MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 350

Episode Date: October 3, 2016

Ariel Helwani speaks to Shaun Al-Shatti (00:06:12), Eddie Alvarez (00:28:03), Joanna Jędrzejczyk (00:51:02), Gegard Mousasi (01:08:32), Julianna Peña (01:27:41), Charles Bennett (01:52:54), NewYorkRic to take your questions (02:31:15), and Jason Parillo (03:15:59). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

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Truth be told, I didn't think that I would be doing today's show because it's a very important day for my fellow Jewish people. Today is our new year. Shanatovats, everyone out there. Maybe you're coming home from. from synagogue, from your prayers, from hearing the show far, and you want to fire up the MMA hour while you're having your Rosh Hashanah lunch. Maybe. If you're not one of those people, then you're just enjoying the show on a typical, normal, uneventful Monday afternoon. But I do believe this is the first time in my history of being on this great earth

that I'm working on Rosh Hashanah. It's a very important day for my people. But, you know, there's so much going on in the world of MMA. I felt like I would be leaving you hanging. I felt like I wouldn't be doing my service to you as an MMA journalist reporter and host by skipping out on this show. So I am sacrificing you and my beliefs. Excuse me, I'm sacrificing me and my beliefs for you, the good MMA fans out there. Very happy to be here.

So much going on in the world of mixed martial arts. And what a difference a week makes, right? I mean, this time last week, we were all kind of lamenting the state of UFC 205. I told you, if you recall, that in around 24 hours or so, we'll know a lot more. And in fact, it was less than 24 hours. It was around six or so hours after we said goodbye. UFC officially announcing that Eddie Alvarez would fight Connor McGregor, the main event of UFC 205 for the lightweight title. Shortly thereafter, they also announced Habib Nirmagamatov versus Michael Johnson and Chris

Weidman versus Joel Romero. So three fights have been announced since we last spoke. And then they had that press conference in New York on Tuesday, which was absolute chaos in a good way. It was very entertaining. So much to unpack there. The card is official. Everyone feels good about it. The ticket prices are out of this world. A lot of people complain that they can't get tickets, but they have delivered on their promise to bring an outstanding card to Madison Square Garden. the card that MSG deserved, the card that New York City deserved, the card that the state deserved, the card that everyone who had been dreaming and hoping and wishing that a New York state would finally legalize mixed martial arts. And once they did so, the UFC would bring

a quote-unquote UFC 100 type card to the world's most famous arena. Well, they have surpassed UFC 100. I mean, it's not, it's, it's UFC 100 plus 200 plus whatever 300 is going to be. It's fantastic stuff. So there's a lot to talk about there. The UFC had an event on Saturday in Portland, Oregon. A really entertaining main event, I guess somewhat controversial. It was close. We kind of figured it would be that way. In the end, John Lineker defeats John Dodson via decision.

And there were some great results. How about, well, actually, the co-made event wasn't, you know, it was a solid win, obviously, for Cowboy-Livera, but it was, that was true controversy. That was one that left a sour taste in my mouth. Nate Marquard coming back to. Portland, Oregon. He is 3-0 in that building. He defeated Damien May in 21 seconds. Remember that? UFC 102? Then he won the Strike Force welterweight title a few years ago over Tyrone Woodley in that building. And then Saturday he defeats Tam-Dam McCrory. All very spectacular finishes. Nate Markhart does well in Portland, Oregon. And of course, the UFC is back this weekend, the big one, UFC 204, Michael Bisping against Dan Henderson.

and actually just watched this documentary that the UFC put together on Michael Bisping called, I believe Destiny or My Destiny. It is fantastic. I wish they did more of this kind of stuff. It's a one hour look at his journey since essentially day one, well before the UFC days. I actually shed a few tears while watching it. It was great. Got me very excited for what should be a memorable scene in Manchester this Saturday. So again, a lot going on. We've got a stack show. We've got two champions. a Venezuelan vixen, a dream catcher, a crazy horse, and a lot more on this episode of the MAA. So let's get right into it and welcome in our first guest of the day. At around 410, we're going to be joined by Jason Perillo, who is the boxing coach for Michael Bisping,

Chris Cyborg, and B.J. Penn. What do those three fighters on top of being coached by Jason Perlough have in common? they're all fighting in the span of four weeks. An unbelievable stretch for Jason Perl. Who's in Manchester already for the Bissping fight this Saturday. So we'll talk to him about his success. One of the best coaches in the sport doesn't get, in my opinion, the credit that he deserves. 305 will take your questions and comments.

New York, Rick is back from his world travels, so I look forward to talking to him. At 245, the fighter formerly known as Crazy Horse Bennett, now known as felony Charles Bennett will stop by. You ask for him, you got him. He won at Risen last weekend, not this past weekend, the one before that. He is one of a kind. He is a unique figure in the world of MMA. Very much in the news these days. So Charles Bennett will make his MMA our debut at 245, 225. We will talk to Julianna Pena about what's going on with her, her future. 205 Gagga Musassi, fighting in the second most important card on Saturday night against Vitor Belford, a fight that is literally seven years in the making and we'll get into that. 145, the Straway champion, Yvina Jacek will stop by to talk about

her UFC 205 fight against Carolina Kovalkievich, Poland versus Poland, and then 125, Eddie Alvarez will stop by, talk about his very busy week, getting the fight, the press conference, all that stuff and more. But first, let us go to the Skype machine and welcome in my good pal, Sean Al-Shadi. There he is, as always, crystal clear Skype from Sean. How are you, my friend? I'm doing well, man. How you doing? I'm doing well. Great to talk to you. There's a lot to discuss. There's a lot going on between Saturday's card, this coming Saturday's card, 204, the 205 stuff. But first, obviously, we're doing an MMA show, and I would be remiss if I don't start on this note. Some very, very heartbreaking news. I mean, just gut-wrenching stuff coming out on Friday about UFC middleweight, Josh Saman, anyone who is a quasi-fan of this sport by,

now probably has heard his story. If you're a hardcore fan, you definitely have heard his story. I mean, everything that Josh has been through over the last few years, the passing of his girlfriend in particular in that car accident, and then him coming back and winning on her birthday at UFC 181, wrote a book about his life. He's been through so much. Then we come to find out on Friday that he is in a coma, that he's unresponsive, that a good friend of his and a local MMA cage announcer, ring announcer, PA announcer, passed away. Details are very, aren't very clear at this time. I just read an update courtesy of Fox Sports.com and Damon Martin saying that he is still in a coma,

so several days later. And you know, to be honest, I don't really have a question for you. I mean, I just feel like we need to talk about Josh at the top of the show and just kind of send positive thoughts his way, because this is a guy who has obviously been through a lot. but a real a real credit to our sport i mean he writes for sb nation he writes for bloody elbow he's just a smart charismatic great guy who has been through so much and it incredibly depresses me to find out that he is in that stay and i'm just hoping and praying that he pulls through this

yeah absolutely man it's uh it's a tragic story going on right now i mean anybody who knows josh anybody who's had interactions with josh i mean he's a really he's a really wonderful person man i mean there's a lot of fighters in this sport and there's a lot of unique characters in the sport, but he really is someone who is so introspective and articulate. And, you know, he writes for our sister's site, Bloody Elbow, and he does other writing gigs on the side. And he's just, it's very sad. It's very, very sad.

All our hopes and prayers go out to Josh and his family and hope that he pulls through this because he is someone who's been through a lot. I think anybody who read the housekeeper his autobiography can attest to it. I mean, he grew up. There's a lot of things that he had to deal with growing up and then, you know, the death of his girlfriend, Haley, all within a very short time span. This is just a tragic turn of offense and we really do hope he comes out of this, okay? Yeah, well said, Sean. I last saw him in Atlanta for 201.

And every time I talk to Josh or I see him or I see him write these fantastic articles, he just did a series of articles interviewing Jeff Novitsky for UFC.com. And he's a great writer. I mean, even if you haven't read it, I mean, the book is just, I can never dream of putting together something like that. The guy's been through so much. I'm like, wow, look at him. Smile on his face keeps going in incredible shape. Great fighter, has earned his place in the UFC, has really defied the odds and has overcome so much.

And I hope he can do it one more time and then some and come back to tell us all about it because, you know, we are a, the MMA world is a much lesser place without him around. so we hope that he is able to pull through this, and we are definitely dedicating this show to him and hoping to send some positive thoughts his way. No easy transition to make there, but I will try my best. The UFC was in Portland,

a very entertaining main event. Some people had it for Linneker, some people had it for Dodson. Who'd you have it for? Yeah, you know, it was a great fight, first of all. On first watch, I had it scored three to two for Linneker. I gave Linneker two, three, four, Dotson, one, and five. and then you know I rewatched it this past weekend after I think yesterday and I still had it

three to two Linnaker but it was a lot closer on the second viewing um I think the round two seems to be the one that was the most divisive and I could if you gave that the dots and I absolutely would not fault me for it I could see this going either way it really is a true toss-up I mean it comes down to what do you value more lincolns aggression and you know his willingness to be the bowl in the situation or Dotson's you know countering it and and and, you know, his ability to escape and continue to circle out and reset. You see a lot of people going back to this running thing. Like, I don't know how this became a thing that is thrown around after these fights,

but it's not running, man. He's resetting. Yeah. It's a form of fighting. It's countering. It's silly to hear people say that he was running. Okay. So you think that Leniker won, you think the judge has got a right.

So he's, you know, the rightful victor. We can move on. they're obviously not going to do a rematch, Bantamweight has become fascinating. And not just, you know, trying to figure out who Cruz is going to fight next. That's fascinating in its own right. But then like the next couple of fights under that,

the contender fights, also very interesting. So if I say that the top guys right now at Bantamweight, let's say they're Dominicruz, T.J. Dillishaw, Cody Garbrent, John Lineker, Brian Carraway, and I don't know, maybe a Huffel Sun Sal. Am I missing someone there as far as the top six are concerned? Jimmy Rivera coming off the eye injuries, so I'm not really considering him, you know,

a candidate right now for this year, but maybe he comes back soon. And then, basically, if you're Sean Shelby, if you have the book, how are you booking those top three fights? Dude, you really can't go wrong any way you do it right now. Bantamweight is so utterly fascinating. I think it's better than it ever has been.

If you've given me the matchmaker hat, I would say that I would want Cruz versus Garbrandt just because I feel like I want to see that fight at this point. There's a storyline there. Then Dillishaw-Linnaker to maybe see who gets the next shot. Okay. Although, with John Littaker, it's so weird, though, because it's like if this guy continually five times not making weight,

like how, at what point can you just not trust him to give him that big spot? So he would have to give you some kind of guarantee that he's going to be able to make weight. I mean, missing 135 seems ridiculous for a guy his size. And then, you know, in that next level, I would go care away versus either. Rivera if he can come back or a son's out if he's still in it, you know? You know what's fascinating about that division? They're not just fights at this point. And what I mean by that is Cruz has a story with Dillishaw and Garbrandt.

So, you know, you can't really go wrong. I think there's more momentum behind Garbrand. I think that's the bigger fight. But it's hard, as we said on Thursday, to argue against Dillishaw deserving the title fight because he lost that fight back in January, you know, via the slimmest of margins. Linneker and Garbrand have a history. Garbrand and Dillishaw have a history. A Sunsau has a history.

Well, he just lost to Dillishaw. I mean, a Sunsale doesn't do a great job. Let's be honest, of building himself up. But you get the point. They've got options. Like, if you do, if you do Cruz Dillishaw, Garbrand versus Linnaker was the fight that was supposed to happen this year. Garbrand talking all kinds of smack about him on the time.

I mean, finally, Bantamway really coming together. They've done a fantastic. I maintain it's the most interesting. division right now because it's all a bunch of young guys vying and then and then we get to the sterlings of the world right after it's great. Almeida too and you even have storylines with Carraway it seems like anything Carraway that's right that's right. Anything Carraway does people are just going to crap on him. It seems ridiculous. He calls out

John Lennaker after watching this tremendous fighting people are just piling on him. You don't really want that. Don't lie. You don't really want that fight. So I'm really curious to see what they do with all those top guys. Now in the co-main event, we had Cowboy Levera defeating Will Brooks, but this was super, super controversial. I mean, Cowboy Lavera misses weight by five and a half pounds. And now with the new weigh-ins, you only get one shot to weigh in. So let's say it's, you know, 9 to 11 local time. If you weigh in at 9-05 and you miss weight, you don't get to do it again an hour later, like in the old days or two hours later. He comes in like 20 minutes into the thing. So he still had an

hour and 40 minutes or so to try to shed some of that weight, didn't do it. They have a back and forth on Twitter. Will Brooks doesn't square off with him at the ceremonial win. Olivera uses his size advantage to his advantage in the fight clearly. Brooks injures his rib, is hurt, blah, blah, loses the fight, and then Oliver does the crotch chop, the DX crotch chop, the, you know, the Fangud thing, and it says that he disrespect him all this stuff. I mean, I had such a sour taste. in my mouth after all that. I don't care whatever the guy said to you, what he did to you, you miss weight by five and a half pounds and wait in early. You don't get to say a thing in my opinion. What do you make of all of this? Yeah, I agree with you. And I think the unfortunate

thing about Saturday's event is that it kind of left a bad taste on numerous, on several moments because I mean, you look at the main event and co-made event. The guy who won is the guy who missed weight. I mean, that's just... That's a good point. That's not what you want to see in this sport. But especially with Cowboy, I mean, missing 5.5.5. pounds is a lot, especially when the margins between these divisions are what they are. I mean, it looked like a welterweight versus a lightweight out there if we're being honest with each other. And you're right. I mean, at that point, once you have already done that, like, you can't, you can't be the escalator. Like, you can't be the guy who, who after this is over just starts,

you know, doing all this and the cross stops and everything. Like, you got to know your role at that point. Like, you want the fight, that's fine, but just kind of tone it down a little bit, man, because you're right. That's just not a good. Look, like, he says that Will Brooks insulted me, therefore, you know, I don't feel, I don't regret what I did, but it's like, man, Will Brooks insulted you because you insulted him by not making weight to that degree. Like, you're putting him in a really hard spot. Like, he can turn down the fight, sure, but he doesn't know if he's going to get a show purse or a wind purse or anything. Like, you're putting him in a very difficult situation. So, yeah, that left me with sour taste.

It's also unfortunate that Linneker misweight by 0.5 pounds. he gives up 20% to Dotson. Cowboy misses weight by 5.5 pounds, and he gives 20% to Brooks. I mean, there's no difference between 0.5 and 5.5 and 1 half. And also, like, I kind of feel like at this point, the days of the win bonuses should go away. Like, these are professional athletes.

And there are always going to be bonuses for performance and stuff. In baseball, you hit 200 innings, 300 strikeouts. I don't know what it is, but there's always going to be, you know, performance. But if you make it to fight night, you should get paid what you should get paid. I mean, like the days of win and show. show these guys don't need extra motivation. So I'm sure that Will Brooks, who just got married, who just had a baby, is saying like, look, I can't afford to turn down this fight. I just did a whole training camp. I can't afford to say no. What am I gaining if I say no, I'm getting

nothing. He ends up losing. I wish they would do away with the win bonus. Everyone just gets paid the full amount. And I also wish that, you know, if you miss weight by more than two pounds freebie, it's more than 20%. It's 50%. Yeah. I would agree with you. I think the wind bonus system is, seems very archaic at this point. Especially because you see it now. I mean, even the champions and the guys who get farther up,

they don't have win bonuses. No. They just flat fee. I mean, most of the headliners at this point, Connor and Nate and all these guys will just have a flat fee and then they'll get whatever bonuses

they get on it. And also, I agree with you on the tiered system. I mean, I would like to see some level of tiered system where if you miss weight by a pound or less,

it's a certain percentage and then, you know, anything higher, it's a higher percentage because it just seems, it's almost the same argument as the rounds where it's like a 10 9 where somebody gets a knock down and it's pretty definitively winning should not be the same as a 109 where it's ultra close and raised up in like there should be levels to this game on all across the board I agree with you there

and the performance bonuses are nice and I'm not going to complain about you know them giving someone something that they didn't have in their contract but it does kind of suck for john dotson who in my opinion was a part of the best fight of the night doesn't get a bonus because Linneker, per their rules or whatever, these arbitrary rules, isn't eligible. So, you know, it's like, man, not only did he lose, not only did the guy misway, now he's not eligible for what would have been his bonus, I think, right? Was there a better fight than that? Yeah, no.

And through no fault of his own, he didn't do anything wrong. He was professionally made way. He's not eligible. This is one of the situations where you would hope they're taking care of him in the back room, but we have no idea and we'll never know. Right. Okay, let's talk about New York City, UFC 205, fantastic card. What did you think of the press conference on Tuesday?

I mean, I may be a little biased because I was there, so I was part of the whole energy. You were watching it from your computer. How did it come across, in your opinion? I think it came across beautifully. I mean, it seemed like it was just full of energy. Yeah. It felt historic. It felt like we've been waiting for this, for years at this point.

I think you guys have talked about it already where it's just, for several weeks, for several months at this point, it felt like this was going to be anticlimactic, and we weren't going to be able to get, to reach the heights that we thought this far should be. And then all of a sudden, within like 24 hours, things turned on a dime, and it got crazy. And the press conference felt like, it felt like it should. It felt pretty historic. And it felt, you just see all those guys and the faces and names up there. And it's just like, this is an unbelievable lineup. Like this is really just a very cool moment. And then there were also little snippets of things throughout that you could just take

through it. It was pretty cool. The reveal of everyone standing behind that Kern, the Kern comes up. And then the crowds chanting UFC, which is a very rare thing for a press conference. It was very ECW-esque, if you get what I'm saying. That to me was one of the coolest non-fight moments in UFC history. Like all these amazing fighters, champions, former champions, future champions, contenders, big names, Connor, after everything they've been through,

after getting the deal done, you know, essentially at the 11th hour, that was so freaking cool. Now, one of the big things coming out of that press conference was the Jeremy Stevens interaction. I mean, it made it on Jimmy Kimmel Live, which is a victory in its own right for the UFC. But Jeremy Stevens was the butt of everyone's jokes. I maintained that that was a victory for Jeremy Stevens too. He is now a part of the Connor McGregor's story. If he knocks out Frankie Edgar gets a big win and gets on the mic and says, you know who I am, Connor, you will respect me, you will know my name.

I think he has a better chance than most of getting that fight now because of that interaction. I would agree with you on that regard that it certainly has pushed him into the Connor's storyline. And you're right, there's a way you could parlay that to his favor if he does manage to have a really good performance on November 12th and just knocks out Frankie and turns it around, kind of flips the script on it. But man, if he loses, like, it's going to be. If he loses. Yeah, not all presses, good press type of situation. In this case, I think it was good. because how many times have we seen those Connor press conferences now

where he's sitting there up there with everyone and no one says a thing? No one says a thing, including people who are, you know, very closely tied to him. Cowboy, Frankie over there. No one's saying a thing. This guy took a chance. Hey, Jeremy saw his moment. Yes. You want to capitalize on it and you can't fault the guy for that.

I ultimately end up coming away from that, I feel bad for the guy because, I mean. I still don't feel bad for him. I think he just talked himself into a potential money fight, believe it or not. if you're coming out of a firefight with Connor like I feel like you've got to bring your best stuff and I don't think he was prepared enough for that man now I will say Connor's delivery his reaction like taking the beat looking over

and then saying what he said was pretty damn brilliant I mean there is he has no contemporary the leprecon and the oh good one is the one that really sold it it's just like oh man at this point it's it's pretty safe to say that if Connor is not on the card

it doesn't feel as big like he upsianity that much more than anyone. Like, I think a Connor McGregor card, and this is just the truth, Connor McGregor card against anyone, Mr. X, Jeremy Stevens, Eddie Alvarez, Josealdo feels bigger than any other potential card that they could put together with the biggest names possible, including Ronda Rousey. He just brings something different to the table

from the press conferences to the media, to the fight, everything. I agree with you, and I think it's interesting. The level of dialogue we've gotten in regards to, to a Connor McGregor press conference now. It's a different type of dialogue that takes place in any of the press conferences. You have him taking shots at Eddie Alvers for not renegotiating his contract.

Like all of these different nuances to the behind the scene stuff, he brings it out and just talks about it in a very matter of factually way. And I think that's interesting because I can't think of anybody else who ever really does that. No. Oh, it is unprecedented.

You're right. It adds a different level of like, everything feels big around him. But I would say that I think maybe a Ronda Rousey return might feel big. We don't know yet. We have no idea. No, I know.

It's just the way he acts at the press conferences and he riles people up and he feeds off the crowd. This is not me being a Connor nuthugger. This is me being a realist. Anyone who refuses to recognize this at this point, you're just blind. I don't know why. You're jealous. I don't know what it is, but you got to face facts.

Now, the flip side to all of this, there's a few unhappy fighters, most notably is Josealdo who wants to be released. How do you think this plays out? Do you think he gets what he wants? Does he get the release? Or is this just his way of trying to get more money, a favorable fight? What do you think happens to Joseo in the UFC? I don't think this is his way of trying to get more money. I mean, that guy does not strike me as a guy who cares so much about money to where he would make this a thing over money. I think he genuinely feel slighted and genuinely feel like he was disrespected. And I think that's more important to him than anything. but the UFC is a businessman and we always come back to this

and the OFC is ultimately a business and they're going to do what's best for business I think it'd be insane for them to cut or to release the greatest featherweight of all time probably like it's Bellator or World Series or one FC all of these organizations would jump at the opportunity to sign a guy like Joseo I mean he's a top

talking about like a top 10 guy in the history of our sport um it's very sad to see kind of what it's sad to see what's happened to Jose, to be honest, because I mean, it shows you how one performance can really change the way everybody's going to look at you forever. Because, I mean, the 13 seconds, like, no matter what this guy does now,

it always comes back to 13 seconds. And that's such an immense disservice to the legacy of this tremendous athlete that we've seen compete in unparalleled for like virtually 10 years, but one bad performance, and now all of a sudden he's a bummed. It's sad to see it.

It's unfortunate. And it has been brewing for quite some time, this rift between him and the UFC. I do agree. I hope that they figure it out. I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't think that this is him playing games. I think he is being very genuine when he says he wants out. One last thing before I let you go. 204 Saturday, Manchester, Bispings' first title defense against Dan Henderson.

Are you all, like, are you into this? Some people are still holding on to the fact that Henderson should have. I'm kind of into it. Like, I bought in, why not, right? It's fun. It's 2016 and Michael Bisbing's the UFC middleweight champion, man. Anything goes at this point. It is wild.

It's interesting to watch. I mean, we're used to seeing Bisbing in the underdog role. Right. And now he's the favorite. He's going into this fight, expected to win. And he's in his home, he's in England. I don't know. There's interesting dynamics to it.

Plus, the whole Dan Henderson, you know, retirement thing, which I can't imagine him winning and then walking away. But, okay, I mean, that is interesting in its own right. Who's your pick? I lean in Bisping now. It's early, but I'm still lean in business. All right. Fair enough.

Great stuff as always, Sean. Thank you. Absolutely. I appreciate it, man. Thank you. I appreciate your time. There is Sean Al-Shadi, one of the very best in the business. Great insight from him as always.

All right. Front and center, Tuesday afternoon in New York City was Eddie Alvarez, the UFC lightweight champion. He got the fight that he wanted. He's fighting Connor McGregor at UFC 205, November 12th, Madison Square Garden. But before we move along, let me quickly tell you about my good friends once again over at Dollar Shave Club. You know I've been using them for quite some time. Last few months, I've been all about Dollar Shave

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all affordable. Right now is your chance to see for yourself why so many of us love Dollar Shave Club. If you're not a member yet and have never joined, now's the time. You'll get your first month of Razors for free just-pay shipping. After that, it's only a few bucks. Join today, go to dollar shaveclub.com slash MMA. That's dollar shaveclub.com slash MMA. Now back to the show. How about this? Very exciting stuff. Eddie Alvarez on line number one. Eddie, are you there? What's up, Ariel? How are you, sir? I'm excellent, man. Couldn't be better. A lot to talk to you about my man. This time last week, Eddie, I was doing this show and you, you didn't have a fight and we were all wondering what's going to happen is the fight that

everyone wants going to end up on this card blah blah blah blah blah you know late monday we get word it's a done in the end how'd you get it done how'd you get the fight that you wanted um but i don't think there was a little bit of gains and shit on uh ufc's part i don't know if they were you know they're sending some uh bad agreements other fighters and things like that i think uh i don't know I don't know what was going on. It seemed like a world win. And Monday, I believe it was Monday when I was on my way to Mark Henry's house, I got text 3 o'clock in the morning from Dana saying to give him a call.

And I know the press conference was on the following day. So I had an idea that this might be the call. So I got on the phone with them. and I said, hey, what's up, man? And he started to talk to me about, you know, the same stuff about, that was going on the news, about the Khabib things and Jose Aldo. And I think I just stopped him in his tracks. And I was like, look, man, like, nobody wants these fights.

And that's not what I'm being told. It's not what anybody's being told. So I said, let's just, let's stop all this. I'm coming to New York and let's make this fight happen. And then it took the meeting. My managers came in and, you know, we got the deal done that night. So at any point in all of this, as we're approaching that press conference, it kind of felt like a deadline, like, were you worried that you weren't going to get this opportunity?

Because as you said, UFC is sending out bout agreements. They're saying that you missed a deadline for this and that. Connor's relatively quiet. you know, no interviews on his end, no real posts on social media. Like, were you, were you nervous or were you always kind of calm, cool, and collected that in the end this is going to work out in my favor? I was nervous. My management didn't seem to be.

A management was very reserved, very, you know, they dealt with it very good. I was actually shocked to see how well they dealt with it. So they kind of called it. They knew what they were doing, and the deal got done. But, yeah, I was going back and forth to moan head. But at the end of the day, as long as I woke up every morning and got ready to fight, it didn't really matter what happened. This fight is less than two months away, but, you know, it had been brewing for quite some time.

Rare for a fight this big to come together this late. So were you already preparing for Connor, hoping that it gets done at some point so that you could be ahead of the curve? I was preparing. Didn't have to be necessarily for Connor. I was just preparing. I think maybe six weeks ago,

just back in the gym, back my strength conditioning coaches. We started probably sparring weeks ago as well. So when this was announced, I was already in a camp, already preparing, already getting ready to be conditioned to be ready to fight on MSG. And if not MSG, I'm not on a Toronto card. In the end, would you have been okay with fighting, Habib, or was it Connor or bus for you? Like, if you didn't get this Connor fight, would you have waited for a more favorable date or some other card?

What were you thinking as far as options? Well, I didn't know how serious to take them when they're saying, like, originally telling us, like, Connor wasn't the fight. I didn't really not a serious to take them because I heard otherwise. So I was pretty sure that this fight was happening. They wanted it. Connor wanted it. And, you know, I wanted the fight as well.

So I don't even think there was any other names in question. I think they were just brought up as sort of a, you know, a little game that everybody plays and they go ahead to negotiate fights and stuff. So, no, I don't, no hard feelings on my part, you know, it's part of the game. But I think this was always a fight. I think everybody involved and everybody knew this was always a fight. Does a part of you feel bad for Habib in the sense that it sort of feels like he was used as a pawn in all of this? No, no, I don't feel bad for fighters.

I don't feel I don't I mean like if something tragic happens in you know players families and things like that

I feel terrible as far as the fight business and what goes on I don't feel bad for fighters we you know we play a game and there are no rules

and you got to learn how to play it and you got to learn how to play the best to your ability but we're all in the same game so just sitting feel sorry. There's no time frame yet. Do you think Habib got played?

Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, I'd say so. So then you end up at this press conference, you know, less than 24 hours after you make this deal, and it's an unbelievable scene. It's like straight out of a Jerry Springer show times 100. People are chanting, you know, booing. I mean, it's just, I'll never forget it.

And there you are. Is it like, what is it like for you? Because, you know, there was a, a point where it got a little hair. You said you're nervous. You're sitting there looking at all of us, looking at the crowd. Are you pinching yourself? Is it surreal? Like, how are you taking this in and not getting too emotional? Because I thought you did a good job at the press conference. It's, it's kind of a new territory, even though you've been in this sport for so long. This is a different kind of beast. What are you saying to yourself to take this all in?

Whenever there's moments like that, I sort of become a spectator. You know, I just tell myself to have a good time and enjoy enjoy the show. I become a spectator. I'm no like I try to put myself out of the spectacle um, uh, um, uh, and put myself as a spectator and enjoy, enjoy the show. And I, I truly did. I enjoy, I enjoyed the press conference. I had a fun time with it. I thought it was different for me. Um, but I think, I think it was a good time for me. I had a fun time. So if the press conference was a fight, a performance, how do you think you did? Are you happy with your performance? Maybe like a five out of ten. Oh, wow.

I would have liked to, I would have liked to have been prepared. I wasn't prepared because we just made the deal the other night before. And if I was going into that sort of realm where I know guys talk shit, I would have been prepared, like, fully to, you know, basically. win the whole thing. But the fact that I wasn't sure whether I was going to fight and that we just got the deal done the night before, I wasn't going to stay up all night making notes. I thought it was more important just to be genuine and just say how I felt. Whether it came out, however it came out, just say how I felt when I felt it. So one of the big takeaways from the press conference, as you know, is Connor coming out and sort of mocking you for the deal that you cut. Was that a low blow? A low blow? Yeah.

On me? Yeah. Did you feel like he crossed some sort of, I don't know, invisible line? No, no. I don't, I'm happy with the money that I'm ready to make. I don't think, I think you have to earn the right to be able to draw a line in the sand and say this is what I want. And I think fighters need to be prepared to walk if you're willing to.

if that's the case. And I don't think this was one I was prepared to walk away from. I think it's too sweet. I think the opponent, it's too good of a style match-up opponent. The money's good. Everything about the plate

is good. It wasn't one I was willing to walk away from at this time. So I wasn't going to sit there. And Nick on the UFC, about, about, you know, about negotiating the deal. The deal is good. The deal's fine. I'm fine by it.

Were you surprised that he had that information? And if so, how do you think he got it? Um, a little bit surprised. Yeah, I don't, I don't know if he should be having stuff like that, or he should know things like that about how much money I'm making and things of that sort. I don't know, I don't know who told him or what was what, but I know, uh, I know management teams talk in order to get deals done. And, you know, so maybe it was the management teams talking,

let them know what each other got done and what they have to do to get the fight done itself. So, but what does he give a shit? I mean, I don't care. He seemed like kind of a little angry about it, right? I don't know something I don't know why he was so angry about it He seemed like I'm upset about

That I took the deal It was a little weird to me You think he was hoping that you wouldn't Yeah I don't know if there was a stipulation Like if I asked for more money That the flight to off or something Maybe he wanted the fight to be off I don't know

I'm not sure He just seemed a little bit angry about it What were you guys saying to each other When you were squaring off Um, Daniel was putting a belt on him, and I told him, yeah, give him the little boy belt. He said, he'd take that little boy belt. And he got, he got mad about that. That, that pissed him off a little bit. But he had the smaller weight class belt. Given the, he puffed his chest up, right? And tighten his pants up, and he got real tall.

Given the reaction from the crowd, do you think that you're going to get booed on November 12th? uh yeah i mean given a reaction to that crowd yeah it kind of it kind of was weird because um i didn't i definitely didn't expect that as far as the like the boost but it just sort of reiterated to me um like his fan base what his fan base is you know his fan base is him there are people who um there's just, it's all perception. It all, it seems like he has a lot of WWE fans.

Like guys who don't know much about fighting at all, they just like, they like him. So, you can have them fans. They're not the fans I want anyway. You know what I mean?

Like, I get booed all day long because I don't, I don't want a fan who don't know shit about MMA. I'd rather have a fan who knows the sport and enjoys the sport

and sees, and can see value. Your run in the UFC thus far is pretty much unprecedented and given the people that you have fought Cowboy, Gilbert, Pettis, RDA, and now Connor, honestly now, no one's listening. Do you truly believe that Connor

is the easiest of that bunch as far as opponents and the test that he present to you is concerned? Yes, 100%. No one's listening. I do. Why? I do.

I know. Why do I? Yeah, what makes you think he's so easy? I think every other one of them, um, opponents that you mentioned, uh, have their,

they have a well-rounded skill set. And even if, even if the fight goes to another realm of MMA, where you're going from standing up to ground to jujitsu, um, everyone's, tough in each one.

They're well-versed to the point where they can hang with some of the toughest guys in the world in any aspect of the sport. And I don't think he can. I don't know. From what I've seen, not only that, the conditioning aspect is just not a good level of conditioning. The last Nate Diaz fight was a very big eye-opener. for me. So I do. I truly sincerely feel. Usually when I square off with a man, my heart rate goes up. I feel something. I never felt so untreatened by a human being when I was up on stage

for him. Wow. Nothing he does concerns you. That's a god's honest. I never felt so unthreatened by another man. And it's been a long career for you. It's been a long career. long long. Okay, so the next seven or so weeks, probably going to be nuts. You're going to be pulled in many different directions. Are you prepared for this? How are you going to handle this road to 205?

Because speaking of that long career, you've never been a part of anything. I mean, none of us have been a part of anything like this. This is going to be, I mean, this is historic stuff, the first show at MSG, et cetera. I don't need, you know, you don't need me to tell you. Mentally, how are you going to deal with all the other stuff outside of just preparing for the fight, which is the easiest for you?

I have a lot of practice along the way. I know what to keep first. I know how to prioritize. I know how to keep things. I know I keep what's most important, keep that important, and make sure that I'm doing, I'm being accountable, being responsible, and doing everything I need to do to win the flight.

I've had a lot, a lot of practice, a lot more than him, a lot more than other guys in this division. So it's not going to be a concern. of mind going into this. There's no reason why I can't get up, why I can't continue to, no matter how much media obligation or what's going on, but I can't continue to work on the game plan,

work on my heart, and deconditioned and be ready to go in there and fight. Sometimes we see Connor talk about other opponents, you know, he gets under their skin. I think it worked with Josealdo. Has he said anything thus far to piss you off to get under your skin? are you worried that you might fight too emotionally?

No, no way. Not even a little bit. Okay. Like, I was, I was being completely honest with you, and I said I enjoyed the press conference. I don't take anything personal. If you know me as a person, even when someone's, like, trying to be, like, legitimately malicious to me and saying things to me, it's really, really hard. for me to take things personal from anyone.

I just kind of enjoy the show. And I think that's when I'm going to do November 12th. I won't get too emotional about anything. And a job will get done. It'll get done violent and quickly. And everyone will, I don't know. I'm not sure. Are they going to blow or are they going to cheer?

I don't know what's going to go on. But I know my people coming off from Philadelphia. They're going to be going nuts. Well, speaking of that, he was asked a couple times his prediction. I don't think you were asked yet. Do you have an official prediction? A prediction for the fight? Yeah, how do you see it going down?

How do you see it playing out? Nah. We'll have to see. Do you see something yet or is it too early? Because you said violent and early. I just heard you say it. Look, I'm not, fights are unpredictable.

We're not quite sure what's going to happen. I'd be lying just like he is if I went and spit something out, he made his prediction after I got him angry, which was, it's a toll-tel sign that his prediction was forced. It wasn't something he thought.

He just made it up because he got angry. So there's no vision that you see right now as far as the way the fight is going to play out? You guys all see the vision on November 12th, and it'll be a beautiful image. Are you bringing in anyone? Is it the same crew that you're going to be training with? Are you doing anything different for this one?

Yeah, we have. Well, I got one of the best South Poles in Philadelphia, Ray Robinson. He's been a, not just a training partner, but a friend of mine for a long time. He's been with me pretty much every day. And I go on a sparring, and we're using him for sparring. And also using him to watch film, watch tape and things of that sort. He's on a slick at South Pole's in Philadelphia. you.

When we have someone flying in this week, actually. Got a little treat this week, I believe. On Thursday, I think we have someone coming in that was going to be with us for about a month or so. Oh, surprise? You can't tell us who? I'm not even sure who he has. Mark ordered him. Oh, okay. Is there a website for that?

Yeah, you just order exploring partners. Mark was really in there. one certain guy and my management got on it right away and made sure we got them over here. Did you get a chance to go into MSG to look around? Did you do anything there? Yeah, we did some filming out. We did filming on that Thursday or Wednesday where we shot the promo and things like that. And it was a surreal, man.

What a cool a-ass event. It seems like sort of intimate And I don't know, man I'm going to enjoy myself for sure It's amazing to hear you describe it that way What a cool ass event And you're the freaking headliner You're the guy on the poster

This is like to me This is one of the best stories of the year That Eddie Alvarez Considering everything that you've been through You know the ups and downs fighting The underground king The underground king makes it on the marquee Of the most anticipated event in UFC history

There is some beautiful poetry in there You see what, I mean, like, you, and maybe I'm a little biased now that I got to see where you're from and the humble beginnings. This is an amazing thing what has transpired here. It truly is. It's a beautiful thing. I'm excited, man. A lot of big things going on. And November 12th, after November 12th, when we let the world know what's what and we get some things sorted out, I guess people think I'm really important.

I'm really good at fighting after that. What do you mean? What do you mean? What do you mean when we sort some things out after November 12th? What are you alluding to? No, I'm not alluding to anything. I'm just saying we'll get this fight sorted out and let people know who, you know, who's the better of us too. And once that gets sorted out, people understand that there's a lot more to fighting them, Connor McGregor. And that's when you asked for the new contract, right?

Yeah, we'll see. I don't know. Well, well, Connor seems to know a lot of. on my contract, maybe I'll have him renegotiated. Last thing, if you don't mind me asking, could you give us a ballpark how much you expect to make from this fight since it's such a big deal? Millions.

Millions. So anyone who's worried about how much Eddie Alres is making, they should stop worrying? Don't be so worried. It's my money anyway. You can't have any of it. I bet everyone's coming out of the word work now, right? Asking for tickets and all that.

Are any of your people left out? out? What's that? Because people have been complaining that the tickets are too much or they can't get tickets they sold out. Are people hitting you up already? Yeah, everyone. I got more ticket, more ticket texts and emails and everything.

Hey, I got an email from Joey, from friends, I guess, is people. What? About some sort of ticket situation. And I thought that was funny. They're asking you for tickets? I don't. don't know. I don't quite know what it was. I got it. One of my whole management

said, hey, you had an email from Matt LeBlanc's people, Joey from Friends. That's incredible. And I need to, I need to answer them guys back. I wasn't sure exactly what they wanted. But I think I had to do with regard

to, I guess. Have you ever met him? No, no. I don't, I don't know. That is hilarious. I'm a huge fan. I'm a huge fan of friends. wife watcher all the time. You're going to hook him up? If I get, if I'm hooked up, then I'll be, I'll be more than happy to share. If you walk out with Joey from Friends, I mean, this event just got a whole lot bigger, in my opinion. Yeah, I email them back. You know what? I email them back.

What? How are you doing? Look at Eddie Alvarez, calling the shots now, putting Matt LeBlanc in his, in his place. I love it. A beautiful thing. Well, again, I'm really, happy for you, man. Enjoy this ride. It's a pretty short one for such a big fight, but something tells me it's going to get a whole lot crazier. It's going to get a whole lot bigger than anything any of us have ever been a part of. So enjoy it. And I wish you the best in training, and I look forward to seeing you on November 12th. Thank you for doing this. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks, I don't. All right. There is. Eddie Alvarez, the UFC lightweight champion stopping by.

It doesn't get any bigger than November 12th for him as he faces Conn of Gregor. Now, just a few seats down, from Eddie Alvarez last Tuesday in New York sat the UFC Strawey champion Yana I'm Jacek she is also on the UFC 205 card and she is joining us on the phone right now Yowana how are you? Hi hi guys how are you doing? I'm good

doing well thank you for coming on usually we see you on Skype but this time it's on the phone just your voice yeah we're having some problems oh that's okay I know you're very busy so I appreciate you coming on and talking to us regardless of

whether it's Skype or the phone. Now, let me ask you first, when you got the call that you were fighting on this card, because you made it known that you wanted to be on the first ever card at MSG, what was your reaction when you got the call that you were going to be fighting in New York? I asked for this fight a long time already, you know, so I was happy that maybe a week before the press conference I heard that I'm going to be on this card. So I was very happy. Like I was like finally, you know, finally and let's do this.

You can't wait for this show. You got on the card before Connor and Eddie got on the card. When you were on the card as it was, when it looked for a minute like it was going to be, you know, the Tyron Woodley fight in your fight, did you think this was big enough for MSG or were you hoping that Connor would get on the card as well? No, I didn't expect Connor on this card because, but I was super happy when I heard about. But the thing was that I said to my people that there is something going on, you know. Like Dana and EFC, they have some ace in the pocket and I was waiting for that, you know. What was that press conference like for you being a part of it?

Unfortunately, you didn't get asked a lot of questions. Usually you get a lot of questions, but this time with all the craziness, you weren't asked all that much. Yeah, but when there is a corner on the press conference, there is no more question to other fighters. Does that bother you? But I was happy, you know, I like, no, no, no, I like New York. I'm not here to talk. I'm here to train hard and fight very hard. That's all.

But the reaction of my fans was amazing. So I was more than welcome and I was happy because of that. The last time you were in New York, you weren't as big of a star as you are now. And as we told you when you were in studio, there's a big Polish community here in New York. Did you feel the love last week when you were here walking around? Did you get a nice reception from the people of New York? Yes, yes. I got that.

I got that. So it was amazing really. So many people recognize me in Florida and New York. And this is amazing, you know. I like that. You know what I was thinking when you were squaring off with Carolina? I was wondering if for the first time in your UFC career you were trash talking in Polish because she understands Polish.

Of course, she's from Poland. Were you talking to her in Polish? or in English? English. I'm international. I'm international champion. And I don't know if she could understand me or not, but I know mine, you know. What were you saying to her?

That the shit got real and be ready. Do you think that she's on your level as far as fighting is concerned? She's not, but she's a tough chick. so it's going to be really tough and interesting fight, but she's not on my level. Is there anything that she does that impresses you? No, I'm not impressed of Karina Kovarkevich. As far as your UFC fights are concerned,

where do you put her? Is she tougher than anyone you fought in the UFC? She's not as tough as as anyone you fought? Like, where do you put her as far as your test thus far in the UFC? You know, she deserved to fight for this title. She beat Rose and she's supposed to be my next opponent, but Carolina won and here we go. She's a challenger. How do you feel about fighting a fellow Polish fighter?

Sometimes I hear from Brazilians, they don't like to fight fellow Brazilians, Canadians, say the same. What about you? There's so few Polish fighters in the UFC. How do you feel about fighting against another one? It's my business. It's my business. It's my job. I know mine who is going to be my next opponent.

or who is Carolina, she can be from Cuba and I still going to fight her, you know. She can be from my city and I'm still going to fight her if I have to fight. When did you first meet Carolina? I met Carolina in 2012. Amateur competition in Poland. I submit her in the third round. No, but like not in terms of fight. I know you fought, but like just in gyms or event.

Is that the first time you ever met her? I know. I know what you asked for. I met her in the lobby, you know, and she was super nice, super cute. She came to me with her coach. They hugged me. They were talking to me, but then she was nice. She isn't a real person.

That's her problem, you know. She's a fake person. Oh, really? Why do you say that? Because before my fight with Gadea, we used to record some video. for our sponsor. We had photoshoot together, and she was super nice.

We were talking a lot, but after her fight with Rose, she said lots of bad things, and that's the reason, you know. What did she say that bothered you? That I'm afraid of her and that I'm going to lose my belt, to lose my belt.

Hey, come on. Must be serious. And, of course, so you fought her, as you said, around. There is no trash talk, you know, but she's fake and I'm going to prove to all of you that she's a fake person. Did she say anything back to you when you guys were squaring off? No, I don't know if she could understand me. Right, right. And you've been, like now you fought in front of the biggest crowd in UFC history in Melbourne. You've had some, you know, the international

fight week. Do you think that all of this is going to be a little too much? She's never fought on any kind of stage like this before. I don't know. She fought on big QFC shows. I don't know. I don't know. I know that she never fought with someone like me in her pro-MMA career. Right. Okay, now here's the big thing.

You're in Florida right now, right? Yes, I'm part of ATT. Okay. How did you end up at ATT? Why did you leave your team and end up there? You know, I'm still in good relation with my team, my old coaches, but I felt that I need to change something in my life. I ended up in Florida at ATT and I'm very happy to be part of family of American top team, good people around me, very good coaches, top level fighters, and the weather is nice.

Yes, it definitely is. Now, are you living in Florida full time or just for the can. camps? Just for the camps, you know. I have my family back home in Poland. So I want to make my life here in U.S. I want to spend more time in U.S., but definitely I love Poland and I'm still Polish, you know. I remember a few months ago you were kind of going to different camps like Jackson's. You went to ATT, I think you were in California. In the end, was that kind of your way of seeing what was the best fit, were you sort of scouting the teams back then? And in the end, why did you feel like... No, it wasn't. It wasn't it. Wasn't it? I had some job to do, and I was not looking for

in camp at that time. So why did you decide that ATT was the best one for you? I don't know. I like, I did like, I was like looking for good, good, good, good spot, you know, for good people, good coaches, good facility, and here I am in Florida, you know. So my nutritionist, my doctor is here perfect in athletes, other people, so I'm very happy to be here. When was the last time that you prepared for a fight outside of Poland, if ever? Never happened before. Wow. Does it feel weird or do you feel comfortable? Yeah, like the trainings are different a little bit, but very high.

level. So I'm very happy. I know how to push myself. You know what I mean. So I'm in good spot. I'm in good hands. My head coach is Mike Brown. Mike, yes, I saw you guys together. There's few coaches better than Mike Brown. What a great guy he is. And Will Brooks actually told us on the show last week that he was blown away by how hard you train in the gym. There are so many big fighters there. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. Will Brooks said that he was looking at you. Yeah, yeah. Any fighter in particular that really impressed you that came up to you and said welcome to the team you know if you need anything was has there anyone of the you know the big names at ATT because there's so many that has gone out of their way to make you feel comfortable i like the way how how the fighters respect each other you know

so i heard lots of good good things like i i was more than welcome everyone is very helpful so yeah like i said it's very it's a very good place to be and i have to be honest with you yohanna almost every day I get another manager calling me and telling me, did you hear that Yowana is a free agent now? Like every single manager in this game wants to represent you. I'm waiting for a good offer, you know. Bring me some money. And that's all what I want from my manager, you know. So what happened with your...

I'm here. I'm in US. We can work on this field tomorrow, you know. You're going to get like 20 more phone calls now. Everyone's like, how do I get in touch with me? Really? Oh my gosh. Somehow the word got out.

Talk to her. Give me her number. Somehow the word got out and everyone wants to sign you. But let me ask you, let me ask you, why did you part ways with your former management team? We still have friends, you know. I like Tiago Kamura so much. But I decided to change something in my life. You know, sometimes you need to change something in your life, you know, to go harder, you know.

have these changes I want to like I said I want to work with the best people in the world because I'm the best in the world I want to retire as a champion and this is my goal this is my dream and mark my word because I'm going to do this

have these changes been brewing for a long time like did you feel like you needed to make these changes since before the Claudia fight yes and not it was really quick decision wow so there's a lot of changes I've got really good offer. There is more things coming out, but I'm very happy to be here.

What else is coming out? It's a secret. Come on. I can tell you. But there's a lot going on, a lot of changes in your life. Like this has all happened before the biggest fight on the biggest card. People are afraid of changes, you know. They are afraid to change something in their life.

But they like to complain. I don't like to complain. to complain. I'd like to work, you know. So it wasn't easy for me to to to leave my gym or my coaches or my management, you know, but I want to keep on going forward. So how many managers have reached out to you? I want to work just with the best. The best. So thus far, just feel, just just the best. I feel like this is like, I don't know if you'll get the analogy, but like when there's like a supermodel at a club. No one goes up to her because they're intimidated, but she wants to talk to everyone,

but no one goes up to her because they don't want to get shut down. I feel like everyone's kind of intimidated to come to you, but you're ready and willing to talk to people, right? Yes, I'm ready to talk to them, but, you know, I'm very thankful to my old manager, my coaches for the job, which we have done together, you know, what they did for me because they're not going to do this anymore. But the thing is like, I'm different, you know. I'm the only UFC's throwaway champion,

and I'm going to be the flyway champion as well. The flyway champion. I know you've talked about this. 1.25. I know, yeah, of course. Have you gotten any more insight as to when they're going to introduce this? No, I'm still waiting for that. I think now you have the clout, like you have the influence that you could tell Dana White,

it's time to introduce this division, right? Do you think he would listen to you? I'm kind of like, I'm kind of like a calm person, you know. I don't like to ask for too much. Is it correct? I don't like to ask for lots of things, you know? Sure. So I like to do what I have to do, you know.

Do you think this time next year it happens? It might be. Wow. And by the way, I have to ask, the fact that your former managers are affiliated with Jessica and Drudge, does that bother you at all or did it bother you at all? Say again. You know Jessica and Drudge. She's doing very well at $150. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Did that bother you? Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. No, I can face Jessica. I can face anyone of them. I don't mind, you know.

I spoke to Tiago about that, you know, because I left him like a month ago or a few weeks ago. But we've been talking about what's going to happen if I'm going to face Jessica and he's my and her manager. He was my and her manager at that time. So fight is a fight. He must take this series. Have you been impressed with her? She said after her week. Yes.

Jessica is a very strong. strong fighter. She's, her boxing is on point. Her jihitsu is very good. She's, she's, she's very strong.

She dropped from 135, so she's strong for 115 division. Yeah, she said that Gedelia exposed you. Did you see this?

Yeah, I saw that. Come on. Come on. Everyone is smart before the fight with me, but then they are not smart anymore, you know,

during the fight or after the fight. Right. Do you think she's next, though, after Karolina? I don't know who's next. I don't know who's next. I will ask. I will ask. But for now, it's Karolina Kobok Kavikab.

Do you have an official prediction how you're going to beat her? I don't know. I feel that I'm going to be different fighter than I was in the fight with Lev de Kadeo. Oh, wow. Why so? New team? I don't want to just win with Karolina, you know. I want to really, really put on show.

because it's New York or because it's Carlina or both? Because it's me. Because it's you. Yawanna, you're the best. I like Carolina, you know, like, I'm like, you know, like, you know, like, you know, like, little crazy things coming out. People in Poland, they want to, like, ask proof to who is the best in Poland, but I'm the best in the world.

That's the, that's the thing, you know. I just want to be the best, the best in the world. Right. Do you feel like this is a big deal? I know you're not in Poland right now, but are you getting the sense that this is a very big deal over there? It is. It's very big deal. People who wanted this fight to happen in Poland, but I think that I'm international champion. Of course, I want to fight in Poland. I want to fight there for my friends, my family, but maybe next year. All right. Well, Yon- So Karina should be happy that we're going to fight on 205. That's right. And wow.

What a scene will be on November 12th? You know, by the way, last thing, did you get to go in MSG and look around and see the history over there? Yes, I was there. I was there. It's amazing place. Very, like, magical. Magical. You must be excited. You must be very excited.

Well, I'm happy that you're on the card because I know you wanted to be on the card so badly. I appreciate you coming on. I know it's very busy today for you. So thank you for some time and good luck on November 12th. Thank you so much. Take care. Bye bye-bye. All right.

Bye-bye. There she is. Yohanna, Jacek, the UFC Strawway. champion. What a scene will be on November 12th. Three titles on the line. Hopefully the three title fight curse does not come into play because it has come into play. It has wreaked havoc on cards all over the place, but hopefully the gods leave 205 alone. Now before we get to 205, it's 204. That's this Saturday. My opinion, this is really, as far as like, real high level important stuff, this is a two-fight card. And that's not slighting anyone else. There's some great

stories. Mark D.A. Casey making his UFC debut. Stefan Strauss-Struz on the card. Mirosad Bechtick was going to fight Arnold Allen. That's not happening, but still he's always great. But the first two fights, I'm talking about the main event and the co-main events. So the top two fights are incredibly important and interesting. Bisping, Hendo for the middleweight title. And then it's a fight that, in my opinion, is seven freaking years in the making. If not more, Vitor Belford versus Gaggar Musassi. That's the co-main event. Are you kidding me? Gagar Musassi joins us on the phone right now. Gagart, how are you? I'm good, Ariel. Thanks for having me.

Oh, thank you for the time before you go out. Are you in Manchester yet? No, I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon. Okay, so this is the big question for you, Gagher, because I was actually, I was looking at an interview that we did. The first time I ever interviewed you was, believe it or not, at the Trump Tower in New York City, you were there for an affliction event. You were fighting Babelieu on the card, but the fight that you wanted that we all thought you were going to get was Vitor Belford. And I feel like that's when this whole story between you and him kind of started.

And you've said since then that he's not going to fight you. He'll never fight you. He's always going to find a reason. When you got the call that he had agreed to fight you and that it's finally going to happen, what was your reaction? Well, he's not scared. I never first said he's scared. But the thing was we were supposed to fight at a catchweight at affliction because I wasn't coming down that much.

I thought I couldn't come down that much. And later on he declined and he went on fighting Rich Franklin for the same catchweight in UFC. But, you know, it is what it is. At this stage, it makes sense for both of us. Before in the UFC, he was going for a title shot, so he was ahead of me. But now he's coming off a loss against Jakra, and I'm coming out to win. But at this stage, it's a good fight for both of us. you've been open in the past that you've tried to get the fight that it didn't happen for whatever reason

were you ever worried that it wouldn't come together that something would happen where this fight that you've been wanting for quite some time would just not come to fruition well you know you have always injuries so I was worried about you know in the past a lot of fights got canceled because of some injuries but you know it's no I wanted to have to face somebody with a big name and I got that fight Fido is a legend, you know, and everyone knows him in UFC, so it's a good fight for me. How do you feel about the state of Vitor Belfort's career, like where he's at right now, given how he looked against Jacques-Rae, how he's looked in his last couple of fights,

do you feel like he's as dangerous as always, or do you think that his skills are declining? Well, he's dangerous because he goes for it, especially with his kicks, and he tried. Especially for his couple minutes, he's dangerous. against white men he was dangerous in the beginning. So you can never underestimate him, but I feel like I'm better. Stand up, ground, physical, age, you name it, I'm better. But you can always, if you're not careful, you can always walk into a punch or a kick.

So obviously we have to be careful of that. And besides that, guarantee is almost guaranteed, you know. Victory, I mean. Oh, victory. Okay. You've been open in the past about PED use. He's had his history. Any concerns about fighting someone like him?

No. I was just checked last week for urine and blood. And, you know, it's almost impossible to cheat. You always can cheat, but the risk is so high that you get caught. So I'm not worried and I'm ready. And it's a clean fight. and that's why I'm so confident I can beat

I can be there and just to kind of correct you I mean we have been seeing people cheat now there's always going to be a way if you want to cheat you can still kind of cheat right I mean you've seen the news well

yeah but you get caught mostly sure I mean the guys I would you know it's a very high risk that you because they test you all the time if your hormones are not out of balance even if they don't catch you

of course, let's say some kind of steroids, they can see that your hormones have changed, and they can't figure out of that, you know? And it's difficult. I said the risk is high. So people that's going to risk it, there's not that smart. Right. One of the interesting things about this card is that you were going to fight at around 4.30, if not maybe 5 a.m. local time.

How do you feel about that? Well, I sleep around 4 or 5 now. And once I'm there, I will go sleep even later. And so I can fight at that time. For me, it's not that difficult. You know, whatever I have to adjust, my phone have to adjust. But I already sleep at 4-5. So all I have to do is this couple days,

sleep a little bit later around 7, 8 o'clock in the morning, maybe. But I don't know what time the wayings are for Friday in the morning. So I have to figure out those things. and once I'm done with those and I can do whatever I want. Now, do you usually sleep at around that time or did you adjust your clock because you were going to fight at that time?

Well, I usually late around 2, 3 o'clock in the morning anyway but now I'm getting a little bit... I try to sleep a little bit later every time, so it's not that difficult for me. I won't have any problems with the time fighting. Okay. Obviously, the last time we saw you

was at UFC 200. seemed, at least to me, like you were in the running to get that Daniel Kormier fight. Was there ever a point where you thought you got it? Well, at first, we got the fight. And we asked for the fight and we got the fight. But later on, they got Anderson Silva. I don't know where they found him. And they gave him that fight.

I heard he had the operation. He was on his couch. He showed up. He was not in shape. you could see he was he wasn't below 200 pounds I don't know

but he got the fight because he just have the bigger name it's simple as that were you pissed off that you didn't get it 100% 100% I knew I had a good chance of winning that fight you know

why not you know nothing to lose I would go for that fight so yeah of course course, you know, but what can we do? It was just an opportunity that we tried. At least that's what I can say. The week was so crazy with John pulling out and then all this drama mentally, with you thinking that you got the fight, did that play any tricks on you where you had to get, you know, excited that you were going to fight Daniel Cormier, the champion and then go back to

fighting Tiago Santos. Was it a little confusing for you to deal with? Yeah, definitely. We were very excited because that's what you work for. To fight for. the belt and circumstances were right to fight for the belt. So you are all happy. But other than that, and then after being very happy, we got very sad. So a waste of time. But then it didn't affect your performance, right? Did you maybe take out those frustrations on Tiago Santos? Because you look great in the fight. Well, no, because I just, you know, I didn't look for the knockout. I knew his style, I knew I could close distance, and he just pretended himself by standing up at the wrong way, let's say. And I'm not looking.

If it would have gone three rounds, dominant, boring fight, it would have gone that way. But, you know, it depends on the opponent. Let's say if Peter comes and he tries to be explosive, he tries to bang. I cannot stay and let him do his thing. then I have to be a clue. So it depends all the opponent what kind of performance I put on, you know? After watching the Anderson-Cormier fight,

what were you thinking? Were you thinking, oh, man, if I was in there, I was going to win this fight? Yeah, you never know if you're going to win that fight, but, you know, I don't feel like Daniel Kormier was at his best, and I felt like I would have a good, I would have 100% I would have had a great chance of winning.

Yeah. By the way, when you were offered the fight, was it for the belt or would have been a non-type? I want to fight for the belt because for me was not a problem, 205, because I weighed around 200 pounds. Anderson didn't want to fight for the belt because he knew he couldn't go five rounds. He wasn't in shape. So who deserved it more there? Me being in shape, able to go five rounds, or Anderson, who just came and he knew go three rounds, just hold on, don't get knocked out

who was the better fighter to fight that night out of me or Anderson it was me but you know it is what this but when you were offered the Kormeer fight was it for the belt? Yeah we wanted to fight for the belt we wanted to go to five rounds

now speaking of the belt what's it like for you to be on this card with Dan Henderson fighting for the belt when not that long ago you beat Dan Henderson in rather quick fashion in Sweden for me doesn't mean anything is just a fight, but the important fight. You know, they, I was number nine,

they may, no, I was eight, now I'm number nine again. I'm now fighting Fido Bell for this number five, but everywhere in the, I'm the favorite in the bookmakers. So how is that possible? Number five and number five, nine fighting number five, but I'm the favorite to win. So, The ranking doesn't make sense. And then on Sherdog, they don't have even me in the top ten. You know? Really? I don't know.

Yeah, they don't even have me in the top ten. These guys are, I don't know what they're looking. They're blind maybe or something. Who do they have ahead of you? Wow. I need to see these rankings. They don't have me in the top ten anyway. Well, you're pissed off.

Well, not pissed off, but, you know, after beating him, Pito Belford, I'm curious what number they're going to make me then. But this one is important fight because after this I'm going to get a guy who's going to be maybe a contender and then I can be a contender after the next one. Have they told you? Well, you know, the number one for fighting each other. Yeah. They all could fight for the belt.

So two of them are going to get eliminated. And then if I get a win, one of them will get a title shot. and the other winner, that guy I could face to be the next number one guy. But it's so far ahead of me. I'm not thinking about that. But first, need a win. By the way, I'm looking at Cherdog right now. They actually have you at number 10, right there.

Yeah, maybe last week or something. Yeah. They have the likes of David Branch and Robert Whitaker ahead of you, and they have Vitor Buffer at number 7. Crazy stuff. Do you believe that Dan Henderson will retire if he wins the belt? Do you believe this? Yeah, I think so.

Yeah, he said himself he's going to retire. Probably he's going to retire. Who do you think wins that fight? Well, Bisping has the better chances of winning, especially with his conditioning and being the more fit guy. He's more in shape. Dan Anderson has always that chance of, that big override hand, but his timing is not there.

So he has the power, but the timing should be also there. So you could say then Michael Bisping has the better chance, but you never know. But it's 70-30 to Bisping, I would say. It's so crazy when you think that Vitor, less than a year ago, knocked out Dan Henderson in two minutes. You remember that? Yeah, yeah. And he's getting a tail shot before both of you.

Well, you know, we know. works. You know, maybe just, I don't know. There's a story there. And you need to be the right guy from the right country, you know? Sure. And have a history, and there's a story there with Michael. I know I go on and on.

Do you prefer fighting in Europe now as opposed to the U.S. now that you got this Vegas fight? What do you prefer? Europe is always nice. I feel like I have home advantage. I'm fighting in my backyard, but still not the disadvantage fighting in your own country, you know? Yeah.

Because, so always Europe is better for me. Have you fought in, when's the last time you fought in the Netherlands, if ever? Netherlands was a very long time ago. But since every fight in Europe, I fought I won. So I feel it gives you a little bit confident that this one will go well also. It's just, you know, a boost, a little bit boost, mental boost. Wow, so you're undefeated. in Europe?

Well, at least every time I thought for you, have seen Europe, I won. So I expect this one to go well. Right, right, of course. So you say that you go out there tomorrow. You know it's going to be really interesting? If they make you do the media stuff at, like, the normal time, that might screw up with your sleep schedule.

That's what I'm worried about. No, no, no. I asked my manager about it, and they rescheduled everything. Everything is a little bit later in the afternoon. So they considered that we're fighting late. Oh, that's nice. Yeah, that's good. It's going to be a crazy scene over there.

Are you looking forward to it? Yeah, I'm pumped up. I'm just waiting, doing interview, doing the media stuff, doing the... That's your favorite. Embedded and all that stuff. And just waiting for the fight. By the way, did you ever find out the guy who stole that stuff from your house? Did you ever find those people?

No, that's a long time ago. Those bastards. I don't think the police has better things to do than looking for those guys. Well, quite frankly, I think that they should get on it. Because I remember in one of your embeddeds, you were driving around in a really nice car. Is that happening? Am I thinking of the right part? I think I am, right?

Weren't you driving around a really fancy car recently in one of the embeddeds? Yeah, yeah, but that was not mine. But I got a new car. Oh. What did you get? It's a 550D BMW It's only for Europe market

I think the diesel Oh It's not for American Don't drive diesel So it's not like that popular for them But that's a nice car So life is good for Gary Musassi Yeah I like it

But life is good right Yeah it's not bad I don't come short on anything So All right Yeah I like you Okay do we have a prediction for Saturday

First round I believe. Wow. First round. Do you think that this will be Vitor Belfort's last UFC fight if you end him in the first round? No, I don't think so.

I think he can still beat a lot of guys. All right. Well, I'm looking forward to it. Do you remember that interview back in 2009 when we were talking in the Trump building? Yeah, I got even a picture with Donald Trump. Wow. Isn't it amazing that he can now be the...

You fought for maybe the next president of the United States? Yeah, I think I don't know, he was friendly to me I don't know, he was He was a nice guy I should actually correct that because that fight never actually happened

You never actually fought for affliction, right? No, eventually they caught Josh Barnett and the show got canceled That's right, that's right Because you weren't on the first or second show You were going to be on the third Then it got canceled

But you got to meet Donald Trump Do you have that photo? Somewhere on my laptop, I believe Wow, that's amazing. So if you, do you think, would you vote for Trump because you, you met him or is that not enough? Well, I don't like Hillary. Oh, you don't. I'm not American, but if I had the choice, I would go for Donald. Wow. What a revelation this is. This is huge stuff. Do you mind me asking why? Well, you know, I think Hillary is a bigger liar. She's a more professional liar. Oh.

I prefer the guy that lies, but you know he's lying. That's right. Then someone, you know, she's so good in lying that you don't know. Have you been following this stuff a lot? Like, are you the kind of guy that watches all the... Yeah, I've been watching the debate. It's actually fun. You know, at least with Donald Trump, you're going to have a funny, funny four years.

Have some fun. I don't know if people would describe it as fun, but... I don't know. You know, it's not that good that those, you know, from all those people in United States, those are the candidates. It's crazy. Yeah. I mean, like, you can find better guys, but, you know, that's politics. They must be making fun of the United States over there in the Netherlands, right?

Well, not fun, but it's like... What is going on? You heard, you know. down and say some stupid shit. And then you think that guy going to be president and then Hillary with scandals and lying. I don't know. It doesn't have a good

image, let's say. Yeah. Amazing. All right. Well, we'll leave it at that. Gaggard, always a pleasure. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm happy that you finally got the fight that you wanted. This Saturday, Gagarin Musassi versus Vitor Belford, UFC 204. Co-main event, an important fight in the middleweight division. Looking forward to that very much.

Gagard, appreciate the time. Safe travels and good luck on Saturday. Thank you, Ariel. Thank you. Okay. We'll talk to you soon. There he is. Gagar Musassi is stopping by. Massive fight for him this Saturday at 2-4. Okay, let's move along. The top contender in the women's bantamweight division, don't get it twisted.

The top active competitor right now at 135 for the women is the Venezuelan vixen, Juliana Pena. Who's she going to fight next? When's she going to fight next? These are all questions that we don't have answers to. So that is why we have invited her on the show today to try to answer some of them. And she's joining us right now. Always a pleasure to talk to Juliana. Are you there?

Yes, I'm here. How are you? Oh, yes. A little pep in your step this morning. I like it. A little bit, not much. Okay. Well, thank you for having us, Juliana.

Thank you for coming on, I should say. So, okay, where to begin? You come off that big win. Speaking of UFC 200. you defeat Katzengano, and, you know, you're talking about Amanda Nunes, we're thinking it's getting close, then we see Shevchenko beat home, and then it gets interesting you actually came on the show, and then a report comes out that they were targeting you versus Shevchenko

for UFC 205 in New York. Is this true? I have no idea. I've never been targeting Valentina. I'm not trying to go backwards. I'm trying to pick the fights that propel me forward. and I want to fight for the belt and I want the big fights. I want to fight the best girls in the world.

I want to get excited for fights. I want to get up out of bed in the morning and think I am ready to freaking go hit the heavy bag or punch someone in the face and just picture Amanda's face on it or Rhonda's face on it. If they're not saying, you know, come fight Amanda, come fight Rhonda. Then, I mean, it's nothing really interesting until that. So did they come to you with Valentina and you were like, yeah, thanks but no thanks? Um, no, something like that. It's just they didn't call me and tell me, hey, you're fighting Rhonda or hey, you're fighting Amanda.

So I said, cool. Well, when you guys are ready for me to fight those two girls, you call me up and let me know. I'm ready. I'm ready to go. I'm ready to fight those girls. You know, the only fight that makes sense to me is me and Amanda both winning on UFC 200. The only logical thing and the only thing that I had in my head and that I was being told is that I'd be fighting for the title. And the biggest hugeest card in the whole world is coming up at Madison Square Garden.

that's the only place, time, and opponents that I was thinking about for that time frame. And so they didn't say that to me or they haven't yet. I'm still waiting. I'm on idle waiting for them to change their mind. You know, I'm ready to go. I've been training, and I'm ready to fight one of those girls. If they need me to step in and fight at Madison Square against Amanda or Rhonda, let's do it because I'm more than ready.

To the best of your knowledge, is Rhonda getting the next title fight? Do you think that that's actually going down, and that's why they didn't give you Amanda? I don't know. I heard she's never coming back ever, so I really don't know what's going on, but I mean, if she were to come back,

I guarantee you that the fight that she would only come back for would be probably Amanda. Do you think that's not fair to the... Do you think that's not fair to fighters like you who have been active in trying to climb the ladder? Yeah, I think it's bologna. You know, when Dana White announced

that women were going to be fighting in the UFC, that was the same exact time that he announced that women would be fighting on the ultimate fighter for the first time. So I've been around from the very beginning. I've been around fighting these girls and grinding and taking this path of not knowing who I'm going to fight as far as all the girls on the ultimate fighter. And then fighting everybody that they've been putting in front of me inside the UFC Occasagrant. So I'm the only girl that's consistently winning. And if this was a tournament format like it was on the ultimate fighter, I mean, I don't even know how some of these other girls. are still in the tournament.

They're still winning, and they're, you know, one, one and one is their records, and then they're offering me to fight them when I'm like 7 and no, and I've not been even beat up in a fight before. Like some of these matchups, they just don't make any sense to me,

and coming off of a, not only a loss, but like a no controversial loss, you know, you got knocked the F out. You got knocked out, and then you get a title fight coming off of that. Like, it's, I'm still scratching my head trying to piece it together.

It doesn't, make sense. And it, like I said, if this is a tournament-style format, I would be the only one left standing. And so to me, it's just kind of all nonsense. In the meantime, like I said, I'm ready to go. And when that phone rings and says, hey, you're fighting Rhonda. You're fighting Amanda. I'll be like, perfect. So right now it seems like they're targeting December 30th. That's what all the talk has been surrounding as far as the date is concerned, Amanda versus Rhonda. And so let's say that fight happens then and we're only, you know, early October and then the person has to wait three, four, five months of the winter. Like, are you ready to, and willing to sit out for that long?

You know, I'm ready to fight the big fights. I'm ready to fight for, for the whole enchilada, all the marbles, the big yellow banana. I want it all. So I'm ready to go when, when that fight comes. And until then, you know, maybe I'll get ants in the pants. But in the meantime, I'm just ready to fight, ready to fight the best girls in the world and ready to show the world why I'm the best fighter in the world. Is it a little deflating to have now won seven in a row? And I like the fact that you always bring up the other three fights on the ultimate fighter. Because those are real fights. Like it's crazy that those aren't considered.

Real fights against real top fighters. I mean, you can make the case that in the recent history of the ultimate fighter, that was the toughest road to a title fight just because those weren't, you know, unknown fighters. Those were all ranked, very strong fighters. Anyhow, is it deflating that you go through that kind of run? and you're still kind of left in limbo? Yeah, it is, you know, because girls that, like, were on the Ultimate Fighter for the 115-pound division, walk away with the belt, 115-pound strap.

Girls that were coaches on the Ultimate Fighter got to fight twice for the strap, you know. There's girls that I beat on the Ultimate Fighter that other girls in the Division didn't sign up to go onto the Ultimate Fight. They could have gone on the Ultimate Fighter. They could have signed up for that tournament, but they didn't. I'm the only female that could have won that tournament at that time. And so for these girls to beat other girls that didn't get past me on the Ultimate Fighter, they go to split decisions with these girls, and then they get title shots. To me, it's just baffling us.

I don't understand it. I don't understand why these girls keep getting these handpick fights against JV competition. It makes no sense to me, and I just, I don't know how much more I can make it clear that I am the only girl in the division that is unbeaten. I'm the only girl that's fought in a hell of a lot more people than anybody else has fought and still not got a title shot. You know, so it's like they want me to win 9 and 0 and 0 and then get a title shot where the rest of these girls are 0 and 1 or 1 and 1 and 1 and still getting title shots. These records, they don't make sense to me. It's almost like a popularity contest. Clearly I'm not winning on that end, but I definitely know that I am the best fighter out there right now.

and I definitely know that I'm a nightmare matchup for any of these girls. So if any of them want to prove themselves and test themselves against the best female fighter in the world, I'm right here and I'm waiting and I'm ready to go. If your name is Amanda Noons or Rhonda Rousey and you'd like to fight a girl named Giuliana Peña, then sign up because I'm right here. And so you're in Chicago right now, right? Yes, sir. And you're training there, right?

You're with your coach? Yes, sir. Is it hard? Is it hard to get up? Like, where do you get the motivation when you're left in limbo? Oh, man, I get motivation all the time. Literally, every day somebody sends me some inspirational video or they'll, you know, tell me how much they believe me. They'll write me poems.

They'll send me flowers. You know, I have some of the best fans in the world that truly are dedicated to my journey and are dedicated to making sure that I get the title shot and that I'm fighting the best fights out there for myself. And those people are the ones that keep me going. Aside from that, God, I can't show you or tell you about a more dedicated fighter than me, you know. I've had my arm broken in a fight, and I kept fighting and told them to put that arm back in for round three and let's go again, you know. I've been hit by a car and I went and fought again.

I actually fought that fight that I got my arm broken in, and I kept fighting. You know, I tore my knee out, four out of five ligaments, got hit and ran over by a car, was knocked out, and then I kept fighting, you know. I've gone through so much adversity. I feel like I came back after tearing four out of five ligaments in my knee in a year and a couple months. That's unheard of. And no other professional sport, not football, not basketball, nothing. Have they been able to come back in that amount of time and still be competing at the highest level? I have a sheer determination inside of my heart and inside of my soul to be the best that I can be.

And I don't want any time to go by and me sit there and say, Oh, I coulda, woulda, shoulda. You know, I'm living out all those things that I want to do now, and now's my time. Now's my time to grind. And, you know, I want to get excited for big fights. I don't want to, you know, get excited for fights that are, I feel insulting. And so I'm ready for the big guys. I'm ready for the big guns.

I'm ready for the big shows. I'm ready for the big money fights. I'm ready for the title fight. I'm ready to fight the big names. And I'm ready to take what's mine. And I think that that determination myself is something that drives me. and it's not going to stop until I get what I want. I can promise you it is not going to stop until I get what I want.

And to be clear, you feel like the Valentina offer is insulting. Yeah, who is that? Is that a rhetorical question? Is that that that girl that's one, one and one? Right. That's that girl that keeps getting split decisions and has never finished a fly? What has she done in the division? I want to know.

What exactly I've done? You think about putting her up against. Misha or Kat, you think she's going to escape those ones and get out of those fights alive? Like, forget about it. Who is this chick? She told MMA fighting last week, I agreed. I signed my part, but then we got information that Julianna Pena is trying to escape. She doesn't want to fight me.

I don't give a shit, Ariel. I really don't. She needs to fight me. Right. Of course. Right. Does nothing for me. Oh, you beat a girl and now you're still undefeated.

Oh, okay, now you can get a title shot. you mean after beating her then i'll be ready for a title shot like give me a fucking break you have a pretty good relationship with uh sean shelby and dana white did you express this to them and if so what do they say back yeah no i i have it's it's getting to a point where it's like i don't want to um offend or get you know too crazy because the way that i feel it's like i'm i'm I'm so hot that I don't want to appear any more psycho than I am, you know? And that's what's going to happen if I go get in their face and start, you know, popping off about how I really feel.

So they know, they know what I want. They know, you know, that I don't need to be popping off to be all crazy to get what I want. So I think we'll just have to wait and find out. And when Princess spoiled Rhonda makes her moves, then I'll be at more liberty to say, what's going to happen with me and what I'm going to do. But until then, I'm not, I'm not jumping until she jumps. Did you get any kind of sense that, like, they have a deadline that they need to know? Because it's already October. I mean, we're not at the deadline yet, but did they say, okay,

let us see what's going on around and then we'll get back to you, or do they give you a definitive? You know, I don't talk about that, that's business that I leave to my management. I just train. I come to the gym. I show up, you know, three times a day, and I do my job in the gym. and do everything on the mat. And that's all I need to be doing. I'll let, you know, the management side handle all that other fancy stuff. Can I throw an idea out your way?

If it's not... Yes, please, yeah. Okay, I think we would agree that Ronda Rousey is the biggest fight in division in terms of like name recognition and what can happen if you win and all that stuff, even though she's not the champ at this time. But you can make a very strong case that after Rhonda, the next biggest women's fight out there is Chris Cyborg. Do you have any interest in fighting?

her? I mean, if I'm the champion, yeah. Otherwise, it's just like, bleh. Why is it like that? I don't know. Why'd you laugh? Well, just your reaction is a funny reaction. I mean, I've never gotten that answer. Why are you laughing, Ariel? You know what I'm talking about. You know what I'm talking about. No, I mean, that is... Don't get me started on that bad chick, okay? Please. Don't get me started. Okay, fair. I mean... Well, that's apples and oranges, okay? We're talking about the 135-pound women's bantam weight division, the division that I'm in.

Okay. So you're not interested in like a superfight, 140, something like that? Like I said, when the straps around my waist, yeah, I'll be able to hand-pick all my fights like the rest of those freaking cans do, and then I'll be able to figure out who I want to fight after that. And obviously that would be a big huge super fight. So, yeah, it will interest me when that time comes. In the meantime, I'm trying to focus on what's in front of me. And these girls, they don't want to fight me, and they don't want to give up their belt, and I don't blame them.

Yeah, do you feel like this is all just a bad case of bad luck in the sense that, like, the timing with Ron, like, if you would have been, if 200 was a couple months earlier, you would have been the one fighting for the belt or something like that. But now with her impending return, that it's delaying your stuff, or do you feel like there's a reason why they don't want to give you the title shot? Well, I just feel that like with the people that I fought and you know what I mean? like Jessica I, you beat Jessica I, you get a title shot that's happened with Misha. You know, you beat Kazangano, you get a title shot. Misha couldn't beat her. So then Zingano fought Noons and beat her, and then she got a title shot. You know what I mean?

I beat Kazingano. I beat Jessica I. I beat, you know, girls like Shana Baylor, who other girls have beaten Shana Baylor, and they got in title shots. I've beaten these girls, and they've all gotten title shots. I'm the only one that hasn't. So it baffles me. and, you know, it might be bad luck, it might be bad timing.

I think it's always been the Ronda Rousey show, and everyone else is just, you know, subject to whatever she decides and wants to do. So she says she's coming back, we'll see about that. And when she does, thank God, I guess, you know, because obviously the fans want to see her and I want to fight her. But I can guarantee you when she does come back, she's not going to want anything to do with me. hasn't wanted anything to do with me from the very beginning when she said that I didn't deserve to breathe the same air as another human being, you know? So this girl, I make her so uncomfortable. I remember in Australia, I was sitting in the room where they sign all the posters and do all the, you know, pre-fight check weigh-ins and stuff like that, right? When you arrived during fight week,

and she saw me, she took one look at me, and she said she wanted to vacate the area as soon as possible so that she could do her signings and have them bring everything up into her hotel room and have them do all the check-ins and stuff inside her hotel room instead of her have to be downstairs and around, you know, people like me. So the girl has been avoiding me from day one. And if she does come back, I guarantee you she's going to avoid me some more. She doesn't want to fight me. Didn't you just have a dream about her recently?

You know, that's funny that you said that I did have a dream about her Ariel. Yeah, it was crazy. She showed up to my house. Okay. with a bouquet of flowers and a balloon, a coffee mug, and an envelope. And I dropped the coffee mug. It is shattered. I don't remember what it said, but she said, congratulations.

I'll see you in Germany. And I remember she walked away, and I was like, hey, well, you came all this way. Let's go get a drink. And she said, no, I'll let you know is what she told me. But I remember the balloons and the flowers got tied up in this tree that was in front of my parents' yard. and the envelope was in my hands as she was walking away. And right as I was like turning the envelope over to like open it to see what it said on the inside, I woke up.

Oh, it's crazy. What do you think it all means? I don't know. Hopefully she knows how ridiculous it is that she's coming off of a knockout and get the title shot right away. So maybe she's like maybe all fight Juliana who without a title and give her that fight and then go fight. And then the winner because she's being fair will get to.

title shot after that. What's a bigger deal to you, fighting Rhonda next or fighting for the belt next? I've been wanting to reintroduce Rhonda back into the division for a very long time. I would love to fight Rhonda Rousey for sure. That girl's been needing a beating and a beat down from me since 2013, actually. So I would love that fight. That's when the show was, right? Yes, sir.

And I kind of feel like there was a lost opportunity when you guys were in Atlanta in the same van with Derek. Eric Lewis, you and Amanda Nunes, there was some magic there, right? I mean, that footage in its own right could get you the title fight, I feel like. Oh, what do you want me to turn around and be like, hey, fight me, you know what I mean? I would. I can get real ghetto. Trust me. I just, I don't know.

Like, she knows that I want to fight her. She herself has said several times that she would like to fight me when she knows Ronda's coming back or not coming back. The only question to me is nobody else waited for Ronda to come back. and they put their belt on the line. So why are you? You know, if you think you're the best in the world, then,

and you want to get a payday with Rhonda, put your payday right here real quick with me and then go fight Rhonda afterwards. Right. But she can't. She can't. She doesn't have enough confidence in herself to make that type of bet.

She doesn't believe in herself as a fighter to put it all out on the line like that. I, on the other hand, am I'm willing to put up all my title. My title for the first ever female ultimate fighter. I'm willing to put up my undefeated record and be the only unbeated. beaten girl in the UFC to be taking on these big massive fights and putting it all on the line

out there. Nobody else is willing to do that besides me. So, I mean, I don't really know what to say. I keep saying the same thing over and over, and I am the force to be reckoned with in this women's bantamweight division. And like I said, I'm not going to stop until I get what I want. I'll tell you this much. No one cuts a promo like Juliana Pena on that division. I mean, you have no equal as far as that is concerned. Well, I just am speaking pure facts, Ariel. If you look at all. up at the stats, if you look in the division with who the rest of these girls have fought and have gotten title shots, girls that I have been and not gotten title shots, you know,

their paths have been so much more easier than my path has been. I have had the hardest path, and yet I'm still going in there and I'm still fighting. I'm getting thrown on my head and fighting through adversity. I'm a real fighter, plain as day. I know how to fight, and I know that. What these other girls are doing is a question. I don't know. Did you say any of that to imagine? Like, did you guys have any interaction in that fan? No, no, none, except that everyone else thought it was real awkward, and I was like, I'm fine.

I don't know what you guys are talking about. Cool, I'm chill. I literally was, I had no way. Everyone else was on pins and needles, but I was chilling, like, this is a nice escalade. Wow. And even after, like, you guys were literally together, like, in that VIP area, I saw you there. She was with Nina, and Derek was kind of. around you got like there was no run-ins there was no incidents there was no even interaction between

you two no she has you know her whole clan around her like 30 something chicks or something like there i don't know i'm there by myself walking around like i own the place like i always do so i mean if anyone was uncomfortable it was them it was not me really so the 30 were more uncomfortable than the lone wolf oh yeah i'm a total lone wolf and i always have been and uh that's the way i prefer it Why? I don't know. I just, I don't like, you cannot trust too many people. You know, I'm a little paranoid in that aspect.

I know who my friends are. I know who has my best interest and who's real and who's not. And, you know, I'm not interested in playing faky, faky little, love you too, girl. Like, no, not about it. Not trying to do the whole fake thing. If I had, you know, if I wanted to be fake, maybe I could have, you know, been nicer or something like, you know, something that I thought was true, but there was nothing like that. It's not like I thought her shoes were super cute or that her hair looked nice, so I'm not going

to say anything like that. It's not like I thought that her fight career has been super impressive because I don't think that's true either, you know? Right. She looked good against Misha Tate one time. That was probably the only time I've ever seen her look good. So congratulations for that. I think I congratulated her when I was commentating for her fight and said, hey, yeah, good job. great, but I'd like to see her try to do that to me. And she doesn't want anything to do with that. She wants to wait for the big money fight. So we'll see how that goes. And, and, and,

and let's end on this. Speaking of commentating, you're commenting for Combacha America, is you're the color commentator, right? Yes, sir. Thank you for acknowledging that. I'm going to be in New York City. Yeah. On the 11th. The 11th. And Matt Hamill is headlining that card, so that's pretty cool. How did you get this job? They asked for a fiery Latina that knows how to commentate for mixed martial arts, and I said, hey, that sounds right at my alley, sign me right up. And I actually got the gig, and I've been doing it ever since. It's such a great promotion.

Campbell McLaren is an amazing, extraordinary man. I'm working with some fine people over there at Combati Americas. And they also got a big title fight coming up. Gustavo Lopez versus John Sexy Mexicaaneda. Oh, yeah. Fighting for the title, who was their first title shot. And that's going to be awesome.

I can't wait to commentate that fight. And like you said, UFC vet Matt Hamill. He's going to be on the card as well, headlining. Now, are you, are you, like, were you someone that always wanted to do TV work or did you just see this opening,

do it and now have fallen in love with it? Yeah, you know, my sister, Grace, Pena, she's always been like an amazing role. model to me. She was the weather girl. She now works for Microsoft over in Seattle, and she was doing you know, Xbox work. She was, you know, the little girl that pops up on Xbox Live that says, hey, this is the new game coming out and, you know, buy this game. But before that, she was doing the weather. So she's kind of been, you know, my role model as far as the entertainment aspect side goes to this thing. And she's always been very encouraging for me, you know, when you're

fighting careers over, you're going to have to put your foot in the door as far as other avenues go in industry. And God, I got the gift of gab. I swear to God, I could talk forever and ever and ever and ever. And I think that talking about mixed martial arts and commenting these fights is something that I'm super passionate about. It almost comes so naturally and easily to me that it's fun. I would do it for free. I would do it in general. It's just something that I'm very passionate about and love to do. And so it's definitely something that I'm interested in doing in the future along with fighting. Absolutely. Well, I think you do a great job. I'm looking forward to your call.

That is October 14th, right, at the Turningstone Casino in Verona. Yes. I've been to the Turning Stone. Have you been to the Turning Stone before? No, I've only been to that center part, you know, downtown in the center. Okay. Well, this is an exactly New York City. Times Square.

Times Square. The only place I've been to is Times Square. Right. This is outside of New York City, but, I mean, it's in New York State, which I think is significant enough. And it's on UFC Fight Pass, by the way. Yes, the Empire Rising. Yes, Empire.

It's going to be the show to watch. All right. Well, I look forward to that. Great stuff, Julian. I appreciate you coming on and giving your side of things and making your case once again. And I hope it all works out for you. I sincerely do.

Thank you so much, Ariel. I really appreciate your time. And you guys just keep looking out for me and catch me on Fight Pass on October 14th for Combate. and watch that show because it's going to be amazing. All right, good luck to you. Thank you. Thank you. There she is.

The Venezuelan vixen herself, Juliana Pena. She is a very good commentator. Check it out on UFC FightPass on October 14th, Combatte America. Okay, so how about this? How about this tie-in? So she was just talking about Camel McLaren, one of the founders of the UFC back in the day. Camel McLaren now works for Combate. You've heard him on this show, not that long ago.

Camel McLaren was in the news a couple weeks ago because he was in Japan. for the Risen event. And he was seen on camera. In fact, it was the Combatte America's Twitter account that captured a little run-in in the lobby of the hotel over there in Japan between old friends Vandrelay Silva and felony Charles Bennett. Charles Bennett was fighting on the card. They've had a history dating back a decade and pride, a little incident backstage. If you're a long-time fan of the sport, you know all about this. And then it was rekindled. Very much like how, you know, Risen is trying to tap into this pride nostalgia. Boom, there it was. And then a couple days later at the Risen event, Charles Bennett goes out

and KOs Minoru Kimura in seven seconds. And perhaps even more impressive than the Kio was his celebration. Everyone's been asking us to have Charles Bennett on the show. We have delivered. He is joining us via the magic of Skype right there. There he is. Charles. Bennett drinking a Mountain Dew. How are you, sir? Pretty good. Ariel, how about yourself? I'm doing great. Thanks for joining us and thank you for coming on the show for the first time. Long time coming. I've been wanting to have you on the show for a while. Yeah? But isn't that's wonderful, area? I'm glad I seen it at UFC 200 and was begging you to have me on

the show. Well, I don't know about begging. After before I was nobody. I think that was somebody now. Oh, yeah. I think that was actually UFC 196. You were there with the Diaz brothers, right? Yes. That is. correct. What are we smoking today? Something or everything. Crack, crystal meth, hair on,

a little bit of everything. Okay. Since that's what everyone thinks I'm on, I'm on a little bit of everything. Do you feel, Charles, like you're one of the most misunderstood? Yes, I do. Before you finish that,

fuck yeah, Ariel. Yeah, a chair or something. I need that back support, brother. I'm doing a lot of hunching. Where are you right now? I met my brothers, AJ Hyde, beauty salon. Oh. It's called Hi.

Let me see if I could turn the camera around so you guys can check a look. All this new. There is. There is. Oh, yeah, look at that. A.K. Thailand. What's up, man? Yeah.

So what's up, man? Like, who's D.K. Yeah, but this is where I'm at. I'm at his shop because I don't. have Wi-Fi. I'm a broke-ass nigger, so therefore I got to come to this nigga shop, steal his Wi-Fi and haul ass like a thief in the night. Okay. Now go closer to the Wi-Fi so that it doesn't get all, it doesn't get all pixelated. I'm not going to fuck your shit up, Ariel. Hell no.

All right, all right. We're going to be on together, bro. Okay, so go back to my question there about being misunderstood. You feel like you are. You feel like you are? Yeah. How do I feel that I'm misunderstood? Because, like, everyone out here in the sport thinks I'm crazy, right? Right. So what I do in the cage or in the ring, it's, oh, it's so he's crazy, he's crazy. But, motherfucker, I want to be an actor.

I want to be a comedy actor. So the more I get on camera, the more I can act, the more I can show that I have that skill and that talent to be an actor. Like, what's up? Somebody hit a nigga up because I really want to be an actor. Okay. So when I get out there, I try to act out, you know what I'm saying? Oh, I see.

And if you look at the Vandalay fight, because it was nothing to that guy, Philip. Which guy Philip? Because if you notice? Yeah. The guy that was standing in front of me that I was looking beyond. Oh, wait. Are we talking about the one a couple weeks ago or the one 10 years ago? Yeah.

The one a couple weeks ago. Okay. That's the Vandale. It's the Vandale fight. You know what I asked the Van der Leight fight? I'll tell you what's the candy lay. I'm sorry, Candy. My bad.

That's your name, fucker. The Candy Lay fight. Right. You know what I got to do you think? Because Candlea wanted to come out there and get in this guy's corner like it was going to discourage me. But if you notice the whole time when God entered the ring and everything, like, dude, you're already beat. The guy behind you is where the money is.

Right. So I'm not even looking at this guy. Like, when we, they're going. breath put us to the rain, had us talking. Yeah, I got to get, I got to plug the shirt in. Everyone's crying about the felony t-shirt. Yeah.

Ain't nobody hit my PayPal up yet. So y'all know y'all hit my PayPal up. Y'all study, talking about these felony t-shirts hit my PayPal up so we can get you all these shirts. Okay. That's how that goes. But yeah. There's a lot to unpack here.

Let me ask you, why is your new, you're no longer crazy horse, right? You're felony now, right? Why is that? Why do you make the change? Because everyone fronds upon a felony. Everyone. Right. But I look at it like this, Ariel.

Why can't felony be a good thing? Why can I go out and speak to kids in my neighborhood and tell them, hey, these fighters don't want to catch a felony because I can probably end them in seven seconds. And as a kid, you really don't want to catch a felony because it will ruin your life. Ruins people's lives. Felonies ruin people's life. So you don't want to get in any trouble due to the circumstance. is, man, you don't want your life ruined. Sure.

And I mean, it's, it's a hard road to come, area, when you messed up your life in the beginning, and then you're trying to correct it, and the world doesn't forgive. God forgals, but the world doesn't. So no matter how much good you do in this world, it's just not good enough. And then, hey,

I still ain't been able to go talk to these kids in my community. How come? I have something to say, area. I don't know. Maybe I don't have, see, it's just me area. It's not like, you know,

when I got in that shit with the Brazilians, see how they come out as a fucking, come out as a group. When I step out, nigger, I'm a loner.

I don't, I don't have a team, you know what I'm saying? Like, you know how long, you know how many times I trained for this past fight? How many times?

I knew about this fight. I knew about this fight wailing. I want to say like, April or May. And I probably went to the gym about one, two, maybe three times. So,

when people say hard work pays off, I say I'm blessed to not be stressed. And if you want to take this fight as serious, you can, go ahead and take it. But every day that I live to get ready to go fight, I'm not going to kill myself in the gym.

No. I'm not going to kill myself. trying to get to the gym, no. I feel I'm gifted enough that I don't need a trainer. I can train myself. I go run and play basketball all day, every day. And then I'll come in a fight

and have, like, you can't even train for a guy like me. How do you train for a guy like me? You don't even know what's going to happen. That's just like fucking candy lay. He comes in there. I don't know what he was thinking. He was galloping across the rain.

Why was he galloping across the rain? I don't understand it, you know? I was reading the body language like, what is he? Oh, so you don't want to see what each other, you know, you don't want to fill each other out? You just want to come and attack me? No, we don't just come and attack me. We're going to sit and fill each other out

and we can't come to an agreement. Then we'll slam you. The dude just wanted to come out there and catch me with something out of the ordinary. I don't know. Felony is an area. Go ahead. Felony is an acronym, right?

Yes. What does it stand for? You ready? Yes. Fuck. Everybody left offended next year. Spells felony. Why next year?

I say this because why next year? Because shit, it's going to take a lot of work this year. Feel me? I got to get it to where people are like. liking me and then people are hating me and then the people that really hate me, I want them to continue to hate me, but just a little piece of them, they got to like me. Like Candy Lay, no matter how much he hates me, you can hate me all you want. But the more I watch that fight and look and see that smile on your face, dude, you really, you really just putting on. You know

what happened. I know what happened. We know what happened. And all those little homies that you had in that room that they know what happened. I'm just waiting for you to be for one of them so they can come out and be like, yeah, the little guy, the little guy knocked him out. I seen it. Oh, why you want to come out and tell it now? Because he's a piece of shit. And I feel the world needs to know. So there's that footage of that locker room incident around 11 years ago, backstage of Pride. You get into this sort of scuffle with Christiana Marcello. He chokes you and then they wake you up and then nothing happens. You're saying that when they woke you up, you stood up and knocked out van der Le Sova, right?

Mm-hmm. And they cut that out. I did. I did indeed. Erie, you know, I could tell the story. You know, the difference between a truth and a lie? Ten years ago, I probably couldn't tell you the same story as I could tell you today if it was a lie. Right.

But considering that it's the truth, the story will play over and over, and I'll say it over and over. And people might not realize that, but it's the truth, man. no matter how much you lie, you're going to eventually come tell that story again, and you're going to have to tell it the same lie. But nine times out of ten, the lie won't be the same. But if you ask me that story again, like, nigger, hell, I was shocked I knocked this in the guy. Like, I'm surrounded by probably eight or nine Brazilians at the time. Everyone is looking at this guy, including myself.

So I got a five-second window to say, oh, shit, nigga, yeah, they're going to kill you if you. continue to land, hang out around this motherfucker. But guess what I do? I shoot to the door. I shoot to the door and I realize like, damn, everybody was shocked in there. Everybody, Ariel. When they realized that that nigger was running, it was too late.

I was at the door. So I probably, you know, got hit one or two times before I got drug out of the room. But I was laying down in the hallway laughing. I just knocked down to the alley. Then he comes out and he's like, Oh, you motherfucker, I don't get it. I got up and started running like,

ha ha, it doesn't matter what you say now. I don't care how big, gritty. You're not going to catch me. And what's the crux of this issue? What's the issue here between you two? Good question.

I don't have an issue. Okay. You know, but I seen, but I seen candy late at night, you know what I said? I came in the room. I was like,

hey, what's up? Can I get a picture? He seen me, he was like, yeah, so as I'm walking up on him, nigger,

realized, like, oh shit, that's that little nigger, the little guy that knocked me out the few years back. And he'll fuck you. And then he started waving his dick at me. I'm like, okay, well, I, hey, that's cool. I see you still salty nigger, but I don't have a piece.

This is two weeks ago. You asked him for a picture. Yeah. Did you think that he would react that way? In the beginning, he was like, yeah, come on in and get the picture. So as I'm walking in, the nigger noticed who I was and was like, fuck you

fuck you went to waving his dick at oh fuck you oh look you and I was like oh I put my hands up like okay

with my you know because I had my phone in my other hands I'm like oh okay I walk through you know what I'm saying

then he went talking shit and I was just like picture picture let me get a picture let me get a picture so he studied

talking shit so then that's when I pull out my camera like okay let's go live let's go live you know

so I go to go on live and shit shit and then the bitch spit on me. So when he spit on me, that's what I put my phone up. It's like, okay, yeah. Because if it gets any, you know what I'm saying, to that point. And like I say, man, these guys sit up here, these fucking keyboard junkies and Facebook honkeys and punk-ass niggas, oh, he was scared, he was scared.

Like, nigger, who was scared? I can tell you who was scared. Candleet was scared. And you know how he was scared? because I'm going to tell you the difference between me and Candlea. Okay, if a nigga knocks me out, I'll accept that.

You know what I'm saying? Like, oh, fuck it. You know, carry on. But if a nigga is spraying a rumor, then I have to do something to him. You know what I'm saying? Like, nigga, you're lying, so I got to do something to you.

You rode up? Oh, okay. I rolled up, too. You didn't hear that, did you? No, no, no. Oh, you didn't hear it. Good. But, yeah, so.

the nigga fucking sitting up there like, man, what was I going? Oh, yeah, so to me, you know what I said? Like, yeah, you know, hey, I smoke that, and then, you know, I fight. So, nigga, yeah, sometimes I'll be forgetting shit. Like, I'd be driving and be like, where the fuck was I going? For real, like, oh, man.

But, yeah, so fucking Candy Lay sees me, and instead of attacking, because I'm lying on him, he approached with caution you approach with caution nigger you know why you approach with caution because you know in your little mind and that little peanut head of yours they got all the steroids in it

which then shrug your brain nigga with that being said felony preemated that ass and if anything that I was saying was a lie then as soon as you see me because you're so much bigger you'd attack you'd came in full force fuck

that nigga, you ain't knocked me out, nigga, so I'm gonna come in at your ass. A hundred, no, what you did was you step back, you talk shit to me, not only did you talk shit to me, but, uh, you sat there and you fucking, you spit on me. You spit on me.

Someone calling you? You know, I'm still, yeah, no, they're calling on another phone. Oh, okay. She's all right. Yeah, but. Did you have another run in him? Huh? Do you see him the rest of the week and, in, Japan or was that the only time that you saw him like...

Yeah, okay. Yeah, the first time I seen it was at the, uh... at the, uh... Oh, shit. The first time I seen it was at the fucking, what's gonna call it? The, uh, the hotel when I came in that lobby. Yeah. And all that shit went on.

That was the first time I seen it. Okay. So that, that's what I'm saying. Like, you would have, you would have fucking, you would have did something did. You know what I'm saying? Like, if a nigger, if a nigger, If a nigga was so bad, you'd have did some shit then, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, hello.

Hey, you're going to be a part of this interview that I'm doing, all right? So you got, yeah, I'm just telling you're going to be, because you're in jail, and I wanted to answer this call, so you're going to be a part of this interview, all right? So say hello to Ariel. Hold on. Say hello, Ariel, Hawaii. I hope I said that right. Yeah, hello. Hello?

Yeah, say hello to Ariel. Hello, how are you? Say hello. Yeah, Ariel. Oh, well, that's because I got the earphone. Oh, yeah. How are you? Who's this?

Yeah, you can't hear the nigger. He just said, hello, who is this? I don't know if we heard you, though. Who is that? Hey, well, this is Jasmine. Hello, Jasmine. Jasmine is a gang. Okay.

Jasmine went to go for killing, we're trying to kill three guys and a baby. Oh, okay. All right, I'm playing, I'm playing, I'm playing. Hey, Eric, you thought I was telling the truth, huh? Damn, you're fucking, you're fucking gangsters out. And she's a girl? Damn.

Yeah, but what I was saying, though, area, like, on the real, though, man, like, seriously. Why is he air me? Hey, hold on, hold on, ma. On the real, though, area, like, if I would have seen someone like that, you know what I'm saying, like, I would have attacked off the Ripper, like, nigger. but the thing of it is you're not going to attack off the rip because you already know in your mind that you've been knocked out by this guy so why go in full flesh like you told your son or your student

or your sensei or whatever you want to call it that now I hold a record over there because you told him to attack Toro Toro Toro Toro So then he says that he wants to corner Kimura against you So there's something like did you guys have any other run-ins in the arena, hotel, any other

interaction? After the fight, right? You know me after the celebration because it really was

not a fight. Yeah, yeah. So after the celebration, it was, right? Yeah, man,

you know, I said the I said it off in this motherfucker. Right. That's what I did. Yeah.

Let's get a shit because I need the money. Sure. I got four kids and a wife. I'm just playing.

I'm just playing. I'm just playing. Yeah, she on the phone. Say hello, Jasmine. Hello, Jasmine. How are you? You can't. You waving like she can see you. She's in jail. She's a jail. It's a jail's called, nigga. He waved like, hi, Jasmine, how are you?

Hey, but yeah, so I live a pretty interesting, interesting life, Ariel. Sure. You know what, the whole time I was in prison? Yeah. I wrote in a drone. I wrote in the drone every day I was in prison because I really felt like I shouldn't have been in prison. Like, my family sent me to prison.

Oh, shit. I was in prison, uh... 2013, 12? 13, 14, and 15. And why they send you prison? Oh, man, that's another story, Ariel. I'm going to sell that story, though. Okay.

I want money on that. I want money off that story. Only because I went to prison for some bullshit, man. My family sent me to prison My family sent me to prison And then when they do that It's like It just

I don't know Because all my life I've been to black sheep You know what I'm saying Like All right, ma All right Yeah

Yeah Get that crazy medicine What is that? What is that? What is that? Is she really in jail? Yeah, they're good It's like

It's really in jail Hey Hey I'm gonna send you a text message. I want you to write her and tell her thank you for coming on my show since this is an awesome show. That's all you got to say is thank you

for saying hi. All right. I know you're doing a area because you're a punk bitch. What? But I like you. I'm just kidding, man. I got to keep you some hell, area. I remember you in fucking, what is that nigga name?

Rampage. I'm glad you guys fucking kissed the maid up. You always been my homie, though. But, Eric, you always been my homie, though, Ariel. Even with that little UFC scandal. Why won't the UFC have me, Ariel, huh? They say I can't be controlled. Is that what it is?

I don't know. Did they say that to you? I don't know. What about Belta? They were saying something about it, them. Well, Risen seems to be treating you well. Yeah, so I'm not even worried about those other organizations. Fuck on.

Now, why don't they do you versus Vanderlay in Risen? Isn't that the fight that everyone wants to see? Open weight. Yeah, I know, man, but I'm just a fighter. That's all I do. I don't get paid to do no thanking. I don't get paid to do no thanking. And I don't get paid to do no thanking.

I just fight. You don't have a manager. Hey, yeah. No, I have a homie. His name is Terry Troublecock. Oh, yeah. He fucks with that nigga. He's like my big brother.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so if you guys don't know who Terry Robocock is, he's a KOTC owner, which is King of the Cage. Yep. King of the cage on her And I fucks with my nigga hard Like Yeah, that's my nigga

My next kid I'm gonna name after it Okay Why is your Significant other pregnant Hell no nigga I ain't got no girlfriend Okay okay Shit

I live alone If I had had Wi-Fi to my house We would have did it at my house Right But it was like Charles Can you go somewhere Where you know

He didn't want to say Wi-Fi Cause he didn't want to No, that's not true. I asked you. I asked you, I asked you, I said yes. I just want to see your face.

Yeah, I got Skype, thank you. All right. Oh, shit. What it is, isn't it? My friend, it's fucking gorgeous over here. Yeah,

of course it is. You know, I didn't take any, I didn't take any, the only hurt I had was flipping off the cage. My heart started pounding. Fast.

And then running and flipping off the other road. That's the only, that's the only damage I took in the fight. It must have been good to go back to Japan, right? They love you over there. Yeah, it was, oh shit. Man, Error, you won't believe this shit, Ligger.

Look at that. Look at that, there. What do we got? Oh, yeah, look at that. We're on TV. That's a first. Yeah. Are they playing my show at the hair salon?

No one cares to hear my show. at the hair. Yeah, they are playing your show at the hair salon. And there's some beautiful women in here. And consider that you are of the white, the Senate, hey, you're the number one pickings right now. I'm a what? They might be number one picking. Oh, okay. That's cool. It might be 20, 30 years older than you, but I'm sure they can find some places to put you. So let me get back to Ryzen. Did you ask them to make the Vanderle fight? Because I feel like this is the fight that you want.

It is most definitely a fight that I want. You know what? After the fight, I go and I'm going on Facebook. The Skype is going a little wonky now. The Wi-Fi is going a little... Let's see. Is that better? I move back over in front of the TV.

Why do you keep on the phone? Oh, my phone's up, nigga. Who me? Oh, yeah. It's delayed. I guess it's real a delay. Hey, so with that being said, yeah, I like, yeah, because it's more, it's not a chapter in my book because a lot of people know that what I said it's true. Like, I don't have no reason to a lot of this guy.

Sure, sure. You know what I'm getting out of it? What am I getting out of it? What am I getting out of saying, oh, I'm not bad to lay out? You know what I'm saying? I didn't make any money off. that. So what am I getting out of? For this leaf, man, I don't like to be, I don't want the attention. When I got back in town, you know what I did? I went home. That at my house here,

like a little wanted little animal. Because I didn't, you know what I'm saying? Well, because it was kind of cool because all of a sudden, you sort of disappeared for a while and now you've emerged and you were the talk of the town like a week or so ago. Everyone was talking about you. Yeah, and that's the thing. Like I've had six fights since I've been. been out. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? I've had six fights since I've been out.

And with all these, with all six of these fights, oh, this is the shit right here. What is that? This is, uh, whatever you wanted to be, though. Stay right there. Stay right there. The connection is good now. Shit.

Damn, d'niggy. Are you okay? wrong I'm good though man when's your next fight do you have your next fight yet December December 30th back in rising

oh again two back in Japan again two huh against two I don't know yet but you know like I say

I've been on fucking the internet and shit and yeah the day the next day I got back in the state. God damn. I can't even enjoy this shit.

Niggas so, so strong. I just love you. Hey, but yeah, bro, here you go. Very potent, isn't it?

Niggas sweat. Yeah. Yeah, look at all that. God damn, they're sweating more. You're sweating more right now than you're in the actual fight.

Yeah, that's true. Yeah, but, um, Eric, what was he talking about, bro?

Your next fight? December 30th, who's it against? It's not, actually, right? Yeah. Like I said, I was on the, I was on fucking Facebook. Yeah. And I, I can't read Portuguese. Yeah.

Portuguese. I can't read it. Sure. So, you know, and I don't understand it neither. So I'm sitting up there and I watched old Candlea talk for about three minutes. And I was like, man, fuck this shit. I don't know what this nigga's saying. So let me just go read the comments because, yeah, I can read.

I can read and write the English language. Yes, I can do that. So, because you guys think I'm crazy, I'm far from it, you guys are fucking crazy. So I go read the comments, and it's Candelay, are you begging Jose to come fight felony? Pretty much that's what I'm getting. He's like, Jose, you should come to Japan and fight and ah. and everyone is talking about money. Like, nigger, niggil, vandalay want to fight for me so bad, right?

He don't care where it is. It could be in the street. It can be in arena. It can be in hell. He wants to fight. Van der Leigh, candy lay, there's no fighting candy. Because if you ain't got that money, we ain't fighting. I'm going to walk away every day with the fact that I know I knocked you out.

And you're going to walk away with the same thing. same fact that you know that little nigger knocked you out. So with that being said, we both know and like I said, the million people that was in that locker room, you know I mean, they know. Like, who's got a lot about some shit like that? You've seen

that I got choked up, and you know what? The tape is so cut and edited. It's just like in life, you know what I mean? Like, nigger, you made me seem like the aggressor. When you look at the tape, the tape starts from when I lunged that dude. Like, it just instantly

he cuts to lunging that dude. Like, dude, the dude hit me twice before I even attempted to, I was sitting down. So he walked back up on me. And as I get ready to stand up, he throw two punches, boom, boom. And then I lun, hey, you do, sir. Then I lunge at him. And then that's where you see all that shit going. And then next thing, you know, the tape cut again, and I'm being choked to sleep.

And then the next thing, you know, the tape cuts off. But when the tape cut off, I was upset. said that Van der Le was kicking, Candle was kicking me. What Candlea was kicking me for? You know what I'm saying? You're the bigger fighter. You're the most oldest fighter. You should be the more mature fighter. Not only that, you should give me the respect that I feel like I deserve considering that nigger, nigger was 10 of y'all and one of me. And that's how it always is. I was really surprised to see this nigga in Japan two weeks ago with just him. Like, wow, where's your crew,

you're faggot. Did you, did you not have a corner? Did you not have a corner for that fight? Were you a long? No, I had a corner for which fight. The last, yeah, Cymoura. I had three corner men for that fight. Go ahead. Because he, he was, it was James Lee, Eddie DeLuca, and Terry Troublecock in my corner. Okay. They're all in the ring with me. Are you going to keep training with the Diaz brothers? Because I saw you hanging with them prior to the first Connor fight.

I fucking love those guys, you know what I'm saying? But fucking Nick tried me, yo. What do you mean? He tried me. So I feel, well, he, I came out to Vegas one time, the second time to train with Nick them for my fight that I had coming up. Well, I can't come to the understanding that that's what they wouldn't train in at. But yeah, I'm calling Nick.

He's not answering my phone. I can understand the niggas. you know what I'm saying that's how that nigga do, you know what I mean? But damn, I'm in Vegas and I just told you

I was in Vegas and you still don't answer my call. So I'm like, I had to sit to the airport and wait. And I got arrived to some people house,

which is Isaiah Lorenzo and his girlfriend Nicole Northwood, something like that. Okay. But yeah,

so I went to stay to their house until the next day. Then the next day I get up and I go to fucking I go to the hotel. I get a ride to the hotel and shit.

I get to the ride to the hotel. I'm steady calling Nick on the way there. He's not picking up. He's not picking up. He's not picking up. So when I get to the hotel, Nick's at the front desk. Like, damn. Bro, what's up?

I know you seen calling this and that? So, you know, I talked to him briefly, but at the same time, it was like, I don't know what they had going on at the desk. So when they get through the desk, we go up to the room. I go use the bathroom. I come out, Nick goes.

Like, damn, what Nick at? Then his home boy that's in the room, I see him packing up and shit. So he's packing up his shit. Then he's getting ready to leave. Then I see two girls in there, and they're looking at me crazy. So I'm thinking, damn, what the fault? I read people. I'm a people's person, so I read people.

When I say I'm a people's person, people like me. When they first meet me, it's like, damn, this guy, and I don't care who you, you can be a complete stranger. I can walk up until you and have a decent conversation and you're going to like me. So what that being said is like, damn, what the fuck these girls looking at me crazy for?

So they leave out the room, and then a dude in the room. So I'm like, he's like, well, I'm going to go down to the car, put my stuff in the car, and I'll be back up. I was like, see, I'm going to walk with you because I already see, like, something fishy right here, you know? So I'm going to walk with it. But then he was like,

ah, well, Nick's got the key to the room. And if you leave the room, you're going to leave your stuff in there. Like I said, I had just flew out to Japan. I meant to Vegas. the train with these niggas. So I'm in the room for about two hours. Don't fell asleep a little bit. I wake up and the phone's rang.

So I answer the phone. And the lady was like, yes, this is the D.S. brothers, Nick or Nate? I was like, yeah. She was like, well, yeah, we have your room. And, yeah, we didn't even get the reservation in time. So you're going to have to take out of the room. Are you all your stuff, pack? and I was like

I looked around the room like yep he's motherfuckers I ain't been answering my calls nothing okay I said yeah everything's packed man

so I did my thug-thusom because I felt like I was disrespected so I felt the best way to disrespect him back I'm not gonna tell you

what I did because then they might try to come looking for me and I'm not talking about the Diaz brothers neither I'm talking about that loud, nigger. I don't want any parts of the loud,

me. I hear you. So yeah, I fucking, I fuck, but you know what I did get? What? It's to my house right now. It's a 209.

It's a hashtag 209, free Nick. Yeah, I don't even use those shit. I feel you? You feel me? Well, we have, probably don't feel me.

No, no, no, no. I do feel. Charles, we have run out of time. We've gone extra. We've gone overtime. I'm here. That's cool. Do you feel like you got everything off your chest?

Do you feel good about it? Except I love them, D.S. Brothers, though, man. I fought with them niggas hard. You know what I'm saying? Like, I look at, I do a lot of research on those guys. And, man, those, you know, I think I live worse than those guys, but those guys are, they're right on that totem pole with me.

So that's why I got so much respect for them. Like, I got love for those guys. I know, man, living, when you're living the hard life, growing up as a kid, you can't help but fight so good in life. Like, you got to look at that shit and think, like, man, I'm here for a reason.

Right. That's how I look like. These people are like, they don't want to do shit for me. You know what I'm saying? The USC doesn't want me because of my domestics and all this shit, you know what I'm saying? Like, nigga, hey, I would be the best spokesman for those guys that want to put hands on women.

I'm the best guy to talk to you. You know what? It's pointless. What are you going to beat up a business? girl for. Unless she's putting her hands on you. If she's hurting you by putting her hands on you, then yeah, I mean, you don't have to, you don't have to go to the

scream to, you know what I'm saying? But yeah, you can, but Ful is just going and jumping on these women because they fucking this dude or they're lying about something like, it's pointless because you're doing nothing but sending yourself up for failure. And what they're doing

nowadays, they're hiding people. You go jump on a woman. Granted, it's a different ballgame if a woman jumps on a man, it's funny games, and women killing too. But when a man do it, it's frowned upon,

and it's looked down upon. And then, you know, my situation of it, like, man, I learned a lot from it. I lost a lot from it, which means I learned a lot from it. So it's like,

y'all don't want to have me. I'll probably be the best guy to go talk to when it goes to talking to these women about dudes being on them or men beating on women. I'm probably the best, too, because, man, I lost a lot. In the instance of doing it, yeah, I lost a lot.

And I learned from it. That's what life is. Life is not a life. It's a learning lesson. You're not living life. You are learning life. That's what you're doing. You're learning this shit because you're not taught it.

When it happens, it's bad. I hear you. Yeah? No, it's well said. Well said. But yeah, Eric. Good to catch up. They don't want me because it's a man.

It's all good. You're doing your thing. You're doing your thing in Risen. Congrats on that win. Seven seconds. You stole a lot of headlines. You looked good. How are you, sir?

Or ma'am? That's my baby mama. Okay. All right. I'll let you go, Charles. All the best. Good to catch up. Good to catch up.

Good luck on December 30th over there. Oh, thank you, Syria. I can use it. All right. We'll talk to you soon. I don't need those. God. Ariel.

Yes. You see this shit? What is that, man? What is that, man? Okay. All right, I'll talk to you later. You see, man? You let me talk this whole time with this hanging out, niggas?

Oh, my gosh. I didn't... I lost his audio. Yeah. I can hear you guys. There you go. I don't know. Did he hang up on me there, or did we hang up on him?

I'm not really sure what happened. Can you guys hear me? Am I okay? Okay. He hung up. My mic's still working though, right? All right. Okay. Well, that was, uh, that was certainly interesting. Thank you, Charles Bennett, for stopping by. Good luck getting that vanderlite fight. Wow, that was something else. Mr. New York, Rick, are you there? Can you turn down my audio just a little bit? It got really loud all of a sudden. Is New York Rick there? I'm here. Can you hear me? Oh, there he is. Welcome. I don't know what happened. Are you there? You can hear me, right? I can hear you? Can you hear me? Everything's gone upside down here. Welcome back.

I think what happened was when Charles pointed the camera at himself on the screen. Yeah. It like broke, you know, the internet entirely. And that's why we're kind of suffering through it right now. Honestly, I did not see the booger in his nose. I didn't either until he put it right up against there. Okay. A lot to discuss, so let's get to it.

How's your trip? Good. Yeah? You missed us? Did miss you. Okay. Oh, you know. Isn't it amazing that the time that you were gone to your favorite guests of all time we're here? Yeah, I feel like you did that to spite me. Yes, accurate. And?

No, I'm kidding. Taron Woodley actually went out of his way. This guy is such a minch that he went out of his way, changed his entire schedule, just to join us in studio while he was here. I know. That, well, that's why he's one of my favorites, and that's why you, you schedule. scheduled it for the time I'd be gone. Of course you did.

Anything you want to tell us about the trip? Yeah, it was good stuff. Glory's got some cool stuff in the pipeline. Okay. And where were you again? Kosamoi, Thailand. What is, is that where AK Thailand is? No, that's in Phuket.

No, it's, I saw you playing basketball, though. Yeah, so the last night I was there, I got off the resort, went to watch some Muay Thai fights, and there was a basketball court. And I've noticed this when I'm traveling, much more so than when I'm home. It used to be you go to any court in New York City and get a basketball game.

No longer. It doesn't happen anymore. Why? The courts are empty. I don't know what happened. Maybe it's kids going on their phones or their computers more than going out. But when you travel,

11 o'clock at night, midnight, people are out playing basketball, always. And in Thailand, it was the same thing. Did you school them? Come on, they were like 10 years old. Oh, okay. So, of course, I schooled them. You're kind of important.

You thought I was going to say that I didn't know. That's the level over. How dare you, sir? All right, well, that is fun. Okay, so there's a lot to unpack from this past week. Did you see the UFC 205 press conference? I did. First of all, scale 1 to 10.

Yeah. Scale 1 to 10, how good is that card? Is that the card? Did they get it right? Yeah, I mean, it's, I'm trying to think if there's a way to do a better card, and it's almost not possible. Especially for the market. When you consider the Polish stuff with Yawanna,

when you consider Eddie from Philly, when you consider just Connor being Connor and the big star in the sport. And you just think about the fact that you can't compromise every single fight you've had. Like you can't do, you know, eight title fights.

You can't compromise the rest of the year. For all things considered, it's as good as it can get. A plus plus plus. Do you agree with me that Jeremy Stevens actually won last week? Oh, certainly. I mean, if anybody thinks,

thinks that him getting his name out there was a negative. I mean, what could you possibly, what could the argument possibly be? Now, did he get clowned? Did he get sunned? Obviously. Like, let's call it what it was. It was worth the risk. A hundred percent. And you said it best when you were talking to Sean. Everybody else was quiet. If Frankie Edgar had been the one to kind of pipe up, people would be surprised and people would take notice. Jeremy Stevens happened to be the one to do it and good for him. And for sure, it was a positive move for him. Now, here's the thing, the Aldo. Yeah. Backlash, um, coming from Aldo, Narumar Gamadov's upset. I said, again, I'll repeat what I said on Thursday. I sympathize with those guys greatly. They are the number one contender. And we

have been taught in this sport that if you win X amount, you win this fight, you're going to get a title shot and that will lead to riches. Maybe you were already preparing for the title shot. Maybe you had already invested this, that, and whatever. But those guys, those guys, you're, you're going to they would have done the exact same thing that Eddie Alvarez did. This is a life-changing fight for him. Not only the fight itself and the pay-per-view money, like that's the one thing that people are forgetting. Yeah, maybe he might still be on the same contract,

but he's going to make a hell of a lot more than he ever did via pay-per-view. So they would have done the same thing. They need to be upset that they were told, and in the case of Habib Mragamadov was sent to battle agreements for a fight that never came to fruition. That's where their disappointment should be directed to, not towards the fighters who are just trying to advance and take part in the world of prize fighting, which at the end of the day is to get the biggest prize possible. So I don't understand 100% why they're upset. I don't think anyone should be blaming either, of course, Connor, he's the one who holds all the

cards, or Eddie for taking the opportunity. There is no doubt in this world that a Eddie Connor fight would do a hell of a lot more buys, dollars, business than an Eddie Habeb fight. That's just, that's not saying, I don't want to see the Habeb fight. And a lot of people say, including Khabib, Habib is mad at me. I'll call it like this. I'll even go this far. Habib Nirmagamade of, who I've had on this show multiple times, who I consider to be one of the very best fighters in the world, who I have called the uncrown champion on this show,

who I feel like I have a very good relationship with, has blocked me on Twitter. and he has blocked me on Twitter because he feels like I did not do a good enough job of selling the fact that he was the next guy that he had this battle agreement and what I told both him and his management was you guys were used as pawns. That was never the fight that was in play. You guys were used as pawns. Remember what Connor McGregor said at the press conference. Connor McGregor said at the press conference that he had agreed to that fight 10 days prior. 10 days prior. If you look at the timeline, how could 10 days prior fall in with the,

the battle agreement stuff, the deadline stuff, the foot being injured stuff. This is the game. And they wanted Eddie to agree to the fight on their terms. And he did. More power to him. And Chabib was used to try to put pressure on him. And he's upset at me for some reason. He's upset at Eddie for some reason.

You need to be upset at the UFC for sending you these battle agreements and playing you like a puppet. That's who you need to be upset at. Hello? I'm here. That's all. Oh, that's it. Just that? Well, no, because Habib.

it says like, oh, you're T. McGregor. And I tell them, like, words are very powerful. And even if you come back 30 minutes later and say, all right, you know, I was just kidding, we have a great relationship. Well, then BJPent.com writes an article about it as stupid as that is. And this guy picks up. And then you're now, you know, you're putting out this false reality that this is true. And I referred to that earlier. No, I knew what was going on. I knew exactly what was going on. And that's why I did not want to retweet your, as, as juvenile as this all sounds, it's disappointing to me that he's upset. But as juvenile as this all sounds, I did not want to play into that because I knew that at the end of the day, that was the fight that they wanted to make. And I knew that Connor had agreed to this fight days prior. Fair, accurate, everything. But you have to understand that somebody who feels like they've been wrong is not always going to be entirely rational. No. At this, it's very early.

It's, it just happened. Give it some time, I'm sure. Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm not losing sleep over it. I am bummed. I've reached out to him. I've called him. I don't know, he's mad at me.

I don't know what I've had. That's the thing. They're going to be mad at everybody. It's crazy. It's crazy. They're going to be mad at everybody. Yeah. For now.

But, I mean, ultimately, I think we, as people in this sport collectively got the fight that makes the most sense. This is the biggest fight that they could have made. It's the biggest card. It's the best. top three. It does feel a little weird that there's only one Longosera fighter on the card, and there are circumstances. Like, they didn't keep Volante off the card. He was injured. The I equintediting thing is unfortunate. Sterling, the timing didn't work out, whatever. But top to

bottom, it's a fantastic card. The prelims have Nirmagamadov Johnson, Evans Kennedy, Stevens, Edgar. That's just the prelims. Six-fight main card, I just, I pray to the MMA gods that it all remains intact. So a lot of people are upset that they're not getting tickets, that the tickets are too expensive. I mean, this is the Connor show and the UFC recognizes that they can make a lot of money off of it. I suspect that this will be the biggest gate in UFC history. I saw some people targeting like 18 or so million, which would far exceed UFC 129, which happened in Toronto, which is around, I think, 11 or 12 million. So this is a very big deal for the UFC. And you know, Dana White, you know, it's unfortunate because like Dana even said himself, oh, it's, it's

Nirmagamadov and Eddie, and I think he's gone into this habit. Someone actually wrote to me on direct message. I won't say who. It was a fan. But he just wrote to me, he said, Dana is less calculated in what he says than he used to be. It seems nowadays he will say anything no matter how false and unproven it is. I like listening to what he has to say, then immediately trying to figure out how much of it is BS. And, you know, a long time ago, Dana White told us that he will lie to the media if it serves his purpose. This came out when Ortiz was going to fight Ladell after the ultimate fighter, and then Ortiz got injured and Franklin stepped in and he denied it.

And it's happened a bunch of times this year. And at some point, whatever you say is going to fall on deaf ears, but I thought that because you now have this reputation, but I thought what he told Newsday was perhaps one of the more accurate statements, the accurate statements that he has said in a very long time, which was, I've got all these bean counters in my company who are telling us, me I'm devoting too much money to UFC 205 and I don't care because I promised the big card and I'm delivering a big card and you got to give him props for that. He is certainly doing that.

Yeah, I think the New York thing would have been nice, you know, to have so many New York fighters on the card. It makes sense. But the UFC's not, you know, selling tickets like a local show. They don't need those people to draw and they deliver what is the best card. So I think that that takes precedence. It would have been great to have some of the local show. It would have been great to have some more New York fighters, but I don't think that that's the priority. How'd you feel about the whole cowboy Levera, Will Brooks thing? Yeah. We had some questions about that, you know, one from Lamont 18, the usual guy, yeah, who likes

to drop him. I guess let's look at it from a bigger perspective. Should there be more of a punishment for missing weight? Yeah. Because Will Brooks, for all intents and purposes, you know, is being punished, even though he's the one getting the, you know, the extra, what was it, 20%, I forget what the fines are. Yeah. But he essentially has to take that fight to get his win bonus.

As you were saying, you know, getting to fight night isn't enough. You need to also continue to fight to get your win bonus. So he's incentivized to fight a guy who looked significantly bigger than him in the cage. And it turns out that Will Brooks hurt himself and then had to take on an opponent while he was, you know, a disadvantage. It was just a bad situation. And the current system incentivizes guys to do this. Is there a way around that? Or does there need to be a way around that? Well, first of all, I think that the win bonus needs to go away. I think that we've reached a point where if you sign on the dotted line to fight, you should get what you are owed.

You know what I mean? And I'm not saying that they're withholding anything, but this idea that the fighters need more incentive, like 15 and 15, I feel like it should be 30. because they are already earmarking X amount to these fighters. And I know that they're not earmarking a win bonus for both. But I just, I feel uncomfortable with the idea that, like, you need to prove something a little more. You need to do a little more.

And sometimes, especially in this sport, when it comes down to these, you know, controversial judge's decisions, I mean, the guy, and they do make it right a lot. I just, I feel uncomfortable. Do you see what I'm saying about that? Sure.

It should just be like, what's your purse? And that's it. end it. And then when it comes to the percentage that you get from your opponent when they miss weight, I mean, first off, no money should go to the commission. If there's any state that's still doing that, that's archaic and that's crazy. Second of all, there needs to be a tier. And I wish that they would look at that where, you know, it's like, I don't know,

5% for 1, 10% for 2, something to where there's no difference. Now there's no difference if you, missed by 10 or you missed by, you know, like when Kelvin Gasland missed against Taran Woodley, and people forget about this, Woodley gave him back his money. I mean, that was a significant amount. That was even more than Cowboy Levera. So I felt for Will Brooks, a guy who just had a kid, just got married, takes the fight because he's not going to get his win bonus if he doesn't. Who knows if he gets his show bonus? I don't know if that was, to be honest, I don't know if that was offered to him. And then you get into the fight and there's a clear, clear size advantage in Oliva's favor.

and Brooks loses. And then in my opinion, Oliver acted very unprofessionally. I don't care what he said about you. I don't care what you misunderstood. Nothing. This all started because you were unprofessional and missed weight. I don't know what the reasons are. You have not explained the reasons.

But you came in early. You missed weight by a significant amount. Take all that on the chin and say, you know what, man, we'll go our separate ways. I'm sorry that happened. Best of luck to you. But to do the crux. crotch shop and the this and the that while the guys there are on the ground. I mean, I just thought it was an ugly scene. It really was. Yeah, not good. That said, but what would be the incentive on

the other side of it for an organization to institute, to take away win bonuses? At this point, I don't see any reason why they would. And let's be clear, I don't want to take away win bonuses. I just feel like we've reached a point in the sport where guys should be agreeing to an amount and they're getting that. If they show up to the fight, look, why is it structured this way? Why are their performance bonuses? Because they want guys to perform,

because they want the sport to be as exciting as possible. But at this point, with people doing this for a living, guys are going to go out there and win. They're going to try to win. And, you know, they're going to try to win via a boring way,

via everyone's going to try to win. I don't feel like guys need that incentive from a promoter anymore say, like, right man you're going to get $20,000 and guess what by golly if you win you're going to get an extra $20,000 no I feel like if you are prepared to pay someone 40,000 then if they sign out a lot line and make weight and show up to fight then they deserve that 40,000 so let me be very very clear I'm not saying get rid of win bonuses I just wish that guys got a set amount do you see what I'm saying

but that is that's currently how it is it's just half but you know how it is you know what They put that in place to incentivize guys. Well, no, it's also a protection so that people don't show up and collect a paycheck and not fight. Well, guys are doing that. I mean, there are boring fights anyways. People are trying to... You could take that money, lay down, and then you get the same amount of money. Oh, you're saying get knocked out and you're still getting paid?

It's also a protection. And again, I feel like the sport is, I don't know. I just kind of feel like the sport has reached a point. Is it unique, though, to MMA? Boxing has it. I'm saying, I'm talking about MMA has reached a point in my opinion where it's professional enough

to where guys are laying a lot on the line that I'd love to see them not because look, if Will Brooks didn't have the win bonus hanging over him, maybe he doesn't take the fight. Maybe he walks away with the same amount and he was a professional, he showed up, but look, it just doesn't make sense

for me to agree to fight a guy who weighed in five and a half pounds more than me. Yeah, I don't know. It's not going to happen. I just feel like the sport has, I mean, even the performance bonuses I don't love. I mean, look at what happened

with John Dotson. Yeah, I think it's just a, I don't know how I feel about what you're saying because I think it's just a mechanism. Like if I was a fighter, then what I would do is argue to get my show money higher and therefore I'm guaranteed the whatever that number is plus the win bonus. Yeah, I think it's too big a leverage. It's too big a bargaining tool for it to ever go away. but I think independent of that

this weight cutting thing can be completely overhauled regardless of show and win and that you can be more incentivized to continue to fight even if your opponent misses weight badly yeah what else we got

Linneker what's next it's tough because he's missed weight so many times not in this division I think this is his first miss in this division but he just continues to miss weight but he moved up to this division because he was missing weight. And I said this, somebody reminded me on Twitter that, I said this a while ago that

sometimes what happens is the guys go up to a higher weight class and then they miss weight there too. It's not, it's a discipline thing and that discipline's going to carry over whether he's a flyweight or whether he's a bantam weight. It's not a situation where, oh, he has now 10 extra pounds, there's no way he's going to miss weight. But no, he's going to be shooting for 135 and he has discipline issues. So he may be very likely to miss weight and that's what we saw. By the way, Elamre Cruz told me that at jungle fight, if you miss weight, you lose points in the fight. Yeah. So depending on how much you miss.

Well, think, I mean, think about this. This fight came down to two judges one round, right? If he was docked a point for missing weight, it would have been Dodson's fight. So that could make all the difference. Think about the hole that cowboy Levera would have been in. Oh, yeah. Right? I think, if I recall, I believe the judges had him winning the fight, right?

They had him up. Up until that point, yeah. Up until that point. But it would have made it a closer fight for sure, and he would have had to change his game plan. I don't necessarily dislike that. I feel like that's definitely a good incentive. Valid knows.

For guys missing weight. But what's next for John Lenacher? Well, this was his fourth fight as a bantam weight. So important to know it's the first time he misses weight. He missed by 0.5. He says that there was some sort of scale malfunction. What I'm hearing now is that they're leaning towards Dilleshaw versus Cruz rematch, as surprising as that may sound.

And so I think if that's the case, then they're going to do Garbrand v. Linneker. Who's mad at that? I'm not. No, but I kind of felt like with all the buzz that Garbrandt... Garbrand versus Cruz. And the way they were pushing him. I thought they'd go in that direction. But again, it's hard to argue against Dillishaw.

He was the champ. He lost a super close fight. But if they go in that direction, I foresee them doing Linneker versus Garbrandt. They might do Linneker versus Carraway. Carraway seems to be interested in it because I know they've been trying to get them into

a tough fight, but I think the history between Garbrand and Linneker and what a fight. I mean, oh my God, that would be unbelievable. They're both so much fun. And the fight on Saturday was a lot of fun to watch. I feel like they'll go in that direction. Can you put Linneker in a title fight? Not now. No.

He's shooting himself in the foot every time. you can't if there is a person who continues to miss weight this is the fifth time that he's missed weight in the UFC whether it's had flyweight or bantam weight you can't take that risk because if they miss weight there's no title fight yeah it's a big embarrassment how did you score that fight by the way ever so slightly for like the same thing that

Sean Alshaddy had ever so slightly for Linneker tough one I mean so hard but yeah ever so slightly how about you Same. I had Linneker winning 234. Yeah, exactly. I was going to say Dotson 1 and 5, Linaker 2, 3, 4. Absolutely. Josie Aldo. We touched on this. You touched on this earlier. We touched on it a little bit here.

Do you think that this is the last we've seen of Josealdo in the UFC? Oh, my. Or do you think it'll be resolved? Before I answer that, let me give a quick update on Josh Saman. Yes, please. Mark Romandi of M.A.fighting.com posting this around an hour and 45 minutes ago, law enforcement officers found UFC fighter Josh Saman unresponsive and his friend

dead in a Florida home Thursday evening. The Hollywood Florida Police Department said mundane a statement. Saman was breathing and had a pulse but was not responding. The deceased was identified as Tory, excuse me, the deceased was identified as Troy Kirkenberg, Saman's friend and the announcer for Saman's Florida MMA promotion. Police responded to the

quote, call of a possible drug overdose, end quote, per the statement. Saman and Kirkenberg were found by a friend Hunter Sunberg, who called 911 and administered CPR until police arrived the release set. Police said there was no sign of foul play, and detectives are currently investigating. Saman 28 has been in the hospital since Thursday in a coma, per the Tallahassee Democrat. He was in critical condition as of Sunday morning, excuse me, Saturday morning, since then not a lot of updates. So that's the crux of the story. Man, very, considering everything he has been through,

very sad stuff. And again, I really, really hope and pray that he's able to pull through this. Okay, so going back to Josealdo, who, tough one to predict, because if this was an isolated incident, I feel like, I feel like there would, if this was an isolated, I feel like there was a better chance of them fixing it, but it feels like for quite some time, he's a lot of them fixing it. But it feels like for quite some time, has been unhappy and he's just had enough. Well, is this a unique scenario? Because I think it is where a champion like him, who's been a champion for so long in this featherweight division,

and has stayed undefeated, not, sorry, not stayed undefeated, but rather gone undefeated in a stretch for so many years and was considered one of the pound for pound best in the sport, has been so disrespected in the sense that it seems like he can't even get a response or can't get a fight when he's, you know, one of the top guys who's competed in this sport for a long time. I don't think it's typical for a guy like him to be treated in this way. I feel like this is a pretty unique scenario. So for him asking to be released, it's almost it's almost one of a kind. Am I crazy? Can you think of another guy who's been as good as he has

that's essentially not been able to get a shot at his former title. Also, let's not forget that Frankie Edgar should have gotten that shot first. And he lost to Jose Aldo. And that's why Aldo's in the position that he is now. Did he deserve an immediate rematch? Sure. I mean, you could definitely make that case. He has certainly warranted it.

But let's not forget that if Aldo thinks he was screwed, then Edgar was kind of screwed too because he beat Chad Mendez and was told essentially that he's next. Yes, but Frankie Edgar isn't Joseoaldo. Frankie Edgar doesn't have the years in in that division that... I'm just saying the whole thing is kind of a mess. And hopefully once this fight happens and if Connor wins the lightweight title, that will have a little more clarity.

And I will say this. I've been asked this question a million times by people. What is Connor's big announcement? What is Dana White alluding to when he's saying, okay, Connor does not have a big announcement as it pertains to his fighting? If I'm guessing, how can I say this?

He probably would have preferred if Dana didn't make this this statement, this sort of vague statement. But I can assure you that he is not retiring. He doesn't have plans of dropping the belts, as he said at the press conference. And if you're hoping for some big earth-chatting announcement as it pertains to Connor McGregor fighting, you are going to be disappointed.

don't worry. There's nothing to worry about as it pertains to who's fighting. And the rest is, you know, his business and that's it. But please, if you can, stop asking me about Connor McGregor's announcement because there is no, there is no announcement. And it really has nothing to do with, I think, I think there might have been a misunderstanding or someone may have misspoke. That's, I don't know. I'm being vague, but it's, it's not for us to discuss or talk about. And it's nothing bad, by the way. It's absolutely nothing bad from what I'm told. just everyone just forget about it is what I'm trying to do and I know that's not gonna yeah that that's gonna do well but I had to answer it at some point because it's like I'm getting a thousand questions

what's Connor's announcement is he retiring is the room it's amazing how much false stuff is put out there so trying I'm trying to help everyone yeah don't look at the man behind the curtain and now everybody's gonna look I don't know I don't know what's gonna happen with Joseaido it's a very it's a very tricky situation but I believe him when he says he wants out I've asked him to come on the show. They said, thanks, but no thanks. Right now, I don't think he wants to do a lot of media, but we'll see. Hopefully they make it right to both him and Habib. I mean, Habib is fighting on the card, so he seems like he's pretty happy with how things have turned out. I just, this one sticks in my craw a little bit. Why?

Well, Habib is, again, Josie Aldo has the, the gravitas. He has the clout to be able to make this kind of stink about this. I don't feel like Habib has it. I don't feel like Frankie Edgar has it, quite frankly. This guy was the featherweight champion. There were no other featherweight champions for his entire career. I think he has the right to kind of be a little bit upset about not getting a shot at that belt again. Oh, I don't think anyone's saying he doesn't have the right. But more so than almost anybody else.

Could you imagine if after Anderson Silva lost to Chris Widman, it took him forever to get back to that title shot? They just said, you know what, we're not really interested in having you fight and just kept them on the shelf or threw him in a fight that that just would you know spend some time in the division I think it's just it's what was the alternative here doing Aldo versus McGregor

just yeah or vacate the belt give him the shot I mean look it's hard to deny what Connor is trying to do or anything that he says or anything that he wants because he equals massive business for the UFC I mean if he wasn't the draw

that he was is and the start that he was, then they could say, you know what, man, sit down, shut up, and take the fight that we're giving you, you're the champion defender title. But everything he touches turns to gold. Is that second strap the thing that's making him a pay-per-view draw? Is going after another title while holding the featherweight title? I think, I mean, he has said this from the first interview we did, and before that, he wants to be a two-way world champion. And it was going to be a very easy, quick thing. He was fighting in March against RDA.

RDA gets hurt and then the Nate thing happens and that turned into big business for the UFC two times. The highest selling pay-per-views. Without a belt? Without a belt, yeah. So my question is... He wants to be, this is something, it's not something that he came up with, you know, yesterday. He wants to be the two-way ball champion.

But if they took it off him, is that going to be the difference between that pay-per-view at MSG selling or not selling? Because I think it makes zero difference. I think that I think he wants that distinction. That means a lot to him. And I think that there is value to that. History being made.

History at the first... My favorite fighter is BJ Penn who held two different belts at different times and that's still a significant thing. Holding two UFC belts at the same time would be monumental. But I don't think it matters if he wants that because I think if they stripped that belt from him, he could still headline this event,

have the same pay-per-view drawing power, wouldn't make a damn difference in the world, and Joseoaldo could compete for a further-way title. And in fact, it would create a storyline. Does he want that title or does he want Connor for the title? Like, would you want that? That's a question. Would you want that title?

You know what I mean? Like, you lost the guy. You want another chance. And he deserves another chance. And I kind of feel like after this fight, which is not that far away, he will get the other chance. I mean, let's not forget,

Joseoaldo fought in July. He's gone through stretches of over a year without fighting. So if Connor wins or loses in November and is ready to go in, I don't know, March, April, that's still less than a year. I mean, that's kind of his average. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

The shoe is on the other foot. He's the one chasing now, so he's a little more anxious. And I don't blame him. I mean, he has the resume. He's done enough. But I think Eddie, given the fact that he's the champion at 155, given the fact that he's from nearby Philadelphia, was the fight to make.

And it's fresh out about it. That's the fight to make for Connor. Let's not forget that we went through the whole, you know, world tour and everything. And the fight fell through. I personally think, business-wise, the UFC makes a hell of a lot more money with Eddie because it's a fresh matchup. No doubt. And he sells the fight a little better. I'm not arguing for Aldo versus McGregor.

I'm arguing for Aldo fighting for the featherweight belt. I don't even know if that makes him happy. If that's the case, then there's no pleasing him and he can't be talking. I said a long time ago that, you know, Bell. have never meant less, but I feel like the real statement is, like, once you get the belt more so than ever, you are the king of the driver's seat. Yeah, sure. And look at this weekend with Bisping and Hendo, which, you know, I'm all, you know, it's a good buildup and the fight's going to be over this time next week and then they can move on. But like, we need to stop sticking to this meritocracy

where, you know, number one's going to fight. It's just not, it's never going to be that way. It never will be that way. It won't. Agreed. But doesn't it matter in some capacity? Especially, by the way, in this day and age, where the owners of the UFC just bought the UFC for $4 billion. They're trying to make a lot of money. They're trying to make a lot of money as quickly as possible. How crazy is that whole thing, right?

It's super interesting. They've got 23 new celebrity investors, most of which, by the way, are a part of some kind of union. I mean, this is the craziest thing. Who would have ever expected? It's so bizarre what has happened. happened this year. Who would have thought the weekend and Conan and Tom Brady and, you know, who else? The list, Sylvester Stallone, I think is on that list. It's just a crazy

mix of characters who have now invested in the UFC. What's his name? Guy Fieri and many, many more. So yeah, I mean, look, I think once the sale happened, once that $4 billion number was attached to the UFC, once the new owners invested all that money in the UFC, they're going to try to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible. Because they, you know, this idea that, oh, look how much these guys spent on the UFC. Now they're going to pay the fighters more. To me, always never made any sense because these are the ones, these aren't the current owners. I'll tell you where it gets a little confusing. Like, let's look at the last big transaction in sports. Donald Sterling sold, was kind of forced to sell

Clippers to Steve Bomber for $2 billion. Donald Sterling didn't stick around after that sale and continued to make personnel decisions, signing players, etc. But Dana White, who made around $400 million, who then signed a five-year deal and is making multi-millions of dollars, is still around cutting the deals.

So that's one thing that I don't know if they took into account when they were trying to figure out the long-term plan, it gets a little dicey when you're talking to a Chris Wyman or an Iaquinta or an Aldo or an Eddie Alvarez and you're like, nah, you know, we just can't pay you this extra $200,000, when you just pocketed this and are still around. It's not like you're the new regime and you're like, look,

our hands are tied, we paid this much, we can only afford this much. People are thinking like, well, wait a second, you just made $400 million and you're still here. Do you get what I'm saying? Sure. It's a very unique thing that is playing out in front of us. Yes or no Is Ronda Rousey

Still the biggest UFC star Which was said recently Yeah Dana White's No I don't think that's true at all Connor McGregor clearly yes It's not even close Also Do you agree with me

Absolutely I mean not only is he the face He's the biggest draw And he's always been the biggest draw Yeah and I think there's It's a vague term Star quote unquote star When you're measuring

numbers when you're measuring dollars and cents, clearly Connor McGregor is the breadwinner in this scenario. But maybe in terms of bringing in new audiences, you know, fight fans and people who are on the fence about, you know, fighting are definitely going to be enamored with Connor McGregor. But I think that Ronda has a bit of a drawing power that goes beyond that to people that may not have even been interested in all at all. And she draws them in.

Sure. But in terms of figures, it's Connor McGregor, clearly. It's actually not even close at this point. Rhonda's a big draw, but she's not on his level at this point. And I think that by continuing to try to tell us otherwise, doesn't do Rhonda any favors. Now, you're right. Rhonda opens doors that Connor Kent, and she gets the sport in front of eyeballs that no one could have ever dreamed of. But those eyeballs don't necessarily turn into pay-per-view dollars.

Yeah, and not potentially long-term pay-per-view dollars. But Connor McGregor seems to be keeping that train rolling. I was sitting there in New York. I mean, they could legitimately charge for his pay-per-views, and people would pay for it. If they charge $3.99, excuse me, for his press conferences. If they charge $3.99 for his press conferences, people would pay for it. I don't think you're wrong.

I don't think you're wrong on that. Any update about USC 206, Canada, your home. Yeah, what's going on? You know, they've put so much time and attention into 205 that I think they're going to start now paying attention to 206 a little more. As far as main events and things like that, I've heard some, but too early to talk about. Of course, the big one is George St. Pierre.

That negotiation continues to go. I don't know why they keep wanting to tell us that George doesn't want to fight when I know unequivocally 1,000% he wants to fight. It would make all the sense of the world. I mean, I would love to see GSP versus. Damien. I would love to see GSP versus Nick. I just want to see GSP back now that he wants to come back and I think it would be great for

Canadian MMA. But there isn't much to say as far as, you know, who's going to be on the card, that's for sure. It's unfortunate. But we'll see. I mean, let's look at it. Stebe is not going to be on the card. Although a champion from Ohio

fighting on that card would make a lot of sense. Cormier, maybe. Bisping? said last week, I know you weren't here, but Bisping said that he beat Tendo, he'd have no problem fighting GSP in Toronto, so who knows, maybe they're waiting for him. I wonder how Wydman and all those guys would feel about that. Then the 170 title is in New York, 155 is Eddie, 145 is Connor, Dominic, maybe, although I don't think it makes a lot of sense to have two guys who, you know,

are from California fighting in Toronto, although they did fight in Boston in January, so I that doesn't really make much of a difference. And then Demetrius is fighting in early December. Juana's fighting in November. And then Amanda Nunes and Rhonda, they're targeting December 30th. So I think it kind of comes down to the light heavyweight and bantamweight division at this point,

as far as main events are concerned. And then if you can add GSP to that, you've got a pretty good card. Yeah. Does it need GSP is a question. I think Canadian MMA needs GSP, yeah. Let me clarify. By need, I mean,

Is this card going to be sufficient? Is it going to satisfy the Canadian audience without GSP? Need in the most literal sense. Like, does this need GSP? I definitely feel like a rising tide will lift all boats that if GSP returns, it will be a very big deal for all. I mean, who knows? Next week this time, John Jones is having his hearing in Nevada.

You know, he's fought in Toronto, although I don't know if it's smart to go with him, a fourth time in Toronto, though it has been around three or so years since the last card in Toronto, as crazy as that sounds. So we'll see. I do think that they need GSP. Like, does the card crumble? Does it go down the toilet? No, but there's a big difference between having him and not having him. I think having him on the card, as soon as the tickets go on sale, they will sell out. Not, and they don't sell out right away. You get what I'm saying? Yeah. And also, you know, without Rory, the Canadian fans need.

I mean, there's no real next in line, right? Yeah. There's no real, I mean, there's some guys coming up. There's, you know, OAM, Olivier Obamercier. There's the Chad LaPriezes of the world. But there's no like real Jordanian is coming back. Oh, yeah. That's right.

Forget about Jordan. There's no real like, you know, superstar that everyone's really excited about that can be a star in the making and a real draw over there. Yeah, the next guy to kind of rally behind. And it's really still the GSP show. It is. What else you got? Well, we can call Jason Perillo. I can do that.

You want to just wrap for a few minutes while I do that? Yeah, sure, I'll wrap. Speaking of Toronto, how about my Toronto Blue Jays? I mean, wow, what a win that was. I'm still exhausted from that. The backs against the wall. And then they win two out of three in Boston. Wild card game tomorrow.

There is nothing like playoff baseball. I'm finally getting to experience it. Never got to experience it as an Expos fan. and I still maintain that the better the Blue Jays do, the expos have a better chance of coming back. So that's what I'm hoping for. But it is very exciting stuff. I was sweating yesterday. I was listening to the game on my phone, on the Sirius XM app all day walking around with my family.

And I would just like blurt out things like, yes. Like, oh no. And my wife would look at me like, what, what happened? Not realizing that I was actually listening to the baseball game. But wow, was it exciting? She was getting really annoyed. very pissed off, but I was loving it. One, two to one, spoil the David Ortiz party.

It was great. And my Buffalo Bills beat the New England Patriots. I've still not watched it down. I'm still holding out. I don't know anything about the Rider Cup, but thanks for trying, though. The Buffalo Bills skunking, skunking the New England Patriots. I mean, how exciting was that? All right, so in a minute we're going to be joined by Jason Perillo, who is the coach for

one, Michael Bisping. and what a stretch it has been for Jason Perillo. Chris Seiborg last weekend, main event, and the numbers came out, huge ratings draw. Once again, more proof that she needs to just main event these cards as champion, that she's a big enough draw, as champion that she warrants starting their own division, 145 featherweight division.

Trust me, trust me on this one. Take my word. It will be big business. So he had her bisming this weekend. And then BJ Penn in Manila. That's very exciting stuff. Let's see the card this weekend, shall we? And can you just turn down my audio just a little bit?

It's a little loud of my ears. I appreciate it. So UFC 204, like I said, taking a couple hits. The fights that I am eyeing right now. Of course, Bisping, Henderson, Vitor, Gagar Musassi. OSP versus Jimmy Manoa, solid fight at 205. Stephen Strew versus Daniel O'Millianchuk. This doesn't have the new lineup.

No one has the new lineup. I guess they didn't. Oh yeah, that's right. Because they had Mirosad Bechekek against Jeremy Kennedy after Arnold Allen got injured. But as of now, I don't think that they've added a fifth fight to the pay-per-view card. Brad Pickett on the card. The one I'm really looking forward to, when I was in, When I was in Manchester, no, when I was in London, excuse me, for Bisping versus Anderson Silva,

there was a guy there whose name escapes me at the moment, and I'm sorry, I think he was in some ways related to Michael Bissing, told me, Mark Diochasey is the guy to watch as far as English MMA is concerned, UKMMA is concern. Look out for him. That is a name to remember. And he is making his UFC debut. our friends over at Severe MMA have a nice little video on Mark up there. Very exciting fighter. He's fighting on the fight past prelims.

So look out for Mark. Also, Mike Perry is back. Remember Mike Perry from UFC 202? He's back. Pretty quick turnaround for Mike Perry. Platinum Perry. He's fighting Danny Roberts, fight past prelims.

Leon Edwards versus Albert Tuminov is a great fight as well. Any other ones? And like I said, Brad Pickett, fighting at home. So that's this Saturday. If you're in England, it's all going down very, very, very late in the evening or early in the morning. The main event is supposed to happen at around 5 a.m. local time. But here in the United States, I know some people are confused about this.

Here in the United States, it's actually happening normal time. 10 a.m., excuse me, 10 p.m. Eastern time, 7 p.m. Pacific. and it will end at around one like always. Also, it has gone under the radar, but World Series of Fighting has a card this weekend as well. And it's one of their better cards in a very long time. Again, World Series of Fighting makes a habit out of putting on events at the same time as the UFC. I don't know why they do this, but I can assure you it's not the promoters.

It's really more of an NBCSN thing. They're looking for openings and they think that it makes sense to put a card I mean, I wish they would do it on Fridays like Bellator does, so all the attention could be on them. I think it would go a very long way for them, and it would be very beneficial for them if they did this, but they're not doing it. Justin Geichi, always fun to watch him fight. Main card is on at 11, by the way, and it is a six-fight main card. But check out this card. So, Gaichi is defending his lightweight title against Ozzie.

This one is always tough for me, especially three plus hours in. Du Guilubov. Duguukov. I butchered that. That is bad. Anyhow, David Branch versus Vinimaga Yesh for the light heavyweight title.

Jason High is on the card. Brian Foster's on the card. John Howard's on the card against Nirmagamatov's brother. Sean Jordan making his World Series of Fighting debut. That is a solid card. That's one of their best cards ever.

Taking place in Kansas City, by the way. Kansas City. Let me see what's going on here. Any sign? Oh, we do. All right. All right, let's go to our last guest of the day. Let's finish off right. Big weekend for him on Saturday, UFC 204. His guy, Michael Bisping, defends his title for the very first time against Dan Henderson. He is one of the very best coaches in the sport, Jason Prolo, and he joins us via the magic of Skype right now. Jason, how are you? Hey, Ariel, how are you doing, man?

I appreciate you joining us. Thank you very much. Hey, thanks for having me. So you're in Manchester right now, right? I'm Manchester and I'm in Manchester's finest spa in town right now. Really? What are you doing there? Good. I just came over, they wanted the champ here at the finest spa in town. So we're doing, we got salt steams and just a lot of really relaxing. What's it called? Hale Country Club is the name.

Oh, wow. Look at you. Yeah, big time, huh? Now, did I take you away from a spa session? You know what? We were just finishing it up and no, not at all. Okay. Well, it's a pleasure to have you. I was talking about this before you got on. What a stretch this is for you because you were in Brazil last weekend for Chris Cyborg, right? Now Manchester. And are you going to Manila for BJ as well? It is in the plan. We're just trying to iron that out because, I mean, I've been doing a lot of travel and trying to figure out.

Yeah, the plan is that. a plan. Have you ever had a stretch like this before? Three main events and four weeks all over the world? No, never. I got three continents all over. Yeah, no. No, I haven't.

It's pretty heavy. I've been pretty much jet-leg since I left to Brazil. Oh, someone's calling you. This happens sometimes when people call you in the middle of Skype session, or the Wi-Fi at this country club went out. We'll get them back. remember oh there he is did did someone call you jason oh no problem um so you've never had a stretch like this before is it not really ideal in the sense that you know you're in brazil with chris

you can't spend those last days with michael and then you can't you know what i mean like it it must oh yeah right yeah it's been a little bit of a cluster uh yeah it's been yeah it has i i i mean i i just stay in trying to be in the most important as parts of of of this last last couple weeks with each guy that I've been working with. BGA, unfortunately, I haven't, you know, been with for the last couple of weeks, but he's out in Albuquerque, and we all know there's good training out there. So my guess is, from what I hear, he's looking really good out there. His brother connected with Jackson out there,

and Jackson said to JD that he was doing very well. So that's good to know. Again, I've been out in Brazil. I did miss a week with Mike, but Mike is a focused dude, days trained in 24 hours. You never have to worry about that guy. I want to get your take quickly on Chris because as her coach, you want your athlete to perform at the highest level possible. Do you wish that she would stop fighting on 140? Do you feel like it is a detriment to her as an athlete when she fights below 145?

Of course. I mean, I've talked about that for years with her and with the team. And it's always been the biggest concern of mine. I mean, 140, you saw that grueling weight cut on that documentary that Chris had done and you know that was coming down at 140 but believe it or not those are the same grueling weight cuts that she has at 145 um i've yet to see a really easy one at 145 she's just you know willing make that mental sacrifice over the last couple of fights and shut off those last five pounds which you know shows what kind of champion she is right yeah so do you want to see her stop fighting at 140 should those days come to an end?

Well, here's the thing. Chris is a champ, she's going to do what she wants to do. She's going to go where, you know, the money in the tent, you know, and where she's recognized as being the best, because that's the type of mentality she's got. I just personally don't see what's the difference between. I mean, if it's a super fight, it's a super fight. You know, they don't, there's no division. They don't want to make a 145 pound division, but guess what?

There's no 140 pound division either. So what's the difference? Right. It's a super fight. You know, it's a super fight. We can make a super fight at 153 if you want. Right. 142.

144. It's a super fight. It's a fight that's happening with no weight class. So, you know, why not put that 145 pound thought out there in people's eyes? Because there are plenty of girls out there. They got girls in Invicta. You know, the 135 pound division isn't that stacked from what I understand. Oh, I was calling him again.

Jason Prillo, a very, a very, a very, popular guy over there in Manchester. Oh, I went on this whole rant about World Series of Fighting. Their car is actually on Friday. Jason, you back? Yeah, I'm back. Okay, go ahead. I'm sorry. I keep on getting blown up here. I apologize. Who's calling you? I stopped up for calling. I don't know. I think it's Vegas actually because they just discussed, I lost my Reebok bag at L-A-X. Okay. And I just got an email saying that it was sent to the UFC office in Vegas. So, and I left them a message. It's a 702 number. So my guess it's them calling to let me know out my bag, but I don't know why they'd do it twice. Yeah, seriously. I mean, don't they know that you're on the most important

damn show in the world here? Jesus. Well, Jesus Christ. It's such an important show. I took time out of my spa to come to do. I know. Are you wearing a robe right now? Is that what you're doing? I am. And I'm trying not to fucking get you here in the camera. I'm trying to pick it up high. I thought you were wearing like a nice sweater, but now I see. I was going to put a t-shirt on, but I'm like, this is a, hey. Hey, hey, Michael. He's killing his phone. He's fine. He's I'm sorry. I wanted to... We've got soul caves. We've got Zen rooms. We've got

you name it. We've got it here. We're living the life of luxuries. Champion lifestyle is very, very nice. Big shout out. Hail country club. Big shout out my protein. I'll stop hijacking his interview. Ariel, I don't mind it. You're the man, Mike. Best of luck to you. That is an amazing thing.

I just wanted to get the man behind the man. That's all. I wanted to give you some of that attention because I do feel quite frankly like you don't get enough of that attention, if I'm being honest. I mean, look at the stretch of fights you got coming up. Do you kind of feel that way as well, Jason, that you don't get enough love? Not at all. And I'm being serious with you.

I don't think about it because, you know, my focus. You know, they always say, you know, a coach is a thankful for his job, so you've got to already kind of accept that, you know, being a coach. You know, I was a fighter and that didn't turn out the way I wanted to. So, you know, my job is trying to bring the best out of these guys. And, you know, if I do get some positive attention from it, I really appreciate it. because I've had negative attention from it before in the past, you know, and I appreciate guys like yourself reaching out to me and asking me my side of stories.

So, yeah, no, I don't think one way or other whether I'm getting enough attention or not. I'm doing a lot of traveling, so it's hard to think about anyways, right? That is true. Okay, for a guy who helped reinvent Michael into the fighter and champion that he is today, what is it like for you now as you prepare for his first title defense? Does anything change, or are you guys doing the same thing? No, it's exciting. We're doing the same thing. And believe it or not, the pressure gets stronger or stronger. We fought some, the last couple of fights that we fought the best in the world, you know, pound per pound guys that are phenomenal and very difficult to beat. You know, it becomes a different shift in our pressure, obviously with, you know, Mike being more favored in this fight and they haven't had a loss to him in the past. So, you know, there's just as much, if not more pressure on this fight. But Michael is handling it like a champion. And it, it a big turn in the corner, a big change in our game is just how Mike's handling his calmness

and able to handle all the situations he's in, whether it's, you know, from the press to the way-ins to the week of the fight, everything he does is, you know, he's calm, cool, and collect, and he wants to fight that way, so he's really living that way. Can I tell you what was one of my favorite moments of 2016? Michael Bisping wins, and the shot of you, you stand up and you just cross your arms. I mean, holy crap, might be the greatest celebration in the history. history of MMA as far as corners are concerned. There's so much excitement, everyone's freaking out, and you just stand up and cross your arms.

What is going through your mind? I just, I just, it's something that I knew was going to happen. I really, you know, you believe, I mean, coaches have a whole visionary thing going on with them as well. And, you know, Destin, I told you so. I grew up in a household where, you know, when my father was right, that's how he let you know he's right. You know, he crossed his arms and let you know, I told you so.

you know, whatever situation it is. And that was kind of my thought process that was going on. I was real confident Michael was going to catch him. He was really setting up that left hook and putting everything together very well. You know, he had rock hole guests in there, and he set up that left hook, and I watched him do it, and I knew what was happening as it was going on. So that was your big FU to all the doubters, right? All the odds makers, all that?

100,000 percent. It was a big FU to the doubters. It really was. We got to get our moments. It's an up and down game this fight game. You know, we got to get our little cross-or-arm moment, right? Did you plan on that, or was that 100% authentic, like, in the moment it just happened? That really came.

That's just, that was, I probably do that. It's not something I don't do. I do that another aspect of my life. Talk to my girlfriend when I'm right. She'll let you know. It was amazing. I could watch that over and over again. A beautiful moment.

So. Oh, thanks. What an interesting turn of events I was because you only had two and a half weeks. Have you tried to learn from that in the sense that, okay, maybe Michael Bisping is the kind of fighter that doesn't need a lot of reps. It doesn't need a lot of weeks of training. Like for this camp, have you done less weeks than you've done in the past with him because of how good that fight went? Well, we have, we have just without having to see. What happens is Michael got booked with it.

And we knew this ahead of time, even starting camp, that Michael had a movie booked. where was that Mike in London London yeah a movie book in London and we know it's perfect time because it's right in the gut of our training Mike's Mike's almost Mike's ready to fight three weeks

in a training camp and this happened to fall into the fourth and fifth week of training camp which gave us a tour Okay hold on bringing the camera I got the champs call in here Okay okay What do we got?

As we've said two weeks Two days Two minutes It doesn't matter. We're chilling like villains. I like it. What a light. Look at this guy.

Look at this guy. Lou mean. Oh, what did we say yesterday? Oh, fuck, no. Is he still that same guy from Clitherow? I mean, has his fame gotten to him? Beach is that way, I mean. Hey, not many boys in Clitherow probably hanging out.

No, it's a good luck. Hey, look, good luck. Well done. No, but where I was at? Yeah, we knew we had that movie that he was going to do in the gut of the training, which was a, you know, was a blessing in disguise because both me and him even talked about it. We knew that he's going to go out. He's going to stay running.

He's going to stay training. He had, he had dads more, his, you know, a guy that he worked for with years out here in England. He was able to come out and work with him, you know, during the filming and just keep him conditioned, you know. and really, you know, the way we're looking at really happened, you know, perfectly because he really's been peaking this last week. He's stopping guys, knocking guys out in the gym. He's, you know, all cylinders are firing. He's not overtrained. Right now, the biggest focus is focus and just staying relaxed and calm and being confident in what we got going on Saturday night. When you watch his fight at 100 against Dan and you look at Michael Bisping, is he a complete, like, is it not even worthwhile to watch that? Is he completely different fighter now?

No, it's a little worthwhile just to look at what we don't want to do. Right. But, you know, Mike, you know, the temperament of Michael Bisbing was a little bit different back then. He was a little younger. You know, he's had a lot more experience than that. And in my opinion, Mike's really peeking in his career, you know, not just in training in this training camp, but his career, he's really peaking. And everybody peaks at different times. Some guys are the best when they're in their 20s.

And, you know, some guys, you know, we all, you know, a lot of guys. you know, a lot of guys peak at different times, and Mike's really come together, you know, mentally, physically, and emotionally, and he brings it in, and he's a champion now, and I really do believe he's speaking, and I think he's going to keep showing that for the next handful of fights.

So you were very confident against Rockhold. You knew the left hand would be there, the left hook, and it came to fruition. What are you foreseeing in this fight? You know, I see him touching him with whatever he wants. I see him reading, reading Dan, reading his movement. Mike's been in front of a lot of good fighters, good punchers, you know, good everything.

I mean, Luke Rockhold's a beast. He's a beast, and he was reading him like a book. Anderson Silva's a beast, and he was reading him like a book. I mean, Dan Anderson has a whole different, he's got a different arsenal as far as his leverage and his power, but he also shows a lot more than these other guys do. They are a little bit more coordinated, a little bit more athletic, a little bit more quicker. And reading guys like that, he's just going to bring it right over in the cage with Dan. He's going to have to be cautious. He's going to have to focus, and that's what's most important,

because Mike knows how to react to whatever he needs to react to, and it's keeping the head right in the focus and keep plugging away. You know, he's going to hit him with everything. Do you expect an early finish again? I expect it. It won't shock me. I'll be crossing my arms if it does happen. I'll tell you that.

Okay. Definitely arm crossed if it happens early because it wouldn't shock me. It really doesn't. But, you know, I think it's going to depend on Mike's temperament and how he's. wants to, you know, and how he feels with them, because we're not all in there. And we could feel a guy, and we could feel how a guy's reading us sometimes, and they can feel how they're reading you. You know, you could feel that's what fighting is. That's something that's the unknown area that, you know, us fans, us, you know, coaches or, you know, us journalists, everybody

outside watching, you know, you don't feel what they're feeling in there sometimes. I'm pretty in tune to that type of thing. That's where I have some success when I get real connected with my athletes because, you know, I get a, I get a feeling of where they're at when I know them very well. And I think Mike's going to be able to dictate it however he wants is just, you know, making sure he feels good in there. Let me ask you this before I let you go and get back to the spa. The last time we had you on the show was right after that BJ Penn-Frank-Edgar fight,

and that turned into, you know, I don't know if debacle is the right word, but you were being criticized. It just didn't end well. How did you link up with BJ again? And with him going to Jackson's, how do you fit into that whole equation? Well, I think would be, you know, what BJ says to me, said it to me about three or four times when he was out. And, you know, Vegas, he always says, you know, when shit hits a town, when shit hits a fan, we call Peezy, we call Peralo. You know what I mean?

And that's, you know, that's just sarcasm there. But really at the end of the day, me and BJ have always been a day. Regardless where we've been training, you know, we, you know, we started off coach and in fighter, but we, you know, we got a close bond, became really good friends. And, you know, and BJ over the years has always called me. And whether he takes my advice or doesn't take my advice, but he's always, you know, talk to me, you know, and knows that we have a long history and knows that I know him very well, just like I do Michael and these other fighters.

And, you know, he trusts what I have to say. So I think he really wanted to, we came out and saw me for a couple weeks. I think it made a main purpose, and we did work some boxing and whatnot. But, you know, he really wanted to get his mind where he wanted to pee. You know what I mean? and for some reason as a coach, I think you have to have that. You know, there's plenty of trainers in this sport. You know, there's trainers up and down.

There's trainers on TV all the time on these UFC fights. But there's, you know, you don't find a whole lot of coaches that actually, actually, you know, think about, you know, they're able to get to their fighters psychologically and mentally and also knowing all the positions and fundamentals of the fight game too as well. You know, a lot of times you have one or the other, you know, I feel I'm lucky enough to be around this long enough to have an understanding of the dynamic to the physical aspect of the fight game, but also, you know, the mental aspect of the game. And me and BJ are always close.

And he knows that, you know, he could have, and his brother said it to me the other night. He says, you know, BJ can have 10, 20 guys in the corner. He's always going to make sure he's always going to look back and see a Porello's in the corner. So, you know, which is, you know, he's got a lot of trust for me. And again, we have never fallen out. Even though I took a lash in his shit for a long time, BJ did come out publicly. You know, apologize to me even.

And that's something you're not going to see BJ Pandu. And, you know, and we still just never stopped talking because it's not his fault. You know, it is, it is not my fault either. It's just, you know, that's a relationship that we've had for years. And he knows that I always have his back. And I'll be there for him if he needs me. All right. I'll let you go, Jason.

Thank you very much for the time. to stretch this is for you. So you got the first one down. Chris Seiberg looked great against Lena Landsberg. Saturday, you've got Bisping and then next weekend, BJ Penn. Holy moly, all over the world. I mean, they couldn't have helped you out and put them all in Vegas or California, but I guess that's what makes them. Why would they do that? Yeah, exactly. I guess that makes this fun. Appreciate you squeezing us in very much so. Enjoy the spot. And Michael, I want to tell you this. You're in our time. I'm sorry. I'm saying goodbye. I'm saying, great Ariel Hawanin. We would not do it for anybody else. But for you, my friend, for the MMA hour,

It's nothing. Can I just tell you this, Michael, I was watching the destiny documentary that they produced about you. I don't know if you've seen this yet. Have you seen it? Yes, I have. It's quite the complimentary CJC. The light. Nice robe guy.

Hey, there's my man. I just wanted to tell you, I was crying. I was literally crying watching this. It was very emotional seeing your family. You know how I feel about your family. I love your son and everything. So it was nice. It brought tears to my eyes a couple of times as well.

So, yeah, no, it was. UFC did a great job on that end of documentary. So thanks for everybody involved. But this is all about Jason Perrilla. It is. Well, you just, you, what a site this is. The team is Das Morris. Hello, Das.

Jason, the big bad Brady thing is there. We're here. We've got a job to do. We can't hang around small talking. Okay. All right. I mean, you're too big time these days. But listen, everybody, thank you for the kind words on the My Destiny documentary.

it was very good. Jason, I'll hand you the phone back now. No, I'm saying goodbye. I'll say goodbye to you guys. If those people want to see decrepit Dan Henderson,

knocked out. Decrepit Dan Henderson will be finished. Finish in emphatic style. He will be knocked out cold. Don't miss it. UFC 204. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Come back on Monday after the victory,

all right? Because I won't be there. All right. Deal. Deal. Deal. Jason. Hey, Jason.

Hey, thanks, Errol. Appreciate it, guys. Enjoyed the spot. Anytime. Thank you, much. Take it easy, man. Jason Perillo there, head coach for one, Michael Bisping. I mean, how about that? Champion shows up? I mean, this is something else. What a show it is today. So great stuff there from Jason. Best of luck to him and the rest of the team, Michael Bisping included on Saturday UFC 204.

DeCrepit Dan Henderson. I haven't heard that one before. And I do owe an apology to World Series of Fighting. Sean Al-Shadi letting me know. Thanks, New York Rick back there as I'm going on this rant. that they're screwing up another great card by putting it on Saturday. The card is actually Friday. It's October 7th.

So I do owe them an apology. I know that sometimes they feel like I'm unfairly critical of their ways, but this time they got a right. It's Friday, October 7th. I apologize. But, but you can understand why I assume that it was going to be on Saturday because they've done it before.

In fact, on November 12th, UFC 205, they have a show going up against the most anticipated card maybe in UFC history. So, me a cupa. All right? Right? Thanks for the heads up. Yeah, like how you tried to put that on me?

Well, I mean, it would be nice if someone was looking out for me. Now, I imagine this was while I was getting our guest, right? Potentially. Yeah, so. Any odds we should be looking out for on Saturday before we go? That's a good question. How about DeCravid Dan Henderson? Does he have a shot?

Wow. Actually, the odds aren't as crazy as I thought they were going to be. Do you know what they are? Yeah, I do. Plus two or one? Yeah. Not bad. That surprises me a little bit, but I mean, man, I just hate saying puncher's chance, but he has a puncher's chance.

Sure. And that's about it. I mean, it's really, it's one shot or bust, I think. Very rare for someone in their first title defense, arguably, and this is no knock on Dan. It's just what the, you know, the facts have been, the results have been. You look at his last three fights. it's Michael Bisping going into this one. So we're including this one.

Anderson, Rockhold, Hendo. You can make the case that the title fight is the weakest of the three. You know what I'm saying? As far as the skill where they're at in their careers and whatnot, but we've seen it before with Mike Brown and your eye of favor and Benson Henderson

and Anthony Pettis. Like when a guy has someone's number, you got his number. Yeah, but. Are we saying that after one... No, we might find out. Come this time next week, we can be talking about

Dan Henderson, UFC champion, knocked them out, whatever, and we'll be like, Dan Henderson has Michael Bisping's number. Possibly. But I mean... Can't say it now. They've only fought once.

Yeah, and it was, what, 2009? 2009, yeah. Yeah, that's always a go. Musassi's a favorite. Yeah, Musassi, of course. I think he gets that done for sure. Manoa is a slight dog. Yeah, I like Ovin's in that fight for sure.

Stefan Strouve, a slight favorite. Also, there. I feel like I'm riding chalk for this one. Brad Pickett, a slight dog. I think he's live there, you know, because Yuri has these moments of inactivity and just does weird things sometimes in fights, but if he fights to his potential,

I think he takes out Brad Pickett. So I see that. a slight dog over Davy Grant. David Grant, good to see him back. Yep. Like chalk on that. Rob Font, chalk. Rob Font, chalk.

And then Einstein, Albert Tuminov. That sounds about right. They don't have the other fights. They don't have the fight-pass fights yet. I'm glad to see Tuminov back. Exciting fighter. I like to see that. All right.

Anything else? I think we're good. Yeah, I think that's it. Shana Tova. Shenatuvah. Umetu Kha. That means sweet. Oh.

Yep, sure. To all of you. I'm going to go home and eat a lot of apples and honey, but for now I'll say goodbye. Pleasure to do the show. I mean, someone asked me on Twitter, should I put milk in the omelet mix? I don't usually put milk. I know usually when you put milk in the omelet mix, it gets a little fluffier, but I'm not a milk in my eggs kind of guy. Anyway, you can hit my music, by the way.

what a fun show it was today some breaking news from our friend Guillermo Cruz of MMAFinding.com Giovanni Decker, the UFC's VP and GM in Brazil has resigned from the promotion. If you want to learn more about that, go to MMAfighting.com. Well, thank you to everyone who tuned in on this holiday,

on this happiest of New Year's. Thank you very much to Eddie Alvarez for stopping by. Thank you very much to Sean Al-Shadi for stopping by as well. Good luck to Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. November 12, baby, six blocks from here. Madison Square Garden. The card is officially set. We can stop worrying about it.

Stop guessing what it will be. It is set and it is damn good. Kudos to the UFC for putting together such a great card. Thank you very much to you on. Jaycheck for stopping by. Always very exciting to talk to her. And she always has a way of getting me more excited for her fights. Little things here or there.

Gagar Musasi, good luck to him at UFC 204 this Saturday. I will not be there, by the way. I will not be in Manchester. I'm sorry to say. But Esther and Casey will be there, so you can expect our same great video and photo coverage this coming week from Manchester. Really wanted to go.

Would have been fun, but unfortunately, I cannot make it. Julianna Pena, thank you very much to her, and good luck in getting what she wants from the UFC, from the Bantamweight Division. Thank you very much, Charles Bennett. Best of luck to you, my man, and thank you very much to Jason Perillo. So good luck to him on Saturday night.

That does it for us. Same time and place next week. If you missed anything, check it out. iTunes, Citger, all the good stuff about more. I told me, somebody. I'm Eli Patel, editor-in-chief The Verge, and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems. We've talked a lot about generative AI on the show lately,

which is a very big idea that is causing quite a few problems. And one thing we keep hearing about over and over again is that generative AI is causing a lot of problems in schools. There are a lot of people out there, including many of the listeners of the show who email us, who are worried about the obvious problem, students using chat GPT to cheat on assignments. But when our team went and poked at the story, they found that the issues in education with AI go a lot deeper, to the very philosophy of education itself. If this technology becomes more ubiquitous, we'll have courses created by AI, graded by AI,

with submissions from students, absolutely generated by AI. So it begs the question, what are we even doing here in higher ed? This episode is presented by Salesforce. 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 soccer to 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.