MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 336

Episode Date: June 27, 2016

Ariel Helwani speaks to Rampage Jackson (00:02:05), Stephen Thompson (00:25:29), Sage Northcutt (00:44:41), TJ Dillashaw (00:59:45), Chuck Mindenhall (01:18:30), Mickey Gall in studio (01:43:22), and Michael Chandler (03:00:07). Plus, your questions with NewYorkRic (02:32:23 & 03:23:14) and Y'all Must Have Forgot (01:36:31 & 02:22:02). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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at O-D-O-D-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, June 27, 2016. Hogan, everyone. I'm Ariel Hawani inside our New York City studio. Great to be back doing the show. Doing the show this week with a heavy heart. Late last night, we found out that former UFC fighter and proud Canadian Ryan Jimo tragically passed away in what police are calling a hit-run-out. accident, not a lot of details, but just horrendous news and goes without saying that our thoughts

and our heart is out with his family right now because that is just horrendous. Great guy. Remember him fighting at UFC 149. What a great debut that was against Anthony Perosh. What a great post-fight celebration that was. Just tragic news and hopefully whoever was responsible for this disgusting act will be brought to justice. But for now, we just wanted to, you know, mention the passing of Ryan Jimmo and say that we are certainly thinking about him on this Monday morning. So we do this show with a heavy heart. There is, of course, as always, in MMA, a lot to discuss.

We have a loaded lineup this week, and we've got a lot of fun guests. So let's get right into it. 410, we're going to be joined by Michael Chandler. He is stopping by, big win for him on Friday in Bellator. At 2.45, we're going to talk to Mickey Gall in studio. Mickey Gall is going to be joining us in studio, talk about his fight against CM Punk at UFC 203. Our own Chuck Mindenhall at 225 will stop by. He was in St. Louis for Bellator Dynamite 2.

Talk to him about that. 205, T.J. Dillishaw will stop by to talk about his fight against Hafele Sunsau at UFC 200. Sage Northcutt stops by to talk about his fight at UFC 200 as well. And at 125, we'll talk to Wonderboy Thompson about his big win over Rory McDonald last week. But first, let us go to the phone lines and welcome in my guys. good friend, a man who was victorious on Friday in St. Louis had a big win over Satoshi Ishii. The one and only Rampage Jackson is on the line. Quinton, how are you? I'm good, man. How you doing? I'm doing great. Congratulations on the win.

You know, nice to get back on the winning track. Nice to get back in the cage. But overall, now that you've had, you know, two and a half days or so to digest it, were you happy with the fight? Were you happy with your performance? No, man. I'm be honest, man. I just watched the fight. last night at my mama house when I got home to Memphis. You know, you know me, I'm never happy with my performance if it's not a super exciting fight. That fight was nothing more than a damn chess match.

You know, I don't like to study my opponents and stuff like that. I like the part of fighting where I've got to figure out my opponent, but I just wish that other fighters shared the same level of intensity and excitement of exciting the fans. I did, you know, but I'm not taking anything away from he, even though I don't respect him for the way he fought, but, you know, he fought a smart fight. It was really smart. He stayed away from me at the right times, and he crowded me

and got super close to me at the right times, and I watched him. Like, man, this dude really studied me, and he fought a real smart fight. So if you say he fought a smart fight, why don't you respect him? Isn't the point to fight a smart fight? Well, I don't respect them because Like the fans don't really care You know, the most of the most fans don't really care But like MMA we didn't

Like we blew up right We like more popular than boxing because You know, in beginning of MMA Two guys got locked in a cage And they went out there, went toe to toe And to see who martial art was better And which warrior was better that day It was about fighting and stuff like that

So you know I know he's a judo gold medalist and that's his strong point, which I understand it. But after the fight, they saw him, I saw him kicking, they saw him kicking Fajita in the head, punching Fajita. So he knows how to throw punches and stuff like that. You know, it's just like, you know, he just wanted that win. And sometimes guys who just want that W that they don't care how they get it. But me, I want the W, but I want to do it excitingly.

So I want the fans, I want the fans to feel like they got their money worse when they pay for their ticket to sit down. there or they, some fans travel to the, to the, they get a hotel, they buying beer, they I want them to say, you know what, I got my money's worth for this fight, you don't want fans to walk away. It's like, man, that man's been. Okay, so you talked afterwards about ring rust. This has become a hot topic in MMA because Dominic Cruz keeps saying that ring rust doesn't,

doesn't, you know, mean anything, that it doesn't exist, and you said it's a real thing, that it affected you. Did you feel off because it had been, you know, 14 or so months? your last fight, did you actually feel that in the cage like you weren't yourself? Well, I can understand how he said ring rest really don't affect it because it's all, honestly, it's all mental. You know what I'm saying? If you're mentally strong and you feel like all ring rust are going to affect me, then it shouldn't.

But, you know, I would like to think that I'm a mentally strong person. But I feel like sometimes it can affect me. It has affected me before. Like when I fought Marvin Eastman, I had like a little ring rust. And I noticed that I had the UFC. she did this as well, but I noticed that a second round, you know what I was good. And same thing with this, like the first round, I felt like I was a little rusty. Like my body had to remember all my reactions, I had to remember.

Like I could tell in training camp, but it was my fault, but not only did I not fight for a year. I didn't train for you, man. All I did, all I did was stay home and play video games and drink beers. And back then I had a girlfriend before, before you screwed that up. and I was just humping on my girlfriend all that's all I did I was hoping on my girlfriend playing video games not training and that and that made me even more rushier because I wasn't training it's my own fault okay I really enjoyed humping my girlfriend when I had one but but so this is on you though you're owning up to this this is your fault that you were not training yeah it is my fault

you know my team was in England and this before I started training with Tiki so I really didn't have people to train with this back when I had my own gym and you know People at my gym, they were just like normal gym goers. They wasn't any fighters in my gym. And there was some little guys there. So I was trying to train with them. But it was like, it wasn't the same. So I just played video games and humped on my ex-girlfriend.

The beautiful one that was really nice. They used to clean my room and give me a bath and all that stuff. After the win, I was wondering if maybe she reached out. She's like, you know, you're famous again. People love you again. Did she? Nothing? Nothing.

I block it now. Why would you block her? Because, you know, in the kind of bad, because she was crying because I wasn't in love with her. You know, I'm an album,

man, I can't take that shit. I'm like, look at the moment, you know what's that. You know, we got in the big argument and stuff like that,

and I just, and she told me, delete my norm. I said, well, fuck you. I'm gonna block it too. And I think about that. And I miss her,

man. So, man, I'm serious. I'm gonna come to New York, man. You got to find me a girlfriend. Can I call her? Can I try to,

fix this? Can I maybe, you know, extend an olive branch on your behalf? Yeah, maybe you can. But look, but what do you think about the fight, though? I know you're a big fan. What do you think about the fight? A lot of people thought it was very controversial. Yeah. And I thought I did just enough to win. I know I won by

hair. Because, you know, I'd be honest, if if somebody beat me, then, you know, I'll give it up. Like when I fought Ninja, before I saw the fight, I thought he beat me at them. at that moment, I thought he beat me. So then I went back and watched and I saw maybe how I just won a hair. Like, these fights can go either way.

What was your take on the fight? Okay, well, I think, and I respect the fact that you say that you won by hair because I think the score of 30 to 27 for you was crazy. I mean, he won the first round. You would agree with that, right? Right, yeah. Okay, he won the first round. I thought the second round was close.

I thought you won the third. It was super close. If I'm being honest, I thought you looked a little out of shape. I mean, you were rocking the dad bod, right? A little big around the belly. Okay, you want to go there. Listen, Matt. How much did you weigh in that fight?

I probably weigh about 240. Wow, really? Wow, so you were a true heavyweight in that fight. Yeah, man, I got down to 225. And I thought the catch-way was in 215 and then they had a way in. They're like, no, it's a 225. I don't think each you could make it. No, I don't think he should want to make 215.

It was going to be, it was going to be a good cut for me, so they made $2.25 or whatever, and I hydrated back up to, like, 24. That's the biggest I ever been in a fight. I had a dead body going and everything, but, you know, so I trained my ass off. My cardio was great. I trained my ass off, but, you know, I probably shouldn't say this, but I was probably like 280 at the beginning of camp. Wow.

It was big, man. Wow. I was big. I was big and so you talk about my dad bodd man I'm a dad man you know that's that dead bars are in that's what kind of what kind of body you're like a hair and stick figure you want to talk shit about me no no I mean I thought we was cool and you talk about my damn belly man but but I mean I'm used to seeing a cut rampage at 205 can you even make 205 at this stage of your career do you have the motivation do you have what it takes to make that cut

or do you think that you should be fighting at heavyweight or maybe a new way class they can make for you like a cruiser way to 25 or something like that. I would love a cruiserweight at 225, but this is the thing. I don't know if I can make 205. Again, I'm going, like when I go back home to California, after I leave Memphis, I'll be back in the gym on Monday. Okay.

But this is the thing. I haven't really shared this with everybody, but, you know, I've been diagnosed with an unactive for Cairo. I think it runs in my family. Oh, wow. And so, yeah, so I've been dealing with this for like a year. I found out a year ago, I've been keeping it, you know, kind of to myself in it. It kind of bond me out, and so I've been, and so if I don't stay on top of you know,

I gain weight really fast, and that's what's been going on because I've been noticing after my fights, I've just been gaining more weight fast. I didn't know what's going on, so I went to the doctor and got, you know, all my blood working and everything done. He said my thyroid is not acting right, so I guess I've got to take medication for the rest of my life. I've been trying to look for some type of herb or something, supplements or something that help. I think I've got to change my lifestyle and change the way I eat and stuff like that. Then maybe I can make 205, but a lot of people did it.

Like when I got a little older, they went to, like Randik Gertour did it. He went up to heavy weight when he got a little older because it's harder to lose weight and stuff like that. But I don't really want to fight the real big boys and stuff like that because I noticed that I tried to pick issue up at the end of the end of the fight. I'm like, I was trying to go for a slam. something. I'm like, oh, man, this dude too big, man. He felt like he had put some bricks in his ass or something. I don't know if it's his judo background or what. I was like, man, maybe I do need to take my ugly abs back down 205.

Well, now I feel like an A-hole, even commenting on your weight. I didn't know that you were dealing with that. I feel like I was set up to that. I didn't say, no, I didn't, you know, I try to keep most stuff private. Yeah. So I didn't, I haven't really told a lot of people, and I've been dealing with it for like a year. I guess I probably had the problem for a couple years, and I just didn't know why it was so hard for me to lose weight.

I got to lose weight real easy to then the doctor told him that. About my doctor, I was I'm on this medicine that I can't even pronounce. I got to take it every morning on an empty stomach. And then he just told me now, he got to up my dose because he tested me before my fight. And he thought I wasn't taking my pills. I said, I take my pills every day. He said, oh, I got to put your own stronger prescription.

Wow. So that's what I've been dealing with. Will it affect your fighting? Do you think this can actually cut your career short? No, no. It won't affect my fighting. My coach Tiki looked it up and he said, the only thing is, on the sound effect,

it really makes my body ache. So when I'm training and stuff like that, I have like little aches and stuff like that. But, you know, I'm soldier. I train through that. I've been training through injuries and stuff like for the last eight years in my career. Is that why, I mean,

did you feel, again, from an outsider's perspective, because you asked me about the fight, It felt like you were a little flat-footed as far as your attack is concerned. Like you weren't as spry on your feet. Is that an accurate assessment of the fight? Yeah, you know what? I was really cautious because of, I just knew that his judo was dangerous. And I just didn't want to get to overzealous and move around.

You know what I'm saying? So I was just, I just really wanted. wanted to win. I wanted my first fight back in the year to win. Most of the ring rust is in your head because I was like, you know, I didn't want to make a mistake. And especially I did he, like, dominated me on the first round.

The last thing I want to do is jump in there and get taken down and he just hold me down. It's really hard to fight somebody that's not fighting that just have a certain agenda to just hold you down and run out the clock. So you just got to be really smart and try your best not to get in those bad positions.

Now, what was it like being back in Bellator? Because obviously you went through that whole thing. Like, did you feel like you were home? Did you feel welcome? Was it awkward at all? What was it like for you? Man, to be honest, man, it's my first time, like, working with Scott Coga fighting for him and everything.

Man, they took care of me, and I have to say this fight, they took care of me better than pride and UFC. Wow. I'm not going to lie. It seemed like, you know, they were just happy to have me back. Water was on the bridge. It was a very positive environment and stuff like that. So, you know, I was happy.

They could have sent some girls in my room after my fight and stuff like that. But, you know, they did their thing. But they should have sent a couple of those ring girls or something. They could have a little after parties. You know, they would have been nice if they would have, you know, saying like a whole like a herm of women from it, you know, so I can just, you know, have some girls at the after party to dance with. and you know

and hang out but you know everything else it was good that's the only thing that they didn't do real real shit man they that was good

it was good so I figured like maybe maybe it's up to me get my own harrow well I was picturing your after party I wanted to know if that you know 38 years old you're still doing the after party thing you just turned 38 by the way

last week so happy birthday again to you belated happy birthday I pictured just you and Tiki in the room just eating pizza maybe playing some video games I mean are we really going all out like we used to? Dude, man, age ain't nothing but no for me.

I'm a big kid, man. I don't think I'm ever going to change. I probably, I probably do be that old dude in a club, you know what I'm saying, trying to pick up on 25, you old girls. You know, I don't know. I don't know. I do get tired of drinking itself sometimes, but, you know, I'm here in Memphis. My time throwing a barbecue and stuff on me today and like that,

so I know I'm going to be doing some drinking and stuff. And I got to, you know, I got to go out and experience the night. Like, I'm the type of guy. When I go on traveling stuff like that, different countries, different cities. What I'm going to do is I'm not going to go take a whole bunch of pictures and sight and stuff like that. I'm going to, you know, I want to see the people and stuff like that. Then I want to check out the nightlife. I don't know why I'm that way, but I just like it. I like kicking back with the music, having a few drinks, no dancing,

you know what I'm saying? A little bit. That's what I like. How's the St. Louis nightlife? Oh, man. St. Louis was lit, man. You know what I? It was lit, yeah. Wow. Yeah, I have, I had the company called Lion Forge. They, they, they, they, they, they wanted to do my comic book. They took care of the after-party mandate, man. They bought his mandate. They had it going on, man.

He took care of me. I ain't had to come out out of my pocket, which I was willing to because I don't mind the nightlife. But, man, I'm telling you, man, they showed me their time. They from there, so they're like, yeah, man, this is what we go do. It was pretty lit, man. It was pretty lit. I noticed in the post-flight interview that you said

I'm coming back fast, taking short break, and then I'm going to be back. I mean, how fast are we talking here? Well, I want to get back in there I want to get back there in there soon What I want to do now is I want to like I want to take like a maybe like another like

At least eight weeks 10 weeks to get back in shape I want to come in there with some abs And I want to get back in there I do want some I do want some abs I want to get some abs I miss my abs I miss I want to bring sexy back I do so I want to get some time to do that

And I just want to get back in there right away Are we talking to any opponents yet? Who do you have in mind? Man, I really don't have a whole lot of people in mind, but Matt Maiteron seems like he wanted to fight me. He didn't want to fight me for a while. Yeah. Then, you know what I'm saying?

I don't know. You know, I want to fight two. I heard they signed too. I do want to fight Tuesday to set them up. You know, at this point, I'll fight anybody. You know, some people who can talk about me fighting Fador. He's my friends, stuff like that. But, you know what I'm saying?

If it works, you know what I'm saying? It works, man. Are you really friends, though? Are you really friends? Yeah, man, Fadar, even though we don't speak the same language, man, we're friends. I stay making him laugh. You know, it's hard to make Fadar. He don't change his facial expression at all.

But, you know what I'm saying? I don't know if he even understand what I'd be saying, but he'd get around me, he'd be smiling and stuff like that. Fadour is one of the most gentlest giants you ever want to meet. I got the utmost respect for him. But, you know, sometimes, you know, the fans probably need to see fights. Like that, man, him, we both pass our prime. We're going to be honest. We're older and stuff like that.

Those are the type of fights that maybe, you know what I'm saying, Bellator or so she'll put on, like, when guys get over a certain age, maybe we should fight each other and sometimes not always fight, like the young, up-and-comer hungry guys. And this way you get more exciting fights. I need to be a promoter, man. I need to stop promote some fight. Man, if I'm trying to tell you, if I was a promoter, man,

I would be putting on the, I think I would be the best matchmaker. I'd be put on the most exciting fights because, you know, take nothing away for Belator's cool, I wouldn't put a fighter like me against fighters like Ishi and guys who are going to be fighting scared. He even said that he was scared, man. Fado wouldn't be scared with me. Matt Matrean wouldn't be scared to fight me.

Those would be like stand-up wars. But I think I'd get Maitron like in the first round because y'all saw him get dropped. I don't know how he even got out of that. I don't know how he got out of that first round. Man, he was lucky, man. You know what I'm saying? And, you know, and Fador,

Fadar, he fought Fabo, and Maba Babo, you know what I'm saying? Surprise shocked the world, so I'm judging itself off that. Like, I think those two exciting fights. And Tittis, I would just destroy Tittis, and I was,

I was speedbagged as Tidus, why I'm kicking his ass. Oh, again with this? Please, no Tito fight. Please know Tito fight. I don't want to see that. I said Tito's not Tito. No, but I'm just saying, because I know this Tito thing came up on Friday all of a sudden out of nowhere. I mean, I feel like we've kind of been there, done that. Let's move on from that.

I know, Tito don't want to fight me. Men Tito are still great friends. Yeah, yeah. Tito don't want to fight him. I don't want to fight Tito. And once I heard Tito hurt his neck and stuff like that, I couldn't possibly go out there with the full intent of power and stuff and punch Tito. And his jaw with me thinking like there's any chance I can hurt his neck, you know what I'm saying?

So I really don't want to fight Tito. But what I would like to do, though, I would like to do like a, wrestling and grappling match with Tito, because he submitted me a few times back when we were with triangle choke and stuff like that. Oh. And I haven't had a chance to submit them, and I've been working a lot on my ground,

so I kind of want to pay him back. I would do something like that, but I don't really want to fight. But then I kind of want to be there. Beto's got the kickboxing and stuff like that. Oh, you want that? Yeah, man, I like stand-up. I might want to do some kickboxing.

I really want to do some boxing. Like, there's a lot of stuff right there that I can do. It's a lot of good fights. I tell you that we can do. When's the last time you threw a kick in a fight? Okay. What you say? I was just wanted to...

After this, I got to ask you a serious question after you, what did you say? When's the last time you threw a kick in a fight? When I fought, Fabio Mabobo, my last fight in the UFC. Oh, right, right, right. That was a while ago. Yeah. Yeah, you know, listen, noticing I kicked him because he... It was my last fight before this last.

It was not... Well, because I've been off of you. The reason why I don't show kicks and stuff in the fights because people are desperately trying to take me down. And I'm not the best... I'm not the best on my back. So when you're really good at Jit's doing and stuff like that, it don't matter if people take you down and stuff like that.

Me, like, sometimes I can take it down, and I can get stuck there for like two minutes, and I look like I'm losing the round. I can keep people from doing a lot of damage. Like, if you notice when he took me down, it couldn't really do a whole lot. But, you know what I'm saying? I ain't just the best.

I ain't just the best on the ground. So I don't want to throw a kick and get jeopardized people just lay on top of me and humping me. Sometimes the referees don't stand, don't just be standing you up. Like, everybody can't be real great referees, like John McCarthy and Herb Dean, like, you know,

those guys, they understand, they understand, they know when to send people, all referees, they, I don't know what they'd be thinking. Like, like, if, like, this last fight, it was prior, Satoshi would have got, like, at least three yellow cards. That's true. He's Japanese.

They might, you know, they might be, like, nephew to stuff over there. What'd you want to ask me? He probably gave me the, they probably gave me the yellow cards because he stole it. No. What'd you want to ask me?

What'd you want to ask me? Okay, look, this one wants to ask you know I'm starting my own production company. Yes, yes, you told me that. I'm going to start making movies and stuff. And I want to put a lot of MMA people in the movies. I got this great idea for MMA move. I'm not going to do the MMA movie first because they're so cliche of an MMA movie, but I really wanted to do it.

I got a great idea that I just moved out of that wrote. And I want to, I'm thinking about putting, I was an over a ring in there. and I want you to, I would like for you to be a move. So if I got a good role and so, would you do some movies with me? Wow. This is a real offer coming from you. This is a genuine... In the MMA movie, I gotta have a big, I mean, Harry Hohani.

Wow. Well, I'll tell you what. I would be honored. I'll put you in touch with my agent if you can, you know, if it makes dollars, it makes sense. You know what I'm saying? Hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold on. Did you just big shot me, motherfucker?

Did you... Did you... I thought we were boys. Like, dude, I'll put you in touch with my agent when you want to do an interview with me. Next time you want to do a motherfucking interview, motherfucker. You're going to be talking to my agent. You're just, asshole. I thought we were fucking, I thought we were being friends.

You didn't go big guys. I just, if it makes dollars, it makes sense. You've heard that before, right? Yeah, motherfucker, you go get paid, but when you go get your agent, a fucking percentage of something that means, you could just hatch out, motherfucker. Okay, fair enough. I'm in. What's my role?

I want to expand my horizons a bit. Like, I want to be a fighter, maybe, not just, because if I, if I'm an interviewer, then I'm typecast, why can't I be the fighter? You know what I mean? Dude, we don't got no tampon weight class, motherfuckus. You're being a tampon weight class. You're not a weight class with you. We can say, you do good work, you know, being as easy to, it's as easy to be yourself, you know.

Okay, fair enough. If I get the MMA movie, I got a perfect role for you in an MMA movie. If we can talk about it, you could probably be a manager. or some sort. Then I have to be like some slimy guy. Don't make me a promoter or manager. I want nothing to do with those people. Well, be yourself.

You know, be yourself. I don't want to say too much about my idea for my movie. Okay. Because no one that has ever made an MMA movie like this way I imagine it. So I want to keep a secret. And I really want to do this, this MMA movie. But I got a lot of different projects in mind. But I want to put a lot of MMA fighters,

a lot of a couple of other people and stuff couple of my active friends and I just want to make dope movies like cool action comedies

and just dope-ass movies and this MMA movie would be off the chart okay I'm in let's talk offline as they say for now that

don't big time you don't I won't I won't we got to run I appreciate the time Quentin

congratulations on the win I appreciate you most importantly being honest with your assessment of the fight and I look forward to seeing you back

and I look forward to seeing the abs back because, I mean, I was searching for them, and I couldn't quite find them. So... Your mom. Much love, Quentin. Thank you. Congratulations. All right. All right. Take care, brother.

Okay, there he is. Rampage Jackson, stop me by. Congratulations to him. I just went over Sita-ishishi. Let's go from Quentin Rappatee Jackson to Wonderboy Thompson. What a 180 that is. Stephen Thompson is joining us on the phone right now. Wonderboy, how are you? Doing good, man. How about yourself?

I'm doing great. Congratulations on the... the win around nine days ago. By the way, does anyone actually say like, hey, Wonderboy, is that just like a fighting name or do people actually call you Wonderboy day to day? No, they actually call me Wonder Boy day to day. My dad called me WV. Wow. Chris Wyden calls me Wonderboy. He calls my dad Wonder Dad. That's amazing. It's funny, man. It's funny. Yeah. Nobody really calls me Stephen anymore.

Wow. And you're okay with that, I'm assuming. Yeah, I'm all right. I mean, my dad's been calling me that ever since I was, you know, since I started fighting so yeah I'm used to it by now now okay so I have a lot to talk to you about and and you know people who've been watching this show for the last few weeks they know I'm very high on you and your potential and I'm wondering if after this win this was you know this was a career defining win it's it's a next step on the ladder is the UFC the the brass the PR people are they pushing wonder boy like they can because I feel like you could be a movie star a power ranger you should be at like kids awards,

Nickelodeon awards. Like you should be, if I tell my kids that I cover MMA for a living, you're the first guy that I want them to meet because you just represent it all. From the martial arts to how respectful you are, you got it all, you got the whole package and you're a great fighter in the cage.

Do you feel, let's be honest here, do you feel like they're doing enough to push you to the masses and capitalizing on this great success that you're having right now? You know, I never really thought of it, but I mean, I don't feel it. You know what I mean?

I don't feel of love really right now, but, you know, we'll see what happens after this fight with Tyrone and Lawler and maybe, you know, once I have that belt around my way, things will be different. But until then, you know, I'm focused on the fight game and getting that, you know, my goal and that's having that title shot. Maybe after that, then we'll think about doing some movies or something. But, man, I've always, you know, imagine myself doing something like that. Maybe after my fight career is over.

I think that would be really cool, man. I mean, you're seeing guys, you know, in the main fighters doing something. the movie thing. I mean, you know, Quintraimpage Jackson is like a star, man. He's like killing it up there. Yeah. Maybe you could be in his MMA movie that he just told us about. I heard that. I was thinking about it. Heck yeah, man, put me on. So, so I'm glad to hear you say that and I respect your honesty. Why do you think that is? Is it because you feel like you're not talking? I mean, you look at your fights at the Johnny Hendricks fight, what you did to Roaring McDonald and how you fight and you got the look, you got the personal, everything. I feel like you should be being, you should

different strokes for different folks. You know that, and not everyone can be the same. Why do you feel like you're not getting that love? Do you have any idea? It might be because I'm, you know, I'm not that Connor McGregor type. I am a very respectful guy to my opponents, to matter how they feel about me. But yeah, maybe that's what it is.

I mean, should I start talking crap or something? No, please don't. Don't talk crap. But if I feel like I started doing that now, people would just be like, you know, Stephen, you know, that's not you, man. Come on. No, no. This is why I feel the way I do.

about you because you don't do that, but yet it's one thing to be vanilla and to be boring. It's another to be the way, because you come across as genuine. It's another thing to act nice when we know that you're not nice. That's the problem that John Jones had for a long time, that people thought he was acting like a choir boy, but they didn't think that he was being yourself. No one actually accuses you of that. So that's brilliant. You got that going for you.

And then you go back to your school. Anyhow, I'm blowing a lot of smoke up your butt. I just want to see them push you more. I want to see. And let's be on, let's be clear right here and now. If you don't get this title shot next, if you don't fight the winner of that, I mean, this might be a lost cause. What more do you have to do?

Have you been told by the UFC that you're getting this title shot next, regardless of who wins on July 30th? Have they told you that? Nothing yet. They haven't come to me and said, hey, listen, you know, I feel in my heart, I feel that, you know, that they're waiting to see what happens after this fight. But, you know, I know my management company is talking to them now

about, you know, the possibilities. You know, what if somebody gets injured for that fight? It would be the first one in line for that shot. You know, so I haven't heard anything yet, man. And I feel if I don't get it, I mean, what else do I need to do? No, you should. You know what I mean? I feel like I've done enough to deserve that title shot.

Hold your ground. The guy that's fighting for it now. You feel it. So does it bother you to see that Woodley's fighting for the belt? I mean, not at this point just because they did promise him a fight. Yeah. You know, kudos to the UFC for actually, you know, doing what they said they were going to do. But, man, yeah, I mean, after that fight, what, what?

what's going to happen. You know, you know, there's word that GSP's coming back and, you know, all this. Is he just looking for that one big money fight? Is he actually coming to the Westway Division? You know, what's going on? So, nothing yet, man. I feel that there's just going to wait until after this fight to see, you know, to tell me something. Are you going to prepare for July 30th in case someone gets injured?

I mean, actually, you know what? The Monday I got back from the fight. I was back in the gym training. Of course, my feet were swollen. My thumb is still injured. supposed to be getting an MRI on it. They told me I tore a ligament in my thumb. So it doesn't feel good right now, but, man, if something does happen, I would want to be the first one out there.

So do you need surgery on the thumb? Not really sure yet. We have to wait until the MRI comes back, determine whether or not I need surgery or not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully I don't need surgery, and it would be a quick recovery. But, you know, it's pretty painful. I can't do, you know, I can't put my hand in a glove right now. I can't grab a hold of a wrist right now with it.

But, man, I'm just, like you said, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. When do you find out the results? Hopefully, well, we're going on vacation actually this week. Okay. So we're trying to get an MRI as soon as possible, so we find out what's going on with it. Hopefully, you know, when I get back, I'm right in there. If I need surgery, get it over with and get it back to that healing process. Then that's the worst case scenario.

Okay. Do you recall when you injured it in it? in the fight? Yeah, man. I believe it was the point where we were in the clinch, and Rory almost, he kind of had me in like a tie clinch, and I went to kind of push away, and I had

like my thumb, between my pointing finger and my thumb on his form, when I went to push away, I pushed away really hard, really quick, and it's like my thumb joint gave away and just kind of folded back. Wow. And there's one point, I don't know if you saw it, but I look at my hand

and I kind of shake it a little bit, and And during the fight, if you feel something, you know it's pretty bad because normally you don't feel anything. You know, you get punched an elbow in the face. You don't feel a thing until after the fight. So if you feel it during the fight, I knew then something wrong was my, was wrong with my phone because it was hurting pretty bad. Was that early? I think it was second round. Oh, wow.

I think into the second round, yeah. So I was feeling it, man, throughout the fight, but tried not to show it, you know, because, you know, Roy's the type of guy. If he sees blood, man, he's going to be coming after. you. So I had to kind of hide the pain a little bit and stay on my toes and move. So yeah, man, early on and around, ended up hurting that thumb, but didn't hold me back. I scored it four rounds to one for you. I gave him slight edge in the first, but I could really see you winning five rounds to none. I mean, towards the end, it was getting more and more one-sided. Did you think, though, that it would be that one-sided when preparing for the fight when you were

envisioning the fight? Did you think it would go down like that? I really didn't, man. You know, I made a decision. before I went out there that I was going to do the Johnny Hendricks thing. Go out there, really push the pace in the first round, try and break him in that first round. Maybe not knock him out, but just kind of break his spear. But as soon as I got out there, he lowered his stance. I just had a feeling he was waiting for me to close that gap.

To time for that take down. So that first round, yeah, it was very slow. I had to kind of throw some faints out there to see how he react, and what kind of shots, what kind of takedowns was he preparing for me? And then, you know, thank goodness that first round. I kind of kept the distance away because we went for that Elinari role

I was able to get out of it so I knew he was looking for that quick takedown and try to submit me in that first round he tried it two more times after that but you know I just kept that distance right and my take down defense has gotten so much so much better just from working with Chris

and my wrestling coaches here so it's given me way more confidence now to actually go out there and stand up but yeah I was kind of disappointed off so it wasn't the first round and second round but I knew I had to play the game with Rory because he's such a technical fighter. So I was happy with it.

Yeah, it was interesting to see him keep going back to that MNari role in the first after the first time was unsuccessful. Why do you think he kept doing that? And did you expect him to go for that? Because it was very unconventional as far as Rory's concerned. I did. I knew those guys from, you know, TriStar, really big in a leg locks and he'll hoax things like that. And, you know, just watching Rory in the past, you know, competing in jihisi tournaments, he loves going for him. So I figured he was going to go just do something.

something tricky. I know Roy, he's always evolving. He's still a young fighter and watch his life. He's been in the top of the game for a long time. He's always doing something new out there. So I figured he was just going to try something crazy off the wall, something I've never seen before to try and finish me up quick. And yeah, man, he did. So I called it. I called it like the week before I was like, you know what? He's probably going to try one of his flying heel hook and try and submit me in their first round. And I was right, man. I can't believe it. Wow, that is amazing. Are you disappointed? Does it bum you out to hear people, either boo the fight or criticize it afterwards.

For me, again, and maybe, you know, I was biased because I really was looking forward to this fight. I said it was my most anticipated fight of the first half of the year. I felt like I couldn't look away. Like, I felt that any moment something was going to happen, and I enjoyed the chess match between you two. Of course, it wasn't Lawler, Rory, but not every fight needs to be that. That's not MMA.

It doesn't always have to be a bloodbath. Does it bum you out that people can't appreciate a fight like that? I mean, it doesn't really bum me out, but I just think people need to just. need to educate themselves a little bit more on the fight game. I mean, there was a lot of guys in the crowd, a lot of people in the crowd, who maybe, you know, doesn't follow the UFC if it was the first UFC in Ottawa, so maybe they just went educated enough to kind of know what exactly was going on. But you've got to think, you know, the two fights before our fight, I mean, they were just

standing in front of each other through getting it out. You know, the 185 or fight, that was a crazy fight, knocking each other down the whole round, standing in front of each other, just punch each other in the face. Of course, you had the Donald Soroni fight. It was just completely one-sided fight. Soronone just went out there and crushed Cote. And then our fight was way more technical. It was, you know, it was, I felt like I had to be on my toes the entire five-five-and-a-round.

You know what I mean? It was definitely a thinking fight like a chess match, man. It was like my brain was hurting after that fight. A lot of thinking. But all the people on social media who have called me up left nothing but really good comments. They were really impressed with it. But I think the fans that were there were wanting something just a little bit more. They can't hear the commentating so we know exactly what was going on.

But it really didn't disappoint me. But I just want people to maybe educate themselves a little bit more on the fight game and the stand-up and the grappling. That's how it kind of is in the beginning in the UFC where people saw each other, you know, the fight on the ground, they would do because they didn't know what was going on. It was clear that there was a mutual respect there. No trash talking. You guys seemed to, you know, have a good relationship. Obviously, you're not the best friends in the world, but you've trained in the past, all that stuff. Was it strange at all for you to have to go through that with a guy that you like and, you know, have been in the gym with before, have respect for? Was that weird for you at all?

You know, that was something, when as soon as I heard, I was going to get that fight, I was disappointed, because I love those guys that tri-star, many years up there. They were my inspiration to switch from kickboxing to mixed martial art. Wow. Going up there training with George. And, you know, do training with George and finding them the same cards as some of the guys from TriStar, me and Rory. You know, we were also managed by the same management company as well at one point.

You know, we came good friends, good buzz. We never actually sparred with each other. But we, you know, we were in the same classes, drilling, things like that. So, yeah, it kind of sucked, man. But, you know, the actual day that we announced it in Vegas, me and Rory hooked up. We talked, man. We were like, you know what? It's business, we understand.

You know, and I'll fight guys every day in the gym, and sometimes they can be a little heated. So I'm used to kind of duging it out with buddies every now and then. But, man, yeah, I knew as soon as I got out there, A, he's a good friend, but I know he's looking, he's got the same goals as me. So I'm going to give them best Stephen Warner Boy, Thompson, I can out there. And I knew he was going to give me the best,

or Royne McDonald out there. And I wouldn't want it any other way. Could you tell when he broke his nose? I did I could tell I knew it was bothering because as soon as it happened I don't remember what shot I hit him with

but his hand started to come up his right hand was blocking his nose and his left hand was kind of stretched out there trying to keep the distance so I would stay away from it so I knew man those straight shots were going to be hard to hit because he had his right arm in front so that's when I started throwing the uppercust to try and tag that nose

and what's that feel like for you like do you actually feel it crush and like as you connect No, actually, I didn't feel it. The one thing I knew, the one time I knew it was really damaged when I hit him with that spin hook hit. Oh. I think it was the fifth round. I hit him with a spin hook and I heard a big crack, a big smack.

And then that's when the blood really started flowing down. So I knew, I remember when it happened, I was like, crap, man, I just broke his nose again in my head. You know, I'm out there fighting, but I don't want to seriously injure somebody, you know, or especially some guy I've been training with. As soon as I hit, I was like, crap, I really broke his nose. But, you know, he was standing right there in front of me, ready to go out. He started pressuring me then. So I was like, man, I got to keep this guy away.

You know, I can't let up. Got to keep going. I'm sure. Man, he's a tough guy. I'm sure you knew that, you know, he was fighting the last fight on his contract. There was a lot at stake for him. He's about to become a father, breaks his nose again. You were obviously happy and rightfully so.

You deserve it all. You deserve all that success. But was there any part of you that kind of felt bad for him afterwards, given how much was at stake for him? Yeah, I did, man. I mean, we actually talked and hung out after the fight, you know, going to the press conferences on the bus, traveling from the venue back to the hotel. I mean, but to be honest, I was really surprised that he was really at peace with himself.

He didn't feel upset at all. I think because he knew that, you know, he was getting ready to be a daddy man and bringing, you know, a daughter into this world. I think he's excited about that, but maybe he's excited about new things happening. You never know what's going to be who he was talking to. or what kind of deals he's already made, but you didn't seem too bummed, to be honest. Wow. Which surprised me. Wow.

How many fights left on your deal, if you don't mind me asking? I think I actually have like seven more. Oh, wow. Damn. Okay, I was going to say. Seven more, I'm not really sure. Time to renegotiate that thing. I was going to say if you've got one left, but seven more is tough.

By the way, when do you feel like it's shifted for you? Because I have an answer to this question in my own mind, but I'm curious to you, hear what you say. It felt like you recently took a major step as far as the way the fans react to you, your status in the division, your status in the sport. It feels like you went from just being sort of like that prelim early pay-per-view fighter to the main event guy who's on the cusp of, in my opinion, going to be a champion at some point. Do you recall when that shift happened for you? I believe it was the Ellenberger fight. Yeah, yeah. I know he had somebody scheduled to fight. I think They backed out.

I ended up taking a spot. I knew, you know, that was my first main event fight, you know, big deal. It was finishing up the entire fight week. And in other words, you had Conrad Gregoe fighting the day before. That was the Roarie McDomber and Robbie Lawler fight. So I really wanted to put on a show just to kind of end the week with everybody talking about, you know, Stephen Wonderboy Johnson. Yeah. And, man, that was the time.

That was my moment. And I knew there was a lot of pressure going to next. I wanted to really make a statement out there and let everybody know. know that, hey, watch out for this guy. And it happened, man. And I believe the UFC was like, dang, you know, we put Stephen Norman Boy Thompson out there, and he definitely stepped up. And that's when after that, that's when we started, you know, trying to find a fight.

Couldn't find anybody because pretty much everybody had fights coming up except for Johnny Hendricks. So I was like, you know what he's the number two guy? Let's go for it. And then after that fight, finishing him in the first round, that's what really started to blow up going on media tours, things like that. The fan started, you know, really started to recognize me. So I was like, man, this is it, man.

This is it. And I expected to get that title shot after that. But, you know, then I was thinking maybe just one more, just to really prove myself. So after this fight with war, they have to give it to me. Yes. I agree wholeheartedly. Are you hoping for Robbie over Tyron?

Yeah, I'm thinking, I do want Robbie, you know, for, you know, several reasons. A, I think he's going to win this fight, just the fact that he's a really tough guy. It's got great take down defense. And he's a type of fighter who just gets stronger as the fight goes on. When Tyrone hasn't had a fight in a while,

he might have a little cage rust, but he's notorious. I mean, he might have changed it, but it's notorious for, you know, starting to taper down after the first, you know, two rounds. You know, he starts getting weaker as the rounds go on because he's an explosive guy.

So if he doesn't finish Lala in the first round, I pick Lawler just, you know, grinding him out. And I want to fight Lawler just because he's the guy that nobody's beating. Right. You know, Condon couldn't do it. Rory McDonald couldn't do it. Johnny Henner said the second fight couldn't do it. So he's the one I want.

He's the guy that has held the title and the guy I want to beat. Well, what an exciting time for you and your family, your brother recently getting married to Chris Wydenman's sister right before the fight. They're going to have a super baby those two. I mean, that's going to be... That's him, man. They're already looking forward to that. I mean, they're already trying, man.

They went out on their honeymoon and they're back here. Tony's back in the teaching classes. She's a nurse at the local hospital. The wedding was nuts, man. Of course, those people from Long Island definitely know how to party. I love it. It's great to see the two families come together. And then, of course, a huge win for you, massive win.

The fight that should get you, the title shot, no doubt about it. And I hope you stick to those guns because nothing else makes sense at this point. So I want to congratulate you on the win again. keep it up, my man, and good luck getting that title shot. I hope you do get it. Thanks, my friend. It's definitely a pleasure, and hopefully we can do it again sometime, my friend. Absolutely. There he is. Stephen Wonderboy Thompson stopping by, my opinion, the number one contender in the welterweight division should most definitely, if I haven't made it clear enough, fight the winner of Tyrone Woodley versus Robbie Lawler. Of course, that fight happens July 30th in Atlanta, Georgia, UFC 201. Okay, let us move along. One of the big fights at UFC 200 coming.

up in a matter of days now is Sage Northcutts debut, excuse me, return, I should say. Perhaps Sage Northcutt 2.0. Maybe we should call it that and he is joining us right now via the magic of Skype. There he is. My old friend Sage, how are you, Sage? Hey, I'm great. Thanks for having me. It is a pleasure. So it has been a while since we talked to you. The last time we had you on was, you know, after the fight in January, you weren't feeling well. How long did it take for you to get over that? You don't seem like the kind of guy who sulks and, you know, really dwells on things. But if you can be honest with us, like how long did it take for you to move on from that fight against Brian Barbarina?

Right. Coming off of being sick, as you can imagine, having strep throat so severe, it took a while to heal up from that. I actually went to train up in Canada at TriStar Gym. I was there for about five weeks, and I got sick again. I ended up catching a staff infection while I was there. So I was in the hospital for almost a whole entire week straight with the staff, Mercer staff and that was crazy. So I came back home. I had to do some finals and just recently actually maybe a month or so ago I healed up completely. So now I'm feeling great and I'm strong. It was amazing seeing photos of you in the hospital going through that because I'm sure you were in a lot of pain yet you were still sporting your trademark smile. Did you not get upset or did you not feel

bad about the whole thing? I mean it was amazing just to see you smiling while you hooked up to an IV. Oh, thanks. Yes. I knew I was going to be good. So I was praying about it and I knew I was going to heal up. So that's great. I healed up. I'm strong. I'm actually feeling the best I ever have. So I'm in the best shape of my life right now. My previous fight, I was in the best shape coming up to my fight that I've ever been for my last fight. And then I got sick again. So that was a weird thing. But now for this fight I'm ready, I'm in the best shape ever. What's the biggest lesson that you learned from that experience back in Newark in January? Is there something you took away from? from that whole experience? Yes, sir. So, you know, I wanted to go out there and put on a great show for the fans. And obviously, getting sick just two days before the fight,

having a relapse of strep throat, and everything, it was like the perfect storm. So that wasn't good. And I learned that if you need to pull out of a fight, then obviously, I guess if you really have to and you're that sick, then I guess I've learned from that mistake. Have things quieted down for you a little bit on social media? Like, you know, it was this uproar when you lost that fight. Are you feeling the love again from people?

Absolutely. There's always people that support you. So that's great. Even if there's people that are trying to push you down or being negative, there's always people that are there with you and supporting you and lifting you up. And then to get this opportunity to fight on UFC 200, and you were one of the first fights announced for the card. What a tremendous vote of confidence.

I mean, obviously you knew that the UFC liked you and wanted to showcase you. But what was your reaction when you found out that you wouldn't be fighting on the fight pass card on Thursday or the FS1 card? you're fighting at UFC 200 on Saturday night. What was your reaction to that? Are you kidding? I was like, man, this is so exciting. UFC 200, it's such a huge honor. So I'm pumped up, and it's just a big honor.

To be on the same card with all the other fighters, they're so amazing, I'm just so excited. I can't really describe it. Did you watch UFC 100 back in 2009? Were you a fan of the sport back then? Absolutely. And I think I was, I had to have been like 12 or something. 13 years old then.

Crazy. I was definitely little. But growing up since I was little, like nine years old, I'm always watching the USC. That's amazing. So do you recall telling yourself like, oh, I want to be on a card? Like, you're going to be on the same card as Brock Lesnar and John Jones, Dan, of Corbyn. Did you even put that as a goal for yourself in your mind?

Oh, definitely. Yes, sir. And now it's happening. So it's so exciting. I'm excited to get to meet all of them. And then being on the same card came and described it. It's such a big honor. Does this fight make a little more sense for you?

You're fighting a guy by the name of Enrique Marenne. I hope I'm pronouncing his name correctly. But maybe it's a bit of a step back to build you up accordingly. Did you feel like they were pushing you a little too quickly as everything was moving along three fights in the span of what? Three or so months? Yes, sir. It was a lot of fights in that amount of months.

So I believe looking back at my last fight, that was a fluke deal. If I wasn't sick, I believe I would have finished off my opponent very quickly. So that's what I go out there to do all the time. It's finish off my opponents. I have four knockouts and three submissions. So that's what I'm looking to do for this fight, and I'm just excited. What do you know about your opponent? Have you ever heard of him?

Did you ever hear of him before you were offered the fight against him? Well, I believe I've heard that he was the ultimate finalist, and it looks like from his previous fights, that it looked like he was pretty tough in his previous fights, and I think it's going to be great. Did you watch Brian Barbarina's fight? against Worley Alves at UFC 198?

Yes, sir, I saw that. Yeah, what did you think of it? Oh, it was definitely interesting for sure. And all I know is what I can say is that it wasn't my normal self my last fight against him, so if I was my normal self, it would have been a different story.

Is it annoying to keep hearing him like people call him like myself, the prospect killer and things like that? And, you know, you sort of, this has become part of his reputation and it's building off of the win over you. Does that bother you? No, sir.

doesn't bother me. You know, like I said, it was a fluke deal in my last fight. So I know how it was. I wasn't my normal self. I'm very explosive. And to go out there and you saw me trip over my own feet and have to fall on the ground as I threw that, I had to throw the kick after falling. So that wasn't something that I would do. That wasn't being my normal self. I didn't have a normal speed, my normal explosiveness, none of that. And I believe that the people watching could see that. A couple weeks ago, as you know, a fighter by the name of Ilya Grad went on Instagram and started making these accusations about your training and things like that. What can you tell us about this whole thing? I mean, we've seen the video now. We've

read your dad's side. Did this bother you that someone would sort of betray your trust like this, someone that you're going to train with and try to, you know, throw shade as the kids would say on you in your career? How did you handle that whole situation? Because I didn't hear much from you. You know, that was my first time training with him. And he's supposed to be a more Thai world champion. I'm not sure where he got his world title from. As you can see from the fight, I actually showed up there. My jitsu coach, my grappling coach, set it all up. So I was supposed to go there and spar hard,

and he starts making excuses saying his neck hurts, he's this, he's that, and he can't go out there to spar hard. So we said, okay, so I'm out there just torn around, as you can see in the video, barely touching them, just moving around, playing, like pretty much having fun, as you can see. And the comments he said, the things he said out there, those weren't true none of those were true and you can see that from the video did that did that bother you i mean he's talking about your father and things like that how did you react to

were you annoyed did you call him up you know what was your what was your take from that what was your reaction you know that was definitely uh not right of him to do that i don't know what he's talking about none of that none of the facts or anything that he was trying to claim were true so i believe he was just trying to get some limelight for instance trying to get some attention and get his name out there. Have you heard from him since? No, sir. I haven't heard from him. And I'm assuming you're not planning on training with him again. No, absolutely not. And him, him to say that he was there to teach me, he wasn't there to teach me anything. And from that video, you can see that he couldn't teach me anything. He was just there to be a sporting partner.

Yeah. I can't imagine, you know, you go to the gym and you start training with a guy and then you go on Instagram and you see him write this whole thing about you. That's got to be, it's got to be pretty annoying, right? Is that the first time that's, that's happened to you before, something like that? Yes, sir, the first time that's happened. And, like I said earlier, there's people that always, like, they're trying to get attention. Yeah. They might be saying negative stuff, but, you know, I know what's true. The people around me know what's true, and the people that see me train and see what, what I do, and I go out there to compete as, they know me. Is there a lesson from this as well that maybe you have to keep the circle a little

smaller, you have to bring guys to you? Are you changing anything as far as your training as a result of what happened? Nothing really changing as the result of what happened. Obviously, not training with that person. That was only one-time deal. And obviously, that was just, that was completely weird. Did you train at the Black Zillions a little bit prior to this fight? Yes, yes, sir. I went up there actually to see my friend Michael Chandler, and he just fought with Bellator. That's right. And, sir, he just won the title. He's awesome. He's a good friend of mine. Yes, he actually had some very nice things to say about you in the media. So how did you, how did you link up with him? And then why did you go to the Blacksilians? Like, how did that

whole thing come about? You know, we were just talking and I guess I just heard from some friends about Michael Chandler and, and we just became friends. And then I decided to go up there and visit. So he let me stay with him for the weekend, or for the week. And I just trained up there with him for the week. Wow. So you, You just reached out to him via social media or something like that? Yes, sir. Social media. Wow.

Social media is awesome, as you know. This is amazing. This is unbelievable. And then you said, can I come visit you? And you didn't know each other. You had never met him in person. This is almost like a blind date. That's funny.

So you enjoyed your time there? Absolutely. Yes, sir. I liked it. He's an awesome guy. Yeah. And yeah, he did awesome on his last fight. He won the title.

And he's an awesome guy. Will you be going back to the blind? Oxillians? You know, right now I'm focusing here for this fight coming up. And then after this fight, I might go back there and visit Michael Chandler again and hang out and train with him. Oh, wow. That's amazing.

This is a beautiful thing, seeing you two come together like this. And he is one of the best guys in the sport. I do agree with that as well. So when do you go to Las Vegas for this big card? So I fight Saturday night, July 9th. The wayans are Friday. and then I leave that Tuesday. So I think that's July 5th, I believe.

That's right. And what about, like, it's going to be insane. This is kind of like what you experienced as far as the December fight, but that time you were kind of kicking it off. Now you're at the end. Are you going to take it all in? Are you going to try to smell the roses? Or are you going to be secluded and not pay attention to all the hoopla

surrounding you? No, are you kidding me? I'm definitely taking it in. Okay, okay. You have to take it in. Just getting to be around all these awesome fighters, that's one thing to take in. Yes. And then getting to fight in the huge, it's a T-Mobile arena, I believe.

That's going to be incredible too. That's going to be awesome. I'm looking forward to that. And then just being at such a big event, UFC 200, that's amazing. First time ever that the UFC holds an event in that arena, and it's a big deal, of course. Of all the fights that weekend, which are you most looking forward to? Is there one that sticks out other than yours, of course? You know, I'm looking forward to everyone.

So I'm just excited to see everybody fight. and obviously I'm excited for my fight. I'm so pumped up for that. And then getting to sit there, I guess, afterwards and get to meet the fans and everybody, that's going to be fun too. So thus far, you fought twice on FightPass, once on Big Fox.

This fight is on FS1. So in the span of 365 days, if you fight again prior to October, hopefully you get on pay-per-view, you can complete the, not the trifecta, the quad. I don't know, you're smarter than me. what would that be called the four?

Do you have any idea? The quadruple? That works. Yeah, that works. Are you happy with your placement on the card that you're on the FS1 prelims? Were you preferring to fight on the pay-per-view or the fight past? What were you hoping for? You know, being on the FS1 prelims, that's a big honor alone.

So I'm just excited to be on the card. Okay. Well, that's the answer I expected out of you, Sage. Well done. Is it fair to say that this is maybe 2.0? Like, are we going to see a different kind of sage? coming off the loss, like this is the reintroduction, the new chapter, things like that, or is this just kind of the continuation of people like me, the media, we make too big of a deal

out of that sort of thing? No, you're definitely a different stage for sure. My last fight wasn't me, so it's definitely going to be different from my last fight. And I believe I'm always improving and getting better. So I'm looking forward to it, and I'm going to be the best ever. Are you anxious to maybe shut up some doubters to maybe prove people wrong? You know, everyone that took a shot at you in January. Are you looking forward to that, having a big performance, so that you can, and I know you won't say anything, you know, negative towards anyone, give them the old one-finger salute, but deep down, are you looking forward to that? Well, you know you never want any doubters, so absolutely.

So you're going out there to do your best all the time. Okay, all right. What do you think? What are you envisioning as far as a finish is concerned? You know, I believe I'm pretty well-rounded. So if it's standing up or versus the ground, wherever the fight takes me, wherever it's, wherever it goes, I believe I'm going to be victorious. So there's no specific finish that you're envisioning right now.

Nothing specific. Okay. Last thing. How do the North Cuts celebrate July 4th? Oh, you know, normally we shoot off a bunch of fireworks. Okay. My whole entire neighborhood here in Texas, we shoot off fireworks everywhere. So unless there's like a drought or something, then like there has been a drought a few times where the city is banned the shooting off the fireworks.

So that's different. But leaving the next day. That's going to be interesting. So I guess it'll be different. We'll see what happens. So you're not going to go too crazy. Not too crazy. We'll see.

Let's see if we shoot off fireworks or what happens. And please don't do them yourself. I don't want any accidents or anything like that. I mean, your precious cargo at this point. Thank you. That's right. And by the way, what about your brother? I'm seeing more of your brother these days.

Is he going to fall on your footsteps as well and become a fighter? Yes, sir. You know, he's awesome. He's like that much tall than me already. Wow. He's getting so big. he just had a birthday and just turned 17, so he always trains with me, and I think he's going to be a monster. He's going to be incredible. So he wants to turn pro and fall in your footsteps being an

MMA fighter? I think he'll eventually do that, but I guess we'll see how it plays out. And what about your sister? Is she going to pursue this now again? Because she took a bit of a break, right? Yes, sir, she did. And you know, anything is possible. Right now she's focusing on school, and we'll see what happens with that too. Okay, fair enough. Sage, I wish you the best, my man. I'm looking forward to seeing you out there in Las Vegas, and I appreciate you stopping by. Good to see that you're in good health and good spirits. And very much looking forward to your fight as always. So thank you very much for the time and we'll talk to you soon.

We'll see you soon as well. Awesome. Thank you very much. See you soon. Okay, there he is. Sage Northcutt. Returning to action on July 9th, he is fighting, of course, at UFC 200. Also fighting at UFC 200 is T.J. Dill Shah.

He faces Hafeel, Sunsau. In a very important fight in the Bantamweight Division, and he's joining us. on the phone right now. TJ, are you there? Yes, I am. How's it going? Hey, I'm doing great. Thank you very much for the time.

So, you are fighting at UFC 200. You're fighting Hafeel Suncel. I know you didn't get the title shot. You wanted that title shot at 199, but getting to fight on a card like this, was this the next best thing? Was this a pretty good consolation prize? Absolutely, man.

I mean, if I wasn't fighting Cruz, since I was the matchup I wanted, and obviously, UFC 200, you can't really beat that. You know, it's the biggest card in history. It's going to be cool to be a part of it. And, of course, you fought as Sun Sal. He was the last guy prior to the cruise fight to beat you,

although it was a very close fight. Some people think that you even won that fight. Did you even watch that? I know we're nine days away, but are you focusing on that fight a lot because you've been in there with him or do you think you're a completely different fighter from then? Oh, I'm a...

Oh, you may have lost him. Okay, we're going to call him right back. Transfer me over to my truck. Can you hear me? Oh, yeah. Now we got you. We got you. All right, sorry about that.

Transfer you over to my truck. But I definitely have gone by and gone back and watched that fight. You know, I'm a way better fighter than I was three years ago. I've made big, big improvements, and I plan on showing that, you know, how much more dynamic I am as a fighter. And I'm just really excited, you know, I'm really excited about it. Have you been told that if you win this fight, you're next for Cruz? You can't ever know what the UFC's going to plan on doing, you know. I went and met with the main guys after that fight with Cruz.

And, you know, to have them sit there and both tell me that I won that fight, and then for them not to give it to me, it was kind of crazy. So you never know what's going to happen, but I would imagine so. You know, I would imagine that the winner of me in a sense I would get that fight. It makes the most sense. We're ranked number one and two. You know, I had a fight with Cruz that I feel I won. It was a very close fight, and he looked very good.

So I would imagine that would be what's going to happen. And if not, I'll be pretty frustrated, you know, but we'll have to wait and see because you never know. They can do, they can very just do whatever they want, it seems like. Sure. And so after being told that by them, after meeting with them and not getting the title fight, how long, and maybe that hasn't happened yet, I'm wondering how long it took to get the bad taste out of your mouth, like to get over that frustration and then focus on the next fight? Or are you keeping that frustration with you going into this fight? No, you've got to let it go.

You know what I mean, you got to love what you do. you can't be frustrated all the time. I mean, life's too short to be pissed off, you know. So obviously I was mad. I was frustrated. You know, I've trained really hard for to have that belt, especially when I still think it's mine. But you've got to let that stuff go

because I've got to concentrate on the Sincol. I have a very tough opponent in front of me. You know, he's a tough kid, so I got to worry about him and getting past him first. Did you watch the Faber cruise fight? I did. Yes, I did. What did you think of it?

That's kind of how I'm, how I expected it to go down. I knew the Cruz's footwork and feints and movement was going to be too much for favor. He's a very flat-footed fighter. And, you know, hasn't been making any games. He's kind of been the same fighter for the last 10 years. And, you know, I knew that Cruz is going to pick him apart. Do you think that's it for his title shots at this point,

that he'll just never get the UFC belt now? Yeah, I definitely don't think he's going to get the belt. He might get another shot. who knows. I don't really know. You know, I mean, he's going to have to work his way back up, which I think is really hard in this division. We've got a lot of tough kids in the weight class.

I always call him kids, though, growing men. And, yeah, I mean, I think it's to be tough when to get back up there. You know, he's towards the end of his career, and I think he should be, he's already done the right thing to look at what you should do next. You know, I mean, he's already set himself up pretty, and he's a smart guy when it comes to business. It was kind of crazy to see, like,

up until the press conference the Thursday before the fight, You were still a big part of that story. Your name was being mentioned all over the place. Was that a trip for you as well to see you being talked about so much and not involved in the fight? Yeah, it's kind of crazy. I mean, I kind of feel like Uriah has been building his name off of me the last couple years ever since I won the belt.

And then with me and Dwayne and the whole fighter thing with Connor and it's just been kind of bad-mouthed me to make him more relevant. You know, it was a little bit unfortunate because I thought we were friends, I thought we were good friends. And just because I followed a coach that I felt has made my career better, that's a bad taste in his mouth. And it's just unfortunate the way everything went down, you know? I mean, kind of crazy, actually.

Very childish. Were you rooting for him, though, because that's a money fight at this point. You versus him, you know, maybe even in the new Sacramento arena that's opening up. Were you rooting for him to win that fight regardless of what had been said? Not really, man. You know, which is crazy for me to say that, because, I didn't think there was any time of my life ever that I'd be not only ruined against fear, but especially against Cruz.

But, you know, he just crossed the line, man. He stepped the boundaries of stuff he said and the kind of person he became. And like I said, it was real childish. And I actually kind of hurt my feelings, man. Wow. I mean, I really don't feel like I've done anything to really deserve it, you know, just because I'm training elsewhere and following my career and what I think is best for myself. It was kind of crazy for him to badmuff me.

And then also for him to come out with some outlandish shit to say that me and Cruz were all PDDs. And, you know, that's bad moutting in my career. That's, you know, I was putting a bad taste of people's breath about my knees. And that kind of crossed the line with me. So have you tried to reach out to him privately to end all this? No, not at all. Do you have any interest? Not at all.

At this point, no. You know, I don't feel like it's my, my, my, Everyone's got their own story. He probably believes something else, but I don't feel like it's my fault to go out and to apologize and to the same thing about what needs to be done. You know, I felt, I feel that I'm hoping he's done the wrong, you know, but who knows? Maybe not to apologize, but just be like, look, let's just stop talking about each other. Maybe, let's just try to clear the air here and get on the same page.

No, no sorries, but you have no interest in doing that at this point and even talking to him. I haven't thought about it, no. Okay. You're in Colorado now, right? Yeah. I did see you for a little bit training at TriStar in Montreal. How did that come about? Awesome experience, man.

TriStar is an amazing gym, amazing athletes up there. A lot of guys, my weight class. Foras is an awesome coach. My management also manages George St. Pierre. And so I've been wanting to go up there and cross-chain for a while now and finally had a little bit of downtime to where I could do it. I want to continue to do so. You know, I mean, there's some great minds up there

and a lot of great training partners. So I really believe in cross-training. I really believe in learning as much as you possibly can as a martial artist. And they're very welcoming up there in a really great place, man. I loved it a lot. So you'll see me up there again.

So will any of those coaches be in your corner on July 9th? No, not for this fight, no. I went up there. I was only up there for a couple weeks. I was up there from, like, I was 10 weeks out to 8 weeks, so I came back here and did the rest of my camp here. You know, for us to be a great guy having a court, he's just so smart.

But, you know, he's a busy guy, and then I got my set coaches down here as well, you know? Yeah. Is Colorado starting to feel like home at this point for you? It is, man. It's been a wonderful place. It's real beautiful out here. All the guys are awesome.

Coaches are even better. Elevation fight team's growing like crazy, and I'm glad to be a wonderful. part of it. You know, I'm glad to see this team grow with me being here. And it's been a fun experience, muscle farms, giving us every opportunity to become a great team. And we're going to continue to grow and have tough guys in the UFC. We've got Neil Magpie, Matt Brown, you know, Drew Dole, and trains with us. So we've got a lot of guys and guys who don't even know about that are going to hit the same soon, better and better team.

Do you take any lessons that you learn from Alpha Mail to this new camp? Like, do you find yourself being a bit of a captain because you were a part of that team for so long and maybe you don't want the same thing to happen to you now or to others now that did back then. Is there anything that you're taking from that experience over to this new one? That's where mainly my career started. I learned to have fun there. I learned to enjoy what we do as a living, trying to pass off as much as possible. You know, I personally need to do a better job of being a captain and being a leader. But I don't like to be, I don't like to make myself feel higher up than anybody else either.

You know, I mean, you got a lead by example. But I think ultimately just try to have fun, you know, I mean, like I said, this life is very short, this career is even shorter, and I got to have fun with it. So if I can rub off on the guys at all and try to joke around and have some fun, then I think that's the best thing you can do. I think that was one of the greatest things about Alpha Mail was the fact is, you know, we just had so much fun doing it. We're always in practice, having a great time, and it makes it not feel like work when

you're having such a good time and joking around with all the guys. You know, I mean, they have a great family there in Sacramento. And, you know, when Duane came, I saw like we had the full package. We had a great team, great friends, and a great coach. But when Duane left, you know, nothing, nothing was really fixed until recently. You know, I feel like they're finally stepping up and fixing some holes in their game and getting some big coaches as in Justin Buckles and Danny Castillo and those guys.

But I think ultimately the best thing I've learned from them was, you know, to enjoy this, enjoy this whole process. Have a smile in your face in the locker room. have a smile in your face and you're getting ready to fight. And I'll just enjoy it. The division that you're in, 135, in my opinion, it may not have like the most money makers, but it's the most stacked as far as young, great, up-and-coming fighters. Are you worried at all that anyone, you know, is threatening?

Because for a while it felt like, okay, you win this next fight. You're getting that title shot. There's no one else. But, you know, Cody Garbrand, a guy you know very well, has done well as of late. He has another fight coming up. Are you seeing anyone challenging you for getting that next title shot? or do you think it's pretty clear-cut? If you win this fight decisively, there'll be no denying you.

I mean, the way I see, I definitely think whoever wins this fight gets a title shot, you know, I mean, since I was just going to be me, it's going to be me after this, after July 9th, as I should definitely be getting that title shot, at least that's the way I see it. The weight cost is very good, very, very stacked guys, and I'm excited about it, you know. It's exciting to have a weight cost of 1-35 is just going to be well-known, you know. I mean, hopefully these guys are going to be money-makers soon, you know. I mean, the more and more stacked is going to get them.

the more challenging it's going to become, the greater fights are going to be there, and we'll start getting paid more, you know? What do you make of what's happened to Cody? His evolution. Did you see this coming? Did you see him turning into this great fighter? Oh, he's always been good, man.

He's fast, he hits hard. I think he's kind of a little one-dimensional. He's a good fighter, you know? He's got good wrestling. But if you watch the style, all he really got is he just bum-rushes you with hooks, you know, kind of like the Vandale-style, Vandale bunches.

You know, he's good. he's athletic. I knew he was going to make his way up the ranks in the U.C. He's doing a good job. How do you think he would do against the Dominic Cruz? I think Dommy's got too much movement for him. He's too well-rounded. You know, Cody would he be too easy the game plan for.

Like I said, he has to run at you and throw hands. You know, I mean, every combo you've seen him hit is pretty much throwing overhands or hooks, sprinting at you, you know? It was not the most technical, but it's very athletic and fast, you know. but I think Cruz would be too smart for him, cut too many angles, and I'll point him. And would you have, I mean, at some point I could see you guys fighting, do you have any issues of fighting him? No, I mean, no, I don't know.

I mean, this is definitely a sport. You know, I got no bad blood with the guy. I mean, I think he talks a little bit of crap and he likes to lie a little bit. You know, he supposedly has said that he's knocked me out in practice, which is a complete lie because I've never been knocked out in practice, especially by him, talking about, like, Jim W. wars and stuff. And then the whole deal with me moving out here, him talking crap about it was

kind of crazy because he was one of the first guys talking about moving out here with me. You know, I have a full on long text message with him and Leicester of talking about moving up to Colorado and how much better it be to train out here. And then, you know, some bad mouthing happens on me and he instantly

switches his mind and says that he's out from male bread and that's one place he's going to stay, you know? So he's young, he's easily influenced and he'll help bad mouth me here and there, but I think it's just to sell his name. Okay, and, you know, Dominic, even on Friday, Rampage, Jackson, Juan, and he was talking about Ring Rust being a real thing, and Dominic's one of those guys, one of the few guys,

that talks about Ring Rust not being a thing and overcoming it. This will be a Sunsau's first fight in almost two years, a little less than two years. Do you believe that Ring Rust is a thing, and do you think it will affect him? Like, well, we see a lesser version of a Sunsau just because he hasn't fought in so long. Man, I think it all comes down to how mentally tough you are. You know, Cruz is an mentally tough guy. He's got to do with a lot of adversity, still coming back, so he's proven how mentally tough he is, you know?

I mean, ring rust only affects you if you let it affect you, I think. You know, if you go in there with some confidence, and the way I step into the cage every time, I don't think it's going to really matter, you know. I mean, I've had those scoring practices. I've had those pushes in practice to where, you know, you shouldn't have ring rust. You're getting that timing in.

You're doing that whole deal. I guess the only thing is learning how to deal with the nerves. I do feel that I've grown as a fight, and I don't think it's Intel has, and we're going to see that. How much do you miss that belt? Just being a champion, you know, just having that bull's eye on you, seeing the belt in your house, like knowing that you're the top guy. How much does that bother you that you're not that,

and how much do you miss it, if at all? It definitely bothers me. You know, I feel like I worked so hard to get what I got. I felt like I won the fight. Obviously, like I said before, it's very close, so it's tough. It's a tough one to swallow. but it keeps me hungry. You know, if I didn't care, then I wouldn't be hungry to get it back.

And that hunger is definitely going to give me back to title shot. Definitely get me back to having that gold wrapped around my waist. And I just got to envision it happening every day. This is your first fight, you know, not in a title fight in quite some time, your first fight since the January fight. Does it feel different at all? Does anything feel different in terms of your mental state, your preparation? Anything at all?

Obviously, you're not fighting in the main event and it's not a title fight, but you feel that it's at all different within you? you? Within me, no. I put just as much of pressure on every fight. I go in there, got to expect the best of every opponent. I got to be on my toes and be ready. But I have it to deal with a lot less. You know, there's not as much media on this. There's not as much talking about me moving camps and all the bullcrap that came behind the Connor McGregor

and the ultimate fighter, you know. There's been a lot less of me dealing with that. But inside of myself, I kind of handled it the same. I put the same pressure on myself, and it gets you excited. You know, I live for this, man. I live for these nerves. I live for the lights, and I just can't wait for July 9th. That must be a welcome change, right, to sort of fly under the radar going into this fight and not deal with all that other stuff?

Yeah, man, it's very nice. You know, I didn't have to have to do a countdown show. I didn't have to do all the social media. You know, I know how stuff gets your name out there, and not making you more money in the long run, but it's definitely a nice change, you know? It's nice to just focus on getting better. Has the snake stuff, has that gone away a little bit?

Has that, you know, on social media, has that sort of subsided? Ah, it's still there. Wow. You know, it'll always be there. The more and more you build your name, you're always, you know, people that are going to want to talk crap about you, and they got fans. I mean, Conradure has got a lot of fans, you know, and the world of MMA, I feel like it's almost like WWE, if you'd say, you know. The same kind of fans, and they like the drama. They do.

And I got to embrace it. It is what it is. You're either going to agree with my decision. You're not going to know about my decision or you're going to hate it. So, you know, you've got to deal with it. Yeah. Well, much respect to you, man. You're handling it with class and, you know, I appreciate you coming on.

And I'm looking for it. Like you said, this one's been flying under the radar, perhaps a testament to how, you know, stacked, so to speak, that card is. You're fighting on the prelims. Are you surprised that you're on the prelims? Yes. Or are you okay with that? How do you feel about that? I'm fine with it.

I mean, the card is so stacked. We've got some Hall of Famers in there. We got Frankie Hager, Jose Aldo, you know, as the third to last fight. You know, we got three title fights there. One of the biggest stars ever, John Jones is fighting. I mean, Brock Lester's coming back. So, you know, it's expected to be on the prelims. I'm not really too worried about it.

You know, I mean, more people will get to watch my fight. It would be on FX and be on free TV. So all I can really do is continue to put on a show and hopefully create some fans. my fighting style because, you know, I feel like I'm out there to put on a show and to fight and look for that knockout. I don't think I've ever had a boring fight. And the more people that get to see that, hopefully the more fans that create. And, you know, I hope you guys enjoy the show.

Well, one of the most interesting parts of the fight game for me is seeing how a champion responds after that title loss, seeing what he does to prove that he's still the man. And just seeing how a fighter responds. You can learn a lot about a fighter. I'm looking forward to seeing how you respond on July. 9th. Appreciate the time very much. Can't wait for this fight. It's the fight that needed to be made, in my opinion, if you weren't getting the title fight, and obviously looking forward to seeing how you, how you, you know, how you respond on that very big stage. So best of luck to, TJ.

Thank you for the time again. We'll see you out there in Las Vegas. Absolutely, really appreciate. Thank you. Okay, there he is. T.J. Dilshod, the former UFC Bantamweight champion fighting on July 9th, on the FS1 prelims, UFC 200 at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. All right, let us move along. Let us go to the Skype machine as we continue to move along quickly on this show. We're being joined now by the man in the hat, our own Chuck Mindenhall from his humble abode in the great state of Connecticut. How are you, Chuck? Good.

How you doing, brother? I'm doing great. A lot to talk to you about. You were in St. Louis for Bellator Dynamite, so you got to see the whole kid and caboodle live and in person. And I want to ask, because I have my take on the experience of watching this mixed show, MMA and kickboxing. being there live, seeing how the fans react to it, and how you react. I'm curious. Like, what do you think of it?

As someone who's been to countless MMA events at this point, you've covered them all. What's it like as a fan and as a media guy watching this back and forth, MMA and kickboxing? Well, I think I sort of echo what a lot of people were saying in general. It's a little confusing, even at the live event. I wasn't able to watch the whole fight. I was doing some stuff backstage in the lead up to it. But it's just a sharp juxtaposition to go from an M. fight over to that kickboxing cage, a ring.

And at the very end where there's the three fights in the kickboxing side of things, the place kind of started to empty out and it got a little dead in there, which was sort of a shame because, you know, you get that big knockout by Cato and all that stuff. It just felt weird, you know what I mean? So I'm not sure if the experiment works ultimately. For me, it's just a little bit too much of a sharp juxtaposition. You go there for one thing.

Maybe you like MMA if you go there for kickboxing. and also the media where you're situated is over by the cage, so then you're looking at a sharp angle all the way down at this other ring. So there's some kinks like that to work out, but ultimately I just think it's better if it's honed in on one or the other for an event. I just don't see how those two things really jive all that well. But ultimately, you've got great knockouts in each one. The fans did enjoy that.

I just felt like the fans got a little confused, and some of them started to leave for the kickboxing stuff. Wow, that is interesting. Couldn't notice that on television. And during the prelims, then we're going to talk about what you were doing earlier on, but is it true that there are MMA fights and kickboxing matches going on at the same time? Well, see, I didn't.

I was backstage for that stuff, but from what I understand, yes. They were doing them simultaneously. And at that point, it's just like being at the county fair or something. What are we doing? What are you doing? What you want to watch? But I wasn't able to actually check that part of it out. I'm okay with them utilizing the crowd

and having the visual of the cage in the ring next to each other. But I think from a broadcast perspective, It should be, say, two hours of MMA and then go two hours of kickboxing. But the back and forth feels very disjointed, in my opinion. And also, not to say that, you know, Bellator is putting on the greatest fights of all time, but we're seeing Rampage Jackson. We're seeing Michael Chandler. We're seeing Matt Matrion.

And then I feel like, as far as the broadcast is concerned for the kickboxing matches, there's a big discrepancy in the level of MMA and the level of kickboxing. And we're taking a dip when we're going to, like, if we're seeing Riko Verhoeven fight at the same time, is Rampage, then okay, I can live with it. But it doesn't feel like they're on the same level. And also what bothers me as an MMA guy, and I'm assuming most of the people watching Bellator, our MMA people, we're emotionally invested in Chandler's journey. We know who he is. We know who Rampage is. We know Mitriot. I don't know who these other people are. And we're not being, not enough as being done to get us emotionally invested. So it almost feels like these are

bathroom breaks to put it, you know, for lack of a better term. You know what I mean? Emotionally, it feels like there's this up and down, this roller coaster. Yeah, and it's, I mean, Strikeforce used to have post-lims, the fights after the main event, and he always felt bad for those guys because the place would be clearing out, and there'd be these guys kind of fighting these encore fights at the end. It had a little feel like that, just that, you know, we were still buzzing off of maybe Michael Chandler's knockout, and this other, you know, these other things are starting to have, even after Quentin Rampage Jackson, but the things are still buzzing off of that end of things, and then you switch gears.

And I agree with you, the talent levels and everything else, else, it just makes for an odd spectacle. It's, I'm not sure that our, our attention as sports fans, really works that way is the problem. You know what I mean? I'm not sure that we just, you can watch, you know, volleyball and basketball just because they're in the same court, you know what I'm saying? Like, they're being held.

So I feel like it's more like that. You're just, you're watching one thing, your mind is on that. It's hard to just switch gears to the other, regardless of the talent, but I know what you're saying on that. It would be more compelling, obviously, if you had, like, some, one of the, you know, the greatest kickboxer of all time on the other side of it. Maybe you could make that a little more seem. but I just think it's one of those things.

It's too big of a hurdle to clear in my mind to switch from one sport to another. You know what I'm saying? I also feel like Dynamite as a brand needs to be their Super Bowl, needs to be their July 4th or New Year's UFC card, and we just had one in September, so it was less than a year ago.

You need to really stack the deck. If you're going to make this into this big thing, go to a big arena, all that stuff, it can't just be a mix of two B-plus cards. It has to be A-plus, Plus, it has to be the best of the best. It has to be so stacked that you're going from one legend to the next. And I feel, I feel like they went back to the well too quickly, and they didn't stack

the deck enough. And it didn't feel special enough. I think so, too. I think so, too. And Scott Coker actually mentioned in the post-fight presser, he said that basically the idea is to have one once a year. You know what I mean? To make it that sort of big event, I think this one was too close on the heels of the other

one. And the other one, obviously, the one in San Jose, again, it was all mixed reviews. So this was the second one and either pounce home the point that it doesn't work or you see how it might work. So you start to make your own tweaks in your mind. I'm just not sure. I know they're going to do it again. I'll definitely tune in again. This particular one was a little weird for me just being there and kind of running around like I was.

But the next one I'll see kind of what tweaks they make. I know a lot of people were turned off by just going from one to the next from one to the next rather than just separating them wholly. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see. But in my mind, I'm just, I'd rather watch one or the other. If I show up for a sports event like that, you know, I don't feel like I'm getting more bang for my buck. Right. So much you just want to be able to focus on what you want to see and discard what you. You know what I mean?

So it's like, it's one of those types of situations. Now, let's talk about what you were doing without giving too much away. You were on a very special assignment. What were you doing backstage during that event on Friday night? Well, I was going out there, as you know, you were the one who helped me set this up. But I was shadowing Matt Maitrione for his fight. And also, like, I guess is kickboxing commentating right afterwards, which was kind of crazy, the kind of night that he had.

But, yeah, I was just kind of shadow him. I got together with him that morning, and I just hung out with him that whole day for a feature that I'll do for MMA fighting. Wow. Just to kind of get the day in a life of a guy who's going up into his fight and what goes on in the locker room and everything else, you know, from the hand wraps on down to coming backstage afterwards. And like you said, not just any guy,

a guy who had spent his entire career with the UFC, making his debut with the new promotion, and then broadcasting later. that night, the fight almost went, you know, a little arrive for him, but he was able to rebound, pick up the first win in the Beltor cage, and then transition rather quickly and do some Belator stuff. I mean, was this really, you know, an all-access look at what goes on? Did you feel like he was open with you? Because Matt is a verbose guy. He's a personable guy. What was that experience like? He's a pretty open guy. And all of his corner guys, very lighthearted but serious guys.

You know, Lehman Brewster, the boxer was with him. And Chris Lytle, you know, great sense of humor. All those guys have been in so many fights that the level of, you know, just their concern and how they melded out and, like, just be confident and everything is just kind of, it was fun to watch. I've been in other situations, Carl Frisian with ESPN back in the day where I was there, and it was a completely opposite type of situation where you had a guy who you weren't even sure he was going to be able to make the walk in the end versus these guys who are just, I mean, he's relaxing just minutes beforehand. I mean, it's just, it was fun to watch his demeanor. He kind of, and I asked him, I'm like, this stuff doesn't bother.

No, no, no, it doesn't bother me. But afterwards, you know, he's like, oh, I was full of nerves and all this stuff. And I'm like, so you never know. I feel like some of it's lip service. Some of it's just kind of, I guess, pushing back any kind of nerves as you're going out there and stuff like that. But yeah, man, those guys were great. They gave me all access. Some of these guys get very grumpy on fight day, man.

Like, they don't want to be bothered. They want to nap and just kind of be in their routine. He didn't care. He just left his door open. I would just kind of come and go and hang out with him. And inadvertently throughout the day. So it was a lot of fun. Yeah, so you're one of the few journalists who now holds the distinction of being backstage at a UFC event and a Bellator event.

You were with Carl Pritian prior to 123 in Auburn Hills. Obviously, as you mentioned, he was going through a lot of personal stuff, a lot of demons. Matt's now making the debut. But as far as just being backstage, and I know that was sort of a different era around five or so years ago, can you sense a difference between Bellator today and the UFC back then those experiences? Yeah. It was kind of funny. One of the running jokes is just Belator is a little more hands off.

They just kind of like, even when we were, you know, we were on fight day and it's around noon, and he's not even sure what time he's fighting. You know, he doesn't even know what. You know, and a lot of guys are sticklers for that. And when they had Bert Watson with UFC and you had people who were just always on top of it reminding you and harping on you to get down to where you needed to be at all times, it just that's not the case with Belator. But I felt like Matt and his team particularly liked it. I think they like, they refer to it as like, you know,

when it was UFC, there was a noose around your neck at all times of like the pressure of just to get in. Now it's like a light leash is what they said or something like that. Where they, they let the fighters kind of do what they want. And they just tell you when they tell you about what time you're going to be there. So that was one of the major differences is just, you know, his dressing room, he was with a group of other fighters, but he ended up just going in Michael Chandler's dressing room. And because they know each other. And they just kind of shared that dressing room, which was the,

tiny space and that but I have no idea if they just kind of kept other people out who were you know supposed to be in there or whatever but it was that sort of relaxed um guys you know it's just you didn't have like bert watson you didn't have that sort of thing going on so it felt very much like wow he's supposed to go up in 20 minutes and you know somebody just kind of knock on the norm and be like hey man we're going to do our ceremony now let's uh let's go do that real quick i mean it was just it was just very very relaxed you know what i mean yeah so it was uh it was fun it was kind of cool to see the sharp you know difference between the ufc how they operate versus Bellator. And it's funny because

you saw the fight. He almost gets knocked out. It's like the third time I've done this because I was backstage with Nate Markport at UFC 102 in Portland. Oh, wow. It was supposed to be a cornering piece. It was supposed to be like following his corner guys, but as part of him, and he went out there and smoked Damien Maya with one punch.

Bleu the piece up. So the piece, I had to be like all front-loaded on what was going on beforehand rather than the cornering aspect. So when I saw him go down, when I saw Mitch Dron go down, I was sitting there like, here we go again. I guess he was able to recover and get it done. By the way, where were you during the fight?

So for the fight, again, you know, with the UFC, you know, Donna, you know, Donna, she would, she had a spot designated for me. She'd show me beforehand and everything. Belator was just kind of like, I was just kind of roaming around, walking around, like, coming out of the tunnel that she walked out of. He came out on that platform. I came out over there by that, and I went to just, I basically went to press roll. They had a seat for me over there. Okay. So I just sat down over there and watched the fight, but it was fun.

You had a few seconds with Scott Coker afterwards, asked him about Roy McDonald. And you know sometimes Scott is very tight-lipped. You almost have to read between the lines. You wrote the article. We didn't get to really see him in his body language. Do you get the impression that they're going to go after, Rory? Yeah. Yes, I do.

Speaking of the body language for that very reason, I asked him specifically. I said, hey, you know, because obviously Roy was gambling on himself going into this fight. If he loses, obviously, maybe his market takes a hit because then, you know, whatever happened. So I said, hey, you know, he lost his last couple of fights, but given, you know, given his opponents and one of them was the fight

of the year against Robbie Lawler, who's this close to being in the champion, like, you know, you like the kid though, right? Like, it doesn't affect it. And he just gave you one of those looks like, come on. You know what I mean? He gave you the look like we love this guy, that sort of thing. So I feel like he didn't say it in the quote, but from the violence, I wish it had been on there because it was just like one of those,

like, come on, he did not harm himself in the slightest by losing. And you got the impression that they definitely would be interested. Yeah, yeah, I do recall one quote with him saying, like, the last fight doesn't tell the complete picture or something like that. So it did seem like he was leaning towards. I thought it was interesting, though, that he said to you that Beltaur's going to go after every free agent. And to me, that signifies that, look, we're not going to sign everyone, but we're going to try to play this game to drive up prices and things like that, to make it a little difficult on the UFC. Do you know what I'm saying? Yes, he did. I agree with the 100%. When he said it, it was funny, you know,

how sometimes you hear one thing as you're reporting it, but later when you go back to transcribe, you're like, oh, wow, I didn't even realize he said every fighter, you know, whatever his wording was, but yeah, I mean, I get the sense that that's kind of what they're doing. And on a night where, you know, we're sitting there and there's Vonda Les Silva, there's Benson on one side, you know, Dan Henderson, who notoriously went to strike for, all these guys are just caged side, and Matt Mittreone is in the cage. It's sort of, It was funny because you look at it and you think, like, wow, they really seriously are the new place. You know, free agents have a chance to go to these places to go to Beltaur.

Scott Coker is definitely doing that. You know, that's one of the things he's doing is adding that element. And, I mean, that's, there's just some, you know, there's some whispers around. When you're in a situation like that, intimate quarters where you're walking around, you just get the sense that if they can, if they can go after a good fighter like that, they're going to, regardless, because either they drive up that fighter's price in the, the end for the UFC to bring them in or they get that fighter. So I mean, that's the sense you get backstage at their show. By the way, one last thing on Mitrione. They announced his next fight on July

16th in the cage after he had been rocked. And people were criticizing them for that and somewhat rightfully so because they didn't know what kind of condition he was in. Afterwards, they said that he passed his medicals. I'm assuming you saw him afterwards, what kind of state was he in? Do you feel, I mean, you're no doctor, but do you feel like, you know, his bell was wrong? I mean, was he hurting. This is less than a month away. He was very articulate. I mean, he was going around having conversations with just about everybody backstage. And I mean, they're all very, you know, at first he was saying he got what was he saying? He was on autopilot. He just clicked into autopilot, didn't remember

the fight. I'm not sure if he took that back specifically because people were like getting all over him on Twitter and, you know, because it was blowing up as we were backstage. You could see a lot of people were asking about this. But he kind of changed his tune a little bit on that. But they did, they did some kind of protocol backstage. stage and it seemed like nobody was very concerned. I even talked to John McCarton. He was a little bit like, yeah, I don't know how you can announce that fight without going through the proper medical eye and everything.

Make sure that he's sound to go. But I got the sense just from, and I didn't get a chance to check out his commentating, like afterwards on the kickboxing side of it. I don't know if he sounded normal, but just from the conversations I had with him and I was kind of trailing him and he sounded like he was completely. completely normal, but you know how Matt Maitreone is? He's kind of that guy anyway who just has a lot to say at all times, regardless of it's making sense or not.

So I felt like he was, I felt like he was, I felt like he was still on. And, you know, I don't know how you tell. I'm not like you said, I'm not a doctor, but his eyes were clear. He was very articulate and he was making all of his points. They were talking about the fight. He was very coherent in terms of how he described the fight up until that moment. And then he said later that, you know, he remembered the whole thing. So I don't know.

I haven't had a chance to watch it, like, you know, on tape since. But it's one of those things you're like, you know, when I saw it and when they announced it, that's the other thing. He never told me, and I'm with him the whole day, and nobody mentions that he's going to get this fight. He knew the whole way that if he wins, he's getting all eight in three weeks. So this is one of those things that they did not talk about in the lead-up. I guess they didn't want to take things for granted. But he seemed normal, but, man, you know how it is. Some guys can do that, and they did get their belt.

wrong. Yeah, I mean, you'd like to see them think about these things before they put them out there. I get what they're trying to do in front of the big audience, but maybe wait to the press conference to spend, you know, it's good to call audibles. And Scott basically said that. In the press conference, he said, you know, maybe we jumped the gun and announced that fight, rather, you know what I mean? It's just, I think that they hadn't really thought that through. They just knew they were going to, I think the assumption was, if you win, we'll make this announcement, three weeks, boom, we've got another event for that London card. But they hadn't, I don't think they'd really thought like, oh, he might take that kind of punch and come back and get the win or something like that.

All right. Well, I'm looking forward to the piece. Great stuff. Yeah. Thank you, Chuck. Great job. And we'll talk to you very soon. I'll see you on Thursday for the MMA beat.

All right, man. Look forward to it. Thanks. There he is. The man in the hat, Chuck Minn Hall stopping by. Looking forward to that piece very much from him in the next few days over at MMAFighting.com. So stay tuned for that. That's going to be great.

No one does it better than him when it comes to pieces like that. Okay, we're going to take a quick break here, reconfigure the studio, because in a matter of minutes, we're going to be joined in studio by Mickey Gall, the man who will be facing CM Punk at UFC 203 in Cleveland, Ohio, September 10th, at the Q home of your NBA champion, not world champions. I don't like this whole world champion thing. I mean, they won the NBA title, and that's cool, but they didn't go and beat Real Madrid or some other team over in.

Europe, Maccabi Tel Aviv. They're the NBA champions. Let's call it what it is. Anyway, that's happening. That was one of the big news pieces of last week. Mickey Gall versus CM Punk is officially official and New Jersey's own Mickey Gall is here in studio. He's going to be joining me right over here in a matter moment. So let's reconfigure this thing. While we do that, let's do a little y'all must forgot. Let's go back to my very first annual Chicago interview with CM Punk. This is while he was a part of the WWE, just talking about being an MMA fan, hadn't left to WW yet, had just resigned with them, things were going well, and we had the opportunity to catch up with him in his apartment. This is 2011, prior to UFC on Fox. Was it UFC on Fox? The 2012,

excuse me, yeah, 2012, January of 2012, prior to UFC on Fox 2, catching up with CM Punk, our very first interview with him, and so I thought it would be fun to look back at that first interview before we talk to Mr. Mickey Gal, the man who'll be fighting him. So be back in a few minutes. Here it is. Y'all almost forgot January 2012. My first interview was CM Punk and then we'll be back with Mickey Gal right here on the show. Ariel Halwani in Chicago just days away now from UFC on Fox number two. And look who we have run into the WWE champion, Mr. CM Punk. And C.M, thank you so much for the time. This is a big honor for us. We appreciate it very much. Yeah, it's weird. You're running into me like this in my house. I don't know how that happened. That's crazy. I just sort of camped outside,

asked a bunch of people in, look, here we are. You're not the first one. There's some creepers out there. But yeah, yeah, cool. Well, welcome. Hi, everybody. Well, it's very fitting that we're talking to, especially just days away now from UFC on Fox number two, because you have been very closely linked to this card. Your name has been all over the MMA news, Real, and I wanted to ask you a bit about it. at first it was reported, and let's just get it from the source right here. It was reported that Chil Sondon would walk out with you to the cage on Saturday night in front of your hometown fans at the United Center. Was this in fact true?

It was something that Chale and I discussed, yes. And the thing about my job is you don't get days off. And we have a show that before the Big Paperview, Roy Rumble, and I somehow miraculously found myself off. off the show to get an extra day in Chicago and it seemed like planets kind of aligned. There happens to be a UFC show down the road from my house. And it's something we talked about. Yeah.

I think it might have gotten leaked before, you know, all the chickens were hatched. But, you know, so be it. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen. But you're also a good friend of Chale, Chales, as he told us just a couple of days ago. Where did this friendship come about? We were introduced by Gerald Briscoe, old school wrestler, obviously. He's a road agent for the WWE now. He scouts a lot of the amateur wrestling tournaments and stuff around the country.

So obviously that's the link. He knows Chale. He put us on the phone one day, like spur the moment. Like I think Chale might have called him for something or I don't know. And, you know, I think we're alike in a lot of ways. So we just, you know, like you do, you hang out with like-minded people. Is there any truth to the rumor that you pulled yourself out of the equation because you thought you would overshadow Chale? The entire arena would be chanting your name.

This is very much a pro-Campunk crowd, and you didn't want to steal his thunder, so to speak. Well, you know, it wasn't so much Chales thunder. I think he had a tough fight, certainly a tougher fight than he has now. I think Munoz was a bigger challenge in Bisping. I didn't really want to overshadow the main event, you know. There's some egos in there, and I didn't want to upset any. anybody, you know, so just, you know, welcome to Chicago, and you can stay here as long as you want, but, you know, I just didn't want to upset anybody.

That's very gracious of you. I'm wondering what you think about, especially this week in particular. Chale has been in rare form. At the press conference on Thursday, he came out with a UFC title. He's been throwing out these lines that are very reminiscent of Rick Flair and superstar Billy Graham, Jesse the Body Venture. I mean, he's really on top of his game. as a pro wrestler, you get a kick out of this stuff when someone appears to be sort of dropping some elements of your line of work into his stick.

I get a kick out of anybody that's entertaining, you know, and I think if anybody that's a nayser about MMA that can have any criticisms, you know, some of the guys are boring, which clearly I'm not saying, but, you know, Chale, you've got to be really hard pressed to say that that guy's boring. He's entertaining. and I think what makes it work is, yeah, maybe it's a little pro wrestling in the MMA world, but, I mean, it works. You know, it's fun. And I think the bottom line is entertaining. People want to see him fight, win, lose or draw. He knows that. He's a smart businessman.

I think there's a lot of guys out there that are now kind of picking up on that. So I think the MMA landscape is constantly evolving and constantly changing, and that's something I think you're going to see a lot more of. The Diaz brothers, awesome. awesome, you know, and I think Nick said it after he fought Serroney. He was like, hey, I hope you're not mad at all that stuff. I said, that's just for TV. Yeah, finally, some guys are getting it.

I think it's fantastic. It's entertaining. So we in the MMA community like to talk about how, you know, pro wrestling can learn from MMA these days. But do you think that MMA can learn something from pro wrestling? That if more people look at what Chale is doing and the response that he has received from the media and the fans, more guys should be doing this stuff. Why not put yourself out there?

As long as you can perform and deliver, who cares? Well, that's the main thing. You know, talk as much smack as you want. You've got to back it up. Will more guys do it? I don't know. I don't know. Certainly not as well as Chale.

He's very dynamic in that respect. But, you know, I think guys like the Diaz brothers, anybody that says they put a black eye on the sport with their, you know, their antics or their shenanigans, I think people really need to take a look at that because what it does is it highlights the sport as a whole. And, you know, I don't think anybody, He's really doing anything to disparage the MMA community. I mean, that's what people talk about.

When you mention Michael Bisping, what do you think about? You think about him spitting on the mat against Rivera. You think about the Diaz brothers, and you think about Chale and all these guys that are talking trash. And I think you make more money when people are talking about you. And there's no such thing as bad publicity. It is very clear that you're a big MMA fan. you've just dropped some little nuggets here.

How do you have time? I mean, I always hear about wrestlers being on the road 300 days a year. How do you have time to keep up with all this? Well, the one thing that you fear the most, the Internet, I think, is the... It's a scary place, right? It is a very scary place. I'm terrified of the Internet as well. Twitter.

All right, back on the MMA hour. That was my conversation with CM Punk back in January of 2012 before. any aspirations of him becoming an MMA fighter route before he left WB. And now here we are four and a half years later. And we know that he's going to fight at UFC 203 September 10th in Cleveland, Ohio against that man. That's his opponent. The answer has fine, excuse me, the question has finally been answered. Mickey Gall is the man who will be fighting CM Punk in his debut.

Mickey, how are you? Great. Thank you for joining us. Of course. My pleasure. So you're in New York every Monday. Yes. What were you doing here?

I was got the Hens of Gracie Academy. with John Donnerhurst class getting a bunch of good roles in tough guys like Namar Gracie, Gordon Ryan who just won EBI, Gary Tone, and a bunch of, you know, Sapon-A-Tal. It was a bunch of tough guys of there. Yeah, great training. Have you been doing this for the last few months or is it just... Yeah, actually Randy Brown, who I was on the show with. That's right. He brought it up and I was like, yeah man, I'd like to, you know, just to diversify the training and get high-level partners. Me and him work together a lot of there. It's great. I love it. It's one of the best rooms I think in the world. Really? Yeah. Okay. I have a lot to talk to you

about obviously. Yes. First off, when you see Mr. Punk over there, when you see the end, like, what goes through? Because you've been thinking about him for so long now. What do you think, like as the guy who's about to fight him? Man, I'm just happy. It's, it's official now and it's going to happen. There are times where everybody's telling me, you know he's not going to fight you, right? Everybody was telling me that. And so, you know, getting into it, like hearing him say it, it's a very, it's like a weight off my shoulders. Like, it feels great. I'm happy when I see him. You know what I mean? Like, I'm excited to fight them. So, so did you believe that as well? Did you believe that there was a chance this fight might not come to fruition? I believe it was going to happen.

Okay. Whether I was just being optimistic or not, but, you know, hearing everyone else say, otherwise, you know, put a little doubt in my mind, but, you know, now it's happening. So I, I would always say, no, no, I'm telling you, man, he's going to fight me. Everything I hear is going to fight me. And now he's healthy. And so, yeah, in Cleveland. It has to feel good that you don't have to, like, beat around the bush when asked, when are you going to fight him? Is he going to fight? You now have a date, right? That has to feel like a major weight lift off your shoulders. Yeah, absolutely. Because everyone, when I keep being like, I think 199, oh, now I think 200, summer, summer. And now September 10th. Right. So it's like Cleveland. Cleveland. Are you surprised?

Not really. It's kind of a random place. I would have assumed Vegas, but I like Cleveland. They just won the championship, you know, Steepay, heavyweight championship on that fight. And, you know, he's a Chicago guy. That's right. So I figured it Midwest made sense. Will you be on the pay-per-view? Do you even know where you'll be? Yes, I absolutely believe so, yeah. Okay. Was it frustrating? Like, because at first you were kind of pushing for 200, right? Yeah. You put out the poster and all that stuff. Are you annoyed that it's not happening in a week or so? I'm not annoyed. I would have, would have liked to have. fall, I would have liked to, you know, if it was $1.99, 200, whatever. I would have been happy. I'm just, I'm happy where I am. I'm fine to wait out of summer. I'm just, I'm just getting better every day, you know? If you were still fighting on the local circuit, okay, so you fought your debut as in November.

Yeah. Your next fight was February. Yes. So that's a, that's a pretty good time frame. You probably would not have waited if you were healthy. Heck no. Right? How many fights do you think you would have had between February and September? February and September. I'd be at least four or no. Okay. By then. Is that frustrating, like, that you could have had more reps? Yeah, but I've also seen guys who have been, you know, doing that grind, fighting locally and are 15 fights in and haven't gotten the call for whatever reason.

A guy like, that I've trained for a while, Sean, Chorri Rock Santella. He's had over, he's had like 17 fights and beating everyone, number one rank guy, hasn't gotten a UFC yet. So, you know, I saw the path at that night just to get my foot into the door. That's the only reason I said his name. It's not like, I barely knew who Sam Punk was before. You know? I saw the path, so I was trying to get into UFC. That's the goal of, you know, MMA fighters. That's the top level. Yeah. Did you ever think for a second or have any conversations

about, look, I don't want to wait. Give me someone else in the interim and then we'll figure it out afterwards. Was that ever discussed? No. No. That'd be stupid. Okay. It'd be a short-term, like, decision for me. Obviously, Sam Punk, that's a money fight. There's a reason they called the lottery ticket. It'd be silly for me to go fight someone else. And now I'm, like, I'm already a big thing. favorite, I guess, and people are acting like he's a joke, I'd be, I'd be three and no now, rather than just being two and oh, you know, it'd be, you know, it's funny you say that because I just got an email while we were doing this show, um, that you are a minus 300 and he is a plus 265. This is according to props PR. Yeah. Oh, Bovada. So they're, they're obviously very reputable. Are you

surprised that that's the line? Do you think that's, that's, that's accurate? It should be more. Should be less? Um, I'm going to say, you know, more, but, you know, it's, it's fine. It's Yeah. It's fine. I like it. Maybe my friends can make a little more money. There is a case to be made. You've had three amateur fights? Three, yes. Two pro. There is a case to be, and you're 24. Yes. He's late 30s. No amateur fights, no pro. There is a case to be made that you're more experience than him, that this is actually a mistake by the UFC, right? That you should not be fighting him. Do you know what I'm saying? No. What do you mean? I agree that I am more experienced in him, but what do you mean a mistake? Because if you're investing this much in CN Punk and maybe they only want him for one fight, Maybe the goal is to build someone like you off of him.

Someone who has five fights under his belt, who's 13 or so years younger than him, who hasn't gone through the back surgeries and all that, you can make the case that it's a mismatch. Yeah, I see what you mean. Are you surprised that you're the guy and it's not some 38-year-old, you know, part-time, whatever, who's fighting, you know, like what Hershal Walker fought in Strike Force, if you recall. He was not fighting guys like you. Yeah.

You know what I mean? I guess so. I think I was the right place or the right time. I don't know if I was what they were, looking for for him. You know, everyone's talking about the Green Power Ranger and stuff like that. That's right. I think, you know, maybe I changed their mind that night. Maybe they saw me in, at least the plan should be now to build a young fighter. Sure. With me. But maybe before they're looking to put on a close fight and, you know, someone more like him, like a 38 year old, 35 year old,

something like that. That's what I thought. Yeah, that's what I thought. The injuries, all that, the back surgery, you know, you finding out about that literally days after your fight. After he picked you up. After he picked you up. It was all my fault, right? You're not one of those trolls online, are you? How did you react to that? Because you think after that Saturday night in Vegas, all right, you know, this is going to happen. And then you find out about back surgery. What was your reaction? Initially, like I had that stomach drop. I was like, because again, all the text feel like,

oh, sorry, man, fights not happening now. Like everyone thinks they know. But, you know, I also, at the same time, I can appreciate him not. not going out there and it would have taken away from the moment of that fight. If he had been like, hey guys, he's about the fight, but I'm also getting back surgery. So, you know what I mean? So, you know, I'm not mad at him for that. I get it. If he, if he needed to get the surgery, he need to get the surgery. Whatever he needs to do to face me in the cage, I'm, you know, I'm fine with. Do you feel like some momentum has been lost in all of this when you think back to the big? Were you even aware of it when he came out at UFC 181 and made the announcement?

I'd heard. I don't, I don't remember. I think I was a, I was a, aware of the Sampunk thing, I guess more recently. Okay. So when he made the announcement, it was all over the place, ESPN's talking about all that stuff.

And then when this fight gets announced, of course, it's almost two years later. Yeah. It's obviously not covered as much. Definitely lost a little momentum. Yeah. No doubt.

Are you bummed about that or do you feel like once he fights it will pick up? Yeah, I'm hoping we can, you know, whatever's ahead of us for this summer.

I hope we can build it back up. They're doing some sort of four part or so series on him. Are you going to be featured at all in that? I am. They came and filmed in Jersey in Greenbrook. Rory Carf, the first of film, he said, yeah, you guys know.

Yes, he likes the name dropping me a lot. Yeah, he's a great guy. Yeah, he's cool, he's cool. He, you know, he did a great job. He does all looking for the fights. He does a great job with those. And yeah, so he's out. There's going to be, I think it's going to be in August.

Okay, that's coming out. Yeah. Do you know where it's airing? Where? Yeah. Maybe Fox Sports 1, something like that. Okay. It's obvious that you're very confident going into this fight.

based off of what you're saying in interviews. You think it's going to go rather quickly and you're going to be dominant. And I'll ask you about that in a second. But deep down inside, is there a respect there for the guy that, you know, he could have probably bowed out from this whole experience and experiment

a few months ago. Back surgery, he's been through a lot. Like, you respect the fact if he gets in the cage, yeah, you're going to beat him, you think, yeah, you want to, you know, take whatever's his and build your name. But you respect the fact that this guy who has no experience.

I have total respect for it. Okay. I respect them from, the standpoint of he makes himself something great in one sport. You know, you have to respect that greatness. You have to respect the, you know, the superstar and all the things he's done. He's accomplished things. A self-made guy. Totally respect him.

And he's going to do me a big favor. You know what I mean? He's done me a big favor. Sure. And taking this fighting to me, he shows him in the cage of me. He'd do me a huge favor. Right. That being said, though, you think this is going to last like a minute or so?

Nah, probably a little longer than that. Okay. I think I'll take him out in the first round But, you know, I'll be ready to go five I'm training for him as if he's the champ You know, baddest guy in the world How do you see it going out, going down? Hit him hard, drop him, either pound him out

Or tap him out So somewhat like the Mike Jackson fight? Very similar. Really? Yeah, I think it'll be a little longer, but very similar to that. Will you make it go longer? No, no, you're not that kind of guy? No, I go in there to get the job done, you know.

You know, you feel that big relief after. I'll be looking to get the job done. Are you somewhat looking forward to getting over with this whole thing and not being the CM Punk guy anymore and just being a guy on the roster? Yeah, I don't want to be the same punk guy. The only reason I said his name was to get my foot in the door. Like I said before, I've seen people who haven't been able to. So then I got my foot in the door, the Jackson fight, kind of kick the door down.

Yeah. Now I'm a stomp around a living room with him. And then, yeah, I want to, you know, I want to climb. I want to climb the stairs. and I want to have the belt. I plan to have the belt. I got the impression that week in Las Vegas when you fought Mike Jackson

that you were sort of uncomfortable being grouped with this guy. Like you felt like he wasn't on your level. You didn't like his shenanigans. Mike Jackson. Okay. Him showing up to the press conference asking you a question.

Like in the back of your mind you were like... I didn't like that man. I put me in a move when I saw him get up there. Yeah, I saw you. I saw the look on your face. Why did it bother you? Did you not appreciate him kind of playing this dual role in the whole thing?

Because I felt like you were taking yourself very seriously. This is the beginning of your UFC career. You're not some side show. Yeah, I don't want to be a side show, you know. I didn't like that he came and asked me a question. I understand he's got, you know, another agenda. He's trying to promote himself.

Yeah, I didn't love it, but it's okay. Why did it bother you? Because it just takes away from, it took away from it. If you're, I'm there to be a fighter. I'm not there to be a journalist or, you know, I would have liked my opponent to be the same thing. Okay. You know, be there to fight. That's, do you feel like it sort of came across like he wasn't taking the whole thing seriously?

Um, I'm sure he took it seriously, but yeah, it could come across that way. Yeah. What was it like being in the cage with punk, seeing him? It was cool. Yeah, it's cool. I never, you know, I was, I was, I was, I was a wrestling fan. I was a stonecoldy of Austin guy. You were? Yeah. So were you an actual wrestling fan? Yeah, when I was little. Okay. Yeah. And, you know, high school. That whole era. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The rock. I didn't really like the rock then. I like

Stone Cold. You were a Stone Cold guy. Yeah. Yeah. Giving the middle finger to people, stunners. Yeah. Why were you a rock? Why were you a Stone Cold guy? I don't know. Just dug him. You just done? Yeah, I don't know why. Anti-authority. Yeah. You know, goes up to his boss. Yeah, give him double fingers.

Yeah. Were you that kind of kid? No. No. Were you a troublemaker growing up? Not really, no. Nothing. No.

Never gone in trouble? No. You started boxing around 13? Yeah. That was your first introduction to martial arts? Yeah, I played like all the sports. And I'd box Saturdays like early. I'm like my dad would drive me at like 6 a.m.

Wow. Why so early? Before he had work and, you know, I played sports during the week. Well, your dad worked on Saturdays? Yeah. He's a chiropractor. My dad's like the hardest working guy in the world. Okay.

I get my work ethic from him. He busts his butt. Like he's, like he works from eight to seven. He'll take a break in the middle, but like eight to seven most days of the week. Is he working seven days? He doesn't work on Sunday. Okay. What does he think of his son doing this ultimate fighting?

He loves it now. Oh, he likes it. Now? Yeah, well, I mean, I'm sure he's scared him at first. He's always been very supportive. Both of my parents have been. Yeah, my dad, he was a football player. So he was like, grew up an athlete.

You tried out for the Giants and stuff. Wow. Yeah. Didn't make it. A tight end. No. Where do you go to school? The year they won the Super Bowl.

So you know it was a top notch team. Which one? What do you mean? Oh, 86. 86. Okay. Bill Parcellus. He's a scrap with Lawrence Taylor and stuff.

Wow. Holy moly. I hope he wasn't partying with Lawrence Taylor. No, no, no, no, not like that. Because he's a notorious party. Yeah. What school did he go to? He went to Trenton State, college in Jersey now.

Okay. You went to Rutgers? Yes. Communications degree. Yes. So you wanted to be a journalist? I wanted to get a degree. Okay.

Was that the easiest one? Yeah. Man, I would practice two times a day in college. Okay. I'd get up in the morning. I'd drive to AMA Fight Club. Oh, yeah. I'd do like their pro class with like Jim Dan Miller, a bunch of, you know, tough.

Mike Contentino or Charlie Brennam. Yeah. A lot of tough guys up there. Then I go back, I'd like shower real quick, go to class, and I go to Jiu-Jitsu at night at Grace New Jersey. Wow. Which is still like my main school. I've been there since I was 16 under David Adiv.

Okay. And so this is when you're, in school. That was, that's, that's, I basically got a degree in MMA. That's what I, that's what I did. You know, I did enough to get by class. Okay. Did you graduate? I did, four years. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Communications. Like, what are you learning there? Like, is it writing? Is it TV, stuff, radio? No, not, not really TV or radio. It's just, it's more, yeah, yeah, yeah, something like that. But you had no interest in doing that. No. I wanted to fight. Was it, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, you know, I wanted to get, you know, I wanted to get a degree. It was

important, it was important to my, it was important to my family. Okay. So, yeah. So, so you, so you, but you, but you were doing the bare minimum just to get by? Yes. Did they know that? They knew what I was doing, but they were like, look, put in the work. You know, they wanted me to put in the work. They understood where I was coming from. Because there was, you know, discussion where I was like, I just want to train.

That's all I want to do. Yeah. And they were like, but you need, you know, anything could happen. Sure. Tear out your knee, lose a leg, whatever. You know, you need to agree. So why did you turn pro so late? Just because of school.

You couldn't fight while you were in school? I did. I did my senior year. but I just, I wanted to be very prepared. Okay. For what I was, you know, I didn't want, no doubt. I wanted, uh, my jiu-jitsu, I became very good at first because I started at 16. And then I, you know, I picked up my striking around 19.

Okay. And I really picked up on it. And then, uh. So was boxing first at 13? Yeah. Not extremely consistently. Okay. And was this all with the goal in mind?

And by the way, you're sweating a lot. I know, I just, you know, I barely stop sweating out. Yeah, I know. I like it's very hot in here, by the way. Yeah. You're wearing... Yeah, man, I'm like, look at you. Oh, you don't swear.

But when you... So are you doing this with the goal in mind to become a fighter? 100%. When I started jujitsu at 16, at... Boxing, I was doing that because I like boxing. I like the fighting. I like the, you know, the rough stuff. Did you ever want to become just a boxer?

I thought about it. I was going to be a football player then. That was your thing. Yeah. I was like having my football team and stuff. But then once I started doing jujitsu, I was like, this is the best. Who introduced you to jitsu?

You know, I would watch a UFC. I'd watch the guys who end up training with like Jim and Dan Miller, who, you know, Jim's got a fight coming up to 200. Yep. I'd watch them. And then I, you know, I was like, I think I could do this. I like this. I could do this. So then my dad found the jiu-jitsu place, which is Grace New Jersey.

Near where you live. Yeah, it's like 30 minutes for me. Okay, okay. Yeah. And so did you have anyone in your family that was into martial arts or you were just a fan? Yeah. What about your friends? What are they saying?

I wouldn't be hanging out as much because I'd always be going out to Jiu Jets and stuff Were they upset about this? A little bit What are they saying now those losers No my important friends You know stuck around My friend Kevin is in the other room

We came up here with me today You know Yeah You'd lose touch because I'm not going out I'm out in high school I wasn't going out You know drinking I was like what party

Everyone wants a party What are we celebrating? You know I want to Interesting Yeah So at what point you have the vision and the goal in mind that you're going to go to the UFC?

When does that start to come into play? Once I started jiu-jitsu, I took to it right away. Holy-Molli-Molli. Yeah, that's what I wanted to do. That's amazing. Yeah. It took you eight years to get there. Yeah.

And amazingly, you get in through this sort of... Got him fast. Yeah. Yeah. What did you really think, though? Like, I need 10 fights. Did you have a plan in place? I figured I'd have to beat up like five or six guys.

Okay. I figured I'd do it impressively, and I'd make, you know, I'd make myself known through my my fighting style and, you know, just, just, you know, just make myself known through my fights and then, you know, five, six guys, the normal route in the UFC, be five, six, no. So you have this debut in November. When do you find out that Dana White's going to be there? I found out about a month before. I was fighting for dead serious MMA. Yeah. And Frankie Perez, the father of Frankie Perez would fall in the UFC, it think he was on your show last week. Yeah, last week. He's back. It's back. I know. That's what I told him before when we were doing the

interview on. I'm like, man, why did you retire, bro? We love watching. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, you know, Jersey guys. Right. You know. But, so yeah, he called me about a month before. And I'd already had a couple opponents fall out. So I was nervous. I was like, oh, man, here's another opponent pulling out.

I had trouble getting fights. Okay. Because your reputation? I think so. Yeah. And just, you know, people don't want, there's a lot of people who don't want tough fight fights surprisingly. Yeah.

You know? Maybe not so surprisingly. Yeah. But I think if you're like going to be a fighter, be a fighter. Yeah, of course. You know, fight, be ready to fight anyone. So you get the call that he's coming. Got the call he's coming.

Frank yeah Frankie Perez called me and immediately as I got off the phone I was like Who's the only guy in the US I could fight? How can I make the most of this? Oh, CM Punk He's owning it you so this was the plan to try to take a shortcut Yeah, I was like how can I what am I gonna do to how can I get in how can I use this to my advantage They don't want it's probably not gonna be at my next fight or my next fight sure sure it's crazy I mean yeah so I'm gonna say CM Punk's name I'll say you know did you consider anyone else Nah I you know knowing that would be serious sure you know everyone else, like if I, if I say someone else, the records are too unalike. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a 1-0 and an O

and no, that's a like record. Sure, sure, sure. Me and Sam Punk, you know, we can fight. That's, that's why. That's the only reason why I said his name. The only reason why I'm the same punk guy now. And a month out, so you have that plan, but you have to win the fight. Yeah. Did you see him in the crowd when you're fighting? Dana? Yeah. No. I didn't see him before in. Interesting. No, I was like, when I was doing the pose of the thing, I was kind of circling around. I didn't know where he was. So there's a chance he was a chance. Yeah, there's a chance. And did you feel super nervous? And Like, you got, the big boss is supposedly in the house. Yeah.

You have this plan to call out, you know, the guy that everyone's calling out. Were you super nervous in the locker room? I always get a little nervous. Okay. It's actually funny. I don't think I talked about this, but Frankie Perez came up to me before it, a senior. And it was like, hey, everyone get out. Mickey, I got something to tell you.

Oh. And he was like, I was like, I was like, he like, call me in the room. And I was like, and he was like, you're ready? I got some big news for you. And I was like, you know what? Just let me do my thing. and tell me after. Okay.

And I think he was going to tell me they're looking for like a 170-pounder. You know, but I could tell it was something that's just going to put the pressure on more. So I was like, just don't tell me, let me do my thing out there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, well, there's nothing you can tell me

that's going to change what I'm, what I should do. You know what I mean? I already had a plan in mind. So, yeah, you just reminded me about it. And did he tell you afterwards what it was? Yeah, that they were looking for a 170-pounder. For punk? He didn't say for punk.

Okay. They said they were looking for a 70-pounder. And I was like, I'm one and I was probably not going to be me. I didn't think anything was going to get made of that. Yeah. I didn't know until the Condit rule, who is it? Yeah. Condit Lawler, yeah.

Condit Lawler fight that there, you know, I saw myself, I was watching my dad and I saw myself on the screen. And we were like, what? We were around it like five times. Really? Yeah, we were like, we, I had no clue. I didn't think. They didn't give you the heads up?

Not a word. But you talked with Dana backstage. No, I only spoke with him leaving the cage. I leaned over. I was like, hey, man. I'm one and no, punk's O&O, that's a like record. We could do that. Yeah, yeah.

And that was it. I like where your mind's at. That was it. I always wondered if they did some like reverse editing there where they talked, where him and Matt Sarah were talking about you after because they were like, oh, this is good. Let's just fake it. From what you understand, it was all legit?

As far as I know. Yeah. So then you're sitting there watching UFC 195, I think it is, and you see yourself pop up. Yeah. And then so then when, like, how do you find out that you're in the running here? I, you know, after that, we were wound it like 10 times. You must have been freaking out. Yeah, it was crazy.

I'm just watching with my dad. Like, we were like, you know. So, yeah, we, you know, I, like, I even went up to, and I, like, recorded on my phone. That's crazy. Look, I'm on the U.S. You know, I figure it's going to be several years. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Holy shit.

Were you, like, did you have friends around you? Or was it just your friend? Yeah, my girlfriend, Seanna, she got over right after that happened. We still had to, like, paused and we're rewinding. Oh, my God. So did you reach out to the U.S. or you just sit, like. I started, that Monday, I believe, I got on Twitter. Twitter and started being like, hey, Sam Punk, I'm free in July.

But at that point, no one's reaching out to you. You go to bed that night, not a word. With no answers to your questions, you reach out to Rory? No. I just, I got on Twitter. I asked Sam Punk. There had been like some, I think it was like Reddit and stuff. We're like, that's the guy who was saying Sam Punk, blah, blah, blah.

So yeah. And when do you find out? Like when do you get the call? I think it was like a Saturday. I remember I was in Miller Brothers. And I heard, I was hearing from some legacy guys about me possibly fighting there. And then off that, if I win or something, they didn't want to see me fight again. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then it turned into me fighting someone in the UFC. And then, so I guess my dad and Dana somehow got in contact. Okay. I think Mike Constantino put it, hit up Joe Silva and Silva and my dad. And then Dana and my dad got in contact. And that Saturday, I remember I was in Miller brothers with Rich Petitsch Knock and Jim Miller. And we were sitting there. And I was asking Jim, like, how should I play?

which I do here. And then he, I got a call from my dad. He's like, hey, get ready. You're fighting at, uh, it was going to be 196. The Verdome turned into a fight night. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's like, hey, you're fighting in like three weeks. Were you okay with that?

Were you okay? Like, did you, were you kind of hoping that your next fight would be punk and you didn't have to go through that extra step? No, I was, I was happy to earn it. I didn't want to, you know, I was happy to go in there and earn it. I was happy to fight in the UFC. That's what I wanted, you know, it didn't matter. I just wanted.

USA. Yeah, it's crazy. And what about like just your social life now? Like, because you're the punk guy and it's going to ramp up as you know, you're going to get as much attention as any fight on that card, even the heavyweight title fight. Are people coming out of the woodwork? Are those people that sort of forgot about you? Like, what's it like? No, man, people are cool. Everyone's nice. Yeah? Yeah. No, no crazy. I feel like there are some people. You just don't want to put them on blast. No, man. Did you get a new girlfriend now or something? Not same one. Yeah. She's right over there too. You can't, oh, that's bad. All right. You know, because you don't want to be that guy.

No. You know, now that you're Mr. UFC, you know, you're one and O. Yeah. I also have my sister over there. You saw her coming and take the picture before. She kicked her butt if I, yeah. Christopher Tishnock slept in. He slept in?

Yeah, he's a baby. World Series of Fighting. World Series of Fighting. Yeah, you know. This could have been his chance. Yeah, I know. We're going to make fun of him later. So he's not here.

No, not here. We had him on the list. Yeah, we had him on the list. Yeah, he's a big baby, man. He sleeps. You, you train with him? Yeah, that's all of my best friends. Oh, okay.

He's a great guy. came 5D. Yeah, yeah. We drive in the city. We have a nice day. We go get some food. Wow. Yeah.

You make a whole day out of it. Yeah. What's going on at AMA? Does it even exist? Yeah. It does exist. The fight team is disbanded. Okay.

Jonathan Helwig is in charge. Well, it's Mike Constantino's still. Oh. Sometimes I go in there and I, uh, with Brian McLaughlin, me and him do some technique like once a week in there. You know, are you familiar Brian? I've heard of him. He's always in Jim's corner.

Yeah, yeah. Good guy's been, you know, helped me out, diversifying my game a little bit. but yeah it's a little smaller it's not the powerhouse it was okay um man there was a great there was there's one of the best teams why did it disband uh i think you know um mike was was trying to wear you know too many hats he had to see it he's he's running c f fc which is one of the best regional promotions uh you know around yeah a lot of tough guys like felder charlie a bunch of guys have to come through there um yeah i think that was you know it was tough Sometimes it would be small practices.

It just didn't work out. What's it like when you're in the gym with younger guys who are trying to make it in the UFC who've been doing this for several years, who have 10 fights under their belt? Do you feel some jealousy, some animosity? People have been cool to me. I'm sure there's some of that. And I can't, you know, I think it's kind of a weak move, you know. Like, I think losers are going to get jealous.

Winners, you know, they'll just get inspired by, you know, me being not only, I was lucky. I was lucky, but I also said the right thing at the right time. Sure. You know, that looking at it realistically. So I can understand people being jealous, but I still think it's weak, you know? I think winners would rather, I see like a lot of my guys with me, they're all inspired. They're like, it shows them that we, yeah, we can all, we're all going to get there. So when you go to like a gray seed, do you find that people go extra hard with you, try to tap you, try to be.

Sometimes. Is that annoying? Nah, it's, it's okay. You call them out? No. You don't. We just rule. I, you know. You tap them back.

They can come out hard. Yeah, they can come out hard. Yeah, they can go hard back. You can tell when someone's trying to... Yeah, but I got to say, man, most people are cool. They are? Okay. Like, I remember going with, like, Jim when I was young, and I'm sure people would do that with Jim Miller. You know, I know people would be like, oh, they want to be able to go tell their friends.

I got to tap on Jim Miller. And I'd always, when I was going to gym, I'd make sure I was going, you know, smooth and not rolling like a dick. Right, right, right. Of course, yeah. He's fighting July 9th against Takenori. Go home. Are you going to that fight? I don't know.

I don't think so. You got things to do. I don't think so, yeah. Yeah, I don't think I am as far as I know. You used to, I was reading your UFC bio, used to be a landscaper. I did landscape, yeah. Landscaping and you drove a truck. A bread truck.

A bread truck, truck driver. Like, like delivery? Yeah, I delivered to like pathmarks and shop rights and stuff all overnight. How long ago was that? I retired from that like a year ago. Okay, not that long ago. No. Do you have another job now while you're doing this?

This, I teach, I teach Jiu-Soo. Okay, that's how you make extra money. Yeah. Because it's going to be seven months, between fights and you're on that debut contract you got to make money yeah you didn't consider going back to the landscaping well what did that i did that when i was young like in high school and stuff oh okay but the bread truck i did that all through college i would feed ruckers all the extra bread i'd i'd go drop it off in my friend's doors and stuff wow yeah so so what you just

collected it on your own or that was part of the job there's some leftovers sometimes uh like i'd drive and i'd drop some here i drop like i drop it all through the night i'd go to work at like 7.30 and then I finished my route. PM? Yeah. Oh wow. I get home at like 6. A.m.? Yeah. I go to Howell, New Jersey to Newark. And I finish down by LBI. Wow. And you're by yourself. By myself.

How are you not falling asleep? I'm good like that. A lot of coffee too. A lot of coffee. I don't fall asleep. Because I was driving yesterday. I was in Montreal coming back home and it's like two in the afternoon and I'm falling asleep. Yeah, you're like my mom. So boring. So what are you doing? You're just chilling out Yeah, drink coffee, blasting music. When did you retire? Like, why did you say this is, this is no way? I started teaching at Jim and Dan's school.

Oh, okay. I was teaching the kids' classes there. And then after, you know, I did that for about a year with, like, their kids. They're adorable. They're so fun. Oh, their own kids. Yeah, their own kids are in it. Like, yeah.

Yeah, Jim and Dan's kids are in the class. I love them. Those are great kids. Okay. You know, I love Jim and Dan. Yeah. Yeah. They're like, like, role models to me, big, you know, guys I've looked up to you for yours.

Real, real man's man. Heck it. Right? Heck it. Like these guys go out there and they hunt and they make their own beer. Yeah. And they've got massive mustaches and stuff what Jim does. Do you still train with them?

Yep. Because I, correct me if I'm wrong here. Everyone, including myself, I was at fault for this. Like we attach you to Jim and Dan, but you were kind of hoping that your other coaches get the love and respect. My main academy is Grace New Jersey. Okay. It's under David Adiv, who's just a phenomenal guy and jujitsu coach. You know, Hicks and Grace, you call him.

the brain. The brain? Yeah. He called him that? Yeah. He's a great. He called him the brain. Just because he's a thinker. He's smart. He's smart. He sees things. I think he sees things differently than most people, you know. Any other fighters come up through him or the gym? One that you will definitely know is L.J. Roboli. Okay. Yeah. He's a, he's 21 now. And he's a stud. He's like my main training partner. John Romero is a heavyweight. Just won a heavyweight belt. Yeah. So on your Instagram. You're with them. Yeah. Yeah. A bunch of tough guys, man. A lot of the rich, you know, Rich train's there, Chris Gratlow, a bunch of dollars. Will you train with Jim and Dan for this fight?

Yeah, yeah, you know, lately it's been tough. The times, like, I'd go up there, Dan's now back trained and hard. Dan's going to be looking for a fight soon. No pun intended. Yeah, looking for a fight, right? Every time I say that. So, yeah, I definitely want to get up there.

And, you know, I've been able to train with Jim as much for this camp, but size-wise, it, you know, it doesn't make sense. Sure. But if, you know, I'll definitely be getting some work in with Jim and Dan soon. Speaking of that, I mean, you're not really training for an opponent. in other than maybe knowing his size because you have no idea what you can do right no have you seen any footage of him at all i've seen him like jabbing right um i seen him like doing like a little bit of jiu jitsu but you you've never seen him spar no nothing i don't need to i'm you know i'm you know

i'm just gonna force my game right you know i i is it weird at all that he's a complete unknown or is that kind of like i guess two or three of my amateur fights are like that you don't know who these guys are right yeah so it is kind of it's kind of like the the the path of the regional fighter you don't know who you're fighting. This is no different other than that. The higher levels, yeah, you train for like a particular opponent. Right. But it's nice because I'm just working broadly on getting my skills better. Do you think this will be one and done for him? I don't know. I think there's still money to be made with him. Like, you know, big star, big, big name. Do you want it to be one? Do you want to be the only guy to fight him? Ah, I don't know. I want him to, he could do what he wants to do after.

I think I might, you know, sour the experience for him a little bit. Right. You know, I got to, this is what I do. I got to go in there and, you know, be as violent as possible and, you know, hurt him. But, you know, if he still wants to get a little retribution after, then, you know, he can do whatever he likes, yeah. You're not expecting a rematch. No, heck no. No.

You kind of want to, you're going to move on. Yeah, I'd like to, like I said, if I, you know, I want to be a champion. I want to be a UFC champion. Even though you will have been, you'll be 3 and O after this fight, right, if you win, or when you win. Yeah, exactly. Is there a big gap between you and the rest of, you know, the, obviously we're not going to compare you to a Wonderboy Thompson. That's just not fair to you or him. But how far, like when you see the division and you start, you know what I mean? Because everyone's going to call you for the longest time, the CM Punk guy. Yeah. Will that be unfair? Do you feel like you're further along? I don't think I'll be, I'm going to, you know, I'll be, I'll be Mickey Gall then. I'm seeing a punk guy right now. I get that. And you're okay with that. But you want to be pushed quickly?

Yeah. Yeah, I want to go. Okay. I'm ready to go. I feel good, feel strong. You know, everything feels great. I'm ready to go. This, you know, I expected this in maybe a year or two. Okay. We're fighting the UFC. It's here now and I'm training doggedly for that.

Is it kind of crazy to find out about the fight via podcast? Yeah. Did you listen to it? Yeah, we were talking the night before. Yeah. I did listen to it. I had no idea. No one gave you the heads up.

No. They need to start giving you heads up with these things. I mean, you find out on 195 podcast. They pretty much know that you're down. I think so. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you know I'm going to be there. So, I will admit, I did not, I did not hear it the podcast. Did he talk smack about you? No, man. No, he was, he was, he was nice. He doesn't, you know, say much about me or my name, but that's okay. Okay. Yeah. He seems, honestly, everyone acts like this guy's a dickhead. Yeah. He's been very respectful, very cool. He's a nice guy I've seen. Yeah. It's funny because you were, there's a part of you that reminds me a little bit of a Roy McDonald. My sister says that. Really? Yeah. Interesting. Why does she say that? I don't know.

You got to ask her. Because he's the Canadian psycho to me. Super nice guy, very respectful. You're a little more outgoing, but I feel like there's sort of like a dark place somewhere in your mind. Yeah. Because you use words like violent and things like that. And I feel like you're actually thinking these things.

Like, is it fair to say that you're kind of like a bit of a dark, not a freak? No, I like to hit people though. Like even just the way you said that is a little psycho-esque. I don't think I'm a psycho, but I'll take it, man. Sounds cool. I'm a big fan of Roorda McDonald's, so. You have this little switch. I appreciate the comparison.

You have this switch. Yes. That's fair. Yeah, absolutely. People have said this about you. Yeah. It's interesting. Yeah.

I just, I don't know. I feel like there is a case, not to say that I'm trying to take it away, but I feel like there is a case for this now being, I don't know, with the injuries and everything. It wasn't, you're not the kind of opponent that I was expecting them to put him up against. I was expecting, you remember when Hershal Walker, did you remember Herschel Walker fighting in? Hell yeah. He was fighting like 38-year-old, you know, fire. And that's not really UFC, and I respect the fact that because they can now build you and push you and do a lot with you. But I have to say, I'm surprised.

Yeah. You know? Yeah, I'm too. I remember, like, when the first little thing came out there, like, my coaches were like, it's probably not going to be you, dude. Carmelo Morero, one of my, um, that's right. Yeah. He was like, they're not going to get you. You're too good.

They're not going to put you in for this. Sorry. Yeah. You know, and it's earned, you know, I'm glad he was wrong about that. All right. Do you have a lot of media stuff playing? Like, what? the next few months. What is it? Two and a half months away. I don't really have much planned.

I just, you know, I gave my, uh, the USC has for my passport, so maybe go in some places, which I'm excited about. I'm going to have to get on a punch drunk podcast this week. Yeah, I saw those guys are mad about you. Look at you giving them to the plug. I love them. Who is that? Check them out. It's, uh, they're, um, three comedians. It's Ari Shafir, Sam Tripoli, and Jason Tebow. These are big names. Yeah, I know Ariz. I've listened to them. Yeah, they're hilarious, man. And they were talking smack that you were coming on my show. They were kidding. They were like, you know, they were like, come on, how are you going to go on Ariel before you get punched on the exclusive?

Wait, because are you buddies with these guys? Yeah, I mean, I listen to their podcast. Oh. I was a, you know, I was a fan. But you've never been on the show before. I have. I have, all right. But yeah, they were trying to throw shade on me.

Nah, man, come on. We like Ariel. All right, fair enough. You asked me if I'm getting in trouble, if I'm staying out of trouble beforehand. I appreciate you looking out, though. Yeah. It's very nice of you. Very kind.

Yeah, man. All right. So the fight is September 10th. It's UFC 203 in Cleveland. in Cleveland, Ohio. I'm assuming you're going to go to Cleveland to do some sort of media day or something. Although the tickets are all pretty much sold out. Is that right?

So maybe there's nothing to do. It was interesting that they announced it, I think it was on Thursday. Tickets went on sale on Friday. And first time there, Steep A, is fighting. I don't think you're going to have to do a lot of promotion. They're going to make you do stuff. But, A, I think it's going to be a lot of him, right? He's going to be doing a lot of the media, naturally.

He's a superstar. Even though what you say that makes me think that you don't truly mean it. No, no, I do meet him. He's a superstar. I'm going to beat him in the cage, though. Sure, sure. Do you, are you worried about anything that he's going to do? Is there anything at all of your... Yeah, because if, you know, I'm training and preparing as if he's the top level guy. I'm training, you know, I've been training two times a day. You're not looking past them.

Heck, no. I'm going to look like an asshole if I get head-keptained by Sam, but you know, can imagine. Anything can happen in there. Do you think you will retire if that happens? No, no, I won't retire. But I won't happen. All right. I promise that won't happen. I, you know.

Does that? I care about this. Do you think about that a lot? Like, do you have nightmares about that? No, no. I don't really. You never creeps into your mind. I don't.

Because in the cage, you just, it's different. You just know, I, I, that shit happens to other people. Sure. That's not happening to me. Wow. You know, I'm not getting caught. Nothing could happen. I'm going to go in there and, you know.

And the other thing that you have in your back pocket is that you've been under the lights in the UFC. I mean, of course, he's, he's competed again. But you've done the whole UFC stick before. You've done the whole thing. So you have that experience that he has an experience as well, which I think is notable, right? I mean, you've gone through it. It was nice. And it was a great experience.

I mean, it was very cool. The fight couldn't have gone better. No. You got that out of the way. The jitters are gone. You know what it's like to be in the octagon. Yeah. That's a huge thing in your favor.

Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Interesting. All right. Well, great to have you in studio. Yeah, man. This was fun. Yeah, we got to do it.

I wanted to have you in for a long time, but I wanted to wait until the fight was actually announced. Yeah. You know, so that we can actually talk about something. And I'm happy that it's happening. I'm happy that people can stop, you know. And I think it's, you know, I think I told you this on the phone. That was the site of his last day with WWE.

Yeah, yeah. I did tell you that, right? Isn't that crazy? Yeah. It's kind of weird. Yeah. Coincidence. He walks out.

Yeah, he walks. You think, you think that was planned? No, I think it was a coincidence. Okay, you did. Walks out of WWE at the queue in Cleveland. And then of all places, the fight's happening in Cleveland. That's bizarre. Yeah.

Maybe more than, to coincidence. Yeah. Strange. Well, best of luck to you, my man. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. There is.

Make a good call. He's fighting UFC 203, September 10th in Cleveland, Ohio against CM Punk. It's happening. Remember the name. This guy's going to be around. I actually took a lot of crap from people when I said that you're going to be, you're going to be in the UFC for a long time. You're not just going to be the CM Punk guy.

You could tell, just seeing how you fight your demeanor and all that stuff, you're not some side show. And that's why I like the fact that they're bringing in someone like you and not someone who's just going to, because that was the problem with Herschel Walker and Kimbo, when they lost to the other guys, or if they would have lost, there was nothing to build off of. You know what I mean? You have to at least plan for plan B.

Yeah. And they clearly are with you. So, um, kudos to you. Good luck in the fight. Thanks for coming in. I appreciate it. Thank you. What pleasure.

Mickey Gall, check them out. UFC 203. Okay, we're going to take a quick break, reconfigure. Still got to answer some questions. And also at around 410, we're going to be joined by Michael Chandler, the brand new Belator Lightway Champion. So stay tuned for that. For now, as we reconfigure the studio, let's take a look back.

and my very first interview with the late Ryan Jimmo, who, as I said at the top of the show, tragically passed away early Sunday morning in Edmonton. This is prior to UFC 149, and then we'll play my post-fight interview with him after his seven-second knockout of Anthony Perroche, also a UFC 149 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. So that's that, and then we'll be back right here on the MAA.

Ariel Hawani in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, alongside Ryan Jimo, who faces Anthony Perosh this Saturday night at UFC 149. And Ryan, welcome to the U. UFC. It took you a while, but you're finally here. How does it feel? It's a fight week. It must feel good, right? It feels very good. Yeah. Excellent. Been waiting a long time for this. I mean, you were supposed to make your debut in January. You were injured and had to pull out of that fight. Why did it take you so long to get back in there? Just the way the cards were set up. You know, they said, hey, all the cards are set for the next little while, so this is when you're going to

fighting, you might as well do it in Calgary. Now, you haven't fought since October of last year. It's been a while. Do you believe in cage rust? Do you think I'll take you some time to get acclimated out there? so. I've gone 10 months before without fighting and then I had one of the best performance of my career. So it's giving me time to evolve and become a better fighter. How about just, you know, the UFC experience, sold out crowd. Of course, you're fighting in Canada. That may be familiar to you, but this is a different ballgame here. Do you expect to feel a little more nervous going into the fight maybe on Saturday afternoon?

Perhaps. But when the door closes, it's only two guys in there, two lines, and you forget everything. I was reading some comments that you made about Anthony Proche. Sounds like you have respect for him. He's a veteran, but you don't quite think that he's at your level. Is that accurate? I think he's very good at Jiu-Jitsu, and I think I'm a better athlete. My stand-up, I think it's superior, and I think he would be outmashed. You've been in this game for quite some time. You lost your first pro fight since then you haven't lost. What has been the secret to your success here to allow you to go on this street? You're kind of like the Henan Burrow of the Light Heavywates. He lost his is pro fight and he hasn't lost since then.

Okay. You know, I just always try to stay humble and that's it. I always think like I'm not very good. You know, all the time, all the time. I'm always scared my skills are not good enough so I work relentlessly to improve them. That's interesting. And what about just for fans that haven't seen you before? Give us a brief sort of synopsis as to who Ryan Jim O is and what he's all about inside the cage.

You don't have to tell us about the outside the cage stuff that may get a little. I really like the word synopsis by the way. That's a great word. Oh, Brown. I'm a karate fighter, you know. I'm more of a test player in the ring as opposed to just an aggressive animal. So that's it.

That's it. That's a pretty good synopsis. Yeah, it's it. And you also train with the Black Zillions. That's right. Although they've evolved from really just being Black Zillions at this point. You got guys like Matt Matrione there, right? Alster Overeem.

I mean, it's really turned into an elite camp. What's that like? You know what? There's just a lot of talent in one roof. And you're in Survivoram World every day. There's no like, you know what, I feel like going in taking it easy. There's not a lot of that there. It's like you're in there and you're in survival mode and you have to fight every day

and where else you're getting a punch lot. You feel as though you are a very different fighter since entering that camp since being a part of those guys. Have they raised your game a bit? They have, they have. Just having that sort of talent level around you all the time and that becomes your norm. You know, before when I first went in that, I was like, okay, these guys are very good, you know? You had to get used to it, you know? But now after a while it becomes your normal.

So if someone else isn't in that, and that's not their normalcy, then they're training at a lower level, then it's being harder for them to bring it up. Final question, I was told and correct me if I'm wrong here, that you are a fantastic robot dancer. Well, that too, but you do the robot very well. I'm excellent at you. Yes.

Do you mind showing us? Because growing up, I used to watch Soul Train. Okay, there you go. Well, pretend we're in the Soul Train line. You remember that show with Don Cornelius? Yeah, yeah. Let's see right here. Do we need the microphone here, or can you do it on your own?

I don't think I need to talk to you. Okay, all right. Here we go. Ryan Jimo going to do the robot for us here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The floor is yours. As long as you want. This is the internet. We can go for days. Yeah. Oh, wow. There it is. Do a little commentary. Whoa. Notice the feet. Wow. That was impressive. The concentration is probably most impressive. Look at the neck.

Wow. No sound effects? Sometimes people do so. Okay, I didn't mean to get you out of your zone there. You were doing good. That's it? Okay, yeah, yeah. Will you do that in the cage if you win or on the way to the cage? Only if you win. You don't get to do it at a victory dance if you don't win. Or maybe on the way to the cage to get the people to say you do the... No.

No. Right. No. He always starts with everyone. Always, I watch, you know, so... Is that an example of me? I'm trying to showcase your talent. I'm surprised.

You haven't taken any jabs yet, so... No jabs. No, he's a good guy thus far. Misunderstood. A little bit. Yeah. I believe so. Well, it is a pleasure.

Until next time. Nice, very nice, yeah, yeah, good luck on Saturday night. Wait, was that a Joan McLeod? What was that guy? Howellon, Joanna McLeod. Now, a lot of people may not know this, but that was a classic 1990s Canadian TV reference that you just dropped on us. About health and fitness and there we are.

Your stock just went up a few notches in my book. Thank you, sir. Congrats. Ariel Halwani post fight at UFC 149 alongside Ryan Jimo, who just tied the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history. And Ryan, you just said to me off camera, You went from being the most boring fighter in the world to getting a piece of the record for the fastest K.O. Do you feel like you just maybe said a big F you at all the haters out there?

Yeah, I guess so, yeah. Yeah. You know, and it looks more impressive, I think, because I used to be so boring and, you know, so all the better. So everything's forgotten, right? Yeah, absolutely. Now, how can you even, like, put all this into words? I mean, your debut, you've been waiting so long for this in your home country, defeating a veteran like that. I mean, can you even really understand what just happened to you right now?

Yeah, I've visualized it for a long time. I knew this was coming, and I know I don't know how that sounds, but I've seen this every day when I close my eyes, so it's not unexpected. You visualize getting the fastest chaos, or at least tying it? No, but putting on very good impression and impressing people with knockouts with an impressive fashion. I said impressive a lot there, didn't I?

Well, you were very impressive. Thank you, I know. And by the way, you know, the first punch, it seemed like it landed flush. Do you think he was out? I kind of think you should get the record for the fastest chaos because it took Josh a little while to get there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, what he said.

I 100% agree what he said. Is there any chance? We're talking to you midway through the card. Is there any chance you didn't get the knockout of the night? I mean, something ridiculous would have to happen. If a spinning hook kick could possibly do it, or no one's listening to this. All the guys in the back starts practicing and spinning out.

Or if they knock someone out faster. So that's it. That would be bananas. That would be absolutely bananas. bananas was your post-fight celebration, but you gave us the sneak peek on Wednesday, but you upped it. I mean, to do that, and then to add the splits. Yeah.

I mean, this is a perfect night for you. It's pretty spectacular. I can't complain, and hopefully it's a good thing. How are you going to celebrate? I'm going to just spend some time with my family, my girlfriend, smoke a cigar, have a beer, and that's it. Congrats, Ryan. Thank you very much.

So there you have it. Really, really hard to watch that. what happened to Ryan Jimmo around early Sunday morning. There's an article up now on MMAfighting.com. I mean, as you can see, a very kind-hearted man. And, you know, there's one thing that I wanted to add about, Ryan, well, actually, before I do that, worth noting that he did, in fact, get the knockout of the night.

If you've never seen that knockout for whatever reason, seven seconds, UFC 149, obviously that's a card that's talked about a lot because of all the injuries. but one of the bright spots, no doubt, his UFC debut, Canadian boy, a seven-second knockout, and then that celebration, walking to the middle of the cage, pulling off the robot, and then hitting the splits and then doing the whole kiss to the crowd. I mean, it was beautiful.

And a guy who was on, what was it, like a 17-fight winning streak, lost his MMA debut in 2007, didn't lose a fight until 2013. So I had a 17-fight winning streak as a result of that win and was sort of, you know, was being called a bit of a boring fighter or stalling fight or whatever, comes into the UFC and knocks out pro-ocean seven seconds and then is just showered with love by the Canadian crowd. A beautiful moment. I'll never forget, you know, the whole robot thing at that media day.

That media day was the one that Hector Lombard was. yelling at me, accusing me of all kinds of crazy stuff. So it was nice to see a friendly face in Ryan Jimo. And as you can see, a man of a few words, but definitely a very warm and friendly fellow. I remember, you know, if you go on his social media, recently he's been talking a lot about the MMAAFA and unions and the Ali Act. I had a lot of respect for Ryan Jimo that prior to his last UFC fight in May of 2015 when he fought Francimar Bahoso, he spoke a lot about these issues in interviews, still a member of the UFC, still under contract, but spoke up about things that were bothering him. And I think that says a lot about him, that he wasn't afraid to speak up

about these things. So again, hopefully this horrible act can be, you know, whoever was involved will be, be found by the police and they're not giving a lot of answers right now, but just a tragic ending to, you know, a young man's life, really, really horrible, really, you know, it was so sad to hear that. So anyhow, I wanted to recall those interviews and look back and want to thank Mickey Gall and his team for stopping by. It was fun to have him in studio. So like I said, in around 30 minutes, we're going to be joined by Michael Chandler. For now, let us talk to our main man, New York, Rick, who is back there unless he's uh oh no there he is how are you sir i'm doing well what about that shirt wow let's see it oh come on the old school championship shirt yeah look at that i got i got love

for that shirt because it reminds me of the uh you know like the 80s laker celtics shirts you went out and bought that huh my buddy uh dr uman sent it dr aman it's not his last name i don't i don't want give out personal details but shout out to amon why is he not allowed to give you things no he is I just don't want his info out there. I'm not trying to put people on blast. Okay, fair enough. I do want to mention also, before we get into this, that if you missed any part of our show earlier,

we had slight technical issue. The replay will be fine. You'll get to hear the entire Rampage Jackson interview. Is that correct? That's correct. We're going to put up a full show after this, after we wrap, and, you know, as usually, you can go to MMAfighting.com for the clips.

The clips and the iTunes and all that stuff. And the sound cloud, the iTunes, all that stuff, will be in full, probably faster than the video. So you'll have that. Wow. You enjoyed the parade. You had fun. You watched it.

You took it all in. It was exciting times. What do you think about this Mickey Golf fight being in Cleveland now? I'm booking my ticket soon. I'm going to go. You're going. For sure. This is happening?

Yeah. Once the last time you went to a UFC just as a fan, like you did 123, right? The last time I went and it was a trip specifically for the UFC was probably that 123 fight. Wow. I've been in town for other events like Invicta or something like that and already been there and gone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's probably the last time is all the way back. This is a big deal.

Do you agree with what I'm saying, though, about how you can make a case that he's actually more advanced than Punk at this point? I don't think there's any debate. Oh. What would the counterpoint for that be? From what perspective? You think that if he beats CM Punk and. and convincingly that CM Punk's shine is taken away a little bit? Well, I guess it depends on what kind of a fighter he is,

but if you book him against the guy who's too good and you only get him for one and done, or maybe at this point they're, you know, they're, you know, they're resigned to the fact that it is going to be one and done. You know what I mean? I also don't think, you know, just based on, I don't know CM Punk, but based on the way he speaks, I don't think he'd be comfortable taking,

one of those like Cupcake guys who Transpart time. Yeah, that just comes in. I don't think that's what he wants. I think he wants to prove himself on the biggest stage. Interesting. I did feel though And correct me if you feel otherwise that like it's lost a little momentum. I mean, that's obvious right? You know, that's a timing thing.

If you would have told me that this fight would have been announced his debut would have been announced on a podcast not named ours, but just you know what I mean? That would have been, you know, you would expect some big sports. Well, they had the big splash and then it didn't happen. Well, it's because they went about it the wrong way. Yeah.

They should have waited. You don't come out with the announcement before there's any training done, even a team picked. You know what I mean? Yeah. But if we flash back and remember the time they needed something like that, it seemed like there was a bad string of luck. And I don't remember specifically what was happening, but off the top of my head, I remember

thinking that this was something that was important for them. Well, 2014 was one of their worst years ever. financially, economically. People were getting hurt in main events, right? Yeah, yeah. So this is coming December of 2014. They needed to make a splash. Belator had just hired Scott Coker.

They knew that they were going in that direction. Again, I wonder if in 2015, they're making this. I don't think they would have done it the same way. You know, after their greatest year ever. That said, I think once the, you know, promotional machine gets behind it, you know, when we're closer to it, maybe a month out, a month at a half out, people will remember the feelings they had initially and CN Punk's debut will be...

I do agree. Come August, come September. We get into this every time. It's like, oh, you know, has this lost some steam? Has Cormier Jones lost some steam? It's been pushed back this many times, blah, blah, blah. A month and a half to a month out, it will be back. People will be excited again.

Okay, do we have any questions? We've got some questions. We got answers. Rampage is closed victory on Friday. do you think, who do you think he should fight next for the final fight on the deal? You know, that's a very interesting question. And I don't know, you know, who knows? He seems to like Koker now.

He seems to be somewhat motivated. You know, maybe it ends up being a longer contract. You know, we'll see after the second fight. And also with Beltaire, I mean, Satoshi Ishi wasn't under contract. So who knows what kind of rabbit they can pull out of their hat. There's still Vanderle out there. I don't think he's going to wait that long. Van der Leigh is going to come back next year.

I don't want to see the Tito Ortiz fight. I don't want to go through that. We did it once. It fell through. I don't have the stomach for it. Do you feel the same? I don't really care to see it. What other options do we have?

I'm okay with it. There's so many unknowns. I don't know if you can make 205. You know? Look, it wasn't a very inspired performance. He would agree with that. I think he can make 205. I don't know if he wants to make 205.

Well, he's talking about this whole thyroid thing. Yeah. I think Tito would fight him at a medal. a heavyweight or a catch weight, though. Tito is not a small 205. I just don't want to see the fight. I don't care to see it. I'm with you that it's not a fight that gets me super excited,

but at the same time, what is the alternative? Is there one that gets you super excited? There's one that people are talking about. Which one? Fador. Yeah, I would see. I would love to see that. That one gets me excited for sure.

So that's our next question. Fador versus Rampages. Is that the fight to make? Yeah, I mean, Fader comes with a big price tag, and I kind of want to just see Fador. or in the UFC at this point. I don't want, I don't want to, I just want to see the site. I want to, I want to go through it all. Yeah, he almost lost his last fight. Yeah, he didn't look great. Yeah, he's older. Yeah, he's not the same fighter as he once was. I just want to see it. I, I don't want to

his whole career to go by without that happening. Um, and I think that there's a lot, you know, people say like, oh, he's not UFC caliber. UFC caliber means nothing. You know what I mean? Is Mickey Gall, Gull, UFC caliber? Is he a punk UFC caliber? Like, what does that mean? You know what I mean? So just get him an opponent to fight and let's see what happens. So I do want to see him in the UFC now. If he signs with Belator, if he remains with Vycom, if he remains with Spike in that regard, then yeah, sure, I would love to see him fight Rampage.

But the fight that if you're asking me, if I had my druthers, it would be him fighting in the UFC against anyone at this point. But let's go back. Rampage is the one we want to talk about. Who does he fight? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm looking like, does like an Emmanuel Newton do anything for you?

So you're not okay with Tito Ortiz, but Emmanuel Newton? Like, what does that do for you? I'm just not into see. It doesn't do anything for me either. Yeah, I guess. I don't know. You know, like, Liam McGee doesn't make a ton of sense at this point. Plus, he's fighting, you know, Phil Davis.

I tell you what, I don't hate the idea of a rematch against King Moe. You hate that? Are we going to go through this again? I mean... It was done on short notice, though. Remember? It was like 10 days notice. And even that, at this point, like, it's the same for me.

All these matchups are the same for me, Because there's no intrigue because it's, unless it's a title fight, all these rampage fights are the same for me. It's going to be, you know, we're showcasing Rampage, possibly versus somebody else who has, you know, some shine on them. I want to see it, but I want to see them all equally. There's not anything that jumps out at me as like, this is the must-do fight, except Fador. That one intrigues me. So you'd prefer to see Rampage versus Fador than see Fader against anyone in the U.S. Well, no, this is about, I'm taking this from the mindset of who I'd like to see.

No, no, but you can't have one and the other. Of course. You could do Rampage Fader and then Fader goes to the UFC. What's the, what's, there's no difference there. Now we're just waiting too long. Oh, we're waiting too long. We waited, we waited 15 years. No more fights.

No, it doesn't matter. Fador is not going to get any more or less, what's the word? Popular in the meantime, but if he fought Rampage and then went to the UFC. Well, Frampage. He's not going to have a worse performance than he just had. He damn near got knocked out, if not knocked out. Well, if Rampage hits him with them bungalows, could be the end. And he'll just be knocked out again.

That's one more knockout. No, it's the same thing. There's no rush to have Fador in the UFC because there's nothing at stake. It's just going to be Fador finally got to the UFC. I feel like he's on borrowed time. He's not fighting for anything. He's on borrowed time. What about like a, you know, a Rampage versus a Fajiao?

doesn't do it for you sure sure doesn't do it for you it they're all the same I'm trying to see who's a non-UFC fighter who's like a free agent I'll say this I would like to see Rampage in there against somebody who's going to stand

and trade with him yeah and if I'm being on like 30 seconds into that fight he was doing the whole like come on fight me sure it's on you as well but clearly Ishi was trying to grappleau

clear like there's no doubt about it what did you expect no and that's what I'm saying, if you're going to book Ishii, that's what it's going to happen. But if there's somebody, you know, I don't expect Emmanuel Newton would be shooting for takedowns every minute. So that potentially could be a good stand-up fight. That's what I'm saying.

But to me, you know, they're all the same. The key is to get him back in there sooner rather than later because clearly when he's and look, I'd like to rectify this whole thing with his now ex-girlfriend. I mean... By doing what, I think. I think you need to stay away from this one.

Well, well, I mean, The fact that he blocked her makes me feel like, you know, maybe that was ill-advised. But I'd be happy to help him out. I think you need to keep the hands away from this one. The point is I have a better chance of getting him to grow from back than the million dollars. There you go. So I'm trying to pick my spots here. I don't think we answered that one, but we have to move on at some point.

Matt Mitrione. What were your thoughts on, and you touched on this with Chuck, Matt's fight being immediately announced after he just got out of the cage. I think that was obviously ill-advised as well. Now, from my perspective, I don't have much of a problem with it from the sense that clearly he would have had to pass the medical testing. It's all in the delivery. If they would have said, look, Matt, we have this fight on the table for you, but, you know, this has to happen. You need to get cleared.

So let's see what happens. This is next. Because it's a spin on the, who do you want next? Well, they know what they want to do next. I don't love when it's clear that Bellator has these fights planned, the next fight plan. the next fight plan before the other fight happens. But it feels weird to me. But we know this is a reality of the situation, right?

Well, it's one... Is it peeling back the curtain too much? Yeah, well, I mean, you can play the game a little bit. I mean, look, again, I like the transparency, but it's one thing if Wonderboy's in the cage and you just won, and they're like, okay, next for you is a title shot. Well, we know that that's obviously making sense, and we don't know who's winning that fight.

But to say, next for you, Matt Matron is Ollie Thompson. Well, that's... It's a lot easier to book Matrione. an opponent who's not in the title like it's it just easy it's an easy thing to do and i don't see i don't think they broke any rules yeah i don't think they did it's just it was clunky you know fair enough and it's it i think the manner of what how his fight played out is what's the biggest obstacle there yeah um man that that landed flush oh yeah he crumpled like a sack of potatoes he kudos to him for weathering the storm kudos to john mccarthy for not stepping in there yeah um but man that

bad. And again, the first thing that I thought was, here we go again. Guy leaves the UFC, John Fitch against Josh Berkman. We've seen it so many times now and just falters, big time. And with another ref, it could have been. It very likely could have been. And then what a bizarre ending on his part, too? Like the finish. What do you mean by bizarre? I mean, it's just, at first, I didn't realize that the fight was over. I was surprised it was over. Oh, he not, he hit him, he hit him good. It just didn't feel very emphatic. When you watch the replay it was like holy crap he hit him but it just it i don't know i was it took me a second to process that the fight was finished sure um but either way i don't have much of a problem with it but i agree

with you that the delivery could have been uh different i think the people who are like wow they were booking him in a fight before he cleared his medical test clearly he was going to have to take some kind of sure sure i mean they're not pushing him in there like this is nothing criminal they're not rolling him out and saying uh now you got a fight sure no matter how what it's like this was a one-night tournament and they're they're they're not not doing the proper steps. It just, it was clunky. It was clumsy.

That's fair. And I get what they're trying to do. They're trying to capitalize on the audience. I was surprised that he was the first fight of the night, but maybe not. Maybe it's good to get him, you know, get things kicked off with him. They signed him for a reason, though. They want to push him. Well, he looked good.

He looks slim. He was very light on his feet. He was moving around. You know, I'd like to see him keep his hands up a little more. But this is something that Matt Mitzchone has been doing forever. So, you know, hey, it didn't go as planned clearly, but it was very entertaining,

so they like that sort of thing. Michael Chandler, he's loyal to Bellator. How long can he stay out of the UFC, essentially? Is he ever going to fight in the UFC? He's very loyal to Belator. He just signed a long-term contract with him, a lucrative long-term contract, so he seems pretty happy there.

He's not necessarily homegrown. He did fight in Strike Force prior, but I mean, he's very much a face of Belator, pillar of Bellator. I don't think he, I think he's cool just getting that money and fighting guys there. I mean, sure, he'd love to fight in the UFC, but he'd even test free agency.

He got a great contract, and he signed with them. So, you know, he strikes me as one of those guys eventually. Will he go? Maybe, but he strikes me as one of those guys who's pretty darn content doing the Bell Tour thing right now. What a knockout that was. Holy crap. Knocked out Patricie Pitbull.

I mean, that was even cleaner than the, the Suamunt Toffi, Tafa, K.O. Well, sort of Kio. Havikos for. getting through that. Suamantafa. And it was one of the cleanest punches we've seen in a long time.

Super clean. Beautiful. Looked good, sounded good. In his hometown? Yeah. I still feel... And we'll talk to him about this. I mean, that belt to me

feels a little strange without the Will Brooks thing. You know, it's just... I don't know. I just like Eddie left and then Brooks left. And I feel like it's going to take some work to reestablish that title.

Like, what does it all mean at this point? No, I think just getting somebody who can defend it a few times will reinvigorate that title and will make it, you know, mean something significant. It's been passed around a little bit as the problem. Well, not taking anything away from him, obviously, but it just, when someone leaves as champion, it doesn't defend the title, to me it devalues the title a little bit.

That's all. I love watching Michael Chandler fight. There aren't a lot of options for him right now at 155. Like there's Benson, there's Josh. And okay, I mean, that's good. Well, this is the question. I mean, this is how long can you stay in Bellator with, you know, the same guys? There's not as much depth.

I do. I don't know if this comes up, but I want to see the Benson fight first. That does not come up, but I'm with that. Yeah. I mean, the Josh fight is great, but let's see him fight the winner or maybe fight someone else. Benson versus Chandler is the fight that I think they should make. That's a legit fight. I mean, that's one of the best non-UFC fights that can be made right now.

The length of the UFC 200 card Looking at the three title fights This person is at Kenny 1, 2, 3 is estimating that there's a good chance All 3 go the distance Could this card be affected of dragging on too long? I know you don't like three title fights in general Historically, it's the kiss of death

But what do you think about that? Is it potentially a very long card? Well, I haven't asked about this But it's probably going to be the four-hour window Yeah And yeah, it could be a long card But we got D.C. Jones, Nunes Tate. I mean, there's a chance that those fights go the distance, no doubt about it.

I'd be surprised if Brock and Hunt go the distance. Kane Brown is a three-round fight. That could go the distance. I mean, yeah. You know it's funny? Speaking of length, I was watching Bellator on Friday with my wife. She likes Rampage. She knows about the history.

She was watching it with me. And it ended at like 1045, 1050. And she was like, okay, how much longer? And I said, that's it. It's over. It was so weird. Think about this. the Ottawa main card the weekend before started at 1030 started at 1030 ended at around

115 it's one thing I really appreciate about those spike cards even sometimes World Series finding those sometimes World Series finding does like 1130 main card which is bizarre and yeah I stuck around for most of the kickboxing afterwards but I like I like the nice little clean you know ending at 11 catering to the East Coast crowd which is what every other sports entity in this world does. But it's it's not truly that way because they wanted you to stick around for the kickboxing card. That's cool, but I'm an MMA guy, so I was happy. That's not the intention. The intention wasn't to give you an early night off. The main event, the main fight that everyone was talking about ended at around 1045, right? Sure. It's true. So give me Rory and Wonderboy at 1045,

and then we'll do the rest after. I just, I don't like when it becomes a chore. And this is nothing about But like, you know what I mean? It's just, it's, it's too long. You can't, you can't have these cards last to 130 with all the commercials. It's, it's, it's too much. Bisbing, Anderson, and GSP. Essentially, what would it mean for Bisbing's legacy if you were to face Anderson Silva and GSP and beat them?

Pretty damn good. I mean, that's one hell of a. It's amazing how his legacy is being rewritten all of a sudden, you know, like not that long ago, what? Not amazing at all. What are you talking about? I've said it how many times. What?

This happens. Everybody counts out Michael Bisby, thing every time, I know, I know, but look, not that long ago, you know, five round decision loss to Tim Kennedy, you could not have predicted that this was going to happen. I damn sure it could have. Come on. He's going to continue to stay active. He's going to continue to get the fights that nobody else wants to fight.

And he's going to- Okay, what do you think? You think he fights GSP? Okay. Both of them seem to want it. I don't know why they wouldn't. If he fights GSP, does he win? That's tough.

I mean. Who's the favorite in that fight? I couldn't say. I really couldn't say because I really don't know GSP. I mean, he's not a spring chicken. Let's, you know, I think the people that think that GSP is coming back and going to look exactly the same as he did when he left. And let's remember when he left, most people think, or at least quite a few people think that Johnny Hendricks put it on him and probably won. So I don't know what we're looking at by the time GSP comes back. But I don't, you know, it's going to be tough to say.

Until we see him in the cage, I wouldn't, I'll say this, I would not bet on GSP, not because I don't think he can win, but because I don't know what we're going to look at. No, but who's the betting favorite? I have to imagine GSP would be. Really? At 185? Yeah, I have to think he would be. Stiles make fights, and I have to imagine that people think that, you know, his combination of his jab and his wrestling ability would probably be what would prevail if we're looking at the same GSP. but I don't know if we are

and I highly doubt we are we may be looking at something similar but it can't be the same he's been off for quite a long time I could be wrong Bisping could be the favorite but I think that GSP's style would probably make him the favorite

this is bizarre you Sada just posted an update on BJ Penn but they call him JD Penn his brother right isn't his name is his real name jd pen oh yeah it is oh he's baby jay he's baby jay so strange uh because his brother is actually jd yeah he's he's baby j usada announced today that jd pen of hilo hawaii an athlete in the ufc has accepted a six month sanction for an anti-doping policy violation for his use of a prohibited method During an out-of-competition test on March 25, 2016, Penn declared the use of an intravenous infusion of a non-prohibited substance.

A subsequent investigation by USADA revealed that the intravenous infusion received by Penn was administered in a volume greater than 50 milliliters within a six-hour liters within a six-hour period within a six-hour period within a six-hour period within a six-hour period, within a six-hour period, within a six-hour period, within a six-hour period, within a six-hour period, except for those legitimately received. in the course of a hospital admission, surgical procedures, or clinical investigation. So this is good. I mean, for him, six months. I forget when was that retroactive to? Well, that's the question. Does it say, oh, Penn's period of ineligibility began on March 25th. So he's good to go.

September-ish. No, yeah. That's not so bad. It's kind of a slap on the wrist. So he's good to go September. He's going to be soon. So that's a purpose. perfect segue into our next question.

Oh. BJ Penn and George St. Pierre. Yeah, I saw that. At 155. Does it happen? First of all, who wrote that tweet for BJ Penn? That's not BJPen. Mr. George St. Pierre, I heard you are trying to make a cut to 155 pounds.

I would like to challenge you in New York to fight at that time. I would respectfully love your commitment to an engagement. Yeah, I don't want to see that. No way. What? Wait a minute. No chance. First of all, I have no interest in seeing George at 155.

I don't want to see it. I don't want to see it. I love the way we were going with the whole BJ thing. Dennis Siever, Lance, maybe, Coleman. I like baby steps, pardon the pun. I don't want to see him jump to BJ and to GSP, and I know GSP hasn't fought in Quince, it's not time for that yet.

Let's see what kind of BJ shows up. Let's see how he fights. Let's see what he's like. Let's let him have a fight with Greg Jackson in his corner, get acclimated. What's a bigger money fight than that? Nah, but it's not about money fights right now with him. It's about reinventing himself.

It's about getting back on track. That's the fight I want. I want to see that. 155? Bring it. I want to see that. That's the one I want. Really?

Absolutely. It's a big fight. It's a huge fight. At MSG? Sounds like a plan. GSP versus BJ Penn at MSG? That's... No.

Damien M. Wonderboy deserves the next shot, clearly. What does that mean for him? I mean, it's tough because he's been just putting it on everybody, and he can't seem to get that one that puts him in the title shot. Give me Nick Diaz. Maya and Nick Diaz. How about that?

Give me Nick Diaz. What a great fight, right? Do you think Diaz wants to fight at 70? He should. I think he does. I mean, let's look at this. Diaz-Conda makes sense. I mean, Diaz versus a lot of people,

makes sense because he hasn't fallen from it so a while, but, you know, Diaz's suspension is up beginning of August. Give me Diaz, Maya. That's a big fight. Maya deserves a big fight. Let's do it. That's the one I want. I'm cool with that.

But I mean, he has to be the next guy in line, right? Maya is won away, without a doubt. It has to be Thompson. You beat Roy McDonald. Has to be Thompson. You do what you did to Johnny Hendricks. There's no doubt about it. I saw some people still saying,

with all due respect, and he deserves it. He deserves all the attention. attention, all the adulation, everything. But it's won away. Thompson is above him. And don't give me no Thompson-Maya fight either. I don't want to cancel them out. Let's build some contenders here. Maya, after Thompson.

So let him fight someone like Nick Diaz. And if Diaz wins, he's right back in the mix. There you go. I like it. I'll leave you with this and then I'm going to get our guest. Oh, yeah. Yohanna on Tuff, this person is saying, Anthony is saying that it's reflecting poorly on her.

Okay. And she should have learned the lesson from Bisping, Rousey. You can't leave me with this question because I haven't watched a millisecond. No, but here's the question for you. Is it smart to do tough anymore? No. What do you gain from it as a coach? I don't know, man.

I really don't. It used to be this thing that launched you back. Like BJ Penn, he needed this and him and Jens to build that fight up, to bring him back into the fold, and then it culminated with a fight that people had wanted to see, and it seemed like a worthwhile task. Are we there anymore? Is there anything that can be gained from coaching tough? I will say this.

In the last two weeks or so, I have had, I can't at least five people come up to me and talk to me about tough. And these aren't MMA fans. My grandfather, my grandfather. And by the way, happy anniversary to my parents. Today's their 40th wedding anniversary. How about that? Amazing. Love them very much and that's an amazing accomplishment.

But my grandfather came up to me and told me that he watched Tough and he's talking to me about, like, that they're friends and they had to fight each other. he watched the whole episode of Tough last week, my grandfather. I mean, he's 80-something years old. And this has happened a few times where people are talking to me like, who else talked to me about Tough? Some other person that has nothing to do with MMA, I don't know him from MMA, just a friend came up to me. So clearly it is still resonating with the casual audience. The problem with Tough is that when it first came out, there was one UFC every quarter, one every four months. And it was, wow, it was exciting to have, you know, this live and free, live, but free UFC on every week for a span of 10 or so weeks and then culminating with a live and free finale. That's no longer the case. There's essentially a UFC card every week. There's

a Bellator card. There's enough MMA. So to add tough to that mix, plus it's been the same thing for a decade. For people like you and I and most people, all right, and most people who are, you know, watching this show, it's just, it's just, it's noise. Now, is there a market for it? You know, is there a market for it with new fans? Maybe, but the ratings would certainly suggest that not enough people are watching it. Sure, they tape it out of their own warehouse and all this stuff and it's their own studio. I get that, but so it's maybe not costing that much.

There's still the crew involved. I'd love to see it evolved. I've been saying this forever. It needs to evolve. I don't like the idea of some guy getting a title shot against DJ. I mean, the whole thing just, I mean, reality shows don't last this long. And I mean, certainly ones that their ratings continue to decline. So people have told me that Yuana is coming off one way or the other.

I can't speak to that because I haven't seen it. But I will say, you know, don't listen to me. People have come up to me and said, hey, I saw this show where these people were fighting and the two girls. So maybe it's not for us anymore. Maybe it's for other people. Are those people going to stick around and watch the Ultimate Fighter finale? I don't think my grandfather's watching that on July 8th. I don't think he's tuning in.

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he will tune in. All right. Let us move along and welcome in our last guest of the day. What a performance him. We were just talking about it, glowing about it. You cannot hit your opponent with a better punch than the one Michael Chandler hit Patriki Pitbull with. He is now the new Belator Lightway Champion, champion again, and he is joining us right now. We're being joined by Michael Chandler on the phone. Michael, how are you? I am great, Ariel. I am doing wonderful. Thank you for having me on. Oh, yes. Congratulations. I can hear the story. I can hear the story.

smile in your voice. You are a very happy man on this Monday, right? Absolutely, man. I'm just, I'm very happy. I'm happy for a lot of reasons. Not just winning, not just winning the belt, but to be, you know, to get the belt back, to be in vacation mode, spending some time with my wife after a long, long training camp and a lot of hard work. And a good day, good day to be alive. Considering all that went into this particular fight and the Thompson fight falling through, you know, getting the title back, being in St. Louis, fair to call this the most gratifying win of your career.

And you've had a lot, you've had a lot of great performances, but does this one take the cake? I think it really does. You know, I mean, I think just, you know, like you said, a second ago, too, I don't think you can hit somebody with a cleaner punch. I mean, just to see something executed well, you know, by myself, it was great and put in a ton of hard work. I mean, literally I did two training camps back to back for this one fight.

Moved all the way across the country for over three months away from the comfort of my own home, away from my wife, a lot of hard work, a lot of blood and sweat and tears, not really in tears, but like a lot, a lot of hard work for a long time and a little bit of frustration here and there, a little bit of, you know, a little bit of homesickness, a little bit of, a lot of bit of emotion. So to have it all come to culmination for the World Title and from the same, St. Louis crowd, the loudest crowd had ever been around, the most pumped up crowd I'd ever been around. It was just an amazing night. And honestly, I'm ready to get packing the cage ASAP. I'm excited to go do that again and defend this belt.

Were there any concerns that you were overtraining, that you had just been in training camp for too long and that you wouldn't peak fight night, you know, when it counts the most? Were you worried about that at all? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, right when the Josh Thompson fight got canceled, I, I knew. that they were going to, I knew they were probably going to push me to St. Louis. I mean, it was in their best interest to push me to St. Louis. I love St. Louis. I love the people of St. Louis. I love my hometown.

But I didn't want to fight in St. Louis. The last thing on earth I wanted to do was go wait seven more weeks, train seven, eight more hard weeks, and then go fight in St. Louis, you know. So I had to scale it back and went back to San Diego for a couple days, blew off some steam, went into kind of vacation mode, and then went right back into training. But luckily, you know, like I said, I moved all the way across the country. to go train with Neil, I mean, and I didn't just do that because he's a great grappling coach. He's my head coach.

He's my, he's the one that cares for me most in this industry, the one that I trust most in this industry. In such a volatile industry with coaches changes all the time, gym changing all the time, roster's changing all the time, the one constant in my career has been Neil Malanson, and I've had the most success under him and the most consistency under him. So having him run my training camp, pulling me back when I needed to be pulled back, pushing me hard when I need to be pushing hard. He had it all lined out, all written down, all up in his head, all ready for me to go for that second camp. I wasn't overtrained.

My mind was right. My body was right. My nervous system was right. And it paid off. So is it fair to say now that you're just going to stick with this plan? You're going to go to Florida for all your camps because you were talking about Henry Hooft, obviously, the U.S. You won via knockout. So, I mean, that couldn't have gone better.

Are you going to, is this the team for you now? You're going to be a part of the Blacksillians? Yeah, I mean, I'm definitely going. back. I'm taking time off now. I'm in Nashville, Tennessee. Spentantanting some time with my wife vacation here. Then we're, you know, we've got a couple other trips planned, and, man, I'm excited, you know, as much, you know, as much time as I spent there in Boka pretty much by myself, you know, either surrounded by four walls at the gym or surrounded by four walls at my apartment for three and a half months straight, I can't wait to get back there. I'm excited to blow off

some steam and vacation, but I can't wait to throw my hands again with Henry and Evan Boris, and I can't wait to get back on the, with the ground game. I have so much more stuff to learn from Neil, even though I've been training under him for so long. So much more to learn from Henry, Henry Hooft and Evan Boris. And it's just, it's great, man. I feel like a little kid. I feel like a little kid in kindergarten, just learning my ABCs. You know, seriously, at 30 years old, I feel the best that I've ever been,

the most confident that I've ever been, the most explosive and accurate, and just the best that I've ever been. So I'm excited to get back and get better. And, of course, you're planning on fighting for a long time. Are you okay with this setup, like to be away from your wife and to travel? You know, when you're at the Alliance gym, that was home for you being in the San Diego area. Do you like this or are you considering maybe even moving to Florida? Yeah, you know, obviously it's not ideal.

This last training camp wasn't ideal, but, you know, we're figuring out. We're moving forward and looking at things and trying to figure out. Not exactly sure what the future holds, but I can tell you one thing that, man, you've got to find the right woman. You've got to find the right woman who will stick by your side, who will, who believes in you, believes in your dreams, believes in your goals more than they want their own comfort. They want their own satisfaction. They want their own comfort and situations. And my wife is so full of grace and so much full of just, she just wants to see me happy. So she was able to make this whole process so easy, you know, and it wasn't ideal.

And this isn't the way marriage is supposed to be. this is not, we don't have a conventional marriage. You know, this is not the way it's supposed to be. She didn't sign up for this, and it pains me sometimes to have to put her through, but it worked out well this first time. We are now reaping the benefits of that, and, you know, we might have to do it again. You know, we'll see, we'll see what happens. She's very happy in San Diego.

She's happy with her job. She's happy with our life there. So we'll see. You know, life's a give and take, and you just got to, you know, wait and see what decisions need to be made, you know? Obviously, it was very cool to see her on camera, and see you guys embrace. A beautiful moment and very happy for you knowing how much it meant to you to be the champion

and to get that belt back. What is it like for those that have never experienced it to land a punch like that? I mean, in your life, that's like, it feels like hitting like a half-court shot, swish. I mean, it's just perfect. And one of those things that it's hard to recreate. Obviously, you've done it before and you always plan on recreating it, but that was just so perfect. I mean, it just, it was amazing to watch. What is that feeling like for a fighter?

It was, it's surreal, man. And I hope I have, I have the vision of, I have the vision of him getting hit and falling, like stiffening up and falling in my head right now. And I hope it burns into my subconscious that it burns into my brain because I want to be able to remember that the rest of my life because it was such an awesome feeling. You know, I think, you know, I got to give credit to Henry Hoot on this. in this instance, man, his pad work is different. It's not about crazy combinations, and it's not about cardio,

and it's not about quickness, or it's not about this or it's that. It's about footwork, moving in and out of the pocket, speed, power, and accuracy. And my punches are so accurate and so powerful, because that's how he makes us train in those pad sessions, you know? And all it was was a jab. The jab, I hit him with a couple hard jabs that set up that right hand, a couple hard jabs right on the mouth. His mouth was already bleeding.

You can see me bouncing with my footwork, feet perfectly planted, perfectly shoulder with the part where they needed to be. I fainted the jab. He thought the jab was coming. The right hand came out of nowhere. Landed right on the button. And it was just, it's the same combination.

It's a one and a two, and it's probably the most basic combination that you can get and mix martial arts boxing, kickboxing. And it puts guys away. So it worked out well. Is that almost like a drug now that you're going to keep chasing that

feeling of connecting like that? No, I'm not. And that's, and one thing, one thing I, I, I'm proud of myself too, not to, you know, brag of myself or pat myself on the back, but it's really a profound thing where you've watched my career, man, I get in the cage and I go a thousand miles an hour and I, and people love it, and they're like that Michael Chandler guy's crazy, but I've taken some damage because of it. I've gotten hit because of it. I've lost fights because of it.

This fight was the most mature, the most calm, the most confident and the most calculated I've ever been. I can't even describe it to the most, it was the most cerebral that I've ever been in my entire life. I feel like if I would have stepped in the cage with anybody in the entire world that last Friday night, I would have won because of the way that I fought. And you're just going to see a more mature myself. I mean, if it takes me until the third round to land that perfect shot,

who cares? I'm okay. I'm okay with fighting five rounds. I'm okay with fighting, you know, getting it done in two minutes. That maturation process has finally happened after 18 fights. I'm excited to keep fighting the way that I'm fighting now. And so you get the amazing knockout, you celebrate, you jump on the cage, his brother gets in your face.

What was that all about? Where did that come from? Do you guys have a beef with the, do you have a beef with the brother? Was he trying to get a fight? What was that all about? Yeah, we don't have a beef. I didn't think we had a beef. I mean, I think now we might have a beef.

Obviously, you know, I take my hat off to him if my brother would have just got knocked out in devastating fashion. You know, you get emotional, you know, but, you know, he's got no business. sticking his hand in my face telling me he wants to fight me. All I did was do my job. Don't mad at me, bro. You know, put your little, your little midget finger in my face. He's lucky he didn't get smacked. I'm lucky that I didn't accidentally go too far, you know, because what he did was disrespectful. I was in the moment, you know, and I was just like, you want to fight me? Are you kidding me? You know, like, I will crush you. And I was like,

beat it. I said, beat it, nerd. And then just, you know, then the people pull them away. So, you know, getting called a nerd on national television, hopefully people read my lips. But, you know, I don't know. It's one of those things where it's just, it was weird. And I'm not really interested in that fight. I mean, the dude, I mean, if there's enough hype behind it, you bring it on, you know, I mean.

Is that a thing? Like, is that even something? Because you got some options, Benson, Josh, that alone will keep you busy. Is this even a thing? I got some good options, you know. I got some real options at 155 pounds. I'm not worried about, you know, little bantam weights.

I mean, essentially the guy should be a bantam. weight, but he, you know, he can't, he doesn't have a clean enough diet or something, you know. I think he's not a big 145 founder, so I'm not interested in fighting him. If it happens, it happens, you know, they got to, the Pitbull Brothers, don't underestimate the Pitbull Brothers kind of following in Brazil. They have a pretty big following there, you know, so maybe somewhere down the line, but I'm not interested in it right now. If anything, you know, I want the Benson fight to happen.

He's got a long time left on his contract. He's got a lot of fights left in him. I'm not 100% sure about Josh. So I want to see Josh. I would like to fight Josh next. I'd like to see him healthy. And let's finish what we started because I don't think he has a ton of fights left. So let's get that Chandler v. Thompson fight done.

And then onward and upward. So if you had it your way, it's Thompson, then Benson. If I had it my way. I think Benson is the bigger fight, you know? So obviously I want that fight. But, man, I'm just getting better. If Benson had it his way, he would probably want it next because I'm just going to keep. getting better under the tutelage of Neil Melanson and Henry, who every single day that I get

to train between now and the end of my career, I'm going to become more and more devastating. So I would love to be able to fight Josh next, just because of the unfinished business we have, just because he took me away from my wife across the country for nine weeks, and then I didn't even get to fight him, you know. But we'll see. You know, we'll see what happens. I wish him the best. I wish him to speed recovery.

I hope he's healing up well. And we'll see. What do you say to someone like me who just said around 20 minutes ago before you came on that it's going to take a couple of fights, probably the Benson and Thompson fight, for you to reestablish that title because I know what you said about Brooks leaving and I respect that. But when the champion leaves and vacates the title and someone else picks it up, I always feel like it takes a couple of fights to make the title the title the title feel important again.

Do you share that sentiment at all? Do you feel like you have some work to do to establish this title as the premier title, you know, behind the 155 title of UFC or right next to it. You know what I mean? Because the champion did walk away. And the famous line is, to be the man, you got to beat the man. In this case, that didn't happen because of contract stuff. Do you share that sentiment at all?

Yeah, I mean, not really. I mean, you got to look at it on a couple different ways. It wasn't contract stuff. I mean, he was relieved of his duties. You know, he was relieved of his duties. It wasn't contract stuff. So he pretty much disqualified himself from the situation. Secondly, yeah, I mean, look at Robbie Lawler, man.

I mean, the dude never beat GSP. Johnny Hendonix never beat GSP. You know, Robbie Lawler is ranked in the top pound for pound guys in the world right now and is a very dominant champion, you know, and a very exciting guy to watch. And, you know, you've been around this industry long enough to know that these rosters change all the time. People retire. People come out of nowhere and establish themselves. Guys who you thought were great fall off.

You know, I was the champion. before, you know, I was the longest reigning champion in the lightweight division, pretty much in Bellator's history, you know? I was a champion for three years, and now I just reclaimed what was mine. You know, would I have liked to be able to take it from him? I absolutely would have. But it's also a game of inches. It's a game of millimeters. My gosh, you're talking about fights here, you know? I mean, arguably, I won that first fight with him. I mean, if one judge looks at it a little bit differently, or, you know, it's just, it's such an interesting, crazy, volatile sport that I think when you're the champion or the champion,

and people can say what they want about it, you can say what you want about it, but my kind of thought is, you know, it's, maybe it does, maybe it will take a few, you know, and you're a very, you carry a lot of weight in this industry. So hopefully I can prove to you that I'm a dominant champion here after I knock out Benson and finish Thompson as well. And by the way, I hope you understand where I'm coming from. We're just sort of talking about the landscape. knock on you. I don't think any differently of you. In fact, I think even highly, you know,

a higher of you after that fight. It means nothing. I'm talking about the actual prop, the title. And, and I just, sometimes I guess I'm a, I'm an old soul when it comes to this stuff. Like I like to see the champions stick around, defend the title, lose the title. And I know that there's a business involved here, but I hope you don't take this as a slight or me trying to diminish what you accomplish. Knocking out Patriki Pitbull, the way you did is an incredible achievement, especially doing it, you know, in three minutes or whatever it was, a little more than three minutes. So that's just, I was wondering if you were feeling in the back of your mind like, okay, I got the belt, I got what's mine. Now I just

need to defend it a couple times so that people think about it the way I want it to be thought of. You get what I'm saying? Yeah, for sure. And I would never, and I know that you are, you're so good at your job because you are, you know, you look at things in a mature and different kind of way. And at the end of the day, it's not that big of a deal to me to win the title. You know, you have to win the title, and then you have to establish the title, you know, like you're saying, by defending it. And, you know, when I have defended it a couple times, it will definitely be like, okay, Michael Chandler is back. Michael Chandler is the champion. Michael Chandler is the best he's ever been.

So it's all just a game of, you know, hurry up and wait, work out, beat people up, and then wait, and then you just keep on going, you know. And what I also love about this story is, you know, you had that little stretch, super close fights, split decisions with Brooks and Alvarez and all this stuff, and people were starting to write you off, right? Did you feel like people were starting to forget about you? And I hear you are champion on top of your game looking better than ever. That little stretch from like 2013, 2014, looking back now must feel like 10 years ago. But you must have heard that talk, right? Of people saying like you aren't the same fighter and all that stuff, right? Yeah, for sure. You know, you hear people say that. You buy into it a little bit. You know, you forget how good you are. You forget where you came from. You forget why you started the sport. You forget about the calling on your life. You forget, I forgot that I got into this sport to be great.

And I didn't choose this sport. This sport was chosen for me, and I was pushed in this direction. And when you have that kind of calling on your life, even if you forget about it, if you can be steadfast enough and immovable enough and have enough faith to keep moving forward, eventually things are going to come full circle. And now having had those losses, being able to mature physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, I'm going to be such a better fighter because of it, such a better father to my future children, such a better husband to my wife, because of all that I've had to go through.

And, you know, it's one of those things where when my story is written and I write my book or we do a documentary or whatever, and we talk about those times, and there's going to be people like yourself who kind of, we live, you and I lived through it together. We went through it together, and you're going to remember those times when, you know, you might have heard people saying, oh, Chandler wasn't what he thought he was or Chandler wasn't what we thought he was. And then he goes off and continues to believe and he continues to do great things and gets back on top. And it's going to be an inspiration. And it's going to be a cool thing to be a part of. And, you know, it'll be part of my legacy.

Two last quick things before I let you go. We just had Sage North cut on. He was talking about reaching out to you via social media. It just went and lived with you for a week or so. that's crazy. He just wrote you a message and you invited him out to Florida to hang with you? Yeah, yeah, man. They reached out to me. His dad called me or Sage reached out to me and then his dad called me and said, hey, we'd like to bring you out to Texas and we want to work on Sage's ground game or we think you'd be a great guy to help Sage with this or that. And I was very honored to be reached out to by them and I said I would love to. I would love to help. But I'm in a situation. situation right now where I got to I'm going back to Florida for the next seven weeks. I got to get this world title and they said okay you know would you mind if you came down to Florida I said

nope you can stay with me I went out bought him a blow-up mattress got them got them all set up wow um taught him how to chug water the dude doesn't drink enough water so we uh I was making him chug gallons of water making sure he was hydrated teaching him the ropes you know I love all the young the the veteran teaching the young book how to how to uh you know chug water and stuff. So it was good. It was a cool week. It was a fun learning experience for him, myself, and got to know each other, and we'll definitely, we'll definitely train together in the future. Says a lot about you. That's a great thing that you did. And also, they put out pictures of you getting your hand-wrapped, Bellator did. Was Sean Merriman hanging out with you backstage?

Was that him in back of you? Yeah, that was, yeah, it was Sean Merriman. I guess he was doing some stuff with Bellator, and him and I have been friends for a while, so he came back and we were just talking, he was getting me pumped up. And, yeah, man, Sean's a good dude. Is he going to fight? I don't know. That's not for me to spill any beans. Okay. Now, I haven't really heard anything solid,

but I think he's a heck of a man. You know, he's a mountain of a man. He's a heck of an athlete. But, you know, we'll see. If he does, I'd love to train with him. Yeah, yeah. I know he tried out for WWE a little bit. Former Buffalo Bill, former San Diego Charger.

So, yeah, I saw it. like, yeah, that looks like Sean Merriman. Okay, so you said you want to come back quickly? How quickly? Like, are we talking September, October, you know, relatively quick, or December? What are you thinking? You know, I feel and want to get back in the cage, ASAP, but I definitely need to give my body a little bit of a rest, you know, give it a little bit of vacation, spend some

time mentally, you know, mentally take a mental break, turn it off for a second, spend some time with my wife and stuff. but, you know, we'll see definitely before the end of the year. I want to see what big shows they have coming up. I know they're making their New York debut. I'm not sure when that's going to be. Oh, yeah. But definitely before the end of the year, and I'd like it to be on a big show.

I'd like it to be a big fight, a big name, and I'd like to come away with a big win. Well, again, man, congratulations. What a performance. I mean, wow, the performance of the night by far on Friday, as far as the MMA action was concerned. Oh, can I ask you one? last quick thing, if you don't mind. What do you make of the mixed shows? Do you like them as a guy competing and also as a fan?

I know you watch a lot of fighting. Do you like this idea from Bellator? You know, I've gotten to experience one. I experienced Dynamite 1 as a fan, like front row right in front of the kickboxing cage or kickboxing ring. And then I saw this one and I didn't really get to experience it. But I have gotten some mixed reviews. I'm not going to lie.

You talk to my mom. That kickboxing is just not as exciting as the M.A. stuff, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm like, oh, you know, you know, so I think there's an MMA, I think it's a predominantly MMA crowd, and you're almost trying to force kickboxing on them a little bit. Yeah. But to me, as a mixed martial arts athlete,

I watch those kickboxers and some of the big men and the heavy weights and whatnot. I watch them, and I almost, like, just I thank God that most of the guys in mixed martial arts can't strike that, hard or kick the legs that hard. To me, I love the spectacle of kickboxing. I think it's a tougher sport than mixed martial arts in a couple different regards. So I'm not exactly sure how successful those shows are, how much people like them. I think you have to hit the right markets.

You know, I think the San Jose markets probably a better market than St. Louis, you know, when it comes to kind of traditional kickboxing is more of a traditional martial arts discipline than, you know, mixed martial arts is, you know, more of that traditional crowd. So you've got to hit the right markets and you've got to have big names on the card. I think you need to have a little bit bigger name kickboxers on the card. Yep. Okay. Well, I agree that honest assessment.

Michael, congratulations. Tremendous win. Enjoy it. Enjoy your time off. As always, great to have you on the show and looking forward to your next fight. You got it. Thank you, Earl. Thank you, having me on.

And I will see you soon. Yes, I look forward to it. There he is. The new Bell Tour lightweight champion, Michael Chandler. What a performance. If you miss that knockout, that is one that we will be talking about come. December when we wrap up this year, certainly a contender for K-O-the-year. Congratulations to him and great to end the show with him as well.

You know, we started a little late, so I feel like I owe you a couple more minutes. Any other questions that we didn't hit Mr. New York, Rick, unless you checked out as well? We have a few more if you want to run through them. Let's go 10 minutes. We started a little late, so let's go 10 minutes more. Okay, hold on. Got to bring them back up. Oh, I'm sorry.

I mean, I do like to give the people what they ask for, as Jalen Rose likes to say, got to, what does he say? Give the people what they won't. Okay. Last question was about Damia Maya. Oh, no, I'm sorry. Last question was Joanna. Here's the next question.

They want to know what the current status of the UFC sale is. What's the real story here? It was reported that it was sold. Then the UFC came out and said, no, it's not sold. I'm sent around letters from lawyers. What's going on here? Well, Jeremy Bauder of Flow Combat has been reporting over the past week or so that it was a done deal, UFC telling its employees.

And I'm sort of recapping what was somewhat of a hectic week, as far as this story is concerned, UFC informing its employees and also the media that the sale isn't a done deal. People asking me why I'm not reporting on it, to be honest, the reason I'm not reporting on it is because I can't confirm it. I can't confirm that it's a done deal. I reported a couple weeks ago now that it was progressing and no one's denying that. But I can't confirm.

This is a very complex thing. It's a very big story. It's a story that you can't be wrong with. And I'm not saying that Jeremy is wrong. And I'm not saying that anyone else is wrong. But I can't report something just because other people are reporting it. You know, we need to confirm it. And at this stage, you know, it's a tough.

story to confirm, and I haven't been able to confirm that it's 100% assigned, sealed, and delivered deal, and that it's going to be sold to this group and that it's 100% or 90% or 80% and that this person's leaving and this person's coming. I mean, there's a lot of things at play here. So the only thing I could say is that, you know, this is a thing. It's definitely in discussions. It's definitely, you know, it's not a pie in the sky crazy idea as it was made out to be. And if that number, you know, my one thing that I kept thinking about, this story was, you know, very much, and there's an echo, by the way. I don't know if there's a speaker on in there, but as this story was becoming a, you know, a real big one last week and

at the forefront, if in fact, we talked about this a little bit last week with Dave Meltzer, if in fact the UFC is sold for $3.6 billion, 3.7, 3.8, 4.2 billion, as has been reported, if that is in fact true, if that's the number, then my big takeaway, and the thing that I keep thinking about is MMA fighters and UFC fighters in particular are a whole lot more underpaid than we all thought they were. I mean, think about it. A group of company looked at, you know, the financials.

And of course, a sale is always going to be a little bit more. And, you know, you know how these things go in negotiations. But someone, if this is true, if this comes to fruition, someone established and decided that this is an appropriate number for this organization At the end of the day, what is the UFC? It's a collection of fighters. Production is great. You got TV contracts, all that stuff,

but you don't have any of that without fighters. 4.2.3, 4.1. Anything in the billions. And then you look at how much these guys are making and these women are making. That's the thing that I keep thinking about. Obviously, they're generating a lot because the books are being open.

These fighters are a whole lot more underpaid than we all thought they were. And it's going to be very interesting to see how they respond to this. if this does come to fruition. If it doesn't, so be it. But that's what I keep thinking about. Final question.

That's fitting that we end on this. Did you suddenly become a big Derek Rose fan? Oh. Or alternative, are you buying a Cleveland jersey for your son? Because, you know, you only have the jerseys of winning teams. Again, look at my phone. It's Porzingis and Carmelo. Did we burn the Step Curry jersey?

Did we throw it out? I'm proud of our Steph Curry's. In fact, you know, it's funny, my brother, my older brother has two kids older than mine, gives me a lot of hand-me-downs, and he just buys anything. He buys the cool, you know, like, you rip on me, he buys everything. And one of the jerseys that he gave my kids was a Derek Rose Chicago Bulls jersey. And I hate the Bulls. I mean, from the 90s, Knicks and all that stuff.

And it just sits there and I hate it. And now I saw it actually this morning. And I was like, oh, this is kind of cool now. I love the trade. I love the fact that it's a one-year deal that he has a lot. lot to play for, that he has a lot to prove. You know, yeah, I really loved Brooke Lopez, and I was sort of torn on the deal. You love him so much that you got the wrong brother.

God, I did the same thing that Freakin' Fred Hoyberg did today. Impressive. See, it's time to move on. No, I really loved Robin because I think he opened up a lot for Porzingis. He's a very, you know, he's a very good locker room guy. He plays hard. He showed up to every game. Rebalance, plays defense.

He's great. He's a great teammate. And now with the new salary cap, he's a pretty good bar. bargain as well. Last season, it seemed like he was overpaid. Now he's good bargain. It's crazy how that works. And Jerry and Grant giving him up, you know, after just drafting him in the first round last year, it seems a little bit quick, but that's typical Knicks. Jose Calderon, I'm kind of happy that he's gone. But Rose, you look at that press conference on Friday. He's never been good with the media, but he had this intensity to him where he, like he was talking about winning and

playing with Porzingis and playing with Mello. They're not going to get Kevin Durant. This is all negotiations. This is Kevin Durand or whomever using the Knicks as leverage. But you got those three guys. They don't, you know, they haven't had a point guard in forever. They haven't had one like Derek Rose. Even if it's, you know, 2016 Derek Rose after the knee injuries played 66 games last year. I like the risk. I like the idea of reinventing himself with Porzingis. And as long as we got KP, I think we're in a good spot. Sign a couple guys. Maybe a Noah. Hopefully he's healthy. you know, maybe a, I don't know, a Powell Gasol and recreate the Bulls.

I don't know, but we're in a much better place today than we were last Monday with this trade, in my opinion. So yeah, you can nitpick little things here or there, but I think this improves the Nix. In a week, Eastern Conference, I'm on board. And if nothing else, it's a fun storyline. Well, I'm not really a fan of fun storyline. I mean? It's very Knicks.

It's Steve Francis. You want your team to go through the season with no stories, just boring, oh, fair enough. Up and down. This is fun. It's fun. It gives us a little more hope, right? I mean...

I like the move. I like it. I'll say that I think they gave up a little too much, but I like the move. Yeah, I mean, you need hope. As a fan, all you want is hope. This is going to be super fun for half a season, and then when you, you know...

Do they make the playoffs? You don't think they make a playoff? You don't think they make a third of it. Because last week you said that they were out come September. So now you're saying they last till January? You know what? I think if, you know, fingers crossed, if Derek Rose can stay healthy and, you know,

last season he played quite a few more games than he has in the past. That's a squad. I don't think that there's somebody that could be slept on. I think they make the playoffs for sure. Wow. That would be exciting. I mean, it's going to be tough. I think Robin Lopez is a better player than people give him credit for,

and he was a big piece of that. Sure. Rose, Porzingis, and Carmel. And if they get out of sticking too closely to this stupid triangle offense, it could be good. Remember the name Willie Hernan Gomez, Center for Rail Madrid, good friend of KP, played together in Spain, coming over to the Knicks. This is, this is someone. It's going to be the toughest two points in one rebound a night you'll ever see.

Okay, all right. We'll remember that. Clip off that little comment of yours that we can replay it. That's it. And no Cleveland, Jersey. Are you kidding me? I would barf. No, wait a minute.

I would barf on a white. I'm coming to Cleveland. Yes. This has to happen. The preview shot. Cleveland Cavaliers jersey Well you've always been pushing for the New York preview show

Oh I want to be on the Cleveland Preview show I want you to wear the Cleveland jersey Yeah if that's if that's what I have to do I am man I think that I think that's it All right but I do want on that New York show Can I get like an old school Mark Price jersey

Can I get a Craig Elo Can I get an Austin car? How about this? Can I get a Walt Frazier? You know Walt Frazier had a cup of coffee With the Cavs they traded him I think it has to be LeBron. Now, hold on a second.

Speaking of LeBron jerseys, let's talk about how you're proud to have this Steph Curry for your son still. Are we still? We're going to talk about this? I have to go back to this because you hate LeBron for being a flopper

and all those. Steph is not a flopper. He is the biggest baby in the entire NBA. He threw his mouthpiece at a fan after getting frustrated. Oh, stop it. That fan was a was annoying.

Let's be honest. You should not be proud of this man. Second of all, I bought the jersey long before he did that. It's time to get rid of it. And you know what? He hasn't worn it. He's only worn it like twice.

We were on a trip. I saw it as store lids and I said, you know what? This would be a nice little present. It was right before the Christmas game. My nephews were wearing calf jerseys and that bothers me. Look, that's a Western, I would never buy an Easter conference team. I'd go in my grave with that. That was a Western conference team.

We were on two different stratospheres. I mean, come on. Let the kid have something to root for. But anyway, now my son, who by the way, woke up at 1 a.m. this morning, with massive globs of silly putty in his hair. He fell asleep in the car. We had to cut his hair. Now he has like a huge ball spot here.

I kind of feel bad for him. There's not a way to like dissolve it or something like that? There was, but we kind of only realized after. He was kind of in need of a haircut, but my wife had to cut his hair at 1 a.m. Poor kid. I don't even know how I got into that part of the story. But look,

oh, basically he's four and he's starting to get into sports more and he's telling people that his favorite team is the Knicks. So we're all in. Okay, you're still okay then. We're all in. You haven't soiled him with the Steph Curry stuff. Oh, speaking of kids, last thing, before we go. Shout out to Chris Rini, friend of the show.

Congratulations. First one? Second. Second. Mazeltov. Mazeltov, he tweeted us a picture, beautiful thing. Hope everyone's doing well. And last thing, are we done with the questions?

That's it. A lot of people around last Tuesday, Wednesday were hitting me up, asking me to respond to some comments last week. loving it all, wanting to get all riled up, and trying to get my take. You know who you are. You know what I'm talking about. I'm taking the high road on this one. Let other people say what they want. I told you the truth.

You know the truth. And quite frankly, there's a whole lot more that I can say. But at this point, I'm moving on, taking the high road. So you're not going to bait me. You're not going to get anything out of me. And, you know, keep trying if you want, but it's going to be futile. That's it. You can hit my music.

are done. Fun show today. Started a little bit rocky there, but we picked it up. Thankfully, the YouTube gods smiling down upon us. I don't believe it was our problem, but you know what? It all worked out. And again, if you missed any part of it, we will have the full replay up in a short amount of time. So it is, oh, I should mention this.

Next week, we're off on Monday because it's July 4th, back on July 5th, Tuesday. So special Tuesday edition of the MAA hour before I go to Las Vegas for the three-headed monster that is international fight week, the RDA Alvarez fight, Yawanna, Claudia fight, and of course UFC 200. So make note of that next Monday. We are off because it is July 4th here in the United States, but back on Tuesday before UFC 200. For now we say goodbye. Thank you very much to Quentin Rampage Jackson. Congratulations to him on his big win over Satoshi. Ishi. Thank you very much to Stephen Wonderboy Thompson. Congratulations to him on his big win

over Roy McDonald's, and I do hope that he gets that title shot next 100%. No doubt about it. He deserves it. Thank you very much to Sage Northcut. Good luck to him. UFC 200. Coming up. Thank you very much to T.J. Dillashaw. Good luck to him. UFC 200. Big rematch against Hafele, Sunsau. Thank you very much to Chuck Mindenhall. Look out for his piece on Matt Matreone. Can't wait for that. Thank you very much to golf for stopping by as well. Good luck to him. UFC 203. And thank you very much to Michael Chandler. Congratulations on winning the belt. Back next Tuesday, same time, same place. If you missed anything, check it out. iTunes. It's your YouTube all that goes to something more until they say, hey, hey, psh, I'm out of you. Support for this show comes from Volkswagen. As the U.S. gets ready to host

soccer's biggest moment on a worldwide stage, Volkswagen is helping people discover new terms and new ways to play the beautiful game right here in the U.S. from deaf and power wheelchair of soccer beach and futsal, Volkswagen is actively supporting all the communities and teams within the U.S. soccer ecosystem. They're supporting talent from across the U.S. soccer extended national teams and are focused on helping to give these less widely known forms of soccer a platform moving forward. From the pitch to the sand and everything in between, welcome to our turf. Support for this show comes from Chase.

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