MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 330

Episode Date: May 23, 2016

Ariel Helwani speaks to Michael Bisping, Chael Sonnen, Tyron Woodley, Michael Chiesa, Cody Garbrandt, Robert Whiteford, Wilson Reis, and Emil Meek. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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at O-D-O-D-O-com. That's O-D-O-O-O-O-com. It's the mixed martial arts hour with a mixed martial arts hour back in your life on this Monday, May 23rd, 2016. Hello good, everyone. I'm Ariel Hawani inside our New York City studio. So great to be back here doing another episode of the show. And a very happy Victoria Day to all my friends up north. Yes, in Canada, today is a national holiday. It's Victoria Day. We celebrate Queen Victoria. birthday, she is tomorrow 197 years old. How about that? They don't even celebrate her birthday in England. But in Canada, we respect the queen. We say God save the queen, and everyone takes off. They go to their country house, their cottage, wherever. So if you are in Canada today, I hope you are watching us live on this great Victoria. Victoria Day. This reminds me, by the way, that next week,

a week from today, we are actually off due to Memorial Day, but we're back on Tuesday. So we're not leaving you hanging the week of UFC 199, but we're off on Monday to observe Memorial Day back the next day, same time and place on Tuesday. So make note of that, I'll remind you as the show goes on. So a lot to discuss this week. Of course, the big news last week. UFC 199 has drastically changed. It is now going to be headlined by Michael Bisping.

Yes, Michael Bisping, almost. 10 years to the date of his UFC debut, official UFC debut, he finally gets a crack at the UFC middleweight title. But there is a bit of a catch. He gets it on just two and a half weeks' notice, gets to fight Luke Rockhold for the middleweight championship on June 4th in Inglewood, up to no good, California.

Unfortunately for Chris Wyatman, he had to pull out of the fight due to a very serious neck injury, so opportunity knocks for Michael Bisping, and that, of course, was the big news of the week. There was some other news last week as well. Tyrone Woodley finally getting that title shot against Roby Lollah. That's UFC 201.

Wilson Hays fighting Demetrius Johnson, also at UFC 201 for the flyway title. A lot going on in the world of mixed martial arts. Beltor had an event on Friday that featured a lackluster. Well, calling it lackluster would almost be kind. A very lackluster main event between Hafehl Carvalho and Melvin Manhuff. Carvalio successfully defends the title, although a lot of people thought Mannhoff won the fight, including myself. Venetor had a very strange event on Saturday, which we'll be talking about.

Some interesting highlights came out of that. But no UFC, they are back this coming Sunday with an event headline by Cody Garbrand versus Thomas Al-Meda. What a fantastic main event that is. Kind of reminds me of a WEC card, that one, if you know what I'm saying. So there's a lot going on, and we have a stack show, as always. So let's get right into it. I'll run down the show and then get to our first guest of the day. At around 410 Eastern Time,

we're going to be joined by Wilson Hayes. The aforementioned Wilson Hayes, veteran of the sport, gets a flyweight title shot July 30th in Atlanta, Georgia against Demetrius Johnson. How about that? A week after he announced on this show that he has signed a new eight-fight contract with the UFC. Wilson Hayes is going to be fighting Demetrius Johnson next for the flyweight championship. That's the co-main event of UFC. 201 at 350, Emil Mech is going to be joining us. Who is Emil Mech? He is the man who defeated Husseemar Paul Harris this Saturday in Milan, Italy at Venetor FC3. And I got to tell you, it's not quite Conor McGregor levels, but people have been hounding me to get Emil Mech on this show. Norway's own Emil Mech on this show for quite some time, so I'm excited to talk to him. He picked up a huge win.

In less than one minute, he disposed of Husseemar Paul Harris. Pretty shocking. stuff. 245 Chale Sondon, a very busy man these days. He'll be stopping by. Always good to talk to our pal. Chale P. Sunnan. Robert Whiteford shared some disappointing news Saturday morning. He has been released from the UFC. The flying judoka is now a free agent. We'll talk to him, one of our favorites at around 225. 205. The aforementioned Cody Garbrandt. We'll stop by to talk about his main event on Sunday. 145 Michael Kiesa, who was actually doing the color analyst's job for that Venetor card, but more importantly for him, he made events the UFC's debut in South Dakota in July against Tony Ferguson. He'll be stopping by at 145. And at 125, Tyrone Woodley will jump on the show

to talk about his big fight at UFC 201. But there was only one way we could start this show, my friends. The perfect way to do so is with the count himself. He joins us via the magic of Skype outside. How about that? Michael Bissping in the house, the headliner, one half of the headlining act on June 4th in Inglewood. Michael, how are you, my friend? Ariel Helwana, it is always a pleasure to speak with you, but I've got to say, you know that my time is precious right now. And I have to sit there and wait for you go through this lengthy intro. It's like, I don't care who you have on the show. Okay. Please, let's get this rolling, my friend. I got bloody, I got next to break. What is it? What is it? I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I'm going to say. Checks the cash next to break. No, whatever it is. Whatever it is. How you doing, buddy? Okay, I like the energy.

How about this? Very exciting. And by the way, happy Victoria Day to you. Do you know today's Victoria Day? It means a lot to me today to be talking to you on, of course, the blessed Victoria Day. Is that a national, what is that, a Canadian thing? Queen Victoria in Canada, coast to coast. It's a national holiday.

We celebrate the birth of Queen Victoria. Yes. How about that? 197 years old tomorrow. Queen Victoria. Long live the Queen. God save the Queen. So that's really why I wanted to have you on. Now we can say goodbye. No, I'm just joking. We got a lot of big news. Michael, you're back. You're back at home. No more movies for you. You're taking this thing seriously, yes? 100%. This is by far the biggest fight of my life. Of course, the Anderson fight, that was the biggest fight. But here it is, the title shop, after all this time. Are the circumstances perfect? No, they're not perfect. But I believe the circumstances are very good. Of course, as you mentioned, been up in Canada for the last seven weeks

filming the new Triple X movie. That was great, it was a lot of fun, fantastic experience. But this is what I do, I'm a fighter, and I've wanted to be the champion for a long, long time. Because I was doing the movie, I was trying to keep in good condition. Of course, being as vain as I am, you want to look good on camera.

So I was keeping my weight low. If the weight wasn't low, fighting for the belt wouldn't have been a realistic opportunity because I just wouldn't have made weight. as it turns out miraculously from accepting the fight to now my weight is at 203 pounds which is where I normally am after a full training camp so it's insane I got back from Toronto I went and did some pads with Jason Perillo my conditioning is right where it's usually is so it's insane really but it's all in the mind it really is and you know two weeks

I believe will be a positive thing for me you know I've talked about this a lot I always over-train. Always over-training. And the first couple of weeks of camp, I feel fantastic. You know, I'm throwing guys around. I'm powerful and I feel good. And then as the camp progresses, eight weeks, I train so hard because it means so much to me. By the end of the camp, yes, my conditioning is good and things like that. But, you know, I've lost strength. You know, I've gone from being confident to negative to confident to negative. There's all these mixed emotions, a roller coaster going up and down. There's no time for that, okay? I'm two weeks out. My weight is good. My conditioning is good. I'm going to train like a madman.

man for the next 10 days. I'll be there. I'm going to go in confident, no injuries. This time next week, or this time in a fortnight, I could well be the new world champion, my friend. It's an amazing story. And it feels like a very Michael Bisping way in terms of the way you got this title shot. It's never been easy for you. And did you know, June 24, 2006, that's when you fought in your very first UFC fight. That's when you fought Josh Haynes' tough three finale. In fact, that was the very first live UFC event that I attended. So we're sort of kindred spirits you and I. How about that? Your spirit, Ariel. As I say,

I've said it many times. I owe it all to you. Thank you. I appreciate it. You know, I mean, that is interesting that it's 10 years to the day. You know, I actually went on the auditions for the Ultimate Fighter in December 2005. Of course, I filmed the show and then we had the final.

So I guess my first, you know, official fight was then, you know, a decade later here I am fighting for the title. Obviously very excited. Listen, I know I'm the underdog. and I know I deserve to be the underdog. Luke's an incredible fighter.

He really is. He's well-rounded. He's finished his guys. He's finished me before, you know. But nothing about Luke scares me. It really doesn't. I know this guy. It's not like I'm going into unknown waters.

I know exactly what to expect. Apart from that one headkeep that dropped me, none of his shots hurt me at all. I believe I'm faster than him. And I have the ability to beat this guy. Believe you me. We trained before and I made Midsmead out of it. And then on the night where we fought, God bless him, he got the job done.

But every fight is different. Every fight is different. And I will approach his fight very differently. I made some mistakes in that last fight. I was closing the distance. Then I was going out of range. I was going in and out the whole time. This time, I'm not going to play the long game.

I can't afford to do that. He's going to have the better conditioning. Let's be honest. If it goes five rounds, I'm going to slow down and slow. So I'm going to look to take him out of there early. I'm going to close the distance. push him up against the fence and just unleash what I've got. And I believe I can take him out.

What I love about you, Michael, is that you essentially interview yourself. You've become such a pro with the media that you just answered like five questions in one. So I appreciate that very much. But going back to my original point, when you entered the UFC and won the show, in the back your mind, did you think, okay, it would take two years, maybe three years to get a title shot? Like here you are 10 years later. I doubt you ever thought it would take that long. What did you think initially?

Definitely didn't think it would take a decade. That is a long time. But, you know, to be honest, listen, my career has been like this. It's been up and down, you know. And I've had a lot of big wins and I've had some very, very big losses, you know, key losses. And so I don't blame anybody else, you know. I got into the number one contender spot, okay? Sorry, number one contender match up.

And I lost those fights. I can't be mad at anybody. I lost those fights. Now, yes, if you look at those fights, guys had a history of performance-enhancing drugs, most of them were on TRT, which we now know was the biggest sham ever. And, you know, Chale had a history. Vitor Belfour. You know, Dan Henderson was on TRT.

I didn't even know TRT existed when I was fighting Dan Henderson. You know, I should have really been made aware of these things. But whatever, you can't be bitter. Here I am. Most people only get to this position one time in the life. I've been here four times. Most guys after the Dan Henderson fight would have never fought again. Joe Rogan and a lot of media wrote me off, said he's finished.

now but I built myself back up again to the number one contender matchups several times people can't do that and I believe that's testament to my fighting will my spirit and my tenacity and how much I want this you know still after all this time a decade in the sport I live in a beautiful house I got a beautiful wife I've got amazing children life is blessed but I want this I'm hungry as hell and I want this more than anybody and the fact that I've got here so many times and now here I am I'm on the cusp of being well champion of course I've got to get through Luke rock old I think that speaks volumes about myself, I also think that it is my destiny. I know that sounds cheesy, and I'm not a deep person, I'm not a spiritual person, but I believe this is my destiny. And

just the way everything's come together, I think it goes my way in two weeks. So when the news came out about Wyden, a lot of people, including myself, a lot of media members said, this is a no-brainer. You've got to give it to Michael. He's coming off the win over Anderson Silva. But from what we understand, you weren't the top choice. And even Dana White went out of his way to tell the world that you weren't the top choice. Come on now. Did that not bother you? I mean, you have been a soldier

for the UFC for a decade. You have done so much to build up that market in Europe. How were you not the first call? How were you not the only call? You know, I mean, listen, you'd have to ask Dana about that. Yeah, you know, I mean,

I didn't know that he went out of his way to share that with everybody, but thanks, Dana. You know, Dana always things like that. It doesn't matter. I am getting the shot. And listen, I want this. Jackeray speaks all the time about wanting a shot

and the belt, well, it was offered to him on a silver platter and he turned it down. You know, guys like Rashad Evans, I love Rashad, don't get me wrong, but here's a guy that was played with injuries and turned things down. People turned things down, you can't do that. I've been presented with this opportunity.

I'm taking it. Is it perfect? No, I was offered Chale Sonning of six days notice. John Jones turned it down. I didn't, you know, I'm a real fighter. I'll fight anyone, any place, any time. and the fact that I just took a fight against Luke Rockall for the belt for a title shot that I've waited my entire life for. If I lose this, I'll never get a shot again. But I'm taking this not just for a shot, not just for a payday, not just for some media attention. I believe I can win this. And that's why I'm taking this fight.

I've always been a fighter. I'm a fighter's fighter. I'm a real fighter. And I'll prove that in two weeks. Man, you are legitimately giving me goosebumps as we speak right now, the way you sell. And I think that's part of the reason why you should have been the first call. Last, you did get that fight. Was there an internal struggle, though? Because 190 is so close away, did you say, look, I got to the finish line. They're going to have this fight, whoever it may be, and then I'll get the title shot, and I'll have a full camp. Did you think about that or try to negotiate that at all? No, I didn't.

I honestly thought what I'll do is I'll throw my name into the mix. I want to get the shot, but I thought I won't get it. They're going to go with the Jacaray. So hopefully then I positioned myself, after just beating Anderson, being on a win streak, hopefully I positioned myself to get the winner of Rockhold and Jackeray. I never thought Jackeray would turn it down. Who turns it down? It just destroyed Vito Belfort.

He's in great shape. Yes, he might have a sore knee. Listen, I've got injuries all over the place, but you do it. You fight. The world isn't perfect. You wait for the perfect conditions. The perfect conditions never come. So, yeah, my master plan, that's what I thought.

I thought I'd get the winner. Turns out Jackeray didn't want to do it. Well, guess what? Here we go. There's a lot of people in the division that don't want it. You know, a lot of people that don't want it, They come to me, I've never said no once. And as I say, I believe this is my destiny.

I believe the universe is pulling it together. I've been slogging away for 10 years. Not only do I deserve this, I know I can do this. I'm a fighter. Listen, we're both human beings. Luke Rockholder's been knocked out before, okay? It's not like, and I know the guy. I'm not going into uncharted waters, as I said.

But we're going to go in there and he knows damn well, right? If you watch that fight back, the first fight at the end of the first round, he was panicked, okay? And I gave him some shit at the end of the first round because he was like, he said, I'm going to finish you in one round and I said, hey, look, still here, buddy, what's going on? But he sits down in his corner,

you can see that he was panicked and his corner was panicked. Now, okay, the second round went out, he caught me with a beautiful head kick. God bless him, well done, you know. No ill will, no excuses. He got me. But every fight is different.

And I'm going to take the fight to him. I'm going to close the distance. And I'm going to stay there. just like I did against Anderson, and I'm going to give him everything I've got, and I believe everything I've got is enough to put him down. It's amazing to read your social media, your Instagram, and your Twitter, and even the UFC is putting out this back-bisping campaign. You have become a sweetheart.

You have become this underdog that everyone's rooting for. What a difference from a few years ago where you were sort of the bad guy. Have you noticed this? Do you get a chuckle out of this? Yeah, I've certainly felt a shifting momentum, and of course it's very nice. You know, before I lived here out in America, I was surrounding myself with maybe not the right people. We'll leave it at that.

But I was surrounding with some people that were influencing me to act a certain way. And of course, you know, I've said it many times. I cringe when I look back at some of the things I said in the past. I think my true character is coming through over the years. The more time I spend on TV and things like that, people can see who I am. Listen, I'm still the same person. I'm still controversial. I still put my foot in my mouth.

I still say stupid things. Of course, I'll always say stupid things. stupid things. I'm Michael Bisman for crying out loud. I'm an idiot. I was born this way. There's nothing I can do. My wife is here chuckling in the background because she knows what a plon I am, you know, but, you know, I've got a good heart. And when it comes to good heart, I've got a good heart in the Octagon as well. And I'm a good person, and I believe I deserve this. I've worked my ass off. Nobody's worked harder than me. And I deserve this, and I will take it home with me. As I said, I'm not here for a title fight. My entire life, from being eight years old,

I have fought. Nothing has ever been given to me. I'm sat here in a beautiful house. I've got a swimming pool. I've got a water slide. I've got several cars. I've worked my ass off for all of this. Nothing was ever given to me.

I've worked my ass off and I will finish. I will take this final chapter in my journey and become the world champion. And then walk off into the sunset. Sorry, I can't get my words out. A happy man. Considering all of this, when you see Luke, the way he kind of talks and acts. And it's interesting when you guys go back and forth. because it seems like you sort of enjoy, to a degree, running circles around him from a verbal

standpoint. What do you make of Luke Rockhold now as champion? Because, I mean, no, I don't think he would deny. The man comes off a bit cocky, if you will, to be kind. Yeah, he's a smog asshole, let's be honest. Listen, as I said, I want the shot, you know, I want to be the champion. But I have this inner fight within me, you know, I pride myself on being a fighter. I've always pride in myself from that even at school if there was a kid who was a couple of years older thought they could beat me in a fight I was like cool let's go into the castle field tonight

and let's figure it out who can win the fight I've always been like that and I don't know why it's to my detriment of course you know but of course now it's paid off Luke Rockhold owns a victory over me I want to rectify that I want to set the record straight so yes I want to be the victor I want to be the world champion but I also want to

beat Luke Rockhold it is personal for me and when I look at him I just want to knock that smug look off his face. I really do because you've never seen somebody that walks around, like so smug. It's just as big, as smuggest prick you've ever seen in your life. And so yeah, I would love another opportunity to punch that guy in the face. What, and be world championed at the same time? Come on. Where do I sign up? Okay, just a couple of minutes left with Michael Bisping, and we really appreciate the time because I know you're very busy. So what are the next 12 days like for you? How do you put together, not even a mini camp? I mean, it's like, it's like a quarter of a camp,

What do you do? How do you actually plan this out? Yeah, well, of course, you know, you've got to prioritize, you know. So throughout a training camp, you know, you're doing lots of things. You're trying to build your strength up and all these types of stuff. There's going to be no weightlifting. Everything's going to be sparring, drilling, cardio, things like that, hitting pads, mental focus. That's going to be key. Of course, I'm only a human being.

So I'm not going to try and cram in a stupid amount of training into two weeks. Again, that would be detrimental. and I would over-train, even in two weeks. I'm going to train hard. Of course, I have a press conference, I believe, on Wednesday. I've got to get all my medical stuff done, so that's another distraction. I've got interviews galore, and on top of that, I have to train for a world title fight. The good news is it's in L.A. It's in my backyard, so I don't have to get on a plane and fly anywhere.

Here's another thing. You know, it's fate. It's meant to be. You know, it's in my backyard. I don't have to fly anywhere. I can sleep in my own bed the night of the fight, the night before the fight. Will you do that? As soon as I get done here, maybe, I don't know, we'll see, maybe the kids might drive me crazy.

Maybe it's an opportunity to get away from the children for one time. You know, I leave here, I go to the gym, I'm going to stop off, I'm going to get my medical, some of my medical stuff along the way, going to go down there, I'm going to spar, then I'll rest, then I'll have a stretch, then I'll get a massage, then I train again this evening. I ran this morning already, you know, as I said, my cardio, believe it or not, I did five-fives on the pads with Jason Prillo Saturday night after getting off the plane. And I was flying. I actually felt just as good as I do after an eight-week camp. And I don't know whether that's me convincing myself. I asked Jason. I said, that's the same output, right, as what I normally do. And he's like,

yeah, it is Michael. And he said, listen, you just beat Anderson Silver. You just went five rounds, not that long ago. Since then, you have trained. You've kept yourself in shape. You know, so the muscle memory, it's all there, you know. The fact I'm able, I've always, been able to push myself cardio-wise, that's still there within me, and I'm bringing it out already. I'm going to go in there fresh. I'm going to go in there strong, very, very confident, with no pressure. Do you understand how mentally freeing it is to know? I'm supposed to lose. I'm supposed to lose, so fuck it. I'm going to go out there and do my best. That is so freeing, as opposed to having the shot, campaigning for it, getting it, and having eight weeks to prepare,

and you go on the roller coaster of emotions. Listen, I know the world's expecting me to lose. knows though that I'm a formidable opponent. He knows that he can be as smug as he wants. But, you know, as Christopher Walking says on Saturday Night Live, we put our pants on one leg at a time and said, I go out there and take world titles. Okay, so, you know, just watch this space,

my friend, watch his face. Two last quick things. Have you watched the fight recently, the first one, or I should say the second one between you guys in November of 2014? and do you think he is a much better fighter since when you fought him in Australia? You know, of course I've watched a fight back. That was one of the first things I did.

I watched it back, see what went right, what went wrong. The first round went well if you watch it back. I probably edged that first round. Many people don't win the Lute the first round against Luke. People don't get out of the first round with Lute. I think I won that first round. He did head but me, incidentally, which opened up a big gash and blood was pouring into my eyes,

and that was a factor as well. At the end of that first round, as I say, he looked very panicked because he's not used to that. Since then, he's gone on to become world champion. Of course, that does, going to boost his confidence. He's fought twice. He beat Machida. Mishida, come on, looked terrible.

And since then he's tested positive. I believe, you know, he came off the steroids for that fight, got his ass kicked, got beat off Romero, then went back on them, and then he tested positive. And he beat Chris Wyman. Listen, Wyman's a hell of a fighter, and he was a great champion. So good for him. I, myself, I've had three victories against solid opponents.

Dulli was ranked at the time. Tally's Lytis was on a seven-fight win streak in the former challenger in the past, and I'd just beat Anderson Silver. So we've both improved. For me, though, I've improved mentally. And that's always been my downfall. I've always had the physical attributes. I've always been able to, you know, a coach can only tell you how to punch a certain way so many times.

You know, when you get to my age, you know how to do that. But it's the mental side of things. And I talked about this in the... Anderson fight, I can't believe it's taking me so long to make these strides, you know, and it's not just a belief, it's the calmness of mind, you know. If you're angry, if you're furious, if you're in a crazy frantic state, you're never the best version of yourself at all. So how can you be the best version of yourself as a fighter?

Okay, so I'm going in there, cool, calm, collected, focus, not fighting on emotion, none of that. I'm going to go out there excited, happy, happy to be. there and I'm going to fight with everything I've got, but I'm going to stay cool, calm, and collective. And final thing, you know, I remember talking to you in your hotel room in Montreal prior to that CB Dalloway fight. This is prior to UFC 186 and you were coming off the Luke Rockhold fight.

And at that point, you were sort of just a featured fight on the card. The card was hit with many different injuries and whatnot. And we didn't really know. I mean, I remember talking, you know, would you ever get a title shot? Would you be content with never getting a title shot? That could have been the beginning of the end. That could have been where you took a left and the fork in the road. and you would have just been, you know, a great fighter who never fought for the belt.

Now, here you are, a little over a year later, about to fight for the belt. And so I'm wondering, from that point and the eye injury and everything you've been through, have you allowed yourself to think what it will feel like when the belt is put around your waist? Do you have any idea what that will feel like? Do you even dream about that now? Do you allow yourself to do that? I don't. I haven't.

You know, I mean, you just said that there then and I was overcome with all kinds of emotion, you know, this means so much to me. Of course, you know, I do everything. I want to be well champion, but I do everything for my family. That's why I do everything. And that, it would cement my legacy. It would cement that it would be a life's work. But I think it would also mean a lot for my family as well, you know.

And of course, it would, you know, there'd be some bigger paydays and things like that. And that's ultimately why I do it. But for me, a personal thing. I mean, I almost started crying then when you said it. You know, I've never thought about that. I was on a run the other day and it kind of creaked in what it might feel like, you know, to have Dana put the belt around my waist. And then I thought, no, I'm not there yet.

I can't think about these things. I can't, you know, I can't my chickens before they've hatched. You know, I've still got to win this fight. You know, I've got to go out there and do what I can. And I believe I can do it. And I know I have a lot of people in my corner that believe I can. I want to thank everybody throughout my entire career that's supported me. I want to thank the people that have detracted for my career

because they've pushed me to train harder. I want to thank the UFC for the opportunity. Youself, Ariel, people like yourself, that have always supported my campaign. And, you know, this is. is a win for the every man i'm just an average guy i'm more than average that just proves that if you go out there with a bit of hard work and determination you can achieve your dreams you know i'm sat i live in orange county california got a beautiful wife i'm sat in a beautiful house i come from very very humble backgrounds in a small tiny working class town in the northwest of england but here i am

about to fight for the world title in los angeles you know i've just finished a movie a 200 million dollar budget movie. I was one of the main characters. You know, it's amazing. I'm very, very thankful. As brash and as arrogant, as I come across sometimes, I'm just having a laugh and sometimes I'm misunderstood. But I'm going to go out there in two weeks and I'm going to fight with every fiber of heart and soul and everything I've got, everything I've got. And I believe it's enough. And if it's not, well, God bless him, he beat me. But I believe I'll do it. Go on, Michael. You got a whole country behind you, a whole continent. Great stuff, my man. You are literally giving me goosebumps. Amazing.

Thank you so much for the time again. I know how busy you are. This means the world. Appreciate it. Good luck to you. Can't wait for the fight. I'll see you out there. And best of luck with everything that you do between now and then. It's a beautiful thing, Michael. Go on. Get that title. Thank you. I appreciate it, Ariel. Thank you. There he is. Michael Bisping. Wow. What can you say about that? If that didn't fire you up, I don't know what in a million years could ever fire you up. I mean, this guy is just, that's why he should have been the first call. That's why he's why he's.

he needed to be the first call. That's why I've always felt he was ready for this moment. And yes, he's had his ups and downs, but after beating Anderson Silva, I can assure you Anderson Silva would have gone in that title shot. I can assure you if Anderson Silva won in February, he would have fought for the belt. I have no doubt of that. How he was not the first call, I'll never know. But he is the call. He's the one they settled on. And in less than two weeks, he finally fights for the belt almost 10 years to the date of his official UFC debut. If those words and that energy and just everything that he brought to the table in that interview doesn't just fire you up as a regular human being to go on and take on the world and live your dreams.

I mean, I don't know what else to say. That was unbelievable. Tremendous stuff from Michael Bisping. Again, he fights for the belt on June 4th in Inglewood, California headlining act of UFC 199. I am fired up. Let's keep this train moving along. It's funny going from Bisping who got a title shot on two weeks.

to our next guest, Tyrone Woodley, who has had to wait a heck of a long time to get his title shop, but he's getting it July 30th in Atlanta, Georgia, main event UFC 201. But before we move along with the show, let me quickly tell you, but my good friends over at Casper Mattresses. Casper is a sleep brand that created one perfect mattress sold directly to consumers, eliminating commission-driven inflated prices. Its award-winning sleep surface was developed in-house, has a sleek design, and is delivered in a small, how they do that size box.

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www.cars.cars.m.m. Terms and conditions apply. Now back to the show. Tyron, how are you, my friend? Well, I can't come in all low. You know, Michael Bisby kind of ranked it up, so I got to match or exceed his energy. But I agree with you. You know, sometimes in our sport, we forget the sport aspect of the sport, and we start thinking about the entertainment. He should have probably been the first call. You know, if Jackeret wasn't injured, you know, he beat Anderson Silva.

But our sport has transitioned quite a bit, and I'm glad that, you know, I might not have been the first call either. Yeah. But things have a way of working to self-out. If you look at myself, you look at Bisbing, you look at it. Amanda Nunez, you look at Frank Yeager, you look at, you know, John of Blank, what's my man, Eddie Alvarez. Yeah.

It's starting to get back to the old business of UFC when people that have put themselves in that position to fight those fights or getting rewarded with those fights. And it's entertaining. You know, you're paying pay-in-per-view to watch this kick some butt. You know, you're not paying for the circus. So, you know, I'm excited about my fight. I'm excited about watching a business with a fight as well. You know, I think it's a tough matchup, but, you know, it's MMA.

You got four-h-hous glove. That is actually a really good point. And I said last week that what, you know, I was super happy for you for getting the title shot, but I was also happy that the UFC kept their word to you because we've seen time and again where they say, yeah, he's going to get the next title shot and things happen. And Lord knows they've talked to other people, some big names about fighting for the Walter Wight title. And, you know, you got the call because things fell through. Was there ever a point where you thought, you know what, I'm just not going to get this. I should move on. I should take a fight. Lord knows social media was trying to pressure you to do so. Did you ever lose hope that this was going to come to fruition? You know, I never lost hope that it was coming to fruition. I knew, you know, I got to make this my training camp logo. You know, you can delay, but you can't deny. We'll be the welts away champion in the world.

I feel like I'm already a champion. A champion is who you are. I'm a champion right now. What champions do is they win. And sometimes they win belts. Sometimes they win fights. Sometimes they win a big deal, you know, on real estate. They just win in life.

So I feel like I'm already a champion. You're right, man. I did have some nerves. I really didn't know I was getting it, getting it, getting it, until it was not announced on USC on Fox because it's always a chance. What if GSP comes back? What if this person happens? What if, you know, so many different options.

And I felt like I should have been the first option, but I wasn't the first option. I was probably the last option. So, you know, guy had the guy has a saying that, you know, he said the first would be last and the last will be first. You know, it's only so many times you can have this poke-out. in your eyes and say hey this is the option I told Dan I say man how many people got to fall out of the run and for you to realize I'm the number one choice I'm the clear-cut option no I just

need a chance I don't need a title shot I don't ever want that that's the stupidest I hate when people say oh I want to tie the shot they mean you want a chance to make a couple extra thousands of dollars and you're not even concerned if you want and I just want a chance to show you I am the best walt away on the planet earth and I think I'll show you guys that July 30th Do you recall the feeling that you experienced when you finally got the word? And who delivered the news to you that you were going to fight for the belt on July 30th? Well, it's funny. It's not, sometimes, you know, the fight fans, the Internet, they get word before we do.

So when I saw that it was 100%, when I saw that it actually was going down, because I can sign a bout agreement and maybe Robbie Lawler didn't like the location or the fight card or the fight itself. So it's never 100% to both guys sign a bout agreement and we see it announced. And when they announce it, it's usually within an hour of both guys signing the fight. So that's when it sunk in. And I had to get myself prepared. I was prepared to be heartbroken. Say, you know what?

If they give this fight to somebody else, I got to be prepared for that. Be prepared for the media. People are thinking that I was sitting around waiting. That is the stupidest thing ever. You know how many kids I have? I got four kids. I got a wife. I got a gym, which is almost like 10 kids.

If you think about the money behind that, nobody would sit around us the stupidest thing ever a fighter that fights offense stays in a momentum he stays in the groove and he's the most you know most likely to implement these new techniques sorry the training camp has a purpose the stuff you're doing and that every day to day basis has a purpose so not having that fighter that fighter to look at you know you kind of have a you know purposeless training so was it hard to have that motivation like because you were supposed to fight in october you had a camp for johnny Hendricks, that falls through. In October, it feels like it was 10 years ago, like February, how are you motivated to push yourself like you're about to fight for the belt? How do you keep

going and not maybe over-trained and not maybe train a little too little? You know, I've had times, but I've done both, you know, and I was trying to find an equal balance. One thing that have not done, you know, I've not been able to grow as a fighter. I wanted a few Walterways on the roster that's one of the top-ranked guys that still have a lot of room to grow. You know, Lawler is a fighter he is going to be. He's not going to surprise us and come out with some crazy jiu-jitsu, a crazy wrestling this late-in-ish career. You know, I can name another 10 other guys, but this is my

time for fame, so I'm not going to give everybody no extra credit. F them. But, yeah, it's a lot of guys that I see that, you know, you're as good as you're going to get, brother, and I'm not one of those guys. So for me to be fighting for a title and actually still growing as a fighter is pretty dangerous for the division. So this time I actually grew as a fighter. I thought a fight, if not

Be World Tidal fight, will come along. So I didn't want to be caught off guard. So I was training my butt off. I was sparring. I was running. I was, you know, doing jiu-jitsu with the ghee. I was doing everything to get myself ready. So when that call did come, I wouldn't be, you know, caught off guard.

You know, like Bisman got that call. You know, he got a call two weeks, boom. Time of a lifetime. A lot of people don't know. I got that same call. You know, when Daniel Cormier fell out against John Jones, I got the same call to fight Robbie Law on two weeks. Well, my answer was yes, you know, and it was two weeks notice to fight a very tough guy and you know

I do pick fights. For all you fans that say Tyron Woodley pick fights, you're damn right, I do pick fights, but guess who I pick? I pick Johnny Hendrix. I pick Johnny Hendricks. I pick Robbillaw, I pick Carlis Kahneman. I pick Roryman down. I picked the toughest in our division. So you're correct. I do pick fights, but I pick fights to advance my career so I can solidify myself as the best in the world.

You know, I was looking, you know, Matt Brown had a lot to say about me this past weekend. Yep. How many fights is Matt Brown had? In the UFC?

20? Oh, yes. I mean... How many times if you stepped in there for UFC go? Zero. Right.

So you might be a fighter that will take any fight anytime, anywhere, but the business aspect of that is stupidity. That's why you have not fought for a real title, and that's why you're approaching the point of your career

where you're not at your peak because you wasted all those rounds in tough man contests. So I spent my win or lose. Think about my route. I followed Jay Harron, who was right outside the top 12. You know, he had 10 to 12 first round finishes. The only person who had finished him before then was GSP. He had won the Belvoir tournament, lost a close matcher to Ben Ashton,

went all his strike force fight, when all his defliction fights. very notable name. I thought he'd be Jake Ellenberger when they fought. I fought him. Then I fought Shields strike for a champion. Shields said it went over me, Maya, and Lawler. So did it not make sense for me to fight him? Or Rory McDonough, who put on a fight at a year with Robbie Lawler, or Carlos Conning, who at that time was the number one ranked guy.

So yes, I have picked fights, but if you look at my map, within seven fights, my eighth fight is going to be for USCGO. So take a page out of my book and put down the hate, put down the Haterade. The way you break it down, it's certainly hard to argue with that. So let's clear up the whole camp thing, the team thing. Obviously, you're both a part of ATT, but you don't train in the same gym. You're currently in Missouri.

He trains out of Florida. But you did say a few months ago that you will go to Florida to train there. What is going on? Will you actually be in the same gym? Yeah, you know, I'm actually probably going to live today. What? Yeah, you know, it's kind of weird, but I'm going to tell you this story. It was actually pretty funny.

I've been American top team since an amateur. I will be the first world champion from American top team in any organization that started with them as an amateur in 2005 and has grown through the ranks and grown through the tradition of American top team and will bring home UFC goal for the organization. I would be the first one to do that. Robbie Lawler was the first one to bring the belt home, you know, which was awesome for the team. So I talked to Dan Lambert and he said, so when's T. He will coming down? And I say, hey, you know, it's kind of weird, man, you know. You know, Robbie brought home the first belt, and, you know, I don't know if I'm going to get the same treatment, and I'm going to feel like the outsider, and, you know, it's kind of awkward feeling.

He said, if that, bring your A down here, I'll see you when you get here. So it was the first time ever in 10 years that Dan has really ever asked me to do something. Wow. So I can't really say no. So I'm going to go down probably the next couple of days. I'm going to fill it out. And, you know, it's such a big gym, so many different private rooms, so many different hours in a day where they can skis. casualing training, you know, I can't really see too many guys trying to e-drop and

trying to tell, hey, he's working on this, or, you know, he jammed his toe and sparring. You know, you might want to stomp him in a fight, you know what I mean? So I don't think that's going to happen. And we are professional, so, you know, we'll see what it is. So in your general, you know, career throughout your UFC run, you've never gone there at the same time. So why go there now? Like, why run towards that awkwardness when you're actually fighting the guy?

That's the part that doesn't really compute. You know, part of me you want to be like, no, I was at first, bro. You know, I'm not going to, I don't want anybody to make me feel like I can't come back home. You know, I own it. Like, look at the logo behind me. I own the ATT. So I'm prideful of the organization, not the organization, the team that I fight for. But I have done training camps at Rufusport because it was a smaller, more intimate setting.

I had to have to worry about everybody standing on the side of the cage, watching me spar with Ti. Alves, 10 coaches yelling techniques at me. You know, everybody wanted a piece at a moment. So I have thrived a little bit better later in my career with a smaller setting, fewer training partners, and people that are focusing primarily on me.

So I will go to Rufusport, and I will spend some time here at ATT Evolution, sometime at Rufusport. I don't want to be on a plane too much because, you know, you start thinking those are, every time you get on the plane, you can erase two days, minimum. You know, because you got to get jet lag, you got to

pack you got to get there out early man i don't have to go through i know you understand it but um with that said you know i'm trying to spend as few amount of flights as i can and i want to get the most amount of work you know humanly possible and don't you have a history dating back maybe like a decade or so or a little a little less than a decade did you guys spar or come up there's something where you guys cross past right i don't know how much time we got on the show but it's a lot of history there's a lot well me and robbie i'll tell you this Robbie and matt hughes opened up a gym called the hit squad and Granite City, Illinois. That was, I want to say 10 minutes from my house. Wow. So I used to go there and spar and train with those guys. Wow. And at that time, Robbie wasn't doing a lot of sparring because,

you know, he had so many sparring that, you know, at Militish, he had kind of veered away from I didn't know that. So I thought that I would get some sparring rounds with him. And when I came in there, like, he was almost like running the sparring. So whatever. So we wrestle with grappled. So I had video and I started pushing those out in the, you know, forthcoming weeks. I had video of me doing one of my first interviews talking about the sport, I was crediting fighters like GSP, Nate Mark Gordon, Robbie, people who down the road I would end up fighting, you know, but these are people that I was modeling, you know, my fight style and how they train with the best in each craft. So I have footage of me training at the gym.

Then the way I got in the strike force, I said, hey, Robbie, I saw him at, it was an NCAA wrestling tournament. The Sky Trade in St. Louis. He was walking around. I bumped into him. I said, hey, man. man, I heard you might be hit on this car against Jake Shields, another common opponent. Yeah. And I said, hey, I need the number to, you know, the gospel strike force.

Strike Force ain't coming to St. Louis, and I'm not fighting on the car. Man, I had one pro fight at that time. And I was talking all kind of like, you know, entitled words. So he took out his phone, and he gave me Javier Mendez's number. I didn't know who the hell Javier Mendes was. So I got his number. Bob Cook had hit me a weeks before to come out there and train. So I went out there and trained, and I'm like, damn, I said, I just talked to a guy named Harvey Mendez.

It's my gym. I didn't even know they were connected. Oh, wow. So I trained my butt off there. I was training with Fitch, Jake Shields, Koshchek, Mike Swick, and I thought I was trying to earn a spot. So I was out there going for broke. We get to strike for us. I was on the undercard.

I had to sell 200 tickets to get on the fight. Wow. 200 tickets. That was the original hustler days. Wow. So after that, Scott Coker had a. meeting with his staff. And he says, is there anybody on the undercar we should look at? And Bob Cook said there's one person. He said, this kid came out to our gym and train. We should

consider him. They came up to me after Wayne and said, who do we need to talk to about a deal with the strike force? I said, we can do it right now. My people are right on the side of me. That night, I stayed up to two or three in the morning, did a deal with strike force, fought the next day, won, and it's been all history. So with those, those common things, you know, That's awesome. The training at the gym, the number of the strike force, you know, we were supposed to fight in strike force. A lot of people don't know that. They canceled their last event.

We had signed to fight each other, me and Robbie. And they canceled that last strike force event. And then when he joined the team, he told Joe Silva and Dana, I'll fight anybody besides Tyrone Woodley and Tiago Alves. And we've always had this creed, you know, no strap, no scrap. And, you know, now it's a strap on the line. So we set the friendship to the side and we're going to get it on. See, this is why I love Tyrone Woodley. I can see the whole UFC countdown show just being laid out from your stories right here.

You telling these stories about your history and all that stuff. It's perfect. Okay, just a couple of minutes left. By the way, why didn't you fight at 197? You said you agreed to fight him. Did he say no? What happened there a couple of weeks ago? You know, he's a champion, a man.

And I don't think if I was in his position, I wouldn't just jump on a last minute, three-week-nown-us fight. Like, I've always been training for Southpaws. You know, think about all the Southpaws in our division. Kelvin Gasolum, Johnny Hendrix, Damien Maia, Duny Unkem, Robby Lawler, you know, five of the top ten of Southpaw. So for him to just jump in and fight me, that would be a huge risk on short notice. It would be very little reward for him. So I think he did what the champion should have done and say, you know, I don't mind the fight, but I need more notice. Did you see this coming out of him in the sense that, like, he's, who thought, honestly, he'd become a UFC champion?

when he came back to the UFC. We thought maybe, okay, wow, he beats Josh Kostak, has a run. No one saw this, what he did against Konda, what he did against McDonald. Are you surprised by this, honestly? I'm not surprised, man, but I'm really inspired by it, to be honest. You know, sometimes we fight guys. You know, I'm not like the Diaz brothers. I don't have to get myself to the point where I have to hate you.

Yeah. Most people that I do the best against are the most dangerous. You know, think about Carlos Kondent. His coach said, nobody wants to strike with Carlos Kondent. And who won the strike in exchange in that fight? So with that said, you know, people that I respect, people that I actually look up to and I like the way they've made that warrior mindset in the fight. Those are the people that I do the best against. So with this fight, you know, it doesn't, it didn't surprise me because I know Robbie and I've looked at Robbie a million times and I'm like, you know what?

This dude has been given Melvin Manhoff a fight. Lorenz Lark in the fight, Tim Kennedy to fight. And he never complained, man. He never complained. Okay, last thing for you. What has been a common trend for him in his title fights is that like he's almost like a zombie. Come the fifth round where you think he's on the brink of, you know, destruction, he is destroying his opponent. Somehow he goes to that extra gear that no one else has and he's doing unbelievable things. I think of the Roy McDonald fifth round. I think of what he did against

Carlos Condon. I mean, tremendous stuff. That still may be the round of the year and it happened two days into 2016. We've never really seen you in that fire, fight, you know, in that phone booth, blood, all that stuff. Do you believe that you have that in you? Are you looking forward to potentially experiencing that sort of thing, or do you want this to be, you know, relatively

easy, nice walk in the park, dispose of him in a minute or so? Well, you know, you never expect. You're training for the worst. You train for the war. And one thing that me and Dean Thomas has done really great with planning for fights, look at the way Terrick Safferning looks against his opponents. Look the way he looked against me.

Look at the way Paul Daly look at his Look the way he looked against me. Look at Carlos Condit. Look at Kelvin Gasselham, who, you know, grinded a guy out. So we've done an amazing job of taking the tools out of their two box, leaving them empty, leaving them frustrated, leaving them in anxiety. So my goal is always to go out there, hit and I get hit, to dominate the fight, to take away all the strengths of the person I'm fighting and put them into my world

and make them fight my fight. And I think that's what you're going to see July 30th. Beautiful. Tyne, again, I know you're very busy, so I appreciate you giving us some time. Good luck to you, my man. Very happy for you. Congratulations on getting the title fight, but I know you're not content with that. I know you're not content with that. I look forward to Atlanta, Georgia, July 30th, UFC 201. Thanks so much, my man. Thank you, man. Appreciate it. Good luck to Tyron Woodley as he prepares for the biggest fight of his life. He has had some big

opportunities, but obviously none bigger than this one. He fights for the belt. Finally, he gets that shot. Wow. How about that? He has been campaigning. He has been doing a ton of interviews. He has been telling the world that he is ready to fight for the belt. But for various reasons, the UFC looked around. And, you know, there was the Connor McGregor option before UFC 196. Of course, there was the GSP option. There was the potential Nick Diaz option, maybe even Nick Diaz. So he's right. They did call a lot of people. But at the end of the day, he got the shot. And boy, I have a feeling Tyron Willey is going to come ready to fight on July 30th. All kinds of fired up here today on the program between.

Bispings Energy and Woodley's Energy, I have a feeling we will be keeping that going along here with our next guest. This man gets an opportunity to finally main event, his first UFC event in July in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Michael Kesa gets his shot against Tony Ferguson, and he joins us right now via the magic of Skype. I'm loving this. Mike, how are you? Doing good. How are you, sir? I'm doing great. So you're back from Italy, and I must say, your guy, your manager, Danny Rubinstein, he said, you know what? this is a little early for Mike Keisa. He's going to be jet lagged.

He might be sleeping in. I said, I know my guy. He is not going to leave me hanging. So I just want to say to Danny Rubenstein, who didn't believe that this was a smart booking on my part, here you are early on time responding to my text. Well done, my man. You're a pro.

Hey, got a little sleep. I was pretty jet lag, but that time I got home, I was fucking wiped, dude. It was a brutal, brutal travel schedule. But, hey, I'm not going to miss a date with my man, Ariel. And look at you jumping on. that Tampa Bay Lightning bandwagon as they go up 3-2 in the conference finals. Beautiful. Hey, my man, Tyler Johnson, Spokane Native, played for the Spokane Chiefs and the minors,

before he made the big show, so I can't help it. I'm a huge fan. Okay, so let's put Milan to bed first, because you got an opportunity to be the color analyst alongside John Morgan for Venador FC3, and I got to say, and tell me, as I ask you this question, if this was your first time doing it, because I thought you did a fantastic job. You were a natural out there, really providing great insight about some fighters that we don't know about. You were very insightful, but also very relaxed. You weren't rushing. That was a great job, my man. Kudos to you. Was that your first time doing it? You know, that was my first big one. You know, I did a, about four years ago. There was like a small show I had done, but yeah, I mean, that was pretty much my first one.

You know, I'm good friends with John also just first fight under my belt and we kind of figured out each other's timing. It was just easy. I mean, it was literally just like I was just sitting, talking to my friend watching these fights. So I just, dude, I had a blast out there. It was a lot of fun. So what was it like being in that setting? Because I know you're, obviously, you're proud of your Italian heritage. So you're in Milan, Italy, and this wasn't your typical sort of mid-tier card. I mean, you have Mayhem Miller and that craziness. You have Hussein

Paul Harris losing in shocking fashion. You have so good. I mean, that was a pretty eventful evening. What was the scene like over there? The scene was great. You know, the response I got from the fans was great. You know, Frank, the promoter, he was just super nice, really generous, just good people from the fans, you know, and they all recognize, you know, that I wear the Italian colors when I compete and, you know, Matt Miller, and, you know, regardless of, you know, what controversy they bring to the table, you know, I'm still a fan boy at heart, so it's just really humbling to be able to sit and color fights. I mean, these guys probably didn't even know

who the hell I was, but I definitely know it was just, it was really humbling, but, you know, that's when, you know, after I did that, I was like, this is, this is, you know, when I'm, when I hang it up and I'm done competing, this is what I belong doing. I belong behind the microphone doing something. You know, it was just so much fun. I have to, it's something that I look forward to doing again someday. Will you be doing their next show whenever it is? I, you know, I'm hoping so, you know, I'm hoping so, you know, John did a great job, you know what I mean? John's, you know, phenomenal guy, easy to talk to, knows the sport, has passion for it. And, you know, so that's something that we share. So I'm hoping that I'm able to get the call back and go in there. And, you know, this is something good to put on my resume going forward if I ever want to get a gig with, like, UFC Tonight or something. Right now, you know, my main priority is fighting. I'm not trying to get wrapped up in too much stuff right now. It's just something that I want to practice. I want to sharpen it. When the opportunities present itself, I'm going to take them. But, you know, my business right now is beating people up. I got to stick to that. But, I mean, end game. I will be behind the microphone, calling fights or something along those lines.

Okay, so let's talk about the fighting because we found out not that long ago. You'll be fighting Tony Ferguson in a massive fight in the main event of a July 13th card in South Dakota. You've been talking about wanting a main event for a long time. You even said that they promised you a main event shot. When did that happen? And did you think for a while that it wasn't going to happen? Because it seems like you've been talking about it for a very long time. Well, what originally happened was when they called me to fight Jim Miller, I was on the phone with Joe Silva and he's like, hey, you know, this is the first time we're ever doing this. for me at least

this is the first time Joe is doing this and he's like I came to Dana and Joe I came to Dana Lorenzo and said we need to do another event because I got this overfilled roster and if we don't have another event before 2015 ends these guys aren't going to fight until you know the end of the

first quarter of 2016 so he proposed a fight pass event and he pit and they're like well who are you going to do is the main and before he had contacted me he said well I like the idea of Jim Miller Mike Kiesa and they were like boom let's do it you know what i mean so when i initially got the call to fight jimler was supposed to be fight past main event during that huge week of fights at the end of 2015 so i'm like freaking out i'm like

this is freaking great i get this big fight main event like this is awesome and then like a week later it's like oh yeah you're getting bumped down pages headlining i was just and i knew that wasn't joe's call i know whose call that was and so you know i i have a good relationship with dana i i can be straight with him. So, you know, I had to call him out and like, dude, you owe me, man. Like, right when I got off the scale, when I went to shake my hand, like, before I even shook my hands, I'm like, yo, you owe me a main event. You can't do that to me, you know what I mean? So, so, you know, they're giving me what I want and the opponent I want, and, you know, I feel like I'm making their job kind of easy for him. So you asked for this fight just a couple of weeks ago in Tampa Bay when you defeated or after

you defeated Benile Daryush. I honestly cannot get over your, you know. your story about having to go to the bathroom. I think about it all the time because this is like a thing, this is like a phobia of mine being in a place where you can. It honestly, I'm not joking, it has sort of scarred me to a degree. Like, just thinking about you in that scenario makes me very anxious and nervous. Do you think about that as well that you could, it's crazy. Danny takes me, he goes, hey, you're up with Ariel in 30 minutes of you're awake. I go, yeah. And he goes, make sure you go to the bathroom before. We don't need a repeat a 10. No, but do you honestly think about to go to the bathroom. I could just take Eric with me.

That would be great viewing. But you don't think of the fact that on national TV, you could have had the disaster to end all disasters? You don't think about that a lot? I told people, I'm like, I would still be up in the Wastatch Mountains of Utah just hiding out with no service, just disconnected. Like, that's like you can't call a career suicide because it's not like I intentionally did something to myself.

You know, you can't fight, you know, the way your body functions. But yeah, dude, I mean, stage to walk out. And I'm like getting off frenetic and like Hafa Cordero and Benile and his team. They're right behind me and I'm like, dude, I got to find a bath. I'm just like, we got to do this. And yeah, dude, it was nuts. You know, I'm discrediting Benile in any way. You know what I mean?

Sure, sure. That first round, I can't say the first round would have went different if I didn't have that going on. But I can definitely tell you that that was probably the toughest first round of my life. Not only am I getting my leg kicked and my head punched, but I'm also, my butt. cheeks, the hardest I've ever flexed them in my life. So it was a struggle, dude. It was tough. By the way, is this something that you've battled throughout your career in the sense that you get super nervous and have to go to the bathroom before fights, or was this a first for you? I don't get that nervous. I really don't. I enjoy, you know, I've had, shoot, dude, I've had

almost, you know, 35 fights now. Like, I'm comfortable with my job. I don't get nervous. It's just, it's the reward at the end of the training camp is getting a chance to compete. But, you know, I think what it was is, you know, Daniel Leith, my new, nutritionist, awesome guy, VTFitness.com, check him out. You know, he was getting great meals all week, and I think it was the protein shake I had right before I went out, because it was like a plant-based performance protein. It's like.

Okay, I think, hey, Mike, if you can hear me, let's call Mike on the phone because it was cutting out a couple times, and I want to hear what he has to say, especially about this particular subject, because it really is a nightmare of mine. This is something I think about all the time. know me very well and know that this is something that I think about a lot. I don't know if it's something that I experienced as a youngster. I do recall being around three or four years old

and standing at the top of these steps of our basement wearing Oshkosh-Bogosh overalls and actually going in my pants, in my diaper. I don't even know. I think I was out of diapers at that point. I think it sort of scarred me. I was no older than three or so years old. And I remember this this moment thinking, you know what, I made a bad thing here. This is a mistake. This is a problem. We're good. Oh, Mike, are you there?

Yeah, there's a storm out here, so I think it knocked my internet out a little bit. That's all good. So you were saying that this is not something that usually plagues you, right? No, I don't get nervous. I don't get the, you know, the shitting plague or bark or any of that crap before a fight. I'm comfortable with my job. I actually get super excited to get out there and compete. What it really was is, you know, Daniel Leith, one of George Lockhart's guys.

Yeah. He's my nutritionist and stuff. And so I think that it was the protein shake I had about an hour before I fought. You know, he's like, hey, here's your supplementation, take it, you know, during your warmup after your warm up. And it was a plant-based protein shake. And it's something I don't take regularly. So I think it just like went right through me. I mean, I literally got done with the fight and B-line to the bathroom.

like we're talking like dead sprint like Joe Silva ended up coming in behind I'm just like blowing this place up he's just like Jesus that was that was going on during your final yeah amazing um you did have time though to to tell the world that you wanted tony ferguson and i'm wondering if there's something about tony that made you want him or asked for him or is it just you looked at the opportunities there who doesn't have a fight and thought that that's the the best fight for you that gets you closer to that title fight You know, it's a culmination of a lot of things. Obviously, it has a lot to do with the title.

I've been very vocal about how I want to fight the best guy in the world. I really want to, you know, I truly believe in my heart. I'm going to be a world champion. I mean, I've overcome a lot of adversity, and that's just not trying to pinch off a loaf during a fight. I mean, I've gone to the whole thing with the ultimate fighter and everything. You know, I'm a very logical guy. I never look past an opponent, but as a fight gets closer, I start to think,

okay, you know, we're here, we're at the fight. You know, what, what's going to be my next move? You know what I mean? I always like to kind of have an idea of where I'm going next. You know, when I asked for Benile, it was because I knew that he had to pull out of his fight in January. He didn't have anything coming up. Perfect opportunity to ask for that fight against a tough guy, you know, step up in the rankings. He doesn't have a fight.

You know, you look at where some of the guys, he fought and beat, look at where they lie in the rankings, too. So, you know, and then same thing with Tony, where it's like, if you look at the lightweight division, there's not a ton of fresh faces in the top 10. You know what I mean? It's a lot of these guys have all fought each other. You know, and then once Tony fell off the card, and I was like, well, this is, that's the fight I need right there. You know what I mean?

And not only do I want to fight Tony because it makes sense, but I want to test myself. You know, I'm not trying, you know. Do I think I'm going to beat the guy? Hell yeah, I'm going to beat the guy. You know, I can beat anybody in the world on any given day. But it's just I got a lot of respect for the guy. He's tough.

I think he's going to bring the best out of me at the first. fact that we get to be a main event, the first you have seen Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I have a feeling that that's going to be a sleeper. You know what I mean? Like that, they have RFA shows there at this little venue called the Pentagon, and it sells out at 4,000,000 people, not just for RFA.

So I think that this place is going to pat, you know, the house is going to be packed, and you know what Tony and I bring to the table, you know what I mean? It's just going to be a great fight. Nothing but respect for the guy. He's kind of, he's kind of taken some shots on me on Instagram. I'm saying he's going to run a snap njitsu clinic on me and all this bullshit. And I'm like, yeah, I don't think you realize you're fighting one of the biggest baddest

lightweights in the world, buddy. You're not going to be, you're not going to run a snap jihitsu clinic on me. Weren't you just there? Didn't you do some media there? And if so, like, what's the temperature there in terms of MMA appetite? Are they excited? Do you get the sense that this is a big deal that the UFC is going to South Dakota? I got the, you know, first of all the media tour is great.

I had a lot of fun. And it's good to finally, you know, get a feel for what it's like. You know, I know that when you become a champion, it's like that times 10 in terms of media obligation. So it's cool to get a feel for it. You know, it was like a 13-hour day. But, I mean, they're not educated on MMA. You know what I mean? Like, there was a lot of questions they asked.

They were kind of bogus because you could tell they didn't have the, like, they were up-to-date with the standard, you know, MMA knowledge that a lot of the rest of the world is. And, but, I mean, they're just excited. I mean, they're just like, you think about it. This is the city. Sioux Falls, you know, the lowest, they have the lowest unemployment rate in the U.S., there's money there. There's no professional sports teams.

So when something comes to town, everybody shows up for it. You know what I mean? And they're excited, dude. I mean, I had countless radio interviews, news interviews, and everybody was just like, dude, when we bring people on here, it's usually like a 30-second little thing, and then you're out, like every single person I interviewed with it, it was like 10 minutes. Like they just had a lot of questions, they have a lot of interest, a lot of things they want to know, and I just think it's going to be an awesome event.

And the venue, that arena is only a year old. It's a brand new arena. I mean, it's a nice, really nice venue. The hotel is pretty much attached to it. It's like that arena, that city is tailor-made for USC. What about the relatively quick turnaround for you? Because this is essentially three months after your last fall. and you know, I'm assuming the training camp starts relatively soon if it hasn't started already.

Does this time, like, did you like this timeline or did you want a little more time? You know, at first I didn't like the timeline. You know, right when I won my fight against, you know, right when I got on the mic, I asked for Tony, but I did make a statement, you know, hey, you know, I'm looking to get in at the end of the summer. Just, you know, for me, it's just a, it's not like I want to take a physical break. I love training. You know what I mean? Like, I grew up skateboarding.

skateboarding is my hobby. I'd grab my skateboard, go push it around the street, a couple hours a night for fun. That's how I am with training. I enjoy going to the gym, working out. It's just something I love doing. So it's never that I ever wanted a break from that. I want to get some more work done on my house, do a little bit of, you know, traveling with the UFC. You know, when I get done with the fight, I like going places like Rotterdam, like I was there and, you know, Vanitore going to these places and traveling and not having that pressure. And a fight sitting over my head. But, you know, opportunities on anyone's schedule. You know what I mean? So when I got the call, it was a little back and forth debate, but ultimately I'm really happy with the choice I made. I'm still in great shape.

You know what I mean? I don't have to have a long 10-week camp because I've had three months off. You know what I mean? And my weight's good. Everything's good. I mean, every time I've worked out, I've gone into it expecting like, man, I'm out of shape. This is going to suck. I'm like, man, no, I'm still in great shape.

I just fought a month ago. You know what I mean? So, you know, now I'm really happy with the fast turnaround. because there's just less work I have to do, and I can continue to make improvements without having to push myself to get in shape. You know what I mean? I'm in shape, a little extra work with the five rounds. You know, it was meant to be.

And just like I said, opportunities not on anyone's schedule. Yeah. So when it comes, you just got to take it. Oh, kudos to you for taking it. Also, I got to say, and I know he's somewhat of a polarizing figure at times. Kudos to Tony for taking it as well, because there aren't a lot of fighters who will say, according to the UFC's official rankings.

Hey, I'm number three. This guy's number nine. I don't want to fight a guy who's, you know, six slots below me. You know people have said that before. Clearly, he did not say that. So I give him props for doing that as well. But as you know, with, you know, Eddie fighting for the belt and Habib is, you know, we're assuming he's going to come back around October.

So is it possible you win this fight and then you're just essentially one fight away? Like maybe you can be the Habib opponent? Like, how are you viewing? What does a win over Tony Ferguson do for you in the rankings, in your opinion? I tell you what? not if, but when I beat Tony. Yes, I apologize. There's only one way.

There's three conditions where I will come back and compete. I will come back and compete if it's for a title shot, a main event in Italy, or a main event in Spokane, Washington. But when I beat Tony, and I'm going to do it in the way it's going to be an exciting fight back and forth. I'm going to get the finish. I beat the number three guy in the world. We know it could be he's going on to fight for the title. so why is this not a number one contender fight? I mean, think about it, look at the rankings, look at, you know, Tony's beat, you know,

Michael Johnson lost to Banneal, I beat Bineal, Tony's beat Boreboza, Tony's beat everybody. Like, why is this, why could this not be a number one contender fight? You know what I mean? It's just hard to bill it. The lightweight division, there's so many fighters and so much fluctuation in the ranking. You know, it all boils down to politics on who did the title stop, but I'm going to force their hand. I'm going to win this fight.

And I'm going to say, these are my three stipulations, and I'm not fighting until I get one of them. So, you know what I mean? I'm not trying to be complicated. I'm not trying to be a dick, but at some point you've got to put your foot down. I'm not asking to fight. You know, it's like, you know, one thing a lot of people don't know is they called me to fight Kabib when Tony fell off. And there was a long debate for, you know, a couple of days we're like, should we do this, should we not? and you know, it's like, you know, do I take the chance?

You know, do I take the fight with Khabi? You know, and I thought to myself, and same with, you know, Rick and the rest of my team, it's like you take the fight with Kibb, you're not even going to be the number one contender if you win. You're still going to have to fight some top three badass afterwards. So is the risk really worth it? Because I feel like I'm going to fight the Neil, I'm going to win, and I'm going to have to fight a top three guy again anyways. So what do I do?

Do I fight Khabi or do I just stick with the same guy? that I was originally supposed to fight, and obviously I made the right choice, because if I thought could be when I beat him, they wouldn't make me a number one contender. They'd like, well, you've got to fight Ferguson now. Yeah. You know what I mean? So we made the right choice. This is a step in the right direction.

It was meant to be, and, you know, I know what I want, and this is, this is, you know, this is a fight to get me there. Final thing for now. He has looked amazing, you know, over the last few fights. I mean, he's on an impressive winning streak. he's being some very tough guys. He's finishing some very tough guys. Have you been watching him as he's made this climb?

And what are you seeing? Because I know you come with an analytical mind. What are you seeing as far as holes? Do you see them already? Is it going to take some time to figure this guy out? Because let's be honest, he's a little unorthodox. He's a little funky when it comes to his ground game, even his stand-up as well.

We saw that, you know, that was on display against Edson-Barbosa and many others as well. What are you seeing as far as, you know, the openings that he leaves for you as an opponent? You know, I don't want to divulge too much. Okay. I'm sure, you know, I'm sure, you know, this is going to go out to the world and everyone it's here now, so I can't dish out too many specifics, but, you know, I'm very, I watch my division very closely. I know even the guys that aren't ranked.

I got a great grasp of what they're good at, what they're not good at, you know, where they train, who their managers are. I mean, I pay really close attention to my division. And Tony, you got a guy who has amazing cardio. You know, his best attribute, number one, is he always shows up in shape, great shape. You know, he's willing to go for it. He's not a guy that fights safe, which I love because I'm the same way. I don't like fighting safe.

I like to get out there and go for it. He comes forward. He doesn't take a backward step. You know, I think we have a lot of similarities. Versatile striker, he likes to switch stances and stuff. But I think that, you know, his tendency to go for it could go against him. I just don't think it's of your best interest to go for Eminari role. and stuff like that against the guy like me because, as you've seen,

you give me one opening to get behind you and take your back. It's going to be a bad night for you. You know what I mean? Yeah. So, you know, with that being said, I'm sure they're already aware of that. So, you know, whether he continues to do the same thing or not, that's great. It doesn't matter to me. I got a plan for however this fight goes.

But, you know, I didn't even get a goal on full display for what I've been improving on in my last fight, given the circumstances. You know, it's kind of hard to showcase your skills when you spent the whole first round flexing butt cheeks. So, but, you know what? He's a super tough guy. This is going to be the biggest test of my career in terms of competition. And, you know, it's going to be a great night. I got nothing but respect for the guy.

I didn't calm out because I think he's some weak link or anything like that. I know what he brings to the table. I know I'm a huge underdog. But, you know, I'm just excited that I got this fight and I get a chance to go prove my worth. Love it. Love this fight. Love everything about it. I hope it gets the attention that it deserves. And I love that it's the main event as well. Appreciate the time, my man. I know you had a long trip back. So thank you for waking up early and doing this. And again, great job on Saturday at that Wachey Ventura event. You brought tremendous perspective to the broadcast. So I really appreciate it. Great job. Hope to hear you do that a lot more. But for now, good luck in the training camp. Good luck in the fight. I'm sure I'll talk to you beforehand. But really great to have you on. Thanks, Michael. Awesome, man. Thanks for the opportunity. All right, there he is Michael Kesa. A big fight for him, July 13th, main eventing the UFC's debut in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Next up for the UFC, big show this Sunday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. It's a special Sunday night Memorial Day card. It's a very WCS card, in my opinion. A ton of great talent, a ton of great fighters. And according to my friend Mike Bonn on Twitter, it's the first time in UFC history that two bantam weights, headline a card in the UFC when a title is not on the line. I said that in a very convoluted way, but it's the first time that we have a non-title bantamweight main event in the UFC. How about that? That's a big deal. And rightfully so, because it's a fantastic main event.

It's involved, it's involving two undefeated young studs, 20 and O, Thomas Almeida against 8 and 0, Cody Garbrand. I mean, there's nothing not to like about this. And we're being joined by right now on the phone. Cody, how are you? I'm great. How are you, then? Thanks for having me. I appreciate it, my man. I know it's busy, so thank you very much for the time. How about this? Did you know that? This is the first time in UFC history. Two Bantamweights headline a UFC card when they're not fighting for the belt. That's a big deal. Yeah, actually Mike told me that the other day when I was getting interviewed by him.

So I thought that was pretty cool, you know, just shows that the UFC, you know, has in store for us and expects that of us to go out there and put on the show. so great to have the opportunity to do it. Three and O in the UFC, you haven't been there very long, but you continue to get better. And I remember after your last fight in February, we're kind of thinking, is it going to be John Lineker next, maybe Thomas Almeida. But I remember saying to myself,

no, they're not going to do the Almeida fight next because you're both undefeated, and this is the kind of fight that I feel like can be for the belt in, you know, a year or so. Were you surprised when they gave you Almeida right off the bat after that win over Mendez? No, actually, I wasn't surprised. You know, there's a threat that I wanted for a while.

You know, I asked Sean Shelby. I said I want John Lennaker, Thomas Tameda, the title shot. So in my mind, you know, this is what I had planned for, you know, keep climbing out ladder and getting that title. So, yeah, after Lennaker fight, obviously that didn't, you know, pan out. He got sick the week in the fight and had to withdraw and got stepped up. So in my mind, Thomas Omede was my next fight. So I'm just glad that the call happened, you know, that they called me about to fight

and no better way of fighting the fight capital of the world in Las Vegas this week. Yeah, Memorial Day weekend, always a big weekend for the UFC. I've read in some interviews, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you sort of feel like he's doubting himself going into this fight. The fact that he has said that he's going to finish you in the second round makes you feel like he's questioning himself. Is that accurate? Yeah.

Oh, yeah, definitely. If you're, you know, if I'm 21-0 or whatever, however, you know, how many ever cab drivers he beat to that record, you know, I would be very confident I would not, you know, definitely ain't a guy out in the first round. Anyone I fought out, you know, in the first round. So him standing, he said, knock me out in the second, I just feel like he has a little bit of doubt.

himself, you know, and I want to make sure that that doubt is shown early on in the first time. Interesting comment there about the cab drivers. Are you saying that he has a bit of a padded record? Of course. Of course he has a padded record, you know. But then again, he goes out there and he performs against those people, so, you know, you don't get to that record for not being tough. Like, he's tough and he's skilled, but, you know, he has all these fights, and he's now just hitting his stride, you know, I look at it as me, I'm 8 and O, and I'm finally hit my stride, I'm getting better and better each fight, more confident, more confident. I can only imagine myself being at 21, you know, 20 and O or 21 and O, whatever his record really is, you know, being having

all that competition experience, as you call it. It just goes to show, you know, the level of competition that you're fighting. So how many, I mean, off the top of your head, do you even know, like, how many legitimate wins do you think he has? Really, I didn't even look into this record or the people that you fought. You know what I mean? Like, were they, a lot of them were still or what? You never know. Like I said, who just, hey, was it, hey, just bought a cab driver?

You know what I mean? I heard saying cab drivers, man. You know, if I had, if I fought 21 people, I'd be 21 out of two. Right. And I'd have the place yet. So, you know, of course, I'm not in a dog when you have someone that hasn't, and blemished record like that, you know, and the sport's so young. But really, look at the people that he's stacked out of, you know.

He's just not hitting his stride and he has 21 professional fight. That's a lot of fights. You know, that's a lot of damage. That's a lot of training camps. That's a lot of miles on your body. Amazingly, you look at his record. He's actually 20-0. He's gone the distance once.

Yeah, he's gone the distance once. He's gone to the fourth round once. otherwise it's a bunch of first round finishes and a couple of second round finishes. Can you say, though, from at least his UFC career, you've been impressed? Are you impressed with him or not really? Yeah, I'm impressed with the guys that he's fought against.

You know what I mean? Anybody can do that against you with that, stay in there and let you, you know, bomb on him. You can hurt me, you know. And one that could say, you look at, with an angle, ticket, ticket cut angles on it and countered on it.

And was in the fight. you know Brad Pickett I've been a fan of Brad Pickett since the WC days and you know he had had to hurt you know just got caught up in the fight you know got caught up with me you know yeah yeah it's good you know you gotta show a lot of stuff

in that fight he came back he's got hard he's got toughness you know but in this this game you really don't want to be known for having to do that you know what I mean having to be tough have to show your heart and have to come back you know, that's great. So I know that he'll be there and he's coming to fight. So that's what I'm looking forward to.

You know, I respect him on that level that he comes to the fight. He's got hard. He's tough. You know, he's going to need all that. He's going to need all that and his skills. No secret, of course, you're a proud member of Team Alpha male. But back of the day, you used to train at Strong Style in Ohio, correct? Correct, yeah.

Seeing Strong Style's own, Steepam-Myotich win the belt a week or so ago, did that give you an extra boost of confidence going into this? Oh, yeah, definitely. It was, you know, the C-C-thameosic, you know, and the weight title, you know, exactly how I knew it was going to be. I knew that I knew that and I was doing it out. I said early on from the first round like that. It's great to have the, you know, the drunk-style old-school boxing side team,

you know, we built that guy up from, you know, ground up and, you know, at the end wrestling experience, you know, athletic and this and that, but, you know, Marcus Marinelli, Pavogastro, Joseph Delgado, all those guys going up. So it's great to see, like, a product of that, you know, that's something that you trained at. And that's, like, really, it was my first big MMA gym or an in-mage gym that you said I went and trained at, you know, besides going in to the little gyms and just, you know, garage, people's garages and sparring here. And, you know, doing that all the way out. I came out here, you know, it's an alpha male.

So, you know, it's great to see, you know, the success. having their first world champion. Cody, if you don't mind, I just want to call you right back because the line is sort of cutting in and out. And obviously, want to hear what you're saying. It's sounding a little distorted, if you will. So let's try calling Cody right back and then get him right back on the horn

because obviously want to hear what he's saying. This is the big main eventer for this Sunday show in Las Vegas. Again, what a card this is. And it's one that, you know, obviously with $199 coming up and $200 coming up and even Ottawa coming up, Flies under the radar a little bit, but top to bottom, I mean, Hannah Brown is making his featherweight debut on Sunday against Jeremy Stevens. Rick's story was supposed to fight Tarek Safedine. I reported yesterday that Safedin injured his knee at the end of his training camp. He's actually meeting his doctor today in Las Vegas, the UFC doctor, to see if he'll be able to fight.

He told me yesterday, it's not looking good. And so they're looking for an opponent for Rick's story. I've been told that they have located one. And I'll tell you more about that. in the second half of the show. But that, I mean, that was a great fight. Who else? Jorge Masvedal against Lorenz Larkin, Joshua Birkman against Paul Feldar. How about Sarah McMahon against Jessica I?

I mean, it's amazing. Cody, I believe, is on the horn again. Cody, are you there? Yes, I'm here. Oh, yes. That sounds a lot better. So what's it like these days? And, you know, we don't need to get into the drama too much,

but has some of the soap opera left, like now that T.J.'s been gone for a little bit, your eyes getting ready for his title fight. Does it feel a little less, I don't know, hectic and drama? Does it feel a little less of that stuff at the Alpha Gym in Sacramento these days? Oh, yeah.

It's as usual. Okay. Training camp's going great. It's been great training out here. Chris Lowe's Worth, Danica's deal, Justin Buckles have been running a phenomenal Jim you know

success a race through the roof you know we have some of good wins big wins you know Josh Tim

and just got a got signed to the USC on what four five day notice flew across the world and picked up

you know good win against John and the tuck you know had a gruesome the hand in hand injury

you know we have we have fighters like that are just not discovered you know they're not that are out here that can

compete and do, you know, make some noise in the UFC that we just got to get them in there, you know, and, you know, I'm glad to see Emmett out there, you know, 10 and O now, just a wrecking machine, you know, it's great to be trained with those guys that, you know, you never hardly hear about them, you don't hear about them because, you know, they don't have a shot or a chance. It's crazy, you know, we have a lot of those sweaters out here, and we're, you know, we're working every day to get them noticed and get them out there. So, yeah, the training's going great with Ariah, you know, he's the week after me. Clay Guit is out here, you know, spending his camp out here, training, and having fun,

you know, he does the playlist in the morning, so he's a DJ. He's a DJ in the morning, and he has some pretty gnarly music that we jam out, too. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, he's, you know, he's definitely old, he's old rocker. That's right. Cool rockers, so it's fun, man. The vibe, the energy, it just, it's been great to have these guys going into a big fight. I'm leading the crusade the week before, so I'm going to star us off with some momentum and let them guys carry it on and do their thing in there.

Does it feel any different because this is a pretty unique scenario that you're in here because you're preparing for a fight, a gigantic main event, all that stuff, and the following week, six days later, it's Jariah Faber's title fight against Dominant Cruz of all people. So you're essentially peaking at the same time. And oh, by the way, you're in the same way class. Have you noticed that that's helped you at all as you prepare for your? your fight as well? Yeah, I mean, it's great to, you know, it's great to be able to go with a, a lot of guys that are that high caliber, but the guy that's fighting for the title in your weight class, you're right there with him, you're train with him every day,

you're putting extra work, and you're doing this, you know, he's like, hey, you know, we get down with track, hey, let's do a sprint, let's get on the treadmill, and do a 25-minute sprint workout, you know, on the treadmill, just meet him, just, you know, running that treadmill into the ground, you know, do this, to do this extra drilling, it's great, you know, to see him that, you know, he just turned 37 years old and to have such a, you know, successful longevity career, you know, with fighting the top guys in the world is basically his whole career should have got to NMA. To see him still doing the stuff that he did when he was 24, you know, it's training and just becoming,

me obsessed with the sport, we obsessed with getting better, being in the gym constantly, you know, and fighting for the title. You know, it's great to be peaking with them, be on the team, be training with them, you know, learning from them. It's amazing just to be out here and be on a team. Like I said, the first time I came out here, felt like, you know,

this was somewhere I needed to be, and I made all the necessary arrangements to move and to better my life, and it was the best decision I made coming out here, obviously going into my fourth fight and made an event with Thomas Amana, so my decision to move out here and join the team

been the best one so far. Not to get ahead of myself too much, but I got to ask, he wins the belt in two weeks. You win this fight, maybe you're next, maybe you're a fight away. Would you fight your eye favor for the belt? I don't think that would ever happen. I don't know.

I probably would never fight a riot, to be honest. I don't know. I fight him every every day. Yeah. I mean, it is that going to be a money thing for me. that would give me that fight. I don't think I got a lot of respect for him.

I really do. Very humble dude's been nothing but honest and real to me ever since the first time I met him. So, yeah, I want to win the belt and whatever he's going to do so, it'll kind of be, you know, if I got to wait, take another fight and meet someone up and do that, I'm willing to do that.

I'm willing to fight, earn my shot, and go from there. I see what everything falls in the place after, you know, he gets the belt and do all that. I got time with 24, about 325 in July, so I'm a little fighter. I hope I have, you know, the judge of longevity career like himself. So I have plenty of fights that makes sense, you know, besides him for the title. And I know you've been focused on this big fight, but out of the corner of your eye, have you been following your old friend Paige Van Zenz's run on Dancing with the Stars?

the finals this week. Wow, what a big week for her. Have you been watching that show as well? Oh, yeah, the guys on the team and some of the girls on our team, the coaches. We've all been, supportive and watching it and, you know, dial in every week voting for her. And, you know, I'm glad that she's had a nice success that she's had in the final. That's amazing. You know, she's amazing dancer. She's, you know, a very hard worker and very dedicated to do when she's something in her mind to do it. So very happy for her and her success and the after of the stars. and so yeah, I'm very happy for in the final, so I'm excited to see how it goes this week.

Yeah, it's amazing. In the next two weeks, we can have Dancing with the Stars champion coming out of Alpha Male, main event winners, giving Almeida his first loss in your eye of favor, becoming the Bantamweight champion of the UFC finally. That's a pretty good, you know, 10-day-or-so stretch for the team. Final question for you, Cody, and appreciate the time. So he says second round, what are you saying as far as Sunday's result?

I'm a first rounder man I'm a first round I'm on fire and I find that chin I'm definitely gonna you know I'm gonna test that chin early if I'm in the first round it's a first round it's it's

that's what's gonna happen you know I'm gonna fight his chin hit him hard he's never gonna be hit hard like that and be able to come back like when he's gonna show his heart here and his tough it's here

no he's gonna be he's gonna be hurt and he's gonna be out and I'm gonna give him his first loss first round in this Sunday So expect fireworks. You know, some more of the day weekend.

I got to put on first. You know, he's an outsider. He's an invader coming in. And I know my, I know our responsibilities on Sunday, and I'm going to go out there and do them. And by the way, Sherdog says he's 20-0. UFC.com says 21-0. So, you know, tomato, tomato, you were right. I'll say.

Yeah, tomato. I know he's going to be 20-something-1. So that's all that matters. And by the way, one last thing. What about our old pal-matics maple? Is he going to be there? Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely. He actually just texted me today.

He's flying out in a few days. He gets me super excited. I've never seen that. I can't so excited with Vegas. It's amazing, you know. So, and his family, my family, and we're all going to be there. You know, and, you know, my sponsor from Martinelli and he said,

Todd Melodrome, like he said, sponsors him as well family, you know. Wow. He takes care of the trip. Every trip he came to every fight, every year's feet, fight. So he said that he'll constantly keep, you know, make sure that he's there. He knows how it's important to me having Max saying how important it is for Max to be there. So give me more thank for Todd Meldrum and, you know, helping us out and making, you know, his dreams come true.

That is amazing. Good for you, my man. Good luck on Sunday. Can't wait for it. What a tremendous main event. What a great card from top to bottom really is. Hopefully a lot of people will be watching. Looking forward to it, looking forward to seeing if you can pull off that first round finish. and again, I know it's busy now as you get ready to go to Vegas, so I appreciate you coming on. Thank you, Cody. Good luck. Oh, thanks to have me, it's honor. All right, there he is. Cody Garbrand. No love in the house, says he prepares for his very first UFC main event against Thomas Almeida, first time in UFC history that two bantam weights

headline a UFC card when it's a non-title fight. I keep not really saying that in the most proper way, but you get the point, right? Two bantam weights, main event, non-title fight. This is a first for the UFC. How about that? And certainly worthy of your time. Really, top to bottom, great card. And it's a little earlier, I believe, main cards at 9 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. Usually, this is the first time that I'm not in Vegas for a Memorial Day weekend card since I believe 2007. UFC 71 I watched from home. That was Quentin Jackson versus Chuck Ladell. It felt like that was a new chapter for the UFC. ESPN started covering it more. Rampage knocks out Liddell after he was on Entourage.

Joe Rogan's on the 6 p.m. Sports Center the night before debating against Lou DeBella. That felt like a new chapter for the organization. I went to 84. I went to 98. I went to 114. I could probably go through them. But you get the point. This year they're doing the pay-per-view the fall.

week 199, so I won't be at this card this Sunday, but certainly we'll be watching from home. I really love it. I love everything about it. We'll talk more about it a little later on. For now, let's move along. Some sad news early Saturday morning. I went on Twitter, and I saw that our old pal Robert Whiteford had announced that he has parted ways from the UFC. No longer with the UFC. So we had to talk to the Flying Judica. Scotland's own to figure out what the dilly. And there he is. Robert's here.

Robert, how are you? Yeah, I get me. What is that? Is that a native calling or something that you guys do in Scotland? That's like a yodo hello. Oh, wow. That was nice. Well, I'm sorry to hear the news, my friend.

Were you surprised when you got it? Ah, shit happens, doesn't it? Yeah, it does. Fuck, what can you do? Life goes on. Very surprised when I heard it, you know, but are you ever surprised with anything the UFC does these days? Oh, wow.

Not really. Was that a rhetorical question? No, but it could be if you take it that way. But really, they do strange things day in, day out, you know, whether it's for good or for the bad. You can never take it as you take every a pinch of salt with the USC. That's the way I'll look it out now. When did you get the news?

Saturday morning It was strange how it happened I was away for the weekend But my girlfriend she booked it for my birthday And my manager phone called me And Saturday morning whilst I was away for the weekend I couldn't believe it I felt like wringing his neck

Wow That's and what was the reason given Do we real want it got to it The main reason is I've lost two in a row You know you can't really you can't really argue with that. There's a lot of people being cut for two in a row, and there's been people cut for less than two fights in a row.

So, you know, you can't really grumble with it, really, can you? No, but a lot of people haven't been cut for two in a row, especially ones who are very popular in their home country, who had a great performance in the first event in their home country. I don't know. I feel like you haven't really scratched the surface. A little bump in the road, yes. Last performance, obviously not your greatest.

but I was surprised to hear the news as well. Yeah, exactly. You know, that last fight was shit, top to bottom, you know. As I said before, sometimes it's just not your night to fight, and I made that walkout to the octagon. My flower of Scotland, traditional homecoming music, get cut shot. I get into the octagon.

My Bruce Proffer announced on my name, cut out shot. Things just weren't adding up, you know. Sometimes it just doesn't go your way, and then I get fucked over by a judge it scored at 3027 for Martins, the children with the planet he was on. Maybe he was trying some of the Amsterdam local brew.

So are you the kind of guy like when that stuff happens with the music and all that? Does it mess with you? Do you think about that in the moment? No, it didn't matter of fuck to me. I can fight right now, you know? I'm ready to fight. Fighting is not a hard thing for me. I've been doing it that long one way or another since a kid have been fighting all my life. So when it comes to throw down it's easy,

I can switch on and switch off, as I told you, it's like drinking a cup of tea. Sure. But, you know, I believe that things happen for a reason in this world. And when bad luck comes, it usually comes in threes. And that judge was just my third bad luck in the night. So I can see, you know, just from your demeanor, the look on your face, your posture. I mean, you're obviously disappointed. You're a little bummed out about the news.

It's been 48 hours or so since you got it. How are you handling it now? Can you describe the emotions right now that you're feeling? I mean, obviously, I'm fucking devastated, you know. I got into fighting as a dream, really. There was no one from Scotland in the UFC. It was a dream. It was like pissing in the wind if you asked anybody in Scotland

about a Scottish guy fighting the UFC. So my dream was always to fight in the UFC, and I managed to do that, you know. God knows how I done it, but I've done it. then once I'd fought in the UFC I thought you know what I can win fights here it's easy enough to win fights then I won fights and then it was a case of

let's want some more and let's bring the USC to Scotland how fucking great would that be in my hometown wanting a fight and I dream big you know and I've done it in Scotland it was amazing it was one of the best feelings of my life it chokesmurping out talking about so it's never been a

money thing for me fighting in the UFC or fighting in general. So I'm just glad that I got to fulfill the dreams I had and I can take those memories with me. No day can ever take them away. You don't need me to tell you this, but a lot of people have left the UFC and come back. They've left the UFC twice and come back. It happens all the time. And I know it's fresh, but do you have it in you to build yourself back up in order to get back to the UFC? Do you want to do that's one of the things I've been speaking to my manager and Sean Shelby about you know like as I said before I've been fighting all my life and at some point you've got to let it go so you don't want to fight anymore it's not it's not a case of fighting you know I'm fucking

losing my mind over this game yeah I'm 33 it's not like him 23 um getting married now next year. We won't have kids. Can't do it forever. Do you have any idea what you would do? Scotland's a beautiful control area. I could quite happily turn my Wi-Fi off and my phone off. And love for you quietly. Have you thought about that for the last couple of years? Did you know that come 33, 34, 35 that you would stop fighting? Is this what you've wanted? or did this happen sooner than, you know, obviously you didn't expect to get cut now,

but, you know, was it always the plan to get out in your mid-30s? You always have a set plan. You want to get out of something. You know, I can remember I started fighting in 2009, and I thought I would be doing it for a year or two and I'd be out. It just snowballed and it just kept snowballing. You know, I enjoy fighting. I love fighting.

I enjoy the life. I've created another life over and. Florida as well that's the thing I've got friends over there that I class as family yeah you know getting to see them is tough

if I quit fighting because that's what it entails retirement 33 it's never something I thought I would do if I was still fighting in the UFC hell no it wouldn't be happening I would like to retire fighting in the UFC 35 36 as long as your body

can take the damage we've had discussions with Shelby you know the UFC's coming back to Scotland next year it's a huge thing on my side you know I've got a country behind me over here that the UFC Scotland wouldn't be the same without me on it and if the UFC are what they say that what the fans want they couldn't put that show here

without me being on it so it's a possibility me getting on a couple of wins and getting in a position where I could get signed again and getting back on the UFC Scotland card. But as I say, Daryl, how long do you keep it going? You know, how long can you fight for? I'd like to put that switch off at some point. Right.

And how long do I keep it going for? You know, like, do I keep it going another year and another two years? At some point you've got to call it a day and it's just trying to figure out when that day is. What has the reaction been to the news from, you know, I know you put it out there from your fans, have promoters reached out? What's it been like the last couple days?

I mean, I never realized how many fans I had until I put that news out because I speak that much shit and driveling on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. I don't usually get a reply because it's just a lot of no shit. Usually I speak or fans having a laugh, and I don't, but when I put that tweet out, I've never been so humbled in my life. The reaction from the Scottish support has been unbelievable.

Does that make you say, like, you know what, I can keep going here. I got a lot of people behind me. Would it be fair to say that now you're very emotional and you're kind of just weighing everything you haven't really decided what you're going to do? Yeah, well, that's the thing. People have told me not to make this decision so soon while I'm emotional, you know, because I'm an emotional guy wearing my heart in my sleeve. time.

So they've told me to give it a few weeks and we're up the option. One of my managers has actually told me to have the full summer off in just relax and chill out because they know what kind of guy I'm up. Ariel, there's not one doubt in my mind that I couldn't put together another couple of wins and get back in that

UFC Scotland card, you know, but as I said, that next year I'll be 34 year old next year. They'll go another year without making money and fighting for nothing just to get back to where I've just been from. You know, the UFC was fucking great to me.

I had a great time, great experience, great memories with it. But, you know, it's not giving, it's not giving me money to retire on, basically, so that I work that hard that I just fucking busted my ass off to get all the way there, then to get there for next year again,

for it just to happen again, you know. Because it doesn't last forever. everybody gets cut or retired at some point, you know, and as I say, I'm going to be 34 next year. So that's the options I'm looking at, you know. UFC definitely won't me ready for next year. Sean wants me in a position where he can get me in that card because he knows the fall and I have here in Scotland, but they want to put myself and my girlfriend through that. Right.

That's what to ask myself. You know, looking at your record, when you entered the UFC, you only had what was it, one loss on your record and that was your very first pro fight. You went on a very long streak. You took your UFC debut on pretty short notice and dropped that one, but then won two in a row

and have since, you know, stumbled in this two-fight losing streak, as you said. Do you have any idea why this happened? Like, you know, why three out of your last five fights didn't go your way when you had the streak? Like, is it just the competition? Has something changed? What do you think?

Well, I've been looking at that as well. you know the first fight with uh was at hetis you know five days noticed what the fuck i couldn't expect really to win that fight you know i take that one in the chin i hold my hands up yeah took that loss in the chin uh then i went on the fought daniel canada and uh in texas one a home hometown boy in front of all these texans which the ufc let's be honest probably didn't expect me to want you know that they had plans for scotland and i probably wasn't their number one pick to be in there first one not the flagship boy or girl for Scotland, you know. So I won 171 and I had plans to stick around until the UFC came to Scotland and I was going to continue fighting and won it. Then they paired me with Denisiva, top 10 opponent right off the bat again. Again, I didn't give a fuck. I was going to go out there and fight him and look to charge on to UFC Scotland.

Unfortunately, I got injured for that fight, had to pull out. Then UFC Scotland was just around the corner. I got offered a fight in short notice three weeks, fighting in Brazil, a Brazilian in Brazil. I turned that down on three weeks, noticed, and then really I couldn't fight again until the UFC came to Scotland in July. So that led me to fight on the Scotland card.

And to me, I stole the show there, you know, that walkout, the celebration, the knockout. Definitely stole the show. So again, I wasn't supposed to do that in my eyes. I don't think that's what the UFC had planned. I wasn't to be that person. And I've done it. Then I get paired with another top 10 guy,

Darren Elkins, who nobody really wants to fight. Let's be honest, it's a fucking horrible fight for anybody. I've never turned a fight down in my life, and I certainly wasn't going to turn that fight down. The fight planned out. 95% of the way people in Elkins probably thought it would be. plan out, you know, I was going to try and knock him out, he was going to try and take me down and grind out a decision.

That's life, you know. Then I got offered a Brazilian in Croatia. It was coming off a two-fight losing streak, and being in the mix at the top 15 at least. So the competition was high. I never fought, I never get an introductionary UFC pack, did I? Yeah. No.

I mean, it's all tough guys, and you obviously lay out you lay it out, you know, pretty well. If you don't get back to the UFC, considering you had that moment last summer against Paul Redmond, knocking him out, stealing the show, as you said, can you leave content? Do you feel like you got that moment,

or does it, does it, will it always feel like you left with unfinished business? Like, was that enough, or do you feel like you wanted more? Well, this is the question I'm saying. When do you call it a date? Yeah. When do you choose to switch to switch it off?

because if I don't switch it off, I'm going to be fighting on my days. Right. I'm a born fighter. Would you ever be happy walking away is there every time you're going to say, I'm done, I've had enough? Never. It's never in my mindset to think, oh, I've had enough of this fighting, you know, but at some point we've got to call it a day,

and if you would say what I've done in a short period of time since I started fighting, I started fighting in 2009, and I made the USC in three years representing my country at the highest level, registered the one, registered the first knockout. I'm happy with that, Ariel, you know. I'm happy I'm fucking going out in a loss and getting cut after two losses. I'm not, and you're never going to be happy whether you get cut after one or two or three. But I'm definitely happy with what I've done with my career and fighting,

and my life is in general. I'm a council estate kid coming for Scotland from nothing. You know, I've done well. And I know I'm putting you on the spot here, but what is your guts? say, do you think you will ever fight again or are you leaning towards no? It's too soon for me to make that decision, you know. And as I say, I've got my friend's wedding coming up this year. I'm going to take the rest of the year off and maybe fight at the end of the year

and see how I feel after that. But as in for a carrot getting dangled in front of me and getting asked to fight four, five wins and then going back and saying, let's talk about that. That's definitely not in my thoughts. If I hear that once coming from Shelby or the UFC, then I'm gone for good. If they give me a reasonable offer and tell me, let's see exactly how many fights they want in, what position they want men, then I can maybe work towards that. But for getting a carrot dangled in front of men and chasing that dream again, I can't see myself doing that, to be honest.

Well, obviously, support whatever decision you make, my friend. And it's been a lot of fun covering you in the UFC getting to know. Before we go off, can I just tell you a story that just happened? Because you won't believe this. Please, please. Do you want to hear it? I would love to. Yeah, of course.

So my friend phoned me up from his work and says, could you come and pick me up? He's lifts, let him down. I said, of course. I said, they'll be there 10 minutes. It's 10 minutes from my house. So I drives down to the guy's work to pick him up. We're driving out the work area, and we see a guy standing at the side of the road with two rucksacks.

So I always like to fuck with my friend and pick people up and stuff, right? And he gets nervous and shit. So I say to him, I say, listen, I'm going to pick this guy up. He obviously works on where you work. He's needing a left home. And he says, no, no way, don't fucking pick him up. So I pull in at his side, so the guy needs to speak to him. So I say, hey, where are you going, buddy?

And he says, we're going 15 minutes up the road. And it's not far from my house. I say, okay, jump in. So I say, stick your rucksack in the boot. And the other bag, just keep with you jumping the back. So my friends, like, fucking hell, you picked up a guy. So he lets him in the back seat. So he jumps in the back seat and we're driving along.

And I say to him, like, how's your day at work being? And he gets all weird about it. he's like, I don't really want to speak about it. So I'm like, fucking hell. So I'm looking at my mate and he's like,

fucking getting all weird about it. So I say, what's in the rock sack? It's in the boot. If you've just came to work and you've got two bags. Because why would you take the rock sack? It's like an IT place.

And he's like, none of your fucking business. So I'm like, fucking hell. By this point, my friend's at worst for me, I fucking told you not to pick this guy up. I told you to pick this guy up.

So driving along and he's just no same enough and he's sitting like stone cold silent. So I'm like, I'm going to need to ask him again what the fuck's in this bag. So I'm like, mate, what is in this bag?

I'm kind enough to give you a lift. I'm not going to fucking any trouble or any bullshit. What's in the bag in the boot? And he's like, none of your fucking business. Again like that. And I'm like, right, fuck this. I was like,

I'm going to need to pull over and let you out the car. And he's like, he's like, right, just pull over and then let me out. So I fucking pull over and a friend jumps out to the passenger seat. He jumps out with his little fucking bag, slams the door shot and I drive off. Okay. So we drive off and the bag still in the fucking room. Yes. Fucking crazy.

Oh, and that's it? that's well that's it yeah well the bag's still there still there what do you think's in it none of your fucking business I cannot believe I've got you again I've got you twice I've got you twice

none of that happened Not at all happening. What an asshole. Oh gosh. You're teasing. It's good. You know, I'm happy to see you still got your sense of humor, my man. How about this?

On me, go grab some haggis out back, throw it on the Barbie, cook it up for me, and have yourself a nice dinner. Robert, a pleasure as always, my man. Keep in touch. All the best to you. Thank you for coming. I'm actually crying right now. I'm crying.

Thank you, Robert. all the best. Wow. He done did it again. What a guy. Robert. Oh gosh. Unbelievable. He went to those lengths to get me again. I remember last year he told me some crazy story about where Haggis comes from. And then he actually sold, I mean, that was a pretty good job. Wow. Okay. I thought it was going to be some moral of the story. The guy had no job, lost his family, something. And that's the freaking story. let's move along let's go back to the Skype machine and welcome in my good friend you chill peace son and there he is are you sleep right yes none of your business right yes thank you

for putting it you played along with that really good better than most of your guests did that was a terrible story how are you let's liven things up now i'll tell you things that are your business, which is the whole reason I came on the show. Thank you, Chale. Good to see you as always. Thank you for the time. You're a busy man. There's a lot going on as always in the world of Chale P. Sun. Now, let's talk about the news, but let's also talk about how everyone, including, I believe, your own employer or the team that you teamed up with got it wrong. A lot of factual inaccuracies last week. And I know you're a man who could appreciate this, but I'll save that. Let's hear it. Let's hear it. Well, first things first, you're launching.

your own submission grappling promotion, correct? Sunday. None of your business. Sunday, July 17th, submission underground, Chale Sunnan, in your backyard, Portland, Oregon. You have stacked the deck. Why did you do this? Why did you team up with flow combat to put on this event? Yeah, we loaded up. I still don't know what your point, what factually was incorrect. I'll talk about it. I'll talk about it in the second. Oh, oh, we're going to get to it. Oh, okay. Yeah, as far as submission underground, yeah, July 17th, man, it is loaded. A lot of guys, a lot of guys, are coming out to compete. It's going to be fun. Okay, so this is where it's factually inaccurate.

A lot of people said, Chale Sunnan, fighter extraordinaire, broadcaster extraordinaire, podcaster extraordinaire is now adding the title of promoter to his resume. But no one realizes that you've been promoting events for over a decade in the Oregon area, that you're no stranger to promoting events. This is old hat for you. You just don't publicize it as much. Am I not right here? Am I not right that you've been promoting long before you've been doing broadcasting all this other stuff? You are right about that. As a matter of fact, as a matter of fact, we had our first show on January 17th of 2002. We produced 15 UFC veterans, two referees, one judge, and a timekeeper for that matter. But yeah, we've been at it for a while.

So, I mean, this is pretty cool that you're going from MMA to grappling. Why? Why are you doing this? Like, why don't just stick with the MMA? I appreciate that. Thank you. We're still doing MMA. We had a show last weekend, and we have another one coming up on July 16th. But as far as the grappling goes, you know, it was really just something. When my MMA career ended, I got into grappling. And, you know, just speaking for my teammates or even for myself, there's nowhere to do it at. There's just a lack of opportunity to go out and compete.

Every time my phone rings and somebody asks me to grapple, I say yes. And with that said, I've only grappled two or three times in the last couple of years. There's just not a lot of opportunities. So, like I said, stack the deck, Jake Shields, Benson Henderson, King Moly. That's a good match. Great match. King Moe against Vinnie Magalyesh, the biggest troll in MMA as far as Twitter is concerned, Vinny. There's no doubt about that.

Kenny Florian, your old pal is on the card as well. Rico Rodriguez, Jen's Pulver. Is this the card? Are we adding more to it? You got the card right minus Jen's Pulver who pulled out about four minutes ago. He got hurt. Oh, what a bummer. He tried to do it.

He was hurt. I will tell you, of everything you just mentioned. By the time it all rolls out, the match you will most be looking forward to is Kenny Florens. He's taken on Philippe Costa. There's just, there's a backstory to that. We'll tell it as time comes and the promotion comes, but I'm telling you, this Philippe Braga Costa, he is really into it. I guess we would just leave it at that for now, but mark my words, you'll be intrigued.

And you want to know something. So you got Vinny. Vinny's the best grappler alive. You know, he won Abu Dhabi to win it. He beat Whiteman on his way to the finals and beat for Vio Verduem in the fight. He's the best. King Mo is the first one to sign up, followed by Babelieu. Babelieu was supposed to be part of this.

His opponent had to pull out because of a wedding of all things. But at any rate, Rico Rodriguez, everything that we've talked about, Rico Rodriguez is the one where everybody's saying to me, wait a minute, that's the same name as a guy that used to be the UFC champion. No, it is the guy. And so many people have stared at that and gone, you've got to be kidding me. RICO's back. And who knows where it's going to go?

Who knows? Does he come back and he has some funny? I don't know. Does he come back all the way to MMA? I don't know. But surprisingly, that's been the talk of the town. Then you got Shields and Benson. That match is crazy, you know.

Particularly when you factor in the World Series Bellator aspect of it. But, yeah, the whole car is fun, man. It's loaded up from top to butter. Rico, of all people, Rico is the one that has been stealing people the attention. Not surprised, I actually saw him at the UFC gym in Hoboken in January, and he looks super slim. I don't know if you've seen him recently,

but the man has lost a lot of weight, so I'm curious to see how he competes. As you know, no secret grappling events have been, you know, popular these days, EBI, Eddie Bravo, Meta Morris, you competed. Do you feel, though, that they're not doing it right? Like, why are you going to be different? Why are you going to dominate them? Because I also believe you're on either the same,

day or same weekend as the next Metamoros, right? Yeah, you know, no, I don't, I don't feel that they're doing them wrong. I wrestled in Meta Morris a couple of times. I loved it. I would go back right now if I had a chance. Eddie Bravo has the most premier set of rules, and he's introducing guys. He's got a great format with the tournament. He got on Fight Pass.

Where we ended up was we got the right partner, too. We got Flow to get behind it. Flow combat's going to be doing it. It's live and free. We're not selling anything. It's just part of all members will get the grappling events. We adopted Eddie's rule set, the EBI rules. I talked to Eddie about that, and he said, listen, you know, you got the MMA rules, the unified rules, as we call it.

He said, we got to do this in grappling. Every show has their own rule set. Some have a point system. And he says, you know, as far as going into a gym and training, everybody to gym needs to be able to train for the same thing alongside their partners. the unified rules. And what made you right? You're exactly right. If we're going to do something to help the industry, it's got to be universal.

So we actually went with the EBI rules, which is interesting now because I can tell you from my own combat experience, I only wrestle in things that always had, if you went to a time limit, they just call it a draw. That wasn't my doing. It was just from my experience, they had a draw. And that was always a default button. You know, if you weren't over your head, you could just run out the clock and you, you Nobody loses, nobody wins.

And the bigger promotional side, when you go by EBI rules, isn't that there's going to be a winner. The bigger promotional side is somebody's going to lose. When you imagine Benson-Henderson getting tapped out, I mean, it's a really rare thing. You imagine Jake Shield's getting tapped. It's a rare thing. Well, somebody's going to lose. Somebody's going to tap.

They're not going to stop until they do under EBI rules. That's the beauty of it. So it's really interesting when you look at the guys that are putting their reputations on the line, Or even King Moe, you know, King Moe's going to step in against, in my opinion, the greatest grappler to have done it. And someone's going to lose. More importantly, than someone's going to win, if somebody is going to get beat. I like that because when I watch these metamorous events, I mean, I'm no jiu-jitsu fanatic. I cover the MMA beat.

It's somewhat, I don't know, anti-clamactic when these matches end and draws more often than not. I mean, yours did. It just, it doesn't, it feels like, okay, there's a sense of, I don't know, incompleteness, if that's a word. For sure. You get what I'm saying. And I can tell you as a competitor, what you're probably not seeing as a fan is it's a default button, man. As soon as, you know, you get in and you're in over your head or you get in some positions, you just start thinking about that. Well, let me just eat up the clock.

It's a way not to lose. It's a way to survive. And I like it. I get why MetaMorris does it. EBI can't do it because it's a tournament. and somebody has to advance. So Eddie has to have a winner to advance. And, you know, this isn't a tournament format.

But following those rules, I think, is important. I hope other people do it. That's really my message to you. I hope that everybody that's going to get behind promoting grappling, I hope they adopt the EBI rules because they really are, they're pretty perfect. So it's a Monday afternoon. And for the last few Mondays, we've enjoyed seeing your old friend Paige Van Zand kick ass on Dancing with the Stars.

She's in the finale. You were there. It was a nice little shot. For the hardcore MMA fans, they pan to the crowd a couple of weeks ago. And there he is, the American gangster himself. Nice suit on with your lovely wife, clapping away, having a great time. And if you look just a little bit to your left, I believe, there's your old boss, Dana White. You guys were butt cheek to butt cheek sitting right there.

Did you have a good time? Yeah, yeah, it was great. Well, first off, Paige is awesome. So, you know, the finals are going on tonight. And there was actually a gentleman who plays for Pittsburgh, his name's Antonio, that was a problem. This guy could dance. This guy could flat. Oh, my God, he was so good.

And he got beat in the semifinals. And in my opinion, in my humble opinion, but I think that was her biggest competition. I think she's eliminated her biggest competition. She will have to fall down tonight to not leave there the champion. I really think, I don't know if you follow the show. I really enjoyed dance, so I do fall. my wife used to be a dancer. And like you said, you know, I like it so much.

I went out to it live. Sure. Yeah, she's going to, Paige is going to win this thing. Wow. She's good. Yeah, she's going to win this thing. And it's a big deal. You went dancing with the star.

It's a stiff competition. But the next best guy got eliminated a week ago, you know? That's my opinion, but I think I'm right. So like Mark Messier in 1994, you are calling it. I know this goes over your head, but you are calling her shot. You are predicting that she is going to do it. Do you think she ever fights again? If she becomes dancing with the stars winner,

she need to go back to fighting? No. Will she fighting again? Absolutely. Will she have to go back? No, I don't think so. You know, she, you become a household name. Primetime TV is a whole other animal. Like, as big as our space or even your show is on the internet, prime time, it's, I mean, it's a whole other deal, Ariel. You know, you're sitting at number one and you have been for years in this space, but, you know, prime time, it's different. And no, her level of exposure and the opportunities that she'll have after she wins this, it'll be big, but it's not what she wants. She wants to do. She wants to go back to fight. She wants on UFC 200. I don't think she's going to get there because she's got all this stuff going. I think that card's about done. And I think you have to parlay, you know, this success and build it a little bit. But, no, she wants in there. In her heart, that's, that's where she wants to go. She's using all this to help move pay-per-views when it's... Sure. She's big, man. She's big. She's going to have some big chances after that. It's a big deal for her and the UFC because they get to capitalize if she comes back. So what did Dana offer you when you guys were sitting there? Because the suspension, the suspension.

is coming up. When are you coming back? Break some news for us. What do you got? We literally did not talk business at all. The only, the only business thing I asked him that had anything to even do with the UFC is we were there right when the Connor news was going down. Right when everything was happening where UFC 200 was blown up and that Nate fight wasn't going to happen. I just said, hey, is this as big of a headache as it appears? And that was all I said and he just answered the question he just said no you know we're just working through we we lose fights he's like you know you know the rule man the show must go on we got a date in the show and love to have he just left it at that he didn't really he didn't really give me he said that's literally

the only thing we talked about that had to do with the uc everything else he's on this new diet we were talking about some weight loss it elliott's on the diet fall with it it was other than that man we didn't talk shop so can you say today may 23rd they have yet to approach you, I believe we're just two months away from this thing wrapping up. They have not reached out to you. They have not tried. I would be shocked if they don't when it's up. I'm sort of shocked that they haven't already. Are you saying that's true? No one has even asked you what your thoughts are, what your feelings are you leaning towards this or that? Nothing? I have literally not had that talk with Dana White. No. Wow. What about your manager who continues

to say that you are coming back? No, no, no. He did it. No, I'm not skating your question. No, We have not, no, no. I mean, I wouldn't come back anyway. I can tell you the answer now, the answer is no, but. You're done? To your point, no, we never discussed. I'm all done. What about this talk that the UFC is potentially up for sale?

Do you think that happens? I believe it. I believe it myself with no insight. I mean, you have to understand, it's not like, it's not exactly breaking news. If you start a business, one of your initial hopes the day when you go to investors and raise capital and start getting your plan together is that you create something so good that somebody else wants to buy it. So it's not all that breaking news in that regard.

The other side of it is, you know, usually where there's smoke, there's some fire. And I know people have come to the UFC a number of times. I mean, every day somebody comes to the UFC and they want to buy a part or they want to feel it out or they're with some big hedge fund and they want to buy the whole. I mean, it happens all the time. If they finally found somebody where they go, yeah, I think we've got some traction. here, good for them. If they change management, I think I'd short the stock. You know, it's a unique industry. There's not a lot of people right on the face of the earth that can run a fight organization,

but, you know, let those guys write in the check, figure that out. So do Dana and Lorenzo, in your opinion, have to stick around in order for the sport to continue to grow and thrive? I don't know. I don't know. Dana would have to stick around to know how to run it. Lorenzo, for what he does, I mean, it certainly help. It certainly helped, but a CEO isn't going to sell and stick around. Historically speaking, sometimes you can get the president to stay around or work some kind of a deal there, but I'm just speculating at this point. You know, I mean, I read Forbes magazine.

I can tell you what's another Fortune 500s have done. But on that level, you know, I don't know. But it is a management issue. You know, don't forget, you can't go to any college in the country and major in fight promotion. You can't go down to a library and check out a book on all. fight promotion. You either know how to do it or you don't, and there's very few human beings that have that skill set. It's a rare thing. Are you interested in doing that on a big scale? Like outside,

by the way, do you have problems putting the earbuds in your ear because you have cauliflower ear? Because of the conflict. You see me trying to hold the darn thing. Yeah. Yeah, I can't really, and it drives me crazy. When I go out and run, it's the same thing. What about putting both in? What about putting both in to give you a little bit of equilibrium as far as the way? I tried that as well too, but then you watch me do this the whole time. I mean, I might as still beat the knucklehead telling the terrible knock-knock joke about it's none of your business. Yeah, why the dog crossed the road? Well, I mean, I guess we can tell jokes that have been around for a hundred years, but I'd like to bring something to the airway.

Are you interested in that job? People have said for a long time, you could be the next day in a way. You could be a promoter for a big organization. Are you interested in that? I'll tell you this. anybody that wants to do what Dana does, you've got to be willing to work as hard as he works. And you know him.

You've been down that road. You've had plenty of checks signed by Dana White, man. If you want to work 20 hours a day and you want to go seven. Well, were you not at Fox? I never know. I was at Fox with you, and I never fully understand who we would. Do we work for news corps or work for Zoufa? I wasn't trying to be funny there.

It was so intermingled at times. I don't know why that's funny. I'm being serious right now. It was a If you want to go, if you want to try to go head to head with Dana or go into that spot, man,

you better be willing to work as hard as he does, and it's tough to do. It was a great subtle jab. I appreciated it. So on your network, the network, the Fox? Hey, man,

we're in the same boat. I honestly wasn't taking a jabber. We're not. I never knew who we worked for and you'll get this, but you know, you show up in the avocado room, you got Candido and Becker there.

I don't know who you're, I don't know. It's like, sometimes the check came, it was from Fox. Some days it was signed by, By Zufa, it's like, I don't even know whose show we're doing here. And I'm not trying to be funny about that.

It was just, it was, sometimes it's hard to tell. It felt like the same thing. Well, we're not in the same boat because there is no jab. You work for the worldwide leader now. You're doing great. You're on ESPN. And yesterday, Sunday conversation on ESPN with Connor McGregor. Did you see it?

No, there was a link online. Yes. On one of those hacks sites. You know I only go to the hack sites. I went to one of those hack sites and the link was taken down. I heard he was candid. I read about it. I heard he was candid and just answered the question, but I didn't get to see it.

I tried to. Okay, well, you read the comments because initially you were one of the first people who came out and said, you know, you kind of messed up here. You overplayed your hand, Connor. You should have done this differently, that differently. After reading his comments, do you still feel that way? Do you still feel like he messed up by not going to do that press stuff in Vegas and then being taken off the card? Yeah, he did. Now, you got to understand.

Connor does everything right. Connor's the guy that you want to study and then go and copy him. So to find a critique of Connor isn't always that easy. Here's the big mistake he made, Ariel, is when he got into the Pisson match, in his mind, he was going to go tell his story on ESPN, and he was going to go tell it on Fox Sports One, and he was going to come on the MMA hour. What he didn't realize is they all go hand in hand. If you're not fighting in the UFC, there's no reason for us to have you on ESPN. You're not going to get to tell your side.

You're going to be taken out, and that's just the way it works. It's a promotion company. You promote the guys that are with you. The second that guy leaves, you don't waste any space on him. That's just a reality. That was a mistake on his part. But, you know, it is what he makes a good point. You got to understand the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over

and expecting a different result. He agreed to fight the same guy in the same town at the same weight class. He's got to put the brakes on and go, look, I have to change something. I just got cleaned up by this guy a few months ago. Something has to change. I'm done doing the press. I'm buckling down in one gym, and I'm going to try to give it a different result. I get that point.

Overwhelming is the contract. It's a promotion company, and saying he's not paid to promote is not true. He's paid more than Brock Lesnar was paid. And he's paid that because people tune in, which is a promotion side. So he was wrong about that, but I get where his heart was. As a competitor, I get where he was coming from. Though I will say, to correct you, I did invite him on this show many times, even if he's out of the UFC. He always has a home here, much like yourself.

I just want to point that out. What do you make of the new 200 card? Do you feel like it's living up to its billing like 100? Do you feel like it kind of missed the mark? What do you think of it? No, it wasn't like 100. You do what you can with the landscape. I still remember the landscape of 100.

You know, you look at the biggest way you could make a fight back then to remind you, the biggest fight was whoever coached the ultimate fighter. Those guys would coach the ultimate fighter. We were all starved. tuning in and watching that. It used to be Monday's the date switch. But if you remember those times, you put those coaches together as a main event and they'd sell out, Rampage and Rashout. Remember the records they did? That fight was number three. So the ultimate fighter was still the driving forceback, then Henderson versus Bissping, and they fell into the number

three spot. You had George on top of that and Lesnar on top of that. So just to remind you, the landscape was a little bit different. 200's going to do great, but I get your point. Yeah, I mean, look at the last WrestleMania. You know, Vince loses all of his talent and the show's got to go on. You do what you can. I think that they tried to get GSP. That was the worst kept secret in the world. You try to get George.

If you fall short, you know, look, it's a great card. Is it as good as 100 with all the vehicles and mechanisms that they had then? No, I don't think so. 100 was a special night for me. As a fan, I loved it. Does Cormier have a shot? Yeah, Cormier has got. a shot. So here's how history works. And again, this is boxing, but we take everything from

boxing. If two boxers box and they rematch, and the younger guy won the first time, the younger guy will win the second time only easier. That's the rule. And I think that that rule applies to MMA, too. You know, John Jones looked terrible in his last fight by John Jones standards. With that said error, I don't know anyone that could beat the son of a bitch. As bad as he looked by his standard. I don't know any one that could beat him. I mean, he went out, fought the worst fight I've ever seen, for him, won all five rounds, won the grappling, one the striking, won the conditioning, one, he won every single aspect of the fight, and it was still the worst fight he's ever done. I mean, I don't know what you're supposed to do with this guy. He,

the son of a bitch knows how to play, man. Speaking of John, you've been, you've been harsh towards his long-time manager, Malki Kawa. You've been critical of him. Where is this coming from? Why the comments recently? All right. So first up, let's set this straight. I owe Malki an apology. All right, Malki, I apologize. And I do. I owe Malki an apology. But here's the thing that Malki misses. And I've known Malki a long time. Malki's not only one of the most successful managers out there. He is by far the most famous. And as you know, Aero, when you become famous, famous, okay? It's a different set of rules, man. Guys are going to take shots at you and it's

fair game. When you start making a bunch of money and your name's out there and you become a public figure, people take shot. The rules just change. Malky doesn't take that into consideration. It's like, Maliki, I took some shots at you, man, and maybe they weren't all accurate. But the bottom line is you're the only manager anybody's talking about. You know, there's a bit of a compliment here, but he's a real dude. He called me on the phone. He goes, hey, you know, you said I'm not doing John's deals. You said I'm his drinking buddy. You know, this isn't true. He goes, I'm working my ass off over here. You know, we've stubbed our toe. Things have been hard and we're still moving the ship forward. And, you know, you came out and you roughed me up.

And I went, man, you're right. I'm wrong. I owe you an apology. And it's not accurate what I said. But the other side of it, Malki, is, hey, man, don't get lost in this. You know, we're still in the entertainment business. And you are literally the only manager. You've had. had him on error. You've had him. I've had him on my show. It's like, Malkey, you know, don't get lost in this. You're now part of the show. It's one way or the other. You want to be protected and everything's true and accurate or do you want to be part of the show? And the good news for you, man, you're highly paid, you're highly respected, you're part of the show. I owe you an apology. I'm sorry. I'm officially sorry. But the truth is, you know, he called me on the phone.

It made me feel bad. He was making these points. I'm like, Maliki, what you're saying is true. but look, man, I was, I'm in the entertainment business. I don't always go fact check, all right? I'm not always reporting. Some days I'm just entertaining. And I chalk that up to entertaining. You know, the bottom line is, like I said, I had it wrong and I owe an apology. But he's part of the show now.

Malky, you're part of the show, man. Welcome to the club. It sucks on this side of the fence. I'm getting deja vu, weirdly enough from this story. It sounds... When I had to give you an apology? It sounds weirdly familiar. By the way, before I let you go, I got asked...

I owe a few apologies. You are. Before you go, you just had some guy telling knock-knock jokes. Now you're going to take Chale P and run him off. By the way, I'll have you on for an hour. I got the sense, I like to read people's body language when you did the whole tap on the table. I got the sense that you wanted to wrap it up. No, it's a mannerism.

It's a manner. I'm looking at myself in this. I barely fit this error. Look at the size of that arm. That's clean. That's off the juice. That's basically clean. It depends on your definition of clean.

But listen, man, I can barely fit in this screen. Imagine if I put both of them up. You asked me about coming back to the U.C. Who am I going to fight me? I couldn't get any to the fight. Nobody would fight me back when I left. Oh, interesting. What am I going to do?

What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do? They still don't have anybody that could go with me there. What am I going to do? I got to be an analyst. My job now is to put guys over.

Do you know how hard that is to do to watch some of these scrubs that are coming in and playing cleanup when I've let and then put them over? man, it's a tough thing, but I got to pick my side. I pick that side. Wow. I feel something. I sense something. This is very exciting. This is a reality check, man. This is a shoot. This is a shoot. I had no equal at 185. I remember when I was coming through my run, beat up this guy named Paulo Feele. In fact, I got Paul. Paulo's on a picture here behind me. That's right. I wish Paulo nothing but the best. In fact, some jerk shot Paul. Paulo's okay. Somebody, I wish him nothing but the best. The bottom line is he was 16 and oh and I whipped his ass. And they said, oh, he's

got a broken arm, you got to do it again. I whipped his ass again. Then I go to the UFC. I make my run through there. I never have a single close match. I had to leave the division just to get competent. You want to know if I'm going to come back. Who am I going to fight, Ariel? Come on. What arena is going to be big enough? Did you see what I just did? That's basically clean. And look how big that heart is. I mean, you know, relatively. Right. You get the point. By the way, how much do you weigh right now? I weigh right now this morning. I can tell you exactly because it's the first time I've been under 220 in two years.

I weighed 219.8. And I had a huge goal. I had a big goal to get under 220 pounds. So I made it this morning by 210. Mazel tov. So this is big because you mentioned... Basically clean. Can you believe that?

You mentioned the year, the two years. You're exciting. I see there's a different. shale here on my screen there's a pep in your step something is happening here you know when they do the countdown show and i'm calling it out i'm breaking could you imagine could you imagine walking in the octagon and seeing this monster could you even imagine what that would be like i used to watch these guys the fear in their eyes i was having i was getting announced i was facing somebody i can't remember who it was and buffer buffer was in there oh right rah and this guy and that guy it's like

hey bruce man they get it i sold out the arena i mean you can tell him what the size and the weight, but they're all wearing my t-shirts for a reason. And I said, Bruce, wrap it up. And he looked over at me. And I said, shut up. And I gave him the thumb. Get out of you. And I was just working, right?

It was like when I bring Malky and do the routine. I'm just working. I think we got cameras on doing the whole bit. And Bruce's face was like, and I remember feeling bad. Like, what I wanted to do with him what I just did with Malik. It's like, you know, slap him on the shoulder. And go, hey, man, I'm, this isn't real. But seriously, zip it up.

Zip it up. I got business to attend to. When they do the countdown show for your return, and like I said, I'm breaking the fourth wall here, they're going to cut to this clip right here. This is when it starts. There's a big difference between this chale and all the other chails that I've seen. This is sort of the second coming of the black and white interview with the carrots and the bus and the Nogara brothers.

There's something different brewing in front of our eyes here. Am I wrong? Man, I'm just shooting with you straight. I have no tickets to sell. I got no paper views. The facts are the facts, man. I'll come and build these other guys up as much as you want. The truth is I will sell out these arenas faster than anybody.

The same as I used to, I will sell out the T-shirt. I will sell them all out faster than... Look, it's the reality of the situation. A comeback fight is a tremendously big fight, and you only get one of them. I'm not coming back. But if I were to do it, I would know how to do it. I would pick an opponent.

I would know what to do. I would have the whole thing built up. You know, there's not very many people that can do this business very well. It's a unique business. Connor, Connor does a really good job. He read the playbook. He gets it.

And then he's added to it. You know, Connor's got stuff where I would like, oh, I see what you did there. But, you know, there's just not very many guys to get it. And as far as competitively goes, man, there. Come on. Who are you going to take over Chale P? At 185, look, at 205, man, I,

I tried my hand. I got some problems at 205. At 185 pounds. Vitor. Come on. Vitor. Sure, Vitor. Any one of them. I wasn't like actually looking for a name. Line them up. I'd run through them all. What I'm saying, what are you going to do? You're just going to throw me right back into a title. I'll go take the title at 185. I mean, come on. It's nothing personal, but that was my weight class until I decided to leave that weight class. Yeah, you checked out of it. No doubt about it. You gave them that opening. There is no doubt about it, Ariel. There is no way to doubt that statement.

Does your good friend Michael Bissing, does he get it done in less than two weeks? Man, I would love to see it. You know, it's kind of important that you don't pick. I'm sorry about that. That's going to go until it stops. I don't even know how to reach over and I do it. Why can you not pick size? Here's the thing.

Okay. Let me tell you this, so, because this is true and this is relevant. If you go watch their first match, Rock Hall and Bisping, I get it. Rock Colt finished him. He had the choke. I get it. But if you go back and you watch that fight until that last sequence, it was very competitive. And some people, I'm not one of them, but some people even thought that Bispin won the first round.

I don't agree, but some people thought that. Bispin came, you know, Bispin never makes excuses. He is a legitimate tough guy. For nothing else, he is a legitimate tough guy. Bispin quietly did say, look, that fight, he headbutted me, and that fight changed. And some people went to Rockholt, expecting Luke. to go, ah, he's making excuses. And Luke comes clean and goes, yeah, I did.

I headbutted him really hard, and it did change the fight. I felt him change after I headbutted him. And then even Bisping's demeanor after that fight wasn't the same. It was as though he had a concussion or something. Everything got weird. And if you go back and watch the tape, there was a headbutt. It was brutal, and it changed the fight. And Rock Hall said as much, too.

So I think that there is some interest there. And there's also something to be said for momentum. them. You know, Bispin coming back and dealing with the adversity and beating Anderson, particularly the way he did, getting knocked out and coming, you remember that? Were you impressed by that? I think there's a match. Oh, I was very impressed by that. Yeah, I was very impressed by that. You didn't think he could pull that. And I was happy the referee did it. I was happy the referee did. It's like, Anderson, you can't

call your own shots. You can't, there was all sorts of problems with that. A lot of fans don't know that. You cannot crawl on top of the octagon. It's a 10% fine in most states. In a state like California, it's 20%. Wow. Now, those commissions never take it. They'll take it in Connecticut. There's a couple where they will, but they never do. But there's a good reason why they have that rule. You cannot do nothing good is going to happen on top of that octagon.

You're going to fall off. You're going to get hurt. There's insurance. But there's a lot of reasons why you can't do that. And, you know, so Anderson had broke a lot of rules in doing that. Even some of these silly ones that people don't know about. He knew what he was doing. He was acting.

He tried to convince the referee, and it didn't work. I was glad it didn't work. They shouldn't work. What about Jacari turning down the title fight? What do you think of that? I don't like it. Yeah, man, I don't like it. You get these opportunities.

Everybody says they want these opportunities. You know, you can pump the brakes on the Jose Aaldo bus too. He wants this rematch with Connor, which he was probably going to get. He did 10 years on top. He gets stopped, you know, in a weird shot in 13 seconds, whatever. He was probably going to get the rematch. But he comes out and he says, no. He goes, I'll fight him anywhere at any weight class.

We're going to street fight. next time I see him, he says all these tough guy things, except for the word yes when they actually said, do you want to fight? Well, then I'm done, man. If I'm a Jose fan, and I was part of that, hey, let's see this one part, I'm done. I'm out. The same thing goes with Jacques. The guy is great. I would never make believe, but he's not. But the bottom line is, the word is yes. If you want an opportunity in America, when one comes, you need to know one word. And that is yes. The difference between Michael Bisping and everybody else is one word. Yes. When the opportunity, came, that's what he said, Jacques

Caret's hurt, look, fine, I'm sure he is hurt after that long, drawn-out war he just had with Fitor. You think Michael Bisping isn't hurt? Of course he's hurt. Whether he advertises or not, he goes in and fights men every day. There's no way to not be hurt.

Who gives a damn if you're hurt, man? You're either a tough guy or you aren't. Don't forget. That's what this is really about. We're not worried about who the best fighter is. There's no way to know. It's too speculative. All we're trying to find out is who is the toughest guy in the world at this weight class and these set of rules on this specific day. If you come forward and you go, I can't even make the walk.

I'm not even tough enough to make the walk. Fair enough. But you're now out of the conversation. They should take you out of the ranking. You can't hold a number three spot in the world when you're openly telling everybody, man, I'm not even tough enough to walk out there and try. Fair enough. People get hurt. I get it.

But you're now not that guy. If you're a true tough guy, you shut your mouth and you make the freaking walk. And it's as simple as that. And the chips fall where the chips fall. But Michael Bissbeck for nothing else is a tough guy. And he said yes. And everybody watching your show should learn a lesson here. It's the most powerful word in the English language.

Yes. Very well said. By the way. Jacqueray had his shot. He said, no. Listen, I mean, Jacqueray, that's a rough dude. What sells more in 20s? What's a bigger deal for the company?

The return of GSP or the return of Chal Sunnan? Hypothetical, and neither of you have said you're coming back, but what's a bigger deal in your opinion? Okay, I think you're suggesting that, and maybe somebody else has suggested, that we come back on the same night against each other. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know about that. I mean, I have no interest in doing it. I worked out with George St. Pierre.

I got nothing but respect for George. That is something. Yeah, man, I don't know. If you were to ask me, I think I'd rather see George. I'm a big George fan. I like to see George. I don't know. His ticket sales are good.

His ticket sales are good. Wait a second. On the right night, he didn't do what I did. But over the course of his career, he did more. Wait a second. Wait a second. We may have just stumbled upon something, and I got to admit, I didn't think of this. George says he doesn't want a title fight.

He doesn't want to be tied down. He wants big, exciting fights. There are none out there for him. It's not going to be Connor. It's not going to be Nate. Chale Sunnan, George St. Pierre, that sells tickets. That could sell out the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. That could sell out the Skydome in Toronto.

That's a big deal. Could that get you out? I would love to kick George's ass. I'll tell you this, Sarah. I got a call one day. This is a true story. I got a call one day. And it was from Kenny Florian.

Oh, yes. And he says, hey, you want to work out. And I was in L.A. And I said, yeah. And he goes, okay, well, George is in town. want to work out with George. And I said, yeah. So we go to this gym, and I took an Uber.

I find this gym. It's kind of hard to find. I go down to this basement. This guy's got this beautiful gym. It's underground. And I come in, and George is in there waiting. So I changed my clothes, and we start going at it. And we went hard.

I think I could have gone harder, but we went hard. And I came in second. And it, it drove me nuts, man. It drove me nuts. But I really think I could, there was, I could have done better. Wow. It was done better. It was close.

I went with, it was fine. If you ask Kim, he might, he might try to put me over. I'm not trying to put him over right now. I'm just telling you what happened. Sure. He won that go. But I could have done better with him. And it's driven me nuts ever since.

I thought, man, I could have got that. I could have done better. Maybe you didn't show him your full hand. subconsciously maybe you knew this was... I felt like that. I felt like that. And then at the end of the work... He knew he'd got the best of me.

So at the end of the workout, he tried to like make it, like pay me a company. He goes, hey, thanks for not using your size. You know, if you would have used your size, you really couldn't crush me, which was really his way of saying, hey, man, I just beat you. And I knew what he meant, and I knew it was meant to be a nice thing. It stuck with me, man. This was a workout that was years ago, it stuck with me. Wow.

You know, you got to say there is a... a shortage of events. They all kind of bleed into each other and some fly under the radar. Some don't. But the return of Chale against GSP, that is an event. Everyone stops, right? I mean, the world will be watching that. That's a big event in Canada. It's a big event in the United States. It's a big event everywhere. Everyone would watch that. I appreciate you saying that. I'm not trying to hype a fight with yours. I'm just saying, but yes, as far as a fight, yeah, look, if you're just looking to what could sell tickets, yeah, man, I mean, these guys are doing a good job right now, but they're really not. I'm being nice. Man, these guys are terrible. It's so hard. It's so

hard sometimes. Like, I could come, you know, what do you want to do here? You guys are just terrible. It's got to kill you inside. You could put on a seminar for these guys, right? Teach them. I mean, you're not done just yet. I maintain you will come back very soon, but you can almost put on a seminar for these guys. They should bring you out to those summits. Why don't they do that? There's a lot of mistakes made, man. These guys, Ariel, they're so. much to it. There's just so much to it and there's so many misses. And it's so weird. You know, I'll get guys that critique me sometimes. I'll tell you this and you'll think less of me. You go, well, you're a dick for doing that. I get that I'm a dick for doing it. But I was

in a dust up with Vandalay and we were in Brazil and the first day of the filming of the Ultimate Fighter, he quit. He quit the whole show. He goes, I'm done and I'm leaving. And that was real. It didn't show very much of it when they did it, but it was a mess. We couldn't leave the set. You had to get Vandale back, but we had Dana on the, it was a met. It was an absolute met. We had Vitor on the phone wondering, hey, if this guy really walks, will you get on a plane? It was that.

We thought the show was over. So we ended up in a back room and, you know, I tell him, well, let's just talk, just you and me. So he clears everybody out. Now, there's six cameras on us while I'm telling him, hey, let's just talk you and me. So I'm trying to be real with them. I'm trying to be as real as I can because this. whole thing is about to blow up. And I go, Vandalay, here's the script, okay? I'm the bad guy. I insulted this entire nation. You wear the white hat. You get to come in and be the good guy.

When you're bullying me, when you're physically starting fights with me, when you're quitting and walking off set and leaving this whole thing hanging, you're now making me vulnerable. If I'm vulnerable, then I become the good. I don't want to be the good guy, but you do. So, enjoy being the good guy. I'll keep being the bad guy, but stay with me on this because you're ruining everything. And, you know, he goes on and on about

sportsmanship and honor. And it's like, dude, this isn't Little League Baseball, man. You can take all of those great little sayings that your coach told you or you've gotten a fortune cookie and you can shove them up your ass when I'm around because I don't care about any of it. This is a fist fight in a steel cage. And there's nothing about honor and

sportsmanship, man. This is about an applause and a paycheck. That's what it is. So I'm explaining this thing to him. And he's telling me how to do it. And you've got to do this and you've got to do that. And I just stop. I go, bandless, stop.

Between us, just stop. I am the highest paid fighter in the history of the sport. I'm the biggest draw in the history of the sport. Do you really think you should be giving me advice or should you be taking it? Should you be copying me? and he tore right into me this is the dick part so I'm on my phone

I've got my iPhone I bank with Bank of America got a mobile app I log into my bank account you're going to think I'm I get and I just show it to him and I said do you really think that you should be given me

advice or should you just come along for the ride and let me take it from here and his whole expression he didn't say it but he's like all right let's go do the show and that's actually where that ended and I know that makes me a prick

I know that makes me prick but that's what changed him right there is like freaking showed him and go hey I know what I'm doing here okay you do your thing and let me carry us what was the point I had an overwhelming point

but the bottom line is so I come and I'll tell these guys how to do it and I'll have from reporters to fans to other fighters come out and want to argue with me they'll want to tell me the way to do it it's like guys when I make a statement

I'm not asking you how it should be done. I'm teaching class. This is how you do it. When you sell as many tickets, t-shirts, or pay-per-views as I did, go ahead and share your opinion with me. And I'll be happy to hear it. But until then, shut your mouth and learn. The one good thing that you always did was you were always five fights in advance.

You had a fight coming up on Saturday, but you still had three, four in the fire that you were talking about, that you were setting yourself up for. And Vandale was one of those. Vitor was another. The list goes on and on. Is there one that bothers you that you never got? Is there one that's still kind of it itching there, burning inside of you? Is it Vandelet who you just spoke about?

Is there someone that comes to mind? John Anick said this to me about me. But once John Anick said it, I just accepted it as truth. And he said, Chale, your career will never be done until you fight Vandalee and you fight Vitor. And I even asked him, again, we're in the avocado room working for either UFC or Fox. I don't know which. And I said to him, why is that? And then he laid it out.

He's like, well, you have to fight these guys and this and that. And from the time annex, I've accepted that as truth about myself from then. So, yeah, it would be those two guys. And then frankly, and again, I mean, I'm not hitting at you that. I want to do any of this, but just two guys talking here. I mean, it'd be real hard to not go in and whip Anderson's ass a third time. You know, that's a tough one. Anderson was never a hard fight for me.

It's hard to get my hand raised. That's some of it you always knew how to get his hand raised. But I whipped that guy, man. I whipped that guy so easily in my opinion. Look, I've had three, 10, 8 rounds in my entire. I fought 49 men. I've had 3, 108 rounds. They're all against him.

I mean, I tip my hat, man. That guy, he beat me fair and square and he got his handbrae. I don't mean anything about it. Good for you, Anderson. But we were just talking about that main event, 117. It's hard. it's hard to not want, you know, it's hard. When's the last time you watched that one, the first one?

Never. I never, when I got ready to fight him the second time, they made me watch it. Wow. For one of those countdown shows and then they get your reaction, I won't you break that, and I still couldn't do it. I'm like, guys, I'm not watching it. And I almost had a shot at him two weeks ago. It was through Uriah Hall.

It was vicariously, but I had to take it, and Uriah, oh, Uriah Hall could have won that fight. He would have beat him. Uriah Hall was ready to fight. Did you help him prepare for that? No, I didn't specifically. in that camp, I mean, I like to think I'm involved in his career as a whole, you know, because it is a colossal effort. It's not just a seven or eight week camp, but Clayton was with him,

coach Clayton was with him the whole time. And I sure felt part of it, man. I wanted to get that chance. And none of that's meant to knock, Anderson. It's really not. But if you're asking me, what eats away at me, man, there were some opportunities there. There's big opportunities. You're not given those a lot of times. And I missed them. And people can relate, man, that stuff hurts. You miss a shot, man it hurts so like i said there we go we've got vitor we've got vandrelay we've got anderson we've got gsp you're already four fights ahead of us you continue to do that every time i was to throw one more you know and again and i'm a big believer if you're gonna if you're gonna do it man you go after number one that's it you sure after number one you don't be a bully and a dick and do all the i i really

think that but i mean again if we're just i would add little nod to the list little nods back i don't know how he's back from the dead he looks like he's done he's done he's But he went out that when he won. He beat Patrick Cummins. He was a former teammate of mine. Patrick Cumm's a tough guy. And he beat him. You know, so I would add a little nod to that list.

I mean, if we're just playing make-believe right now. So we went from shutting me down to not even entertaining the thought to actually making a list. To putting five fights together. This is amazing. Can we just come out and do it so I can get the exclusive? Yeah, man, listen, if I had one, I'd give it to you, I'm not trying to hold something. But don't forget, this isn't just my choice. You know, I retired and all that nice stuff.

I'm suspended. I couldn't come back. Yeah, but it's up. It's up in two months. We're good. The light is there at the end of the tunnel. Let me work here, okay? Let me give my presentation of the fact.

All right. Eventually, it will be your witness. But until then, my presentation. Oh, my. Are you happy with the... That is relevant. I mean, it's a double-edged sword there. Sure.

The current state is of the sport. It's a much different sport than when you left, when you were tired. Reebok, you saw it all this stuff. Are you happy with where MMA is, where you left it, basically. You pass the baton off to these guys. Are you content or do you feel like it's stale? Do you feel like it has plateaued? How do you feel? I really don't, man. As a fan, there's never a better time. I make that statement a lot even to my friends. Like, man, there's never a better time to be a fan. But it keeps on getting better. You know, there keeps on being more matches. There was a big match a couple weeks that nobody talked about. I was so excited for it.

King Mo took on Phil Davis, and it just went under the radar. Yeah. And, I mean, I was into it. Yeah, too, rats. There was a little bit of my history there why I was into it. I've trained with both guys, all that kind of stuff. But it was just, it was great. You know, I was out at ESPN, and we had that on one screen, we had the UFC on the other.

As far as a fan goes, I mean, it's a great time to be a fan. And I really don't think the sport's getting stale. you know, I'm kind of a critic. When I break guys down, I like to break down what they're doing wrong. I prefer to look. If I watch a movie, I do the same thing. Well, they should have done this shot or the director screwed up here or the cinematography. I just like to be a critic.

But, man, there's a lot of good stuff going on. Then you've got Stipe Miochich and everything that he's had in the division. I don't know how long he's going to hold that belt speaking of. I mean, that's musical chairs there. Yeah. Kane and Travis are about to fight. Verdume could grab that one right back. and that's just a tough division.

And the heavyweight division usually isn't. If you look at boxing, you know, the depth is always been missing historically. Big guys don't go into fighting. They go into basketball and football and some of these other sports. And man, it's just not true. There's some heavyweights out there right now. And Steppe is just one of the few good guys that do this sport. By the way, last week on this show, Joe Rogan said that if the UFC sells, he's out.

He told Rolling Stone today that he doesn't know how much longer he wants to do this, his contract is up in August. Do you have your eye on that job as well? You could do both. No, as far as commentant, no, I sure don't, but I would feel that if Joe Rogan left, I would feel that blow. You know, I really would. He's a major staple, and I can tell you, he's not trying to negotiate through the media

by acting like he's gone. Joe has never loved the fact that people tell him what he can't say. You know, he's pretty wide open. It's part of being a comedian you have free reign. He's never really loved that, and they're pretty. loose with him, but he's got this fight companion thing going where he can come on and go loose and still participate. I don't know. I think we might lose Joe. I think that there's some truth to that. And I think that that would hurt. You know, there's some good commentators,

though. Look at Brian Stanley. Look at what he's. There's a few names I could drop, but, you know, he's as professional as they come. He shows up on time every time. There's some guys that could do that, but I think there'd be a void there with Joe, man. I'm no Joe Rogan. I appreciate what Joe does. You did a great job with World Series of Fighting with... Oh, fantastic. Oh, that's just fantastic. Are you still doing that? Do they drug test?

Yeah, I'm still with World Series. I'm still with World Series. You know who's with World Series now? Who? You know who's the C.O. Mersh. Mike Mersh. I loved when I turned it on one day.

It was a late night. Sometimes their times are very strange, but it's late night. And it's you and Kenny Rice calling the action. I mean, I just love that. That one went over 99% of the audience, but it was great. What was that like behind the scenes? Well, and I saw your tweets on that. You know, it didn't go over your head.

Kenny was cool. Look, Kenny was cool. He's like, look, I know we've got a beef man, but remind me what it's about. And I did remember what it was about. I did know what it was about. But I was like, yeah, it's been a long time. Yeah, that's kind of how we buried it. And, you know, but he's a true professional, too.

He's a great guy to work with. You know, for me to have my grives, I'm sure. their fair, man. It's been years. You know, people could bitch about me and you and I as well, but we've got more good and more checks in the good calm than we do in the bad. I mean, what the hell? It's not like we're coming on the MMA hour and telling it it's none of your business jokes, you know. By the way, who we voting for? Can I ask you that? Is that a Donald Trump? Oh, man. Yeah, you can ask me all you want. Donald Trump. Really? Really? Yes. Why? Absolutely. And proud and proud of it. You know, here's the breakdown on Trump. And I won't tell you

I won't tell you that I agree with his views or that I could even identify one of them for you. But you got a billionaire that comes out in a debate and tells the whole world that he has a big penis. That happened. That might be dirty for your show. Do you remember that with the Marco Rubio where he said, oh, little hands means you. Let me assure you, there's nothing wrong. He told the whole world that he's got to be paid. So he's got billions of dollars, a big penis, and a hot white.

That's the guy whose finger I want on the button. That's somebody that has something to live for. And you can call that stick, but I'm not kidding. Wow. I'm surprised. And I stole most of that from Jim Norton. But he makes a good point. I still like it.

And as far as Trump goes, you know, you always have these guys that are trying to break him down. You get all these pundits on TV on the fancy stations and their fancy suit getting a big pay. They don't know anything. They don't study history. It's history repeating itself. They want to come out and go, well, Trump's a straight talker and people really love straight talker. No, they don't.

People don't love straight talk. Hillary's not a straight talker and she's leading him in the poll. That's not what they love. There's one word to describe Donald Trump, and it's brave. He's brave. There's a courage that comes with what he's doing. There's a courage with running, with putting everything out there, with speaking your mind, with not making a statement, reading the polls and coming back the next day and saying something different.

There's a courage with standing by it and whatever happens. happens happens and if you don't like me there's somebody else to vote for go vote for them there's a courage in that and that's what that's what people like about it you ever meet him can you hear me oh there we're you ever meet i'm sorry about this earpia no it's sorry i feel like you can hear me better if i have it in no it's actually the same no aesthetically it's annoying you ever you ever meet him i met donald trump one time and and to be fair so we were at an affliction of him he used to own affliction. He ran the way in for Fadour versus Tim Sylvie.

And my meeting of him was as quick as hello. Okay. Crazy. But I shook his hand and said hello. Isn't it crazy? When I did apprentice, I thought he was going to be on it. They replaced him. How did that go, by the way?

Because he's run. Oh, come on. How did it go? I can't say anything. How do you think? Go read the lineup. Who do you think won that? You look, I can't say it.

They don't leave a lineup. You'll tell yourself, come on, who you think of the apprentice is. When does it premiere on NBC? They moved it. They moved the date to January. It's supposed to be August. I got an email. January?

That's what I said. What? It just, I mean, like yesterday, that happened. I don't think this is confident. You know,

they have you signed this confident, but then I never know what the hell's confidential. You go tell everybody we're doing the show. You put a bunch of knuckleheads on there with me. I mean, what do you think? The people aren't going to put this together. But you're going to be two fights into your comeback by January.

Can you imagine that? Could you imagine how many tickets I would say? Could you even imagine how big that would be? It's amazing to me. That would be almost as big as these basically clean arms. Can you even see that? Could you imagine? Could you imagine? By the way, I know you've been out for- I'm just imagining you right now. He's George St. Pierre. George St. Pierre is staring at going, man, I never considered that one. That's a tough son of a bitch. Old Chale P. Sun and wow. But I want to tell you something. I know you've been out of the game, so I want to give you a friendly piece of advice. if you want to return to the UFC, and your contract is still with the UFC, right? That's right.

You have to inform Usada. You have to be, there has to be a four-month grace period. Yeah. So you can't just come back. You know this, right? You've looked into it? I know that. Well, yes and no.

I actually just learned that. You know, Dana went on UFC tonight, and he was talking about Connor because Connor had said that he retired. Now, what's interesting about that, a lot of fans missed it. If you, here's the way it's worded. If you announce to the governing body, which in this case is the UFC, if you announce, if you

inform, that's actually the word that if you inform the governing body that you're retired, then you're out. It's as simple as that. And they don't go on to say, do you inform them in writing? Do you inform them through a tweet? Do you do a phone? It actually, that's the verbiage if you inform. So Connor, when he came out and said, I'm retired, there was a slippery slope.

Look, he should be able to talk and be loose and use that term however he would. wants, but there's actually a subsection where he can't. That's why he came out the very next day and goes, I'm not retired. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's actually why, because there's a slippery slope there and you end up in that Usada mess. And that's when I learned about that. Dana came out and talked about it said, hey, he needs to be careful because if he pushes that button and tries to pull the plug, he's got to sit 120 days. Yep. And that is how I learned about that. And my clock has not started. I'm not, you know, I'm not on the scenes with Usada so that I can pop up. on your show

and a... No, I can't. It will start, I believe... You are right. July 23rd, I think the date is, right? I believe it will start July 23rd. When my suspension is up? Yeah.

My suspension's up, but I don't think you're right on that point. I think I could start my... You saw it at a clock now because, by example, Anderson Silva was suspended until January 31st and fought on February 3rd. He already had a fight, was the main event, the poster, the whole bit. I think he was 27th of February. clock going. Yeah, but he didn't retire. That's the difference. No, he did not retire. But what I was saying, so you were saying July 23, because that's when my suspensions up, what I'm saying is you, you, it can actually coincide.

That might be a more recent example. I wonder. Yeah, that's interesting. I wonder. Yeah, you can actually fight right after that date, but to your point, I would at least have to get that clock going. Sure, you have to announce your intention. And you don't have to do it publicly, by the way. You could do it in private. You may have already done it for all we know. I could have. I could be working. I'm not. I'm not working you. But yeah, I think you're right. I think you're right. I think you're right on that. I have not looked into it. But I learned that. Dana made that comment on UFC tonight. And I go, what's that rule? And so I went and looked into it. That's what that rule is. July 17th, flow combat, submission underground. Chal P gets into the submission grappling world as a promoter. But less we forget, he's been promoting for a very long time. In fact, 14 years he's been doing this in the Pacific Northwest. I've never been to Portland, by the way. Never got the invitation to visit you in the family in Westland. How's fatherhood, by the way? I love it, man. It's so good. It's fine. Every parent tells you that the Prad parent, and if you're not one, it's annoying. It's like, you know, it's annoying until you are a parent. But yeah, man, it's great. Every day is great. You know, I come home from work and then we just play. You get to go back and be a kid yourself, man. You're going to go watch all those

cartoon, whatever it is. You're going to go back and be a kid. You're hiding, see, you can see. You're going to do all these fun things. Yeah, it's great. I got another one on the way. I got a little girl coming. You're kidding.

No, I'm thinking about doing like a stripper name, like glitter. Destiny. Or Mambi or Destiny. Felicia. That was a trick. You've been to strip clubs. See you walk right. Wow.

Muzzletove. Man, gosh. You got to edit that out. Are we live? That's amazing. When's your wife do? Thanks, buddy. in October.

And by the way, you are welcome. We love have you covered the flow underground. It's going to be live. I've got to give this plug. It's live and free on flow combat, but as far as we sold, live tickets are gone. You can't come live unless you've already got it. Yeah, that happened fast, isn't it?

Yeah, so some great matches, but you can't come live. Sorry. All right, well, I'll be watching from home. You can. You can come. I can come. All right. Media's allowed?

Because, you know, Metamores does a credential, media. Yeah, I know that. It's weird. You couldn't get it. They didn't let the public in either. We wrestled in a dark room. What a great marketing idea that is. Don't let anyone in.

Brilliant. Don't let anyone know, right? Yeah, you kind of have to get the word out there. But I don't know where that went. That was an experiment. I don't know that Halleck would do that again. I think in the future he'll let people know. I don't know.

I like Meta Morris, man. I like metal. People always get surprised when I say that because, you know, it's like we're in this competing things. I don't really see it that way. I mean, we're going to kick everybody's ass, but I still want you guys to do well. You know, they had what they had, they had Hodger lined up against Bichetia. I mean, I'd love to see that match.

It's not happening, though. Maybe you can do it. That match fell through, but yet to the point, it's like, I'd love to see that match. What a pleasure this has been. We have a meal. This has been great. This has been really great for you. I'm excited for you.

I'm excited when these good things happen. I appreciate it. They both wore our finest shirts, too, right? I got on the baby blue and you put on your nicest plaid for everybody. How about that? A little burberry action. Only for you, Chale. Only for you, my man. Wow, look at those arms. This reminds me of... Can you imagine that? I'm trying to get that in the shot. It doesn't even fit. It doesn't even fit. U.S.C. 136. Remember U.S. 136 in the back when you showed me the arms? I mean, we have been through a lot. That's right. This reminds me of that.

We're fortunate that that camera was big enough to get that in. The largest arms in Westland, Oregon. Can you believe that? Amazing. Good luck. What a pleasure. Thank you for the time. I don't need luck, my friend. I'm famous and rich. Luck finds me, but I appreciate you say, oh, I do have one final thing to tell you just for the fan. This is for the fans more than it is for you. Come on. Oh, my.

There is only one Chale Sunnan. Wow. That was amazing. What more can you say about that? Going an hour with Chale Sunnan, you can't beat that. I think we got something there, my friends. Go back and look at my other. interviews with Chale since his suspension, since he left the game, since he left the sport,

go back and watch him, watch what he said, watch his demeanor, watch his inflection, listen to what he's saying, study it, analyze it. This is a much different person. This is the Chale Sunan that we spoke to in that hotel room in Las Vegas when his suspension was coming up. after UFC 117, he was talking about carrots and the Nogara brothers and computers in Brazil. That's that Chal Sondon. I can see it a mile away. I can assure you at some point the countdown, they will go back to this. They will go back to this.

For all intents and purposes, he said it. And I'm not crazy. I feel like I have a degree now in Chal Sondon. That was special. Thank you very much to Chale. Good luck to him on July the 17th. My father's birthday, that's probably why they picked that date. Submission Underground on Flowcombat.com. Those guys doing great stuff. And it's a great card. Okay. We continue. Great timing. How about that? We still live? We're still live? We're still live.

You know, I said at the top of the show that it wasn't quite Connor, but it's, I got to be honest, and I'm not just saying it. I promise you, take my word for it. It's a step below. The amount of people that have bothered both New York Rick and myself have asked, have demanded, have campaigned, have suggested to have our next guest on the show. It's Connor-esque. When Connor made his debut on this program a little over three years ago, I said at the beginning of that interview that people have been bothering me for quite some time that I don't recall people bothering me that much in the history of the show back then to have a particular guest on. And this rivals it. It's like one notch below. And it's very impressive. And when our next guest, Emil Mech,

won on Saturday night in Milan, Italy at Venator FC3 when he defeated Husseemar Paul Harris in impressive and both shocking fashion, then I said, all right, we got to get the Norwegian on. We got to get Valhalla on. So here he is, joining us right now via the magicist guy. There he is. Amil Mech himself. How are you, my friend? Very, very, very good. And thank you for that introduction. It makes me feel very honorable. Let me tell you, my friend, a lot of people love you. I don't know if you know this, but a lot of people have been asking for a long time to have you on including yourself. Yeah, you know, I have to ask myself also, but there's a lot of Norwegians there that just want somebody to root for a fighter that they want to see, do it good, and yeah, I had a big fight coming up, and they thought I should be a guest with you, and I thought so as well. Well, I'm a little bit late, but better late than ever.

Tremendous one for you. I have a lot to ask you about. First things first, what exactly are we wearing here? What is this? Football jersey. Oh, this is my, well, this is my Walhalla Army T-shirt. Oh, wow. Gave it out to everybody that came and supported me in Milan.

We got like, I think we had at least 60 people in the audience from flying in from Norway to just support me. And that's, yeah, that's a great honor. And it feels like, like you may be, you know, I can't fight in my hometown. Yep. I can't fight in Norway. It's not allowed. So I have to try and make every arena my hometown. So I have to bring in all the support I can get.

Now, what does Valhalla mean? Valhalla is a place where the warriors, Viking warriors dies. And they come to Valhalla. It's like sort of heaven. Just in Valhalla, you drink and you fight and you do something with girls. Do something with girls. What do you do? You dance around with them, ring around the rosy?

So, I don't know. You know, it's up to you, I guess. Yes, and you walk out with the axe. What do you call that thing? It's an axe. It's an axe, okay. Is it a real one? The region is X.

No, well, it's a real axe. It's no plastic. It's no like that, but it's not, it's blunt. So I can't, I guess I can kill someone with it, but it's a lot, a lot harder. So I think that's the whole point of having a blunt axe. So this is an amazing. And it's easier to take through airports. Oh yeah, because you have to go through, and they let you do that?

Yeah, I had to check it in with special luggage, and I had to do where I take it through costumes, and, you know, they just thought it was funny, but they checked it out pretty well. Well, I appreciate that. I appreciate you going to those lengths to stick with the gimmick. That's very good. So clear something up for me. So you're with Venetor. You find out that Palhires, this very controversial, polarizing figure. He's been hurting people.

He's suspended here in the United States. you find out that he's coming and he's going to fight for them. And you say to them that you want to fight this guy? Is that true? Yeah, that's right. I heard from my friend Jack Hermanson that they were having trouble finding an opponent for him and everybody's turning down and they tried to buy opponents for him and everything. I'm just like, okay, this is a great opportunity.

I have to get on that right away. So I just jumped to it. They called Frank, the president, and asked Slavis, like I really want this fight if they would let me. And because, you know, he's a lot more experienced and has competed in a high level. So I wasn't sure if he would take the fight or not. But they asked, yeah, they asked Polaris Camp and they go back to him and they said yes. So the fight was on all of a sudden.

What do you think? Do you think he knew who you were? Do you think he had any idea who you were? Do you think he completely said, I'm going to go over there and beat this guy's down in the UFC, just going to smoke him? You know, I had no idea, actually. But if he's a smart fighter, he definitely will check me out. Yeah.

But I don't know. Maybe he's just like, okay, he's seven and two. Yeah, it's probably something, but I will take him down and rip his leg off. So obviously, I mean, you're a great fighter. You've got a great look. You've got it all. But honestly, now, now that the fight is over, you don't have to sell it. In the back of your mind, were you not thinking like, holy crap, what am I doing?

This guy has broken legs, the arms, I mean, he's eye-gouch. Were you not a little nervous as to what he's going to do in the fight? You know, when I'm walking into the fight, I can't think of the worst thing that can happen. What's the worst thing that can happen every time? Because it's pretty bad in the fight. And, you know, I can get serious head injuries. I can get my arms ripped off. I can, you know, it's a lot of bad stuff.

that can happen and not just with Polaris but of course maybe maybe extra with Polaris. But the only fear I walk into in the cage is the fear of not showing how talented and how good I am and all the hard work I put down all the last years and not to be able to show it. You know, the fight can be over in five seconds, ten seconds. If I do a mistake, if I slip, if I do something wrong, you know, the fight could be over any second. And if I can't show the potential I have and everything that I've been working for, the hundreds of hours that I put in, it's horrible. And that's the only fair I walk into.

So the fight starts feeling out process, and then he goes for your leg. He goes for the single. And then he quickly tries to go for the double. And then all of a sudden you unleash elbows from hell. At what point, do you recall the point where you're like, oh, my God, this could be over in a matter of seconds? Do you remember that shot? Yeah. I've been doing, like, my defense against the wall is pretty good.

I got very good balance there, and I get, in my last fights I've been punishing my opponents for just pressuring me and not doing anything there. But I definitely felt, I think it was the third elbow or fourth elbow, I don't know, that I felt him collapsing and his grip around my thighs just dropped. So I took his back and I continued appalling. Amazing. What a feeling. And that celebration, like I said on Twitter, I'm not sure what I was more impressed by.

The celebration or the finish. The celebration was fantastic. And you know Caposa on Twitter put together this video of the Karate Kid music. I mean, it's just fantastic stuff. Have you ever experienced anything like that, the pure elation? I mean, it seemed like you were the happiest man on earth there. I probably was and I

you know the last last three fights I had I had almost the same feeling you know this is of course a step beyond but but the last three fights I had my

my army with me and to be able to share that joy and that moment with the people I love and the people that care about me is truly amazing and right there

and there it's it's if I die the second after I'd be happy with my life you know it's uh it's just truly um euphoric feeling and uh yeah uh it's um with the 45 second finish and everything it's uh i of course had a lot of energy left so yeah yeah i guess i i guess i just let it all out and uh and after that i just completely deladed it was a this was very crazy crazy crazy feeling. I just ran everywhere, screamed, shouted, hugged, and then I just had to sit down and just what the hell just happened now. Were you able to come down? Are you still not down yet? Like how do you come down from a moment like that?

Well, like I said, I, yeah, with all that build up and all that things and everything, emotions and people watching and everything. and to be able to do something this big and this great, it completely depleted me. I was just like empty. I was almost empathic. I didn't feel anything. Yeah, it was very strange because usually if I win fights and I could go out for two hours and just like, oh shit, whoa, I'm the king of the world.

I keep taking everybody. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, it does better, you know. And if, and at this time, I just, I just, when I was in the cage, I just completely ran out of energy. And I was just, okay, okay, okay, okay, what's going on now? What's next? And I just had to go down and I sat in the locker room for a little minute and just started crying in the locker room. Wow.

Yeah, it was a, it was very weird feeling, actually. I never felt it like that before. Did you go out in Milan? Did you celebrate? What did you do? well I I of course always went to my fans that come down and watched me and so yeah I went out with them and just said hello and I had a half a bear just a half yeah just a half and I tried to go to bed but I couldn't I couldn't sleep at all so I was just open night like yeah I was

actually twittering you too yes that's right I was wondering I could sleep yeah I can sleep I can sleep just like okay everything and it's just you know one thing is the thing that's happening in norway with all the medias and stuff like that but also like the mma community just just yeah so yeah and then for me that was that's an important moment for me very important moment for me it's amazing what's the reception because i've seen like you've been on morning

shows in norway like i said your fans are very loyal tweeting me when we said that you're going to be on a lot of them you know putting it out there that you're going to be on at, you know, 950 local time. What has it been like back home with the media? Are you getting hounded? Are you getting a ton of interview requests? What's it like? How are you handling all this?

Yeah. I've always been this guy, you know, like I asked you, you know, can I come to your show and try to try to get on that? And I've been like that, you know, with a lot of things. I've always been contacting the media to do interviews, to, like, I have a good fight coming up. I have this and this. I've been doing that for a lot of years since my first amateur fights. And that's also why I have so many great fans,

because I've always been visible and always been easy to track and follow. And in MMA, MMA is real small in Norway. We got a lot of talented fighters, but it's completely a known sport. And for me to just stump up that road for every other Norwegian fighter that's out there, It's an important job to do and to get all the media attention that you can get. That's the most important thing. If I just went into the cage, beat somebody up and left and just kept my mouth shut, it wouldn't be the same. Right. And yeah. So I've always been the guy that's been contacting people and this time it's the other way around how everybody's telling me.

That's amazing. But yeah, it's very fun, but I had to get up in like 7 a.m. this morning to do this, another Skype with the morning show and a radio and another radio. And then, you know, it's a lot of work, but it's absolutely worth it. I'm still here in Milan with my girlfriend to try and take a few days off and eat some ice cream. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, actually, I was going on your Instagram.

clearly you and your girlfriend are very much in love with each other she is a a fitness model right so some interesting photographs on your instagram interesting that's cool yeah yeah absolutely she's uh she's she's very beautiful and uh and i really love her and we have you know everything it's cool you know we have the same mindset for things that the great things can happen and and we don't want to be uh we don't want to be just like like everybody else, we want to stick out and do a lot of good things. Well, as far as couples are concerned, I mean, you guys might be the most in-shaped couple I've ever seen in my life between your abs and whatever she's got going.

I mean, it's pretty darn impressive. Not a lot of cheat days in your household, right? Not a lot of pizza and ice cream. Now, you know, it's like, we love, of course, we love ice cream and we love pizza like everybody else. And, you know, but it's, for me, as a professional athlete, it's really, you know, important for me to if I if I get out of shape I really feel shitty about myself you know if it's like you're drawing a picture you know a big beautiful painting and you use all your

you know I've been using six years to do this it's really good or really nice details and everything is beautiful and then after a fight you just take a trash of painting and just throw it on it and then you fucking ruin everything and you know you don't want to do that the whole time because and you feel like you feel like shit. Interesting. So now the big question is, who's going to reach out to you? Are you exclusive with Venetor? I'm guessing no.

No, that's actually like, yeah. No, I'm out. I'm really. Are you still managed by yourself? Do you still manage yourself? I saw in an interview with MMA Viking a couple of years ago that you manage yourself. Is that true? Yeah, that's actually true.

You need to get a manager. You don't think you need a manager? Yeah. you know if you do the right thing and nobody knows nobody knows everything about you except you sure uh this of course it's a lot of work but i have this uh hard or i sound with the management now on the vision one uh just uh it's january okay so but still the fight part i do myself so now i get a little help with some sponsors and stuff but the fight part i still i still do myself but we have a cooperation there and uh um the first i i'm the first i i i still do myself but we have a cooperation there and

I'm and I really respect what they're doing because they just told me and they told my friend Jack Hermanson from Norway that also won his fight his eight straight fight and he

like I don't want to see you anymore I just want you to go through the UFC I don't want you to fight for us anymore and then you know they just want the best things for the fighters they are really up so has the UFC contacted you have they contacted you

have they contacted you Joe Sillo sent me an email and they congratulated me on the win. I haven't drawn them back yet. I haven't had a time. What are you waiting for? You haven't had the time. Yeah, but you know, I had to, I can't just reply and say, hey, nice, thank you. Can I fight now?

You know, I had to make sales something beautiful and nice to send. Okay. I have a sheet now that, or drafts that I'll send him to him right after we do that. Wow. Have other organizations reached out? I feel like they all work. Yeah. Yeah. And the tweet you sent about the World Series of Fighting and they also reach out and yeah, they asked me to do a fight for them and maybe for a title. Yeah. So I'm probably going to talk to them also and one FC also contacted me and some other organizations. Belator as well. I mean, if I'm an organization. I haven't, yeah, I haven't heard from Belter yet. Come on. Slipping.

Yeah. Yeah, that's slipping, man. That is great. It is good to be you. Yeah, it's absolutely this. And I don't think I, you know, I don't really think I've really understood what's happened now. And sometimes, like, right now, I'm like, okay, I'm actually sitting and talking to you in the biggest podcast in the States or. probably in the world, I don't know, but like one of them.

And, you know, it's just like moments like this that I have to save your and appreciate. A friend of mine made this big, great highlight movie thing, and just I just brought it into tears and like, wow, I just actually did this, do this stuff. and it's uh it's uh it's uh it sounds like i cry a lot but i really don't i like it in the last the last few days i've been uh you're a sensitive viking yeah yes i like that at the right at the right at the right time by the way do you think that this win was big enough to get the sport finally legalized in norway do you feel like you could have that impact you know we got this um this rule by the king. It says that you cannot arrange

competition where knockouts are allowed. And we have this great boxer who actually boxed Holmes back in the day. She won't but she's a great Norwegian boxer and

they just legalized boxing in Norway. Now it's la la la la except boxing. And the only reason that I do that is because of the profile that I have in the sport. Norway really loves their athletes and I want to be that figure and that person that can take and illegalize the sport and give the Norwegian fans somebody to root for and somebody who does it great in the world class as a world class fighter. And I think when I do

that and now I'm definitely in the right track of it, I want to be that guy and I definitely I think that maybe not this fight did it, but a few fights more, absolutely. I think it's possible. And by the way, did you ever think this way? Like, he has been very controversial. He has hurt people. And some say it's, you know, subconscious, whatever. Those are the facts. Did you go into this fight saying, like, I'm going to do this for all those fighters. I'm going to prove to this guy that you can't be this type of fight. Like, did you think of it that way or is that too big? You know, the fun thing about fighting Polaris is that everybody wanted me to win. And I don't think that everybody thought I would win.

Luke Thomas said, like, I don't know if you're going to win, Emil, but I'm rooting for you. And the thing that everybody was rooting for me, I really appreciate that. And, you know, I'm a fan of the sport as well, and I'm watching all the, you know, your articles that you write about, the Polaris thing. and I comment on the shit and like if people write me shit I was like, okay I don't know about that. I think I'm going to do better than what you're thinking. Like people, oh, he's going

to lose his leg. Oh, no, no, no. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't think so. And, you know, everybody's like, ha ha, he's commented and it's a lot of likes it. So it's fun. But, um, uh, so yeah, I just, you know, I really want to beat him and I, I believe the,

in my heart that I could do it. I would never ask for a fight if, if I would I wouldn't believe that I would actually have a chance to win. And yeah, you know, I didn't want to hurt him for all the other fighters that he was hurting. It's not like that, but, you know, if you would have hurt me, you know, I would have a different opinion about that. But, you know, I stopped the fight when the fights are all right. I didn't have like, okay, he's going to get three extra punches because. He heard somebody else, but I guess that would be fair, though.

By the way, he's saying that you hit him in the back of the head. That's why he got knocked out. That's what he's saying in Brazil. Have you seen this? There were some, no, I haven't seen that thing that you were talking about, but right after the fight, he was complaining, and the referee checked him out, and he said that it was fine. And was it, oh, my God, what's his name?

Was it Kieselat commented? Yes. No. yeah yeah yeah yeah and he also uh watched the replay over and nowhere and they said okay this is completely fine and so but that was i've worked for it just for a second and oh shit is this going to be another one of those no contests yeah yeah and i was just scared to my yeah to life that that would happen because i had one no contest where i actually knocked the guy out and it was just you know it's it's not fun um but uh

Yeah, yeah, no, it's completely legal, and I've seen the crypts myself, and it's just, it's just at the spot where you're supposed to hit, and there's no 9 to 12, no, what's it, 6 to 12? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No 6 to 12, and it's no, it's no behind the air, and, you know, I did everything that, I did everything right. Well, congratulations, my man. I'm happy that we finally got you on. I'm happy that we got you on after the win. What a great story this is, and by the way, Emil Meck, right? right? I said your last thing. Some people call you Meek. It's Meek. It's Mech. Yeah. You know, it's actually Meck. It's completely right. It's Norwegian. That's right. That's good. Yeah. Congratulations to you in the Army. Very happy for you. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do next.

And again, enjoy the wind. Try to enjoy, smell the flowers. You deserve it, my man. Very, very nice. I'm very happy that we had the opportunity to have you on and I got to meet you for the first time. So, appreciate the time very much, Amel. All right. There he is. Emile Mech. Valhalla joining us. happy man, the happiest man in Milan, Italy right now. Beautiful stuff from him picking up a huge win, a shocking win, an unexpected win over Hussemaar, Paul Harris in the main event of Venetor FC3. Great stuff. If you haven't seen the clip that I was talking about, the clip from the very active and insightful Twitter user Kaposa, it is fantastic. It's him celebrating to the tune. of the karate kid and jumping in the air. It's just great. Do go out and check it out. It's amazing.

So a great moment there for Emil Mac. If I'm the UFC, I sign them right away, especially with what they're doing in Scandinavia. So we'll see what happens. Okay, one more guest to go. Like I said, at the top of the show, what a fun show this has been. And we end with Wilson Hace, who is going to get the opportunity to fight Demetrius Johnson for the UFC Flyway title on July 30th, UFC 201 in Atlanta, We end with the former Elite XC champion. Wilson, Hayes, there he is. Wilson, how are you? What's up, Ariel?

Great. Very good. You know, definitely, you know, happy, you know, so I think it's great. So, and by the way, thank you for the time. And you look great, by the way. The internet connection over there is fantastic. So well done. Alliance M.A.

This news kind of came out of nowhere. A lot of people weren't sure what's going to happen next for Demetrius Johnson. What was your reaction when you got the call? that you're going to fight him next? Of course I was now super happy, you know, I was definitely huge, you know, opportunity, you know. I wasn't so surprised because I looked at the top 10 division, you know, and in my mind, like, they're going to have to figure out who they're going to give him next, you know.

I thought they're going to give. They were going to wait to see who's going to win between me and Joseph Benavides, you know, it's kind of had a verbal agreement, not agree, but I have verbally agreed to fight each other. So that's where I would expect The next to fight Joseph Benavides But then last week I saw the Joseph guy's schedule To be the coach and fight Sehudo

So I said, cool, so then I looked at the top ten again I'm the only guy that, you know There's from the first to the top ten to the ten There's four guys that he haven't fought yet It was Formiga, myself, Makalski and Dersertis you know But then three of them is coming off a loss I'm the only guy ranked up, no, rank eight, and they're coming off a win, you know.

So that could be me, you know. But then at that point, you just didn't know what's going on, you know. And then I knew that I have a feeling that he was going to have to fight again before the ultimate fighter, you know. So we're definitely extremely happy, you know, and I would have done with a call and then super ready to take it too, you know. Who gave you the news? The news gave by my manager and head coach, Eric Dauferero. Wow. That must have been exciting. Amazing.

And so did they even tell you, like, when they took Benevitas out of your fight and put them on the ultimate fighter, did they say, like, we got something big for you or were you kind of wanted, you know what I mean? Because you thought you were going to fight Benavitas. That was the word. Yes, yes. No, they didn't say anything to us. They just booked Benavides and then I guess, you know, a week later. Actually, Wednesday later, you know, they book us to fight Demetrius, you know? Amazing. So you, I'm assuming you watched his fight against Henry Sohudo, right?

Yes, yeah. He's now successfully defended his title eight straight times, two away from tying Anderson Silva's record. He has looked incredible. I mean, virtually unbeatable. Already, do you have some kind of idea how to beat him? Do you know in your mind how you're going to beat Demetrius Johnson be the guy to shock the world? Oh, yeah, of course, yeah. I have, you know, I haven't been, I mean, I have watched all his fights, you know, all his fights in a flight weight.

and I know I always see the same thing Of course he you know Every time he looked better and better You know And then he looks like in his last fight It was hard to judge the last fight He just looked really good But I just don't think

Sehul was a real match You know against him And so it's hard to judge him On my point of view You know But I'm definitely going to shock the word In July 30 What holes do you see in his game right now

I did see like I don't want to point it you know I see a lot of but I see a lot of holes really you see a lot yeah

yeah I see yeah I do see yeah and then I'm going to showcase then July 30 so I remember when you were fighting in the Elite XC 140 pound division remember those days

yes I do remember those days do you still have the belt by the way oh yeah yeah yeah right my liberal that's an amazing belt don't give it up I remember when you fought Brian Carraway in Stockton, California, that close fight that got you the title shot.

So my question is you've been fighting for a long time, you fought all over the place. 125 has been relatively good for you. You had the one slip up against Formiga, but for the most part, it's been a nice run for you at 125. What's been the difference for you? Why have you found this consistency? For me, it was always a problem, you know, with the reach, you know, and high, you know, and a 125 division, you know, I don't, I feel guys is still going to be an issue to talk. you know but then it's not a huge difference between 135 and even 1.45 right now those guys

are just become too big for me you know and uh 125 i have the i have the strain that advantage you know and i also have the speed and the speed know the i mean the size or not oversized anymore and i feel comfortable know and then since i have to really like no focus on my diet know to make the weight you know and just become a better athlete you know so it's definitely it's all all for the good. You joined Alliance a little later in your career, one of the very best gyms in the world. Eric Del Fierre, one of the very best coaches in the world.

Of course, the UFC Bantuway champion, Dominicruz, one of the many big-name fighters there. Does a party you wish that you joined the team, that you somehow found the team earlier in your career, like you'd already be champion if you were with them for the last, like, six, seven years? Yeah, maybe. I mean, I've been to Alliance since 2009, you know,

to help me and Dominique, you know, like we saw each other in Maryland, Lloyd Irving's gym, you know, like back in 2009. Wow. And he invited him some help him in 2009 to fight Benavides for the first time. Wow. That was July of 9. And then ever since I'm always coming here for every of his fights

and most of my fights since then, you know. But then I wish I should, I have moved full time here, you know. Okay. Because I came for camps, you know, like since that time, I'll come for like, you know. three times a year, twice a year, you know. But then, what I feel now,

looking back, you know, like the time that I evolved the most was like, no, off camps, you know, that Eric always told me, I said, I mean,

you have to stay here after the fight, so we can really, you know, focus on the technique and they improve, you know, everything, you know,

like in training camp it's hard to improve, you know, like, it's hard to evolve. We just pretty much focus on your opponent, you know,

in your condition. So, So when I moved here and I was pretty much in-training camp and training all day, every day, and now I look, now I can see that pain off, you know. When did you officially move there full-time? As soon as I got back from Canada, since I, that was my debut in the UFC in 2013. So that's right on the, right when you got the call to be the late play, a minute, I got the UFC call.

it was only a month to the fight so then I stayed in Philadelphia and finish my camp there pretty much just did a one month camp you know and won the fight

so we got a coach track and everything so then I decided to move full time to alliance so I fought in end of September and I'm over here beginning of November

so I know you just got the title fight but Dominic Cruz since he's been there done that and he's sort of the captain of the team has he talked to you yet about what this journey

is going to be like a lot more interviews for you a lot more attention a lot more people talking about you. A lot of people doubting you. I'm sure you know this. Has he said anything to you yet? Oh, yeah, he has, yeah.

You know, like, soon as soon as the fight was announced, you know, like we share about it, you know, we talk about it. And then I see him in all these years, you know, and I remember, like, you know, like every time he always shares with me, you know, there's a difference between now, just regular fight and a title fight, just a lot of more media, you know, and then you just have to deal with, you know, and then just have fun.

and and do you do you read that stuff like do you read people saying that he is too big of a favorite against you that you have nothing or do you block it out do you use it as motivation how do you deal with that i read just like i read anything you know i read it no and then they just like no it doesn't really you know bother me in any way as far as like you know like i believe myself you know more than anything you know so i don't need anything when you were to pump me up and i'm like i wouldn't know where i'm standing you know so i just But then it's fun. It's fun to like read and say, man, the guy really thinks that.

It's good to go day. It's like shock everybody, you know. Yes, it's a beautiful thing to be the underdog when no one expects you to win. Have you started to envision how you're going to beat him yet? I have, yeah. Really? What do you see? Yeah, I, not only envision, but, you know, I feel I'm like 100% capable to do it, you know, to finish him, you know,

and begin the fight in the middle of the fight and end of the fight, you know, I just see myself win everywhere and win every minute in the fight. What's going on with Brazilian MMA, in your opinion? Like, we only have one champion left. It could change. We could have RDAs still. We could have Aldo as interim champion. We could have you as champion.

It could change. But right now, there's only one. Verdum just lost. What's going on? Are you worried for your country? What's happening? No, I'm not worried for my country, though. I think we have an amazing athletes and our amazing training camps there.

I think it's just, you know, it's not only the defect of the Brazilians or any other country. It's just the sports, you know, the MMA is always evolving, you know, evolving so fast. You know, so many talents, new talents, old talents. He's always guys the best moment, you know. The guy on the best day wins, you know, and then one mistake you made, especially when you, I see some of the guys, they lost their titles, and the Brazilians, you know, they didn't involve their technique. know and it's such a game especially when you the number one container people's always going to study from top to bottom you know and then you have to really not always innovate you know

but you have to bring something new pretty much you know every fight you know and then some of those guys lost their tires i think they didn't evolve much you know maybe just they got too comfortable and now it just didn't have fun right getting into the fights you know so they kind of slack a little bit and then i don't think is the i think it's just the i think Brazil has no amazing fighters, amazing talents and athletes, you know, and then July is a big month for us as well. We got like, no, like, five thousand shots, you know, and I wish I'm, know, my country makes the best, you know. Five times. So we have RDA. We have Claudia Godelia, right? We have Jose Aldo. We have you. What's the fifth?

Amanda. Amanda. Amanda Nunes, of course. Wow. That's amazing. Wow, it is a very big month for you guys. All right. So, by the way, I got to ask you about this because I love that period. The Shaw's, Jared Shaw. I remember Jared Shaw, Gary Shaw? How crazy was that, Elite X-C? I mean, that was a crazy place. Those guys are nuts, right? Yeah, yeah.

But they had good fighters. Oh, yeah, they had good fighters. They had good shows. I remember when I fought, when the Kim was in the card, it was the first CBS card in the night. I think it was like in the May. It was like, sold out, Prudential Center, New Jersey, you know.

So they got, like, huge crowds, you know. I felt it a little bit, like, from going from Elite XC with every event that I fall was pretty much sold out. They have, like, they had a good business, you know, like they're doing CBS, they're on showtask, you know. And then when I went to Bellator, I think it was like my first fighting in Belator, me it was like 200 people there. And it was like a little bit of shocking, you know, I can expect the Belator to be big,

but they didn't know that it was about a tour second event, you know? Yeah. So it was a little bit shocking as far as, like, no, crowd quasi. They did I see, man, they really put in a big production, you know, like, I guess it does Gary, the other guy just lost boxing, you know, like more, like, no bigger show and stuff. But I had fun, man, they really took care of me, you know, like those guys in Lillix C, like, from the matchmaker all the way to the group of the assistant and I was doing five week. It was fun.

I was definitely like, no, like, I was sad and happy when they ended because, it was, And I was sad because I have just won the title, and I was looking forward to defend the title, you know. But then I was happy because my contract, it wasn't too good. I was able to get out of my contract. Oh, wow. Wow. How come you never went over to Strike Force? Did they ever talk to you?

Like, it's about taking your contract? No. Somehow, Strike Force bought my contract over, but then they never signed. I guess they didn't have my wake class. Right, right. But then they actually sold my contract to Bellator. Oh, wow. I never knew that.

Yeah, they did, yeah. Did you get a piece of that? I don't think I did. What the hell? That's messed up. They did between them. Oh, I knew what I was Belator. We talked about Strike Force,

and then I started with my manager at the time. I said I talked about this new event called Bellator. Yeah. And right away, we just might make sure my contract, we just kind of like switch over to them. And by the way, you are the very first Brazilian to ever fight for the belt, the flyweight belt,

pound belt. So on July 30, if you can make all kinds of history, first Brazilian to fight for the belt, first guy in the UFC to beat Demetrius Johnson, become the second flyway champion. I mean, there's a lot at stake here. I don't know if you know this. I'm not sure if it's, yeah. You realize this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's even like, you know, and to me is a other fight, you know, but then, of course, I know it's like this is a huge fight, you know. But then to me, just a big fight as far as like, know, like him himself, you know, like he's very talented athlete, you know, like, no, well-rounding stuff like that. So I'm getting ready for the best of me to Johnson, you know.

But, yeah, so that's, to me, it's good because, you know, having a title shot, you know, is huge, so I'm super happy about that. Now I have two months of training camp, you know, and I get all this good resource for it. And then afterward it's all party, you know, so I'm just happy. That's amazing. Well, I'm very happy for you, my friend. Good luck to you in the fight. I love the fight. I think it's a great story. You've been around the game for a long time, and I think you deserve the shot. So I'm looking forward to seeing the fight, seeing if you can pull it off, and seeing if you can become the first Brazilian to ever be the UFC Flyway champion, but more importantly, be the first guy in the UFC to beat Demetius Johnson. Certainly one of the most dominant champions in UFC history. So thank you very much. Good things happen to good people. I congratulate you on getting the title shot, but I know you're not content. So good luck in training camp, and of course, good luck in the fight, Wilson.

very much, I appreciate it. I just want to correct you a quick. I'll be the second guy, because Dominica, I would beat him. I mean, it was a band-of-weight. Oh, I'm in the flyweight division. You're right. You're right. Look at you defending your buddy. Yes. You're right. I will be the first one, of course. Yes, you're 100% right. And you're a good teammate. You're a good teammate for noting that. Yes, I was thinking flyweight division, but you're 100% right. UFC on versus 6, October 1st, 2011, I believe, in Washington, D.C. How about that? I've been doing this show three and a half hours. I still remember it. Dominic Cruz beat Demetius Johnson. So I don't want to take that away from him.

Thank you, Wilson. All the best to you. I'll be the second guy, you know, at Alliance and the second guy in the UFC to be the That's right. You got the blueprint. Is Dominic going to help you for this fight? I hope he does, even after his. He's going to stick around, right? Okay, okay. All right, just checking. Good luck to you, my man. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, big opportunity for him, July 30th in Atlanta, Georgia. All right, wow. How about that? Back to back to back to back to back.

Can we go a little, I got some stuff I need to get off my chest. Can we go a little longer? What's the deal, New York, Rick? He's had the easiest day of them all. He hasn't had to say a thing. We're going long. Let's go. We'll do it live. Let me see. We're not quite there yet. Well, what do you mean? We are doing it. We've been doing it live this whole time. Yeah, but what I mean is like the level of anger and frustration that he was existing. How about all that? Can you put it into words all of what's going on? I feel like Chale Sondon put it into words. Pretty well. I mean, am I right, though? That he's coming back and clearly and that...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Something changed, right? He's back in promotional mode completely. And now this may be because he's promoting a grappling event, but it doesn't feel that way. No, no, no, no, no. Something has changed. He's coming back. I think we all knew he was coming back, no?

Well, I've been saying it for the longest time. I've been saying, you know, future UFC fighter, there he is, on World Series of Fighting, blah, blah, blah, blah, but people will be like, what are you talking about? He's always been coming back. It's because, I mean, he still got it, clearly. He can still run the mouth. Whether he can fight or not, to be honest, probably wasn't really that relevant at the end of his career when he was leaving and probably isn't that relevant now. Still got it. After all these years.

So I haven't really been on the internet because we've had so many Skype interviews. Jesus. All Skype. Except for Cody. Yep. Right? And Mike, we had to switch mid, but for all intents and purposes, it was a very Skype-heavy show. So I don't know if has there been any news, anything coming out?

Let me see. Because I've been following this. No, I've been, okay, let me tell you this about the Tarek Safedian situation. I wanted to tell you about that. He was supposed to fight Rick Story. the doctor's appointment is today. And I was told this, and I can't figure it out. And maybe you can help me.

I should have told you this earlier. Should you look it up? I was told that the guy that they found to replace him potentially is, well, I don't know his name, but I was told that his initials are B and M. First name B, last name M. That's all they would tell me. It's not something I really want to report, but I'm happy to share it with the public. If you can figure this out, I looked at the UFC Walthaway,

division. I looked at the entire roster. And the only B&M that I could find, and I was told he's in the UFC, was Brian Melanson, but I thought he retired. Remember we had him on this show? He retired? Maybe it's a different weight class. Maybe it's outside the organization. I have no clue. I don't know if that's enough to go on. I don't know. No, it's not. But if any, I know there are a lot of sluths out there. Maybe BM himself will be like, hey, it was me. Probably not, knowing the way they like to keep things close to the show, B.M. Yeah, that's what or anyone. you can figure it out, please let me know. Saffedine sliced his knee as he was defending a takedown on the cage at TriStar and had to have

stitches and all this stuff. So unfortunately, that fight is in jeopardy. Another piece of information that I wanted to pass along, Ally I Quinta, there was some stories about Ally Quinta and Tiago Alves fighting at UFC 202. Well, I was told that they want to make this fight, but that date, August 20th, UFC 202, and we'll get to that one a little more in depth in a second, was never offered to him. And you may have heard about Tiago Alvis going down to 155

in the not so distant past. We talked about this. I reported it around a year or so ago, but then he was offered the, after the Condit fight, he was offered Benson Henderson. But I spoke to Mike Dolce, and he's been working towards,

he's now around like mid-170s, and they have this whole thing. laid out. I mean, you can expect that with Dolce involved. And Dolce told me that he's going to have the final say early July or so. If he gets down to the target weight, then he's going to give him the okay to make the move down to 155. So from my discussion with Dolce late last week, it wasn't 100%, but all systems were a go. He told me that it was based upon the least, the lean mass analysis based upon his Dexas scan. And you can read up about that. B-E-X-A scan that he has done every six weeks since November.

So not 100% just yet. I wanted to clear that one up the I-Quinta-Alvis fight. I would like that fight. I think that's a lot of fun. And I also want to tell people before we get to a couple questions that, you know, it's good to support our own. Paige Van Zandt is in the finals of Dancing with the Sars. So if you want to go vote for her, go do your thing.

I did see something on her that came out while we were sitting here. She's in a movie or something. She's in the new kickboxer. I feel like everyone's in that movie. No, no, no. This is the sequel to that reboot. So they already did. You're kidding me.

Other ones already coming out. The one with GSP? Yeah. And then this is the sequel to that. Or maybe it's a prequel, who knows, but she'll be on that next one after that. All right. Do we have like six, seven, eight questions? We do have six, seven, eight questions.

And you knocked one off. One of them was about, is Rick Story getting an opponent now that Tarek Safedina is out? Let me check in again. So you knocked that one off, which is great. All right, first one. Basically, from our friend James Glory, Connor, Dana, and Floyd, all this crazy stuff. Bring us up to date. What's going on with Connor?

What's going on with Connor and the UFC? Floyd Mayweather. How does he factor into this? Break it down as simply as possible. So this is what happened. Last Wednesday, UFC Brass, led by Dana White, had a dinner with Connor McGregor in Beverly Hills. Now, you may have heard they put out there in the public via the media that they were going to meet at a restaurant called Mr. Chow's, but that was all afront. That was all smokescreen.

They met at some hotel in Beverly Hills. And from what I was told, it went well. They put it out there on the table. It was actually very productive, tete-a-tete. It went well. And they all kind of agreed we're going to shoot for, we're going to target UFC 202, August 20. location TBD. And that's a date that's come up.

That's something that's been discussed. Well, a big deal was made of this meeting. And of course, because of their history over the last couple of months, a lot of people were wondering when they will meet and the UFC put it out there, Dana put it out there. People asked them and, you know, like he often does, he told the truth. And, you know, he told everyone that I'm going to L.A. to meet with Connor.

Connor was there to do a bunch of stuff. and as you may have heard, one second, someone, source, one second. So as you may have heard earlier, Connor's going to be on the ESPN the magazine, in the ESPN the magazine body issue. So he was doing that and then he did the sit down, but I'll get to that in a second. So that comes out. That happens Wednesday. On Thursday, he does the ESPN stuff.

He does the sit down with Kenny Maine. That aired yesterday's Sunday conversation, and they put out some parts of it. You got it. We talked about that with Chale. We could talk about it a little later on what he said. I thought it was pretty cut and dry. They then reached out to Nate's team and said, okay, you know, August 20th, what do you think? Let's get the fight going.

You know, UFC 200, all that stuff. Nate said, why don't you come visit me? Let's go talk in Stockton. So as you may have heard, the UFC went, you know, the brass, Dana White, Lorenzo, some other members of the team. They went to Stockton to meet with Nate Diaz. And they had a lunch there and they talked about a lot of things. They talked about the fight. They talked about the financial terms, this and that.

Shortly thereafter, it comes out, TMZ reports. By the way, isn't it weird how TMZ keeps getting this stuff? They get the footage of him and the surprise location in Beverly Hills. They get, you know, Stockton. they have people in Stockton. A little weird. Now when you say weird, you mean completely predictable? Yes.

Oh, okay. So anyhow. So they have this. And apparently, you know, some things were said that, you know, they, the UFC and in particular Dana White didn't love, didn't agree with. He later told Brett Akamoto that it wasn't a great day for him in Stockton gets up and pretty much like, okay, we're not getting this deal done today. Rewind a couple of minutes earlier, Nate Diaz is.

telling them about this, you know, mural that was made of him. I'm not surprised MFers, all that stuff. And they agreed to go see it. So even though it ended somewhat awkward terms, they still went to go see the mural afterwards, believe it or not. So they take the pictures there. You saw them. Everyone's happy. But they don't come to a deal. But from what I'm told, the deal is not dead. That's the fight that everyone wants. The UFC wants it. Connor wants it. Nate Diaz wants it. you may have heard time and again this Floyd Mayweather talk, even Jalen Rose getting in on it, saying that it's happening. One person told me September, one person told me May. But if you heard from Connor's statements on ESPN, no one's approached him with this deal. Now, I will say this

about the Floyd stuff. There are people who believe that it can't get done as far as a boxing match is concerned. I will say that. It's not, you know, crazy in terms of like, Connor would be crazy not to listen to it, obviously, because of the money at stake. But make no mistake about it. The fight that everyone wants, every single person wants, you know, involved in this whole story is the Nate rematch. And they're going to work their ass off to get that fight done. It didn't get done on Friday. It's obviously the fight that Connor wants more than anything right now, more than defending his title or fighting for another belt. And I'll say this about Nate Diaz. He's a much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much,

better negotiator than anyone thinks. This is a very smart man. This man knows what he's doing. He knows Connor wants to fight. He knows the UFC wants to fight. He knows what's up. He just made a lot of money. He's in no rush to play any kind of game.

He wants what he wants and he's going to fight for it. And I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. So we'll see what happens. That's pretty much where we're at right now as of the last couple hours. And I think that they will figure out a way. That's my gut right now. But to say that it's done, I've seen people say 99% that it's not true at all. It's not even close to that.

You have to clarify, who's they? So what is the – you're saying they will figure it out, this being the UFC, Nate Diaz, and Connor McGregor? Yes. I think that everyone wants it bad enough to the point where they'll get it done. But I will say that Connor probably wants it the most. I think Nate wants it deep down inside, but he's happy to play this game. like he's not going to jump at anything. And that's what happened on Friday.

They were coming there to get a deal done and the deal did not get done. So we'll see. It's going to be very interesting. The one that they wanted was August 20th, but what are we, that? What is that? Three months away? That's not so far. I think that's, you know, there's enough time.

It's not so, I mean, it's not like it's a month away or two months away. I mean, three months away. You really only need like, what, two months to start promoting a fight, even sometimes less than that. So we'll see. I mean, look at the first fight that they had. They had 11 days. But this is an interesting thing.

I mean, the cards are out there, and the Mayweather stuff could be a front. It could be a negotiation ploy. But that's the fight that they want. Could that fight happen? Maybe. But I think Connor's... Did you see what he said? I mean, he has not been offered any fight against Floyd Mayweather.

To think that it's going to happen in the UFC and Floyd's going to try to share that pie with them, it's not happening. Could they get around it? You know, the Couture-Faidor fight went to court because that was an MMA. fight. Could they get around it because it's a boxing match? I guess, but it's not going to be easy. It really won't. The UFC's not going to allow that. There's no way. So Nate is the one for now. They tried to get it done last week. They'll have to wait. They're still working on it. It's not dead. But again, to say that it's done is inaccurate at this time. Okay. We're up to speed. You feel me? I feel you. Next question. Big John, does he have any responsibility in that fight

between in that title fight between Melvin Manhoff and Hafeel Calvajo for not taking any points away. Did you feel like it was to the point where it was stalling and some points should have been taken? And was that a main event that took Bellator further back than Kimbo and Dada? No, no, no, no, no. No one almost died. I mean, yeah, it was boring and perhaps the wrong guy won,

but no one died. I mean, you can't compare it to that. I think Big John did a pretty good job. I mean, he was pretty forceful with his comments and thought he put his foot down when he needed to. I mean, man, what are you going to do? You're going to kick them out of the cage? I mean, you're going to decue them? What more can be done?

You could take points for stalling. And also, I guess somebody could make the argument that the low blows, you would take points for those, which wasn't done, but potentially also for not engaging, which they did not engage. Yeah. I will be honest with you. I fell asleep right towards the end of the Pat Kern fight. And then I woke up to all these tweets about how it was the worst fight. But you didn't miss anything. But then I went back and tried to watch it.

And I had to fast forward some parts. I mean, it is sort of like a self-inflicting wound to go back and watch something that is being deemed unanimously by the entire MMA community is one of the worst fights of all time. So whatever. Or just chocked it up to, uh, otherwise, I mean, there were some good performances. Okay, so our next question. All right. Thoughts on Alexis Dufrein and her shocking win over Marluse Cunin.

Well, it was super impressive, but I thought that her post-fight comments were nonsensical afterwards, saying that she was disrespected by the fact that Marlos Cunin wouldn't extend her hand after she failed to make weight. I mean, I know you got to pump yourself up, you know, going into the fight, but after the fact, I mean, you just beat, not only did you just. beat a legitimate women's MMA pioneer. You also just beat one of the classier fighters in MMA who isn't

a crap talk or anything like that. She was pissed off. Her fight's been moved around a thousand times. You miss weight, new opponent, all that stuff. Yeah, you know, you can excuse her if she's not going to, you know, go out there and hug you to say that you felt disrespect. It was just kind of weird. But, you know,

fighters need things to pump themselves up. It's a tremendous win for her. And you have to wonder where Marluss is going to go from here, she put out some vague tweets contemplating and very upset. I mean, this is Marlou's freaking Coonan. Only been submitted once against Misha Tate. No knock on Dufrane, but I mean, that was shocking. That was really shocking. Especially the method by submission that way. It was shocking. They need to figure out what they're doing with their women's divisions because they're like half in. It's like, let these people go. Don't put them on their prelims. And don't tell me that the

Bell Tour prelims are the same as the UFC prelims. I mean, the UFC prelims are on cable television. They're on a channel that's in 90 million homes. They often get anywhere between like 500,000 and over a million viewers, depending on the card. Don't tell me that it's the same as being on Spike.com. I mean, let's be honest. So the fact that they even put that fight originally on the Beltor prelims, on the Spike.com prelims, was insulting to not just the fighters, but the division in its own right. I mean, what is that saying about the belt? You couldn't even put it on the first fight on the telecast. I mean, to their credit, they made good. They made good afterwards, but initially. Hey, you're not going to hear an argument for me. I thought it was...

Bizarre. You know, not good. But they made good in the end. What are your thoughts on the mayhem? No pun intended. That ensued in Italy this past weekend. Hussamar getting knocked out. Mayam Miller missing weight by 24 pounds and then getting submitted.

And Venetore FC's president overall. Well, I'll say this about Maham Miller. I mean, no secret that, you know, we've had our history, and he's always been great to me. And of course, things have changed over the last few years. I still probably have the lucky Patrick. I don't know if you can still see it. It's kind of off-camera, but it's there, the lucky Patrick jacket. It was, you know, I was a little nervous about him being booked in a fight, especially since he hasn't fought in four years. And, you know, I had my doubts whether or not it would happen. He arrived in Italy.

And then I wake up Friday morning and it's, you know, it's out there that he has missed weight, I mean, by a gross amount. And missing weight 24 pounds, you obviously didn't try, which, you know, it's fine. Nothing would have surprised me, honestly, leading up to the fight. They wanted to keep him on the card.

They made him cut to 205. So he was 207. They made him come up to 205. And then they said that you can't, you can, wait, what is he, 185? No, he was 209, excuse me. So they said that he couldn't get higher than 207 at 7 a.m. The next morning, the day of the fight, that was the rule that they came up with. And he made it.

He was like 206.9. And they put him in another fight. And I don't know if you saw the fight, but that wasn't the mayhem of old. That wasn't the mayhem who was seconds away from submitting Jake Shields on CBS. I mean, this was one of the great. fighters and certainly one of the great showmen's, but I mean, let's not forget, Mayhem was a great fighter, and that wasn't him. But I will say this. And you hope that no one was pushing him to do it, and he's been through a lot. And I can't sit here and say that I'm

in contact with him, and we talk all the time and all that. But I did see an interview with him, and I forget what outlet, Mark Bergman, I know, was the guy who did the interview. It was a German outlet. It was on bloody elbow.com. And he said some things in that interview that deep down I was kind of hoping like maybe a light went off here. He said he hadn't fought in front of a crowd, been in front of a crowd of that size in four years since his UFC fight against CB Dalloway. Maybe he was a little bit embarrassed. Maybe that something clicked. Like I don't know. Maybe this is just me reaching. But I don't know if you saw that interview. It felt like something in him like he was slowly going back to the old mayhem. Maybe I'm just dreaming. Maybe not. But I wonder if this experience can't, you know, maybe get him to help. he needs, maybe get him on that straight path. I don't know. But I do hope for that for his sake. Yeah, I mean, it could be something as simple and practical as the fact that he missed it and he's realizing that the path back is through this, is through fighting, is through, you know, hopefully properly preparing for a fight and then getting in front of an audience of fighting. He has

a gift in the sense that people want to pay to see him fight, so obviously he's very good at it, or at least entertaining. And maybe this can be his path back. Now, got to put in the effort and make weight and be a professional. But hopefully this can be a first step. The problem is if there's too much kind of patting them on the back for this, it could lead to the same habits continuing.

It has to be a situation where, yeah, it's great that you got out in front of these people and got this experience for the first time in a long time, but time to be a professional again. And by the way, I mean, I was kind of in favor of them not putting him in the fight because you don't know what's going on, why he didn't make that weight, and to sort of dangle that carrot could have been dangerous. I mean, he lost to, you know, what a couple years ago was a lesser opponent.

So, you know, I don't know, maybe that shocked something in him, but I felt a little uncomfortable about them putting him in the fight after he misweight by that much. Sure. What did you think of Michael Kiyahsa on the commentary? Oh, he did a great job. Like I said, he did a great job. Him and John Morgan did a great job. They should have him back.

I'm with you on that. UFC Fight Night this weekend? What's the people's main event? Oh, my. Because obviously, you know, that's something that's not decided by the people and something you get to choose. Absolutely. How dare you? How dare you imply?

Are you still salty after you got Bismacked? Are you ready to say that I'm, are you ready to say, I mean, you, you, you went out and said, this is, this is my beef with the Cleveland fans. and I had a bit of a field day with them on Saturday night. For a city that has experienced that, and we all know that you're just a bandwagon jumper and you haven't lived and died with the team. Sure. For a city that has experienced that much futility and heartbreak, boy, are they cocky. I mean, there's something to be said about, look, the Golden State Warrior fans last year,

they were just like, they were watching it with their, you know, with a little bit of their eyes, like poking out at one hand. They were watching it like this. They were so worried that something bad was going to happen. But for a city and a team that has had so much futility, experience, so much futility that has never won anything. Steppe Miochich is their only claim to fame in the last 50-something years. You guys are so damn cocky.

It's like that's what makes you unlikable as fans as well. I can't speak for Cleveland fans. I can't speak for the other teams, but I can't speak for the Cavaliers. And what I can say is, you know who's more unlikable than the Cavaliers? One of the more unlikable. Is the Toronto Raptors. They've done nothing. They've only been around.

No, this is gravy. This is all gravy. But that's why. Like, they're happy to be here. Yes, absolutely. That's what's so funny about this. That's why. You guys are waiting for the coronation, and these guys are just happy to be there, and they still beat

you when everyone thought it was going to be. They won a game that they really did it. Yeah. They made it. No, but that's the thing. I mean, I thought they were going to get swept, too, after those first two games. You thought they were going to get swept, but predicted them to win in six. And by the way, it's still possible.

The point is, a little humility goes a long way. There's something, look, like, you can't tell me. How are you going to feel when both of your teams lose? when the Golden State Warriors who you've bandwagoned and the Toronto Raptors who you've bandwagon are both going to lose. I'm going to feel pretty good because my real team... And then the Nix didn't even make it.

Yeah, yeah. And that's the thing that I get from a lot of people. It's like, aren't you a Nix fan? What? I'm not allowed to cheer for teams. Like, that's what I like to do. Okay, there's four teams left. In this series, I'm going to choose these guys. In this series, I'm going to choose those guys.

So you're picking bad ones so far. I've loved... I always pick bad ones. Look at my freaking team. I pick the worst teams. The Buffalo Bills haven't made the playoffs since 1999. The Expos don't exist, and the Knicks are a laughing stock. You're not going to win that argument with me.

I'm the worst team picker. If I pick your team, you're in trouble. That being said, I don't know how any sane sports fan can sit there and actually root for the Cleveland Cavaliers. I mean, the worst of the worst in all of sports. Because they have J.R. Smith. Because LeBron James is a flopper. I mean, come on. Without me saying too much, really a disgrace the way he behaves on the basketball court.

A disgrace. Come on. He gets hit in the head by his own teammate. and he pretends like he was just shot in the face. That's not embarrassing. That doesn't make you feel a little bit weird as a fan. He is the worst of the worst when it comes to that. He's the worst of the worst.

Come on, a disgrace. Oh my God. Look what they did to David Blatt. Look how he treats. I mean, it's just amazing how he complains every play. The David Blatt thing ended up being pretty good. Getting him out, getting in the new coach, seems to work out nicely. Not yet.

They made it to the finals last year. What are they've done this? Is he's what I'm talking about? You guys already think that you want. Let me tell you something. There's a guy named Bismack Bianvo. We can close that door. On Victoria Day.

I'm going to go out on a limb right here right now and guarantee for the city of Toronto, more importantly for the great country of Canada that we're going to tie this thing up tonight. And then, and then we have a series. I'm not going to say that they're going to win. Six and six is still alive. I'm just throwing it out there. But I just, a little humility. I mean, these cast fans are really the worst. A little humility.

That's all I'm going to say. Look at the thunder fans. I mean, let's not get into the whole thunder thing. Those people don't even deserve a team. If we're being honest, that team should be playing a key arena. in Seattle, and it's a disgrace that they're not, but whatever. Oklahoma City, good people, fine. Let's root for them. Whatever. I am. The Cleveland Cavalier fans are, and you know what? I'm happy that they've embraced Steepay. I want to talk about it. What a week he had. He's been

hitting home runs. He's showing up with Delvedova jerseys. I mean, the guy is the talk of the town and he deserves it. He's great. He's a firefighter. I mean, he really gives back. Look at the way Steepa acts. Look at the way he reacted. That's how Cleveland Cavalier fans should be. And they're not. I am demanding that the Photoshop experts out there get a crying Jordan face ready for Ariel's body You think I'm going to be affected by this?

Do you think I'm going to care? You're right, you're right. You don't care because you bandwagon to these two teams. When Golden State gets smacked And when Toronto gets smacked, you'll just be careful. I was rooting for them. You don't understand it because you're not a father.

When I bought my son of Stefan Curry jersey because the way I look at it is I want my son one day to be like, wow, I used to rock a Stefan Curry jersey because that's someone that he should be looking up to. Not a guy who flops. He needs a Nix jersey. He has a Nix jersey.

You should burn the Stefan Curry jersey. It's right there. Look at the Nix jersey. Get a good shot of it. Should not have a Stefan Curry jersey. There it is right there. Porzingis and Mello. Boom.

Don't ever question my fandom. Of course I'm questioning your fandom. There's no bigger fan than me right here right now. Stop splitting your fandom. What are you talking about? You don't ever root for, you don't root for teams? No, I don't. That's BS.

I have one team that I root for and it's the Cavaliers. No other sports. Okay, so when your team is out, when they were, when they were, when they were, when they were, when it's time to think about free agency in the draft. You don't watch sports? That's, then you're not a fan. I'm not rooting for any of them. What are you doing then?

No, I pick a team. Are you in every fight thinking, oh, I want this guy to win? It's different because I'm a journalist. I don't root for anyone. No, nonsense. What are you talking about? Also, that's, that's nonsense too. It's true.

This whole idea that journalists are supposed to be completely unbiased is so unrealistic and why? silly. You can, there's a thing about being professional, which you always are, and there's no question about that, but pretending that people don't have friendships or relationships or biases. I don't pretend that. I'm saying that the idea that a journalist is supposed to is such an antiquated and kind of silly idea. No.

This is something that Will Leach put out there when he was running Deadspin and was a Cardinals fan. I'm not going to root for fighters. I can say, you know, go on, Michael Bisping, do your thing. I'll be very happy for you if you win. But honestly, I root for stories. I root for great things, like this one. This gets me more excited than any win or loss. Michael Bisping is getting a title shot on two and a half weeks notice.

That is fantastic. That gets me excited. I root for things like that. I root for great stories, but I don't root for anyone. You're wrong on that one. I'm not proclaiming that you do root for someone. I do root for sports teams. And excuse me, if my country, which has one team, so you don't get that either.

We have one team. So if my team is nowhere to be found, they're a laughing stock. my team. I'm not going to, I'm not going to say, and by the way, I announced to the world when the playoffs started that I was jumping on the bandwagon. It's not like I'm coming in this thing late. I actually said, do you have room for me on your bandwagon? I'm not hiding here. They may have been better sort of kicking you off. There may be one thing that overrides my patriotism. And you know, I love the great country of Canada. There may be one thing that overrides it. It is my deep and, and, and my, it's like in the bowels of my body, the deep hatred.

that I have for all things, Cleveland Cavaliers. Because that team is a disgrace. The way they conduct themselves is really, it's like, I want to tape these games and show my kids one day and say, look, this man is 275 pounds. He is bigger than every heavyweight on the UFC roster, and he acts like he has just been smashed with a 500-pound cinder block when his own teammate touches him in the face.

That doesn't even punch him, touches him in the face. Look at Stephen Adams. He gets kicks in the balls. Could you imagine if that would have happened? to LeBron James, why are we talking about this so much? I don't have a lot of time here, and you're getting me all fired up. LeBron James, the way he conducts himself, he is a fantastic prayer, one of the greatest of all time.

I told you off camera, he should get the ball every play. But the way he conducts himself on the basketball court is disgraceful. There's a role model on the Cavaliers. And there's plenty to pick from him. You don't have to pick LeBron James. Who, Dante Jones? No, J.R. Smith. Dante Jones, the one who came in there and punched Bionbo in the balls.

The pipe layer himself, the master of the pipe, J.R. Smith, is one that we can count on. Yes. And by the way, Sean Sheehan reminds me that I did break the streak. Lester City, the team that I've been rooting for for a hunt. In spite of every odds, including the odds of having Ariel Holani. They pulled it off. Fight of the night. What's the fight of the night this weekend? Oh, yeah, yeah. See, you got me on this crazy rant. All talking crazy.

Okay, well, how could it not be Garbrand and Thomas Almeida? No Aljo Carraway? Oh, God, of course it's Aljo Carraway. I haven't even talked about that. The fight past main event. By the way, that fight is getting more attention than any fight on the entire car. So which is it? You just flip. Okay, sorry, it's Aljo Carraway, yeah, 100%.

I mean, you remember when he was at that press conference in Vegas in December and he said that Carraway was on Misha's, you know what, hanging off it? This thing has been brewing for quite some time. Of course, it's Aljo. Thank you for reminding me. of that. Okay. 20th.

2.02, rumored to be on August 20th. Bad move going up against the Olympics or unavoidable and really not in the control? I didn't even think of that. The Olympics still going on?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it looks like it is, yeah. Nah, I mean, if it's Connor, it'll be fine. And it's almost like you can't avoid the Olympics when you're the UFC, you have too many shows to schedule. You can't really book around it.

Well, the other thing is, I mean, the main event happens at 1 a.m. Eastern. There's no Olympic action going on at that time because it's in Brazil. Because it's the time difference. It'll be live and then there's the replays on TV. So like you're running up against one of them. It's not like we're in, I don't know,

South Korea or something or Japan where the time, you know, where things are happening at 3.4 a.m. It's Brazil relatively close to the eastern time zone, so I don't think it's a problem. Okay. Joe Rogan's podcast, this is a bit lengthy but longer. Be in L.A. Are you guys going to hook it up

or what? Look, a lot of people asked me last week. Why did you think Joe Rogan didn't like you? And these are the facts. I reached out to Joe Rogan many times to come on the show. I've DMed him and he just never got back to me. So what do you want me to think? You know, when I see him in person, it's all well and good. But I was like, all right, maybe he just doesn't want to do the show. That's really what I meant. A lot of people tweet me about going on a show. And I'm not going to camp, unlike Emil Mech, and I get while he does it, I'm not going to campaign for it. If you ever invited me, it would be great. But I have a show. I do my thing. I'm happy. I just did the Jonah Carey podcast. I'm excited about that. I mean, I like going on other people's

shows. There's no doubt about it. He has maybe one of the biggest podcasts in the entire world, regardless of sport or genre or whatever, but I'm not going to campaign for that sort of thing. I mean, I never retweet that. I never reply to it. If he wants to have me, he knows where I am, and he's had my uncle on twice. And, you know, the first time that he had my uncle on, the way I thought, you know, maybe this is me being a little too neurotic, but my mother's, my mother's brother, you know, this blood brother, 100% goes on his show and you would think, given the audience, you would say at some point in the interview, oh, by the way, everyone, you know who's nephew is this guy, you know who, you know who, you know who, I'm saying that right, right?

This guy's nephew is. Yes, you know who this guy's nephew is? Oh, who's his nephew. Ariel Hawwani, M.M.A reporter. You've heard of that guy, right? I mean, most of his audience, the majority are MMA fans as well. You don't think you had mentioned. that's kind of a cool factoid. We don't share the same last name. That didn't happen. I thought it was a little strange, considering the note, you know,

so I was like, but I'm happy we cleared it up, got a lot of views, people were excited about it, people liked it. He put me on the spot, I put him on the spot. It was fun.

So maybe one day. People seem to love that above anything else that's happened in a while. What? That appearance? Yeah. Wow. Podcast crossoverness.

They liked it. They liked, you know, those guys coming here and everybody chopping it up. Okay. Last thing, that was the end of the questions. Okay, okay. Last thing from Nolan King, who tweeted it to me first.

He says, Balal Muhammad, Titan FC's welterweight champ, who just beat Steve Carl. That's what he's saying is BM, his guess. Oh, interesting. I don't know if he has any additional insight or anything like that, but it sounds reasonable. Titan FC's welterweight champ. Wow, you think that's it? Could be. Okay, well, I guess he's not in the UFC.

Bilal Muhammad. Right. No joke. Someone just tweeted me that. A different person. There you go. People are watching. Okay, so there's a lot. Okay, so that's it. We've gone too far. We've gone too long. But I just wanted to relay one quick story if I can. Do I have like two minutes? Yeah, yeah. Hit it. So on Thursday, this is a great story for all of you. This is my story to end the day. On Thursday, a friend of mine, a great guy named Jonathan Dresner, I've grown up with him, one of my brother's best friends.

he owns a fantastic burger joint, if you will, in Montreal called Notre Beuf de Grasse. And they're killing it. Their food is amazing. If you're in Montreal, I've tweeted about them before, the food is just fantastic. And if you ever go on their Instagram, their Twitter, they're very positive people. They're all about community and positivity. I mean, they actually literally always hashtag all their pictures and stuff with positive vibes. It's kind of like a hippie thing.

I don't know what it is, but it's all, it makes you feel very good inside. and the food definitely lives up to the billing. So on Thursday, he calls me and says, I, I, do you, are you familiar? He knows I'm in the fighting world and I like pro wrestling and all this stuff. He says, are you familiar with a guy named Kevin Owens? And I said, yeah, of course, Montreal's own, Kevin Owens, KO, he's in WWE, all this stuff, Kevin Steen.

I know who he is. I've watched him. I actually tweeted out that I bought the WWE network for him. and he says, well, he's talking about us on Twitter right now. Apparently he came to our restaurant. He was very upset and he just stormed out. And so I go on Kevin Owens' Twitter and I see that he does, you know, he did tweet that he was there and he was upset and he left and he was very disappointed in the service and all

this stuff. So I asked my friend Jonathan, who is the owner and manager of the restaurant, I said, okay, so what happened? He said, look, Thursday is one of our busiest days. And something happened with our order machine. I guess they print out the orders and it got jammed up. And it delayed things a little bit. Busy day, order machine jammed up, all that stuff.

Delayed things a little bit. But he told me that he went on the, he went to their security camera because he actually wasn't there when all this happened. Someone called them. Or actually he called, I'll tell you what happened. But he went and watched the security footage and he said he was there for like 24 to 26 minutes. I can't remember now. It's been four hours, but it was somewhere in that range.

So Kevin Owens was going on Twitter and saying that he had only been there for an hour. He had been there for an hour waiting with his family and all this stuff, but he was only there for like 24 minutes. He sat down. He got a couple drinks, this and that. It seems like, you know, there's a bit of embellishment going on. So Jonathan actually called up the head, you know, the Mator D, whatever you want to call her, who was kind of running the place at the time and said, like, did something happen

with the guy? And he left. And she's like, oh, yeah, she wasn't flustered or anything like that. yeah, this guy was upset. I said, you know, I apologized profusely. I said, you know, the drinks are, you know, you can have the drinks, no problem are on us. Please, we're very sorry. You know, we want to try to help everyone, didn't want anything to do with it and left. So he said to me, what should I do? You know, what should I respond? I was like, well, typically in these scenarios, you know, celebrities bitch about things to their followers and they want everyone to pat them on the

back and they want the company to apologize. They want to feel good about it. So you could just go that route and this whole thing will be over. And he's like, yeah, or we can have a little fun with it. And I was like, oh, man, you want to have a little fun. Let's have some fun. This is great. So he's like, okay, what should we talk about? Oh, wow.

Just one second. So we talk about it. And I was like, well, he had this feud with John Cena and, you know, maybe you can write something funny. He's a wrestler. He's got a personality. You know, maybe he'll find this to be funny. So we come up with this tweet saying like, oh, yeah, we must not have been very clear

with you. John Cena fans, and that's why we didn't want to serve you. But, you know, peace out and hope you enjoyed the free drinks. So he tweets that from their account. I retweet it saying, oh, this is hilarious. You know, finally a company kind of jokes back. We all kind of thought that he would have fun with it, but apparently he was really fired up about this whole thing.

So it turns into this whole to-do. Kevin Owens, believe it or not, blocks me on Twitter as a result of this. And people start tweeting. Mick Foley's tweeting about it. People are saying that it's hilarious. People are saying that it's rude. And then all of a sudden, this restaurant on their Google reviews, they get flooded with all these negative reviews. How dare you talk to a customer? How dare you be this disrespectful? And anyone knows this if they have a restaurant. That stuff's like a pimple that never goes away. I mean, that stuff,

that stuff affects you forever. I mean, you had a bad night, whatever. You move on. People look up your place. That stuff stays forever. I mean, you can't get rid of it. It's damn near impossible. Google reviews. So I don't know if he encouraged. I don't know if people did it on his behalf, but it was coming in. He showed me his email. It was coming in one minute after the next. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. All these one star reviews, all these negative reviews. I mean, just devastating. Yes. It's an important lesson. Don't have fun on social media. It's not what it's for. That's right. Don't go at Kevin Owens because that's what's going to happen. I mean, come on. And okay, so it gets better. So he's like, man, this guy's killing my business.

He's legitimately devastated. I feel horrible about the whole. situation. I can't believe it got to this point. By the way, slight breaking news, I just got a tweet from Tarek Safedin, and he said that, or text, I should say, he said he saw the UFC doctor this AM, and their fight is back on. He's been cleared. How about that? Tarek Safedine back on. That's serious? Yeah, I'm telling you. He just texted me. He said, I saw the UFC doctor, this AM, and the fight is on. I'm cleared.

And I said, wow, can I report that? And he said, you sure can. Well done, Tarek Safedin. Breaking news. Breaking news as we go overtime. let me wrap this up. So, okay, so the next, so he's devastated. The next day, he's at the restaurant and guess who calls him? Kevin Owens. Kevin Owens calls him and says, hey, this is Kevin.

He actually, I think he called him Kevin C. And I'm the five time this, I'm the six time, kind of like in character. I'm at a live event and I want to know if you're going to apologize to me. And he's like, I don't know what's going on here. I don't know what you're talking about. Like the guy knows nothing about pro wrestling. He explained to him what happened. He explained to him his position.

and Kevin apparently kept saying like, are you going to apologize? Is that your apology? And my friend, kind of, you know, a bit of a stubborn guy, I guess, wasn't really willing to apologize that freely. He even explained to him the thing that happened with me, called me up, the UFC reporter. Kevin claimed on the phone call that the UFC's been trying to sign him for like four or five years, believe it or not. I can't back that claim up, but that's what apparently he said. And then, so he's at a live event and I believe Utica and says, hey, I got to go on backstage, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, K-O out, and he hangs up. That's how he signed off on the phone call.

K-O. out. Hung up. It's like, wow, this guy is something else. He's either living the gimmick or super upset that someone didn't want to serve him in a matter of 20, 25 minutes or so, that he's going to this length to actually call him out, ask for forgiveness, all this stuff.

This is crazy. And then I started to look at his Twitter and see how he interacts with fans and stuff. And I guess sometimes he's in character. He's out of character. He goes back. He puts pictures of people. What is going on here? So I don't know. There's no real moral to the story. It was just a weird thing that, like, of all places, that it was my friend's place. The wrestler shows up from Montreal. This whole thing. And I see the tweets still keep coming in.

And it was all just a joke, guys. I mean, come on. Lighten up a little bit. I mean, you really think that they didn't serve him because they're John Sina fans? What's wrong with these people in this day and age? So, yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe the lesson is, don't joke on social media. But geez, Maybe the bigger lesson is stop taking yourself so seriously. That's what I'd like to think. Right? Come on. Aren't you shocked by this?

I'm not because I know his Twitter personality. Hey, nobody knows about not dealing with social media ribbing better than Ariel Halwani. We never go to those lengths and try to like put reviews and crap like that. I don't know if he did it. That tweet. Did you see the tweet? Did you see the tweet where they were like, we're John Cena fans? Yeah, I saw the tweet.

Come on. Did you really think that that was the case? Come on. No, but I don't know if he. What I think happened is people saw it. His fans responded and appropriately put the negative reviews. Don't have fun, people. The 14-year-old booger eaters in their mom's basement?

They did it. Look. How dare they? They speak. They speak. They have Yelp. The ones who have jobs aren't on the Yelp. It is the bugger eaters in their mom's basement.

Everyone relax. They're powerful. It's a great restaurant, great people, positive people. Not according to Kevin Owens. I heard different. Hey, cut your mic. How dare you? cut your tongue too.

Notre buff de grace. Kevin Owens, lighten up, buddy. And you blocked me, really. You should be ashamed of yourself. Canadian on Canadian crime. Hit my music.

I'm done. Grow up. I'm sorry for going so long, but there was a lot that I had to talk about. Chil Sunnan kept us on for an hour. He essentially told the world that he's coming back. I don't know about you,

but I'm pretty damn excited about the whole thing. Tarik Safenian's back on the card. This is all very exciting. Things are looking up for us. UFC and Connor McGregor are talking again. He's in the body issue. What else is exciting going on? Steve Miochich is the king of freaking Cleveland.

Look at that guy. Look at how he conducts himself. Maybe there's a lesson there for all of you cast fans. And yeah, you may win tonight, and you're all going to flood my Twitter and laugh and point and blah, blah, blah. But guess what? Thunder or warrior is going to be true anyway. Thunder up, baby.

Let's go KD. My man, Kevin Durant. Anyway, if you want to do something good, go vote for Paige Van Zahn. She's going to win the whole damn thing. Thank you very much to Michael Bisping. Can you believe that interview? I'm so fired up for UFC 199 now.

I don't know what to do with myself. Good luck to him. Appreciate his time. Good luck to Tyrone Woodley. Tremendous stuff from him. Good luck as he prepares for the UFC Welterweight title. Good luck to Michael Kiesa.

As he fights Tony Ferguson, July 13, in South Dakota. Thank you very much to Cody Garbrand. Good luck to him as he fights in the main event on Sunday in Lost Wages, Nevada. All the best of my man, Robert Whiteford. That was a bit hard to listen to at times and watch, but I wish him the very best. Thank you very much to Chal Sondon. Welcome back. Thank you very much to Emil Mek. Congratulations to him. And of course, thank you very much to Wilson Hays. Thank you to all of you back next Tuesday. Remember, we're back Tuesday. Same time and place until they say pay somebody. for this show comes from Chase. If you're a fan of women's sports, you're always looking for ways to get closer to the action. And your Chase card can get you exactly that. With a Chase card, you can experience more. That means access to pre-sales, preferred seating, and more savings. For more information about how to step into a world of more with Chase Experiences, visit Chase.com slash experiences. Benefits available only to eligible Chase card holders, deposit in credit card products provided by JPMorgan Chase.

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