. You know it. I know it. And that's why people keep getting busted, because people are still cheating. Okay. That's it. And so that's it. There's nothing I can do about that except for I need to improve myself so that I can defeat that no matter what like you know what I mean if I don't want to fight with cheaters and I just need to quit the sport right now did you think of that I'm in here and be like I'm gonna beat

cheaters that's me that's the way I've handled this last few years and I'm just gonna stick to that and that's it but Ben if you think that people are cheating and you're getting in there in the cage with them how do you do that with a clear conscience like how do you know that you're getting into a fist fight in a cage with someone or people like there's a chance that they're still cheating in this day and age, especially with all the testing going on. I mean, you feel comfortable with that. After that fight, did you even consider not fighting anymore? I don't even feel comfortable with it.

You're in your voice right now, you're getting angry, just thinking about being in someone. So why do you do it? Why do you continue? And there's nothing you can, like I said, if you don't want to deal with it, then retire or don't fight no more. I have to, I train soul in such a way that I know that they are. I'm going to beat you anyway. Okay.

Because I'm that bad ass. I know that I can be. And it sucks. because if the person wasn't, oh, they go down quicker from some of the shots they were taken. They don't last as long. Dude, yeah, the dude, there's no, people cheat because it does work. It does help them, you know, mentally and physically. Gives them more confidence, gives them, you know, lets them recover from the shitty training that they're doing.

Like, yeah, it sucks. And obviously it's a problem. That's why you saw it was even created. But that's it, man. Okay. I don't think cheating. There's too much money involved, and I think cheating's always going to be there. Have we started to think about what's next yet?

Any talks, any plans in your mind? What are you feeling? I mean, every time I call out anybody, I don't seem to get it until after the fact. But, I mean, obviously, the losers, you know, I would love to fight a winner of the next three fights. So this one was a major one. We got Steve Bain Verdum, and we got Velasquez and Brown. That's the three fights that I've really been paying attention to because I feel like my next opponent would be taken on one of those six.

guys. Yes. Most likely one of the losers of those six guys. I'm more pushing for the loser, the steeper of Redoom or obviously Orlaski, no. I'll happily rematch rematch over him, but I don't think he's too interested in that right now. So, yeah, I mean, obviously I'm going to be seeing what Orlaski wants to do, and if the UFC wants that, or obviously, the loser of Steve Bainverdum would be an excellent fight as

well. So one of those, one of those I'd really like to push for it, because Brown and the last because all we're not told July and then who knows you know what I mean so there's things in there I know I know it's kind of I mean you guys have changed so much since the fight happened

and the the surroundings and the stage in which you fought had a big part in why the fight turned out to be not one of the best but how about a Mark Hunt rematch on a on a normal you know normal elevation and all that do you think about that is that

interest you? I mean, I don't really think about it just because I'm, like I said, one of those two guys I mean, Mark's always dangerous. I mean, he's always, I looked him as an inspiration. Yeah. He's old he is and he's still in there hacking it out. And he's just getting inspiration to me. It's funny because a lot of the guys are still older than me.

There's only a couple of young. So it's like, these guys are definitely my inspiration and my motivation. You know, so with that being said, you know, Mark's still putting some good wins together. he's in the mix. I just feel like there were some other fights that made more sense for guys than that. And I feel like I'm right in the spot or I don't know. Like I feel like I was on a, you know, I'm four and one. I feel like, yeah, and I took the crappy fight.

I feel like I deserve an Orloskey or a steep Avernom, you know what I mean? But what you think and what actually happens doesn't mean anything. So we'll see what happens. Will you watch? I figured, I haven't got to. This is another reason. That would be my first rematch of one of my losses. Yeah.

And I, you know, I don't know. I'm starting to get a couple more of them now. I used to keep, you used to only be a couple guys. Now there's in the top 10. Now there's four guys here that potentially could be a rematch. I definitely want some redemption, but I definitely want to attack the higher-ranked guys because I feel like it means more, you know.

Fair enough. Will you watch the 198 main event this week? and if so, curious because it's your division. Who's your pick? Yeah, it's tough. I like personally, I have a more relationship to Stipei.

Yeah. Unconsciously kind of rooting for him, you know what I mean? Like both guys are in my, you know what I mean? Like, they're in the mix and guys I probably have to fight, but I like Verdum. I mean, you know, he's always been a really nice guy too, but I just,

Stepe is a Midwest guy and, you know, I feel like Steepa's really got a lot going against him. I know he's fought in Brazil before, but I think this is going to be a whole other animal. You know, you're not fighting Maglodano. He's fighting the champion, and he's fighting champion in his home turf. And I don't even think Brazil cared about Maglodano, like, when Steve fought him. No disrespect to him, but it's not the same as when you fight one of the heroes.

And Brune's going to have that crowd. The whole week of the fight, right now, Stipe's going to be dealing with things, the week of the fight. Like, people mess with you. They do. When you're fighting someone's turf, you know, you're like, you've got to be careful where you go by your coffee, where you go buy your food. Like at all times, you've got to keep your looking over your shoulder. That's just how it is.

And in Brazil, it's going to be present to the highest extent in my experience. So Steepi really has a huge hill to climb. I mean, he does. And on the feet, I think, is where Stepe feels he's going to win. I think he sees him of the weaknesses that I see, and he feels like he can catch that chin. And he can. And that's how he's going to win the front.

But if he starts using his Mark Hunt game plan where he's going to start pulling Verdom down, obviously that's going to be tough for him because I haven't seen much of Steepa's submission defense, and I haven't really seen him apply many submissions of his own. And, you know, Verdoom is very crafty, and he can even turn submissions on the feet, you know what I mean? So he's got those, and I'm not sure if Steepay, how prepared he is for those, that could be the changing factor if Steepay doesn't start lighting him up. on the feet. That and just how he looks in the first couple minutes

he was really going to let me know how the whole week of the fight has treated him. Yeah. Steepi comes out there and looks not right, kind of slow. All right, something happened. It'll be a bummer. Well, the odds certainly stacked against him on this one, 45,000 people they are expecting, but it's going to be interesting. Ben, I appreciate you stopping by.

I appreciate you coming to us for your first interview after the fight, and I'm looking forward to what's next. I think we've learned in this sport. One loss, the grand scheme of things. It doesn't always affect you. You get one win back under your belt, and all of a sudden people are talking title shot again. So hopefully for your sake, just a little speed bump,

and that you do get that elusive title shot. But I do think that you have the right mindset now. So kudos on that, and appreciate the time. Thank you very much for coming on. As I want you know that I do miss seeing you on TV. Thank you. So I thought you're doing a great job. And like I said, I don't know anything.

I'm pretty ignorant to the situation. But whatever it is, whatever, I still love you doing your thing and happy to be on your show and support you. So thank you. You are the man, Ben. Thank you very much. That means a lot to me. Thank you. Right on, brother.

Yeah, a good one. I appreciate it. There he is. Ben Rothwell, always great to talk to him. Appreciate his time and his candor as well. Okay, let's move along. A big weekend for Dutch MMA. Our next guest has ties to that region, but was not on the same.

the card. He was there in attendance. Always love talking to Gagar Musassi, especially this iteration of Gagar Moussasi. He joins us right now on the phone. Gagart, how are you? I'm good. Thank you, I appreciate you coming on. I know you just got home, so I really appreciate you coming on, because you're probably really tired and you don't want to talk to anyone anymore. So this is very much appreciated on this side of the table. Can you tell us you were there, right? You were sitting in attendance. You were in the Ahoy, Rotterdam, right? What was it like? Yeah. It was good, good sphere. People were cheering so pretty loud. So I think it was a success and I hope next year they will come back this time Amsterdam and I hope I will be on the card.

Did a part of you, I know you're fighting UFC 200, but while you were there, did you sort of wish that you can experience what Derundami and Overim and Struve felt in there? Because they obviously would have cheered for you like their own. Did you kind of wish that you were on the card as well last night? Yeah, definitely, because I saw the joy and the crowd reaction once they won. I would have loved to also compete in my own country.

But it was a great night. All the Dutch guys and women won. And all by knockout. So I think it was a great night for MMA or Holland. Dana White said that it broke the gate record

for that arena. was once held by Frank Sinatra. So by all accounts, it was a big success. And it's always interesting when the UFC goes to a market for the first time and seeing what happens afterwards. Like, does this now, you know, start this revolution of MMA in the country? I know it's a kickboxing country, but do more people get into it? Did you get that sense?

Did you get that sense that this event will be talked about, especially because the Dutch fighters did so well that they'll be talking about this for years to come, that this will now produce some young fighters who are watching last night and now want to. emulate you guys? Yeah, definitely. I think also because of the results of the fight, there were all exciting fights. And, of course,

you always need a couple of Dutch fighters to go to a country. Let's say you need some Dutch fighters if you want to have a show in Holland. So now we have, we have Alist, we have Ciad, we have Germain, we have Stefan, I'm fighting.

And also there's Holland Fox now, so they're airing, The UFC on there, and we have Spike here. They're showing Bellator. So, MMA is getting more known. So people more watch it. And once they learn it, it's easier to understand. And they also appreciate the ground game.

Do you have any idea why they went to Rotterdam as opposed to Amsterdam first? Well, Amsterdam, they're not allowed to have shows. Okay. And also kickboxing fights because the mayor, the mayor doesn't give allow kickboxing show because they say the criminals come there and it doesn't have a good name

so in Amsterdam like big shows are not allowed only one time last time was glory on Amsterdam but yes they had good connections I believe but I think we showed in Rotterdam that was a great event great success and hopefully they

they support it for next year in maybe in Amsterdam. So the mayor of Amsterdam has just sort of banned that stuff, and he's the one that could lift the ban and allow shows to come? Yeah, definitely. Because there was some incident. There were some shooting on one show.

Generally, fighting doesn't have a good name in Holland. Okay. So it's linked with criminals and stuff like that. So it doesn't have a good reputation. But, of course, UFC is something else. It's so professional and it's not like that. So I think that they can change the way people see fighting. That's unbelievable.

Considering what's legal in Amsterdam, the fact that you can't have a big MMA show, that's pretty amazing. Wow. So do you think that they'll be able to change it? Like, are people asking you to help campaign or talk to the mayor? How do you reverse this so that, you know, you can fight their next year? Overeem can fight for the belt, et cetera. Well, I think like UFC did in Rotterdam, I think Glory did the last time a show in Amsterdam. Okay.

The mayor himself was there. So it showed that it's possible. So, but I think it's a reputation that needs to be overcome. And I think UFC showed that with Rotterdam. And hopefully they will allow, if UFC is coming back, hopefully they allow it. Wow, fascinating. One of the highlights of the week for me was this video that they put out

of you telling jokes. I mean, this was unbelievable stuff. Were those your jokes, or did someone write them for you? And your delivery made it really special. I mean, you killed that video. Maybe one of the highlights of your MMA career, dare I say.

I don't know. I have to do them over and over and over. Oh, really? Yeah, the jokes was written. I don't know. I just had to read them. They were unbelievable. Did you understand the jokes?

Yeah, some of them I got, but some of them they had to explain. But like the red paint, blue paint, I don't know. Fantastic. Did you enjoy doing that? Yeah, it was fun to do. But obviously, when I look back on my... I don't think it's funny. Hopefully other people think it's funny because I don't know.

I see myself. Oh, I love it. I love the fact that you're finally getting that attention. This is you. You should play it up. People love you. Don't forget it. Well, I don't know if they love me, but I will get there eventually.

Not with love, I mean, I want the belt, I mean. Well, you know, first comes love, then comes the belt, then comes the babies. Well, I think it's more popularity contesting. That's true. But, you know, let's say, yeah, I have a big record, but people don't see it. let's say, like a guy like Yoh Romero. He deserves a title shot. But I think he's not popular.

Sure. He doesn't speak English. So it's not some that people want to see as a champion because it's not good for the pay-per-view. It's a company. So you have stuff like that. Sure. That's always going to be a big part of mixed. Yes.

Okay. So I have to ask you, enough beating around the bush. when the news about Liotomachita came out, everyone, your Twitter, did it explode that day? Because I went on your Twitter and people were writing to you. It must have just been insanity, right? I mean, because you kind of called that something funny was going on, and he hasn't really talked about it. But just that day, those couple days, what was it like for you when this news came out? Well, first I got angry, but then, you know, I don't know.

I don't see him as a bad guy. but you know I see what I think I say what I think I felt it I felt he was slippery you know I think sometimes I say things

when it's the truth still people can't complain it's like you don't like the truth but you want me to tell something you like because you want to hear it you want me to say oh Bashida yeah he beat me

he's such a fair fighter I don't know what people want to hear they don't like to hear the truth they're so stupid I don't know It's ridiculous. Of course, like the USADA testing is coming. People are not going to use the typical, I don't know, steroids or whatever.

They're going to use for, how you say, replacement? Sure. And, you know, I'm not a rocket scientist, but I knew that was banned to stop them. So he should have known either also. And that supplement doesn't do nothing for you, probably. I don't know. What I've read is for old people or something.

So, I don't know. I think justice has been served. But were you feeling like, okay, because when you said it in February, when you came out and talked about him, I'm imagining that you got a lot of hate from his fans. But then this comes out, the week of the fight, did you feel like you were... Still got hate.

You still got hate. I'm still getting hate from them. What? this dragon, little dragons on the computer. So I don't know what to say to them. They're morons, probably, because they don't like the truth. It's a fact. He's being caught, and it's a bad supplement.

It's a fact. It's a fact that he cheated. It's simple as that. It's like, if I go through a red light and the officer gives me a ticket, that's a fact. You know, I don't know how to explain to this dummies. It's ridiculous. I thought now you would get loved that people were like saying, okay, you were right, we admit it.

You've been validated. No, no, it's never like that. It's the Internet. The Internet is a crazy place. I could attest to that. Do you still get it now? Like a month later? I don't read anymore.

You're done? Yeah, I'm not reading it. It's too much aggravation. You get too fired up, right? Well, not, yeah. If they're going to say stop and I'm emotional, let's say after a fight that I lost, of course I'm going to be emotional. But now, who cares?

Who cares? They're probably eating potatoes playing video games. And I have to listen to those guys. Who told you the news? And how did you, like, what was your initial reaction? Well, I think I got a message on WhatsApp. And first, you know, people are going to say bad loser, bad loser. No, it's not bad loser.

If you think someone cheated, if someone steal your money, and I'm going to say, well, he steal it in the right way, you shouldn't be sorry about it. People say stuff like that. Oh, he beat him fair and fair and square. Well, I took him down in the second round. He was so slippery he got up. I had his back.

He just put his ass up. I flew down his, like a chimney. I went down on his back. Of course, those could have been in position that I could have done damage. I could have done something. You know, people are stupid because they're not in that situation. They're like, oh, he's a bad loser. Well, if somebody steals from you, you're going to be also feeling bad.

Sure. So I don't know why I'm even talking about defending myself to people who are actually so stupid and ridiculous. I love this gaggard. I love you. Don't change. The truth hurts. I know. It hurts to some people.

I don't know. That is true. Okay, so let's move along because the last time I had you on the show, you didn't have your next fight yet. You were looking for something big. You got Derek Brunson on a very big card UFC 200. We still don't know exactly where this fight is taking place on the card. Perhaps you can shed some light on that,

but we do know it's taking place July 9th in Las Vegas, UFC 200. Are you happy with the matchup? Does this make you happier? Are you content with what they gave you? Well, for me, it doesn't make difference because I need to get three, four fights in a row wins. Yeah. If they're going to consider me a title contender. So let's say if I would have fought like Anderson Silva, if I would have fought under the silver or fighting Derek Bronson, they wouldn't give me a title fight after that.

You know what I mean? So I need wins. And for me, it doesn't matter who I fight. as long as they keep giving me fights. But was he even on your radar, Derek Brunson? I mean, you're both coming from Strike Force. Is this someone that you thought about? To be honest, I didn't know him, but I knew he was doing,

I haven't seen the fight with Joe Romero, but I heard he was winning. Yeah. At least that's what I heard. Yeah. So if he's winning on two rounds, then that's a guy that's definitely dangerous, and he's winning the last three fights. So he has knockout power. but nothing I haven't seen

and yeah everyone is good nowadays I'm taking him seriously but nothing that I don't think I can handle when you look at the fight on paper he's got solid wrestling as well match-up-wise is that what you're most concerned about from him

but I haven't seen doing many I don't know I'm not really I'm not impressed about it with his wrestling Okay. He's a south power. Yeah. He's going to be very difficult for him to shoot. And, you know, if he wants to bang, that's good for me.

Yes, of course. I had heard initially that this fight was going to be on the fight pass portion of the card. Is that the case from what you understand? Well, I don't care. You know, I'm getting, I heard it's the Premlims or whatever. I'm getting paid to say. Sure. Who cares?

Especially now with no... But, yeah, of course. You know, yeah, I don't know. Well, these days when you have, you know, the Reebok deal, it doesn't really matter where you're fighting because you get paid the exact same, right? Yes, I've never fought on the premium, so I don't know. Does it make difference?

No, it doesn't. It makes no difference. In fact, sometimes the prelims are seen by more people than the actual pay-per-view main card. Okay, maybe it's a good thing. Yes. but what about just being on UFC 200? Is that something that you wanted?

A lot of fighters were campaigning for this. You were one of the first fights officially added to the card. Was this a big deal? Did you feel like, oh, wow, this is a nice nod to me from the bosses, from the organization. They're putting me on UFC 200. Yeah, well, of course, I'm appreciated that they give me a fight because I was asking for a fight as soon as possible, and they delivered, of course. Yeah.

I can't complain. being for me I fought so many times so many countries a fight is a fight I'm not getting I'm you know I'm not a guy that gets excited about

oh you have to see 200 like it's like it's my birthday or something I have to be excited about it's just a fight let's say if they pay me 10 million then I get excited that's something else sure sure

but yeah it's just of course 200 I hear a lot of people are excited about that. And I think if I put a good performance, more people will notice that. So obviously it's huge to be on the car. But for me, it's normal.

It just doesn't matter. By the way, I think you in total have 46 pro-MMA fights. Does that sound right? 45, 46, yeah, it could be possible. Is it possible that this is the first? first time in your 45-46 fight career that you're fighting in the quote-unquote fight capital of the world, Las Vegas? I think it is. Am I wrong? No, no. It's the first time in Vegas. Wow. And yeah, I hope one time you met us a Sky Garden. Yes. Because I used to watch boxing fights

there. So I think that would be nice to fight in Vegas and in Madison Square Garden. That's a New York, right? Of course, yes. That's just actually eight blocks from this studio where I am right now. But that's amazing to me. Las Vegas, is that something that you wanted for a long time? Yeah, I hear I don't have to pay a lot of tax. It's always good to save some money. That's all you care about.

It doesn't matter where, as long as you don't have to pay the taxes, right? Yeah, you have to pay the taxes. But less is always better than a lot. But just fighting in Vegas, the fight capital, Sin City, all that stuff, does that not make you a little more excited or no, not at all? Yeah, I love to fight in Vegas. You know, I think people always come there to watch the fight. I think I never fought there, but, you know, watching from all days always to fight,

big boxing fights were always in Vegas. So that's why I say I also would like to fight one day in New York. Yes. Then, like, what I've seen on TV when I was young and now I'm fighting there. That would mean something to me, of course. Okay, let's end on this. This weekend, Uriah Hall versus Anderson Silva. Who's Gagard's pick?

What do you think? Well, you know, I think Anders Silva are going to win. And, yeah. Do you think he just completely smokes him, or do you think it's a close fight? What do you think? Well, Anderson is a little bit older now, so I don't know if he's going to smoke him, but he's going to definitely win. You never know, of course, but I think I,

I think Anderson has a really good chance of winning. Yeah. Will you watch it, or does it annoy you that he's getting the fight? No, no, no, no. You're a good guy. I don't know. He won fair and scler. I don't dislike him.

I wish him the best. No, no, I'm not saying that you dislike him, but just the fact that, you know, he's getting this fight, and this is something that you've wanted. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, you mean I wanted the Anderson's fight? Yeah. Well, you know, after this fight, I could get someone like,

And the winner or the, if it's Jariah Hall a rematch, that would be great. If Anderson will, a fight against him. But, of course, I have to win my fight. Of course. I don't know if Michael Bixbyn has a fight, but that could be a come along, you know? Yes, he doesn't have a fight yet. Yeah. I think he's waiting for a title shot.

But, of course, you have your Romero coming back. You have Jacare. So that's a long time to wait. Yeah. Who do you think wins that fight, Vitor Jacare? I have to give it to Jacare Yeah, he's just younger Well, yeah, I think

I don't know why Ifido Belfer is ranked So high To be honest He's ranked above you, right? Well, he's ranked number five But I'm pretty sure If he would fight

I would be the favorite in that fight Don't pay attention to those rankings They're all out of whack Really Yeah, but you know The fight against Chris white man, he couldn't get out of a mount position. And that wasn't a lucky shot or anything.

That was just him being not powerful enough or no, it wasn't, he was just, I don't know, his physical was not there, you know? That's another fight that we've been wanting. I remember back in Affliction, the first time I ever interviewed you, you were asking for the Vitor fight. Remember that? Almost a decade ago. Well, yeah, Philobel fight, we had to fight at a catch weight.

He didn't accept that fight. And then he went on to UFC, and he took the same catch weight he fought Franklin. Yes. So, yeah. Crazy. I'm not saying he's scared. He's not scared because he's fighting the best guys out there. Not at all, you know?

Right. I think he's just looking out for himself and taking the best fights that's good for him. That's going to give him a title shot. So I can blame him. I get nothing against him or something. Well, Gagard, I got to say one of the stories, of the year is the emergence of your personality. Just telling it like it is. Screw the haters. Screw the people online. Just say what's on your mind and people like myself appreciate it.

So don't worry about anything. You're killing it, my man. And I'm happy that you're a part of UFC 200. It's always a pleasure to talk to you. Really, I enjoy it immensely. So thank you very much for coming on, especially after the trip. And I will see you in Las Vegas in a couple of months. Thank you, my friend. Talk to you soon. All right. There he is. Gagar Musassi, joining us from Holland. Great to talk to him. doesn't give an F. It's amazing. He's come a long way.

Sometimes it takes a little longer to have these guys show off their personality to get comfortable in front of the media. And that is certainly the case with one, Gagard Musassi. Tremendous stuff out of him. Again, he fights Derek Brunson in a very interesting fight at UFC 200, July 9th, in Las Vegas. Okay, like I said, it's a big weekend for MMA. Saturday in particular, one of those rare nights when Bellator and the UFC are going head to head. But this is interesting because originally it was Belator, is it 154? I think it is 154.

Let me just make sure here. It's hard to keep track of those Belator's. Belator 154. Yes, it is. Originally it was going up against the fight night. But then the UFC changed it to 198. That's a massive card. The Bellator card was hit a little bit after Josh Thompson got injured,

and now Michael Chandler is opponentless. They did add Sergei Haritanov, so it's a big card for them in San Jose, and the legend, Randy Couture, is doing some work for Bellator. It has been a while since we talked to The Natural. I think it's been like two years since we've had Randy Couture on the show. So what an honor of this is, a privilege to welcome Randy Couture to the MMA hour right now. Randy, how are you? I'm good. How are you? It has been a while, hasn't it?

Yes. Yes, where have you been? Have you been avoiding me? Where haven't I been? That is true. Probably easier. It's got to places I haven't been. It's been an amazing year. But, yeah, I'm doing well and happy to be up in San Jose coming up this week for the fights there, King Moe, and Bill Davis getting after it. It's going to be a good one. Yeah, so if someone asks you, Randy, like, what's your relationship with Bellator?

What's your involvement with that company? Like, what exactly are you to Bellator right now? I have no official position with Bellator. I never have. Contrary to Dana's rhetoric when I signed to deal with Spike a few years back, I never had a deal with Bellator and never have. I am, like Hoist Gracie and so many other guys, Kazuki Sakaraba, Bellator has hired me on a per-event basis to help them as a brand ambassador.

to make appearances to go to the fan pass, to do that sort of thing. And that's what I'm doing in this capacity this coming weekend up in San Jose for the big show there on the 14th. Though for this card, and correct me from wrong, your involvement goes a little deeper, right? You're involved with something really cool, and I want you to explain it to the people. You're not just an ambassador for this particular card. You're actually sort of getting your hands dirty, right? Well, for this particular card, it's a special card. Bellator and Spike TV have gotten together and basically created an organization called VAL.

Veterans Operation Wellness. They did this last year in Houston. They created some spaces on their undercard for some active duty military and veterans to actually fight. Once you train in M.A., they put them on the end. their card and allow them to fight and then give them, not only give them a paycheck, but an opportunity to fight on a nationally recognized card, but then they give them a bonus check on top of that as part of the VAL Veterans Operation Wellness. So obviously with my foundation, Extreme Couture GI Foundation, and anything to do with

veterans that supports them, I think that's another reason why they brought me in for this show. It's one of their vow cards. That is a very noble thing for you to do a great cause. Are you going to be cornering any of these fighters on Saturday? I won't be cornering any of the guys on Saturday. They have their teams and the guys that they're comfortable with and that they train with. I'm just there to kind of help promote this VAL program.

And this year, the VALC is sponsored by the Red, White, and Blue organization. They're a small veterans organization that has chapters. across the country that basically get veterans out and do workouts together in the park or wherever they create workouts for our vets. Last year's Vow card supported the boot campaign. So the Bellator and Spike's Vow program is highlighting some of the smaller veterans organizations and what they do for our veterans. And in that, they create an opportunity for some of our veterans to fight.

So it's pretty cool. Yeah, that is great. I love that they do that. It's on the prelims, as you mentioned. Jorge Acosta, Staff Sergeant, California Army National Guard, and Army veteran J.D. Hardwick. They'll be fighting on the undercard of Belator 154 this Saturday in San Jose. We just saw some footage of you training with the guys. And you know, Scott Coker, Beltor, CEO, we'll actually be talking to him in a few minutes. He's a crafty fellow, and he's been doing some interesting things with Beltor. Be honest with me here. When's the last time Coker? offered you a fight. I know it has had to happen in his two years there. When's the last time

he said, come fight for me? I think, you know, obviously when Fador threw his hat back in the ring and showed up at Rising on New Year's, my phone started ringing. Yes. And it was certainly a conversation that I had with Scott. Scott and I were actually doing promotions for their card in Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun when that all blew up. So every single interview that I did with Scott sitting next to me, they

were asking me about whether I was going to come out of retirement and fight or and so he's kind of been there, you know, firsthand seeing my response to all of that and kind of knows my position on it and where I'm at. So, you know,

and Scott's one of those guys. He's a great guy long time, you know, lifetime martial artists and one of those guys that I trust for sure in this sport. So I mean, you know, is why I'm coming from and that I'm not really interested in coming back out of retirement and fighting again at 52, almost 53 years old. It doesn't matter what kind of shape you're in. I haven't really been in fight shape for, you know, five years. So it just doesn't seem very realistic to me.

It's not about money or it's not about that fight I missed or any of that stuff. I'm pretty comfortable with the legacy I set and having a great time acting now. And so I think I'll leave it at that. So you can officially say keep the offers away. I want nothing to do this. I'm officially done. I will never fight again. Can you say that?

That's the way I feel about it right now, and I don't expect that's going to change. Okay. Even when you see, you know, Ken and Hoyce, there's nothing in you that says, I could do better than those guys. You know, those are the kind of fights that I think people want to see. They say a lot of those marquee names, those old matchups, there's a nostalgia there from the old days, and the fact that those guys are still learning to walk up in there

and feed them in the cage is a tribute to them. Good on them, but I'm happy to be on the sidelines cheering and watching. How closely do you still work with the, Extreme Couture Gym in Las Vegas? I'm at the gym every single day that I'm in Las Vegas. Okay. And obviously, I'm in regular

communication with Eric Nixick, my manager, and Robert and Dennis Davis, who run the amateur and pro team practices, and, you know, Ryan has obviously stepped up and gotten a lot more involved in the gym and teaching classes and more

involved in, you know, crunching the numbers and doing all that stuff. And I help Ryan directly with his camps. And once in a while go in and get on the mat with the guys. I've got the rub elbows with, you know, obviously, Misha. We're very proud of Misha in what you accomplished this year. And, you know, Brian's got a big fight coming up real soon. We've got a great group of people in there.

So I'm happy to both be free to go do a movie when they come up and rely on those folks to continue to run the programs as well as they do. But at the same time, I'm in there as often as I can be. That's actually what I was getting at. It did seem, and correct me if you feel otherwise, for a minute, the gym had sort of lost its way. You know, you were no longer fighting. Some other guys were leaving. And this year, I think in particular Robert Fawas has done a fantastic job in Misha Tate becoming champion.

All of a sudden, it feels like we've seen this resurrection of extreme couture out of Las Vegas. Did you see this coming? Did you think at one time the gym may have ran its course, and are you surprised by what's happened, especially in the last year or so? Well, I never felt like the gym ran its course. I think there's a natural ebb and flow to any gym and certainly a fighting population in the gym.

Guys feel like they run their course. They need to go change the scenery. You know, we had Gray Maynard to go away and train with Luke Rock Holden and run his own gym for a while in Santa Barbara. Now he's, you know, now he's back. back training with us. You know, yeah, I retired so that, you know, it wasn't me in there, grinding out another camp, which attracted a lot of people.

I think bringing Dennis Davis in and getting Dennis on board and putting him over, I think, with pros and giving him the recognition and credibility he deserves. And now Robert Fawler is coming on board, who is, you know, Dennis' mentor and somebody I've worked with and trained with for years since the old Team Quest days, all have, contributed, you know, attracting people like Misha Tate and Brian Telaway and so many others that are in there, grinding it out, banging it out, and getting ready for their fight for extreme tour. So I've always felt like it was a natural ebb and flow of a business, of a gym, especially with fighters.

We're never concerned if the gym had run its course. In the heyday, a few years ago, you know, you were doing your thing, and right beside you was Gina Carrano. We talk about Misha Tate, and we see Cyborg fighting this weekend, so I'm reminded of Gina who, you know, she sort of disappeared from MMA after the loss of Cyborg. Are you still in contact with her?

And can you tell us the last time Scott offered her a fight? Because I'm surprised she hasn't fought for Belletoy yet, to be honest. Well, I know there was a lot of talk about Gina coming back, about she maybe fighting Ronda about signing, and I'm sure that there's some truth that she was in discussions with Dana and the guys in Zufa. I know that she did talk with Scott sometime last year, or the year before that. I think Gina is very happily working on movies on a very regular basis

and doing a fantastic job there. And I think like me, realistically, after being out of it and in-top fight shape for so long, you know, it makes sense to try and come back and fight again unless you feel like you have something to accomplish. Gene is really the only one that can answer those questions. I think she could do whatever she wanted. She was as talented and as good a mixed martial artist as anybody I've worked with. So it's really kind of up to her. But I suspect that she's happy making movies and doing a great job there.

Your name came up a couple of weeks ago on this show when all the Connor McGregor stuff, him retiring, and now with this Mayweather thing blowing up and him going. And I'm reminded of your situation to a degree, with Fador, but that was real. I don't get the sense that this is real. Still, when you saw all this play out with Connor and the UFC and him not wanting to do the media stuff and

them removing him from the card, did you have flashbacks at all? Do you see any similarities between your situation and his? Are you surprised by any of this? Well, I certainly wasn't surprised to see that one of their stars, Connor McGregion, was butting heads with being white. That

didn't surprise me in the least, but you know, I feel like there was more to it than that. I think it was a little deeper than he just didn't want to do media. I think he was holding out and trying to squeeze them for more money, and they really didn't want to play the game. But that was just my take on it. It's really hard to say.

I don't have a working relationship with Connor. He's been in the gym once, and I wasn't in town that day. I didn't really get the meeting or shake his hand or get a sense of him. All I've seen is the interviews like everybody else, and then the fights. And then certainly impressed with the dynamic fighting style he has and maybe a little less impressed with the interviews and some of the other stuff that's gone on. But, yeah, you know, he's really their number one biggest star and biggest draw right now. The only guy that seems to be able to keep out of his own way for the most part

and do the job. And so, you know, I'm kind of surprised that they didn't, you know, let him have whatever he wanted and keep him on 200. That car is going to be a huge car. But at the same time, you know, they don't like to, you know, give up things like that and set of precedence that they're going to have to deal with with other fighters. And that, that, in a sense, is a lot like some of the things I fought with them over. He sometimes drops hints about McGregor promotions, and people have talked about this. As you know, MMA is structured a lot more like pro wrestling than boxing where someone could just start his own promotion like that.

Do you foresee that time ever coming? Do you think a guy like Connor and a couple others can just start their own promotion and do their own thing like Mayweather does, or do you think it will always be structured MMA like Bellator, UFC World Series like that? You know what I mean? certainly within the realm of possibility. I think right now, even if the rumors and the numbers that Connor is making, you know, four or five million dollars of fight, that's still nothing compared to the 30, 40 plus

million that a guy like Mayweather is making in one boxing match. And it's going to take having pockets that deep to start your own promotion, to do your own thing that way. I think that allowed Golden Boy to be what they are, and they, you know, attacks a bunch of top guys to Golden Boy that made them successful. Certainly within the realm of possibility, but I think we're a long ways away from making boxing money and being able to start our own promotions, our own production companies.

It's a stretch at this point. Do you get a lot of guys come up to in the gym and ask you, when's the right time to walk away? Do you feel like that's a big problem? Like, there's no retirement plan. There's no one, you know, you can get pushed out. You can get cut. But you see this now as the sport continues to evolve.

A lot of guys just don't know when to say when. I thought you, you know, you, I know you walked away at one point when you came back, but after the Machita fight, you seemed to know that enough was enough. Do you get those questions a lot from guys? Well, people ask me that question a lot, and it's such a personal thing. Yeah, when I stepped out the first time I was going to, through it, a horrible divorce and just didn't feel like myself. I didn't feel like I was getting a job done.

I wasn't getting it done in practice, and it wasn't competing and feeling the way I normally felt. And obviously when the dust settled from all that, I felt like I had more to give and more to do and ended up fighting with Ken coming out of retirement. But when I finally made a decision and my body was talking to me and saying, yeah, you might want to think about doing something else, it took me a while to come to the rational thought that it might be time. to make it my last fight.

I started kind of having some of those feelings, getting ready for James Tony. And I thought, I don't want to go out on this fight, as much as I want to go out and have a good showing against a world-class boxer. It didn't feel like a real MMA fight. And I wanted to go out with a real opponent, with a real shot, win-lizard drive,

and Leodomachita came up right after that. So I decided to make that my last fight. I didn't really tell anybody about it because I knew it would grow legs. It would become all about that instead of what it needed to be, which was about the fight. And, you know, I decided when lose a draw, that was going to be my last one. I wanted to focus on all these other things that I had going on, like acting in the gym, and walked away. And once I came to terms with that decision,

and I felt pretty good about it, and I haven't really looked back. In July, it will be a celebration of the sport with UFC 200. I'm assuming you won't be a part of it. Does that bother you? Like, you hope at one point that you can clear the air with the guys in Vegas and be a part of the history of the sport and be recognized and things like that. Does that eat at you at all? Well, it's certainly an irritation, and I think that's the way it's meant to be.

They're trying to get back at me and to be an irritation to me any way that they can be. I don't like that I pointed out some of the issues with their contracts and the way they treat fighters, and they'd never like that from day one, holding them to the contracts and ancillary rights and all those sorts of things that me and my management fought with them over since the day they bought the company. And ultimately holding out to try and get the fight that I wanted in Fedor for, you know, for 13. months and all that stuff. I think it's all stuff that they're not very forgiving about. And all the other stuff that I did to promote them, all the other money that I made them doesn't matter at the end of the day to them.

So, yeah, I would like to be included. It's a sport that I felt like I was involved in seeing grow and become what it's become. I think I get a ton of feedback from the fans at everything they do wishing that I was that fantastic and signing autographs and do it. and all that stuff for them. But it's not really my decision. It's on Zouffa. It's on the organization.

You know, the issue is really there is not mine. I've done that that I could to represent myself and the sport in a positive way, and we'll continue to do that until I die. And the issues really are, you know, Dana White's and Zufus. I'm here, you know, working with World Series and working with Dullet, and try to promote the sport, try to do the right by the fighters that train at my gym and

the rest of it's really on them. Let's end on this note. Big main event for Bellator on Saturday. To me, I mean, it's a fantastic weekend with the UFC and Belator. I love this fight. King Moe versus Phil Davis, a division that you know a whole lot about, fighters that are to a degree cut from the same cloth as you, they come from the wrestling background.

Can you give us a – are you allowed to make a prediction? I'm curious, because I have a really hard time picking this one. Do you have a pick? Yeah, well, I think that's why it's so interesting because it is so hard to pick. Obviously, both guys have amazing wrestling pedigrees. Kim Moe went to Oklahoma State, where I went to school. Phil Davis, a nitty lion from Penn State, and an amazing wrestler himself. So then does that negate itself?

Is it now boiled down to, okay, who's striking is better, who submissions better? if we start breaking it down that way we'll probably say that Mo's a little more dynamic striker although that has gotten him into some trouble and Phil was probably a better guy on the ground in submissions. We see more submissions and submission attempts from Phil Davis than we have from Moe.

So it's really one of those fights that are both amazing athletes. If they both show up, it is going to be a barn burner for sure. Yeah. And tough to pick. Are you sitting on the fence, Randy? You can't sit on the fence.

Well, you know, I like both guys. I've been around both guys. They're both, you know, gregarious, great personalities, good, good cats. You know, there's my orange and black strings from Oklahoma State that are coming on me a little bit. Okay. Phil David is a super guy as well. trains a lot with my old ground coach Neil Malanson, which makes me want to hold for him a little bit.

I'm glad I'm not connected to either one of them, and I can just sit on the outside and enjoy an amazing fight. All right, fair enough. You know, I don't just say it because Ron, it really is an honor every time I get to speak to you. It has been a while, so I really appreciate it. Thank you for everything that you're doing, and in particular this weekend with the valve fights.

What a great thing that is. I appreciate some time here today, Randy. Thank you all the best, and we'll talk to you very soon. good, Aaron. Thanks, buddy. All right, there he is. The Natural, Randy Couture. We could talk to him for hours. Didn't get into a lot of the movie stuff that he's doing,

but a very busy man traveling all over the world doing some fantastic stuff as of late. And again, a part of that VALFights prelims of this weekend's Belator MMA card, Belator 154 at the SAP Center, the Shark Tank in San Jose. Main event is Phil Davis versus King Moe. as I mentioned last week on the MMA beat, 198 is stacked. That card is as good as any of the UFC has put on, in my opinion,

and it's perfect for that market because you have all the Brazilian heroes, a lot of the Curitiba's finest products of Curitiba coming home, Shogun, Cyborg, Anderson Silva, it's just fantastic for that market. But that Beltaur main event is great as well. And in fact, I will not be in Curitiba. This has nothing to do with, you know, the stuff that, you know, was going on as well as nothing to do with that.

This was actually decided long before I stopped working with Fox. In fact, it's my son's birthday party on Sunday, and I did not want to miss that, among many other things. So I will actually be at home watching my first UFC pay-per-view since UFC 171. So it's been a stretch of around 27 pay-per-views if my math is correct in a row. And I'm actually looking forward to just watching both and seeing what it is. You know, sometimes when I'm at those pay-per-views and there's a Bel-Tor World Series, I miss that. I have to watch it. I'm going to go back and forth like you guys with the remote control.

So I'm looking forward to that. That's going to be a fun night for MMA. One guy who I know will be in San Jose at the SAP Center, going back home, Scott Coker, Belator CEO. He joins us right now on the phone. Scott, how are you? Doing great. How are you, Ariel? Great to talk to you, Scott. So a lot to talk to you about, and I appreciate the time as we kick off your big fight week.

I would be remiss, though, if I don't bring up Jordan Parsons, a tragic story. He was supposed to fight on this card. Unfortunately, passed away after the hit-and-run incident. You've been involved in this sport as a promoter for a very long time. I would imagine last week one of the tougher weeks for you. Was it not? Yeah, I mean, you know, it's just such a tragedy. Here you have a young kid, you know, in Florida training for the fighting in San Jose and, you know, to get a hit and run. And the guy take off, and I'm so happy they caught him. Yeah. It's just, you know, everybody here is still in shock, and it's just a tragedy, man.

I mean, you know, it goes way beyond fighting or it's just life. And I had a long conversation with his mom today. Oh, wow. Which was, you know, she's a strong lady, man. A lot stronger than I would be, Ariel, honestly. Yes. And, you know, we were just talking about. different ways that we could get involved and things that Jordan wanted. And, you know, he was a guy that

we had a lot of hope for it, up-and-coming talent. And, you know, now he's gone. So it's just a tragedy all the way around. Yeah. And that is a really nice gesture on your part, especially after Mother's Day. I can't imagine, you know, what's going on with the family. And I'm putting you on the spot here and feel free to just say no comment. But will Belator be doing anything for him or his family, anything at all? Is there, are there any plans in place? Absolutely. Absolutely. And we'll have something to announce. But, you know, most of it, honestly, are it between us and family. Yeah, I respect that. Really, it's a private matter. And, you know, it's something that, you know, like I said, she's a strong lady.

And, man, it was just an inspiration to talk to her. And she's, she is taking it all in and still in shock and the whole family. But she expressed to me today some of the things that are very important to Jordan, which we're going to support and we're going to back. and we're going to be there for her and the family. I respect that very much. So Belator 154, it's Phil Davis v. King Mo. This is one of the best light heavyweight fights. You say, in the UFC outside of the UFC, I mean, this is just a fantastic fight main event. Is it fair to say because McGuire has been out for a little bit that the winner of this is going to get the next title shot?

Is that pretty much set in stone? I mean, you know, just to look at our division here, you know, this logically would make the next step would be the winner to fight Liam, although injuries and timing and, you know, how that goes. So, you know, I'll reserve, you know, comment on that, but we would like to have it, you know, be the next step. And the reason why we brought Phil into Bellator is so he could fight King Mo. That's the big fight. That's the fight that I wanted to see happen. And we tried to put it together in that tournament. And unfortunately, King Moe got injured in the first round, couldn't continue. Phil became the champ, the tournament champ. And, you know, now we finally get to put it together.

It's fight week, and things are starting to buzz around here, and I think it's going to be an amazing fight, and hey, it's free on Spike. Tune in. Okay, so that's actually what I wanted to ask you about next, the buzz in the Bay Area. So that's your market. You grew that market. You made that market. That was yours for many, many years, and then you had to take a bit of a break after the sale to Zufa. Does it feel like, you know, the mid-2000s, the late 2000s, I should say, like the heyday, or do you feel like there's still some work to be done in that market to revive MMA there?

You know, I'll tell you, when we did the dynamite show, it felt very much like, you know, hey, we're back. You know, we had 11,000 people in the building. It was a great show, great night. You know, it just felt like a big show. And then, you know, this fight, we've had a lot of injuries. And, you know, the passing of Jordan, as you know, and Josh Thompson had to pull out. So, you know, we're taking some hits here and there. But, you know, at the end of the day, we've got a main event that, you know, is amazing.

and it's going to be, in my mind, I think this fight might be, end up, believe it on, standing up because I think these guys, these wrestling, the skills that these guys have wrestling is going to, you know, kind of compromise each other, and it's going to end up being who is a better striker. I think that's my opinion. What are you going to do with Michael Chandler now? Well, you know what? You know, because of Jordan Parsons thing last week, and we just kind of put it on the table, but we'll address it this week.

going into the fight and we'll probably have an announcement at the event what we're going to do with Chandler next. You always use these big events to put on big press conferences, like the kickboxing one a couple months ago that you were starting Beltaire kickboxing and the dynamite. Are we doing that again or can we just make the announcement here on this show and like save the press conference? What do you got planning for this week? I always feel like you got something big. Eric, listen, come to the Bay Area. Okay. Come to the show and then what we're going to do is we're going to go the Warriors game.

Oh, yes. on Wednesday. We'll go to the Warriors game on Wednesday. They're going to beat Portland, and they're going to clinch it at home. You think so? And then you come to the fight, and we'll have our announcement.

You'll be part of the whole week of festivities. You're not getting a little nervous there with your warriors? I mean, that was quite the showing on Saturday. Steph is injured, 2-1. I'm getting a little worried for you. I'm not going to lie. You know what? I'll tell you, Portland's tough.

Yes. And there are no slouch, and we get our handsful, but I really believe that we can get it done without Steph. Wow. And stuff we'd be back for the next round. and either O'Case or the Spurs. Fair enough. But listen to, Aaron, you're welcome to come down.

I've got great seats. We'll hang out. Thanks, Scott. Very kind of you. Can I be honest, I'll be honest with you here. I love this main event. You know I love it. I've been talking about it.

This is what I want Bellator main events to be. I don't want the other Bellator main events. Can we move more towards this? And enough. You know what? Let me defend myself here. Listen, you know, we have 25 enemy fights this year. in a calendar year.

And we do two fights that are, you know, the fun fights or, you know, what we call the legend fights. We have two of those. The other 23 are exactly what you guys are looking for. And so to me, it's like, come on, you've got to give us a little bit of a break. Because the math works the other way and not the, you know, the fun fights way. So to me, it's like, look, you know, a couple times a year, you know, we're going to put on those fun fights.

But, you know, the other 23 are right down the alley, right down the lane. for what you like and what the hardcore fans like. So to me, we have something for everybody. Okay, fair enough. I know different strokes for different folks, but can you agree that the Dada Kimbo fight was kind of a disaster? I mean, how it all ended up?

Like, we're not going to go back to that well of putting in a guy who's like 1-0 or not even want to know in a main event and doesn't know how to wait cut. I mean, that could have turned out really, really bad. You don't need me to tell you that, right? Well, the thing is that, look, when he came into, and we haven't even talked about this, and I haven't talked about

to the media at all. Okay. But when Dada came into town, he was one pound heavy. Wow. It wasn't, we weighed these guys when they come into town. We weigh every fighter when they come into town on Monday. And so on Monday, the week of the fight, he weighed one pound heavy. He didn't have weight cutting to do.

That's where there's a lot of, you know, you know, misinformation. Okay. People aren't getting the facts straight. And then, you know, we just decided not to address it. But, you know, the fact is, and I'm telling you right now for the first time, we've talked about this is that the guy didn't cut weight the week of the fight. So what happened? He had done all his weight before.

You know what? That's a much longer conversation than we have today, but I'm happy to jump on at another time and talk about it. Fair enough. Although he is saying a lot of negative things about Bellatorre. You've seen this stuff, right? He does not seem happy with you guys. Well, I mean, you know what? Everybody has their opinion.

And, you know, God bless him. I mean, you know, I'm glad he's healthy and safe. and you know he's uh he has his own uh platform to go fight in and and he's gonna he's gonna go do his thing but i don't think we have a bad relationship with him i just think he has an opinion and and listen i respect it this is uh this is a this is a this is a free country you can say what you want is it fair to say though that he's not fighting for beltor anymore i you know like i said you know i think we should just be friends friends is a good thing friends is a nice friends are forever okay i like that that's kind of

like the polite way to break up with someone. Let's just be friends. He may not want. Yes. Wow. Okay. So you were on Sports Center when you broke this news, which was a fun spot. And you mentioned something that I talked about on this show the next day, how you know, you feel like the sport is being regulated by the government, and that's enough. But I said that that feels like, that's like 2011 thought process. Like we've realized that the government doesn't do enough. And I don't want to say like, oh, Belator needs a USADA. But don't you feel like, you know, the Texas commissions and these commissions just aren't doing enough when it comes to PD testing and all that? Like to say that the government is testing just doesn't fly anymore in 2016? You know, I tell you, I disagree.

And I don't think you know how much testing is going on in this company. And if you talk to Michael Zulu or Andy Foster, there's a lot. I mean, we're getting all of our guys are getting tested pre-n't all. Our big fights are getting tested all pre-test. and then night up testing and even post-test. I mean, these guys are getting tested, and you should call Mike Mizzuli. You should ask him.

You should call Andy Foster. You should talk to them. But, you know, for 31 years, we've been regulated by the state athletic commissions. The other way, you know, the other companies are using, it's like, look, they're doing, you know, they're the judge, the jury, and the executioner, right? What do you mean by that? I don't think that ever works.

I mean, you can't be doing self. I don't think you can self-regulate and expect it to have, you know, a long-term solution to a sport has to be regulated by the outside. That's what I think. Okay. There needs to be a national board of some kind or national, you know, like testing procedures brought on by the federal government. Wow.

Hello. Are you still there? Do we lose Scott? I think we lost them. Well, that was a really interesting point. I'm wondering if he was actually suggesting like a national commission as opposed to state commissions. Is he back? Did we lose him? What was...

Okay. We're going to call him right back. Certainly an interesting point. And I appreciate what he was saying there. I'm curious if that's what he was getting at. Because that's actually something that I've talked about on this show, and people haven't liked that idea where I feel like if everyone was in unison, everyone was on the same page. And we had one commission overseeing the entire sport in the country,

just in this country, just in the United States. I feel like things would be better off. and I still maintain that a national commission well I maintain that the commission's just for the most part now I know that there's some in California and and Vegas is doing more I mean they're certainly doing out of competition drug testing the rest aren't doing that sort of thing

and the punishments are different depending and we know the reputation of some of these commissions so it is it is a tough spot I mean California which is where this fight is taking place, I have no issues. I mean, I think that they are actually, honestly, maybe the gold standard right now as far as mixed martial arts is concerned.

So anyway, I want to talk to Scott. Just a few more minutes left with Scott Koker. I think his phone died on us. First we had Mark's computer crashing on us. Now we have his phone. In a few minutes, we'll actually talk to a man that Scott Koker knows a whole lot about. Gilbert Melendez will be joining us.

have been wanting to talk to Gilbert for some time, former Strike Force lightweight champion, if you recall. And then we've got Alistair Overeem, another guy that Scott Hooker knows a whole lot about, former Strike Force heavyweight champion. Could you imagine if that organization was still around with the fighters that they had? It's slowly but surely morphing back into the Strike Force of World.

But when you look at that roster, just the one, I'm not talking about the history of Strike Force. I'm talking about the strike force that was sold to Zufa in March of 2011. Nick Diaz, Chris Cyborg, Alistair Overeem, Tyron Woodley, Gilbert Melendez, Josh Thompson, Luke Rockhold. Scott, are you there? That scared me. Scott, did we lose you? You back?

Yeah, was it something I said? No, it wasn't. I was actually, there was something you said right at the end. Are you saying, Scott, that you want a national commission, like one commission to rule over the entire sport? Yeah, because that's really where I think the breakdown is, is because every state has different penalties, different rules, different regulations. So when we go to, let's say, Connecticut, or we go to California, or we go to, you know, Florida or Texas, they're all different rules and regulations. And sometimes, listen, our guys, I mean, look at the penalty with some of our guys three years. for Slamenko's punishment, right?

And Nick Diaz, and, you know, in Nevada was five years. Crazy. In California, that would have been 30 days or 60 days. I mean, it's just the inconsistency is, you know, it's something that has to be regulated. And I think the only way it works is if the rules are the same for everybody, and it's regularly about an outside commission and not something that's outside sanctioning body or outside body

and not internally. Okay. I like that. I like that very much. Okay. We're running out of time. I know you have a meeting coming up, so let me ask you a couple more things.

You know, I like to pepper you with these questions before I let you go. What's the status of Vandalei Silva? When's he going to fight? When's he going to debut? Is he going to fight before that suspension is up? I mean, Vanali, I think he has some things in Japan, and he's booked.

You know, sometimes... I talked to Saki Ybarra, and I think that he said they're going to have him do something. I'm not sure if it's a grappling match or a fight or... Well, he did that already. Yeah, I think they're going to do something. something else, I think, in September. And, you know, so with Fandelier, look, he's, you know, on suspension until May of next year,

and then we'll pick it up from there. And I'm excited because, listen, we've got some great fights ahead for him. I mean, look at him and the potential Quentin Jackson fight, a rematch, and him and Titori's fighting again. And, you know, there's just a lot of really interesting fights for him, and I'm excited to get him activated in our roster. So you'll wait till the May suspension, you know, when that comes to a close, and then you'll book them. That's correct.

Okay. Now, this is, to me, the biggest mystery in MMA right now. The state of your lightweight champion, Will Brooks. What is going on here? Is he going to fight? What's happening? Can you finally tell us what's going on with Will Brooks? Well, you know what?

I tell you, I thought I would have an answer for you because, you know, I would say, look at the result of the fight between Josh and Michael Chandler. but you know now now it's uh it gets pushed back a little bit so i don't have an answer for you but uh maybe the next time we chat we'll have something for you but i understand his contract is coming up are you going to resign him or are you going to let that expire what are you going to do with him i think he's a fantastic talent i know he said some things he's been a bit of a malcontent um but do you want to be in business with him well you know here's the thing is that you know like i said fighters sometimes fighters are happy until they're not happy and they're not happy You know how this business goes.

It's just like a wave, man. And you just kind of ride the way sometimes. And, you know, my only focus right now is on the fight card this Saturday night. And we've got a great fight card. Cyborg Santos is coming back fighting Sadd Awad in a quick turnaround. And, you know, Cybor looked great in his last fight. So we're excited to have him back. And then Karatanov is going to be his first fight in Bellator.

Yes. I haven't, you know, we haven't fought. He hasn't fought on a fight roster that was part of for the last couple of years. and, you know, we just have a lot of great things in the fire for this Saturday night. So, and it's an earlier start time. It's starting at 5 p.m. I'm sorry, 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. And it's not 9 o'clock like it normally is on the thing. So, you know, make sure that everybody knows it is at 8 p.m. start time, Eastern.

Well, that is very interesting. Okay. Last question for you. Will Benson Henderson go back down to 155 and do you regret putting him at 170 in his debut? You know, that was something that when he came to Bellator, we sat down, we talked to him, and he wanted to fight at 170, felt comfortable, and he wanted to fight Kreshkoff. So he wanted to fight the title holder. And, you know, so we, you know, promoted the fight and the fight. You saw the fight.

I mean, what a warrior, man, this guy has a chin like, unlike anybody I've ever seen. You know, Kreschkoff dominated the fight, as you clearly saw, and he won the decision. But we will have a conversation because we think there's a lot of great fights at 155 for Benson. And then, you know, if he wants to move back up later, you know, you can fight some of the guys. But we have fighters that can fight him in both weights.

It's just really what he wants to do. And, you know, it's going to be a conversation we have with him here, probably after this fight's over this weekend. All right. Scott, great to catch up, as always. Good luck this weekend. look forward to watching from my home, but one of these days I will be seeing you in person, all right?

Well, when you come out, come out on basketball season. If not, you can always, you know, tune in for free on Spike. All right, I look forward to it. There he is. Scott Coker, Belator CEO, appreciate his time very much. And interesting to note there, they're starting at 8 p.m. on Spike TV, clearly not to coincide with the 198 pay-per-view, so you can go 8 to 10. That goes up against the FS1 prelims, which are fantastic as well.

Go 8-10 on Spike, and then you can watch the pay-per-view. not going up against anything. So I think that's a smart move on their part. All right, let's move along. Let's actually talk to a guy that Scott Coker knows very well, his former Strike Force lightweight champion. Gilbert Melendez is on the line right now. Gilbert, how are you?

I'm doing good. How are you, Ariel? I'm doing great. Tell the people so they don't think I'm lying. In the last 11 months or so, how many times have I asked you to come on this show? Maybe like once or so. I'm not too sure.

How annoying have I been? I mean, it's great that you won't. have to hear from me for a little bit, right? No, it's good, man. I've just been under the radar, but I'm back. You are back. Congratulations on being back, July 23rd. You're fighting at Simbarboza in Chicago. Let me first ask you about that. Is that a good scenario for you? Like, was this the kind of comeback that you like? Was this the kind of fight, the stage that you like? Are you happy with what they gave you in your return?

You know, yeah, I am happy. Overall, I am happy. You know, he's a definitely, a tough opponent. There's definitely not a tune-up fight going here. I'm just jumping right into it. Yeah. Yeah, you know, he's a very dangerous fighter. I know what I'm up against, but right now there are no easy fights in the division. I know you hear that a lot.

And a win over Barboso, it would really put me back in the mix. So were you kind of hoping for a tune-up fight? No, I wouldn't say that. I was just hoping for like a late July return. Okay. And it was the first name that came up.

I know he just beat Pettus, and I saw it, and I looked at it, and I said, yeah, let's do it. And at this point, honestly, I didn't feel like I was going to say no to whoever they offered me. Mm-hmm. How difficult has this past year been for you, being out, not being able to fight earn a living as a fighter? Has this been the most difficult year and frustrating year of your career? At the beginning of the year, it was tough. You know, it was tough dealing with the situation, and, you know, I was bummed, you know, but, um, You know, I got to rest my mind a lot.

You know, it's hard to rest your body as a professional fighter, you know. You take two months off. You fall behind so much. So I stayed active as a fighter training. But, you know, I got to rest my mind. And, you know, I feel like being a fighter, fighting a lot and doing a lot of TV, a lot of work could be overwhelming. So, you know, the downtime was good. It was good to spend some extra time at my family and have fun training.

And, you know, I'm an optimistic guy. So I made the best out of the situation. So obviously I would be remiss if I don't ask you about what happened last year. And I know you want to move on and I respect that. But is there anything? Because from what I understand, you haven't really talked about it in any interview. There's nothing I can go back to. Is there anything that you can tell us about what happened here?

You put out your statement in July when the news came out that you had failed that drug test. But can you shed any light on what occurred there? Well, you know, I really don't want to go down a rabbit hole or anything like that. But the gist of it is that I made a mistake. You know, I made a mistake that won't happen again. And, you know, I'm not proud of this. And, you know, and I'm doing my best to move on from it. And, you know, I hope everyone else can.

And it's understandable if they can. But, you know, I just want to do everything in my power to, you know, to prove I'm still a warrior. And I'm a great fighter. And just, you know, just trying to move forward, to be honest. If I could be honest, I feel like that's, I mean, I'm so surprised that more fighters don't say what you just said. as opposed to giving us a story, some convoluted thing. Saying I made a mistake, to me, I mean, it doesn't necessarily excuse anything, but it makes it, I can move on, you know, I feel like that's,

are you surprised that more people don't say that? Is it hard for you to even say that? Because I feel like we never get that response from athletes when things like this happen. And I'm surprised that people, we're an understanding public, and I'm surprised more don't do that. Is that a difficult thing for you to say? You know, it's not, you know, it's not. Like I said, man, I'm just bummed about the whole situation.

You know, every fighter haddled it their own way or they got to say what they have to say. You know, I'm just, you know, I'm more disappointed about the whole situation. And no, it's not, man. I'm just, you know, I'm disappointed about that, but it's not hard to say I made a mistake. And I did, and I just want to move on from it, you know? Are you worried that this will stick with you forever? Do you think people will be understanding because you're being up front and saying, I made a mistake and, you know, they'll remember all the great fights and things like that.

You know, I try not to think about that too much. Okay. You know, and, but I do, you know, I do have a bunch of loved ones around me that, you know, love me unconditionally. And I feel like I have fans the same way. And, you know, and, you know, and that's why I just want to redeem myself. I want to go out there and fight. That's why I'm excited to fight Barbosa. You know, people are telling me I'm going to get killed, you know, and I'm, you know, I'm looking forward to show my heart, to show my durability and to show me.

and to show my courage out there, you know? I know I'm an older cat now, but that stuff lasts forever, you know? And, you know, and I just try to go out there and show it to everybody. And last question on this, do you sort of feel like, like, did you feel like you were pressured into making any kind of mistake? Like, was there something going on in your life or your career or injury, something that you felt like you needed to do this before this fight? Is there anything you could say about that?

No, not much. You know, I just, you know, yeah, sometimes, you know, just, you know, just, you know, you look, you know, you're trying to, you try to do everything you can, and, you know, and you slip up and make a mistake, you know? Okay. Fair enough. And I respect. Did you feel like you're almost a rookie now because there's all eyes on you

and you're fighting on Fox against Barbosa who's looked so good? Like, is there more pressure in a weird way on you going into this fight than any of your other big fights in the past, including the UFC title fights? Oh, my gosh, there's always pressure in a fight, you know? And it's not so much from, like, my peers or what, but just, uh, just, stepping in with top level guys, you know, and, uh, and challenging myself. You know what I mean? I could have easily just said no to Barbosa. You know, I could have easily said no to fighting. I could have never came back if I wanted to, you know what I mean? I could have said, you know,

I could have done whatever I wanted, you know, but, uh, you know, but I want to challenge. I want to see where I'm at, you know, I've been away for a year. I'm not getting any younger. I'm 34 years old now. I've been through a lot of wars and, uh, you know, and there's, uh, there's no, uh, it's no easy way to do it. You just got to go up and, uh, um, comfort front it head on and see where you're at. And that's what I'm trying to do at Barbosa. And, you know, getting past him would say so much. Did you actually consider not fighting again?

I wouldn't say that. I mean, I would say when I was training for fights and things were going kind of fast and I was moving along, I was overwhelmed and it was like it wasn't as enjoyable. You know what I mean? And fighting is like a girlfriend. You know what I mean? You love her. You get pissed at her.

You break up with her and you want her back. And, you know, that's all it is. But, you know, I love the sport. You know, fighting aside, I mean, I mean, fans aside, money aside, you know, all that stuff aside, like, I'm a born warrior. You know what I mean? I've done this forever. And I've done it for free. You know, I've done it in a barn, two fights in one night for $500, 500 bucks.

You know, like I've, you know, it's beyond the big stage. You know, it's just something that I've done forever. And something I'll do to the day I die. Maybe not on a big stage, but I'll always do martial arts. And being a martial artist, you know, from my point of view, I like to test my skills. I like to test the stuff I've been working on. And, you know, maybe I won't always do that in a big stage, but, you know, it's something that's in me. And I love it.

You know, I love fighting. I'm blessed to be able to do it. So considering all of that, what was it like a few months ago to be there when, you know, your wife was fighting on a big stage. I mean, was that more difficult than any other fight? I can't imagine what that's like for you. Or did you enjoy it? I mean, what's going through your mind when your wife is in there?

My wife is there. I was extremely proud of her performance, man. She's a star. She's good, and I have total confidence in her. And I think, you know, she had a tough opponent. You know, she made her look like easy work. But, you know, we did our video. And the girl was a durable girl who puts on a lot of pressure

and Kerry shut her down. And, you know, and as their opponents are going to get stronger, I believe my nerves will grow more and more, you know, but, you know, but it is tough to watch. But, you know, as she makes the transition to MMA, I know I'll be a little bit more nervous. But, you know, I think she's just so good that I wasn't as worried, you know what I mean? And I know when she puts in her work, I felt confident about her.

But it's definitely tough sitting in the sideline. and watching her throw down. But once she's in her element and she's kicking butt, you feel good about it. Do you want her to stick to one sport as opposed to the other? Do you like her going back and forth? Oh, no, I like her doing MMA. It's really cool that Bellator is having MMA and kickboxing,

and they're letting fighters do both. And I think she's definitely a blackout in kickboxing, and she wants to make her transition to MMA, and she definitely has the skills. It's something she's been working on for a long time. and I think she'll sign in the division you know I think she'll sign you know fighting MMA I think she's a

shit man she might be better than me well I mean she has a lot of work to do there but that would be quite the story as well let me ask you about another fighter you know a female fighter Leslie Smith she has a gigantic test ahead of her on Saturday did you help her prepare

for Chris Cyborg I did I definitely did man I even jumped in and sparred with her and she worked real closely with Jonzen on the wooden man and yes I did and if there's one thing about Leslie is that she is not a coward you know and she's built on courage

and that's a fighter that you see out there and one of their strengths is her heart you know and her willingness to fight she was going to fight without a ear in Mexico City and wanted to keep on going and that you know so you know I put the pressure on her

and I try to chuck them at her and try to give her my best cyborg look and you know she she holds the ground. You know, she's definitely not, she's definitely not going to cower down. And I think it's easy to fetal up and take a knee against some strikers like that. And look, look to get T-K-O'd before you even KO'd. And I don't think I'll see that from her at all. I don't think she's that type of person, you know, she'll go out on her shield, literally. So as her coach and also as an analyst, you know, one of her training partner, you've been with her for a very long time.

Do you see the path to victory for her? Cyborg has looked, you know, unstoppable. Do you see a path? Like, what are you envisioning how Leslie's going to beat her? When I talk to Leslie, I say, go look at her kickboxing fight. Go look at that kickboxing fight. She's fought over and over. Watch her get dropped over and over.

You know what I mean? And, yeah, Cyborg is a beast. She is scary. But she's pretty predictable. She doesn't have too much of a finesse. You know, her main thing is she's just a monster. that'll just pick you up and throw you and we'll come at you chucking, you know?

So you know what she's going to do, you know, and of course her skills are growing, but, you know, I encourage her to watch that tape, and we know what Cyborg's going to do. She doesn't really come out with different strategies or game plan as she comes to kill, you know, and so with that, we worked our

tricks. She worked our tricks closely with Johnson on the wooden man. My coach, I sat there and watched. My wife helps spar with her to increase the speed, and you know, and I think she had some tricks up her leave that could maybe rock cyborg to change the momentum of the fight. And we have a strategy. And I think there's always hope. There's always the possibility. And if anyone could pull this off, it's definitely her. Wow, that is amazing. Before I let you go, I just, I got to ask,

what's it like for you to see what's happened to Nate Diaz, the star that he's become, winning on that stage, that big payday, all that stuff. What's that like for you to see that come together for him, who's kind of always been in the shadows of his brother? You know, I'm extremely happy for Nate. You know, I feel like he's not only evolved as a fight over the years, but just as like a, you know, as a man and a businessman and knowing what he wanted. Yeah. And he got it.

He knew what he wanted. And, you know, managers help people, you know, people talk to you, get you, whatever. But at the end of the day, Nate Diaz took the center of the octagon, and he took the center of the business filled. And he said what he wanted. And he got it. And he straight manifested that. Like, he made that happen.

Like, I've seen it within a year happen. You know, we talk closely, and I've seen him do it. And, you know, there's other parts, but it's like he made that happen. And it was motivating and it's great to see. And I'm happy for him. Well, deserve. He's putting so much time in the sport. And, you know, and a lot of it is strategizing, you know.

And a lot of us are just, you know, we're youngster warriors, right aside of the daughter lied and just fight, fight, fight, you know. But a lot of it's not just as easy as that. It's fighting and strategizing and not taking a certain fight. and doing certain things and he's never been that cat, you know, but I just, you know, I'm pretty proud of him and, you know, and he's great, man, you know, I'm asking that kid for advice and see what he has to say, and, you know, it's great. It's great being around him and it's, you know, I'm lucky to have cool friends like that, you know, I think our, I think our team stands for a little

more than, like, just being a tough team, you know, everyone else, all these guys are tough fighters or they're down to scrap, whatever, you know, I think we also represent, like, loyalty and brotherhood and that's kind of like forgotten nowadays, I think sometimes. And, you know, so yeah, man, so I'm just proud of him and just happy for him, you know. Do you think it would be a huge mistake if this rematch actually does happen? Do you think Connor is biting up more than he can chew? No, I don't think this is a huge mistake at all. I think this is a great fight for Connor to do back, you know?

Because if he, you know, I think if he fights Nate, you know, he's going to have a battle and, you know, and he wants to try to prove some, but I totally believe Nate will beat him again. Nate will beat him again, but now we can go back to 45s and go defend his title and have life again, I think. You know, I think two losses against Nate Diaz is more forgiving than a loss to Nate Diaz and then going to 45 and possibly losing there again. You know, I think he has life.

He has life if he fights again after Nate again. Right, right. Two last quick things. Did you catch wind of this whole thing when they announced the Reebok kits, that they misspelled your name? Did you know, do you know, what did you make of all that? I've always wanted to ask you this, the Gibbler thing. Yeah, no, nothing, man.

You know, people, you know, it was a typo. I mean, you know, I don't, I didn't stress about it. My Twitter was all blown up that day and people were like so disrespectful. And, you know, I really didn't care. I really don't care. I have my scrap pack fight shop right now. Yes. The Reebok rep has been really cool there.

And, you know, people are losing money. on sponsors and you know it's just a transitional period and you know I try like I said I'm optimistic dude I just like the I like the fact that I was able to make some cash while I had the chance on sponsors and you know and and that they allowed that to happen and you know and if this is not my company you know I don't get it called the shots they call the shots and you know if you got to roll up the punches and rebox the part of it you know I just I just hope I can design my own rebox stuff one day and come out feeling completely comfortable in my gear and liking it. So it just, it did not bother me as much as I think I've bothered some other

people. Okay, that is good to know. And how that was actually my last question. How is the store doing? And where can people are in the area, where can they go see it? Yeah, no, thanks for asking. Thanks for asking. The shop's doing great. We're in Stonetown Mall in San Francisco, California. So if anyone's in town, come check it out. We got all the gear. scrappack.com with the K-S-K-R-A-P-K-K-com. If you want to check some stuff out, the site is live, but we don't have everything up yet. You know, we got everything.

We got raised gloves, which I really like. We got some good bad boy stuff. We hold some Ruka, and we got our scrap pack stuff. We got Nate Beaz's represent stuff. And, yeah, we got it. We're trying to, I think, M-M-A needs its own culture a little bit, and, you know, we're trying to have our own store to express our, culture a little bit more. I like it. All right. Well, best of luck. I saw the scenes when the store

open and all the people showed up. That was really cool to see. So good luck to you and the family with the store. And again, I appreciate you coming on. I'm going to leave you alone now. Gilbert, thank you very much. And, you know, kudos to you on how you handled it. Thank you very much for that. And good luck in the fight. Looking forward to seeing you back. Ron, Ariel. Thank you, man. Take it easy. All right, there he is. Gilbert Melendez, stopping by. It's always tough. I feel like my mouth wants to say, Giblert for a second because that's stuck in my brain. It's Gilbert Melendez. Thankfully, they have corrected that. And he is back, July 23rd. Look, it doesn't excuse anything that he did.

But much like I've talked about in the past, Andy Pettett, in my opinion, the former pitcher for the New York Yankees handled it better than anyone. He came out and said, I made a mistake. I'm sorry. And no one really talks about that when they talk about his career. Yeah, I mean, if you do like a real retrospective on his career, you have to talk about that. But, you know, it took him a while, but he came on and said, I messed up, I'm sorry, and that's that. And I feel like people really respect that. I feel like for the most part, the public has been told different stories along the way when it comes to this stuff. It's, you know, it's just better.

And I know it's easier said than done. Trust me, I know. I recognize that. 100%. But I have a feeling people, you know, he can come out and say, look, I made a mistake. mistake, that's it. Let's move on. And I really think that was the right way to go about it. You don't have to go into the gory details, everything that went on, why he did it, how he did it, all that stuff, came out, put out a statement when it happened, just wanted to talk a little more.

And I definitely appreciate him coming on to talk about it. So kudos to Gilbert Melendez. Always one of the good guys in the sport. Messed up, admitted. And now, you know, at least I can move long and not bother him anymore because Lord knows I have been bothering him. All right. In a minute, hopefully we're going to be joined by Alastair Overeem, who is on top of the MMA world right now. I mean, I can't imagine what's going through Alistair Overim coming back home, fighting in Rotterdam, fighting in his home country, and winning like that.

Not just getting the win, but winning like that. The karate kick. That was fantastic. Finishing Andre Arlowski. Trying to get a hold of him now. It seems like we're having some phone issues. I'm not sure why. But we will get in touch with them in a second.

And then after that, we're going to talk to Stefan Strouve. And then we're going to talk to Roxanne Mataferri. In the middle of that, we might get to some questions, although the delay might affect that. So let's see. All right. We're going to get to the phones in a second. So, yeah, Alistair Overeem, what a performance that was. He has now won four in a row against very tough competition.

He's going to call me a salmon now for being delayed. Wrong guy to be late for. Stefan Struve, TKO, actually a K-O win in Phoenix. That was a solid win. C-Oed him in the first round. Roy Nelson. Then at UFC 185 decision win. T-K-O win over Junior Dos Santos at UFC on Fox in Orlando.

And then yesterday also winning the performance of the night with his victory over Andrei Arlofski. now won four in a row, five of his last six, if you include the win over Frank Meier at 169, did have the speed bump against Ben Rothwell, but he is on a role. And in my opinion, it's now a no-brainer. You got to give him the title shot. He is very popular. He comes with a very loyal fan base. He's been in the sport for a long time. This is why they brought him to the UFC in the first place. Remember, he was supposed to get the title shot after beating Brock Lesner. That didn't

materialize. Did beat Brock Lesnar, but this is why they got him from Strike Force. And that would certainly... Did you see the Ream documentary? I mean, there seemed to be a lot going on before this winning streak, but winning this belt that would make him a UFC champion, Strike Force

champion, K-1 champion and kickboxing, dream interim champion? I mean, what a resume that is. It is going to be interesting in a few years' time to see what this does for Dutch MMA because you see UFC 93 and what that

did for Irish MMA, the first event in Dublin. It's going to be really interesting to see if there are young kids who will come back like a Connor McGregor, like a Cahal Pendred, like a Patty Houlihan, like an Ashling Daily, the list going on and on, who said I was there watching Alistair Overeign

beat on Jarlowski. I was there watching Jermaine Derry and Damien. What a walkout that was. So emotional with her family. Gosh. Okay, let me figure this out. Having some... Where are we at, guys?

Can someone get on the phone? Because we're a bit of a time crunch here. And we have to get Alastair on before he has to go on national television 15 minutes. Yes? Okay. Okay, but we have... This is a bit of a problem. Let us just rectify this here.

Yes, because his line is not working. Let me try to figure this out. Can we do Skype? Yeah. Yes. Okay. Let's take a quick break here. Let's play y'all must or forgot.

This is my post-fight interview with King Mo Llewal after he won the Strike Force Light Heavyweight Championship. One of my favorite interviews of all time. And I'm going to explain how this goes down and then we'll be back with Alstero over him. Stick around. Ariel Hawwani post-fight at Strike Force Nashville with the new Strike Force Light Heavyweight Champion, King Mohammed Llewal, King Mo. How does that sound? I guess it sounds pretty good, man. You know, I'm happy.

You had a lot of critics. A lot of people who said you were too young, too inexperienced, too cocky. What do you say to them now? You already know, you know what I'm going to say to them. Like I always say, F down, I don't give a damn. You know what I'm saying? Everyone got critics. I've always been died my whole life, and I just keep on proving the wrong by winning.

It's my first world title, man. I tried four years, man, wrestling. I tried my whole life and wrestled a good world title, man. and I finally got one, but it's an MMA. And you know what I made it happen. You're feeling pretty emotional right now. Yeah. Destiny? You feel like seven professional fights, and you get a world title.

Did you think it would come this quickly? I don't know, man. I just like to thank, like, you know, all my coaches, you know, Coach Mel, Daddy, Ryan, Parsons, Dean, you know, February Show, Kevin Jackson, you know, David James and John Smith, because, you know, They helped you get here, man. It's a long journey, man. But I thought you got here.

It's my first world title, man. It's something real. It was a very impressive performance. You dominated, you know, decisively four to the five rounds. Were you happy with what you accomplished out there in terms of your performance? No, not at all. Because I came in easy, but I got lazy a few times, man. I took him for granted because I didn't respect the skills all too much,

because I knew I could beat them. I should take it a little more serious. I came to finish them because that was my plan to finish him. I didn't want him to go five rounds. I wanted to leave him laying and go sleeping, but he's tough, man. He's season. How about the takedowns? I mean, you were able to take him down at ease.

Were you surprised that his takedown defense just, you know, he just couldn't stop, you know? You were taking him down at ease. M.MA, man. Ain't nobody got good takedown defense, man. People don't know that. But you know, you hear, good takedown defense. It's a joke.

Because you probably against anybody in MMA, I'm going to take him down. You know what I'm saying? Man, the few guys like Dan Cormiye, I struggle with it, even Rashach's a shot because Rashad's athletic. And he knows good baseline defense. But for the most part, a lot of guys, they don't got good baseline D so I could take him down all day. Did he hurt you seriously at any point in the fight? No, man, except he felt like he hit me with his knuckle in my eye, you know, his thumb in my eye. But he couldn't hurt me, you know, even the kick.

My coach I hear punished me so much. You know, he's beating me up more than anybody. He came with my mama. And Danny, you know, all my trainer's beating up. and that right there all the punishment I took from them prepared me for this day Okay final question

How are you going to celebrate this victory I got after party a comment At that I'm going to go Just lay down on watch TV All right Congrats Mo Leave there it is It's back

Okay I told the Okay we're trying to figure this out All of a sudden The freaking phones in the back Just decided not to work Again it's the MMA gods It's because I spoke about me

Okay now it's back Let me know if that works who live no no don't check my mic it's good it's good just try that second number there that I just gave you

and it should work hopefully we get them just bear with me here for a second give me an update is anything going on okay hey Alex this is what I should have done

you didn't get him there right which is the the landline there Is it the 359? The 359-1? Okay, let me just do this here. This is fun. Yes?

Yes. Oh, I messed that up. Say it again? Four ones. Yes? Two, yes? Okay, I gave them that one. This is great.

We're going to get Alster. Don't worry. I believe. Apparently he's going on national television in a matter of moment. So he's squeezing us in. I appreciate that. This is our moment. mistake. Sometimes these things happen. But hopefully he's going to call right now. He is going to call

hopefully that number that you just gave me, Alex, in a matter of moments, let us all pray to the MMA gods. Perhaps this is, this is in response to, okay, this is because I think, I think I know why this happened, and I will address it with him in a matter of seconds here if we get him. Okay, we'll get him on. in a couple of seconds here. I have a feeling I know what happened here. Okay, here we go. Alistair, are you there? Alistair, reporting for duty.

I apologize. All of a sudden, you know what my theory is? I think the gods are frowning on me for the whole, you know, incident. And this was my, this was my punishment. Do you get what I'm trying to say? Arrow, it's always something with you. That is true. Okay, so I know you're very busy.

You've got to go in nine minutes. So I'm going to make this short. And congratulations. Wow, I can't imagine what that felt like last night in front of your people. Can you put it into words? Like, what was that moment like winning like that in front of your country, this culmination of so many years? Can you even verbalize how it felt after that fight in front of your people? I can't.

To be honest, I mean, the audience was fantastic. I've actually, you know, I've had a number of fights in Holland. I've had a number of fights in that arena. In fact, 12 years ago, I won my first light-handle title there for 12th annual. And I've never enjoyed a crowd as ecstatic and motivating and energetic as last night. So I have no words from it. I notice sometimes when you walk to the cage, you like to soak it in, you got a smile on your face, your hands are up. yesterday I noticed that you sort of ran to the cage.

You were very, very focused. It felt like a different, Alistair. Is that right? Like, did I get that right? I just, sometimes I see you sort of like taking it all in. But yesterday, that was not the case. You almost sprinted to the cage. Why was that?

Well, I mean, you analyzed too much, Aaron. Oh, come on. But the thing, okay, the thing was, it was just acting on impulse. I mean, the music went in overdrive, and I didn't feel like walking, the energy in the arena and the crowd was not that relaxed. It was like, let's get the show going on the road. And I just acted on impulse. That kick that you pulled off in the second round,

I mean, this is karate kid. It's something that you don't see heavyweights do. Did you practice that? Is that something that you've been working on for this particular fight? Yeah, yeah, that's true. I've actually been working for football. I mean, and the way I try,

train is, you know, you work on stuff. There's so much stuff that I work on. There's so much more. And when the right opportunity presents itself, it comes up. And, you know, I don't really think about it. It just happens. And, man, as this happened, followed with a left hook that connects with it. That's sending a lot of it to the cameras.

It's just reacting. I'm not really thinking about it. Because when you think you're too slow, I'm just reacting to the situation. It was beautiful, the way you pulled it off. I know you were very happy and you say you can't put it into words but on the flip side did it feel a little strange you know once it's sunk in because of who he is your teammate your coaches on the other side

like was it hard to be 100% happy with the moment because of that history between you two and the team maybe a little bit after I feel a little bit sorry for Andre I always feel kind of sorry for my opponents but at the same time you know it's a sport I try to approach as just professional as possible and just be positive about everything. I love the post-fight interview afterwards.

You asked for New York, you asked for the title shot, you said you wanted to come back to Amsterdam as champion. Have you been told by the UFC 100% you're getting the winner of Verdume-Eochic? Yeah, I think I'll get the winner. You know, when you look at the cards, when you look at the numbers, I have the best numbers to challenge for the title. So, of course, you know, you don't want to be prematureed. There's so much things that can get in the way, an injury, anything can happen, right?

It's the U-S. So I'm not going to be premature, but I do believe I hold the best cards for, I'm not going to call it the title shot because that's a shot at the title. I'm going to call it a title win because we're coming and going to get that bell. I love it. That is great. Are you hoping it's for Doom because of your history with him or Miyochic because it's a fresh matchup? I don't have a preference. If you think, if you ask who I think is going to win,

I give it 60-40-Dibredubado because I fought him twice, and he's just a very clever, slick fighter. You know, you easily underestimate him because he's not that strong and athletic. But he, you know, he's sneaky. He's got always an age up his sleeve, you know. So I expect him to come out of some sort of a surprise. And when you look at steep, steep, steep is pretty straightforward what he does. He's good at what he does.

He's aggressive. His card is good, he's strong. But I think that Purdue is going to out tomorrow. You dropped the latest episode of the Ream the night before the fight. And wow, I didn't realize how much I missed that documentary because it feels like it's been a long time since the last one. And what was so interesting about this one was you talking about your struggles. You actually thought that you were done fighting.

You had a very serious back injury. How close to retiring do you think you were? Well, I wasn't back in 2012. well. Yeah. And I've heard my lower back. You know, it was, it was like six weeks before the Bigfoot fight. And, of course, you know, the whole world was looking at this fight, the whole world

was looking at me. So I didn't want to, they're not going to cancel the fight then, you know. And maybe that would have been a better decision in hindsight 2020. But after the fight, the fight was disasters. After the fight, the physical purpose in the U.S. didn't really know how to treat my back injury. So it forced me to go back to Holland. And there, yeah, I had a lot of time to think.

Because, of course, yeah, your training is a little low. Injuries, nagging, it's hurting. You can't ready to do what you want to do. You can't really train, let alone think about the next fight. So indeed, I was very close to thinking about what I was going to do next in my life. Wow. And, yeah, yeah, this is what a lot of people don't know. Of course, they just see another 15 or 30 minutes so that you're not gone out to me in the news before that.

Of course, before the fight, I'm not going to say, I've got a back injury, and I'm not in a good chip. You know, no fighter ever is going to say that pre-fight. They're always going to say, yeah, I feel good. I'm confident. But going into that fight, of course, confidence, I kind of never lack confidence. But the back injury was real, was lingering. And it took me six months to recover from it. And right around the Travis fight, I was kind of okay again.

That's amazing. I had no idea, and I feel like I know everything about you. Speaking of which, you remember after your win over Frank Mirr, UFC 169, you said that your walkout music was very special to you and you were going to tell me one day what it meant. Can you tell me now? Well, I believe it's not that day yet. One day, but not today.

Okay, fair enough. Are you going to go back to Jackson Winklejohn now? Do you think I'll just go back to normal over there? Yeah, I think so. I think so. I have a very good relationship with the coaches. It never went bad. It never went sour. We've always held positive and good communications. We're very open about the whole situation towards each other. And now I'll have a couple weeks here in Holland before I head back. But I'll definitely be going back to Jackson. I've had a great run now for wins in a row fighting out of there. and the people coaches are great and we all get along as well as the fighters I mean the gym is stacked with all kinds of

fighters, schools, guys, all kinds of weight classes it's a great energy dad and I can't wait to get back in it Have you ever felt like this before as far as your confidence? It feels like you're on a whole other level now and fighting in front of your people kind of raises you up a little bit

like I can't imagine the high that you're on right now you've had a great career with many highs but have you ever felt like this like how you're feeling 24 hours after this fight? Well, I still need to process it because it was just yesterday. And, yeah, I can't, you know,

I need to sink in a little bit a couple of days, maybe a couple of weeks, and then I realized it more because it's so fresh. I'm still not recovered from all the, you know, you get a lot of impressions on a day like that. But when I look back on it, it wasn't beautiful, it wasn't beautiful even.

Beautiful, you see. first event in Holland and the crowd was ecstatic they're still talking about they're going to be talking about this event for a long time to come. Okay, so that's actually my last question for you because it seems like there are some markets

like UFC 93, they were in Dublin and then you saw what happened with all the Irish fighters. Do you think that tomorrow last night was the start of the sort of MMA revolution where people will talk about Alistair Overeem's win as the reason why they got into MMA and became fighters five, ten years from now? Do you get what I'm saying?

Yeah, I think that could be the case. I mean, I don't want to make things more big than they are, but I mean, I think it's safe to say that most of the country who was watching that event. It was the talk of the day. Not only me, but also Steppenstrue, and the German under me performed wonderful, you know, and there were Dutch flags all over the place,

and yeah, I could really feel that nationalistic feel in the stadium and after. Definitely, yes, I think there's going to be more fighters, more strikers, get on guys, making the crossover. And this could be the start of a whole new generation of, yeah, kick-ass strikers from the Netherlands. I love it. Congratulations, Alster. Sorry for the delay there, but I really appreciate you coming on, especially before you go on national television.

Thank you very much to Iris as well for hooking us up. That means a lot. And by the way, my friend, happy birthday. She's got your back. She's the best. I love Ira. Oh, wow. You are lucky to have her. Happy birthday to you, my friend, eight days away, right?

I'll never forget it on this show we celebrated moons ago. Hey, yes, yes, you remember. Of course. I'm impressed. Alster, for me, you mean the world. You remember something else. Yes, when you win the title, it's coming, my friend. Much love, Alster.

Thank you. Congratulations. Is that, are we good? Yes? I don't know if you're still there. Did he hang up? Okay. Oh, you got to love Alster.

A beautiful thing. Thank you very much. Oh, there's Mark. How about that? Thank you very much to Iris. Iris is the best. She works with Alster and she made that happen. For some reason, Mark, you can appreciate this.

As we now transition to Mark, who's just towering over me, all of a sudden, the phones here just, yes, they just stopped working internationally. So that was great timing with Alistair waiting before he went on national television Holland, but we got it done because of Iris. So I appreciate her very much. Do you get what I'm saying, though? Don't you kind of have the feeling when they go to these European markets for the first time? And they're not all going to be like Dublin, but you do feel like yesterday was kind of special.

Like when they goes to these markets for the first time and they put these local fighters, they always end up winning. Remember Scotland last summer? They all won. Same thing. It's weird, right? Yeah, Whiteford stands out to me from Scotland. And that was an amazing, amazing fight, amazing victory.

The fans went insane. And the same thing with Duranami yesterday. Wow. Be insane. That crowd was lit for her. Lit. Look at you. Lit.

Okay. So we have like 15, 20 minutes to answer some questions here. You've been playing the role of New York, Rick, who, by the way, I've just been told is extending his 48th honeymoon. He's having such a great time tweeting away in Hawaii that he's just going to keep going. I mean, he just says, why not now? You know, like, we've done 30 honeymoons. Let's go for 48. So I don't know if he's ever coming back, but Chuck filled in admirably. Let's see, you've done this before. What are the people talking about? You got any questions

for me? I got a few questions. Got a few questions for you. I picked some up from the comments section of our wonderful website, the non-spam comments. Yes. First one comes from Lamont 18, if both Misha Tate and Holly home win their fights announced for July, who would you rather see Rhonda fight in her return? And which of those two fights would you think sells more? Okay. It's Rhonda Hawley. And by the way, I appreciate you mentioning the person who asked the question.

This is something that Chuck, while he filled in very well, failed to do last week. so it's very kind of you to give. Don't still the man in the hat. Don't think shy. He's not even here to defend himself. That's low. Title shot. Listen, do you want me to kick you off this show?

I'll do it in a second, okay? Title on the line or not. Holly versus Rhonda is the fight that I want to see. There are still some people who say to me, they don't believe Rhonda's coming back. Now this is just like sort of pie in the sky, them, you know, hypothesizing. But I don't think she has told anyone 100,000 percent

that she is coming back in November. But if she is, Holly versus Rhonda is the fight that I want to see, and it's the fight that I think sells the most title on the line or not. Do you disagree? I don't disagree. I totally agree with you. But I don't think there is a wrong answer.

No, no. In this case, I think that either way, it's a big fight. I don't know how much, Ronda. I mean, Rhonda Holly definitely sells more. I don't think there's any debate over that, because it won't be for a title. It doesn't matter. I don't think anyone really, I mean, the people who watch that fight and who know Ronda Rousey, the casual fans, the title really is very much insignificant.

All they know is that Ronda Rousey, the unstoppable force got knocked out by this woman named Holly Holme, and they wanted to see the rematch since the end of that fight. So yes, for that reason, there's no doubt in my mind. That's the fight that sells more. By the way, what do you make of this Paige Vanzant, Ronda Rousey, quote unquote, shocking incident? What do you make of it? Come on, Mark. I know you love that stuff. I mean, if you were telling me that a fighter got upset by someone picking against them,

I would not be surprised by that because I know fighters are, they do not like when people pick against them in a fight. This was a little bit different. This was, I guess, Paige congratulating Holly Holie home for the win. Man, I don't know. I know fighters are sensitive about that kind of stuff, and I'm sure that isn't the first time this has happened in this space. So I'll wait to hear Rousey's side of the story before I opine on that.

Fair enough, fair enough. Look at you. very, very diplomatic. By the way, did you hear the Gilbert Melendez interview earlier? I did not hear it. What are you doing over there? You got nothing to do. I was working on a Scott Coker piece from the M.M.A. hour.

Okay, fair enough. Now I can't hate on you. I was just saying, I know you're, are you a Mets fan? Anyway, I was comparing it to the Andy Pettit situation who came out when he... I did hear that. I heard that. You didn't hear what he had to say, so I know you can't 100% weigh in on it, But he came out and just said, I'm sorry, I messed up.

It doesn't excuse what he did, but it does change the way I sort of feel about him now, right? I mean, instead of just making up, you get what I'm saying? Yeah, what you said about the Andy Pettit thing has always been in the traditional sports realm. That's always been like the formula for how fans perceive an athlete after they test positive. If you come out and say, hey, I'm sorry, I messed up, it won't happen again. In most cases, that kind of thing is forgotten about almost, not completely, but it's not as bad as someone like Raphael Palmero, who still to this day, even after being in front of Congress, has been adamant that he never took anything. So, yeah, I think when you look at both guys' careers, Andy Petit and Raphael Palmero. Pomerro is a guy that was like a Hall of Fame quality player, but he'll always have that black mark on him.

meanwhile, Petit, because he was so forthright and because he apologized, he's still revered, you know, by fans. Yes, I agree. So I give him respect for doing that. I think, uh, definitely. Yeah. All right. Okay, what else you got? All right. From the James Glory, Cyborg is coming. How excited are you about Chris Cyborg finally coming to the UFC? what happens next if she is victorious against Leslie Smith? Does she jump from Invicted to the UFC back to Invictive back to the UFC? Or is this just a one-time thing in the UFC? What do you think? It should be from here on out her fighting in the UFC.

The UFC, and I know you appreciate this, is starting to loosen up the collar a little bit and just saying, look, we want fun fights. Joanne Calderwood versus Valerie Lutu. No. Cyborg can't make 145, or 135, I should say. we don't have a 145 division, let's have a fight at 140. There will be a long list of people who want a fighter, including the champion,

Misha Tate. This is the way to go, and I'm happy they finally came to their senses on this. I completely agree, although I will say this. I will say that I don't know how many fights per year the UFC is going to give Cyborg because she will be treated as a special attraction. There will not be a 145-pound division. I'm almost positive of that. So I would not object to her in that meantime going down to Invicta and defending the title.

It's not that big of a deal. She's still under Zupa contract. There's still that strong bond from a business side between UFC and Invicta. So if the UFC is only going to be able to give Cyborg one fight or two fights a year, there's no harm in her going back to Invictin, defending that 145-pound title once or twice. So they pay her. Let her make as much money as she possibly can. Yeah, but the UFC's not making any money off of that.

And I know Invicta's on fight pass Keeps her active It helps Exactly They're on fight pass No It keeps her in the public eye

To have a comeback And And fighting in for the UFC Have her fight three times in the UFC Have her fight three times in the UFC There's no one for her to fight I won 45 in Invicta Who are the opponents though

You know Do the opponents matter I mean I know I know someone like Jermaine Derryandami would be A fantastic second fight for her If she were to beat Leslie Smith next week or this weekend coming up.

Yeah. Yeah, so why not? Do it. I'm just saying if, I'm just saying if the UFC can't give her more than a fight or two fights a year, I have no problem with her going back down to Invicta, defending the title there and staying after. Just for her sake so she can make as much money as she can. She's getting paid the UFC paycheck either way.

Sure. Although I think they want to capitalize off of it and they don't, I know it's on fight pass, but it's not the same. I feel like when we're, Invicta is in this weird spot when I, comes to these situations. Like Angela Hill winning the belt is kind of a good thing because people know who she is, but I actually think it's kind of a bad thing for Invicta because Susa was, she was a non-UFC cast-off, if you will.

And you know what I mean? Like this sort of feels like, okay, someone who couldn't hang in the UFC is now going down to win the belt. You know, I don't know. It's, they can't shed this sort of minor league label that they have on them now because the UFC took all their good fighters at 115 and 135. to a degree. Well, I do think it's unfair to say that Angela Hill couldn't hang in the UFC.

No, no, no, no, just because they got cut. Just because she got cut. That's the perception. Yeah, I mean, yes, you did get cut after losing the Rosamah Unis and Tisha Torres. You know, wow. But that's the perception. Sure, I do agree with you to a degree, but on the other hand, Angela Hill is someone who's very marketable, in my opinion, and who Invicta can kind of build around in a sense.

She's someone that people like and people follow on social media and she has that great personality. Yes. I think it's ultimately, it was ultimately a win-win for them. Fair enough. I do think the UFC sort of botched Angela Hill. I thought they pushed her too fast. I mean, Rose, Tisha, Carla in the Ultimate Fighter. Well, that was, um, yes.

Because it was a seeded thing. And that was, I mean, if you want to do the number one seed against number 16 seed, yes, that is that is the fight. because Asparza was the Invicted champion. Hill was the least known and the least experience. So that did make sense in that case. But then to have her fight, Rose and Tisha, you know, after beating Emily Kagan and not giving her like another chance to beat someone maybe not in the top of teen or someone the bottom of the top of team was unfair.

Okay, what else you got? Speaking of Invicta, thoughts on Tanya Evinger puking after her title victory and then kissing Laura Sanko, this comes from Ed Bears from MMAfighting.com's comments section. I saw some people, like, upset about this, saying that if a man did this, it would be considered assault. But the comparison is off because it would have to be like if Ben Rothwell kissed John Anick. That's the comparison, right? It's not if Ben Rothwell kissed Laura Sanko. Obviously, that's inappropriate.

If Ben Rothwell kissed John Anick, no one would call that assault. They would say it's funny the same way I thought this was funny. I was not offended by this at all. It's crazy. I had mixed feelings about the whole thing when it happened. I didn't know what to really think. I mean, I was kind of stunned by the situation. I compared it to Joe Namath.

You remember that? Of course. Susie Culber. Susie Culber was interviewing a few years ago, and Joe Namath was just, he just seemed so drunk and out of it. And he said during the interview, I want to kiss you. He kind of leaned in his Susie Colber. So awkward. This was not as awkward. It was kind of funny, but it was funny, but I didn't know what to think.

But I will say one thing. On the broadcast, Julie Kedzi, the UFC in victim matchmaker and color commentator, for a spur of the moment, she could not have handled it any better. She said, fighters, don't do this. Just don't do it. They're friends. Just don't do it. And that's the best way she could have handled it because there really was nothing else to say.

I mean, it was perfect. I think Laura Sanko is great at her job and she brings something different to that position because she has fought before. In fact, I have told the good people over at Fox and UFC. in the past that they should actually consider hiring her for that position. I think she does a fantastic job as the sort of backstage reporter. I don't know about in cage because they use Rogan and Anick to do that. But I think that they should seriously look at her for that.

And especially there's that synergy now with Fight Pass. I will make one distinction, though, between the Colber incident and this one. Colbert backed off. It did seem like Sanco opened mouth there for a second. Was it not evident that she did that? That was a little... Am I wrong here? No, I thought she opened mouth there.

I got nothing. It was very strange. But she's great. And they posted pictures afterwards. They were hugging. They're friends. Relax everyone. Don't get so offended.

They are friends. They both have roots in the Kansas City area and they know each other for a long time. There you go. What else you got? From S.N. Stiles, fighting teammates. Should fighters be forced to fight with their teammates or friends? In what cases should that be the case?

additionally, teammates or especially to fight at some point, wouldn't that create issues for them to share all their techniques and knowledge during training camp? Well, the Overey-Marlowski thing was certainly awkward for all. Some of the coaches who weren't there even told me that they went to watch a movie yesterday. They just wanted no part of it. And I know Greg Jackson hated it and was happy when it was all over. I don't think the UFC can ever force anyone to fight anyone. Maybe it gets a little interesting when you're the champion

and there's a number one contender and you have to make it happen. but in the history of the UFC, you haven't really seen situations like this. That's why I was kind of surprised more wasn't made of it. Yeah, Arlofsky and Overeem aren't long-time best friends, but, I mean, they were both training at the same gym for the fight. Crazy. So I don't think, look, if I'm a guy who, you know, like Fitch and Kosteck,

that was a little different. These guys came up together. They were part of the name. They wanted to know part of it. But most fighters have said if it's for the belt and if it's for a lot of money, I'll do it. Otherwise, I'm not that interested. And I can't say I disagree.

Yeah, I'm totally with you. And to that point, how many, it's happened a few times in the history of MMA where teammates with each other, but how many times have they trained at the same gym at their training camp in the same place for that fight? That's a very rare thing. I think, I agree. I don't think this is something that if fighters don't want to do it, they shouldn't have to do it.

I mean, if they want to do it, they can do it. I mean, I think it's really up to them. I think it's a case-by-case basis every single time. I don't think there's any hard and fast rule for this kind of thing. I really think it's just up to, you know, every situation is different. Every training camp is different. Every fighter is different. So I think I think that's how it goes.

I think that there have been cases in the past where people would go back and change what they did. I think Rashad Evans is one of those guys. I think Rashad wishes things happen differently between him and John Jones. Yes. I talked to me about this in the past. And not saying that he would do things differently 100%, but he just wishes things had been different. and maybe he does wish that, you know, he had said something different or he had done something different.

But I think that those are actually, those are the cases in a lot of cases like this where, you know, it's not something that guys want to do. They shouldn't have to do it. Best fight on the 198 card. Best fight on the 198 card. Well, I actually have a question about a good fight on a 198 card if you want to say a way. I want your answer. I want your answer. What's the best fight?

What? What's the fight you're most looking forward to? Well, when you say, oh, the fight, okay, because those are two different things. Really? Yeah, I think so. Okay, give me both answers. Okay, so I personally, I actually might be looking forward to the most, the Cyborg fight against Leslie Smith, because I think that. Yeah, I get it. The cyber war coming into the UFC is the first time.

This is the fight that she really wanted. It's in her hometown. Leslie Smith is someone that, A, you can never count her out. I mean, there may not be a tougher person than Leslie Smith. She had her ear almost torn off in a fight and wanted to keep going. We saw it that night in Mexico City. Oh, yeah. It was really bad.

That was before you joined the good team. That was on the cusp of me coming to MMA fighting. So, yeah, I think I'm excited for that fight because Lebsman is not going to back down. That's going to be a war. That's going to be a battle. As far as the best fight, I still have to say it's the main event. It's the heavyweight fight. I think that's a great fight.

It's certainly the most relevant fight. So I think that's the best fight. Verdume Miotchich is a very, very high-level, good, heavyweight fight. It does really feel like it's like Brazil versus the world. That's another fun thing about this card. And it's not just like any Brazil fighters versus the world. It's the freaking legends, you know? It's Anderson Silva.

It's Verdum. It's kind of weird. The Jacare-Belfort fight is on this one because that feels like Civil War among all this other stuff. But that's a great fight as well. What was the question you wanted to ask about 198? It was actually a question about another fight that you did not mention. Anderson Silver versus Jariah Hall. What do you make about this matchup?

For me, it doesn't sound like a smart move by Anderson's manager. I don't mean a fight-wise, even though I find Yerai Hall way too dangerous for this elusive Anderson-Silva style. Well, I love this fight. Skills that kills. Basically asking what's the take, you know, from a business perspective, from both sides. Is it a smart fight for Anderson's still going to take? Yeah, well, it gets him on the Curry-Tibacard. It gets, you know, he's lost.

He hasn't won in a while. He's coming off a loss. I know it was a close one. You know, take a little step down. He's getting older. Stylistically, it's fun. Hall has always, you know, aspired. You know, he's called him his idol and things like that.

Big aspirations coming off the ultimate fighter, and he's had his ups and downs. I love that they're doing this. They don't, I mean, it's not Shogunhua versus Corey Anderson, because that feels like, I don't know, it almost feels like we're approaching the end of the road for a Shogun, and Corey hasn't quite, Corey's doing well in the UFC,

but he hasn't had his moments like Yariah? I don't know if I'm even verbalizing this the right way, but Joe Silva likes to make fights sometimes older guys versus younger guys to prop up the younger guy. I don't actually think this is the case with this fight. I just think it's just a great fight on paper. It gets Anderson on the card on relatively short notice. Uriah Hall gets to fight a guy that he's emulated and looked up to, what's not to like?

I don't get it. I could see how it could be a dangerous fight from Silva's perspective because Uriah Hall is not. I mean, if you look at everyone that Silva has faced in the past X amount of years, they've all been headline guys, well-known names. Uriah Hall is not quite at that level. He's never headlined anything in his life. But to that point, he's never headlined. He's not as popular. but he's extremely, extremely dangerous.

So I think in that case, I could see why people would think that it could be a dangerous fight for Silva. I think it's a dangerous fight for Silva. But I think that's why I like it. I think that it is a dangerous fight. And I think it's just really cool. Who the hell knows what's going to happen with that fight? I can't even predict.

Uriah Hall is one of those guys where you just never know. I mean, the way that he knocked out Gagar Mousasi, after getting completely dominated in the first round, comes back with like a video game, you know, street fighter moral combat finish, Anderson Silva is a guy that has highlights like that in his career. This fight could potentially be like just ridiculous. And I think it's just a fun fight. I think it doesn't matter who went. To me, it doesn't matter who wins, doesn't matter who loses. I think it matters who loses. If Anderson Silva loses to Uriah Hall, especially in

spectacular fashion, now we know where Anderson is at. We know his ceiling at this point. You know, so this is actually, there's a, it's a litmus test. You know, can your eye get over the hump on a big stage will the mental side of the game he's going to be fighting him sort of 45,000 people who are all going against them so I love this fight I love everything about this card really do Mark you did a great job I'm sorry to cut it short but we got to go we go from one of the shortest people I know to one of the tallest people I know how about that how about that actually someone asked me a great question here before we go who comes back first George St. Pierre in New York Rick right now I'm siding with GSP but if he doesn't come back

we'll come back to you, Mark. I appreciate it very much. Thank you for stopping by. And in all honesty, great to hear that you're feeling better, my man. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Okay, there he is.

Mark Remundi, stopping by, asking us some questions. Let's move along now to a man who had a great night last night in Rotterdam. Fantastic win against Bigfoot Silva. Kind enough to join us right now. Stefan Strove on the line. Stefan, how are you?

I'm doing great, of course. After that amazing night, last night, you know not just the win but the entire atmosphere in the arena yeah it was just a perfect night does it almost here we are you know

almost exactly 24 hours later does it still kind of like does it feel like a dream like this didn't really happen to win like that in front of your home country does it feel that way like it's not real um to be honest with you not really the entire atmosphere

and that's still like I'm still trying to figure out what that all, you know, whatever, everything was that happened. That was incredible. The knockout, I felt it coming. I felt so good in a locker room. This training camp was absolutely amazing.

The trainers asked for a lot more aggression, and that was there just entire training camp. And I felt so good warming up, and I knew it was going to happen. And then, you know, you get a reception like that from the crowd that just makes it complete. Absolutely amazing. It seemed like people had high expectations for this card,

but not quite that high. They didn't think that the crowd would be that enthusiastic, that crazy. It seemed like a fantastic one of the best in recent UFCs. Were you expecting that from your people? Dutch crowds are difficult. You never know what you get. This was absolutely amazing. The chance, the way the arena exploded when the Dutch fighters won our walkouts,

everything like they were just part of my win is thanks to them for sure I got I felt so great it was absolutely amazing that that's interesting that you say I was just going to ask you do you feel like they actually raised your your performance like they made you into a better fighter yesterday um they definitely you know I was in a locker room and I was watching uh German uh fighting and I heard the crowd going crazy and everything and at that point I was like, you know, it's impossible to lose. In 30 minutes, you're going to be there in your hands. It's going to be raised.

It's impossible to lose. Just, you know, go out there and you'll get this as your reward. And I got it. Amazing. Beautiful. I mean, just couldn't be happier for you, considering everything you have been through. And you talked about that afterwards the past three years. Certainly one night, 16 seconds, doesn't erase all of that.

But you kind of feel like, now it all starts over again, like your career, this is the beginning of that next chapter. Finally, you can kind of move on. Does it feel like that at all? For me, I already found that in this training camp. Okay. I was trying to refine myself in the gym, and I really did that at this training camp. And, you know, if you have a great training camp, it's going to translate to the fight, and that's what happened. Of course, you need to get the result, and everybody saw the emotion after it was gone.

and it's not even you know, in the fight with Bigfoot Of course they'll, you know, bring some emotion up too, but just like leaving those years behind me and finally getting the finish again after, you know, my last finish win against Deep Miosich. I was really looking for a big win like this

and then, yeah, when it finally happens, a lot of emotions come out. What was different about this training camp? What changed? You know what? I just said. The trainers wanted to see a lot. lot more aggression. Because in the last few training camps, I was doing my thing. But when I would have guys up against the wall or in a bad spot, I wouldn't really follow up and finish. I was too

nice. And this training camp, I wasn't nice. So, wow. I think that's a big difference. You know, I've been with the Lexarians for about 15 months now. And of course, you make the switch. And you cannot expect to see immediate results when you switch gym. You know, it takes a little while to implement the things you get from your trainers. And, you know, it takes probably like me, I think it will be like a year or something after you really see a big difference. And, you know, I've been with them for like 15 months. Even in this short of a fight, I saw a couple things that really liked and that we really worked on a lot.

So, yeah, that's just great. You seemed bigger than usual, more muscular, like your body's really filling out. Is that accurate? Do you feel that way? Yeah, for sure. I walk around at 280 now. Wow. And I'm watching my diet really good because I don't want to blow up and lose speed or, you know, be losing cardio because my cardio is absolutely great right now.

You know, I'm 28 now. Everybody has seen me fight when I was very young. young, especially for a heavyweight. And I'm finally starting to really, you know, turn into the force. Everybody's always been talking about. And I see and I know what I can do. I show that every single day in the gym now. And, you know, I just can't wait to put the gutter on streak now.

I think everybody will forget about the road show fight like this. In my opinion, that was a fight I really gave away. It should have been three wins in a row right now. And I would have been way of higher in the rankings then. But, you know, I know what I can do. I got trainers who believe in me. I got a team around me who believe in me. That's all I need.

You know, the results will follow. Yeah, I remember seeing you at that fight and after that fight, and obviously you were frustrated and disappointed. Have you ever felt like that? I mean, that just fight just felt like it never got going. It was just, you know. Yeah, no, you know, I had a bad night. I just didn't feel the fight,

and then he didn't really want to fight, which you can't blame him. for. He just wanted to wrestle and run. And it just made for a really bad fight. In my opinion, you know, I didn't do enough, you know, absolutely I don't want to blame it on anybody else. It was just a horrible fight for my side. But it also showed me that, you know, I had a lot to work on for my wrestling. He took advantage of that. And I'm, you know, I'm working so hard filling in all those holes right now with the black zones. I just can't wait to see what's next and put together a streak again.

That 16-second fight, there's so much happened there with him rushing you and the short right, I believe it was, in some uppercuts, then the knee to the solar plexes and the elbows. At what point did you know you had him? I felt the right hand connected perfectly, and that's one of the drills we do so much in the gym. Wow. It's a one, two, sorry? No, I just said, wow, that's great. Yeah, no, it's a one, two, followed up by an uppercut and then a knee.

And this was a one, two followed by two uppercuts in the knee. Wow. And you finish, you finish from there. You see where he ends and you work from there. What I really liked also is then when he fell against me, he went down for my legs, I sprawled on him, and that's why my butt didn't get on the floor. I got on my knees and got in a perfect precision to elbow. And, you know, that was a fight.

So even in that, you know, 16-second fight, there were so many good things for me to pick out. So that's just a great feeling. The only thing is, because it was such a short fight, I feel like I maybe wanted to show more of what I did in the gym. Yeah. You know, more of my distance, my jab and my teeth. But, you know, more opportunities will come for that.

That was actually my next question. Is it hard? Like after you're, you know, when you're in a 15-minute fight or 10-minute fight, you're obviously exhausted. Here it was 16 seconds. When you go back to the locker room, there's so much emotion and adrenaline. How do you come down from that? Because you didn't get that release because the fight was so short. Was it hard to come down?

Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, I tried to get some of that adrenaline out directly after by yelling and screaming and hitting the mat a little bit. hitting the mat a little bit, but I barely slept tonight. I was really tired after fight week because you're so focused. It takes a lot of energy, but it took me about six hours to fall asleep, and I fell asleep at like five or six in the morning, and I woke up at eight. Wow. Not a good night.

It's because of the adrenaline probably, but I'll sleep great tonight. Yeah, of course, and it's a good problem because you're happy because of the win. Do you feel, and I know this is a tough question, but he's taken, some big shots. How do you feel about him continuing to fight? He said he wants to keep fighting. Do you feel like the chin has gone away? Do you think it's better for him to not fight?

What can you say about that? I think that's his decision to take. Yeah. This is the everywhere division of the UFC, and I've heard those things. I got those questions, too, in the past. You know, I got a couple knockout losses. I think people, of course,

you need to think about it when you get knocked out in four the last five fights. But I think people make too much big of a deal out of knockouts on then. Because with the small gloves and especially in the heavywood division, if you get clipped, you go down and there's a referee for the fighter safety. There's fighters in Holland who fight every week or every two weeks and get eight counts here and there and they continue to fight. And they're all doing fine.

You know, I'm not saying that, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's, um, it's a great thing for you. Oh, but, you know, we're fighters. And Bigfoot is a fighter, and he chose his profession. And it's not always sunshine, you know? And I really know that from the last few years. It's his decision to make, and I think that nobody else should, you know, have any taking that.

Of course, his camp should advise him and then think with him, but it's his decision. Fair enough, and I respect that. What's it like for you, Stefan, to sort of come to terms with the fact that in five days, Stepe Miyocic might be the heavyweight champion. You gave him a loss, and this guy could be the champ. Does that give you motivation? Does that let you know that, yeah, you may have had ups and downs, but you know, you beat this guy? Not that long ago.

How do you feel about the whole scenario? And will you be watching as well? I'll be watching. Steepa is a great fighter, a great person, and I think he's going to win. I think he's got the skills I think he's going to get the belt And yeah It's not too long ago that I beat him

And for me Everything kind of fell apart after that fight But Everybody knows I had a really serious issue To do it at that point So it was very hard to Perform to my fullest

Especially in the fight after that Against Mark Hunt Where my heart issue was that is worse So you know I know why I didn't perform in the fights after that. And especially coming back, you know, that was so hard to really fully come back mentally. At times I just wanted to quit,

but I told myself to go through and buy true. And I knew the moment that, you know, was yesterday, it was going to come. And now, you know, now I was here. And it all paid off to, you know, just keep going and keep going. Were any of your family members at the fight yesterday? Yeah, my mom and my brother and my girlfriend and her mother were front row. Wow.

So that was absolutely great. And my mother obviously was very emotional after the fight, and she called it the best Mother's Day gift. Yeah. The son could ever give, so that was absolutely amazing. I can't imagine what it was like. Is Mother's Day a big thing over there in Holland? Yeah.

You know, we do it all the time. I didn't really have time to do much other than, you know, give her a knockout win yesterday, but I made sure to take her out for dinner today. That's great. Very memorable. Two last things I want to ask you about. Have you even started to think, or do you have an idea as to who you'd like to fight next? Do you have a timeline? What are you thinking right now?

I know it's fresh, but anything comes to mind? You know, a couple of good fights in the every division are coming up. For me, I need to get my hand left. at that right now so I can start looking at guys, but I have had some issues with my right hand for the last year. Every single fight, after the fight, it's used, it swells up, there's something wrong. I don't think it's a big thing, but it needs to get fixed because now I knocked them out in 16 seconds, but the way my hand is looking right now, if the fight would have gone longer,

it could have given me trouble. Oh, wow. I need to get that fixed. Okay. And, you know, we'll see what happens in the division. And I'll make sure that in a couple months I'll be ready to go and get another win. And finally, I mean, I really have to give you a lot of credit for what you said about your teammate and friend, Jordan Parsons, and wearing the band.

It really says a lot about you that you were doing that. To find out that news, the week of the fight with everything going on in your mind, I mean, how did you deal with it all? How are you able to keep focus? and I know you probably wanted to be back in Florida with your teammates and I mean, it's just a horrendous tragedy yet I don't even know what to say

and it seems like, and you can speak on this, he seemed like such an amazing person just going through his social media, how positive he was, how were you able to remain focused on the fight? It was a roller coaster, man. I flew out on Friday and then on Sunday

I got the news that he got hit by a car And, you know, I didn't get a ton of info, so I didn't know at that point how bad it was. And they told me that they had to amputate the leg. And, you know, that's horrible, but there's life after fighting. So if I would have to make the choice between, you know, passing away or getting my leg amputated, you know, there's more things than fighting. And, you know, it will be horrible. But, you know, it got worse and worse, you know, as the days when you're, you know, as the days when you're going to be horrible. as the days went by

and I tell myself trying not to think about it too much because you need to do your job and you just trained to win this fight for about four months so you cannot have this influence your performance you know and I was thinking

if I could do something and you know then my wrestling coach Greg Jones flew in and we were talking and we decided to to you know pay a trip tribute to this way. And, you know, I think everybody appreciated that.

And I heard his mother. I really appreciated that. So, you know, I'm happy he was able to do something like that for him because he really was an amazing person. There's great energy every day, man. I still can't believe it. I live a little further from the gym than most guys. He lives in a house pretty close to the gym.

and I would see him walk to the gym every morning, and it's going to be so weird to go to Florida, drive to the gym, and not see him there. I just can't imagine that, you know? Well, again, my condolences to you and the team, just a horrible thing, and, you know, there's nothing more to say, but I thought what you did was really kind,

so I'm sure his family appreciated that. Stefan, thank you very much for the time. I know it's hectic there, and late as well. So thank you very much. I appreciate it. And again, congratulations. A beautiful moment for you and your family and your country. It was great to watch.

And I hope that you're able to enjoy it and looking forward to your next fight. For sure, man. Thanks for having me on the show. Pleasure as always. There he is, Stefan Struz stopping by. Fantastic win over Bigfoot Silva, a 16-second win. I think initially they said 15 seconds. 16 seconds is the official time.

What does it matter? You can't script it better than that. for Stefan Strouve. After the passing of his father, the issue with his heart, the ups and downs. I mean, this man has been through a hell of a lot over the last three years, really dating back to that fight against Steppe Miochich. And now here he is coming off that win. And five days from now, Miochich can be the UFC heavyweight champion.

It's amazing how things turn out. And if that happens, what do you make of Stefan Strouve? Interesting times. Okay. Final guest. We got one more guest to go today on a jammer. impact show. It's been a lot of fun. And you know, there's, there's often a lot of crazy things happening in the world of MMA. There's, there's highs and lows, there's ups and downs. It's, it's a roller coaster.

But one constant is the positivity that just oozes out of Roxanne Monteferry. I mean, this person, if you've ever met her at any point, at any juncture, she's the exact same, always positive, always a ray of sunshine, always a joy to be around. And I thought it would just be nice to end today's show with a little Roxanne because you can never have enough Roxanne Modifery in your life. And there she is, the one and only Roxanne Mottifery. How are you, Roxanne? Hi, Ariel. I'm great. Thanks for having me on your show. Oh, it is a pleasure as always. Where are you right now? I am at Syndicate. I just finished training and I'm using my selfie stick on my phone on Skype. Wow. Because I really want to talk to you. Yes, I think this is a first. Okay. So we have a lot. Yes, the

selfie stick, I think, is definitely a first for us. Okay, so a lot going on in your life, as always, Roxanne, but this is what I wanted to start off with. You have written a book, another book. I have a book there it is. Yes, how to be positive. I have a book as well, although I'm so dumb, I forgot it at home, but I did buy it. You know this, and I asked for your autograph in it as well, but I forgot it at home. It's great. And you see the, you see the picture right there. We have the cover on the show if you're watching it. It's called How to Beauter, be positive mental training by Roxanne Modifery the happy warrior i do have your fan right over here you see it right there there it is um okay how to be positive i mean how can can you write like

how do you write a book on that where did this come from why did you write this book explain to us well i really embraced my nickname of the happy warrior and i always try to think of something positive I always try to turn, you know, everything around to be positive no matter what it is. And I was thinking, finally, like, how do I do that? I've learned so much from my mom. She has all these little phrases that she uses. So I thought it would be cool to organize the way I do that into a book. So I made 10 chapters, and I made each chapter having one theme to read them really quick.

Chapter one, our thoughts affect our emotions. Chapter two, a sliver of moonlight. You can still see. Chapter three, be grateful. Chapter 4. Focus on the silver lining. Chapter 5. Don't reinforce negativity. Smile and carry on. Chapter 6. Do the most you can in your situation. Set goals. Chapter 7. Be excited about everything.

Chapter 8. Try to understand other people. Chapter 9. Rules for behavior. And chapter 10. Readjust your expectations. So I give an explanation about these themes. And then I give examples like this bad thing happened. to now use this key sprays and try to turn it around. And I ask the readers to give an example. So it kind of makes the reader, you know, use their brain and think about these. So it's kind of like train your mind to be positive.

So that's what I've been doing. So I've known you for quite some time. You've always been this way. You're very consistent. You practice what you preach, but why write the book? Like what prompted you to say, you know what? I want to put this out there for other people. And part of embracing the happy warrior, one thing I really love about kind of being a public figure is that people hear me and people hear my words and listen to me.

And I feel like it's part of my mission in life to spread positivity to everybody who can listen. So what better way than write a book and really help people think more positively? Have you always been this way? Was there ever a time when Roxanne Madaferry was like a, you know, like this dark and disturbed devil worshiper? Did you ever have that period or were you always like this? Well, I did enter a phase where I like to read horror books when I was a teenage but I think I've always been positive. Not quite what I had in mind.

Where does that come from? Like, was that your mom? Was that your upbringing? Why have you always been positive? Because I'm not a very positive person all the time. I'm working on it, to be honest. And your book has helped me with some of those things. Oh, thank you.

Yes, it's great. But how are you? Yeah, my mom. It's your mom. Wow. I think my mom, every time I complained about something, I said, oh, this happened, blah, blah, blah. My mom always said some positive thing. She always was like, well, at least, or, well, the bright side is or something.

So she always counts her in some negative thing I said with a positive thing. Always. Okay, but what's your kryptonite, though? Like, is there ever anything that really pisses you off, like where the mean Roxanne comes out? Is there something out there that really gets under your skin? Yes. What? When people sing the Roxanne song by the police.

Wow. that's it. Yeah, I probably shouldn't have said that, but that. Oh my gosh. Now I really want to sing it. I probably won't talk to you again then if you do. Okay. And then,

crap, those are the other one. I forgot. You forgot? It must really bother you. Yeah. So when someone sings that song, how mad do you actually get? Really mad.

Really? Geez. That's crazy. Well, I don't know. Like, come on, it's about a prostitute. It's not like, you know, I'm not that person. Did your parents, were you named after, like it's a very famous song. Any relation between the song and the name?

Well, no. So my mom was worried about people teasing me about that song. But Roxanne is also a famous name in the fact that the famous play, see or no, the Bergerac. She was the heroine that the guy was in love with. So he wrote for poetry. Also, the wife of Alexander the Great. This name was Roxanne.

Oh, yes. So there's other famous, positive Roxanne people. But I like the name in general. When you were a kid, like people say this to you, would you just beat them up? Like, would you just unleash hell? I would glare at them and then walk away. Oh, my. Same as now.

Damn. All right. That is very interesting. I did not know that about you. So what kind of feedback are you getting for the book? Because this has nothing to do with your career, right? You wrote a book about your career. But this is really like a self-help book.

Are you getting good feedback? I am, I am. I wish that I had more of like distribution, like people know more about it, you know. I'm pretty much just advertising it on my Facebook and Twitter. But yeah, I've gotten really good feedback. A lot of people have, you know, come into that it's helped them. And, you know, that's what I really want. I want people to be out in the street and then something pisses them off. And then they think like, all right, well, I should think of it this way. Like that book I was reading. That would be really cool to me. That's a lot. That would be really cool to me. That's a lot. like my goal for that. Well, let me tell people where they can get the book. It's Roxanne Modafari, 2-F-S-1-R-M-O-D-A-F-E-R-I dot net. And then if you go there, it's very easy to find the book. I won't give the entire address. If you want the entire address, here it is, slash our site, the letter R-Sight slash N-O-D-E-E-S-8. But if you just go to your website, you can find it. You know what I was happy to see? I was happy to see that you're still keeping up with that blog of yours. I feel like you've had that blog since like the MySpace days.

And it still looks the same. It's unbelievable. Yeah, I love it. That's fun. It's very detailed, by the way. I don't know if you've noticed this, but your blog is very detailed. It's really like a blow-by-blow each and every day. You did get pissed off at a lady who tried to rent you the wrong kind of van. You just moved recently. So I got to see, I was like, wow, we're really getting into this. Roxanne got mad at someone. It looked like you want to. to throw down? I really did. It was totally unfair.

I was really mad and a lot of things are stressing me out. So I have a breaking point for sure. Well, I suggest reading that blog and then getting the book. If you like me are a glass half-empty kind of person, this can help you very much. Now let's talk about your career. You're at Syndicate. You've been doing great as of late. You've won four or five, two in a row.

You were asking for the title shot after your last win. Are you going to get it? I hope so. I'm not allowed to say anything yet. talks with Invicta. Very exciting news should be coming up soon, so stay tuned. Oh. Yes.

Wow. When would you like the fight again? As soon as possible. Hopefully the next event. Okay. How do you feel about the state of that division in Invicta? Where's Barb Honchak these days? Are they going to just make it a real title?

Interim title? Where is she? Do you have any idea? I have no idea. And she's not active on social media, so I can't social media stalk her as I can most of my other opponents. do you do that? Are you that kind of fighter? Well, you know, I like social media and I can like, oh, where is this person today? Let's check Facebook.

Yes, that is interesting. Yeah, I don't know Barb Hancock. So if you do fight for the belt, will it be the interim belt or the real belt? That remains seen. All right, all right. I'm guessing probably the interim because, you know, no one said anything about Barb Hancock, although I really want to fight her simply for the fact that, you know, I want to fight her. You know, she beat me before, so I want to prove to the world that I can win. So like I said, whatever.

So you're in Vegas. The state of the division is awesome. It is awesome. So many tough people, really smoking. Smokin. Yeah. But it does feel like without the champion being there, it's kind of stagnated a little bit, no? I personally see Jennifer Mai as the champion.

Okay. Barb Hanczak hasn't fought in like a year and a half. Yeah. So she should pretty much, I'm going to just not say anything about that. Fair enough. Fair enough. You know, I think whoever has the best. is the champion.

I can see that that feciness coming out. Does a part of you considering how good you're doing now, and you've connected with your coach and the other coaches there, John Wood in particular, does a part of you almost wish that you moved to, you moved back to the States and Vegas in particular earlier and you stayed in Japan a little too long? Yeah.

Yeah. Do you regret that? I had no way of knowing. I would have had no way of knowing that until I came to the ultimate fighter. how it happened is how it was meant to happen. Yeah. If I came back, I might have joined another gym. Like, it just so happened.

Everything fell into place with how I came back for the ultimate fighter and stuff like that. It's amazing. Obviously, the ultimate fighter thing didn't work out, but in a weird way, it did work out for you, right? I mean, that was the catalyst for this revival that you're now experiencing. Yeah. It really changed my life, and I knew it. That win to get in the house is, like, most important win in my career, I think. And also, you beat Valerie Loutourneau, who's doing great things in the UFC.

Do you follow her? Like, you kind of hope that she keeps doing better because that's the feather in your cap as far as the UFC is concerned? Not really. I've always felt, excuse me, kind of like I hope she does well and I hope she gets more opportunities because I got so much good exposure from beating her. You know, as I like to say, you know, we step on other people's dreams to reach our own. I stepped on her, so I'm glad that she was able to, you know, come back and do some good things in UFC. But I hope to, you know, do some good things in my career, too. What is it about that, Jim, and the connection that you have?

have with the coaches that has produced this new Roxanne Monteferry? The coaches here at Syndicate, especially John Wood, have this really great ability to find what I'm good at and kind of build what they want me to learn around that. So, like, I'm not such a good natural striker, but he's been able to, like, add techniques to my striking game that have helped me elevate my striking game, you know, help me stay awkward and, you know, just built things around me. And just the way he explained stuff is great. and I have a great team, a lot of lightweight fighters here.

Our team's growing even now. We have a bunch of females who joined the gym and really good female team. You know, we've had people visiting from England and places just to train with us for extended periods of time. So that's pretty cool. There are a lot of gyms in Vegas. Why did you choose that one? I had visited a few, and I joined it because I took part in John's class. Okay.

Yeah. Just the way he explains stuff, it was. was so cool and I just got it suddenly. Like, this one. And I said, could you be my coach? Wow. So, just like that. Pretty much him. It's amazing. You've been doing this for 13 years now.

You're approaching your 13 year anniversary and you've outlasted a lot of the other women that were a part of women. The pioneers, truly pioneers, that is what you are in this sport. A, did you expect to be doing this for so long? And how many more years do you want to do this for? There was a point when I was still was in Japan that I thought maybe I'm going to retire soon because my body's always hurting and I feel beat up and this really sucks. But then I came to Vegas and I found like a great chirofactor in masseuse and my training changed and I felt so great. So right now my left two fights, my body's never felt well probably has felt better when I was younger.

But recently, you know, I've been feeling really good in and shape. And I don't know, man, as long as my body will hold up and it's looking pretty good right now. I mean, not like my body's looking good, but I feel pretty good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. So no end in sight. You haven't put, you haven't said like 35, I'm done. You're just going to keep going. Yep.

Wow. What a story. I've never like, I've had a lot of wars, but I've never like really gotten smashed and bloodied and, you know, like horribly crushed. So, I mean, I guess. Is there one opponent left after all these years that you haven't fought that you'd love to fight? I think just rematches pretty much. Just rematch it. What's the top one?

Is it Barb? It's Barb and also Hashi Takayo. She's in Japan. You know, I fought her before and I lost, and I was really bummed because she was like a rival of mine. But I don't know. She hasn't fought in a while. I don't know if she's still fighting or what. Why was she a rival?

Because we went to the same gym. Oh. And I felt like people or, you know, my teammates were always kind of like coaching her off to the side. I was a foreigner, and then it was just kind of cool. Like, some days she beat me in training, because I beat her in training. And then... As you were preparing for the fight?

Wow. We actually... I actually changed gyms, and then we got set to fight. Oh, my gosh. This is like the Overeign-Marlowski situation. Sort of. Except we had just said whatever, but... Yeah, yeah.

I don't know what she's doing, but someday I want to fight her. By the way, it's a big weekend for women's MMA again this weekend. Chris Seiborg making her UFC debut. Do you give Leslie Smith the chance? Do you think she can beat her? Leslie Smith is really, really tough. You know, cyborgs tough too, so I'm just excited to see a good fight. Well, who's your prediction?

Don't sit on the fence. But I love sitting on the fence. Okay, fair enough. It's a very positive take, and that's the theme here. The book is called How to Be Positive Mental Training by Roxanne Montefari, the Happy Warrior. I suggest checking it out, and if you go on her website to buy it, you can even get it personally signed by Roxanne herself. So how about that? That is great.

on the book. Thank you for doing it for people like myself, and good luck getting that title fight. Absolutely. Thank you very much, Ariel. Great to talk to you as always. There she is. Roxanne Monteferry joining us from Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, Nevada, doing great things, as always, over there. That is a good team, a very up-and-coming team, and one of those teams that over the last couple of years in Las Vegas has really put it all together, led by John Wood, who is a great coach. A lot of the fighters speak very highly of him. Okay, just a few minutes left on. on today's program. And again, do support Roxanne. She is a great fighter. She has been doing this for a long time. And in my opinion, one of the true pioneers of women's MMMA. It's cool to see

her still kicking it and also doing well. Okay. Any final thoughts on Rotterdam. Well, Rustam Chabilov wanted to mention him. He looked fantastic in his win over Chris Wade. Chris Wade, big New York Knicks fan, unfortunately was not his night. Rustam looked great. about Kiyoji Horaguchi? That was super impressive as well, right? The ATT version of Kioji Horaguchi looks very, very impressive. I kind of wish that he was, you know, fighting out of that camp when he fought DJ. What about Demetrius Johnson and his ongoing battle with his fence that he's been power washing? I think he finally accomplished it. Now he's moving on to something else house related but it seems like his uh his biggest opponent his toughest opponent to date is his

house those posts cracked me up i don't know why but i just i just love him he actually sends me personal pictures as it continues to go on and on and on um nikita krylov with a nice win carolina kovalkievitch with a solid that was a great fight as well uh all he does is win magnus sedenblad Josh Emmett, his hand falling off almost, or at least his finger. It was a great card. What else I got? Oh, yeah, a bunch of fights were announced last week. James Vic versus B'Neil Daryush.

Remember we had James Vic on the show last week. Well, he's no longer fighting Evan Dunham. It's now B'Neil Daryush. They kind of just didn't even announce that one. We reported it, and then they just put it up on the website. I don't know what's up with that. They also, they announced on UFC tonight that T.J. Dilleshaw versus Hafele dosanjos, Hafele Suntow, excuse me, two is in the works for UFC 200. It is funny how they are announcing

like fights in the works, but it's the UFC announcing them. And I wouldn't put that Woodley Lawler one that they announced for 201 in stone just yet. That is a true. You know, sometimes I say that I report in the works, but it's kind of done. That's a true in the works fight. Certainly not set in stone, and there's a lot of things that play there. So it's going to be interesting to see if they finally do go with Woodley on that one. But that was put out Michael Kesa versus Tony Ferguson in Sioux City, South Dakota on, what is it, July 13th. That was announced as the main event.

Michael Kesa finally gaining that main event fight that he's been asking for, and he gets Tony Ferguson. Very interesting, right? Very important fight. I like that fight. It's not Habib in Ferguson. and you wonder if Ferguson can get a title shot and does this seal the deal for Habib

as far as winning the sweepstakes to get that title shot as far as fighting Hafeld dosangos versus Eddie Alvarez? That fight taking place July 7th does this mean that Habib who's out for the summer due to Ramadan does he fight the winner in October or so?

I like that it keeps Ferguson active. Kiyasa called for it. You see, ask for the fight. Put it out there. This leads to good things. More should do that. Another main event announced Holly Home versus Valentina Shevchenko. That is the main event for UFC on Fox 20.

I like it. Homer remains active. She fights right around the title fight. I think she deserved the title fight. I think she deserved the rematch. I wish they went that way. But she has to fight. It's a big stage on Fox.

It gets her back out there. I don't hate it. and it's a fun matchup. Shepchenko, not a big name, but there weren't any real big matchups out there for her, to be honest. Lauren Murphy said that she thought she turned it down. A couple of fights were offered up.

Lauren Murphy, I believe Ashley Evan Smith as well, and Shevchenko, and they went with Shevchenko, which I think is the toughest of the three, and the most interesting of the three as well. Glover Tashire versus Anthony Johnson also added to that card. I told you what I thought about that on the M.A. beat last week. to risk for Anthony to risk for the division, but as far as an actual fight, it's a great fight.

I mean, you can't, you can't deny that. Also, Gilbert Melendez versus Edson Barbosa, we spoke about that earlier as well. UFC announced that they're going to do the Hall of Fame the day after UFC 200, which I think is a little strange. I love the Hall of Fame. I wish they actually made a real Hall of Fame.

I wish there was an MMA Hall of Fame one day. But to do it the day after, I think a lot of the media will be gone or traveling. I think a lot of the fans will be gone. I like when they do it Friday. I think that they should do the Hall of Fame Friday night after the Wands, give people something to do. Well, it doesn't work anymore because they do that show.

So scrap that idea. How about Friday morning before the Wands, before the Friday night show? Saturday afternoon felt a little too rushed and we're all kind of focused on the Saturday event. I would do it Friday morning and give it the attention. and give it the attention that it deserves. I like that they're keeping up with it,

but I wish that they put it in a better spot. Sunday seems strange. Like, I'll be going home then. And I know they don't really care about me, but I suspect a lot of the other media after three straight events will be going home as well. World Series of Fighting announcing that they're doing a brother versus brother fight.

The Jones brothers? No, Fordor Brothers. I call him Jones, Phoenix Jones. The crime fighter against Carlos voter. Sort of a half brother. It's not blood brothers. It's more Frank Shamrock versus Ken Shamrock than real blood brothers.

But nevertheless, they're reaching with that one. Don't love it. But they're not blood brothers. So that would be weird. And again, UFC198, by the way, Chuck Minnholl, our own Chuck Minnionhal will have a story out on that fight in the near future. UFC 198, I'll quickly run down the card for you and then I'll say goodbye. How about some of these fights?

I mean, really. Yancey Maderos, Francisco Trinaldo, Patrick Cummins versus Antonio Higero. That's on the fight pass. And then it gets really interesting. John Lineker versus Rob Font.

Let me look at these odds here. John Lineker versus Rob Font. So Maderos is a slight underdog. Cummins is a slight favorite. Mine is 241. 235, I should say. John Lineker, a slight favorite, minus 199 plus 171.

Leslie Smith. Holy moly, Leslie Smith plus 1190 versus minus 990. Wow. Who's taking a flyer on Leslie Smith? Plus 1190? Wow.

That is wild. Not saying I'm surprised, but it's just crazy to see that. Matt Brown versus Damian Maya. Damian Maya is the favorite. Minus 272 versus plus 257. Nate Marquart. Totally flying under the radar.

plus 288 versus minus 352 against Tiago Santos. Tiago Santos is a pretty big favorite in that fight. How about Worley Alves? This is a great card. Worley Alves versus Brian Barbarina, minus 528 versus plus 422. Barbarina. Hey, congratulations on beating Sage Northcut.

Here's Worley Alves. Enjoy that. Shogunhua plus 208. Wow, Shogun Hua, an underdog against the minus 200 Corey Anderson. How about that? Plus 206 to be exact. My eyesight is wonky. Uriah Hall plus 120 against Anderson Silva. Minus 120. Kind of close. Vitor Velford plus 269 against Jacereseauze. And then how about this one? Plus 140 for Steppe Miotich against Verdume, Fabriceau

Verdum, to be exact, minus 147. That's a super close heavyweight title fight. So you got to love that. I mean, there's really something for everyone on this card. And Belator also that night with King Mo versus Mr. Wonderful. And you heard on this show, 8 to 10, Belator. And then you'll have the pay-per-view so you can really watch everything at the same time. Again, the FS1 prelims fantastic as well. So you can't go wrong on Saturday.

It's going to be another fun night in our sport. And then we will be back on Monday to recap the whole damn thing. And then to look a little. I mean, there's no time. Alster Overeign can't even get 24 hours to celebrate his win because now we're talking about 198. That's the state of MMA. It never stops.

But we are done. You can hit my music. Thank you very much, by the way, to the good people at Seek for joining the team and sponsoring today's show. I appreciate that. It never stops in MMA. The fun never stops. It goes on and on and on and on.

So much going on. Bama is back this week. in as well. Champion versus champion. That is a pretty good card for Bama. They're slowly but surely doing some good things. MMA beat back as well on Thursday, so we'll obviously have a lot to discuss as we gear up for UFC 198. Again, a reminder, I will not be at 198, so I'll be in studio this week for the MMA beat. I want to thank Mark Romandie for stopping by twice. Appreciate his time. As always, great insight. Thank you very much to Ben Rothwell. Great stuff from him. Looking forward to his next fight. How about Gagar Musassi? Tremendous stuff. Enjoy talking to him as always. Really coming out

of his shell, getting comfortable in front of the media and fans. Thank you very much to the legend. Randy Couture, good luck with the VOWD fights this weekend in San Jose. Thank you very much to Scott Koker, Veltor CEO. Best of luck. at 154. Big ups to Gilbert Melendez. Great stuff from him. Looking forward to his fight on July 23rd. Thank you very much to Alster Obring.

Congratulations to him. Thank you very much to Stefan Strouf. Congratulations to him. And thank you very much to Roxanne Modfari. Go check out our book. Back next week, same time and place until the essay page. Come out of you. Defenders and cybersecurity are always there when we need them.

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