MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 387

Episode Date: June 19, 2017

Ariel Helwani speaks to Audie Attar (00:26:03), Leonard Ellerbe (00:47:56), Stephen Espinoza (01:06:32), Owen Roddy (01:32:57), Mike Goldberg (01:56:45), Fedor Emelianenko (02:25:44) in studio, Matt Mitrione (03:12:10) in studio, Josh Gross (04:08:17), Kevin Lee (04:37:16), and NewYorkRic (05:00:22). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's the mixed martial arts hour with Hey everyone That was a little bit of a weird intro But we are here The mixed martial arts hour is back in your life On this Monday, June 19th, 2017 I heard the intro and then I lost the intro So I wasn't quite sure if we were actually doing it

But you know what? When you move into a house for the first time Things don't always go as planned Right off the bat But look at this. Welcome inside our brand new home Welcome inside our brand new New York City studio. Look at what we've done with the place. How cool is this? This is amazing.

This has actually been in the works for, oh, I don't know, a year and a half, a year and a half to two years. We've been talking about it. At one point, I didn't know if it was going to happen, but it's actually happening. It's here. Look at this freaking place. This is amazing. And I want to thank everyone right off the top. They know who they are, who work.

worked so hard to put this together for the last year and a half. It has been a team effort, and everyone did a fantastic job. And you know what's interesting about all of this. What's interesting is today is actually the eight-year anniversary of the MMA Hour. Yes, June 18th, 2009, we had our first episode. It was called Fight House Radio. Since then, I do believe, I do believe that we have had around 11 or 12 studios. And we put together a compilation. of said studios. Do we have that? From the very beginning. The very beginning was, there you have it. That's the first episode. It looked like it was a security cam. June of 2009. It was called Fight House Radio for like three weeks. And then we found out that there was actually a gym in New York called Fight House. And then we

upgraded to this. Same room, but we actually renovated the place. That was, of course, the infamous birthday episode with one Alistair Overheim. Look at that. The birthday king celebrating. And that was nice. And then we had this episode, which is by far the worst day in the history of the show because, yes, it looks fine here, but there were all kinds of technical problems. And I looked like I was on the set of WWF Livewire. But there we were for one episode only. In fact, John Jones was in studio that day. Then we had this one, which was a little strange. It felt like we were in some kind of, I don't know, Epcot Center, spaceship. It was all very weird that day. That one lasted only just a couple of weeks.

We then, I think we tinker with the lights and we brought in this. Of course, this is the infamous Winnebago Man episode. You see that there. You see Bjorn Rebony, but you see the beige in the back. So we got rid of the black. We still had the lights. We were in a room that was, I don't know, I mean, it was like 10 by 10. And then we upgraded to the bricks.

Of course, we have the ramping. Paige Jackson appearance here when he was doing the Gagnum style dance. That was a lot of fun. Boom, boom. Look at that. The whole thing was shaking. That was the studio, by the way, in which Maham Miller or Jason Miller at the time went nuts. Here we had our transition to our new set.

This was back in our Brian Park days. And we had the sort of press room look joined by the great Michelle Beadle. So you can see the people working in the background. Then we upgraded to this. This was the new set. It was a big deal. We had it enclosed, as you can see. So you couldn't see anyone walking back.

Joined by Connor McGregor, that's the famous Steve Collins episode. As you can see there. So it was nice. Then we opened things up. Some people didn't like it. Some people loved it. You can see a little depth. You can see where Eric was sitting in the back.

So we just kind of opened things up a little bit and had the screened back. So many, I don't know what we're at here. Are we at like 11, 10, 12? I don't know, but it has been a lot over the last eight years. And then, of course, this is very recently with Nate Diaz, we kind of went back in this new location downtown, closed it up before we ushered in our new dig. So there you have it.

There's the evolution of the MMA hour. This marks a new era for the show, June 19th, 2017. It's also a new era for MMAfighting.com. as you have probably seen by now. We have a new website, a brand refresh, if you will. It's all very exciting. And I thank everyone at Vox and SB Nation who have worked so hard to put this all together.

And you know what's fun about this? We have so much to discuss. Mayweather McGregor, it's actually happening. Have you heard? They announced it on Wednesday. You know, it's funny? I was, I had to drive to, Montreal for a family affair on Tuesday and my wife booked us a hotel in Lake George, New York. It's

beautiful over there at a place called the Sagamore. Tuesday night, we stayed over there with the family. It was kind of like a father's day thing. And this was great. You know, it wasn't quite taking a break, vacation, if you will, but it was a bit of a, you know, time away off the grid, so to speak. Wednesday morning, we come out with the Mixed Martial Arts Journalist Association. And that was planned. What was not planned was the fact that the website crashed almost minutes in because of a surge of traffic. So then I had to deal with that for like four or five hours. And then that evening, Wednesday evening, the Mayweather McGregor News breaks.

And all hell breaks loose. And I'm in the middle of nowhere and I can't get any reception. And I felt helpless. And so I'm so excited to be here today to tell you everything that I think about the fight. but more importantly, to give the people who were involved in making this fight happen, the platform to talk to all of you because we have this fight covered from all angles. It's a great day. We've got all the major players involved.

And so I can't wait to run down today's lineup because worked very hard on this one. I wanted to hear it from all the different players involved, and I'm so happy with how things ended up for today's show. So let's run down the lineup very quickly. And then I'll give you some of my thoughts on Mayweather McGregor, of course, You may have heard as well. UFC was in Singapore on Saturday and Holly Home, got back on track with a beautiful head kick knockout.

She knocks out, Betchko Hay in the third round. Her agent Lenny Fresco has actually predicted that to me. She's back on track and she's still one of the biggest names in the sport, still one of the big players, still one of the big draws. And this was great for not only her, but for the UFC as well, in my opinion.

So today's lineup, 5.30. We're going a little longer today because we have so much to discuss. And it's a special day, and it's an exciting day. And you see New York City behind me over there? How about that? No, right there. There you go. Kevin Lee is going to stop by.

The UFC is back in Oklahoma City on Sunday. So it's Bellator, NYC, on Saturday. Madison Square Garden. It's the UFC in Oklahoma City, a very good card on Sunday. Kevin Lee is headlining that event against Michael Kiesa. He'll join us at 530. 505. We'll hear from New York Rick's picks.

You know the drill there. 445. We're going to be joined by Josh Gross, veteran, MMA journalist. He wrote this book. It's called Ali v. Anoki. And I feel like on today's first episode post the announcement, post the Mayweather McGregor announcement, he is one of the best people who can talk about the last time something like this ever happened. Because I do believe this is the first time since Ali versus Anoki

over 40 years ago, June 26, 1976, almost its birthday as well. The first time something of this nature happened. So I'm very excited to talk to Josh Gross about the correlation and the connections between that fight Ali versus Inoki, June of 1976 and Mayweather McGregor, August 26, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. 345, we're going to be joined by Matt Matreone in studio. As you know, he was a big part of this show from the early days. He's fighting Fyodor O'Mlianenko in New York City,

MSG on Saturday. He's going to be in studio. How about that? And then at 305, prior to him, we'll have Fyodor O'Mlienenko in studio as well. The Freakin' Last Emperor will be here. How cool is that? 245, Mike Goldberg, will join us.

It was announced last week that Mike Goldberg has now signed with Belator, as has more Rinalo. So there are the new voices of Belator. Sean Grandi has left. We'll talk to Mike about signing with Belator. 225 will be joined by Owen Roddy, the striking coach for Connor McGregor. He's been with him since the very beginning, long-time friend and training partner, and he is getting him ready for Floyd Mayweather. 205, Stephen Espinoza, the Showtime Sports Executive Vice President and General Manager.

We'll talk about putting this fight together, airing in on Showtime. that's who will be producing it. That's who will be distributing it on pay-per-view. Stephen Espinoza joins us at 205. 145, the CEO of Mayweather promotions, Leonard Ellerby, right-hand man, 2-1 Floyd Mayweather along with Al Heyman. He'll join us to talk about making the fight. And at 125, Connor McGregor's agent,

Auditard will join us to talk about getting the fight done. You heard from him a couple of weeks ago. Of course, he said it was close. Now it's a done deal. It's actually here. And I must admit when it finally was announced, and it was so funny the way Connor put out the release, if you will, the statement, if you will, on Instagram. All he did was post it's on with a picture of him and Floyd Mayweather Sr. Once again, a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. But what was interesting was when you saw how Floyd Mayweather put it out, it was very much a video that looks like, you know, it was done in, you know, 1997 via GeoCities on his Instagram. It just kind of, to me, showed the difference in where both guys are at in their lives and their career. One guy kind of gets the internet a little more than the other.

But that wasn't the big story. The big story, of course, was that it finally happened. And it's surreal. It still kind of feels surreal. Floyd Mayweather, arguably the greatest boxer in the history of the sport, 49 and 0, arguably the greatest defensive boxer of all time, coming out of retirement to fight Connor McGregor, our Connor McGregor, the UFC lightweight champion.

This is surreal stuff. And the UFC allowed it to happen, played a part in making the deal, and they're kind of just taking a step back as far as the actual fight is concerned, the promotion of the fight. Yeah, they'll be involved. They'll promote it, embedded all that stuff and more. But this is a Mayweather Showtime deal. That's what I gathered from the conference call.

It's actually here. It actually happened. And a lot of people, including myself, thought there were so many cooks in this kitchen, it would have to take at least a year to get it done. remember when I spoke to Connor in January in Manchester, he was predicting end of 2017, early 2018. That's what he was predicting. But that's when I started to believe that this was a real thing. He was so sure, he was so confident that this was going to get done.

That's all he wanted to talk about. I came in there wanting to talk about getting stripped, what's next, Ferguson, Diaz, Habib, etc. And he was all about Floyd. That's what he wanted to talk about. he knew it was going to happen. And it goes back to something that we said going into MSG out of MSG. One of Connor McGregor's greatest strengths as a human being

is that he is not afraid to get embarrassed. He is not afraid to put himself out there. And of course he has 100 million reasons to do this fight. We all know that a lot of money is at stake, a lot of money will be exchanged, both guys and all the entities involved are going to make a lot of money. But there are some people who are in his position, who are enjoying great success, who are just going to stay on the platform that they're enjoying success with. Right? I mean, yeah, we've seen situations where Michael Jordan was great at basketball and went to try baseball. He failed. He went back to basketball. Yes, we've seen this before. But here's a guy who is going into a sport in which he's never competed in. Doesn't have an amateur fight on his resume. Doesn't have a pro boxing match on his resume. Never done this before. Never followed.

with 10 ounce gloves. He's done so in training, but never in an actual sanctioned fight, and he's not afraid to get embarrassed. In fact, he thinks he's going to win. If there's one thing I know for certain about this fight is, I do believe that Connor McGregor believes that he is going to win this fight. He is not just going in there for a money grab. This is great for him. This is great for the UFC. This is great for the sport. It shines a great delight on the sport and him and the organization. But I don't think he's going in there to get embarrassed. He's not afraid to get embarrassed. But I honestly don't think that he is going in there thinking that, all right, I'll deal with this for 12 rounds, 36 minutes, and then I'll go back to M.A.

I really think that he understands what it means to beat Floyd Mayweather, and he understands where this would put him in the annals of sports history if he could get it done. But made a mistake about it. He has already won. This has been his greatest victory to date. getting the UFC on board here getting the UFC to cut a deal with Mayweather with Showtime getting the UFC to allow him to go out there

and take this fight is his greatest victory and when you have a situation where everyone is saying to you you're going to get smoked and saying to the other guy well you're going to kill this guy you're kind of playing with the house's money at this point

the world is expecting you to lose so even if you go 12 rounds and get skunked. Is there a moral victory there? I'm sure he's not shooting for that, but you can make a case that there is a moral victory there. August 26 at this juncture is almost irrelevant. His greatest victory was actually getting this fight made because many people thought he wouldn't get it made, including myself at one point. And as I've said in the buildup, because the actual fight being made isn't the big news. We knew this was coming. But his timing, as far as his career is concerned

is incredible. When you think about how he was rising and then Lorenzo Fretta wanting to sell the company, right? And giving him rope, giving him rope, building up the value of the company.

If Connor McGregor isn't who he is when that company is sold almost a year ago, this company is not worth $4 billion. I am 100% certain of that. He is a massive part of all of this. And so he gave him rope, he gave him the Diaz rematch,

knowing that we were close to the finish line, close to selling, and then the new owners buy, and of course, now you have to give him the lightweight title fight at MSG because you want to make a splash

in New York City. So his timing with the UFC is so great. And then, of course, 2017, they're going to probably make more money that one night, August 26th in Vegas, T-Mobile Arena than they have with all their pay-per-views combined up until this point.

Now, what is it? 14 will probably do very well. 213. Historically does pretty well, but they needed this big splash, even though it's not a quote-unquote UFC fight. Everyone's talking about the UFC. And so the UFC kind of need, the timing, they needed something exciting.

They needed something that will generate a lot of money. Will it be 2 million pay-per-view buys, 3 million formula? We don't know. But if this does less than 2, I think that that's a gigantic failure. I don't think anyone's predicting that. His timing has been impeccable with all of this. And you talk about timing, you talk about August 26th. They originally won it September 16th.

That was booked. Triple G Canelo. and now they beat that to the proverbial pay-per-view punch. Now, I would like to talk to a boxing insider about this at some point, and we probably will. Do you think this hurts Triple G Canello? I don't know, but people are going to buy it. I was just talking to two guys who work on the show, Joe and Austin,

and they were saying we have never bought a UFC pay-per-view, but we're buying this one. The casuals are interested. Just look around. Someone came up to me on the street when I was in Montreal and said, just shouted out of his car. Hey, Ariel, is he going to land a single punch? That's all anyone wants to talk to me about.

So they're going on first. And so if this stinks, maybe people will be like, I don't want to buy another in three weeks. If it's great, it will help. But beating them to the punch is huge. And then, of course, the UFC wants Connor back. And the talk right now is that he will return, or at least the plan is for him to return on December 30th.

At least get another fight in before the end of the year. The date is still very much up in the year. So if you get the fight out of the way, earlier the better, better chance of him coming back. And again, they need him to come back. The debt, the loan, the lack of big stars, the lack of big fights this year. August 26 was a huge win for the UFC and a huge win for boxing. A huge win for Showtime. Once this fight was announced, it was insane how my phone blew up. Everyone wanted to talk about it. A 102 point whatever from St. Louis, 96 point whatever from Nashville. Every radio show, and I'm sure all my colleagues had the same

kind of reaction. And to me, the biggest thing that I stopped doing the interviews around like Thursday night because it was getting a little tiresome and, you know, I was trying to sort of spend some time with my family. But it felt like every person was attacking me. It was either you had to defend the fight or shame the fight. I couldn't just like talk about the fight. I either had to have a take on whether or not I was defending it, whether or not I thought this was good. This wasn't a sham. This wasn't a money grab or it had to be a money grab. It had to be a sham. I had to completely crap all over it. And that was a weird thing. And I don't suspect that to go away. And you know what's the crazy thing about all of that? The crazy thing about all of it is every hot take is kind of right. This is one of those

situations where you are going to hear so many different takes on this fight. It's a sham. It's a money grab. It's one-sided. It's a joke. How could he beat the record fighting a guy who's oh-no? It's fun. It's a spectacle. Lighten up. He's going to shock the world. The left hand. It's a It's an MMA champ versus a boxing champ. Every hot take, every side of the spectrum, it's not worth $100. It is worth $100. Honestly, every single side of the spectrum from the hot take perspective actually fits for this one. If you want to tell me it's a sham, I mean, yeah, I mean, 49 and no against O and O, yeah, that is kind of crazy.

That is unheard of. That's never been done. If you want to say, you know what, enjoy the ride. It's happening in two and a half months. It will be over by Labor Day. Lighten up. there's a lot of other things that you can get worked up about yeah i kind of agree every hot take is right the boxing media hates it the boxing media and i get it it's their sport they're covering

this is a boxing match so they're saying like how's this guy going to be 50 and oh beating a guy who is oh and oh you know um you can count on one hand the times that floyd has been rocked never been dropped of course never lost in his pro career so this guy this counterpuncher who's never been in a boxing match so they are almost offended I get the sense that the MMA guys are realistic but also kind of saying like this is Connor McGregor who four years ago

was collecting unemployment checks who four years ago was fighting on the Facebook prelims of the fuel TV cards you know what I'm saying? Who was making 8 and 8 to fight Marcus Brimage so I kind of feel like the MMA media is sort of enjoying it a little more because it's so absurd

it's so surreal, it's so out of the blue, it's so unexpected. I do feel like all of us would love to see Connor come back and defend the lightweight title and fight the Ferguson's and the Chabibes and the Nate Diaz's of the world and the Max Holloways of the world. But I feel like the MMA media is taking this a little less seriously. And my suggestion to the boxing community is, enjoy the absurdity.

Boxing is enjoying, in my opinion, its best year in maybe the last three, four? it's certainly enjoying, I think, a better year than MMA right now. When you talk about Ward Kovalov two this past weekend, when you talk about Klicho and Joshua, when you talk about Triple G and Canelo, when you talk about Aero Spence going over to England and doing what he did, it seems like every weekend there's a big fight.

Showtime in particular has been doing a great job. Floyd probably wasn't coming back if it wasn't for Connor. That seemed to be the case. Enjoy the absurdity. Enjoy the fun. Enjoy the circus. It doesn't always come to town. loosen up your collar a bit.

The press conferences will be great. Everyone's going to tell you that Connor is going to get smoked. They don't know. They really don't. I mean, the facts are there. Historical evidence says, you know, everything is against them. But this is a guy who has defied the odds every step of the way. Why stop now?

Someone asked me who do I think is going to win? Connor or Jose Aldo prior to UFC 194, I said, I have no technical analysis to provide here. It just seems like this guy is a locomotive. who will not be stopped. I just feel like he's going to win. Now, I'm not going out there and saying, I feel the same about this case, but I'm not going to say that he has no chance.

No way, you're not going to hear that from me. Nothing he does make sense. It doesn't. It doesn't make sense to be, you know, out of, you know, out of the UFC collecting unemployment as Cage Warriors, double champion, and four years later doing this, 100 million. Nothing he does make sense.

He is the ultimate underdog in this case. Why not? Remember when he fought in Sweden and he's wearing it? He got the, what was it, the wisdom teeth or the root canal, like two days before the fight. And then he goes out and smokes Brimage. And then, of course, the Holloway fight and getting the UFC back to Ireland, doing what he did to Aldo 13 seconds. None of this makes sense. It doesn't.

So just enjoy it. Enjoy the ride. I do feel they need to start selling the fight, though. Like this whole thing that they're doing like, oh, he has a chance, he has a chance. Yeah, sure. but we want to see Floyd and Connor talks smack. Connor's doing a great job. I don't want to see Floyd so friendly towards him.

I know what he's doing. He's trying to sell the fight. He's trying to get people on board. He's trying to get people to believe that this is a real thing. I get it. There's something to be said for that. But at some point, we want friction. We want them to start hating each other.

So they need to start selling the fight. Press conferences, world tours, videos. I mean, it's only less than two and a half months away. two months in a week. It's right around the corner. But make no mistake about this, and this is probably the most important part of all of this. All the pressure, without a doubt,

is on Floyd Mayweather. He's the one who's trying to go 50 and O against the guy who has no business being in there with him. He's the one who's coming out of retirement. He's the one who picked Connor because it was the perfect situation for him. Least experienced, highest paid opponent, right? least experience, most money generated.

This was the perfect scenario for him. This is all gravy for Connor. If this didn't work out, he goes back to UFC and is making tons of money as well. And he baited Floyd into taking this fight. Yeah, Floyd understands that he's going to make a lot of money here. But he had to put in some time to bait him to take this fight. If Floyd wins, everyone will say, yeah, we expected you to win.

What? You didn't beat him in 15 seconds? Come on, man. You didn't beat him in a round. Come on, man. If he starts going 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, all the pressure is on Floyd here. This is one of those cases where it's all on one side of the equation. It's all on one man's shoulders.

It's unbelievable. Everyone is expecting him to win. Everyone says, I mean, you'll have some people who will say that Connor is going to win just because they want to be the guy to say that Connor is going to win. But if you look at the facts and the figures and the data and the resumes and the fact that we're fighting in one man's sport as opposed to the other, all of it suggests that this is Floyd's fight to win.

He has to win this fight. You don't think Connor knows that? You don't think he's going to tap into that? No one has been able to really poke Floyd. So what happens when he starts playing with his head? Again, I'm just throwing this out there. I don't know what the odds are and I'm sure they're going to change as we get to the point of the fight. I'm sure it's going to change once we get to August.

but it is going to be so fascinating to see how does Connor McGregor play with Floyd in the buildup. That's his fight to win. That's when he shines. You saw what it did to Joseo. It's absurd to think that he beat him in 13 seconds. But what happens if he gets in his head so much that he is now second-guessing himself come August 26? It is so fascinating. I'm going to enjoy the ride.

It's only going to last two months. I think it's going to be a hell of a circus and I think it's going to be so much fun and I can't wait to cover it. I really can't. This is great. This is fun. This is life.

A man who was on the front lines, a man who you heard from, just a couple weeks ago on the program, said we were close trending in the right direction, I believe were his exact words. A man who a lot of people thought couldn't get the job done is joining us right now.

He is Connor McGregor's longtime agent. He is the headman over at Paradigm Sports Management. he is the one and only Adi Atar and he is on the phone our first guest here in our brand new set how exciting is this adi are you there I am here Ariel congratulations on the new setup well deserved my friend thank you so much I really appreciate it so Adi we have a lot to talk about and let's start here are you surprised that it went as smoothly as it did are you surprised that you know this is actually a done deal no you know I think when you believe in something and you work hard towards that goal.

I don't think you're necessarily surprised. I think there's always a sense of relief and there's always a sense of excitement, but I'm not surprised. You know, it's something that we believed in and something that I felt that made sense for all parties, and I'm just happy that we got there as fast as we did.

And credit goes to all parties that were involved in this deal. and really looking forward to August 26th. When I spoke to Connor in January in England, he was kind of saying, all right, you know, if I'm being honest, end of the year,

early next year, here we are mid-year, August. Did you originally think that that was a more, you know, realistic time frame? And did it kind of go quicker

than you thought? Maybe not surprised that it eventually got done, but that it actually moved along as quickly as it did. Yeah, I think I was pleased to see that it moved along as quick as it did. I think that's a better characterization of how it all went down.

I definitely was surprised that we went with the earliest date of all the different dates that we were discussing. But nonetheless, I think it's just the way everything played out with all the other events that were trying to compete with us. and I think this has just made the most sense. And I think the fans are in for a great treat sooner than they had expected even. So I think everybody wins with this date of August 26th. Were you pushing for September, October? Like was this part of you guys having to say, okay, fine, we'll take the August date for various reasons?

Like, was that a concession that you had to make? I think everybody was what wanted September initially but we had you know an August date and we had an October date as well so I think again once everything played played out you know we just felt that August was a better date and you know it's something that we we

we listened to the other side you know wanted wanted this date and I think it was a suggestion that was made by them and I think and we thought it was a good suggestion given kind of all the other moving parts and here we are

and now we're getting ready to go out there and make history on August 26th. Details like 154 pounds and 12 rounds things like that, the size of the box. By the way, do you know what the size of the ring is going to be? I believe it's 20 by 20.

I don't expect it to be any smaller. Were these sticking points at all? Or did that go rather seamlessly as well? No, it went rather seamlessly. Wow. I think both guys are ready to get in there and compete, and so that was, that was exciting kind of to see that that wasn't necessarily ever going to be an issue, which is, which is good,

you know. But, but I think, for the most part, you know, I think, you know, it really didn't matter where that was going to end up at. You know, I think that both guys kind of knew that there was going to be a range and, and, At the end of the day, I think this is just going to make it the best competition possible and really create as even as a playing field as you can, which in turn just creates for better competition that the fans can enjoy. Does Connor get pay-per-viewpoints?

Conner's well taken care of. So is it true that there's a confidentiality? Can you tell us, will he make nine figures? Connor's well taken care of. This will be the most that he'll ever make in a fight. Is that at least fair to say? I, you know, listen, I think that's fair to say. I think that, you know, Dana said some comments about what he expects both guys to make.

I said, I think those are fair comments. And I think everybody's happy. Everybody's going to be very happy in this situation. What about the idea of having him fight August 26 so that he can come back and fight at the end of the year? Dana was saying he feels really good about that. Is that in line with what you guys are planning as well to have him come back and do an actual MMA fight? because as you've probably heard, people are afraid he makes all this money, never comes back to the UFC.

Connor is a very ambitious young man. That's a key word, key two words, young man, right? He has a lot more that he wants to accomplish athletically and as a businessman. So he definitely wants to fight again in the MMA. And if all things go well and he feels good, then it could potentially happen at the end of the year. There's no guarantees, but it's definitely within his, plans to come back and compete again in the U.S.

Do you know any information as of right now as far as the promotion, you know, what fans expect, you know, is it going to be like a World Tour type of thing? Is it going to be a press conference? Is there going to be minimal promotion? Kind of like Pacquiao-Mayweather? What could you tell us? Because a lot wasn't said or even asked to be

quite honest on the conference call on Wednesday? Yeah, I think there's a lot of that that's being planned. I think a lot of that's still kind of taking shape and hoping to kind of finalize that this week, and I'm sure Mr. Ellardby and Mr. Espinoso will be speaking on some of that as well. I see if they're on your show as well today.

But note who was first, Addy. Note who came on first to set the table, all right? I appreciate that. It's 1.30 a.m. out here in China. I know. It's definitely past my bedtime, so to speak, but I couldn't miss this inaugural show. Yes. And the honor that you bestowed upon me to be the leadoff batter, so to speak, of the show.

So I appreciate that. This is a very big deal. And I appreciate you recognizing that. What do you say to the people, Audi, who say that this is just a money grab, it's a sham, he has no chance, it's a disgrace. Why is he doing this? Why is the UFC letting him do this? What is the response to this criticism? Hi, Hater.

It's saying people that said it wasn't going to happen. And you know, so you can't pay attention to all that negativity. If you paid attention to all the people that told you can't, then, you know, you're not going to be living out your dreams. And so my thing to them is, okay, tune in and watch and we'll see. And so I think everybody that's doubting him, that's a mistake. This is a young man that knows how to throw them hands has all the skills that he needs to go in there and compete at the high.

highest level. So on August 26th, I'm confident he's going to go out there and shock the world. Did Lorenzo Fertita have anything to do with making this fight? I think Lorenzo Fetita has been instrumental in a lot of different ways as it relates to Conner's career.

And yes, he was very instrumental in putting all us together to really get everybody to talk and get in the same page when I think everyone started to see that this is a real viable business proposition. So, you know, I have a lot of respect for Lorenzo, and I know he's, you know, exited,

but nonetheless, I think this is still something that he's very passionate about and cares a lot about the sport and cares a lot about the UFC and cares a lot about Connor. So I think it was really special for me to see that he was interested enough to try to at least put all parties together so we could do some good business. I made the point at the beginning of the show that one of Conner's greatest attributes is that he has impeccable timing. He had great timing as he was coming up

to almost foresee the fact that Lorenzo was about to sell. So Lorenzo kept giving him more rope, more rope, more rope to do whatever he wants. And then when the new owners come in, they give him rope to headline MSG and go for the second belt, all that and then some. But do you also think that his timing was impeccable in the sense that 2017 has been a bit of a down year thus far for the UFC?

and so they have to kind of make this fight in the past two years ago they're doing very well they don't do this fight they have been presented with this idea in the past with anderson and roy etc and nothing as big as this one but they've always been sort of steadfast in their belief that they are not going to co-promote or loan out talent but because they sort of need to get things going monetarily loan debt all that stuff and then some they kind of had to relent do you feel like that's part of the reason why this is happening yeah you know i i i don't know i i think more so when you see the public interest in this fight and you see kind of the the reaction from the public. I mean, that's an indicator. That's an economic indicator. Does that play into all the other elements that you point out? I don't know. That's something that they know.

That's their business. I do know that they're smart businessmen. So if the indicators are all pointing towards a mega event that they could be a part of, you know, I think they just did smart business. They just did good business. So I think it was more so the public interest, the growth in public interest and the serious interest that Floyd had, as well as Connor, that made it all go, right? I think that's why we're now heading into what arguably could be the biggest fight in combat sports history, August 26, 2017. Can you go on the record?

What do you think it does pay-per-view-wise? I've been wrong in the past. I've undershot, I've overshot, so I really don't know. But I mean, I think if you look at all the different experts, they're pegging it to the Mayweather-Pakial fight, and, you know, if it beats that, then I think we've done a great job. Wow. I mean, do you really believe that it does over $4 million?

I'll tell you one thing. I mean, I've been in Asian now for the last week. The interest is huge. huge, whether I was in Singapore, I was in Malaysia, now I'm in China. I mean, it's huge. This is real, you know? And so this is a real global event. And I just feel like you have two strong personalities, two strong brands, and Connor and Floyd. And then you have the people, the naysayers. And I think that even those people are going to tune in just to see, you know, either they are naysayers about the event, either they dislike Connor, they dislike Floyd. But nonetheless,

You know, I think that's good. You know, I think let them tune in and find out for themselves. Who's the A-side? I mean, I think we think we're the A-side. And I know Floyd has said that he feels he's the A-side. Either way, I think you have two marquee guys. And I don't think you have, you know, even the Floyd-Many fight, you know, I don't, you know, that was not only anticlimatic, but, you know, I don't think Mandy brought as much as Floyd in that fight.

Whereas in this fight, it's a whole other character that he's facing, right? So I think that just creates for much more powerful synergies in this dance. Who's walking out second, though? I don't have those details. Okay, was that a sticking point? I don't think nothing. It was never a point for us, so. I say, who gives a crap?

He walked out first when he fought Eddie Alvarez. Screw it. Just take the money, fight, win, and get out of there. Yeah, it was never an issue. for us. All right. I'll tell you that. Could you tell us what, in hindsight,

was the biggest sticking point? Like, was there something that you just felt like, uh-oh, you know, we may not get over this, and then you eventually did? Something with the UFC, maybe?

In negotiation, you're going to have, you're going to have back and forth in any negotiation, you know? So, you know, ultimately you can't,

you can't, you can't get stuck in certain situations and not try to work through them, you know? So I think, for the most part, You had two professional parties in us in the UFC, and we were able to work through a lot of issues.

And hats off to Dana and Hunter Campbell and their team over there. You know, we really rolled our sleeves up and got to work. And we got something done that a lot of people didn't think we were going to get done. I think of Dana at one point he said that we couldn't get done. He said he was going to be a starter for the, you know, them patient. is after we get the deal done. For the record, he said backup, but as equally absurd.

The backup, okay. Well, shoot, hey, maybe getting his contract soon, that's a good thing. So, so with that said, would you say that this is the greatest accomplishment of your professional career

thus far, getting this fight done in a short amount of time when it seemed like everyone was doubting you? I mean, of course, I think it's one of the, definitely a milestone in my career. I think it's going to,

be a milestone in Connors career. But neither of us feel we're done at all, you know. So we just got to keep our head down, keep grinding, keep working hard, and keep shocking the world. How does it work from a sponsorship standpoint? Like, does he, does he get to do his own thing? How does that work? Well, we let a lot of our deals last, and so there's a lot of open categories that we've been

negotiating different brands, including Reebok. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. So he's a free agent? See how that all plays out. Is he a free agent as far as... He's currently a free agent as a release to athletic apparel. What? We're still in discussions with Reebok as well as other brands.

So we'll see how that all shakes out. Can he wear whatever he want? Like if he signs, I'm just throwing it out there with Nike, can he wear Nike for this fight? If he sign with Nike, he can wear a Nike for this fight. That's accurate. So he is now... I can't even...

imagine the offers that are coming your way now for this he's a free agent for this that might be your greatest coup of uh of the mall it's it's uh definitely a great opportunity in any any brands that we we uh decide to align with wow i love how subdued you are maybe because it's 1 30 a m over there 140 probably probably now i have to ask this thanks kicking in you you you i mean you also represent a lot of great fighters and tony Ferguson is one of them. How are you handling that situation? What does Connor now actually getting this fight mean for him? Do you have any

idea? I think for Tony, he's just waiting for that opportunity. I mean, Khabib was supposed to be that opportunity. It didn't happen. Nate then was, there was talk it was going to be Nate and apparently Yossi couldn't get him to sign off.

You know, now I think the thought is Kavib was supposed to be back after Ramadan but there's no confirmation, so we're still kind of waiting on that. Part of me thinks that, too, they were hoping that the Eddie Alvarez, with Dustin Poiré, fight ended in a different way. You know, they created another contender, but that went down the way it went down,

and they're rematch and rerunning that one back. So I think for him it's just a unique situation where, you know, Tony would have fought anybody they put in front of him if he was going to be paid the same, and if they can't pay him unless it's an intern or title fight, then that's what he wants. So, you know, it's been his position the entire time, and he hasn't changed that.

So I think for him, it's really just about figuring out, you know, who's going to really step up, and he really wants it to be sooner rather than later. So, you know, my assumption is if Nate doesn't necessarily sign on, then it's going to be, to be, you know, come this fall. But we'll see. No confirmation yet, but we'll see. You know, obviously you have some other huge fights coming up.

I got Lorenzo Larkin fighting for the Bellator well-to-weight title next weekend. I'm going to get to fly home for a day and off to New York to watch him make his Bellator debut and hopefully bring home some gold. That's an exciting fight for me to, go and see kind of Lorenz go and do his thing for a new promotion. And then one of our younger fighters, James Gallagher, is also fighting on that. Yes. That card as well.

So there's also a lot of other forthcoming fights. You know, Gunner Nelson and Charlie Ward are fighting in Scotland. And you got Chris Wybittman fighting in Long Island. So we really have some fun, fun forthcoming events for a lot of our clients. So exciting times ahead. And I would be remiss if I'd fight. congratulate you on getting the Megan Anderson deal done. It was announced this morning our time

that she is fighting Chris Cyborg for the now vacated title at UFC 214, Anaheim, California. This is insane. How difficult was it to get her out of the Invicted deal to sign now with the UFC? Well, I think a lot of other moving parts kind of played to our advantage. We thought that that was a good matchup.

We were pitching the UFC, and I don't think they necessarily saw it initially, but, you know, given them kind of what happened with Jermain and the fact that really, I don't think they had anybody willing to step up to fight, Chris. You know, Megan wanted it. You know, Megan was the Invictor 145 champ. Cyborg was the Invictor 145 champ,

so it only made sense for them to kind of meet up and go at it. I mean, Cyborg's an amazing fighter. Megan's young. She has a lot of potential, a lot of upside. And I think that she's going to just really take advantage of this opportunity. And I'm excited because it's in our backyard in Anaheim. So we get to see her not only UFC debut, but fight for a title. So I'm hoping that we could add another strap to the team.

Before I let you go and finally go to bed, tuck yourself in, all that stuff. I'm putting you on the record here because you know everyone's asking me. Will we talk to Connor McGregor before this fight? The world wants to know. We've been there from the beginning. Blueberries, not a pot to piss in. Let's not forget.

I think we were with Connor before you were with Connor, if we're being honest here. Can you go on the record on this program, eight-year anniversary, new studio, that we will be speaking to the man before the fight. What do you have to say? I know Connor respects you. Okay. So I think that it's definitely something that we can entertain.

The man himself has to approve it. Oh, my gosh. And right now, right now he's not talking to any media because he's really busy training. Well, he's just busy training. And then when he's, you know, on his days off, he's enjoying his time with his family. And, you know, I don't blame him. I don't blame him. He's right now locked and loaded.

You know, and then he has other business. is that he's focused on, including his own multimedia company. So, you know, the MacLife.com. Sure, sure, yes. If you're not Macing, I believe you are not stacking. Okay, can you give us an official prediction then? What is the official prediction? Look, I think we're going to stop them.

I think I think Conner's going to knock them out. But, you know, you got to tune in August 26 and find out yourself. Well, I can't wait. This is so exciting. Congratulations on getting it done. congratulations to you and the whole team for doing what a lot of I know managers in the business thought

you couldn't get done a lot of promoters, a lot of fans, a lot of media thought you couldn't get done a major coup for you guys, a major feather in your cap. So enjoy it. Congrats, enjoy the ride. And thanks for doing this so late

over there in China where you are. I really appreciate it, Adi. Not a problem. Not a problem. Thanks for having me. Congrats to all parties involved and more importantly, congrats to the fans

because you guys made it happen. So I'm one of you. I'm excited to watch us to go down. 26 and and you know let's get talking I'm excited to kind of hear

the people that are really going to watch the fight not just the haters but you know what the predictions are and I know I know there's going to be a lot of TNT and TNT and Foyd fans and there's going to be a lot of

notorious and kind of McGregor fans so let's let's all enjoy it it's going to be history right before us Thank you, Adi. Appreciate it. Talk to you soon. Thanks, Ariel. Thank you for having me out. There he is. Adi Atar, the agent for one, Connor McGregor. Great to hear from him. And now let's hear from the other side of the fence.

Let's hear from the CEO of Mayweather Promotions. How cool is this? It is an honor to welcome in. Leonard Ellerby. You know him. You saw him at the press conference on Wednesday. Surely you have seen him by Floyd Mayweather's side for the last two plus decades. And now he is joining us on the phone. Leonard, how are you? Hey, what's happening, R? Hey, this is such a great honor for us. Thank you so much for doing it. I don't know if you heard Adi right before you came on,

but he just predicted a stoppage for Connor McGregor. When you hear that, you've seen all of Floyd's fights, 49-0, greatest defensive boxer of all time, arguably the greatest ever, period. Do you laugh at that? Does that sound absurd to you? I don't laugh. I mean, you know, he's supposed to say that.

One thing about it, he has a very good fighter that he's working with, and we all know what Floyd's bringing to the table. So, you know, at the end of the day, you can never take any guy light. As we've always seen in boxing, you know, there's upset. You know, but I'm expecting Floyd to be the same old Floyd to go out there now. When did you guys start to seriously look at this fight, as a viable option, start to sit down and say, okay, what do we have to do to get it done? when do we want to get it done? Do we want to get this done?

When do you recall that actually coming into place? There's really no specific timetable. To be totally honest, it's the fans. The fans have demanded this fight by, you know, actually through social media with all the back and forth. And the whole idea and concept of those two being in the boxing ring has really excited, you know, millions of people. And I think that's how this all kicked off. And, you know, with both guys kind of going back and forth, you know, it's elevated. And, you know, here we all come

August of 26th, we have a massive, massive event. Did you guys want to go on August of 26 to beat Triple G Canello to the pay-per-view punch? Now, we, Canelo and any, any, any, anybody else who were looking to fight around that time, you know, had, we, none of that was taking under consideration. This, this fight is a standalone fight, and we could have done this at any particular time. It's just that August 26th, the perfect timing for what we're trying to get accomplished. Which is what? It's to have the biggest event ever. Okay. And so when you say that, that means that you do believe this will outdraw some more pay-per-views than the Pack-Yout fight, right? Four million?

that is definitely the plan we we we all all all parties involved we see this as a major major major event will be seen not only internationally which we're expecting for records to be breaking all across the board in the united states and international it's just again it's a massive massive event if Connor wasn't a thing if he wasn't here if he wasn't doing as well as he's doing if he was in chirping. Do you believe that Floyd would have remained retired or do you think that he would have eventually come back to try to go 50 and O?

No, this is all Floyd is doing. This is it. He had to talk of anything else other than fighting Connor McGregor. That's the only thing that has piqued his interest. From your perspective, the timeline that we were told from the UFC perspective was they had to get a deal done

with Connor. Once they got that done, they came to you guys. And that was only just a couple of weeks ago that Dana announced on TNT that he had got it done with Connor. Is that how it worked from your perspective, or were you guys talking long before they got the deal done with Connor as well? No, that's exactly what happened. I mean, realistically, how can you approach making a deal if you don't have your side under control? And Dana, Dana has done a tremendous job and Ari's done a tremendous job, you know, getting that, you know, getting that done.

There was some talk that Dana wasn't involved in the negotiations and he seemed to have taken umbrage with that and said that no, that wasn't true. Could you tell us if he was involved in the negotiations? Of course he was involved. That's just silly. Okay. That's just silly.

Somebody to even just said, that just goes to show you when people don't have the details, they just speculate. Right. You know, Dana Dana's been out front of this thing from the word go and and he's done a phenomenal job with getting that side done. So when Dana was at that basketball game,

the Eastern Conference Finals announced that he had just gotten the deal done with Connor and was about to focus on your side. Like I said, that was, you know, just a few weeks ago. So does that mean that this took just a few weeks to get done? You would be absolutely correct. Does that shock you considering in the past, you know, your history in the sport? Of course, the Pacquiao negotiations that took so long. In hindsight now, are you shocked that this was as easy as it was?

Well, actually, I'm not because, you know, our concept was to obviously get this deal done. And when you're working with smart people and they have a very, very smart team, you know, the upper level management, you know, all great businessmen, you know, Dana's a great businessman. So overall, you know, when you look at it from the big scope of things, you know, when you working within the confounds of trying to get a deal done as opposed to not trying to get a deal done. It always works. Did you guys have the ability to shop this fight around or if it was going to happen, did it have to happen on Showtime? Shop it around. What do you mean?

I obviously don't know the terms of Floyd's contract. In other words, could you have done this A on your own or with an HBO or with another network or if Floyd was going to come back to fight, regardless of the opponent, it had to be on Showtime. We're rolling with Showtime. Okay. Showtime, number one network in the world,

and that's who we're rolling with, and it's been that way. When Floyd Mayweather decided to make that move, we formed a partnership, and we walk side by side. Showtime is number one in the whole world, and they've proved that with the programming that they've been able to come up with and to execute, you know, over a long period of time.

I mean, you look at all the fights that they have, that they've done recently, and the program, the upcoming program that they have on their plate, you know, they continue to put on these big events, and they're the best network that's out there. Do you know how much the pay-per-view will cost yet? No, I don't. Those details will be forthcoming. You know, obviously, you know, with a deal and a fight of this magnitude, you know, there's so many factors that are involved in all those details will be forthcoming. Would it be fair to say that it would be closer to the price of Mayweather Pacquiao than your regular pay-per-view?

Again, again. Okay. All those details will be forthcoming and, you know, we'll working through those things as we speak. How about the rest of the card? Is that on Mayweather promotions to put together? you guys doing that exclusively by yourself? Yes, we are, and we're going to have a phenomenal undercard. I can guarantee you that.

Can you break any news for us? Can you give us any hints as to who will be competing? No, I sure can't. These things take time, and when we get ready to roll this thing out, everyone will be impressed. Okay, and how about the actual details of the fight, 154, 12 rounds, you know, the size of the gloves, all that stuff. Were there any sticking points here, or did you guys get everything that you wanted? No, I think both sides were able to walk away from this deal, and everyone was happy.

There was nothing that, there was no, nothing contentious at all. Who is the A side? I think you know that. That goes without. Floyd Mayweather's the A side and any and everything that he does. So he will be walking out second. But again, you heard what I just said. Okay, fair enough. Boy may was the A-Side.

There's no secret to that to, you know, what Ford is accomplished in his career. He's been the biggest star in boxing for quite some time, and he's been arguably the biggest star in all of sports. How about the split? Initially, Floyd was saying, I'll take 100, you get seven. And then there was some contention there. Not the amount of money, but is it like a 60-4? split of 50-50, could you tell us how it's broken down?

Again, all the details are confidential and, you know, we'll leave it at that. Okay, so it's going to remain that way. Both sides, and they will remain that. Both sides walked away from this deal, very happy. And how about like a world tour? We've seen this before in boxing and MMA. Are you guys interested in doing something like that? Or, I mean, the fight is, you know, just a little over two months away, is there just not enough time to do something? thing like that. Yeah, we're planning a tour. Okay.

And again, you know, those details will be forthcoming. What do you say, Leonard, to the boxing peers? Because I've been consuming a lot of their media. I mean, I cover MMA, but I'm a big boxing fan, and I've been listening to them. And I hear the big names, you know who they are, who say that this is a sham, that this shouldn't happen, that, you know, you can't be 50 and O winning a fight like this against a guy whose own know. Why is Floyd doing this, his legacy, all that stuff and more? What do you say to these critics who are kind of throwing these bombs towards Floyd? I don't say anything to the critics. I'll let

them do. They have a platform to do what they do. We worry about things that we can control. And things that we can control, that's what we focus on. Anytime you get to worry about the things and they sayers, Floyd Mayweather has been very successful in his career with those type of people, all of his career. He's become the higher. earner ever in the history of sport and it's because of the naysayers and the critics as a part of what they got to do it's just a part of you know we can never worry about what people say no one's forced to to buy the event but we know we know we have a mega mega mega event and we're going to roll this thing out in August 26th we're going to have one heck of a car do you know if i mean we just

spoke to Audie, Atar, who's Connor's agent, he said that as far as sponsorship is concerned, it's a blank slate their fielding offers. Could you tell us about Floyd's side of the equation? Does he have a main sponsor, a clothing apparel? Like, what will he be wearing on his shorts? Who will be backing him as far as sponsorship goes

going into this mega fight? Again, all those details will be forthcoming. Is there really not much that we have other than just announcing this mega, mega fight? Yeah. You know, there's still all these details that we're working through,

and we'll be able to roll this thing out. What are you looking forward to the most as far as the buildup is concerned? I'm really looking forward to August 26. It's going to be a terrific promotion. We know what Connor McGregers bringing to the table, and we know what Floyd Mayweather's bringing to the table. And again, the fans are going to be the winners. And are you interested at all in bringing in some people,

from the MMA world to compete on the undercard or do you think it will be 100% pure boxers? This will be 100% pure boxers on the show. Do you know if the undercard will air on some sort of free, you know, I don't know, a CBS or free show time to build up? I can't call you off. No, no.

When it's time to deliver, we're going to do what we need to do. do. And we're going to have a fantastic undercard and the main event. It speaks for itself. Mayweather v. McGregor. Tune in August to 26th, Showtime pay-per-view. That's right. All right. Well, I look forward to it, Leonard. I really appreciate the time. Congrats on getting the deal done. And hopefully we can talk to Floyd about this as well. I think a lot of people are very curious to hear what he has to say, obviously. And I think it's going to be a fun ride. I'm looking forward to it. So kudos to you guys. Enjoy the ride. And of course, good luck on the 27.

6 of August. And I like to say, thank you for having me on and continue to do what you're doing. You have one heck of a following and you're giving the fans exactly what they want. Keep up the good work. Oh, that means a lot to me. Thank you, Leonard. I really appreciate that. Looking forward to meeting you as well.

Okay, sounds good. All right, there he is. The CEO of Mayweather Promotions won Leonard Ellerby. You saw him there at the press conference alongside Stephen Espinoza, alongside Dana White. on Wednesday they were in Las Vegas. It was all peaches and lollipops. Everyone was in a great mood.

Leonard has been with Floyd for quite some time. They have made every deal. I mean, the guy has made probably at this point close to a billion dollars as far as his purses are concerned. But I got to say, I keep thinking about this nugget from Adiatar.

Connor McGregor, as far as athletic gear is concerned, is a free agent. Are you kidding me? If you're a Reebok, if you're Nike, if you're Under Armour, if you're Adidas, if you're Vands, if you're freaking new balance, if you're A6, how are you not bidding on this? To align yourself with Connor leading up to this fight that is going to be covered up the wazoo by the likes of ESPN and the BBC and Sky Sports and Fox and MMAFiting.com How do you not want a piece of that?

That is huge. They allowed for those deals to lapse so that it all aligns with this? That is insane. Okay, I'm having so much fun. I don't know if you guys are feeling the same way, but I am having so much fun just sort of breaking this down from all angles.

Still to come, we are going to be joined by Owen Roddy, who of course is the striking coach for one Connor McGregor. And every time Connor seems to be posting photos of himself training for this fight. He is standing next to the rowdy one. Oh, and Roddy. That is going to be a lot of fun.

That is coming up at 225. Also, as it pertains to this particular fight at 445, we're going to be joined by Josh Gross, the veteran journalist who has been covering MMA for about, what, 15 or so years, probably more, who wrote this book, came out last

year around this time. It's called Ali versus Inoki. It happened on June 26, 1976. And to me, this is the biggest fight since then, which features two combat sportsmen from different sports worlds coming together for a megafite. Now, the times have changed drastically since this fight happened, but I do believe that there are some similarities between this fight and the one that we are about to see on August 26. So I'm looking forward to talking to one Josh Gross about this at, like I said, 445. We're going to be talking about this fight for the next two months. And like I said, if you hate it, there's going to be a lot else going on. Of course, Belator is in town. They're coming to MSG. It's this Saturday.

We're going to have Fador. We're going to have Mitreone. We're going to have a lot of people this week talking to them at the press conference and all that stuff. 213, 214, all that stuff and more. Don't worry. All right. It's going to be fun. Enjoy it. let your hair down. And of course, the big question is, what happens to that UFC 215 pay-per-view card? What happens to that? That was scheduled for August 19th. That was the one that a lot of people were talking, including ourselves about Seattle, about DJ, about T.J. Dillshaw, all that stuff and more. What happens to that? Is the UFC going to scrap it? I know there have been some discussions of that. because to me, if you're going to do a pay-per-view on August 19th

and then have this mega show on August 26, it's just going to be a lot to ask people to pay for, right? So I would either turn that into a free card or I would just delay it, maybe make Edmonton 215 and give yourself some time to let this breathe because as things stand right now, there's July 29th, Cormier-Jones 2,

and then of course Megan Anderson, Chris Cyborg, That's 214 as it stands right now. And that's just three weeks after to 13. And then you have the Mexico City card. And then you have a break. And I think that break would behoove all parties involved. I think it would help them greatly. Let it breathe, get people excited, build it up.

Don't throw anything out there beforehand. All right. Here's another side of the equation. I'm so excited about this. It has been a while since I've talked to the next guest on the show. and if we're being honest, a lot has changed for him since we last spoke.

When we last spoke, he had the same job, Showtime Sports Executive Vice President and General Manager in the same position, but so much has changed as far as Showtime's place in the world of combat sports.

Of course, they no longer air mixed martial arts, but they have now become the leader in boxing. It seems like every single week they are putting on another massive boxing event, none bigger than the one coming on August 26. Of course, you know by now it is airing on Showtime. Showtime pay-per-view. Mayweather McGregor, the man who helped get the deal done,

Stephen Espinoza. I haven't talked to him since Strike Force went under. And I am so excited to have him on the program. Stephen, how are you? I'm good, Ariel. It is a blast from the past, huh? This is amazing. We should have Misha or Daniel Corme or at least Luke Wachold on or something with us.

Yeah, I mean, they're still around, but you kind of disappeared. you conquered the boxing world and now you're kind of coming back into our world I've always wondered when you would sort of reappear I have I don't know I've always had a feeling that Showtime would be back in the MMA space to be honest I didn't expect this but this is very cool so first off congratulations

on getting this fight and helping to get the deal done absolutely you know it's funny I think everyone's got their own perspective on this and Floyd won't say this to me but I believe this started as trash talking It was just, you know, bantering back and forth. It was a little bit of bravado. And then it generated such an immediate response and such a continuous response that, you know, with each day, it became more and more real.

And, you know, you hear the cliche in combat sports really often, you know, fights that the fans want or fights that fans demanded. You know, if there had been no demand for this fight, it would not have been happening. do you believe that the media helped make this i've said you know in november when connor beat eddie alvarez to become the two division that monday morning it kind of disappointed me that the the general sports media couldn't put what he did into context they didn't understand what it meant for the ufc to finally be at msg they didn't understand what it meant to be a two division champion they didn't understand what it meant to smoke eddie alvers like that so they just latched on to this sort of pipe dream idea and then that became a thing and everyone involved were like whoa there's some interest here do you believe that they should take some credit, these sort of debate shows, if you will?

I think so. You know, and had, you know, Floyd just happened to be in New York City that weekend. And he was caught, I believe it was TMZ that caught him to sort of randomly outside his jewelry shop, you know, obviously jewelry shopping. And that's one of the first times, I don't believe it was the first time, but one of the first times that Floyd sort of responded. And it touched off Connor and then Dana and. sort of snowballed from there.

So if Floyd's not jewelry shopping on the Monday after the Averous fight and caught by TMZ, I'm not sure if we're talking right now. When did this get on your radar? When did the parties involve bring this to you? Because they needed you. You have the deal with Mayweather.

You're a big part of this equation. But when did they come to you with a serious situation? Okay, this is something that's actually in the works. I'd say it was probably, it was about six months ago. It was in January. Okay.

That's when, you know, it really became a reality. You know, look, I see the stuff on social media just like everybody else. And at first it was sort of a joke, and then it persisted and persisted. And, you know, in his public comments and his private comments, Floyd has been absolutely consistent. Never mentioned coming back for another fighter other than Connor. And he said enough times, and, you know, absolutely, then you start taking seriously. January, he promoted a card here at Barclay Center in New York City, spent some time with him. We had extended conversations.

And that's when he really first impressed on me. He was absolutely deadest and serious about making this happen. Wow. Are you surprised? So let's say we're saying, you know, January starts. It gets on your radar. You've been in some, you know, I'm sure some very difficult negotiations. Some have dragged for months, if not years.

Of course, we can just point. to the Pachial fight. Are you surprised that, what, seven months later, this is the thing that's going to happen, that five months later the fight was announced, are you surprised at how quickly this all happened? Well, it was even a tighter window. You know, things sort of picked up speed along the way, but when things, you know, really got down to the actual negotiations was, you know, when UFC sort of announced that they

had reached an agreement for Connor to participate in the fight. because that, at least from the Mayweather perspective, was the biggest obstacle, whether or not Conner actually could legally, and he had the permission to fight in a boxing match outside of UFC. So from when that happened to the closing of the deal was really only two to three weeks. So I know we're all sort of burned by the Mayweather-Pakia negotiation, but this was the opposite end of the spectrum. you know, when you got down to brass tax, the actual negotiations, you know, between the two sides, really only took about two weeks, which is, yeah, it's striking, you know, it's remarkable. It's never been an event this big made so quickly.

Was there any point where you thought, all right, this is, you know, we've reached a roadblock, this is too difficult, this is not going to get done, it's just too crazy, or was it pretty smooth sailing from the beginning? No, I think I always suspected that really UFC would be. would be a significant obstacle, and not just because of the public statements, but, you know, just trying to imagine myself in their shoes. So once that obstacle was removed, there really wasn't anything. It was just sort of, you know, pretty consistent back and forth with no roadblocks. I was waiting for that moment. I was waiting for the moment where it breaks down and everybody goes to the media and this turns into a complete mess of a PR debacle, but it never happened.

There was a story in the LA Times a couple of weeks ago that Dana White wasn't involved in the negotiations, and then he responded and said, that was crazy. We asked Leonard Ellarby about this moments ago. From your perspective, was he involved in the negotiations? Yeah. You know, nobody's on every call. Yeah. You know, not me, not Amen, not, not Ari, not Dana. So it was a combination there.

And he certainly was a presence throughout. And, you know, as it got closer and closer, you know, he was on every call. call. So he, like I said, wasn't on every call, but was he involved? Absolutely. There's no denying. I mean, the stories are there. Showtime and Dana White, Showtime and the UFC haven't been the best of friends over the years. And I know that the end of Strike Force, you know, it wasn't the smoothest sort of breakup, if you will, and it kind of came out of nowhere. What was it like for you? I mean, he said stuff about Showtime, you've said things. What was it like for you to sit down? I mean, you guys are doing a press conference together on

Wednesday it seems like you're you're cool but you know there's there's baggage there what was it like for you to do business with him there was you know we were we were disappointed at the end of strike force you know we we had a really a special group of athletes and I think we've we've seen that in no sense it was folded into UFC and we've seen you know the the the amount of success that the majority of those strike force fighters have had so we felt like we had something very special and I think once UFC bought them folding them into the company was a foreground conclusion and so

it was it was sort of an unpleasant scenario but you know I think the relationship you know probably went sort of went on the upward trajectory was actually the Mayweather-Conello fight I saw Dana

you know backstage and we've always been cordial but I saw him backstage before the fight and you know he said he congratulated me he said it did a great marketing campaign and a great great promotion. You know, we had a private conversation about, you know, sort of the way things ended and, you know,

and everything's in the positive since then. So it was a difficult situation, and I still wish we could have worked it out because, again, it was a really special group of athletes, but bygones are bygones, and we're back in business. Are you doing this fight on August 26th to beat Triple G. Canella to the punch, pay-per-view-wise? Um, not really.

See, the, the difficulty with, um, with the fall, and this is just my personal opinion, is once you get into October and November, uh, the TV market is really, really crowded. And I'm not saying that, you know, you wouldn't hear about this event, but you, if you look at October, mid-October, you're competing at that point with, NBA, NHL, college, uh, college football, and you've got the World Series in the latter half of the month. So whether it's this fight or any other pay-per-view or even showtime boxing, you know, I'm sort of against the concept of competing in October. It's just, it's too hard.

So if you're looking at it, you're not going to do September because it's really crowded. You're not going to do October. It's really crowded. Maybe you're looking at November, but neither guy wanted to wait that long. So it was either, you know, go a little bit too soon or a little bit too late, and the guys wanted to go too soon. And I say too soon. It's not too soon for the event. It just means a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of people, you know, pulling all-nighters between now and August of 26.

We had Adi Atara on, who's Connor McGregor's agent, he said that there are plans in place to do some kind of world tour press conferences, things of that nature. Could you tell us anything about that? Yeah, I think you would be a big miss. You know, just as purely a fan, you know, to not see the two of them interacting, you know, repeatedly. You know, Mayweather did it. I think we ended up at 10 cities and 11 days for the Canelo fight. I don't think it will be something like that. But I do think, you know, this is the kind of thing where, you know, people are going to want to touch it and feel it and see it.

and see these two guys interact. And so I do think maybe late June, maybe early July, there'll be multiple cities. Not a huge tour, but more than a couple. And I think it will be something that I think is really entertaining to watch. You announced mid last week, right after the news, the broadcast team. And there's no surprise there because it is your regular Showtime Sports broadcast team, Moro Rinalo, Al Bernstein, Pauli Malanagi,

were there any considerations in putting an MMA guy in there or some other voice? There have been, and we may still, you know, do that. But I think one thing that maybe we expected a little bit of push back on and we really didn't get any, is sort of our feeling. This is, it is after all like a straight boxing event. It is a boxing competition. So, you know, it is, those are the rules, and I'm not saying the MMA guys don't know boxing. A lot of those guys call bowl sports.

But I think the common understanding was, you know, this will be presented as a boxing event. It is a legitimate competitive, you know, high-level boxing event and will be presented as such. Having said that, I think we would be remiss if we didn't include MMA voices within, you know, within the promotion. and within the telecast itself. Will the pay-per-view cost around $100 like the Pachial fight? You know, it's one of those things. You know, our deal got done so quickly that, you know, the fighter deal got done so quickly.

It actually moved quicker than some of the business deals. Wow. That's an element that is, you know, which is saying a lot. They're actually more quickly than a lot of things. But price is one of those things. And ticket prices and scaling is another one. I'm not sure exactly where the price will end up, but I think there's virtually unanimous consensus

that it certainly shouldn't be more than Mayweatherer Pacquiao. Okay. You know, whether it should be less, you know, you can discuss that, but, you know, we're not, there was some conversation, I'm surprised, you know, people expecting $125, $150, you know, we're not going to see anything like that. People are dying to know the other fights,

It's only because, you know, Dana has been vocal in the past about how boxing has blown it in the sense that they've put on these great main events, but not use the main event to showcase other talent. That's kind of a thing that we see a lot in MMA. But to be honest, I think we're starting to see that a lot more in boxing. And I think you guys in particular are doing a great job of that, not just the main event, but actually giving people two, three, four great fights. What could you tell us about the undercard? Any names at all being discussed for that? Well, you know, there are, Floyd has thrown out a couple names. One of, and we're working on it.

One of, one of those names is something I'm, you know, wholeheartedly in favor. Not that I'm not in favor of the other one, but there's a young fighter he promotes Gervante Davis, Tank Davis, who is, you know, personally, I think one of the most entertaining, one of my favorite young fighters to watch. a world champion at just 22 years of age. You know, there are certain fighters, you know, Connor is one.

Mike Tyson was another. There certainly been others, but that have a certain ferocity. It just, there's a slightly different, you know, Floyd fights, you know, kind of cool, calm,

collected, calculated. No one would use the word ferocious. But if you see Connor, you see Mike Tyson, there's a sort of an intensity, a meanness, a ferocity. That's what Tank brings to the table. And

I think he is someone that the boxing fans who haven't discovered him will be very pleased. And I think he will be very entertaining. I think he'll be a fan favorite of many of fans as well. Are you guys going to do anything on the Friday night before another event? Just, you know, we've seen this sometimes where

promotions put on a show the night before because there's so much media there, so many fans, etc. Or is it just going to be that one event on Saturday? You know what? I think this is where you know, we still have to put our heads together. Okay. Because, you know, one thing that UFC has obviously been good at is extending the event, you know, expanding the event, whether it's, you know, International Fight Week or, you know,

fan expos. They do an excellent job of turning it into not just an evening of experience, but an experience of several days that everybody in Vegas can participate. And it's my hope that somehow we can get that done. I know it's short window to do that, but I'd be all in favor. I think you're going to have so many people there, and the great majority of them,

not having the ability to go to the fight, you really need to let them touch this event in some way. In the past, we've seen programming air on CBS before big Mayweather fights. Is that possible for this one? It's one of the great things about this is we've got so many platforms to expand, because, you know, I know there's some maybe initial reluctance,

but UFC from everything I've seen and heard is wholeheartedly in support of this now. So, you know, they've got their outlets, including, like, you know, embedded, I think, is a great, great series and really builds Fight Week really well. You know, they're going to see all those outlets combined with the kinds of things that we often do for Floyd, whether it's CBS or CBS radio or a variety of different things. And I'm really interested to see sort of how we can blanket everything with both fan bases, including fans who are not fans of either. And so one of the big things that I keep hearing, I mention this to Leonard is, you know,

the boxing period. You battle with the boxing media all the time. And a lot of them say, I've listened to a lot of their, you know, takeaways over the last few days. And it's interesting sometimes when you hear the HBO guys. talk about it because you know there's some bias there but a lot of the boxing media is not happy with this. They think it's a sham.

They say, I'm not going to cover it. It's a circus. Shouldn't be a professional fight. It shouldn't be for his 50th, you know, pro win, things like that. What do you say to the critics? Look, I understand. I understand there's some question because we've really never seen Connor participate in, you know, in this great boxing.

Sure, there's been sparring, but who knows when that was, how that was, whether that's representative of his actual skill level. So I think the one thing that we can say is that we just don't know how it's going to play out. And that in itself, I understand that people think it's a flaw. But stepping back for a moment, and I know you're, you take your combat sports very seriously, as do I. But stepping back, we're talking about, you know, grown men and women, punching themselves, punching each other in a ring for money.

So let's not get too much on our high horse about, you know, purism. It is a spectacle, just like, you know, Mayweather fights. You know, those who have been watching closely on Mayweather fights, you know, you're not going to get a knockout fest. You know, you've known that. You come to see Mayweather because of the spectacle, because of the drama, the size of the event. Now you've doubled that.

You've actually increased it exponentially here. So is it going to be the best fight? I don't think anyone can say no. I think the best you can say honestly is, I don't know. And so often in combat sports, what we think we know we don't know. So, again, looking at it personally, I think back when I was 38 and then when I was 40, it's a lot of things that I could do much more easily at 38 than 40. So would this fight happen if Floyd was sort of in his prime at the peak, you know, and very active?

I'm not sure it's as interesting. But with him two years out of the ring, aging at a sort of critical time in an athlete's career from 38 to 40 years, that's a, you know, for most guys, that's a pretty significant change physically in what they can do. You know, the question is, has that cut up? with Floyd Mayweather. From a pure showtime perspective, will there be in All-Axas? Will there be other programming leading up to the fight? Another detail that's still being worked out.

But I certainly would like, I don't know what we call it All-access, whether it's a combined effort of, you know, UFC and obviously, you know, the irony is a lot of the people behind the scenes are the same. A lot of our shooters also shoot. Oh, wow. So at a certain level, you know, there's only, you know, a limited pool of these talented people. So, you know, I think we could pretty easily work something out, you know, to work together jointly. One thing I do know is we're not going to go the route of Mayweather, Pac-Hale.

Mayweather Pack-Hugh, if you remember, we did sort of a Floyd show and HBO did a Pac-Yau show. you know, that in my mind would be a major mistake on this. Again, you want the two guys together. You want the interaction. I don't want to, you know, see a 30-minute show with Connor and then a 30-minute's a Floyd. That sort of would be missing the boat entirely on the fun of this event. I agree 100%.

Just a couple more minutes for you, and I really appreciate this. Both Leonard Ellorby and Adiatar sort of dance around this, so maybe you can give us a definitive answer. Is Floyd walking out second? Is he the A side? You know, that's a good question. I don't think we have determined that. I know what Floyd would say, if you asked him that,

but I don't think that has been entirely covered. Wow. Wow. That is fascinating. I think that's one of those things. Or at least they haven't bothered to let the network know. Okay. Things are going at live speed. But to be quite honest, this is, you know, surprising there haven't been the ego and the budding heads that you often see in combat sports negotiations.

And that's surprising in itself. You see these two personalities and these two egos, you would think they would butt heads on every little thing. And once they get in the same room, they probably will. But as to the negotiations, it's been sort of surprisingly free of sparks. What do you think the pay-per-view does? What's your prediction? What do you feel? feeling? Does it do over $4 million? I think we are in the neighborhood of a record breaker. I mean, the thing with this event, it's unprecedented. And they've never seen an event like this before. We've never seen two personalities together in one event like this.

How big can it be? That's the real question. It's my belief that we are drawing from not just the box audience, you know, those who aren't irritated at the whole spectacle, and the MMA audience, I think we were actually touching a whole another group of people who really don't care very much about either, but are intrigued to have heard about this event because of the nature of the event and the nature of the personalities, then I think, you know, this is something they're paying attention to even if they didn't pay attention to Mayweather Pack-Yout.

I would be, go ahead, sorry. Yeah, and it's, you know, the other thing that's been fascinating to me is sort of where the odds have gone. You know, and I think there's a lot of people, particularly on the boxing side, take it as a foregone conclusion that Ford is winning. There is a large group, if not a larger group of the public that's out there, not just saying that that's not how it's going to work out, but literally putting their money where their beliefs are and betting this fight very heavily on the Connor McGregor side. It's fascinating. I can't wait for this circus. I'm sort of a sucker for this sort of thing,

but I mean it's just two months. It's going to happen so quickly. It's going to be over before we know it. I'm just looking forward to it. You know what I'm looking forward to, and I know you can appreciate this, like the press conferences, to have sort of like the crotchety old boxing media

with the MMA media in the same room and us having to be friends with each other for a little bit. I can't wait for that. There's so many different elements to the buildup to the fight that fascinate me just as much as the fight itself. I might be like a nerd in that respect, but I just can't wait for every little detail. I would be remiss, Stephen, if I don't ask you this before I let you go. Sure. Will MMA ever return to Showtime?

I mean, there's been some little rumors here and there, but it's been relatively quiet since Strike Force won away. Do you have any interest in airing MMA anymore? You know, definitely. There's definite interest. But, you know, the reality is, and we've sort of had this conversation, you know, offline a little bit, you know, at least, you know, after the end of the strike force, there really would have to be a good reason for us to get back in and a good story and something different. You know, I don't think there's very many people, you know,

in the MMA side who are saying, look, what we need is more MMA on television, you know, because it is, it's pretty saturated, you know, right now. But, you know, if there was a slightly different product or a different presentation or something that sort of differentiated and I said, look, you know, UFC is an absolutely absolute behemoth and you know feeds their fan base

extensively on a whole variety of different platforms. But beyond that, if there's, you know, something that they're not feeding them, there's an area that's not being covered that we can provide and, you know, carve out an audience for,

it's something we'd be very interested in doing. But right now, nothing planned. Nothing planned, but doors are open and we're listening. Okay. Congratulations, Stephen. Again, so great to catch up and to link up again. This has been a lot of fun. And from afar, just simply as a fan,

have certainly been admiring everything you guys have been doing on Showtime and the fights that you guys have been putting together, the production. I mean, just the last, the Aero Spence, it's just really great stuff. I've really been enjoying it as a fan, and it's very cool that you guys are sort of back in our world, at least for one night only. So congratulations to you and the team. Can't wait for August 26. And looking forward to seeing you in person, I'm sure at some press conference, some buildup,

something along the way, I'm sure we'll cross-pass once again. Well, I appreciate your support and even more your perspective on everything. And yeah, I'll see you soon. All right. Thank you so much. There he is. Stephen Espinoza stopping by. How great is it to catch up with him once again. Have not talked to him since the end of Strike Force. of course the Showtime Sports Executive Vice President and General Manager very much a part of sort of putting Showtime where it is today as far as, you know, you ask a lot of the boxing people, the industry leader right now, putting on the big fights, the fights that people want to see, and they are getting the August 26 fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Connor McGregor. So you have heard from Auditur, you have heard from Leonard Ellorby, you have heard from Stephen Espinoza. But I may be more excited to talk to our next guest than all of them combined. Why? Because this. This is. You have heard from Leonard Ellorby. You have heard from Stephen Esperbae. but I may be more excited to talk to our next guest than all of them combined. Why? Because this man is on the front lines. This man has been tasked from the very beginning to turn Conne McGregor into one of the elite

strikers, and he did that in MMA. Now he has the unbelievable task of trying to prepare Connor McGregor to fight and defeat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match. He is the man who has been by his side seemingly from the beginning, good friend, training partner, and now coach. He is the one and only Roddy Rowdy, Owen Roddy, I should say

I'm so excited that I messed up his nickname. He's joining us for you the magical Skype, our first ever Skype guest. There he is. He's back. Owen Roddy, the Rowdy one. How are you? I'm good.

I'm fantastic. Yeah, I'm excited. Like I think the whole world is now this stage, but yeah, I'm in good form, yeah. And yourself? I'm doing great. I'm very excited about all this.

I love it. I love the circus. I love the Padget. I love that this is actually a thing. It's so surreal that we're actually here. So let me ask you a similar question that I've asked some of our previous guests. When did you start to believe that this was a thing, that you guys were actually going to prepare for a fight against Floyd Mayther?

It's been talked for almost two years, but when did you start to believe? Yeah. Yeah, I started to believe after the Alvarez fight, when there was actually actual negotiations going on between, obviously, Connor and the UFC, and then the UFC were, were looking to approach and Mayweather's crew.

Then I started to look into one and say, geez, actually, this could happen. And, you know, as always, you never write Connor off. Conner off, Connor says he's going to do something. He seems to be able to pull out a bag all the time. So it was a little bit after the Arborist for you. When have you guys,

like when did you start actually preparing? Because I know you didn't start preparing on Wednesday when it was announced. And I know he became a father recently and things like that. And I was actually, going back to some of our, you know, messages online and you were kind of dropping little subtle hints several months back. When did you start to say, okay, you know, we're actually preparing for this? Yeah, it was a couple of months ago now. I can't, I can't think specifically, but it's

been a few months now that we've been, we've been looking at, um, Mayweather, looking at tape and and doing some walk, like, doing a little bit of walk, not, not crazy, but, um, we've been, we've been walking on it for the past couple of months. But the last month or so now, it's kind of really up to gear now. We're full stay ahead and what 10 weeks out, I think. When you were presented with this idea, were you in favor or did you think it was crazy? Would you have preferred that he just remained in MMA? No, no.

I think it's unbelievable. Who wouldn't want to get involved in something like this, you know? Yeah, so when I heard it, I said I forced like everybody else. I was a bit skeptical that it was ever going to happen. But once we heard that the deal was just about done, I was all for it. I was like, let's get in and do it. Let's, you know, shock the world, you know.

Connor is obviously his own man, and I look forward to talking to him before the fight, but from your perspective, why does he want to do this? I mean, I think just to prove to himself that he is the best combat athlete on the planet, you know. Obviously, the money's not bad. Yeah.

And I'm sure he's going to enjoy it up. But, you know, I kind of just believes that he is the first combat athlete in the world, no matter what type of combat it is. And I just think he wants to go in there and prove to the world that he can beat Mayweather, you know. I've heard people call this fight a money grab. And obviously, I mean, this is prize fighting. People are trying to make money. So there is some truth to that.

But when I hear that term, there is sort of an insinuation that he's just going in there to get a paycheck. and, you know, results be damned, and then he'll go back to MMA. But knowing Connor as minimally as I do, and you know him better than anyone, this is a guy who has a lot of pride. He understands history. I truly believe, I don't know if he'll win,

but I truly believe that he believes he can win. Is that accurate? Yeah. Yeah, that's without a tell. Without a tell, Connor wouldn't, you know, would do it if he didn't think of any 100% believes he's going to win, and we believe he's going to win. If anybody, you know, if anybody can go in and do the extraordinary,

me look it's you know on paper it's a it's a tall task like you know what i mean but if anybody can can't can't you know connor can he shocks the world every time every time every time he fights you know he's doubted and and people are like you can't do this you can't do that believe me like i i think he's going to do it he believes he's going to do it the whole team believes he's going to do it so get behind them i don't know i get goosebumps just listening to you talk because i know you believe it as well and you guys have this amazing like what what yeah without a doubt you know when you hear you know you and you and you and you and John Kavanaugh calling for a knockout of Jose Aldo within, you know, minutes, initially

you're kind of like these guys are insane. But everything you guys have said has actually happened. So I have no reason to doubt you. Who the hell am I or any media member to doubt you at this point? Yeah, exactly. Like, yeah, we know what kind of is capable of like, you know, kind of, like, kind of does her every time. It does her every time.

And I know, like, I'm sure when I go on to Twitter or when I go on to Instagram, wherever, I'm going to get bombarded. Like, they're going to give me an awful stick, but I don't care because I believe it as well, and I think he's going to go in a deal. I'm going to cause you upset, shock the world, and we're just going to sit back and enjoy it, you know? Could you tell us who will be in his corner for this fight?

Well, at the moment, it's going to be me, John, possibly Artem. I think there's four. Obviously, he'll have to get his own footman and stuff like that, and he hasn't sorted that to his year. But it'll be definitely myself. John and Arton at the moment. Okay. And as far as bringing in other coaches,

will you be bringing in any specific, you know, we've heard from Freddie Roach and people say like, oh, you should bring me in things like that? Are you guys doing that or is it the same team as always? No, I mean, we're not bringing anybody in as of yet. But who knows down the line, you know?

Who knows? We're going to head over the States side in the next couple of weeks. But at the moment, where we're in Dublin, we're all walking together. we've came up with some, you know, we've came up with a game plan that we think, you know, can shock the world

and we're going to stick to that for the time being. But, you know, things can change. You know, if we feel we need to bring in some people, we may bring in some people, but no one's confirmed just yet. So in a couple weeks you're going to the US and you're going to stay there for the remainder of the camp? Yep. Yep.

Vegas or California or somewhere else? We don't know, yeah. Okay. Possibly Vegas. but, you know, we'll be close enough to Vegas anyway, yeah. Okay. Are you bringing in any specific sparring partners to emulate Floyd's style, and if so, could you tell us who they are?

Well, yeah, we can't tell you who do you. But we are looking at different sparring partners. We'll confirm that when we get stage at well. Okay. Yeah, super good. 154 pounds, 10 ounce gloves, 12 rounds, any of these details from an actual, you know, fight perspective, that you did like or didn't like

that were points of contention within the team or do you like it all? Yeah, it's all good. We looked at the, we looked at the weight category and realized obviously that, you know, at 154, you go up to 10-ounce gloves and we were thinking maybe that might be

a little bit of a tail that he wants to use the bigger gloves. But also be a little there that he wants us to be heavy and come in. He'll probably come in a bit later, look, we'll be ready. Whether it's 10 ounce goes, 8 ounce goes, 154, 149, whatever it may be. I mean, these are only very small details

and we'll be ready for it all. From a coaching perspective, you look at Floyd Mayweather, he's undefeated. We could count on one hand the times he's been rocked, let alone he's never been dropped, right? I mean, the guy is impeccable as far as boxing's concerned, and you know he is a counterpuncher, he's a great defensive boxer.

Is there a particular fight that you look at and say, okay, this is the one that obviously you want to do better than this particular fighter because he's never lost, but that you're going to try to emulate the game plan? Yeah, well, I mean, we've looked at all the cellpower fights, obviously, and seeing that, and everybody, this is now breaking news around, everybody knows that he struggles a bit more with the cellpower, and obviously kind of being a tall-ranging cell-power, we believe that there is shots of command, you know, and, you know, I believe that if, we have a game plan and I think Connor can go in and execute and if he does I think we can cause the upset.

So the game plan is already set. Yeah. And there's this video that came out. You probably have seen it of one of Conner's old, I think sparring partners and he put out this video last week and he said, look how slow he was and things like that. Others have come to Conner's defense and said he was just sort of playing around this wasn't a real sparring. What can you say about this video that surfaced last week? Yeah, I mean, this is the video from it. I think it was maybe a year ago.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was the pro boxer, he was firing. Look, at the end of the day, that's, yeah, I'd imagine Connor was just playing a vote. And, I mean, people can put out what clips they want, where they look good, or the other person looks good. I mean, if that's what you're looking at to bake, you know, to make an adjustment or make a prediction on Conner's ability to box, that's good for us.

Yeah. Because if they think that Conner's going to come in and be sluggish, and be out with depth, he won't be. And I know it's Mayweather. I know it's the best defensive boxer. Pound for Pound, one of the greatest to do it. Well, Conner is unique and he's special and he does it all the time. And I honestly believe he's going to do it again.

Is he comfortable? Like one thing that I've heard is that people are saying he's not comfortable throwing punches with 10 ounce gloves. This is all very new. He's never done this before, you know, fight wearing shoes and things like that. How comfortable is he at this point? Yeah, no, he's fine. Look, that's, like, I mean, these are, these are, these are minuscule things, and there's no issue there. I mean, he's, he's boxed as well, he's books for a long time.

He's spire, you know, he's been sparring for the past fucking 10 years in boxing gloves. And when he's boxing, he's wearing a boxing boots anyways. This is not new. And even if it was new, what, is putting on a pair of under is kind of, you know, really close. That much of a difference, do you know what I'm not? You know, people can say what they want, but it's going to be ready. And it's going to be an exciting point. It's going to be, it's going to be unbelievable.

What has life been like for you since this was announced on Wednesday? Yeah, chaotic, mental. Yeah, man, I was getting chased around with Sky Sports and stuff like that. Wow. Yeah, it's great. Like, it's great. I mean, I just wake up every day. I said this before.

I wake up every day grateful to be in the position that I'm in to be on this journey. Connor and I enjoy it. I embrace it and yeah I just I just kicked back so it's been it's been crazy and it's only going to get crazier. Yeah are you like it's one thing to fight aldo and to fight MSG against alvarez UFC this is unlike anything we've ever seen and sometimes even before these big fights like the coaches have their own press conferences and things of that nature and you fought in big fights I mean you know what it's like to have the spotlight on you but do you think you are ready for the next 10 weeks like like all the attention and the media coming your way and all that stuff.

I mean, this is going to be insane. Do you feel like you're ready for it? Yeah. Yeah, like, I mean, at the end of the day, all I'm there to do is help Conner out and, you know, give him more ideas on what shots will land, and what shots won't land and where to be and what positions to be in and blah, blah, blah, blah, and do the pads and stuff like that.

That's, I mean, I've done that for a long time. That's not going to change. It's one of us going to go in and do the fight and do the business. And, I mean, he eats up the pressure. It's not about it to him. So I'm happy to do this for the next 10 weeks, whatever media obligations that I need to do. I mean, I'm not going to have too much.

I don't think, I don't care either. I'm happy to answer any questions that people have. And I'm happy to do whatever it takes for. At the end of the day, I'm going to be sitting on the sloid. You know what I mean? Connor's going to be in the doing raw. And no man does it better. Connor became a dad recently.

have you sensed or noticed a difference in him as a person, as a fighter, the way he goes about his business, any change? No, no, no. I mean, a couple of weeks back, he was standing on. He texted me late at night, like, train the morning.

Obviously, he was up there on a field and he looked a bit tired. But that was it. But on that, he's grand and he's, you know, obviously he's in fight mode and fight mode that comes forced. And he's ready. Could you tell us how much he weighs now?

He's not too heavy, to be honest. He's mid-70s, a little bit over 75, I think. So he's good, you know. So he'll be ready to go home. I mean, that's easy for Connor. He's been a lot heavier six weeks out. Any concerns about 36 minutes, you know, the 12 rounds, this is longer than an MMA fight.

Some people have said he doesn't have the cardio and things. Any worries about that? Are you changing anything to get him into that? No, no. No, no, I mean, obviously, you know, it's all arms.

So, you know, we're walking a little bit on making sure his legs don't get toward. His hands don't get tired, but he's well able for it. Like, he's been doing them. He's doing the rounds.

He's fresh. And the thing is with Conorin, you know, he's been like this for a long time. He starts to get, you know, it's like he excels. throughout the rounds.

He gets more into where he, when we're doing pads and when he's sparring and stuff like that, round four, five, and six, he starts to come into his own. He starts to enjoy it a lot more. And he's been looking great. He's been looking fantastic.

Fitness level is already there and we've got another 10 weeks to get more of them, which we're going to get a lot more of them. So there's going to be no issue with the 12 pounds. There's going to be no issue with his fitness at all. It's fascinating to me to hear like respected media members say with absolute certainty that he has no chance?

Like they already have seen the fight. Oh, he's going to get to, I mean, it's not even worth watching or covering or anything like that. Do you guys look at that stuff? Like, does that get on your radar and do you use that as motivation? How do you process? Listen, at the end of the day,

that's just like a broken record now at this stage. It really is. Like, I mean, every, every foyer, like, every fight. And even, you know, before the UFC, you know, he's only coming up. He's, you know, he's only got a decent left hand, he's got nothing else. Every single fight in his career, that's all we heard. But he keeps proving people wrong.

I mean, he'll cause the upset. He'll do it. And then we'll be on to the next thing. And he won't, wherever it may be, you can't do it. You know what I mean? He's just this guy. You know, people need to believe now at this stage. Because if they don't, they're just going to be left behind.

to people that you know people around him that he needs to believe in him and that's it that's his team his family he's friends that's it you know what I'm in

from a boxing perspective what in your opinion is Floyd Mayweather's biggest weakness where's the biggest hole in his game I mean I don't really want to get into details on what we're looking to do

but I mean nobody's perfect nobody's perfect like he's he's unbelievable defensively, he's pound for pound one degrees point. Everybody has holds, everybody

makes mistakes, everybody has predictable patterns that they do over and over again. And it's just trying to move up with the game plan to walk on those patterns and stuff like that.

And then it's, it's allowing Conner to go in and execute. Nobody else executes. Some of the Irish media kind of kid with me because I keep asking them every step of the way like is this getting surreal yet like you used to watch this guy in these little halls and now he's you know the biggest athlete in the world fighter etc but but for you have you had a chance to take a step back and be like I can't believe I'm actually preparing Connor who I've known like when did you first

meet Connor? Maybe 14 years ago maybe when he started this day one day one I was there like so you're preparing him to fight Floyd Mayweather I mean it's absurd no it's insane yeah Listen, it's crazy And that's why I just sit back And I enjoy it But like, you know I've came to

I've just came to believe You know, no matter what Connor says He's going to do, he does like And I mean, I always, you know From early on before the UFC Before Cage Warriors There was always something different about Connor There was always, you know

People say you're not born People can say I know there's no such thing as being born With talent and stuff like that but there are special people and Connor was born with something different and he just seems to be able to do these extraordinary things every time

you know every single fight camp every single fight you know no matter what the pressure is no matter how big the obstacle is he he embraces it he enjoys it and he succeeds you know and um you know I'm just behind him and I'm there to support him as much as I can

and help him now much as I can and enjoy the ride. I know, as I always say, when I'm 60 and fucking, I'm retort and I'm sitting back, I'll look back and I'll say, Jesus, I was very lucky to be in a position that I'm in to have experienced such a crazy life and experience somebody like Connor, go from the labour to 100 million or 100 plus million,

for you. And it's not the end. Who knows what's after this? Yeah. I mean, just as UFC run alone, four years. He's starting on Facebook against Marcus Brimidge and four years later he's doing this. As a team

how did you guys react when the fight was officially announced? Did you guys come together? What was that like on Wednesday night? Yeah. Like as I said we knew what was just about to answer. We've gone for a while now and we knew what was going to be saw and it was just

you know they need a great so excuse me, we knew we knew a war back there and as soon as and the same as we knew we just you know we treat it like a the other camp. Obviously, it's,

you know, you come up with, with shots and stuff like that. You come up with what it is and how to eat the person. You go in, you put the hours in the gym, you put the hours in on the mat

and in the ring, and then you do the best you can, and you leave Connor and let him go in and do his magic. And, you know, it's been walking for us for the past 14 and 14 years,

and I have no doubt that it's going to work for us again in August, You guys are famous for your predictions. So can I get one? What's the official prediction? Right now, here we are, a little less than two months away. What do you think?

Yeah. Yeah, I think he's going to put him away. I think he's going to count. Take a couple of rounds. And I know my phone is about to explode, I'm sure. But look, he kind of does these things. He does these exceptional things all the time. If he says he's going to go and knock him out, I think he's going to go in a knock him out.

Wow. What round are you thinking? Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, sixth, Yeah, I think mid mid mid I think a couple of rounds in We need to see what Mayweather's going to be coming with So I mean that short rounds

Only three minute round So you only find your feet in there And then it's a roundover But I think Bonner has an exceptional ability To read for you As I said this a good few years ago as well Read for us

And read where they're going And read what they do And you can do it really really quickly And I think it's just about him figuring out where Mayweather's going to be on said shot and then put in the appropriate shots to catch him. Yeah, look, I've no doubt, I've no doubt in mind he's going to do it. I think, you know, I think it's going to be,

it's just going to be one of the most insane, no it's ever. I'm Buzzie, just hearing you talk about it and predicted and trying to envision Mayweather knocked out. Any concerns about the gloves taking away some of his power? No, no, I mean, he kind of hits like a middleweight. You can ask any of the middle weights in our gym. He hits as hard, him not harder. It's strange.

He's got, he's got, like, fucking, you know, he's got, like, cat-like reflexes. He's so quick on it, and his slips and his poles. And, you know, he's very accurate as well, you know. So I think he's going to, I think he's going to slip him far. and then, you know, maybe it'll be on wobbly legs. Like, obviously, it might be a counter to, but I just, I just see, that's what I see. I see it in my head, and that's what I see it's going to happen, you know. And so we'll end on this, and I've asked, you know,

Adi and Leonard and Stephen Espinoza of Showtime about the buildup and the press conferences and the ancillary programming, but this is the biggest question of them all. Will there be SBG Charleston video blogs leading up to the fight? Of course, I will. Yeah, obviously we're going to do a vlog. Yes. Just people fell in love with the blog.

When's the first one? We don't know for a laugh. People just love the insight and love the little bit of background and insight onto what we're down on a daily basis, and they love where I'm coming from and what my position is. So, of course, there will be vlogs coming very soon. When's the first one coming out? Do you know yet?

I don't know I might start down I'm here I usually wait till I hit start now I usually wait till I hit state side but I might start very soon

yes we're just two months away the people are starving yes the people are starving for it two months away you gotta get going give the people what they want yeah yeah

well if they want we'll give it to them yeah oh and I can't thank you enough I know you've been hit from all different corners but I really really appreciate you coming on the show and talking to us

it means a lot Thank you. Congrats on getting the fight. Good luck and preparing for it. Good luck, of course, in the fight itself. I cannot wait for every step of the way. It is going to be something else. It's going to be an amazing ride. So enjoy it, my friend, and good luck.

And, of course, safe travels here to the United States. Thank you. All right. Cheers. All right. We'll talk to you soon. There he is. The Rowdy one, Owen Roddy, the striking coach for one, Connor McGregor,

unbelievable stuff. You kind of get chills when you hear him talk about knocking out Floyd in that vision of Floyd. Could it be? Could it actually be? Unbelievable. Okay, there are other things to discuss, namely, Bellator is coming to Madison Square Garden. This Saturday, June 24th. Headline, of course, by Chil Sondon versus Van der Le Scylva, Fyodor Amalienenko versus Matt Matrion, is the co-main event. Now, they made some news last week.

They've switched things up, and they've signed the biggest free agent in MMA broadcasting. You heard from him back in January when he left the UFC, and now the longtime voice of UFC one Mike Goldberg, who is with them for two decades, is now a member of the Bellator team, and he makes his debut on Saturday at MSG. How crazy is this? Goldie's joining us on the phone right now. Mike, how are you? I'm good, buddy.

How are you? I'm doing great. Thank you so much, and I really appreciate your patience and congratulations on getting this deal done. Let me ask you this. How long did it take to get the deal done with Bellator? Emotionally, forever. The time table, I think we always had this date targeted, Ariel, because it really is the biggest night in company history. It's a stats card. It's the first pay-per-view under the leadership of

Scott Coker. It's a significant step up for Bellator MMMA, and it's the start, truly, Ariel, of a new era. But I had talked to Scott Coker, you know, many months ago, and of course, you know, What people need to remember is I was on spike for a long, long time with the UFC, going all the way back to the original ultimate fighter, you know, winners, Forrest Griffin and Diego Sanchez. So we've been going back and forth. I'd shared my desire to come back home, if you will, to spike and continue to do what I love to do. And that is to broadcast mixed martial arts. And we're targeted to get started on this Saturday. And I'm like a little kid at Christmas.

I can't wait to open the gaps. And so, you know, like just hearing you say Scott Coker and Bellator, you know, that voice that we know so well, it's surreal for us. It just doesn't quite make sense just yet. What is this like for you? I mean, I know it just happened and I see you tweeting and I see you, you know, putting out the Instagram post and all that and the Bellator Nation. And it's weird because you were a part of one team for so long and now you're a part of the other.

Has it sunk in it yet? Does it feel a little odd? Well, like, how could you describe all of this? Well, you know, a lot of the same people that I worked with during the spike gears area are still there. Scott Fishman handles all of our production. John Norton was with us at the UFC for a long time. He's the producer. Nordy and I go all the way back to ESPN hockey back in the mid-90s with Bruce Connell, who was my longtime producer with the UFC.

But when it really hit me is when I was pre-voicing some billboards, you know. Bellator MMA presented by. I'm Miller Light, live on Spike. That's me. You know, see it even, it makes you smile. And one Scott Fishman heard the billboards, he texted me, he's like,

Wally, just listen to the billboards. Goldie's back. This is awesome. So I think when I really did that first billboard, that that was when it really sunk in that I'm going home to Spike, and I get to get back in the game, and I'm excited. Now, are you 100% with Bellator? Or are there other deals that you've been working on?

Maybe not in MMA, maybe in MMA sports. I know you're a big hockey guy. You've been doing it for you. I mean, I know this is part of the return. This is the first step, but are there other things that you're doing as well now that you're free from the UFC? You know, my real focus has always been about staying in the sport

that I love, Ariel. And we talked about that back in January. Yep. You know, after my UFC contracted and did. And, you know, that was a wonderful journey. and I have nothing but great memories at this point. There's no rearview mirror. I look at my opportunities there.

They are the primary reason why I'm going to be at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. My number one priority, even as I sat and waited in, you know, days or long when you're sitting on the sidelines and you're waiting for the coach to put you in the game, it has always been Bellator MMA. It has always been Spike, which will soon be paramount, which is Viacom. And so my number one priority is where I am right now. And that is as part of the Bellator family back at Spike. I'd love to do some other cool things at Viacom. You know, maybe I'll get my peer factor, you know, on one of the Viacom stations or, you know,

I hosted Best Damn Sports Show period years ago at FSN. And that was a lot of fun. I took over for Chris when he had a couple of vacations, Chris Rose, of course. So I'm excited about potential opportunities. in that light. And yeah, I have some interest in, well, more than some interest in what's going on in Vegas with the Vegas Golden Knights. And I'm a hockey guy. I'm a hockey guy. But, you know, I don't know if, you know, everything would be able to come together. It's very difficult, you know, like they say, to serve two masters. But I definitely have a passion. I was an expansion team announcers, you know, Ariel with the Minnesota Wild. So, you know, my soul and my, My blood, I'm defined as a hockey player. So it's the best of both worlds, but I really am focused.

And this is why I waited. I had some other opportunities, but I waited for this one because this is the one I really wanted. And this is the one that I know is right. Is that a thing that's possible, the Golden Knights deal? I mean, are you in the running for that? You know what? That's a question to ask them. Okay.

All right. You know, I think there's a lot of people in the mix. They have the expansion draft. You and I are hockey guys. You know what's going on. The expansion draft, they're unveiling their jersey. You know, we'll see. We'll see.

I know one thing. Bellator is my primary gig, and I'm 100% committed to my assignments there. And so I'm a Bellator announcer. I am the Bellator play-by-play guy. And we'll see what falls into place. It's just, you know, it's hard not to be intrigued by another team coming into the National Hockey League in Las Vegas, where you and I, Ariel, spent so much time, you know, around mixed martial arts events.

So Belator actually sent out a press release while we were doing the show about the broadcast duties, but I haven't had time to digest it. So why don't I give you the opportunity to just break it yourself? What are your duties on Saturday? You know, it's kind of cool because I haven't been at the desk. I haven't hosted, if you will, since my college football days back at FSN with DeMarco Far and Billy Ray Smith and you know, ACC Sunday Night

Hoops. I've done a lot of hosting, but it's been a long time since I've hosted and with more Rinaloa coming on as well, we're going to split the duties and so I'm going to do the prelims with Jimmy Smith and then Jimmy and I will do the spike card, the live card which includes

the main event for the light heavyweight championship, Ryan Bader, Phil Davis, two men who I've seen five times, two men who I know very well. And then more and I'll flip rolls on the pay-per-view. I'll bring the show on the air. I'll be the anchor. I'll be the quarterback. I'll move it around. So I'll be on the desk. I'll be talking to, you know, big country. I'll be talking to Roy McDonald coming off, you know, his great win in London over Paul Daly in his

Bellator debut. And then Morrow and Jimmy will call the fights for the pay-per-view. That's the plan. As of today, that's the plan going into this week. I'm just excited to be part of it. It's Madison Square Garden. It's the biggest night in Bellator history. And I'm back at the Mecca. And so it'll be a lot of fun. Like I said, I haven't hosted in a long time. So I'm really intrigued about it.

And I'm excited to do so. Yeah, you're the only, you're going to be the only MMA broadcaster to ever call MMA fights from MSG twice. No one else can sell it. I know. You're the guy. Yeah. That's big.

Yeah. Go ahead. Right. back in November, I wasn't thinking I was doing it. Right? June and Bellator, but you know what? It's meant to be, but you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. It's pretty cool. It's like my mom always says, if you want to make God laugh,

tell me your plans for the future. We have no idea what's going to go down in a matter of months. How did you feel when you were pitched the idea of, you know, kind of sharing time with Morrow? Did you think that was okay? I mean, for the longest time, you were just the voice of the UFC, that you guys were on other sides of the fence. What was your reaction?

I was all good. I'm a team guy. I'm excited to be part of the team. Like I said, I'm going to push the boat for the pay-per-view. I'm going to be the first voice you hear. I'm going to be the first guy on camera. And that's not like, you know, I'm first there, second. I'm going to have, you know, a significant role on that broadcast area.

And so I'm part of it. And I get to call the fights live on Spike. And we're going to have a ton of eyes during that Spike broadcast, you know, with the fights that we talked about before, the two-hour fights from 8 to 10 o'clock Eastern before we hit the pay-per-view. So, you know, it's a unique night for Bellator. It's a unique night for mixed martial arts.

I've never really, you know, shared a ride from the airport with another play-by-play guy because we're never together. But in this particular situation, you know, as a team, our Bellator team is going all out. we're making this a great production. Brendan Schaub, Josh Thompson, are going to come and work the desk.

There's going to be other special guests. Interviews, Jen Brown, will be very busy running around. So I had no problem with it at all. No problem at all. Because, you know, when you think about it, a lot of eyes, as I mentioned, are on that spike show. Yes. And that's when Jimmy and I are going to be pushing that payper view.

Not unlike FS1, FS1 prelims 150 times that I did Ariel. it really is kind of the same. I'm going to have a different role for that pay-per-view. But before that, it's going to be the same thing I've done for a long time. Yeah, I think even Scott Hoker will admit that the prelims are probably going to be seen by more people than the pay-per-view. That's just, you know, being realistic. So there's no sort of downgrade there. You know, for us, January to June, it kind of flies by.

We're doing our job. But for someone in your case who was with the UFC for so long, and then it all kind of ends, you know, I'm sure these weren't the easy. of times. Now that you're back and you've got a great gig and you're doing this MSG show and it's your debut and it's all exciting. Looking back, how difficult were the last six months for you? How did you handle it? Were there

down moments? Were there moments where you thought, you weren't going to get back in the sport? How did things go since the last time we spoke? You know, the last six months were as difficult as any period in my life. You know, and it was professional. It wasn't personal. But it

was professional, of course, but it was as difficult as any six months in my life. And it's weird, though, Ariel, because what was difficult was that everybody I spoke to said, oh, it's a no-brainer, Goldie. Man, you would be great with us. It's a no-brainer. Let's make this happen. And, you know, when you're dealing with big corporations and there's a lot of moving parts, let's make this happen in February or March, you know, in the corporate world happens in June. That's no big deal. You know, in my world at that time, you know, you just wanted to happen. You just want that text or that email or that call to say, hey, Goldie, you're back in the game. And so it was.

It was difficult. And what pushed me through it and what kept me motivated, you know, obviously my family is first and foremost, were the fans. And the tweets, Ariel, that continued and the praise and we miss you, Goldie. It's just not the same. And when are you coming back? And I mean, Scott Coker said one little thing in London about maybe I might fill in for a few shows. And, you know, I was the new Bellator announcer. And so that energized me.

It just, you know what it did? You know, I missed it obviously. But it also made me just step back and think again how blessed I am to do what I do and to have the passionate fan base that we have for MMA. I'm glad those six months are behind me, and they'll just be a small blimp on, you know, a long, long career. But it was difficult. It was difficult, first and foremost, because I love what I do,

and I was anxious to get back to doing it. Fans were disappointed. You didn't get to say goodbye on air. They were disappointed about the breakup. We talked about this, but I'm wondering, since we last spoke, have you heard from the UFC brand? Did anyone reach out? Were amends made, or is it kind of the same?

You know what? There's amends are made. Everything is good. I've had people from the UFC reach out and ask how I was doing. I had multiple texts from different people, you know, congratulating me on this new opportunity. When that WWE rumor was out, which had no validity at all, I think you texted me as well, I had people reaching out. You know, that's my family. I mean, we were together a long time.

There's no, there's no negative feelings at all. 19 years I got to do that, you know, right outside the octagon and all as well. And if I didn't have those 19 years, I wouldn't be in the position that I am right now, headed to New York City later today to do a pay-per-view broadcast from the world's most famous arena. And so I bring with me all the great memories. I bring with me all the positive. vibes. And, you know, I've talked to real good friends of mine, you know, like Big John McCarthy, who says, Ariel, that the feel right now around Bellator is like the old days at the UFC

when we started the ultimate fighter. And all of a sudden there was this growth. And there's going to be huge, huge growth very shortly within the world of Bellator. And that was a really cool thing to be part of aerial years ago with the UFC on spike when it blew up. And that's about to happen in Bellator. So it's a really cool time to be back because I

will tell you, you know, UFC 200 was insane. Going overseas many, many times was insane. Madison Square Garden, you know, with the UFC back in November was insane. But the most enjoyable times when I look back, where when we

were working our way up that ladder, And everything was unexpected. Everything was like little things where dreams come true at that point. Like we actually were in a real arena. We weren't, you know, in a hotel lobby. So I'm going to enjoy that part of it again. You know, they always talk about the journey instead of the destination. I'm on a journey now that is pretty cool and I'm anxious to see what the destination is going to turn out to be.

But I'm all in. I'm very thankful to Kevin K and John Sluster at Spike and of course Scott Coker and Scott Fishman I'm all in this is my job I'm honored to do it and I just want to be part of the ride and do my part to

spread the word on Bellator MMA as it continues to grow By the way when they have a regular show like 181, 182 and when there's no pay-per-view what's the breakdown there are you doing all of them Are you going to do one? Yes. Morrow, you, like, how does that work? You know, it hasn't clearly been defined.

Okay. At this point, you know, they're taught, they talked about different broadcast teams because Chale's in the mix as well. As the broadcasters, you know, he's done a lot of shows. He's been, you know, part of the three-man boost with Sean Brandy and Jimmy Smith and then Chale.

You know, I'm going to be on the big shows. That's the plan. and there may be more. There may be more. And if they came to me, you know, and said, Goldie, we need you to do all of them. I'm going to go, let's go. Goldie, we need you to do these.

And I'm ready to go. So really the way I feel about it, Ariel, is I'm back. I'm in. Once I put that headset on, then I'm just going to let it happen. Do my job. Be a good person. Be a team guy. Bring the energy and enthusiasm to spike.

And everything else will fall into play. So, yeah, we'll both be doing some shows. But there's not really a scientific breakdown that has been put into play. Not quite yet. Not quite yet. I know you were at that show in Phoenix, and that kind of blew up that picture. But have you taken a break from MMA watching over the last few months? Or, you know, could you not do that?

Like, did you need some time off? Or were you still watching as much as you could? A little bit of both. Okay. I don't blame you. I watched a lot of Bellator MMA in 2017. Yeah. A lot of Bellator MMA in 2017.

And, you know, I really want to say one thing that Sean Grandi, I thought, and I always thought as I watched him and listened to him, I thought Sean did an outstanding job. I thought Jimmy and Sean had chemistry. and that letter that Sean wrote. And Sean reached out to me, Ariel, when everything went down back in January with the UFC. He reached out. It's a small fraternity.

We're not trying to beat each other into the cage or the octagon to steal. It's a small fraternity. We're all on the same team. And Sean reached out. But when I read that letter that he talked about, you know, with Jackus, five and a half-year-old son,

I was in tears. Because I have kids. I have a 19-year-old and a 17-year-old. So I texted Sean back, and I was talking about my kids. So then he texts me back. He's like, thanks a lot, Goldie. Now I'm in tears. You know, honestly, I just, Sean Grandy is a class act.

I agree. Boston Celtics. I mean, one of the youngest broadcasters ever, they hit 1,000 NBA games. He's in a good spot. And so, you know, just, I just wanted to share that with everybody that, you know, Sean Grandi and I are good. We always were good.

And I became a big Sean Grandi fan. And yes, I still watched UFEs and I watched the fights that I wanted to watch. It was bittersweet at times because the fans would reach out, Ariel, you know, especially on the pay-per-views, whereas Galdi, they did you wrong, certain things like that. And it just made me, I think, more anxious to get back. You know, so it was great. Of course, I loved it. and I'm thankful and humbled by it.

But it also was like, I won't have closure until I put on another headset. And so the closure has now become a reality. But like I said, I did watch a lot of Bellator the last few months. Last quick thing for you, Mike. And by the way, I echo everything that you said about Sean Grandi. You can't call it an octagon, by the way. You know that, right? You can't call it an octone.

Are you preparing yourself? Are you reprogramming yourself? It's a cage, okay? So here's what happened at our rehearsal the other day. And I'd already talked to Jimmy on the phone. Jimmy and I talked to each other, instant chemistry, instant energy. We're going to have a blast. When it was announced that I got the job, Jimmy actually called Joe because he's real close to it.

He's real close with Rogan. wanted to get, you know, the information out made the 4-1-1. So we're sitting there in this conference room before we were going to call some fights and rehearse. I'm kind of laughing, and we're trying to get an over-under on how many times I would call

Jimmy Joe. And I said, I'm a lot more worried about saying inside the octagon than I am to be Joe. So I think I'm just going to put huge note cards or page papers on, you know, the broadcast desk, just huge ones that say, Belator Cage, his name is Jimmy. Yes.

And just that in front of me. But, yeah, there's definitely going to be a couple of Joe's, but I do realize that we're moving to the Bellator Cage and not the Octagon, but we are doing one thing. And that's staying in this incredible sport, and that's mixed martial arts. Congratulations, Mike. So very happy for you. coming on. A nice bookend to the beginning of the year and now. Can't wait to

hear your call. See you in New York when you get here and just very happy that this all worked out for you and that you are going back home to Spike. So again, enjoy it. Congrats. Safe travels to New York and welcome back to M.M.A. Ariel, thank you. You've been checking in on me

the last number of months. Thank you friend to friend for the support. It will never be forgotten. And when I get in New York City and I can break down the expansion draft together. All right. I can't wait for that. I will see you then. There he is. The new voice, Belator MMA, the one and only Mike Goldberg, the longtime voice of the UFC. Now going over to Belator. You can hear him on Spike TV on Saturday. Co-made event, it's Fyodor Emilianenko against Matt Matreone. Fyodor is in the house. The legend, the last emperor. He is here in a matter of moments. He will be sitting right there. So let's take a quick break and go back to the last time he was in studio. Yes, way back when in our AOL days, he joined us in studio. Let's go back to that as we welcome him in. We'll take a quick break and then we'll be back live from our brand new studio with the one and only, Fyodor Amalienenko. Don't go anywhere.

It's the mixed martial arts hour with... The mixed martial arts hour is back in your life on this Monday, February 7th, 2011. And dare I say, Josh, the biggest show in our two-year history. What do you think? Yes, the biggest, bar none. You know, we made a lot of promises on this show. We've offered a lot of things to you guys, but I don't think we've offered anything quite like this. I am so excited for this show.

Let me just say that in the second hour, we will be joined by John Cholish and Gian Valante, who are competing on the Strike Force Silva versus Fador Card this Saturday night at the Ozza Center in New Jersey. And of course, the main event of that show features a very much-anticipated heavyweight fight between Antonio Bigfoot Silva and Fyodor Amelianco. Fyodor Amalienenko, what a huge name in this sport. A man who we told you was going to be on several months ago. Unfortunately, things didn't happen. But today, my friends, we've done one better than getting him on the telephone. He is in studio with us right now.

Joining us live and in the flesh, Fyodor Emilienenko. How are you, sir? I'm fine. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming. It means a lot to me that you would take some time out of your schedule to come here. this is without a doubt the most anticipated show in our history thank you for you thank you for your time

it's a more important for you coming so I got you this thank you very much for your warm words thank you and you know what I wanted to offer you a present for coming here as a sign of my gratitude for you coming so I got you this I wanted to provide for you it's a little small but this for me to you

some, this is Russian vodka, right? Is this the real deal or is this a kind of American knockoff? It's normal, a natural, or is this American kluke?

I'm not an expert in vodka. Neither am I. If you want, if the interview is getting boring, you can have some, if not, you can share it with your friends. If you're more,

if you're going to, you can, please, please, please. Thank you, definitely. I will share with my friends. Very good. Okay, so, We have a lot to talk to you about, so let's get right to it.

A lot of people have been very anxious to see you fight again. Your last time that you competed was in June. Why has it taken you so long to compete? You're fighting on Saturday night, but why has it taken you so long? Very many people now with no longer. We're all very happy and are, because your battle was going to be. Because your battle was in June, and why, why, why it's such a big period? Why would have so much time, and what's going to return to it?

Well, we could not be able to agree to the company Strike Force. But, now all right, but now, I've been a new contract and all, in, in principle, I'm, I think,

I'm going to, now, more to speak. It took us some time to negotiate with Strike Force company, but right now the situation is great, we agreed on all contract issues, so the contract is prolonged, and right now I will be coming to America more often.

How many fights was this contract for? How many fights were you? I don't know. Maybe I'm not going to speak about that right now. That will be Vadim, who will come and talk about that. Very well. So I'm wondering, Obviously, when we saw you last compete, tough night for you.

You lost to Fabrice River Doom. Technically, the first loss of your career, you had lost many moons ago, but due to a cut, and a lot of fight fans didn't really consider that a loss. How did you deal with the fact that you had just lost? When you went home and thought about it, how did you come to terms with the first loss of your career? How you were you? How you were with your first loss of your career? You have not been a

There was, there was a There was, you know, there was Cheney, but first kind of a problem This was happened in June How you were How you were ever When you were over

When you were When you were After the war? After the boy, I returned, right home, I've never perjol, I never

ever, I lived, like and before I don't know about this So, I don't know with my own

my frankly. So, after the fight, I came back home immediately. So, but I was not really very nervous about that loss. I continued to live the way I used to. And frankly speaking, I didn't think about that and I don't think about that. So everything in his life goes its way. I thought you were very humble after suffering the first loss of your career. And I'm wondering, and some people obviously like to look deeper into words, I'm wondering if you considered walking away from the sport after suffering your first loss, retiring. I think, like people, how people were, how you're, how much of your loss, not been, if you were, to go from sport, to, go to, like, to, to go to, no, to go to, to, to be in-poy?

Well, I'm, I've already, have been, not because, what has been a problem, but because, because, for the all for the sportsman, a weight, I think,

I think, I think about to think to the career, and I'm and the trauma,

are they're about about me, but I also, I'll be able to be able.

To tell the truth, certainly I was thinking and I'm thinking about retiring, but this is not because of the laws.

I used to think about that before it. This is just because of the age, because of my age, because for the heavyweight sportsmen, my age is considered to be a pretty big one. So sometimes I'm thinking about maybe, you know, finishing my sport career because also my former injuries, you know, remind about, started reminding about themselves. but I hope that I still will have some time to fight.

How many more years would you like to fight for? Colico I'll think, I'll be able to. All right, welcome back in studio. Here we are. How about this? Six years ago, we were sitting next to each other. And now, 2017, Fyodor Emilienenko, Tanya, his longtime translator. This is so exciting.

Thank you very much for coming. Thank you. Do you remember that? I do. Now I do. Do you remember that, Fyodor? Yeah, of course. You don't do this often.

You don't do this sort of thing often. In fact, right before the interview started, you said to me, how long are we going? You wanted to do like a five-minute interview. You don't like these long-form things, right? This is not sort of your bag. I'm usually, you know, I remember, when you asked me, how long, how long, how long? How long?

You don't know, you don't know. Why do you? chat. Yes, why? What's the point? What's the point when you can fight? But I do appreciate you doing it. This is actually a big day for us.

This is our new studio. Do you like it? First time. For our first time. It's our new studio. It's very beautiful here. Thank you. I appreciate it.

First guest that we've ever had in this studio. I'm very honored that it's you here with us for the first time. And of course, you were fighting on Saturday. When did you get to New York? When did you fly in from Russia? When you came from New York? When you were out of New York? When you were out of Russia?

15th of the 12th of us. We left Russia on the 15th of June, and on the 15th of June, we arrived to New York. You were here in February for the press conference when they announced it, and I know you went to Brooklyn, right? They did some things with you. There's a very big Russian population in Brooklyn. What was that like for you? Did it feel like home, where you showered with love? What was the experience like? You, when there's in February on the

press conferences, you went in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, in a big Russian

people, how you like you know about you feel you, you're like you're like

home, you're like I feel in Russia. Only in Russia, I feel myself as at home.

So you didn't see any elements of Russia you didn't feel with the big Russian population,

you didn't feel that at all. So, there's, like, there's, there's, there's,

there's there not only seen. No, just people speaking Russian. Okay, fair enough. So when they had that press conference, it was actually in

March, you and Matt kind of, guys, I can hear you in my ears, if you could just here, I'm going to turn this down, you and Matt were facing off, but you were supposed to fight in February. You were supposed to fight in San Jose, and then of course, they canceled the fight because Matt had his

kidney stones. Have you ever been in a situation like that before? Have you ever felt that before? where you're about to fight, you're hours away, and then all of a sudden you don't get that release. You don't get to actually fight. You don't get to actually go out there and do your thing. And if not, how did you react? How did your body react to not actually getting to go out there

after all that training and fight? In fact, in the press conference, it was you were in March, but in February you were, for the boy with MET, which was META, which, in fact, he was not. There were such meditative conditions. How far was your reaction? Was there was this situation?

How you've seen When you were all You were all ready for boy And if you were not You can't realize It's going to be What's going to be Your thoughts?

Well, obviously in my life There's a lot of I didn't have any situations like that in my life More than Scott said That's his

31-year career promoter That's the first More than that Scott said that during his 31 years career of promoter, that was the first case. Well, I had, of course, I was a little bit of a little bit of a small, because I was gottolds to this war.

Certainly I felt sorry for that, because I, you know, I was preparing for this very fight. But if it's like, then, then, it's not going to God. But if it happened, that happens due to God's will. That can happen with Every person, with Every moment Nobody's not And that can happen to everybody

To any person at any moment Nobody is insured So So, We've said with Scott We've talked with Mattom Matrion, we decided To bring him, I decided

I'd rather We talked to Scott We talked to Matt And we decided to Postpone the fight And I decided to wait until Matt is ready for the fight. Was there any part of you that wanted to go

in a different route, different opponent, because you had prepared for him, it didn't come to fruition, so for whatever reason you want to kind of move on, or did you really want to stay with that mad fight? Was there, whether some was, puttalles to have you, to bring another,

kind of decision, to, make, the decision in the side of boy, to, whether to other person. Or, or all the, or still take, you were allotted to, to, you you'll participate in this boy's met.

Well, we've been all the variants. Certainly we reviewed all the options we had. But I think we've done, we put it, because,

no, no, no, not deal we need, to, first, was very very very very to meet the superiors for several days. But I think that the decision which we made was the correct

and the right one, first of all, the reason why Matt could not participate in the fight. That was really, you know, just objective reason. And this is not the right thing to change the opponent a few hours before the fight. Did you know who Matt Matreone was before you were booked in this fight against him?

Like, had you ever seen his fights in the UFC? A we know who said that you were back in the UFC. Did you know, like, you've got to be with him? Did you know, what did he? Yeah. I said, I know. I know, that he was up in the UFC. And I do know that he performed in UFC.

When you were at that press conference in New York to announce the MSG card, you were sitting next to Chale and he was kind of poking you. In hindsight, were you bothered? Did you feel disrespected by the things he was saying at all? When you were at first in March, you were sitting around with Chale, he, he, like, so did you, you know, like, you, had to reactive, how to, answer, or how? I think that

I think on some things would not not react to not give to not give to

say we're negative information and negative to be to be some things which you

should just ignore not to give any negative reaction or any negative information

or do some negative things I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm

like, say, Wanderly Sillow started son, and the media only should that's not not right,

I understand that a lot of people are waiting for my answer for my reaction the same as was the reaction on answer of Wanderley Silver, but I don't

think that's the right way. Okay. Maybe for promotion that's good for promotion, but not for real life. Okay. So, do you think think he's just trying to pick a fight with you?

And if so, are you interested in fighting him? No, do you think, you're just, like, maybe, naceivates on some of some of the future, and were, it would be interesting for you? I didn't think about that.

Okay. Do you want to fight him for everything that he has said about you? I'd like, you'd? Oh, had you to be with him to participate in the boy, for all of what he said? What did he say about me? Oh, over the years, he has said a lot

about the Pride Days, He has said a lot recently about you and saying that he's the bigger star. I mean, he has said so much. He's a lot of what he said, about your, in the past, in pride. The record, the opponents. And how he's, there, and he's, there's,

and he's the main thing. If Scott proposed, we'll be we'll review that. Do you think that Belator is your last stop of your MMA career? Like, do you want to end your career with Belator? You think that Belator is your pastelior, your

past year your career? Do you think you will end up your career in Belator? You know, me all

all right. In my work in Belator, and all are all in relationships with

Scott Coat. Well, my cooperation with Scott Cocker and Bellator

organization, everything suits me very well. So you're happy here So you're happy here So you're satisfied I'm satisfied

Of course you haven't had a fight yet with Belator But you know Scott you've worked with him in the past Well, obviously, you've worked with him in the past Well, you're just in the past But you've been in the past work, or you've got worked with him Yeah, sure, that's correct The first run with Scott didn't go your way That's when you had the losing streak

Is there a part of you that feels like Okay, I want to go in business with this man again To show him who I am The kind of fighter that I'm I am the kind of draw that I am to sort of make amends for what happened when you were with Strike Force towards the end of your first run of your career? Well, your first time, you know, what your first time, when you were, what, something that was not done?

It was, it was a bigotting factor. That, you were going to, you know, what, you're going to, what, who, who, who, how you, how you, how you can't. no, no, not, no, my past experience in

strike force you know, just all losses or you know, not very good performing. That did not affect

any of my decisions. When you left MMA the first time, did you think that you were done or was there a part of you

in the back said that maybe in three, four years I'll come back and I'll revisit all of this. Where were you leaning when you said goodbye

after I believe the Pedro Hizzo fight? When you were about your way of the wars' you have been

your final decision, or where you think that you think that maybe I would be, what you

would be on what you were on their own when you did it was to come out of the end of

the end of the final decision. What were you doing day to day when you were retired? What was your

life like when you weren't training for fights? Well, when you went, when you did, what were what was your

everyday life, when you had been to train when you had been to work? Well, training to

all the all I still continue to exercise and work out. That's good. That's good. That's good.

Not that important. Not that intensive. Sure. I worked in the Minister of Sport of the

Russian Federation. I worked in the Minister of Sports of Russian And also I was developing MMA in Russia. And I was developing MMA sports in Russia.

So the organization, the union of MMA of Russian Federation. Now in Russia, MMA is official kind of sports in Russia. And do you still work for the Russian Ministry of Sport? You still work at the Ministry of Sport? No, if I worked in the Ministry, I would be able to be it. No, I don't. Because if I worked for the ministry, I wouldn't be able to fight. Oh, is that, is that a rule or is that just something that you feel like you can't do both?

It's a rule. That's a rule. Oh, okay. Was it a tough decision? Like when you had to leave that position, was that something that you wrestled with or were you ready to, you know, walk away in order to pursue this career again? When you put it, it was a decision, it was, it was hard for you, you, like,

you're, to go to or you were to go. I'm not. I left. I left. That was easy

for me to make this decision and to leave. Let's say, in the Ministry of I did

what I did. Just to tell the truth, I made everything I could in the Minister of sports. Okay.

So, I was there, it was probably, it was right, you know, to continue

just sitting there. And at this is my own, he's, But the time flies and my time has gone away pretty fast. So, because I have,

I feel the soul, I would want to be able to. That's why, while we're being, while I still have the forces and energy inside me, I still would love to participate to fight. Because tomorrow, it's,

but the opportunity will be big. Because tomorrow, maybe, the desire will be huge one, but there will be no opportunity. Right. I don't know about tomorrow, but I understand what you... I don't know what you... Do you recall the moment where you said,

okay, I am going to come back? Like, did something happen? Did you see something? Was there a specific moment that you recall, or was it a gradual thing? You remember, what, you know, that's the moment, when you decided, oh,

all, I was back. Like it was it was like, spontaneous, or were like as a zorini? Or did you, maybe it's still I think that was like gradual process. First, outshed trauma.

So, that's, it was, was to recover after all after all my injuries and tremors. Of course, I, step by step,

gradually. Ville talking with a family. So, well, I was talking to my family, like preparing the family. Yeah, yeah.

I needed their support. Because I was in need for their approval

and their support. Have them sign off. Were they behind this? Like were they in support of you doing it? Or did you have to convince them

to allow you to come back? So, like, they were just from the first before or you had so much

to them to be sure to be sure to begeted, but... It's not like to convince, but...

Potichue to talk. Mackack. But step by step, your software talked them into. Okay. So there was a process there. So it was a process, in principle. Process, yeah, say,

process, say, my own abdumlion, right decision or not or not. Yes, that was the process. And together with that, the process of my wrong thinking, if that was the right decision or not. Did you have any concerns just about your overall health? I mean, you've been in a lot of fights at this point,

you're almost pushing 50. You know, you get older and you take shots to the head and just your body, your health. You want to be 70, 80 years old, playing with kids and grandkids. Did you worry at all about that? You have some of your health? You have had been different trauma.

You've ever shagnogneous, you're on the road to 50-year. Some of the pastime. Some of the problem, there's. Well, honestly, say, I feel I'm sure I'm to tell the truth

I feel myself very good thanks God but we know we we're not about it we need to

think about we have the kind of sports where we have to think about that yeah if you're professional

if you're if you gotoes on all so you can puterwae

your health. Especially if you're a real professional, if you work hard, exercise hard, to

get prepared, so that's really very important you have to think about that. You are a father, correct?

He has kids, right? Of course. Yeah, how many? Four girls. Four girls. Wow. It's funny how always the toughest

guys, I feel like only have girls. Very interesting, like one of these tough guys. Usually, like one of the young,

young, it's an amazing thing that's what is given to us by God what are there... But for me that's a great huge happiness it's an amazing thing being a father is the best thing in the world what are their ages?

What are their ages? 17 years old Wow 9 years old 5 years old and 7 months And seven months old. Seven months?

What's the seven month old? What's her birthday? A when her day? 14th November 14th. Oh, okay. I had a girl October 28th. Seven months. My first though.

First, girl. Two boys, one girl. Two boys, one girl. What I'm wondering is, do any of them want to be fighters like you? What I'd want to know, who, who do you want to know, who wants to be fighters? No, no, no, definitely. No way. No way. What if they said to you, I want to, you know, the younger one, I want to be like you, I want to be a fighter?

Samo my mom, if you, if you're going to watch out, I hope that would be able. I hope that wouldn't happen. Why? I think that, you know, a girl, a girl, and a girl, not, uh, bids. I'm convinced that the girl, little girl, or younger lady, shouldn't be fighting. Okay. Mishina

should be strong. And, and to be a strong, and women have been very

men's in the men's chagely. Men have to be strong. They have

to defend to protect their family. But girls, ladies, they have to be tender. They have

to be very female. They have to keep their family. But for you, who convinced you to be a fighter? And who

did you to be a my mom had me to be to go to say

to Sambh my mother offered me just to go for sports for Judo and Samba

Well, from that moment I in sport and in the when I

came from I'm I was there was a I was to

try to my Mame And starting from this very moment, you know, well, sport became the part of my life. But I started participating in mixed martial arts already when, after my military service, when I came back, when I returned from my military service. Are you the kind of guy who smells the roses? And what I mean by that is sometimes on a rainy day, do you pop in a tape of an old fight?

You know, I don't know, pick any of your classics, any one of them from the Pride Days. Do you sit back and reminisce sometimes about the good old days? Do you like to do that or you're not that kind of guy? Atnoissees if you're, you're, not that kind of guy? You know, there are people who are, you know, end updhist, you know, about if, there's a lot of, you're going to, start with your boy,

withpominy, how it was, perjave, again, back back. About the flowers or about are you speaking about flowers or reminiscences? You're flowers are fights Yeah, but your

flowers are fights. Yeah, well, say, the flowers, I really love. Just, let's say it that way, I do love nature,

I do love flowers. Okay. What about the of, sometimes, I'm trying to see the analysis or maybe

see the fights. As for the fights, I do watch them from time to time. but that's more for analysis. Okay. But, so

I sit and with some to get some nostalgia, there's, but for example, just to sit down and watch the

fight with some feeling of nostalgia, no, that doesn't happen. Could I ask you, when do you feel like you were at your best? What was peak,

Fjodor? When do you feel like you were, without a doubt, the best fighter, pound for pound? You know, one time, I don't know if you saw

this clip, I got into an argument with Dana White, he said Anderson Silva was the pound for pound king And I said you were the pound for pound king And we were going at each other on a TV set like this one So a lot of people have defended you being the best Pound for Pound for many many years

When do you feel like you were at You know your ultimate best peak number one No questions asked I don't know, I've seen you or not seen I've got to talk about in studio Withen and then white And then he said that the same

Lod for pound boy is Anderson-Silva. I, for you, and very many people, me would be there, and you, what do you,

what do you, when you think you, you've been the peak of your form, when, you know, not a minute,

you're not un-sum- you're not I've been the very good. I never never considered myself to be

the best one. In any moment, you can lose any moment. There is who are in that in the or in the

position, in some or the technique. There are some fighters which are, for example, depending on some position will be better than me in some, you know,

technique. What about your favorite fight? Is there a fight that you look back on a fondness? But if any, your love, or the same, like, from your point of view, when you look at, when you

see, you look at your by him in Ferdris fights. Yeah, on the has to be one that sticks out, right? Well, there's been some one, who is like that.

Well, all bay, by their way, are, like, interesting, and each one can, do, do, what's to make in each one. All the fights were interesting, you know, for some

particular reason, and you can find something in each fight. I mean, the same, the, I'm going to be the first boy with, with Antonio Rodrigo Noguerre. But maybe one fight, which I can differentiate from others,

that will be the first fight with Antonio Rodriguez. And the fight with Mirko Krakop. And the fight with Mirka Krakop. He said that he'd like to fight you again. Do you have interest in that, Mirko? He said that he's still. He said, you. You've heard about that.

Well, I don't know. It would be interesting. If it would interesting that I'm not interesting for for people

for people yeah if this fight will be interesting for fans do you miss Japan

you miss competing for the Japanese people the way they treat fights in those settings for Japanese

how they are they are they react on the I know I know I'm

but I visit Japan yeah sometimes okay from time to time you've been there recently

Not recently been there? No, not Not recently. I visited Japan last year. Okay. All right. Have you ever considered coming to train in the United States? For an entire camp. For an entire camp. To be able to get into America and

to trainivance in America, a training process, I don't think, that in America may not know what to something to especially more. I don't think I can

be taught something new in United States. I think that American's American boys in Russia. I think that sometime American

fighters will come to Russia. Oh, recently? Welcome to exercise. Oh, okay. For the camp. Right, okay. But for this particular fight

What was your team that you trained with? Same team or did you make any changes? The same team, the same training process, or you something I've got to be

If I'm not If I was I was going to I was I gottower in Moscow and in the Moscow and

I gotto to this war I got used in Moscow and in the Gavarlesk war in

Moscow and yeah I did change a little bit if for the fight in February

which you know just didn't happen I was working out most in Moscow

and Stari Osco so for this particular fight, I worked out in Moscow and Holland. Oh, Holland, really? With who in Holland? As whom in Holland? Peter Tyson. On this? Hans Cruz. It's Peter Tyson and Hans Cruz. Maxim Ladeker.

Maxim Ladeker and, you know, Peter and Hans, they're here with me. Okay. When you were considering coming back, a lot of people said there's not really much for him to do that's new in the sport, except, of course, fighting the UFC, you're the greatest fighter to never fight in the UFC. Is there any part of you that says, you know, that would have been nice? Maybe that ship has sailed.

Do you ever think about that one time seeing what it was like fighting for the UFC? Do you ever think of it? Well, when we've ever said, many people were saying, well, in fact, nothing, nothing new, that we can see.

But if Fodor would be in UFC, this will be really interesting. But you, you somehow, you kind of about this, have you kind of, if you had to be UFC? Yeah,

if you were if I would have you would be would be would be to be to be

we did review the opportunity to fight in UFC if you if you wanted me to get in

we could have performed there. I think they wanted you. Ah. They wanted you? We didn't

We didn't come to the agreement When were you closest When was he closest with the UFC Because we know about this meeting That I think it was in 2010 When was the most close moment When you were practically We were close to UFC

We know about the We were the biggivered In 2010 In the year, there were Pergivered, about I don't know, me

it's not, I think, what about me, we never never can't talk about if we

with Scott we met with we've talked, we've he sent a contract with

the corresponding our pergolour and we putpissal and so here, so

like to so, like to that. It is very difficult to say, you know, it was always something which wouldn't work out, you know, just going back and forth. If, for example, speaking about Scott Cocker, you know, we met together, you know, we discussed a lot of issues, you know, we negotiated, we agreed. Then he sent me the contract. Everything was this, you know, just exactly.

And, you know, the contract was signed. As for UFC, always something would be. Would pop up. Yeah. Right. Is it fair to say that that dream is dead, that at this point you will never fight for them because you're happy with Scott and you're at this kind of stage of your career where it doesn't seem likely that you would ever go there at this point?

Can you say that, maybe, the project with UFC has already never never never never never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never. I've never, I've never I never never I've never not necessarily

to the boys who are at the obelior using start to fall

to the assad of a attack. Well, I cannot refer myself to the

fighters who have very exaggerated and excited reaction hearing the words of the UFC.

I'm I'm not any to be in UC or in Pride or Strike Force. Now, now is... Now, I'm going to be able to-in'clock. With whom beats? For me, there was always no difference where to perform

in which organization. Would it be the UFC or the Pride or the Strike Force or Bellator? The main thing is who is your opponent? Well, and, of course, to keep the relationship, that are with this organization

or, I know, with with the organization. And also, you have to have good relationship and preserve that good relationship with people who work in the organization. A boyce, it

a, he's , he's, he's going to many issues, very many large, you know, agron, it's not toilet paper, which they're, used, you know, to use, you know,

use to use it by the So the fighter is the fighter and he deals with a lot of things. He goes through a lot of tests. You know, his load is a huge one. It's not the toilet paper which you can use just for one certain purpose. I've been with many fighters who were champion in the UFC. So, well, I performed, you know, against different opponents who were, you know, best fighters in the UFC. At one point in another, right.

And just curious, did you hear the news that the UFC is doing this Connor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather, fight that they are co-promoting, if you will, that they're letting Connor fight Floyd. When I heard about it, I knew you were coming in, I was reminded that they didn't want to co-promote with M1. Did you see that news? And if so, how did you react to it? Because it was somewhat shades of the sticking point with M1 and the UFC from seven years ago. Which organization? So Connor McGregor fights for the UFC and they're allowing him to fight Floyd Maywe. whether and historically they haven't allowed their fighters to go out and compete for someone else. And that was one of the sticking points back than one. You've heard of the UFC, that they, what, you know, that they,

what now, they, what's just on Co-Pro-Promotion. It's the thing that was a common pretcknowing in the war of, that also M-1 and UFC. That's, you've heard about that? Yes, I did hear about that. Yes. Are you surprised that they're doing it?

considering how they felt about co-promotion in the past. I'm not sure, I'm not sure. To tell the truth, I didn't think about that. Okay. All right. No connection whatsoever. So, no associations, no connections, nothing was going to say. I didn't think about that. I didn't think about that.

I'm, I as well, I understand, you see, do you see. So, well, from what I understand, you know, about UFC, they're doing only the things just for the sake of the UFC. In your mind, are there fights, a certain amount of fights or an age that you want to reach before, you'll say goodbye, do you have that in your mind? Like, either I'm going to get to this age or I'm going to fight X amount of fights and then I will move on. Have you thought of that at all? Do you, like, where, where,

did you, about, that, like, I would be-bite, let's, let's be, let's to be able to, or you'll be, what, there's there, so many there will, and then I will, you, have you

about it? No, I didn't have not, I didn't that's, no, that's no, I said, to me, I'd go, and all, and, all, end. No, I didn't think about that.

I didn't put any limit, you know, you know, that I will reach this, a limit and then I will stop. I didn't think about that. But I understand that the border can't stop at any moment.

But at the same time I understand that that limit can come any moment. Okay. And, of course, I will startle of my self-chewest and from my wish of my family. And certainly, when

I will be making the decision that will depend on you know, how I feel myself, was my physical status and also the decision of my family. And by the way, I'll go ahead, please. That's God's will. Right. I actually say that a lot when people ask me like, oh, are you going to have another child? I say, like Fyodor says, if it's God's will,

he always used that line. I always use that line. I always use that line. I always use that one. Before I let you go, we are here in New York. And of course, one of the most famous New Yorkers, if you will, is your longtime friend the president of the United States Donald Trump. Have you talked to him

about coming to the fight on Saturday night? Before I will, I'll let me. I'll give you, I'll ask you, I'll ask him Mr. Donald Trump,

your, just, just, you've doneishny was he with him, if you were in his plans. No, we didn't have the opportunity to meet him. Would you like to formally invite him to the fight? Yeah,

I'd like to, you'd, like, to the fight? Yeah, I was very glad if Donald Trump, President of America, came, and I'd, to support us in the war with Mattel. I will be very happy

if President of the United States, Mr. Donald Trump, could come to our fight and support us, me and Matt. That would be something else. Is it kind of crazy, like surreal for you, that this guy that you were standing in the ring at Affliction with, there's pictures of you guys together, press conference. He's now the president.

Is that kind of, like, how do you feel about that? For you, really, it's really realistic looks, that a person, who, who, you're right, he with you, he with someone, he was around, he was around stood on Affliction, when, was it? Now, now, now, now, President America, it's, how

you? Donald Trump, you're, certainly, the only determined, and it's to be it, is to be able, to be it. So I'm glad that he was

to his his new new the and now now now

I'm I guess he's he's doing to do for his country

for I'm sometimes not not why that he's

negative relationship and a negative reaction from I'm American

of the Uttansky people. It's not even unbosnone. This is my personal opinion, and, of I can't say I'm in Russia.

I think that Donald Trump is the person who is very concentrated on his targets. And I'm really very happy that he just managed to hit another target, which he

put in front of him. And I think that, you know, he's doing his best for his country. And frankly speaking, I cannot understand why he has such a negative publicity right now in his own country. I think that he's doing everything for his people, and I believe in that. But certainly to tell the truth, I understand that I don't live in the United States. I live in Russia. That's why maybe I cannot make very objective judgment about that.

but this is my feeling. Just curious, when's the last time you talked to him? Was it recently or back when you were in the ring with him? When you were in the ring with him? When you were in the ring? Yeah, that was in the ring over. Well, I'm starting, you're not, you're in a certain way,

in some way, you're not in some way. You want to you, you know, you're not slas it,

I know. Yeah, but usually what I try, you know, when you meet the person,

when you know the person already personally, right, in private life, certainly you kind of

sympathize him, you try to read the news about, you know, just to follow his life, to see what's,

you know, just going on in his life. I can't imagine. Yeah, I can't present it, God's will. I told you at the beginning that this interview would last two minutes,

obviously I was kidding, but I've gone past my time, so I just want to thank you for coming in. It really means a lot. Even when I was a little peon in this board, you've always been very kind to me and giving me time. So I really appreciate that, and I appreciate you coming over to the studio today to talk to us as you prepare for June 24th, Madison Square Garden,

Fodor Emilinoenko versus Matt Matrione, main event, Belator NYC. Of course, that is the pay-per-view. The spike card is Belator 180. Morrow Rinalo coming back. You hear that? Morrow Rinalo, the old pride voice, he's going to be calling to fight. This is all very exciting. You like that? He's great.

It's like old pride days. Got Jerry Millen here. I mean, it's like a blast in the past. It's great. Thank you so much. Best of luck to you. I hope it wasn't too painful, the interview. I hope it wasn't too painful. It was great.

It was very interesting, very interesting questions. I appreciate that. Antania, great to see you again. Thank you so much. Let's not do it in seven years. Let's do it before seven years, the next one, all right? Let's not just over seven years, we're not just going to be joined by Matt Matrione in studio. I hope you guys don't get into a scuffle.

You know, you two crazy fighters, but he will actually be joining us in studio. Where's my camera here? It's right over there. Matt Matrion will be joining us in studio in a matter of moments. We'll take a quick break. We'll say goodbye and thank you to Fioror. And while we do that, let's take a look at an old clip of Matt Matrione on this program. The Mitreone Minute, if you will, and then we'll be back in studio with the one and only meathead.

Stick with us. Speaking of trouble, I was telling this story, you do realize that the reason why one man, there's only one man in this sport that refuses to talk to me to do interviews with me. You do realize that's your fault, right? He still won't talk to you? Refuses to talk to me. That's awesome. See, you deserve that.

You're such an instigator. Like the Bob Sapp thing. Right, right. Like you're such an insigator right here, right? Yeah. All right. Well. All right.

Let's do it. Okay. Let's do this. Wow. Your boy McCorkel, believe it or not, actually just wrote in something on that Bob Sapp comment. Really? Jeez. Do you want me to read what he just wrote?

I mean, is it funny? Because usually he's not that funny. He said, he said, well, don't worry. I was afraid of being. he's like, I wanted to go on the I wanted to go on the MMA hour with you but I was afraid of being Bob Sapp. He said, Ariel Hawaiian in the MMA hour

has become more confrontational than Chris Hansen and to catch a predator. Wow. I'll take that as a compliment. How do you just fire that off? That dude is unbelievable. Yeah, he was waiting for. He permeates everything, dude.

He is such a parasite. Unbelievable. I think we're giving him great too much air time. I think so. All right. So, hey, you're so excited. I love how excited you are right now. Yeah?

I felt great to be creative again. All right. Okay, here we go. Several time, UFC champ and longtime M.M.A. hypocrite, Ken Shamrock was breathing size of relief the past few weeks, as he thought he'd lost his crown of hypocrisy to John Jones. But upon further review, the verse inked on John Jones' chest, Philippians 413, actually demonstrates quite the opposite. I have a holy Bible here, and I'm going to go ahead and open it up and take a look. And it states, thou shalt drive drunk at 3 a.m.

in the company of several women, none of which shall be your baby mama. Whoa. So actually, he wasn't being hypocritical at all. He was actually just following the letter of the law. What? I saw an editorial stating that Brock Lesnar should be inducted into the U.S. I'm a lot of fame. If by being an overrated douchebag is qualification enough, then I should have been

qualified as soon as I stepped foot off the ultimate fighter. Can you see me right now, by the way? Can you see me? Can you see me? Huh? Can you see me? Okay, okay. I just want to know that when you don't hear a reaction from me, I want you to know why.

Okay. By now I'm sure that most of you have seen the photo shot of Chris Seaton, the photo shoot of Chris Seitz showing her more feminine side. Well, this is embarrassing, but we met here in Indianapolis during a street maid, my sponsor, photo shoot for a commercial shoot actually with her and Sarah. Kaufman? Kaufman. Yeah.

Yeah. It was great time. And now I have a permanent reminder of our magical night together. Chris Seibord. But see, the tattoo artist didn't realize you didn't have an age in there. Oh, that's. Now it's Chris. That's not nice.

Can you see that? That was that backwards. That was very nice. I love the fact that you actually like drew on yourself. That's amazing. I'm dedication dedication okay

so Johnny Hendricks recently expressed his thoughts on cyber haters and keyboard warriors with no talent trying to milk one last drop of life-giving goodness from a celebrity team he must have he must have been thinking about McCorko

that's really good point so Joe Rogan's made a lot of waves lately congratulations Joe I'm really happy for you for finally getting your black belt. It takes a lot of time, dedication. I think it was seven years as a brown belt. But that's not why I'm really happy for you, Joe. I'm really happy for you because you finally decided to the sheriff shave off that hair line. And boy, it was about time because you were definitely approaching Dana White, a hairline circa 2001. Wow. That's the boss. And all serious, that's the boss. It is the boss. It is. In all seriousness,

thank you very much, Joe and Dana for paving the way for making it acceptable. for white guys to shave their head and be bald. Here's a short list I've compiled for those white guys that don't help our cause. Shane Carwin, Jason Williams of the Sacramento Kings, me and Wayne Brady. Wade Brady, what's your beef with Wayne Brady?

No, I'm just talking about white guys that shouldn't take the pet. I missed the white part. Hey, you got to pay attention, brother. Oh, gosh. Oh, goodness. Are you ending on Wayne Brady? No, well, that's going to be my final joke.

Will you be at the UFC Fan Expo this weekend? I will be. I will be. I'll be signing for Jocko and F3. I'm probably going to make a couple of guest appearances in the places. Hopefully I can steal a T-shirt somewhere. Something like that. So just look for...

You're going to be there? I will be there. So I'm going to look for the booth with the least amount of people lined up. And you'll find me a corporal. I'll setting you up for that. I'll setting you up for that. They don't let them in those things. They won't even let them if you bought a ticket.

it. Dona win Selma ticket. So there you go. Matt, always a pleasure. I thought that was one of your better ones. I mean, I think when you start with the Bible joke and end on a tribute to Fedor, it's a little too much for me to handle it, especially with no punchline on the tribute. I mean, I'm not used to that kind of thing. But nevertheless, you came in on a show that featured Mike Tyson and Dana White. Here you are, Matt Mitrean, sharing the same spotlight as them. That's got to be a career highlight for you. It most definitely is. It most definitely was. Hey, I appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot for letting me get on there. I haven't done a minute a long time, so it felt good to be creative again. And let us know. And remember, it's just a roast. So don't get your paintings and a bunch, everybody and write a bunch of stupid stuff. It's a joke.

Can you tell Tito right now? He's probably not watching. Or maybe he is. Tell him. Give it up. Come on. I like you. As a matter of fact, dude, I would, I like, I like Forrest a lot. But I'd like to see Tito go out on a win. I like Tito. He and I have spoken several times since all my jokes. We've spoken. in a couple different situations. I like to see Tito win, but I also like it for us. So I just hope nobody gets hurt. So Tito, talk to Ariel again. Please, he's a good guy.

All right, back on the MMA hour. That was way back when. And now we are being joined by the one and only meathead in studio. We go from Fyodor Milianenko in studio to the man. He'll be fighting on June 24th at Madison Square Garden, at the Mecca, the one and only former New York giant. Because I feel like they're pushing that a lot this week. It makes sense.

Matt Matreone. How about that? Wow. What's up, man? I mean, I'm sitting in the chair of greatness right now. I have a lot of bones to pick with you, my friend. First of all, you're looking very sveled. I'm 270 pounds right now.

I have to cut a little bit. Wow. Is that normal? Now, I'm a little heavier than what I normally am. Really? Like, if I lift, I balloon up like a tick, and I was lifting for a little bit. I was pulling crazy. I was lifting with Purdue University Strength, Conditioning Coach,

down like Reno. Okay. And so he had me lifting for a little while, doing a whole bunch of hip-expulsiveness stuff, a lot of lower body stuff. And then once I got like 280 pounds, I can't lift anymore. And then we started doing our cardio. And then I've been smoking these tabadas on 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. What's a tabotic?

It's a 20-second on, 10-second off interval on an aerodyne bike. Okay. And you do, we did three sets, two sets of eight, and then one set of six. And it was just a miserable experience. So, okay, so it's kind of a trip because, like, I don't know, were you here when Fioro was here? Yeah, I just saw him the whole. Like, did you see any of the interview at all? A little bit.

I heard a little bit. It's just because, like, he's stoic, right? Yeah. And you're just kind of fun. So I like, I feel like, okay, we got through that. It's a familiar face. You know, a smiley guy. But I have to say, I sent you a text maybe on Friday, and I said, you know what?

I'm really happy that you're coming in today because this is our first day, new set. Big part of the show. It looks great. You like it? Yeah, I do. What do you think? You went out. I think it looks absolutely fantastic.

I think that I love all your pictures. Everything looks fantastic in it. That's awesome. I like it a lot. That's my favorite of MMA picture of all time. Mayhem bowing over Kazushi Sakharaba. That's fantastic. Esther Lynn took that.

But I sent you a text and I was like, you know, this is really cool, big part of the show. Didn't get a reply. You want to know that honestly got proof? I have been very, very disappointed about being in my hole lately. Okay. So like texts, like whether it's only people I really respond to are my training partners when they text me. That's it. So you saw the text, but chose to ignore it.

Yeah, I screened your text. Wow. Are you happy to be here? I'm extremely happy to be here. I feel fortunate. I feel like really, it's, it feels like we're all growns up. You saw that studio there with your son doing, you remember? This is a real studio now.

This is a real thing. It doesn't look like your porch on your backyard. Right. used to do the Mitchell Minute, of course, for many years on this program. And you actually somehow got me in trouble more than, I mean, okay, maybe the Falun Fox thing was a little, but like, remember with Tito? Tito, do you got to stop talking to me? That was right.

Now you guys are boys. Yeah, Tito's my dude now. What is up? You know, I mean, hey, man, the, the way the worm turns, things happen, baby. Do you still talk to McCorkal? Because I feel like, here you are, MSG co-made event. I'm like, what's he doing? I haven't seen Korky in a while.

Why? No reason. She's like he lives in Indianapolis, and I live at Purdue, which is 75 miles away. way. And it hasn't really trained that much anymore. And that's pretty much like the only reason why I go to Indianapolis is to train and go back home. So I haven't really seen them, but we're cool. I have no issues with him at all. He might have issues with me. I don't think so. Wow. What's the last time you spoke to him? I think we talked on a phone just a little bit ago. But everything's fine. I'm just joking around about it. No beef. No beef. Not that I know of

be a nice touch if he walked you out for this fight. I think he might. He shows out. You say his name. He's like candy man. He's like a candy man. He'll text you within 10 seconds right now that I mentioned. There's like a bat signal. So of course, I know you said this, you know, like right before the interview, like, oh, I can't wait for the questions about the kidney. But I would be remiss if I don't ask you, especially because I went through it myself. Not quite to your extent. But are we okay? Do we feel hydrated? Do we feel any pains in the back?

Are we okay? I'm 100% solid. And that's another reason why I worked with, you know, I went back to a nutritional plan that I went with from John Barardi as a PhD precision nutrition. and I went back to something I was doing with him for a while ago. He gave me a relatively specific diet, but it was like pretty loose. It was like two handfuls of vegetables, like two sweet potatoes, or this, or that, you know. And my body feels great and responded really well. My body, I'm ready to go.

I'm ready to perform. What was it 26? 24. 24 kidney stones. 24 stones. How's that possible? They just must have been there for a while. I haven't gone back to the doctor, though.

You didn't do like a last check-in before you left? I didn't. No. I did. I'm good. I feel fantastic. I don't want it. Did you actually see them?

No, I didn't. But she told me they went through and broke them up and it was, pulling the stint out was the worst part. Wow. In the wiener. How long was that thing? 26 centimeters. Wow.

Were you under anesthesia? Wow. When they pulled it out? Both? No. When they did this procedure, I was out. Okay. When they pulled it out, no, it was my girlfriend that did it.

Why? I was supposed to do it by myself at the house. Get out of here. I'm for real. And I was like really. How long did you have that in you? for five days. I know it was like a string coming out of the pee hole.

So like, you know, a dude having junk, like you're going to move around, you're going to do whatever. And like the string would catch on like your leg or in your junk, whatever, and I would get a tug. And I knew what I was going to feel like. So I just couldn't do it myself.

And why did you have that in there? It's because that was like from the kidney, like from all the drainage and everything else because my kidneys are so swollen up because I had so much fluid and I had so much like punishment on my kidney and my urethra and my pheole area, all that stuff.

So I had the stent in there to kind of, to help drain it out. And when you'd go to the bathroom, what would you do? Or just pee over the string. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And then after I had the procedure, it looked like a murder scene. Like, it was, my pee was insane.

And it hurt to go pee. When did that go away? About two peas after the stint got out pulled out. Okay. But then it was brutal, man. Like I decided to like, lean up against the window in my bathroom, you know? And I was like, I'd just be gentle and do it, you know? I just started to do it.

And I was like, dude, stop. I can't do it. only did it take. When she did it, it probably only took about 12 seconds, but it was like, I looked down about halfway through. I had to turn the water on in the shower as hot as it could possibly go, put my stool in the shower, and sat on it, put my feet up like I was in labor, and I was like, just go, just pull it out. And as high as I could possibly stand it so I could be distracted. Oh. And dude, I looked down about halfway, and it went from like, from white to light blue to dark blue. And I didn't know that, but she said that the ends were curled. So she pulled,

and then it just kept pulling and pulling and pulling. Gosh. Not awesome. That's a keeper, by the way, that she did that. Yeah, it was full-like. I mean, holy smokes. Yeah. Now you guys might be, you know, even closer than married couples. I mean, that was for real. Yeah?

Yeah. Were you worried that she would, like, see you in that state and kind of feel like, no, I just wanted that out of my body. Okay. Are you still together? Yeah, for sure. That's good. I've known it for a long time.

Okay. And, like, she's actually from my hometown. Okay. And so I've known it for quite a while. We just happened to start dating anybody however long ago, a while ago. You may, I mean, you sort of talked about this. You were separated, right? Is this your first girlfriend?

Yeah, there was a girl that I was with for a while. But that was a pretty toxic relationship. Okay. But this is the first one I've been with that it's like, everything's kosher. I'm good. I'm good. I think my kids have met her. This is the first girl that my kids ever met.

Wow. What's that like for you? She's great with them and they're really good with her. They dig her. Gia really digs her a lot, my little girl. By the way, my daughter's injury. Please tell us. Tell us what happened in case those didn't hear and then what's going on?

My daughter ran through a play glass window on a screen door. Yeah, how long ago? A year ago, June 13th was a year anniversary. Wow, wow, wow. And went to a doctor two months ago for her, like, checkup or whatever. And the doctor's like, look. And her name's Dr. Amy Moore out of St. Louis. Insangely good doctor.

And I told you this story before, like how we decided on her. We got on the internet and started talking to all these people. people that were putting on like these clinical trials and all this other stuff. And they're like, look, man, we can't recommend you do this because it's still a clinical trial. But if you're going to go for a nerve injury for a child, we heavily recommend you go see Dr. Susan McKinnon in St. Louis. So we found her practice. And then when I started emailing and firing off all this stuff the week before I was supposed

to fight Carl, say, I'm on a tough. We finally get in touch with them. And I'm happy to be fighting in St. Louis. So I show up on Monday and Tuesday, a fight week. I think I fought on a Friday. Yeah. Monday and Tuesday, a fight week at their office with donuts,

coffees, and bagels. Like, hey, I need to talk to these doctors. They email me or they come and talk to me and say, hey, look, we've been talking. We have all these emails going through. We believe that Dr. Amy Moore is a doctor for you. So when I met with Dr. Amy Moore, after my fight,

I think I fought on the 24th. Yeah. I met her on the 26th, 27, whatever it was. Yeah. And she won me over by saying something as simple as this. I went to college to work on your daughter. This is the reason why I went to medical school. Like plastic surgery on a child, nerve regeneration and repair.

I am the only doctor in the world I'd recommend to work on your daughter. Wow. And I was like, you're done. Okay, you're the one. And she was a college athlete. And she has three kids, all my kids' ages. It kind of gives me chills because I can't imagine what, like, the anxiety that you It was so much, dude.

Because we went to the first doctor in Indianapolis at like that hand and shoulder clinic. And he was like, she's never going to be the same. We can do some work on her, but this is a lifelong injury. will never be the same, blah, blah. And even if that's the case, which it might as well be. But don't tell me that, especially don't tell me that in front of my little girl. Yeah. Like, don't give him me a negative.

Like, hey, we're going to do everything we can here. This is a long-term issue. We get it. But we're going to do whatever. You know, and I just didn't get that feeling from him. So that's the reason why we didn't go with him. And then the day of the surgery went in and it was only supposed to be like a four or five-hour surgery, which is still a long surgery.

Yeah. And the doc came in before the surgery and we're like, hey, don't do anything different than you do every day. That's the reason why we came to you is because you're great at what you do. So don't make today a great day. Make it just your average day. And that's the reason why we came. Gave her a hug and was like, hey, I believe in you. Like, go do you.

And nine hours later, she called up and said, okay, the surgery is over. So we went to the doctor two months ago. Can you ask you a quick question? What were you doing during those nine hours? Waiting. God, in the room? Every hour and a half they would call. Rough go.

And they would say, hey, she just said this. Like your daughter's opened up. We're starting to splice the nerve. We're doing this now, blah, blah, blah. And then the doctor said this two months ago. Yeah. She was like, look, I know I'm a really good doctor. But even these results astounded me.

Wow. I can't believe how well she's doing. Like, and it was phenomenal, man. And really, I believe I might have made this a little bit of up in this, and I'm taking a little bit of liberty with it. Yeah, yeah. But they gave like a two-week window, right? You can't put strain on a nerve otherwise it dies.

Okay. And after they repaired it, we had to have a two-week window where the sutures and everything else wouldn't break, wouldn't put strain on it. And then after that two-week window, have her do everything normal. So we did. Like she went back to wrestling practice. She went back to playing with the boys. Went back to everything, swimming, jumping, being crazy. And now her hand is, is damn near normal.

Wow. Like there's things that she can't do yet. Like she can't touch her forefinger to her ring finger or touch her like these like this. She can do this here, but she still can't do that. but if that's as good as it ever gets, she has a normal hand where she can still swing a baseball bat. She can still do other things

than be a normal little girl. Like carry a cup, try to take the lid off, maybe not be successful, but she can still do it. So I mean, even if that's as good as it ever gets, which hopefully it'll get better,

I'm cool with that. We made the right decision with that. I'm happy for you. Thank you. And her. Thank you. That's incredible. Any of them coming to this fight?

No, not a lot. No, you don't want them there. No, the only one that ever came to a fight was Jacob. Yeah. And that was in London. Yeah. Yeah.

You don't want? No. Why? No girlfriends, no exes, no kids. Oh. No, no fathers, no brothers. So the girl that took the thing out? Nothing.

Not coming. Nothing. Why? Because, man. Business. It is a, yeah, it's a business trip. B, it is a bloodthirsty glideratorial crowd. Right.

And if something happens where I get on the ground and I start leaking and I'd be more worried about her being able to get out. You can't escape the cheers and jeers and the bloodthirsty cries. You can't. So I. I'd be more worried about her not being affected than me getting out, and I don't want that stress. At home, they can just change the channel. So let me ask you this. At the beginning of the show, I wanted to mention this, and I feel very bad that I didn't,

but it kind of got off to a rocky start, and we had the new state, and there was a lot going on. I'd be proud to stay. I appreciate that. Yeah. To you, my man. You may have heard that Tim Hague, the former UFC fighter, passed away, right? I'm really upset by that, man. I actually tried to, yeah.

Boxing match. Yeah. complications, injuries, brain, and yesterday it was reported. We have the information on our site if you want to read about it. How do you react to that? I mean, this is a guy, you never fought Tim Hague, but you were kind of fight. I did fight Tim Hague. He was my fourth fight. Of course. Of course. I'd fight for the troops. Yes. The picture they put up of him flexing is that that's right. Yes. How do you, how do you react to this? I have a lot on my mind about that. I texted his number.

Oh. Afterwards. And I'll tell you what I said just because it really threw me off. And the person who has his number now responded. When's the last time you spoke to him? Maybe a year ago. Oh, so you kept in touch? Yeah, for sure.

Tim and I were cool. Okay. Yeah. What did you text? Hey, it's Matt Mitrione. I know writing Tim now is in bad taste. And I don't really know what to say, do, or who to contact. And this can get out to his people.

I'd really appreciate it. I'm so sorry about how things turned out. Please let me know what I can do. I fight this weekend. It really has me thrown off. What about Tim's son? I don't know if Canada has universal life insurance as well. Please, if anybody reads this, please let me know how I can help.

And the person who wrote was like, hey, it's not Tim's number, man, but I hope you find it. And I said, all right, well, and they said, how's Tim doing? Well, he died. You know, like, it sucks, man. It's, you know, and I heard about a post he made on Facebook about, like, he just wants to get some money so we can have a great father's of this kid, you know, like, it sucks, man. There's no easy way

to sugarcoat it. It's a horrible situation. I know how proud he was of his son. I know how proud he was to be a father. He was a really good dude. And, I mean, it just sucks, dude. Like, I freely

make the comment that we deserve to get paid as well as we did command or should be paid because we take the chance of never leaving that cage the same ever again every time we walk in it. And this is exactly the scenario I'm talking about. Whether you, God forbid, you die from a situation like this or you lose use of something because of an impact or an injury or whatever the situation is, we deserve to have financial security for something like that. We deserve that if you ever fought in the UFC and something like this happens,

that there needs to be some kind of life insurance that's put into it. Like, this should be a massive call for unionization. Like, hey, look, what the hell's going to happen with Tim? What's going to happen with this 10-year-old son? Or I have no idea how old he is. I think he's around 10, 11, something like that. Like, what's going to happen with him? Is he nowadays stuck like Chuck? Oh, Tim had a mortgage in this. Oh, by the way, you guys owe this much money or that we're going to take this away? Is that what's going to happen now? Like, what do you do? Just sucks, man. It's horrible.

Unequivocally, this is the biggest fight of your life coming up. And now, you know, you hear this news and it's a friend. And I know it's not MMA. It was a boxing match. But, you know, in this case, it's all the same. How do you react to that? Like, you know, because I didn't know Tim personally. I've met him and interviewed him, but not like you. To me, when you hear this, you're like, what are we doing?

You know, there's a part of you that says that, right? Like, this is kind of crazy. How do you react to it? You know, man, it's hard. It's a very difficult thing. Like maybe if I didn't fight them, I'd be like, damn, that sucks, man. But like now that I fought on my norm, you know, on Father's Day, like, there's a lot that sucks about it. But how do you fight, man?

I mean, it's my job. That's what I do, man. Like, I could clean windows on a building. You know what I mean? I could, God knows. You didn't have a moment where you were like... God willing. Yes.

God's will. You didn't have a moment where you were like, screw this? No. No. No, that's my paycheck. This is what I do. I have a commitment. Fador has worked his butt off several times now to fight me.

I've worked my butt off several times to fight him now. You know, and like, what's interesting is it was really, it was difficult at times to stay motivated for this camp. Really? Yeah. Why? Because I've done the exact same fight. There's nothing different. There's no new ingredients in the recipe.

It's all the same stuff. You know, and you come up with a little, hey, this counter might work. This move here, this step this way, blah, blah, blah. But it's just not the same as the first time. First time is sexy. It's fun. It's, ooh, now it's like, okay, let's get back to it, you know. But that's the good thing about, and I trained a lot at home, again, like I did the first time.

I trained with Henry for a while. Felt good. My body feels good. Then I went back home to finish up because their body is the size of strength, everything I have there. Who's cornering you for this? Henry, Lytle, and probably coach Greg. Okay. We'll see.

Greg Nelson. Yeah. No, Greg Jones. Of course. Yeah. So you're still going to combat club? Yeah. Right?

Yes. Is there like weird drama there? No, man. No, I've actually, I think it's a really solid joint. Yeah? Yeah, but like the heavyweight fighters down there are all like six, six or taller. You know, so like doesn't really help me out for fighting a trade or that much. Was there any part of you that was like, I don't want to get too excited for this fight because it was snatched away from you, literally hours away?

Like, no, it wasn't hard necessarily to envision the fight. Like some of these fights, they never happened for whatever reason. You didn't feel like this was one of those. No, not at all. Were you ever afraid? You handled it very well. We spoke on the Monday after, but were you afraid that? the biggest fight of your life was going to be taken away for you because of kidney stones,

or were you always confident they would do it again? No. Fedor is a man of immense character and integrity. Yeah. And we were supposed to fight each other. And unfortunately, that situation came up. So I have all the confidence in the world that he would do the right thing, which I believe is, hey, let's make this thing.

Let's run it back. Like, you know, it's cool because he's so, insanely grounded and humble for what his accomplishments are and what he's done for the sport, you know, and for him, like when you asked him earlier, like, you know, what were your best fight? And it was kind of translated it a little bit differently. I was like, you know, pound for pound best in the world kind of thing. And when were you at your best? And he was like, well, you can never really, I don't believe in best of all the time, whatever,

because anybody can have their bad day in certain positions, certain people are better than others. You know, and it's, I always, like when I first heard some of those answers, I always wondered, like, is that, is that legit or is that just a canned answer? Like, is he really good at PR? And the more I've gotten to know him just from being around him and seeing more about him. Like, he's genuinely just a really good dude. It's legit. Yeah. It is legit. And that's cool, man. He has a lot of my respect, a lot. But like I said in another interview, like some people ask me, hey, well, that affect you fighting him because he's such a legend. or whatever else. My answer is no. Because I grew up emulating Barry Sanders and, you know, Reggie White and Michael Strayhan. Like, I didn't grow up emulating fighters. So I understand who he is, but, and I understand his relevance, but it doesn't affect me like that. Like, there's no fighter I fight that would have that kind of awe kind of feeling. And if I would, it'd be Fador and I don't. You guys quickly crossed past here. Did you say anything to him? Yeah, man. Just shook his hand, hey, man, what's happening? He's like, oh, you know, like, he and I get along. We're cool.

and there's no reason why we wouldn't we're gentlemen right like we fight for to pay our bills and to feed our families so we do not because we're in the NFL right right what do you think when like

when I saw you at the it was fun at the press conference to watch you react to Chale and everything he was saying about Bandalay and Fador do you like that sort of thing do you I mean do you get paper viewpoints for this

perhaps go why is everyone so afraid let me ask you in the NFL I know exactly how much player X makes why is everything So that's not true. What do you mean? That's not true. You know their base contract, but you don't know their

incentives and how you're going to get them. NBA, we all kind of know. Why is everything so secretive in MMA? It's just a gig, man. It's just the gig. So you do. You won't confirm nor deny. I'm happy with my contract. This is good. Yeah. So when you hear Chale, are you like, yeah, keep going? This is good. No, I find Chale's humor entertaining. Okay. You find it borderline disrespectful at all? Or is it? 100% for certain. And, And it's really difficult because, like, I really, I teeter the line. Like, I can bump gums to the best of them. Yeah.

And, like, I really do my best to stray from saying, I'm going to knock this dude out to the out, but I find that to be disrespectful in itself. And, like, I'm going to punch him in his face. That's usually my answer. Like, what's going to happen in this fight? I'm going to punch him in his face. That's what's going to happen. And especially against Fador, like, saying, like, oh, I'm about the knock his

Fador out. Like, I'm not to knock this legend out. Do I believe I will? Yes, I do. saying that, though, I believe it was an Italian different animal. And I find that to be a level of disrespect. Okay. And it bothers me to do that.

But, you know, maybe in the hype of the pay-per-view or like whatever else, maybe I said that. But like, and I feel that way, I just normally wouldn't say that. Okay. I don't know if that makes sense or not. So with Chale, over the top, like, WWE, but that over-the-top, WWE, Kahn O'Gregor, jail makes money. Sure. Put butts in the seats.

Puts puts butts on paper view, puts eyes on paper view residentially that you get paid for. That's right. Realistically, what do you think this does pay-per-view-wise? You know, I'm not a good person for that at all. You don't have a number that you're thinking, okay, if we can just hit this. I saw that Mr. Coker said if they hit 200. Mr. Coker. Damn.

I don't remember Mr. White. I think I want to say, well, I think I said Mr. White. All right, fair enough. Initially. Okay. And then I was like, You know, I think that Mitch Coker said 200, he'd be happy for a runner to be phenomenal. I don't know how it's tracking.

I don't know. So, I mean, if I say 250, I'll play right in the middle. I'd be like, that'd be great. And we'll see how that goes. Have you been in MSG, like the actual arena? Yes, sir. What's it like? Have you seen it with the Cajun?

No, I'm not yet, right? No. What's it like? Like, are you someone that appreciates? Like, for me, I'm a huge Knicks fan. MSG, I believe, is the greatest arena. I mean, of course, they've kind of soiled it over the last decade or so, but it's a special place.

A lot of cool things have happened there. Does that mean anything to you? Oh, yeah, for sure, man. It's a cool joint. Plus, like, both my maternal sides are from Jersey right around New York. Oh, wow. From Sycoccas, Bloomfield, Nutley, West Caldwell,

well, Lynnhurst. So they're all from there? No, I was born in Illinois. Oh, okay. I was born in Bloomington. But they're both from here? Yeah. Wow.

And all my extent. family is. All of it is. Are they coming? Yeah. Well, I believe, I think five of them are. So they're allowed to come, but not the immediate. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And so, so they're allowed to come and they will come. And if they won't, they'll come see me before, like on Friday after way and whatever. But for the most part, man, it's just kind of a, it's a job right now. Yeah. But probably in a year, I'll probably be like, again, that was pretty damn cool. Yeah. Like the wall of immortality, that's in the bowels of the joint.

Like, you have a moment. Like, my name probably won't be remembered in the history like Fador's will. But I have an opportunity to put a moment of time on that wall forever and ever. And that's pretty damn cool. Do you know, are you guys really going to weigh in on the Frazier Ali or the Ali's scale? That's the hot rumor. Damn.

That's pretty cool, isn't it? That is insane. Yeah. That would be incredible. Yeah. There's a lot of, Mr. Coker's really cool like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a lot of things he does.

Yeah. And like Fyodor said, it's a lot of integrity that goes. And like when you agree in terms and you get the contract, it actually says what you agree to. And that's a pretty big thing. I know you're locked in, but like if someone said to me, Ariel, what's the big story of 2017 in MMA? Other than my new set, of course. Obviously. I would say that this sort of.

this like two years ago if someone was at an MMA excuse me a UFC media day and said anything remotely negative towards the UFC was like that was gigantic news now it's like you know who's next getting escorted that I don't mean a reporter I mean a fighter oh yeah you know like Musasi and Buffalo talking about like pay me and god he's so funny all this stuff I love it I love the turn musassi that's amazing but like you have every week almost I

Quinta and Anderson so you know someone comes out and there's like this growing discontent. And I think it's a very sort of involved thing, but I think part of it is because of the sale and the $4 billion and reboc, all this stuff and more. My question to you is, I know you're very locked in, but do you follow any of this stuff and say, golly, I made

the right choice. I am so... Oh, I follow everything. When it comes to business and money, I follow everything. Okay. Yeah, 100% I do. I say... No doubts whatsoever. No doubt. I made 100% made the right decision. Okay. With what I will bring down and sponsor money,

alone, I made the right decision. Will you make more, let's say that you were on the same, you know, trajectory? I'll make more than I did in my fight purses. Your fight purses. Yeah. Then in the UFC. You'll make more in sponsorship for this fight than you made fight purses in the UFC. So that's sponsorship only, let alone what you're making in prayers.

Holy smokes. And how about, and this is kind of a silly question, but just for the record, sponsorship for this fight as opposed to your last sponsorship with Reebok when you fought Travis Brown. Silly question. What about pre? Reebok. I'm higher than pre-Rebock.

Wow. Were you surprised to hear that Roy chose to take less for his debut? Chose. Take less sponsors. Yeah. Take less sponsorship money. He wanted the cleaner. He basically said, I'm going to take a step back for this one and then get this one out of the way and then I'm going to go.

No, that doesn't surprise me about Roy. Roy is a very unique individual. He thinks for himself on a lot of different levels. Right. And he is extremely linear. Right? You know what I'm saying? Calculated. That's what I was looking for.

It's very calculated. And that doesn't surprise me one bit. Why do you think there is this growing discontent? To a degree. I'm not saying everyone. Yeah. You know, I'm sure you heard some of the... I feel like his chair is pushing me forward.

Is it? It's like it's pushing me to have great posture. No. I don't want you to get another one. No. I feel like I'm sitting perfectly posture. I'm very erect. It's all part of the new set.

It is. You can't. You can't. I'm actually slouching a lot. Yeah. But I've been sitting here for almost four hours. a friend of mine that back in the day when she would slouch, her mom would say bang, bang, and that would mean like she had to throw her elbows back like that. So there's my shout out.

Bang bang. So the retreat, yeah, I'm sure you read some of that stuff. The retreat, yeah. What do you make of all this? Okay. So I've heard a lot of things. A lot of people love to tell me things. They do. Because I left. Okay. So I got a lot of stuff. I don't want to say anything. I'll talk about it off of mic. Because I don't know. I don't want to be any kind of situation. You don't have to touch names. No, no, no, not people, situations. Like with the UFC, with some finance stuff, with, with Connor, with a bunch of things that are going on that I've heard.

So I don't want to throw them out there because I don't know if they're true or not. I don't want to be that kind of gossip. But I've heard a tremendous amount about stuff. And I think it's great. And I was asked the other day about do we, with all these people openly talking about finances and everything else, which never happened two years ago. Great. Phenomenal.

Does that mean that we're any closer? Yes. Does that mean that we are any closer to a union? Hell no. Absolutely not. Everybody is pissing on everybody else's feet. There's no way for everybody to get their egos out of the way and say, hey, look, let's do this.

Let's all get together. And then let's fight this thing out after we get together. They won't do it. Too many egos are in the way, too many chefs in the kitchen, too many spoons in the broth, whatever the hell you want to say it, there's too many whatever's, and it's not going to work.

We are not any closer to going anywhere forwards. And we should be. It sucks. Like, there's really, there's so many angles of manipulation that we are being taken on that we need a multifaceted front

to be able to, hey, look, address this, address that, address this. And then have a one organization to be like, okay, look, this is how we're going to do it. get authority here. So we can address all these things versus all these people that are trying to piss and moan about everything. And it gets tiring. It gets, it gets, it gets, it gets, you come ear numb to it. Yeah. Because you just heard, is that even a term, ear numb? Can I say that? I know what you

mean. Yeah. It's like, can we coin that one. Right. You could go for it. Yeah. Go ahead. And let's see. You know, and because everybody complains about it, but nobody does anything. Yeah. So it just keeps complaining. And that sucks. But you were at that, there were actually two fighters at that quote unquote press conference. Yeah, you and Leslie Smith last August. For her standing up with the thing? Yeah, with Kobe Bryant. Good God. She's incredible. Dude, she's got stones. She's got bigger balls than all of you guys. She's no punk, man. And she's mad intelligent. Very smart. Yeah, I really appreciate her. And I think the other fighters should as well. But you were the only two there. And it was notable because she was the only UFC fighter. You weren't even in the

UFC anymore. And you still were interested enough to go. And I give you a lot of credit for that. and then that thing just kind of died and others have died. I mean the the MMA, the one with George and Kane and T.J. Seroni, that thing was like essentially dead on arrival with Bjorn. Are you disappointed that like it seemed like last year

there was this real push like that was one of the big stories of the year and then none of them could get going or was that not all that surprising? You know, no, it's not surprising at all. Like there's just... I felt like we were almost there. No, because they all are so worried about the big boss position

to get the money. It's a money grab. That's what it is. That's why all the Johnny come lately has come in the game and like, oh, we can do this, we can do this, we can do this. All you're worried about

is getting voted in to be the director of the union so that way you can get the big bucks and set the precedent. That's all you're worried about. You're not worried about us. And that's why I was asking at the thing. Like, look, we feel that we'd rather continue to get dicked over

than have the abusive wife syndrome, right? The abuse wife syndrome, right? Where you know you're going to get beat if you go home, but you'd rather get beat by somebody who knows who's going to beat you than be with somebody who you think's going to be good to you

and then they start beating you so it's even lower low. That's the way we are. We'd rather get dicted over by them because we know we can get ticked over than have somebody that claimed they're going to be in our best interest and try to do all these things but then to find out really

it was just to pad your own pocketbooks. Get on before you get spit on. We can't find somebody that has the integrity or that genuinely wants to work and if that's the case, if you generally want to work and want to do it best for us, then why don't you throw down the gauntland and be like, hey,

come in here. If you need to take over, let's all get together. Let's have everybody come in and let's have this conversation and let's see now how we can make it better. And then afterwards, once we have a union, now let's pull out our junk and see who's the biggest and see who wants to vote for everybody else. That's the way it should be done. And it's not. And that's a shame. And on top of that. The UFC announced today, right? For example, the UFC announced today that they're putting in wearable technology, microchips. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, say you wear them, right? Now the UFC has all this quantifiable data, right?

All this empirical data on you, what you're doing and everything else, right? You can get paid on that? What's going to happen? Now they have all this information now on you. Why don't you get a cut? Whenever they put up your stat or whatever else, why don't you get a cut of that? It should be part of your information. If you're going to put more information on me where you can capitalize and monetize on it,

why am I not going to get a cut of that? Yeah. One of the things that I've been working on now, I have a wearable technology that we're coming out with, like that is my baby. And I created it because I live in Indiana. Henry lives in Florida. And all my other coaches live everywhere else where they live, right?

So now I have something where I can actually track my movements, wearable technology. I can triangulate all my extremities, triangulate it, put it on an app. And then once I triangulated it and put it on an app, a 3D image gets put over the top of it. And then an email gets sent out to everybody I give access to and they can watch my practice.

Wow. They can actually watch my work. And they can see my velocity, my impact, my everything. my um my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my last year's this is my this is my baby I created this so I didn't have to go to Florida nearly as often but Henry can also see what I'm doing all the times I'm doing it did you use it for this fight I yes I've been using it for this fight and we were actually in talks of bell to are about using it in this fight oh but um we felt like there was so much hubbub so much stuff going on yeah that it would get

lost in a shuffle okay so we're I think we're going to check shelf it and we're going to try to use it in the upcoming fight really and this is something that Now, with this information, I'm only on it for me. So if the fighters want to use it, I'll pay them to use it. I'll pay them. Hey, cool, man. This is your cut. And if somebody wants to download your information or whatever else, they want to look at it,

then say it's like a pay-per-view situation, right? So now you get the money. I'll take a dollar rate out of it for the processing fees, and you get the rest. I'll 1099 or whenever you get the money, wherever that form is called. And that's your baby. But that's all your extra money now. So now, why isn't that a conversation? now.

You know, like, why isn't that like, hey, look, if we're going to get this in data on you and we're going to monetize it, where's the money for you? Well, the biggest one to me is the TV deal. It's massive. There's nothing there, guy. Nothing. Zero percent. You guys make zero percent.

And they won't stop taking advantage of us because we don't put our foot down. We don't. And people always say, we need these really big names, right? We need these really big names. Yeah, then big names would help out. But more importantly, if you take the belly of the divisions out, If you take the guys from number five to number 17, if you take them out of the lineup,

then they can't have any cards. They have three, maybe five cards a year, right? There's only, what, seven divisions? So if those other people who don't make enough money to have a living and actually have to have a side job, if they're like, no, I'm cool, I'm not going to do it. I'm protesting this. And we actually stuck together, then that would be something.

Cool. Connor, well, Conner's Connor, right? But whoever else isn't going to bail out. Remember when Lorenzo said, that the top tier, middle tier guys were making 600 Gs. I don't know anybody that made that much money except for like four guys. You know, like, I only know a couple of that made that much money. Do you think one of the big keys that has to happen is more organizations,

and I know fans don't like to hear this, but we talk about free agency and you experienced it, there really isn't free agency in MMA. There's really one other place that you could go, yeah, maybe a couple guys could go to one, maybe a couple guys could go to Risen, but it's basically like, is there interest from Bellator? If not, you might have to stay, right? That's kind of it. I mean, that's what happened with...

That's not free agency. You were in the NFL. There were 29 other places you can go. No, 31. 31. You know what you're right. And that's what happened with Overeem and with Sterling. Yep.

There wasn't enough interest. Yeah. And so they had to go back. So do you think that organizations? How about this? Yes. There was a dude I know. Okay.

Big name. Yeah. His contract came up. And they gave him a new contract. And they were really, The way, UFC. Okay. The way they put it is that we'll pay you this.

But if you lose, you go all the way back down to here. Yeah. Right? Like, really? And if they cut you now, right, your contract expires and you don't get the interest from Bellator. Well, now they know they can lower their ball because they can lower their offer. They can low ball you now because you've got to have a place they go if you still want to fight. Right.

So now you're fighting for the same, which they low balled you in the first place. Or they fight for less. Okay, cool. We'll see how you do now. There's so many things about the sport. I've said this time and again, like I feel like in 50 years we're going to look back on things like show and win money. You know what I mean?

Show and win money is a scam. Yeah, all it is, you know that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I say it just so the people at home here? Please, please, please.

All it is is a way for a promoter to look like he's handing out more money. That's all it is. There's nobody that's going to go in there and fight for your life for any different, for double the purse. It's not going to happen. All you does is, A, encourage safer fights, but B, it's just, it's just a hustle. That's all it is. So if you put out there and say, hey, look, what I'll do is I'll give you $4,000.

I'll give you $2,000. Go get your money. That's what it is. You're going to fight for your life in there because you're a gladiator and that's the reason why you're in the cage, not for doubling your purse. Yeah, I can't imagine going into,

I mean, Ryan Bader has talked about it since signing with Beltr. And of course, he debuts on Saturday as well. Like, now he actually feels like he can fight his fight. And I know some people are going to be like, oh, it's going to be a boring fight. Like, come on, you're going into a cage. You're literally putting your life on the line.

You deserve to know how much you're going to make. Yeah. You should get the most. amount possible. How does it work? Especially with these crazy judges and stuff. As a professional athlete, and I put that in quotes because we don't get paid like professional athletes, but as a professional athlete, you have to worry about your budget where you have to say to yourself, all right, well, I fought Travis for 36 and 36.

If I fight Travis and I lose, that means I get $36,000 and I get $10,000 as a Reebok deal. So I got, I have $46,000 coming in here. okay well if I win I can get this all right well but I get a plan on not having money so I have to plan my life on $46,000 like for the next six months seven months eight months really and I have and like and I'm supposed to be a professional athlete but you could have won 72 and that's the really big deal no man that's that's a hustle that's that's dirty so in short you don't think it's going to happen anytime soon though all of these reasons yeah no association nothing no I wish it would I wish somebody would hear me talking and be like you know what, that's a legit point. Meadhead is not such a meathead and this is a legit point.

Do you dislike when people call you that? You know, I find it funny where like trolls will be like, oh, no, his name's Meathead, what do you expect? Yeah. Like when I like, I'll clown people and like, I really enjoy trolling people on geography and geometry, right? And like, like saying like, like when somebody's talking about a country, I'm like, oh, well, I slept through geometry, so I don't know it, right? It's obviously geography. And I know, and I'll clown on that, you know, and people like, God, stupid, your name's me, that I guess you don't know any better. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, right on, dude. You're right, I don't know about that. So, like, I get off on that, I enjoy that. But when people call, like, actually think that I'm not intelligent, I'm like, you know, you actually don't know who I am. Do you still hear voices? Only the good ones. I'm kidding.

I'm kidding. Only the good ones. You ever watched that? No, man, but I think about, I talked to Rashad. You know, he's my dear. And we talk about it. And, like, and it was funny because I talked to my wife. I talked to her that day

and I started to snitch on myself at that moment. I'll know it's my fighter. You talked to your wife that day? Yeah. You guys got to speak to your wife? No, that's the reason why I kept Do you not know this?

Why no? That's the reason why I kept saying I had mush head. I had a little bit of mush head for a while for like a day or two had a headache. But then it was fine. You said it so that you can talk to me.

So I'll go to the hospital. And when I go to hospital, the people that would drive us were just extra as they hired for the day. They were day workers. So I'd be like, hey man, can I use your phone? Yeah, sure.

On the ride of the hospital, I'd just call up and talk to my wife. Wow. Yeah. So that's the reason why I had all- Did you really miss her? Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah. I had a two-month-old baby, Jonah was only two months old.

So I would call up and I talked to her. Hey, man, how are you? Like, what's going on here? Like, this is what's going on in the house? I'm not happy about this stuff. And I started to snitch on myself in the cage with Rashad. And that's when I was like, he's like, how'd you talk to her? And I was like, in my head.

Because I had to play it off. Oh, no. Yeah. And that's when Rashad looked at me like I was nuts. because I was like, oh, I almost just snitched to myself. And so I had to like, you can see me like I'm kind of smiling and I kind of pull it back a little bit. The word was though that that, that, um, I was on that hustle in that show. The word that was that was that was that was that was his own cell phone.

I had like to see the Kimbo room. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, is that true? Not that I know of. No, I'd have been, who knows. What was it like being in the actual house with him, like living with the guy? He was cool, dude. He was a really good, man.

He didn't have his entourage there, his crew there, things like that. No, they would show it to the fights, but not in the house. That must have been surreal to be there with the, those guys. All you big boys, Roy Nelson, who's now, of course, with Belator as well.

Yeah, it's awesome. You have interest in that? Yeah, I mean, yeah, sure, man. Roy's a good friend of mine. If I can fight other people and say to him, I'd rather fight other people.

Okay. You know, like, but it is what it is. If Roy, if Roy's the guy they throw at me, then that's who I'm going to fight. But Roy and I, we're good friends, man,

and that fight didn't hurt our friendship at all. It hurt him that I, that hurt his feelings that I was like, you know, I'll fight him on short notice. But I had been out for so long. him. I didn't call him like, hey man, this is the way it was going to be. And I didn't explain

the situation. Like, I'd been out for this long. Tim, not to be rude, but Phil DeFries is kind of a gimmie. I should beat him. I've been out for this long. So if I'm going to be out for this long, I might as well take a risk and fight somebody like Roy who had that name. Because if I lose a fill, it's going to kill me. If I lose to Roy on short notice, it wouldn't really hurt me that bad. And so it was a calculated risk I took. But I didn't call him up and be like, hey, this situation. I didn't, I didn't handle it like a friend should have. So like, if they say, oh, you beat Fador, you get Roy next thing, you're like, eh, I'd rather fight some other people. Yeah, I'd be like, you know, it is what it is, man. But I'd rather fight somebody else. Like I said,

Roy's a good friend of mine. I'm sure we'll cross paths again. But if there's somebody else, that's worth my time, that'll put on an exciting fight. Then that's who I want to go for. How are we doing this on Saturday? How's it getting done? You know, man, really, I feel great. I feel long, nimble, athletic. I feel like I'm in great cardio shape. So if he wants to get me to the ground, it's going to be a struggle. I'm pretty solid right now. I've got a wrestler from Cornell, Matt Greenberg, who's a phenomenal wrestler.

And he's 250 pounds built a lot like Fedor, great with Bidilocks and Greco throws. My normal training partners is in Charles, standback, Team Two Ton, Buda, Chris, a handful of other dudes. I feel like I'm really prepared. So wherever it goes. Oh, for sure. I feel like I'm going to knock Fador out. Wow. I feel like I'm going to put hands on them.

Wow. And I feel like I know exactly how it's going to happen. Oh, early? Play out, baby. Early? I don't get paid by the punch. That's right. Get in, get out.

That's amazing. I can't believe it's actually happening. I'm excited about it. Belator, MSG. And you know, that's another thing too, man. How cool of Fador, when somebody asked them before, like, hey, is this a fight actually going to happen? It was on the conference call. And his answer was, yeah.

He's like, I'm not worried about a backup. Like, he signed his name to it. There was one hiccup. This fight's guaranteed. It's going to happen. It just shows me, man. He's just mad integrity. It's a really good dude.

You still doing the sports talk stuff in Indy? You had that show and he had me on. Yeah. And then you know, your boy, Pat McAfee. Yes? I think I'm switching over to Barstool. Wow. Barstool, I think it's called Heartland.

Barstall Heartland. Okay. I think I'm switching over to him. And we're going to start doing some stuff afterwards. Just because I'm more of a, I don't do well with Paran. I do well with open fences, you know, open borders. All right. So I do well, I do better in that situation.

And you're still doing Beltor kickboxing? Yes. Yeah. Yes. As far as I know. I don't think I got fired yet. Well, I just saw you, you did a, you did the last one. Yeah, I did.

And my company, athlete. What's that? My company, my micro, my wearable technology. Oh, of course. Oh, you didn't tell us the name. It's called Ass Elite. And then did you patent? You got it all?

Yeah, we filed for a provisional. We're filing for patents now. How do you spell that? A-T-H. L-I-T-E. We're on Instagram and Twitter. Look at you. This is man. Renaissance man. I'm telling you, it's obviously wearables are the way of the future. But I think the paper view model that we have, the money going out to the athletes,

I think it's a really unique perspective, especially with remote viewing. I think that's a phenomenal way to take this to the different steps. Last thing before I let you go, because you have to leave. I think you have some other interviews. Nothing as cool as this. Nothing, obviously, nearly as big as this. Best fight on this card not named Fador Mitrione. Best card in Beltore history.

It is. Which fight? Dude. Damn, that's really difficult. I don't tell you why it's so difficult. Because we're the three title fights. Michael Chandler is a flipping beast. I mean, and Primus has something to prove.

And everybody's overlooking them. I think that's going to be one hell of a fight. Larkin and Lima are tremendous. Good. Yeah. If I had to pick, I might go Larkin just because he's been on a bigger stage. And the pressure might get to Lima, which I don't think it will. But if I'm making something up, that might be.

That's the fight? Are you making a prediction here? I'm making a prediction. And then, like you said about Bader, he's got guaranteed money now. Yeah. And so does Phil. and Phil's got title money, and Phil already lost home before. I don't see anything safe, and Bader has mad power, so much power.

And Phil is coming to his own right now. I don't know, dude, it's such a good card. And how about for Bellator, dude, to put on two cards, two individual cards, the same night in the same arena? Not just any arena. The arena. The arena. It's madness, man.

I really like the Shenzhou Machita James Galaher fight. That's going to be a great fight. That is a great fight. I totally forgot about that. I totally forgot. Is that the swing bout? No, that's on Spike. Okay.

There's a swing bout that's supposed to be kind of dope. Also, Heather Hardy? Yeah, Heather. This is good stuff. Yeah. Dude, Belator's really, Mr. Coker's really going hard, man. Mr. Coker? And let's not forget about Mr. Cogan.

He doesn't like to be talked about. He does. Yeah, he is. This has been a lot of fun. Thank you. It wouldn't have been the same. Even though you didn't respond to my text, I'm happy you came.

Thank you. I'm happy you got to christen the new joint. I wish you the best. June 24th. And you got Gina up there too. Gina. Well, Gina holds a special place in my heart.

She was the day, this is a different, well, for different reasons. You made the face there, but in short, very early in my career, I was working for a site called MMARadio.com, and I,

uh, I was not feeling it. I was getting murdered online. Like, everyone was making fun of me. And I interviewed her and she did something that was, that just gave me the confidence. I'll never forget that moment.

It was right before she fought in Newark on CBS, that first show, Kim Bo against James Thompson. So to me, Gina is like, is on the Mount Rushmore. So I wanted to give her a special place. So let me ask you this.

This is mildly presumptuous. Yes. If Cyborg was on gear due to bad testing back then. Yeah. Does Gina win? Does she stick around? Does she stick around? It's very possible.

And how much did that damage her reputation, if at all? Or do now do you think people in hindsight, people look at it and be like, that's not real? It's not like the ronda thing. There's an asterisk on it? Not an asterisk, but I don't think people view it like you took your ball and went home. I think it was a tough loss and there was some stuff probably that she believed.

I had reason to believe. Yeah. I mean, people forget, she was actually promoted for like, it was like a year and a half later. She was on the Showtime broadcast and everything. Like, she was coming back. Yeah. And then she kind of just disappeared. Yeah. You know, I've had on this show, every single end we have, we have to go because they're telling me five. But every fighter, yeah, I mean, name a fighter. He's been on. Right. Except her. Really? Yeah. So, you know, I met her when I was in Italy. Yeah. Now we're friends. We're cool now. And I asked her, I was like, do you miss it? And she's like, I miss it every day.

It's in her soul. Like, she misses it. She coming back? I don't, I don't think so. I think she's happy with her life. But I think that she gets her work out of Kevin. Kevin's a full-fledged badass and awesome at what he does. And I think that she gets the Jones through Kevin.

All right. We'll leave it at that. June 24th, once again, MSG, Fjodor Armele-Niko versus Matt Matron. It is happening, guys. Where are we looking? Where are we looking? Boom, I've got to get used to these cameras. It's all very new here.

It's all very new here, Matt. Thank you very much for coming in. I appreciate it. Best of luck to you. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to be joined by Josh Gross to talk about Ali versus Inoki. He's still banned. Well, we'll talk about that.

Why are you going to start such trouble? And then what is our clip? I forget our clip. Anyone want to know? Are we doing nostalgic clips right now? Yeah, we're doing nostalgia clip. Wow. I saw that tweet about favor, Uriah.

Yes. What is it again? Yes. BJ Penn is fighting this Sunday. Did you know that? He's fighting Dennis Siever in Oklahoma City. You didn't know that?

Gosh, you really need to get out. I was going to wear my BJ Penn shirt. So that would have been nice. Let's go back to a classic moment on this program, old studio. It's BJ Penn and Henzo Gracie coming together on this show as we prepare for his fight against Dennis Seaver.

We'll say goodbye to Matt. We'll watch that and then we'll say hello to Josh. Stick around. Don't go anywhere. Fantastic career. You're a legend of the sport. One of my favorite fights of yours in terms of the buildup

and it's documented in your great documentary called Legacy was a fight that happened in July of 2005 against BJ Penn. It was, I mean, that to me was one of the greatest fights and just the buildup. It was just such a great build for a fight, a non-UFC fight.

And you came on while Don was on, two legends there. Let's have two more legends on the show. And let's bring in one of the greatest of all time. In my opinion, the greatest lightweight ever. BJ Penn, bringing him in on the show right now. Let's have a little reunion here. B.J., are you there, my friend?

Hey, thank you very much. Thanks for having me, how are you doing, Henzo? Oh, great, my brother. Great, poha. People talk about the whole time they send me tweets about, I was fighting when you were in your father's neck sack. They don't let her go. Hey, you know what?

You know what? Ariel, you know, I got a lot of respect from Henzo. You know, if there's anyone I could take a private lesson from, you'd be that man right there. Wow. Oh, man, you're the bad. If I ever have the opportunity to take a private. lesson, it'll be from that man.

You get love, you have love from you, you're one of the best for her jujitsu guys I have ever seen out there, my fan. I was proud and honored to one day

step in the ring with you, for you. Henzo, let me ask you this, Henzo, B.J. retired recently. Don't you want to see him back? Don't you want to see, I mean, this guy's too young,

he's too good. He's not retiring. He's resting a little bit. He's just a kid. He's going to be back for sure. Someone is good as him can retire. We won't let him

We gotta push him. You know, I bet Henzo knows more better than anyone. Every time you try to get out, they pull you right back in. Yes, we're gonna drag him. We won't let him left. He's too good. He represents Jiu-Gitzu 100%. So we're gonna push him back.

It doesn't matter what. BJ, what do you remember about that fight against Henzo? At an interesting time in your career. Do you have any good memories of it? you know I was riding on a high you know I fought Matt Hughes I was fighting all these good fights I was winning all these good fights and and I remember um I remember going to the way in and and we had to do the stared on after the way in and remember when henzel and you know I was thinking I had a big ego thinking highly of myself and I remember when hendzo looked at me at the

way in he looked right into my eyes and the first thing I thought was man this guy's not scared at all guys not scared at all, you know? And it was just, like Hensa said, there's the same thing, what opportunity, you know. And, I mean, for me, it was like, honestly, I look back in the future now, and I'm kind of, I'm torn about the fight, you know, that I had with Hensel and, and Rodriguez, because me being a jiu-jitsu guy, you know, the Gracie family started it all for me. You know, if it wasn't for the Gracie family, I believe, you know, none of us would be here doing what we're doing,

you know, but really for me personally, the Gracie family started it all for me, and, you know, it would be very, I don't see myself ever fighting anyone with the last name Gracie ever again. I have a perturred feelings about that, you know. I looked back in the past, and I wish, you know, I kind of wish I didn't have those guys. All right, back on the MMA hour.

that was one of my favorite moments in the history of the program as I get an emergency alert on my phone. It says that there's a flash flood warning in this area. Good thing I didn't bring an umbrella. But you know what? That means I'm sticking around. They're going to have to kick me out of here. I like this place too much. This is too much fun.

New set, new studio. Thank you very much to Bellator for bringing in Fyodor Amelianenko. Thank you very much to Matt Matrione for stopping by as well. Can't wait for that. It's going to be a lot of fun here in New York. They are bringing out the big guns. They're doing all kinds of pre-fight stuff. You can see that on their website.

On our website, it's all very exciting. All right, a couple more guests left. Very excited to talk to our next guest. He is a veteran journalist. He's been doing this for almost two decades now. But the reason I wanted to have him on the program this week is because last year, almost exactly at around this time, he came out with this book.

It is called Ali versus Inoki. Of course, it is about the famous fight that took place on June 26, 1976, in Tokyo, Japan. It was Muhammad Ali versus Antonio Inoki, the pro wrestling legend. Now, in my opinion, and I actually wrote this in the article

when we reported the Mayweather-McGregor fight on Wednesday when it was made official, this Mayweather-McGregor boxing match is the first time since Ali versus Inoki that two athletes from different combat sports are coming together to put on this sort of mega fight, if you will, this whatever you want to call it, freak show, whatever the hell you want to call it. This is the first time since that Ali versus Inoki fight. It is shades of Ali versus Inoki. And so I thought it would be a great opportunity

to talk to Josh Gross, who knows about the Ali versus Inoki fight better than anyone. And of course, who knows a hell of a lot about combat sports as well, because he's been covering MMA for almost two decades. So let us go to the Sky Machine and welcome in. the one and only Josh Gross. There he is, making his MMA hour debut. How are you, Josh? I'm tremendous, Ariel. Congratulations on your new studio, man.

It looks great. Well, you know, I thought I need to get some big guns this week. We've got, you know, a new site, new studio, all that stuff. Who bigger than Josh Gross to come on and christen the new place? That's what I'm saying. Everybody else is the icing, right? I mean, that's how I'm feeling about this show. I like what we're doing with the hair here, Josh.

Is it a little long? I haven't seen you in person. What's going on back there? I appreciate that. Got a haircut last week. It was actually out of control. It really was. I wanted to keep some of the length.

But, you know, I've been fighting this call for years. Shave it. Get rid of it. Get rid of it. No, no, man. I'm holding on for dear life, Ariel. I'm not sure if you saw, but LeBron James actually succumbed last week. Did you see that?

You know, he probably wears it better than I did. More power to LeBron James. And nice of Matt Mitrione to mention that I was still banned. I appreciate that by Matt. Always nice. Matt. Are you covering Bellator this weekend in New York? I won't be in New York.

No, I won't be in New York. but I don't think, unfortunately, the Guardian still not a lot of interest in the Bellator card. I tried to sell them on it, but they weren't too interested. Unfortunately, I'll be watching. All right. Well, it is great to have you on, and like I said, I thought of you right away

when they announced this fight, and the book was fantastic. You were on the beat last year when the book came out, and I'm wondering if you feel the same way. Do you feel like this is the first time or the biggest fight since as far as a mixed match? I don't know if there's a perfect term for it, but since the Ali versus Inoki fight, is this shades of Ali versus Inoki?

I certainly, I think it is. And as the discussion is played out, you know, will it happen, won't it happen? I've done a lot of interviews, people wondering about the connection there. And I think it's a perfectly natural connection to make. It makes a lot of sense. Not because of the styles. I mean, obviously, this is a boxing contest. The other one, they were talking about a more open set of rules, even though that was all crazy.

But you have these two giant personalities from different combat sports. sports fields and whatever you think of at noki i mean to him pro wrestling was combat sports it was in that lineage right wrestling lineage so i think when you have these two giant personas floyd mayweather con mcgregor mohammed ali intoneo noki you can definitely draw parallels i think that's fair are you surprised you know people have tried to do these things in the past of course there was a famous one with anderson sylvan roy jones it never came to fruition the ufc has always been reluctant to co-promote or to play nice with others or to loan out their talent. Are you surprised that they ultimately did this?

I was never convinced that they would. But there's so many things afoot. I mean, you know, it's really about that. And it's about, Karam McGregor is so unique. There's never been anyone like him in mixed martial arts. I think that's fair to say. I'm not talking about his skill or his ability to fight.

I'm just saying the way that he handles himself as an athlete. in the way that he sells himself and markets himself and his ability to manifest things out of seemingly nowhere, there's never been anyone like him. So I always said, yeah, it'll probably happen to money. It's too much to pass up. But at the end of the day, I think for a myriad reasons, and the first one you have to look at everybody's bank account,

it was going to happen. And I think the UFC, the way that they've come together and sort of worked with Connor on this and made it happen from them. They could have made this, but they want to cash in too. So at the end of the day, I think that the almighty dollar wins, and that really shouldn't surprise anybody. Do you think if the UFC doesn't get sold last year for $4.025 billion, to be exact,

that this fight doesn't happen? Maybe less of a chance. Okay. Maybe less of a chance. I think certainly the new ownership had a lot to do with it. the realistic sort of what's happening behind the scenes in terms of money. Like sort of the, there's no, no question how much they need to create opportunities to bring big cash into the coffers.

And the first half of 2017 is not really delivered, I think, in ways that they would have hoped. No question it hasn't delivered like it did in 2015 when you had Rhonda and Connor. So for them to have a chance now to really cash in on a match that kind of came out of nowhere. I think the ownership changed had quite a bit to do with that. That's a good question. I wonder if Lorenzo would have really put his neck in a line to make this fight. If they would have had the motivation to get it done then, I don't know. We'll see how the next two plus months go.

But initially, just based off the press conference or the conference call on Wednesday, are you surprised how sort of laissez-faire the UFC seems to be? And Dana White was the representative on the call. They're just like, yeah, we're just kind of sitting back. it reminded me of Chuck Liddell going to pride. Like he just went there with Chuck and had nothing to do with the fight. Does that surprise you? No, because they want to be seen as boxing promoters.

Right. I think that's a very real thing. There's distinct differences between the boxing business and the mixed martial arts business. There's different rules for govern boxing in terms of what promoters can and can't do in terms of what managers can and can't do. And so I think it's important and smart for them to be hands off here. They're going to cash in. They'll make their money because Connor couldn't do this. without, you know, the kissing the ring, really.

And, you know, he did, and they came to a financial agreement. And for the UFC, you know, Dana White, I think they feel like there's really nothing for them to lose. I don't know if that's true or not, but it seems like that's how they're operating. And the fact that they're taking a hands off approach to the promotion, that doesn't surprise me at all, because I think if they took a more proactive approach, that would start creating to be problematic in terms of their business. and, you know, the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act is a real thing. And all of a sudden, you know, you're operating as a boxing promoter. There's different, there's different sort of expectations for how they would need to operate.

And I think they want to stay away from that. The media landscape very different today than it was 41 years ago. But can you tell us from your reporting, from your research, from all your interviews to, you know, leading up to writing this book, how big of a deal was Ali versus Zanoke here in the United States? It took place in Japan, which of course sort of hurts the promotion a little bit. This fight, the Mayweather fight is taking place in Vegas. But was the world captivated like they seemed to be about Mayweather and McGregor? No, I think it was different. First of all, anything Molle did drew immense media attention.

You know, I just made a comparison to Connor McGregor as sort of a unique character in mixed martial arts. We've never seen anyone like him. As big as this star is and as much as it's a... it'll grow after this Mayweather fight and as big as it'll ever be. What Muhammad Ali was when this fight took place was another world, a completely different stratosphere of fame. He was the most famous man on the planet, okay? Maybe the Pope.

But, you know, it really was Muhammad Ali driving this eight months after the thrill in Manila. I mean, he is at his pop culture peak. This is the most famous, worldwide famous Muhammad Ali that we saw. So in that respect, I think the American, amount of media attention that he received was pretty large. Now, it wasn't on the sphere of what he got for the third Frazier fight. A lot of media considered a joke and a farce, but he still got a lot of the daily newspapers every day in the sports section.

They were covering this match. You know, the age of the Internet has given rise to a new form of media, a different type of media where anybody can step in. The barrier to entry for creating content is nil. So you had editors making decisions. We have to cover this. This is Muhammad Ali. And they did it in a big way.

But I have to imagine the breadth of coverage, the intensity of coverage, because the way that media has shifted and how people ingest content now, mobile phone, every hundred, you can get media any way possible you can imagine. I think we're going to be so inundated over the next two months with Mayweather McGregor that even if the fight turns out great, I'm not sure it's going to be able to live up to the expectation. I think there's just going to be so much thrown at this fight over the next two months, a real sort of weak time in terms of the sports period, right? There's not a lot happening this summer.

You don't have a World Cup. It's the dog days of summer. So it's going to be this match and nothing else. So I think probably the breadth of coverage will outpace with Ali and Anoki got. But there was intense coverage for Ali andoki. And worldwide. In Japan, it meant a lot. I have, as I said, at the top of the show, I've tried to read and listen via podcast, TV shows,

what the best boxing media members. have been saying about this over the last few days. And the overwhelming response seems to be like, this is a sham, this is a joke. I even heard a couple say, I'm not even going to cover this. I don't know if I believe that. How did the boxing media treat Ali doing this?

I know this wasn't considered a professional boxing match, but did they kind of, you know, look down on him for doing this at the height of his popularity? A lot of them hated it. Very similar. They felt like Ali was embarrassing boxing, like he was disparaging the belts that he had, despite it, I mean, which is amazing considering what he had accomplished at that

point. He's Muhammad Ali. Now this is 1976. Basically his career had unfolded and there was no one bigger. And yet the boxing press felt like him going to Japan to fight a pro wrestler and they weren't even sure if it was real or not. It was really hard to tell. Ali was swearing up and down

that this thing was legitimate. But the boxing press felt it was an affront to boxing, right? And they felt like he was embarrassing the sport. It was beneath boxing. They had a real highfalutant attitude about this whole thing. That, you know, boxing was so important. And culturally, boxing was much more important then than it is today.

But sports has shifted culturally, too. It's not the same thing now. That a lot of them really felt it was terrible. And then it turned out that the match really stunk. And at the time, a lot of fans were really upset. And it was interesting in some respect because it was one of the rare moments of all these athletic career that people walked away disappointed. Yeah.

That didn't happen a lot. And so people quickly forgot it. And they moved on to this next fight against Ken Norton, the Yankee Stadium three months from then. And really, that's why I phrased the subheads of the book, the forgotten fight. A lot of people just wanted to be done with it and move on. And I kind of wonder if Mayweather McGregor, if it goes the way the boxing press thinks it does, if it's really sort of a wipeout, and it just feels like Mayweather got to 50 and O really cheap and they cashed in.

I think people wipe their hands of this and walk away, you know, almost instantly and forget that it happened and feel, okay, maybe we got fooled, maybe it's a stupid event, if that happens. Now, if Connor does something, if he goes Mystic Mac on us, right? If he goes nuts and does something and at least shows up, right, hurts Floyd or does something that looks like, wow, he's got a real chance to test Floyd. Yeah, I think this bout will be looked upon in a more, well, I think people may look upon it much more favorably than they would have the Ali-Anoki contest in large part because they understand this is box. And they get what this is. Ali-inoki, a lot of people really didn't have any concept of what a mixed rules fight was, what Inoki was all about.

So, yeah, I think the boxing, which is framed, is much different. But, you know, in the end result, I'm with the boxing guys. I mean, I'd be shocked if it was a real fight. And in the sense that I'd be shocked if it's a real competitive contest. That would surprise me. So I know this is a complex question, but, you know, if I say to you, okay, August 27th, we're talking, and I say to you, you know, what did you think? What did you think of the fight?

you know, all this talk, it finally happened. What do you expect to say? Like, do you think that this will be, you know, a joke? Do you think that the talk will be, I can't believe I paid $100 for this. We were duped again. This was such a sham. This is embarrassing. What do you expect?

Or do you think that, look, this is worth covering. This is going to be a thing. This will be compelling. What do you think you will say? It'll be compelling. It's worth covering. But I don't think it's a competitive contest. I think if there's one piece of this that really intrigues me.

as like just a sporting aspect, right? I mean, there are going to be so many storylines back and forth, but I think the sporting aspect will be good, we'll get lost in it in a large part because maybe some of the boxing people don't know Connor or don't appreciate

how special he is. Look, if he can get in Floyd May of the Weather's head, if he can make Floyd do something out of character and he can do it because he's Connor McGregor and he's brilliant that way, then that's almost a payoff to me. to me, that's worth this entire episode. It's an event.

It's a cash grab. It's for money. But at the end of the day, you're having one man step in the ring against another man. And yes, we think we know what's going to happen. I think Floyd Mayleather's going to chop him up. I think he's going to dominate Connor.

I'm actually fearful that if Floyd really wanted to, he could hurt Connor and put Connor out of competition for a little stretch. I really do believe that. Because look, Connor can't just tap out. Connor can not just be on his stool and say, no moss. It's different in boxing. Like that's not the expectation. He has to show up and he has to fight and he will do that because that's what he does. But there's real, real risk here for him.

And so what am I going to tell you, April, August 27th? I think I'm going to tell you that Floyd was Floyd and Floyd's the greatest defensive boxer of our generation. And Floyd is unhittable and Connor wasn't good enough to touch him. And Floyd really took it to Connor and heard him to the body and put combinations together and made Connor look like an amateur boxer. I think that's what I'm going to tell you because that seems like the most likely outcome. That seems like the most likely outcome.

Win or lose, do you think Connor goes back to the UFC? Unless he, look, if he doesn't have something written in his contract that sort of, you can't make a man fight. Yeah. But I have a hard time believing, and you probably know better than I do, but I have a hard time believing that the UFC came to terms with Connor on this boxing agreement without having something in place

to protect them on the back end. Yeah. that doesn't sort of ensure that he's going to come back unless there's a price to pay. So, yes, I do think he will. I do think Connor's a fighter. I do think Connor loves money. I think he lives in extravagant life. And he's probably smart.

He's probably doing the right things with his money. He's got good management, good people around him. But his lifestyle sort of mandates that he will have to make money again. And he's not going to go be a plumber anymore. So I would assume he's going to do what can make him millions and millions. Maybe it's not $100 million. but with Floyd in the rearview mirror with that kind of audience now knowing who he is if he has any kind of showing he can make $30 million in the UFC fight I mean now I think he could

do that and that'd be a hard thing for me to imagine he would walk away from so I think he will fight Connor has never been more popular and it's amazing he hasn't done much media in 2017 we spoke in January he's had some couple things pop up here and there on social media but he's been relatively out of the limelight he had that moment back in March when his friend and, you know, I guess a protege, if you will, Michael Coglin made his boxing debut at the theater in Madison Square Garden. And he had that moment where he went up to the boxing media and he was yelling at them and he was saying that, you know, I'm going to shock the world and just, it was just, it was just a great moment. I mean, it was just perfect. 45 seconds.

He had everyone eating out of his, out of his hand. And he's talking to Dan Rayfield, VSP, and you see Gareth Davies with a big smile. The boxing media loved it. And I know some people hate when this comparison is made, but I will say it because I felt it. It reminded me of Ali, the way he was yelling, the way he was, you know, proclaiming what he did when he yelled at Jose Aldo after beating Dennis Siever. That was Ali-esque, if you will. As someone who has studied Ali, written a book about, you know, a moment in his career and life, how do you feel when people compare Connor McGregor to Ali? Do you cringe or is it fair at this point? No, it's still a stretch.

But I hated it when the UFC and Fox did that for the Siever fight. The Irish Muhammad Ali, just like let Connor be Connor. Let him establish his own legacy. I know you're trying to sell him. Is this bigger than life character? You know, Connor doesn't need a lot of selling. He's very smart and he gets it. He's extremely charismatic.

And people are drawn to him. One of the things that I do in Ali versus Inoki is I'd go back to a period in Ali's life when he became the Lilyville lip. He became that character. And you trace it back to his interest from pro wrestlers like Freddie Blassie and Gorgeous George. And he learned how to be that person. And so if there's a connection between Connor and Ali,

I'm sure, and Connor has spoken about his affinity for Muhammad Ali and what Muhammad Ali is meant to him. Because Muhammad Ali has meant so much to so many fighters, but very few could even approach or think about emulating what he does. Connor has that amazing ability to do it. And there's no question in my mind that he's watched Ali and he learned from Ali, just as Ali learned from the pro wrestlers and sort of built on this persona and understands that the whole point of what he has to do is to get people to react to him.

One way or the other. They just have to have some sense that they have an opinion about him. And at that point, they have an opinion about him. They care about him and they're going to be invested in him. And he knows that. And he learned that by watching Hamid Ali and other people. Very few people have pulled it off like Connor can. I'm not going to give him the, I guess, compliment of being on Muhammad Ali's level.

Because you know what, Ali was just, and Connor's intelligent and he's smart and the things he says really kind of flow and they just work when you hear him speak. Like it just works in your eardrum. Ali had all that, but Ali also spoke in such intelligent terms about the world and what's happening. And his impact on groups of people was, you can't understate that. Connor doesn't have that yet as a cultural figure. Connor, maybe to the Irish people as someone who's a celebrity and is a fighter and represents something to them. But as a man, like Ali is on a plane that no one, no athlete can touch today. And I don't think any athlete really is nor that capable or interested in touching where Ali was in terms of how he was perceived and the stances that he took and the difficulty.

You know, look at the reaction to a guy like Colin Kaepernick. He was nowhere near the end in the success story, the Muhammad Ali was. But he goes out and speaks his mind. And a lot of people just crap on him. They hate on him. And that's all we hear is that narrative. We don't really listen to his words. Most people don't listen to his words because we're in a different place in time.

And so as much as Connor and Ali are connected in terms of their verbiage and the way that they can come across. And really, you know, the way that they can really sort of move an audience, move a crowd. I think you still have to separate them in terms of what they said and the importance of what they said. Yeah, that's very well. said, I mean, from a cultural perspective and his influence socially, there's no comparison right now. I was strictly speaking about his promotional

skills and the way he gets under his opponent's skin. It's close, Ariel, it's close, but I'm not still Ali, right? It's still Ali. Absolutely. And of course, Connor has a long ways to go, but yes, absolutely, there's no one like Muhammad Ali. Let me ask you this. From a promotion standpoint,

like the fight was a dud, right? Ali versus Zanokey was a dud. it did not live up to whatever hype there was. Are there any lessons from a promotional standpoint? I mean, of course, it's a different fight. This is a strict boxing match. This was the 76 fight was mixed rules. But promotionally, are there any lessons that can be learned from the buildup to that fight

and the actual event itself that should be applied to this kind of foreign territory that we're in the next two months? I don't think so. I think you nailed it. They were so different. Okay. The mixed rules fight, all these. these people were trying to protect Ali every way that they could.

So if we were talking about a contest that was under current day mixed martial arts rules, it wouldn't have been a dud. It would have been incredibly compelling. Muhammad Ali probably would have been taken down and choked out. And it would have been remembered forever. But he was protected in so many ways. And the people that came together for that fight who were on Ali's side really felt like they had to do that.

Because that's why it didn't end up being a scripted contest. Initially, it was supposed to be a pro wrestling match. but they couldn't trust that in a scripted contest that Antonio Noki wouldn't go off script and wouldn't really hurt Ali. So they had to put in Ali's head that this is a real fight and you have to treat it like a real fight. Look, Connor and Floyd is a boxing contest

and we understand the parameters of that and it's extremely limited. But in that limitation, you see so much beauty and skill when boxing is done right. I don't know that you can extrapolate too much. I really don't. I think that they, probably don't want to sell it as a legitimate sporting contest because no one's going to believe that.

You don't want to, you sell it as here's an incredibly gifted fighter and Connor McGregor who's going into a realm of sport that he chose not to go into earlier in his life. Connor was an all Irish amateur boxer, right? He was someone who maybe could have chosen to go into boxing for his career. He chose not to. He chose to go a different path. And that path is a much more open path. And so he's a fighter.

Of course he is. and he's incredibly skilled. But, you know, anytime you're talking about, like, one single discipline and the refinement that takes to be great in one discipline, it doesn't matter what you're talking about, that's a hard thing to sort of really get over on people. You know, Floyd and Manny Pacchio was a fight that happened too late, and it was disappointing because it happened too late,

and the fight didn't really live up to what people hoped it would be. You can't sell this as a legitimate sporting contest. You sell it as an event, and you sell it as anything goes. I mean, it's really sort of evil-kineval stuff, right? jumping over Snake River. It really is. It harkens back to a different era. And you embrace that. You embrace it's an event and a showcase and people can come together for something that's just fun maybe. That's the key. Embrace the funness aspect of this as opposed to getting all worked up about, you know what? Yeah, it's not a legitimate contest. Maybe something crazy happens. Probably not.

But don't, you know, the people are so worked up over, even I get worked over, because I think it's cheap for Floyd to go 50 and O against Connor. I really, really do. And what he trained. mark 50, you know, like, give me a break. It's so transparent. But, you know, it's a situation in which who knows. And that's the one thing that everybody can sell is who knows. And even if it's a 1% chance, a 2% chance, we've seen enough with Connor McGregor on who knows and he's turned it into his favor. So a lot of people are going to be hooked. A lot of people are going to love it. And, you know, a lot of people are going to make a lot of money, Ariel. It's not going to be me. I'll tell you that. I don't know, you know, a lot of the media companies are going to love this.

but this fight came together for many, many reasons, and you have to sort of embrace that aspect of it, that it is a one-off. It's a showcase. I like what Stephen Espinoza said, right? It's not a statement on mixed martial arts, and it's not a statement on boxing. It's Connor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather in a boxing contest.

Who the hell knows? I couldn't agree more. It's two months, and then that's it. And to me, there are a lot of other more important things to get worked up about just enjoy it enjoy the ride it's going to be a circus the buildup is going to be so damn entertaining why the hell not it's here i mean we can't fight it and so like when i hear when i hear people say i'm boycotting this and all that like yeah that's fine you could boycott it and it's one of those weird fights in my opinion where every take on it actually is sort of right like if you want

to call it a sham if you want to say it's crazy that he's going 50 and o against connor yeah you're right if you want to say this is fun and you love connor you want to see him shocked the world yeah you're right too. I mean, like everything kind of goes. It's so absurd that we're actually here. And I think sometimes absurd is fun. So I'm happy we sort of share that for you. And I hope that you will enjoy. You know, because sometimes us media guys, we kind of get like stuck in the, you know what I mean? So enjoy the next two months. And that's the beauty, right? Like come Labor Day, this is over. It's not going to last six months. So enjoy. And let me make a quick point on the people who say this is bad for boxing, right? If Showtime does its job, they're going to market the hell out of a whole

lineup of fights down the road because you have millions and millions of eyeballs on this contest. And this is an opportunity for network like Showtime, which is obviously so connected to boxing, to say this is what we have coming up. We have got some great stuff coming up. And for people like me who are super excited about watching Canelo and Triple G, yeah, that's amazing and it's amazing fight. And it's the best of boxing. And I'm excited for that. This contest doesn't take away from that contest. These are completely separate things. With the personalities is involved, you really have to look at it is its own self-contained bubble. It's not a statement on any sport. It's not a statement on anything. It's just a fun summer event. And it harkens back to an era

where that used to happen all the time. And I think you're right. I think people, if you get worked up about it, you're wasting your breath. Enjoy it or don't enjoy it. But don't start freaking out about it. It's here. You're right. You're totally right. Josh, great to get your perspective. Once again, the book is Ali versus Inoki. You can get it. Amazon, any bookstore out there. I highly recommend it. And if you're looking for a summer read as we build up to this once in a lifetime event, at least in our lifetimes, this is the one. This is the one to get you excited.

So I appreciate it very much. Congrats on the book. I've told you this before, but I really enjoyed it. And it was great to have you on the show for the first time. And I hope that I'll see you somewhere down the road as far as this promotion is concerned. Hopefully our pass will cross, perhaps even in Anaheim for UFC 214. Great stuff, Josh. Appreciate it.

Thank you so much, Eric. congratulations. Always great to chat with you, man. Thank you very much. There he is. Josh Gross, the veteran mixed martial arts reporter, author of Ali versus Inoki.

Great stuff there from one of the best in the business works now for the Guardian. And maybe you'll have another book coming out. We'll see about that. Great perspective. I was really excited to have them on because he knows the story better than anyone. And there are a lot of elements that are the same. Of course, there are others that aren't the same. because of the fact that one was a boxing match and one was,

or one is a boxing match and one was a mixed fight, but that was really a lot of fun. In a couple of minutes, we're going to be joined by Kevin Lee. Kevin Lee is headlining the UFC's return to Oklahoma City on Sunday. So it's Bellator on Saturday, June 24th. It's Kevin Lee versus Michael Keza, UFC Fight Night, Oklahoma City on Sunday. And this, in my opinion, is actually a really good card.

It's on FS1, and it continues the UFC's strong. of 11 events in 11 weeks. I really like this card. And it's flying under the radar for various reasons. There's been so many UFC events and Beltor is getting a lot of pub because of the big names on the card. But this is the main card. Kesa versus Lee. And of course, we remember what happened in Dallas, the comment about Kesa's mom and then the punch and all that stuff.

And we have in the co-mate event, Tim Boch versus Johnny Hendricks. So Hendricks's looking to continue his winning ways at 185 pounds. Felice Herrick, who's coming on. off that win over one Alexa Grasso against Justine Kish, who hasn't been terribly active, but she is still undefeated, 6-0. Joachim Christensen against Dominic Reyes, Alex Garcia versus Tim Means, and then the return of one BJ Penn against Dennis Seaver. That's the opener on the main card.

And this is the fight that we have been talking about for quite some time. This is the fight that we wanted to see BJ in. and so it's a more, you know, it's a more suitable opponent for where he's at in his career. Also of note, Clay Guida versus Eric Koch, Carlos Sparza versus Marina Moros, and the return of Darrell Horcher against Devin Powell. How about that? Darrell Horcher hasn't fought since that fight against Habib near Magamatov. Remember, he took that fight on very short notice.

He has a great story. You'll be learning more about that later in the week on M.A.Funding.com. Jared Gordon returns against Michael Kenyonius. they were supposed to fight in Dallas. So top to bottom, Marvin Vittori's on the card, Johnny Case. It's actually a really solid card. And speaking of the main event, let us go to our Skype Machine and welcome in. Our good friend, friend of the show, one Kevin Lee, who is headlining against Michael Kiesa.

He's doing a lot of media. And we were supposed to have him there. There he is. Kevin, how are you? What's going on, my man? I'm glad to finally you consider me as a friend, not just. I appreciate the way that you approach this. Why? So I appreciate that.

Am I wrong? Are you not a friend of the show? No, no, you're totally right. You know, the folks want me to give you, folks want me to give you a hard time. I'll tell you that. You got a lot of haters just like me. No.

You know, but that's what happens. That's what happens when you out there's a seat and, you know, folks are going to hate you. So, you know, I respect it. Where are you now? I'm in the UFCPI right now. We just got done doing some, I got a lot of media that I got to do. So, you know, just got done doing.

like an hour worth of media. So, you know, we're making it happen. Wait, wait. But I'm in the UFCI. I've been here since 10 this morning. And like I said, when they first unveiled this building, I told them, don't get too much free rain. I live here, baby.

I'll be around this bad boy walking around in my boxers all day. So I've been here for over eight hours. I've been, I've been, you know, in and out of here for eight hours a day. So the folks around here know me very well. I want to ask you about that. But first, what were those glasses that you had? What is it? What is going on with those?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You feel on them? I did Fox this morning and they really you know they really caught on with it you know so you know

hey I gotta get a folks on style like I said this fight is the polar opposite in every way you know Michael Kieffa the man still rocks a mullet so I gotta make up

for both of us you know I gotta give them two times the style for him give me a little scroll up in the camera there so I could see your eyes because I can only see kind of like there we go

now we're talking wow look at that there you go Yeah, it's a little better. Look at that, look at that. You're looking like a young DJ Jazzy Jeff. Remember him? You know, the 90s are back, man.

That's right. You know, I'm a 90s baby. You know, I'm 24. 92. So, you know, I got to show, I got to put it on for my generation. How many, like, you did all this media today. How many people asked you about the punch? Like, how long, are you talking more about the actual incident than the fight itself at this point?

Yeah, yeah. You know, everybody want to know about it. But, you know, to me, I. I move on to the next as soon as it's done. You know, as soon as I walked in the, you know, as soon as they kicked me off the stage and we walked in the back row, I was done with it. I was over it.

You know, it is what it is. It's done. So, you know, I'm all to bigger and better. So I'm actually here to talk about the fight. Let's get that up out of the way. I'm done talking about that.

That wasn't even a fight. The man don't want to fight. The man showed that he don't want to fight. He showed me that he don't want to fight when he pulled up security in front of us. You know, ain't no security to brown me. You know, I'm out here, and I'm out here to get it, and I'm here to take your head off with it.

Do you regret that it happened, or can you admit the fact that it was actually good for the fight? It was good for the fight. Yeah, it's good for the fight. I mean, to me, I'm not worried about, like, people think that I am, you know, people think that I'm worried about the promotion. I'm not worried about the promotion. I don't give a fuck about it. Like, if we fight in front of five people, we fight in front of five million people,

it's not going to make me a difference. I'm going to beat the brakes off the man, you know. Like I said, I was down in Brazil. I was screaming at Francisco Trinaldo. in the hotel lobby with no cameras around, and the man don't even speak English. You know, so, you know, for me, I take these fights very personally.

That's what I do. I talk shit. We get into the fight. So, you know, for me, that's what I'm worried about. I'm worried about the actual fight. I don't give a damn about the promotion. If people want to see it, if they don't, you know, I don't really care if people love me, hate me, whatever. Like, you're going to do what you're going to do. I'm going to do what I'm going to do when we're going to see how it happened.

And just for the record, you are reprimanded in any way, right? I mean, nothing happened as a result of this punch. No, no, not yet. I don't think something, you know, because the U.S.C. understands, like, that he ran up on me, you know? He was the one to stand up and say, I'm going to slap the shit out of you. You know, when you do that, like, you got to, you got to, like, if I do that, if I say I'm a slap the shit out of you, I'm slapping the shit out of you. Like, I don't care who hold me back. I'm slapping the shit out of both security yards, you know, and then I'm a slap the shit.

I slap the shit. You know, I'll burn down the building if I got to, you know, if I really feel like I'm, like I get to that point, you know, he's a grown man. He should, he should handle his emotions a little bit better. You know, that's on him. That ain't on me. So I'll leave it at what it is. This is your first UFC main event. Is a part of you like, yeah, it's about time?

It's about time. Like, here I am doing my thing. I've been talking to it. Is that how you feel about this? It's the first of many, baby. You know, from now on, it's five-rounders. You know, I've been saying it for a long time, I'm built for five rounds. You know, I get stronger as these fights go on.

You know, when you get to those championship-level fights, and you get those championship-level rounds, you really see the skills shine through in those fourth and fifth rounds. So, you know, I'm a championship level fighter. This is where it's going to be. The media and all that, like, yeah, it's cool. It's fun, you know, like talking to all y'all, you know.

You know, more guys like you call me their friend, I guess. Well, a friend of the show. But, you know, I'm a friend show. You know, but, yeah. So you're saying I'm a Johnny come lately. You're saying I'm a Johnny come lately. Like I said, I'm more into the fight. Sure, sure.

I like the two extra rounds. You know, I'm built for them. So, you know, we don't keep it around. I'm a headline this card. The test and I'm going to draw in part of them. I'm headlined card in Detroit when they go down there. And I'm giving Khabibb six months notice to get his ass down. Oh, dad.

So that's the word that came out. Combatte reported that last week, December 2nd, I believe it is, in Detroit. The new arena, right? Little Caesars? December 2nd, Little Sears Arena. You know, I'm going to have a whole business in the front row. you know, they'll be with me the whole weekend. So we're going to get it done.

You're like, if y'all like, if y'all like the press, now, I'm like, boy, you should see me in Detroit. The folks love me. I'm going to bring the whole city behind me. You know, we're going to throw massive block parties. I'm going to pull off the, I'm going to pull off some little Uzi bird and do a little crawl surfing after the fight. Wow.

And you're saying Chabib is the fight that you want? That's the goal here? Yeah, that's the fight to make. You know, I said it even after March. They should have made that one for this one. The man don't want a fight. You know, he's trying to hold. on to that little imaginary O that he got

don't make sense, but you know, the man don't want to fight, he don't fight at all. You know, he ain't fought it over a year. By the time we get it done in December, it's going to be almost two years before the man has fought. And that was after a two-year layoff or whatever he's had. So, you know, the man has shown that he don't want to fight. I gave him nine months notice to show up in December.

On top of me taking a... I'm going to take this fight this Sunday, and I'm still going to show up in December. So the man better show up. And if he don't, then we'll move on. You know, we'll fight Tony Ferguson or with... You know, I just got done. doing this media over here. I talked about them.

You know, I think the move to make is to open up the 165-pound division. I don't see why they're holding it up. You know, I think that's what's going to happen after this one. You know, you got 150 guys at lightweight. You got 150 guys at Walter Waite all fighting for one title. You know, open up another division. Make them 165. You know, you can easily fill up a top 30 in there.

And all those guys will be top, you know, top 10 guys. So, you know, I think the 165 division is the way to go. Wow. When they open it up after July, it's going to have to have a. number one contender fight and that's what i'm a being is that what you're hearing that's what i'm pushing for that's what i'm making happen you know it look look it's only true if you say it's true that's true i've talked to i've talked to jeff nabisky a lot you know and in a lot of you know they understand like cutting the weight you know i'm sitting right here you know we can step on a

scale right now i'm 180 pounds wow uh when i get down on the day i'll be 156 you know i'm a professional i'm gonna get it done but i'm still i'm shaving years off my life doing that you know it's retarded, you know, when you just look at Kiesa, I guarantee you he's the same, if not bigger than that. All these guys, I mean, we're all, you know, 180 pounds fighting in 155, it doesn't make sense, you know? Let's make it happen. Let's get it down. Let's go up to at least 165, you know? Wow, that would be something. I mean, and then maybe we get a 175. I do think it would be safer and healthier for the fighters, right? It'll be better. When you really look at it, fans don't give a fuck what weight we fight it. I don't

give a fuck what weight we fight it. I'll fight it. I'll fight right. now at 180. You know, as long as two men are weighing the same, like, they should go ahead and get it down, get it in. So, you know, when you really look at it, fans don't care. Fans don't care of you. Lightweight, welter weight. Like, who gives a damn?

Like, this fight sells itself. You know, you got a country boy from Spokane, Washington or wherever the hell is, you know, the middle of the redwoods driving a old beat-up pickup truck against, you know, young, flashy boy that might walk around with a couple grand on his body living in Las Vegas and driving a bin. So the fight sells itself. And that sells it at 180, 170, 155, 155, 165, it don't matter. The fight is the fight.

So let me ask you about the Performance Institute. You live in Las Vegas. That's where you train out of these days. Since it opened, how often have you been going there to train? How do you like it so far? I've been there, you know, I've been here eight hours out the day. You know, I choose just like a nine to five. The folks are getting tired of seeing me around here, you know, because it's the recovery aspect.

You know, everything that you can ask for. As far as recovery-wise is here, and the more you recover, the more I can train. You know, I bring all my training partners. I flew in two guys, and I already had a couple guys that were already here in Vegas that were down to help me train. And that mimic Kiesa. I even tried to get Dave Jansen to grow out of mullet. He wasn't really about it. But I did bring out Cody McKenzie, who already has a muller, so I get used to punch in that beer.

Aren't they, like, weren't they former training partners? Yeah, yeah, Cody hates the man. I guess Cody used to train him. And, you know, the rest of the guys that had to pay, Cody was like, I'll train you for free. I'll pay you. Like, I want you to whoop his ass. You know, I guess he, you know, he telling me he's a bitch,

and I already knew that anyway. I knew that from the press conference. But, you know, he's bitch, so we're going to get it done. So you like you, so you think anyone who's on the fence about the performance institute, this has been a great thing for you. You're going to keep using it. Oh, yeah, absolutely. This will be the way that I'll be the way that I'll be.

structure my camps. You know, outside of training camp, I'm, you know, I'm still over at extreme Couture, you know, I'm still, but I've been getting away from doing that team aspect, you know, it's all about the individual. It's all about the fighter. You know, I'm the one paying the bills around this motherfucker. So, you know, I make sure that we've done, you know, so this is the way that I think training camp should be set up.

You know, I bring all my own trainers. I bring all my own trainer partners and I get it done. I just have the freedom of living here in Las Vegas. a little bit easier on me, but I'm gonna do it in there regardless. So you were just in Montreal in my hometown, your brother won TKO, right? The promotion TKO. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What's his record? Yeah, he right now he's won, that was his first pro win. Wow. But, you know, he's getting you know, he's getting that experience out there, you know what I mean? That's what it's about. He fought a tough kid that was from the hometown and he was never in danger. Right now, it's about him staying, you know, he's only 20 years old, you know,

It's about him keeping his head low and getting out there and getting that experience because that's what really proves everything in the fight game. You know, when I was his age, he's twice the fighter that I was at 20. And that's what I was doing. You know, I was keeping my head low up until I was like 22, 23, and then you start to, you know, get a little bit up there, get a little more confidence about yourself and get it in. So that's all that's about the experience, fam. How many brothers do you have? I've got two brothers. I've got one that's the younger one.

He's 20 and I've got a baby brother. that's 16, the one that I've been talking about. Yeah, so you talked about him in Dallas. So he's getting out of jail on Friday or Saturday? Yeah, apparently he's getting pushed back. It was supposed to be on Friday. I just wanted to see him a couple weeks ago. And, you know, folks, I mean, it's going to be some bullshit always.

So hopefully, hopefully I'm still, you know, look, fingers are still, that Friday is supposed to be a really late June 23rd. So, you know, the fingers still cross, but, you know, we, we never know, you know, you never know playing around with shit like that. He shouldn't be in the shit in the first place. And that's what I told the dumb ass. So, you know, like I said, this is what I'm doing it for. You know, this is the reason why I wear, you know, the $3,000 glasses and stuff like this is to show them kids. You know, you can do the right things that you can be a champion at 25 and not locked up like, you know, not doing some other shit at 25, you know.

You can either do 25 or you can be, you know, or you can do 25, you know what I mean? Yeah, and so that was a big, you were talking about how this was, you know, a motivation for you and all that. Is it a bummer that he might not get out before the fight? It seemed like it was all coming together so perfectly. Yeah, yeah, it was going to make sense, you know what I mean? Either way he couldn't travel, so he wouldn't be able to go to the fight. Okay. But he'd at least be able to see it with my mom and dad.

But either way, he's going to be able to see it. You know, he's going to see it afterwards, you know what I mean? He's going to hear about it somewhere or not. other, you know, so that you get back, I'm going to see him and tell them how it went. So, you know, so, you know, it is what it is. You know, it's no fault of mine, you know, and it's not even like I'm just doing it for him. I'm doing it for all these kids, you know, and it's not even just kids in Detroit, just kids in Philly, you know, Atlanta, you know, all these places, you know, you, you know,

the kids, they just don't have direction, you know what I mean? They see somebody wearing the buffs. You know, at least in Detroit, that's how it was, you know, you see somebody wearing them buffs. You're like, oh, oh, he must be the dope, man. I got to, you know, I got to do that. I got to do the wrong things to get the right thing. What are the buffs? The buffs.

The glasses that everybody has about the Buffalo glass. Damn, damn, damn, these ones, you know, these are just a couple hundred bucks, you know. They ain't nothing. These are just the foot of style. But the busser, you know, it's the Detroit thing, you know. All right. Cardiade glasses. Oh, I see.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Are you going to get him on the street, you know, all? Oh, yeah, yeah. You mean my brother? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, of course. You know, I think he's already.

a much better place. I was able to talk to him a couple weeks ago. He's already in a better place. Okay. By the way, you still there? Oh, yeah. He's going to make it happen.

All these kids need is just some direction. Okay. Can you hear me? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You froze up. Can you hear me? Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, yeah, there you are.

By the way, can you remind the public why is he in jail? I mean, I don't really want to talk about it. I mean, you know, he just, he's 16. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. So he's just doing stupid shit, you know what I mean?

He's in jail right now for, he's in jail for Grand The F Otto, you know. Okay. It was stupid. You know, the boys that he was with, they got a lot more time. You know, I was able to buy him a good lawyer. And, you know, he's locked up, but he ain't, but he ain't in prison. You know what I mean? Okay.

He's 16, he'll get out. He's only been in there for a year. So, you know, actually it'll be 10 months, I think, coming up in June. He was supposed to get on good behavior. They gave him a year. That's why it might get pushed back, you know what I mean? Because apparently the motherfucker ain't behaving himself. Come on, man.

But the kids that he was with, they all got 10, 12 years. So, you know what I mean? It helps to have some money and have a good lawyer. Okay, wow. By the way, is Russell Westbrook coming to the fight? You know, he actually hit me up on Instagram. Get out of here. You know?

What? I don't know if. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You want me to show you screen that, huh? Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah, my man, my man follows me on Instagram now, you know, so he didn't, he didn't say he was coming to the fight, but he didn't say we hang out afterwards. So, you know, you know, when I get down there and I get it in, we got to get it in after the fight. Wait, wait, what do he write?

I just do it for the pitcher, you know what I mean? What did he write for you to you? What did he write? And he said, we got to hang out, you know, he was doing the Instagram stories or whatever, and, you know, I just kind of commented back and forth, you know, he was like on a Kendrick song or something like that. And, you know, we just talking about the kid, and then I was like, oh, you know, after the. fight. We got to get it in. He was like, yeah, bet. Did he see what you were? I should say what? Did he see what you wore and that you were kind of

emulating his style? Yeah, he follows me. You know, he follows me on Instagram. So, you know, he saw it all shabang. So, you know, I don't really put it out there too much because, you know, that's what he do. But, you know, yeah, yeah, okay, all right, well, then for show, I'm a screenshot, I'm a post on my Instagram. Make sure you tune in. Follow me at Motown. You'll see what I'm talking about.

Okay, but here's the thing. Let's get him to walk you out. That would be huge. The crowd would go nuts. Get him to walk you out. Yeah, yeah. I don't know about the logistics with the, you know, with the whole Reebok deal. You know, I was going to have stitch walk me out for this fight. Oh, come on. That was the original plan was that bitch. But he's, he's going to be, he's going to be in Fador's corner the night before in New York. I was going to fly him out and he was going to, and he was going to walk me out. But, you know, you know, the whole Reebok deal and, you know, you got to wear what you got to wear, you know what I mean? So it kind of It kind of threw it off.

So I'm given an opportunity to my brother anyway. He can use the experience of being in a main event and, you know, kind of getting that next level, high-level experience. So my brother will be in my corner. It was going to be stitched around, but, you know, what can I do? But maybe, who knows? Maybe it'll be Westbrook. You never know. Let's do it.

I should try and get the man's numbers. Not be in your corner, so speak. Just walk you out. That would be insane. You should be my manager now. Come on with a life. I guess since we, since we friends, since we're friends here.

You know, you from Montreal, my manager's from Montreal, we can make it happen, you know. I don't speak no French. I don't know if you do, but, you know. I certainly do. You know, you did that scrum in Dallas. I stayed towards the end, right? That's where our beef really started because you said that I left. You see that?

I stayed towards the very end. Yeah, yeah, it died. And I will say, I appreciated the way you approached it to. This one goes out to Chale because Chale, you know, he, Chelle Sunday, he does his little podcast and I listen to his podcast all the time. I actually like it. But he hit me up and he's just like, hey, you free? You want to, you want to do the, now I'm like,

nah, no, I'm not going to, you know, I was free. I could have did it right then and there. But, you know, I'm like the light skinned girl in school. You got to, you know, you got to build up. You know, you got to put in some time. You have put some effort to get me on your show. You know, you got to, you know, I can't be handing these bad boys out for free, you know, like, so I appreciate the way that you

approached it. Wow. You know, I'm like the light skin girl. You need to put in some work. You need to, you know, hey, Kevin Lee's going to be on next week, you know, like, not just on the, you know, he called me like that day. Hey, you free, you want to come on like in five minutes. Yeah, come on, man. No, no.

Sorry, you know, and not only that, but you're going to take away from my bottom line, you know, he fights the night before me. That's true. You know, so I ain't really trying to get a man. I mean, you know, guys like Keessa, they don't understand it. He did the same thing in Keessa. Kiesa did the show. Fuck the show. I'm sorry.

I love Chale's show. I like Chale as a brother, but, you know, at the end of the day, it's fuck the show. I'm about, you know, I'm about my own bread, you know what I'm saying? I said that even about, you know, I said that even for the richest fight in combat sports history, you know, they wanted me to come out and they hit me up like two weeks ago to go out and help Floyd Spar. But, you know, I got my own business that I got to take care of. I ain't, you know, even though they was going to pay me, it wasn't going to be as enough. It wasn't going to be as much as, you know, I'm going to make for this one.

So after the fight, I might go back and help out Floyd, but we'll see what happens. So Floyd asked you to help him spar for Connor to emulate Connor? Yeah, I mean, I train that Floyd. I've been training at Floyd's gym for years now. You know, Dewey Cooper is one of the head trainers up there. You know, they all seem, you know, they've been seeing me move around for a long time now, you know what I mean? So after this fight, and we both from Michigan, you know, he's from Grand Rapids. I'm from Detroit.

I went to school loving Grand Rapids. So, you know, we already, like, had some conversations. you know, he respect me as what I do, you know what I mean? So, you know, after the fight, then we can talk business, but, you know, I kind of put them on the back burner, you know, and I'll do the same thing. You know, it's about me first, you know, these fights are, these fights are very serious, you know, people wonder why I take it so serious, and it's, you know, Tim Hague just died, you know what I mean, doing this over the weekend.

You know, it's very serious, it's not a game, you know, this ain't basketball, the same football. It ain't, you know, it ain't, oh, you lose today, you might, you know, it's whatever. Like, it's very serious, and I take each one very serious, and I take them very personal. That's why this fight is very personal for me anyway. Each fight is very personal for me. So, you know, this man is out here to try and take some money away from my family. So I'm going to make sure he the one that his mom are going to cry. Not mine.

I'll be down. Oh, no. You were doing well until you said the M word. Everything was going well. Now you had to bring it up again. Jeez, Louise. Yeah, I mean, people. people, I don't understand, like, what's so PC about today? You know, like, I even said, like, you know, when I was making fun of his mullet,

and then he said, uh, uh, Amanda, Amanda Nunes, you know, she's got a mullet too. And I was, oh, well, you dressed like a fucking Brazilian lesbian. Like, that's what she is, you know? Like, I wasn't saying it like, yeah, I know. I understand now that that's, you know, people are going to have, but, but that's what, but that's what it is, you know what I mean? That's what she is. So, uh, to me, like, even when people call me,

You know, I get so much hate online, especially. You know, people call me black. I'm like, I'm black. What else am I, you know? You remember a couple years ago, you know, when I was calling Sage a white boy, people was giving me the business for it. And I'm like, well, what else is he? You know, what else is Amanda Nune?

If she's not a Brazilian lesbian, I don't understand. Like, what else am I? I'm not black. You know, I don't get it. So, you know, I'm calling Michael Keese as what he is. You know, he's a redneck from the middle of a redwood. So, I mean, what is he going to be with that rock a mullet? Who else?

mullet besides a redneck, you know? I mean, what else you're going to call them? All right, I'll leave it at that. Kevin, I enjoy you very much. I appreciate you very much. I'm looking forward to this. This is going to be a lot of fun. Kevin Lee versus Michael Kesa. It goes down Sunday, June 25th from OKC.

If Brody himself, Russell Westbrook does not walk you out, I'll be very disappointed. We've got to get this done, all right, my man. Keep it up. Great stuff in the promotion. Hey, yeah, I'm just going to the club. Yeah, I'm going to hang in the club with him. You know, that's what I'm looking for it, too. You know what I mean?

So we go get it in either way. Good luck on Sunday, man, and we'll talk to you afterwards. Thank you, brother. There he is. Kevin Lee, the Motown Phenom himself. Great stuff. I mean, what a character. Holy smokes. Unbelievable.

A lot at stake for him on Sunday. If he wins, you can bet that they're going to put him on that card in Detroit, and you can bet that he'll have a big fight on that card. So we shall see. Okay. Wow, look at us. We are going super overtime here, but it's time now to hear from Mr. New York Rick, right? Is he still there?

Where is he? Wow. Hello. You didn't go home yet? I look like a Blue Man group. What's wrong? Oh, there we go. What do you think of my new digs?

I'm just laughing. It's like, are you afraid of the dark? I'm at the campfire right now. No, this is pretty good. This looks good to me. What do I think of the new digs? The studio is awesome, obviously. Did they let you come in here before?

No, they sectioned it off. They were like, don't come in here stepping all over Mr. Helwani's new stage. Yeah, well, it's good. Your, my, my set, what? What? What did you say, oh, boy, about it? Just keep going. Oh, I said my studio is brand new. Yours is the same.

Nothing's changed back there, right? Yeah. Yeah. No. All right, well. Is that a dig? What are you trying to say? No, no.

I just wanted to know. I wanted to set the record straight. What happened was they knew to get mine right the first time. That's right. And yours, they were messing around. Okay, so we've gone a little over. But I did, in fairness, alert Alex, who's sort of, you know, the arbiter of the time. Yes, that I would go a little over.

But let us not waste any time. Let's go to everyone's favorite. No, no, no, no. We're going to punt on Rick's picks. No, no, no, no, no. A quick version. Yeah, we're going to do a quick version, but we're not, this is not the official. I don't want to roll out the song.

I don't want to do it that way. No. I want the song. Give me the song. Come on. Okay, hit the song. Give me the damn song. Yes.

Punting. Are you kidding me? We're not punting on anything. This is a big deal. Rick's picks. Listen, now we get the side angle. You already know what it is. Oh, yeah.

All the angle. It's the new craze taking the world by storm. Live from. the Vox Studios in beautiful New York City. It's time for... I have to tell you. I could be in any mood. You wanted to get rid of that?

And just seeing you dance like that always makes me so happy. Listen, I got... You bring it. You bring it. I have to thank you for that. You always bring it with the Ricks Picks on. I got all these people saying like, oh, we need a big show. We need a big show. It's a brand refresh. It's the new set. They asked for a big show.

I thought they meant a super long show. So I'm giving them a super long show. I think it was... I think we delivered on a big show. Yeah. We did well on that one. I mean, we had Josh Gross on, for God's sakes. We had Josh Gross.

We had our boy, Matt Mitrione, back in studio. We had Fador. Yes, yes, yes. They all heard the show. Give us Rick's picks. What do you got? I've got one pick for this week. Oh, my God.

This is disappointing. No, I'm getting... Listen, want to do a real version. But for this week... You're going to complain afterwards. I didn't get enough air time. Here I am. Ready?

willing able go ahead and the and the rick's pick for this week is uh from sb nation and m mhm a fighting um there's a video on mhmap fighting um where sp nation's uh cameras talk to everybody um from the michael chandler camp family um about kind of his journey to uh m ms his journey to belator his journey to championship gold um And we have a teaser that I want to roll out in full for that. And then you can see the full version over on mMAfighting.com. So let's roll that teaser.

There's very few times when somebody makes a decision that I think 100% people are on board for. And when he made a decision of two MMA, I don't feel like there was one single person that doubted that that's what he should be doing. He said, I got to call me. I know this is what I need to do. I got to fight. He just put everything. thing he owned in his car and said, I'm out of here.

And that's when we knew he was going to, he was committed. They just gave it all, everything up. And here he is today. Damn. Powerful stuff, Chandler, fighting on Saturday. So go check out the full version over at mhmapfiting.com. Yep, we also have a training camp video featuring one, Aaron Pico, a bunch of cool stuff on the brand new MMAfighting.com.

New logo, new app. Avatar on Twitter. What do you think? You love it? Not only did we get a new set, the whole site got a refresh. A new era. A new day.

I love it. The closer we get to the Cavs colors, the better. I'm all about it. Some people said it was the worst cause I don't know. Well, the newer, yeah, you are. When the initial version had some maroon in there and I was making a joke and you thought it was pink. So I realized very quickly that you have absolutely no sense of what color anything is.

Okay, well, let me quickly say this. We talked about Tim Hague with Matt Matrione, an unspeakable tragedy, passed away yesterday, a Canadian fighter, former UFC fighter. He was boxing. I mean, just a nightmare, an absolute nightmare. And you can really see how much it touched Matt. And I've actually done that before twice, texting someone who has passed away. I don't know what compels us to do this. But I appreciated what he said about Tim. And you could just see how much it hurt him. There's actually a GoFundMe page. that has come up in the last 18 hours, raised by 207 people, their goal was 20,000. They're currently at $20,073. So kudos to everyone who has donated. And it's gofundme.com slash tim dash haig dash memorial. Tim dash haig dash memorial. The picture of, uh, on the site is of him posing with a younger, a younger boy. I'm not sure if that's his son, but it's just heartbreaking stuff. And hopefully there will be an investigation into whether or not everything was done correctly and, you know, what more can you say? And it was kind of, you know, a very sad weekend in mixed martial arts because on Sunday, excuse me, on Friday, and I wanted to say this again at the top of the show and I'm very upset that I didn't remember to do this. So again, I was kind of caught off guard, but Matt Hughes was involved in an accident. And, the reports have been a little conflicting, but all we'll say is that we're really pulling for Matt.

And, you know, he was just on the show, what, two, three weeks ago, seemed to be in a great place, had moved on, you know, from the UFC, but seemed to have very good feelings about how everything went down and just was happy and maybe to give a comeback. All that, you heard it. I just really enjoyed that conversation. And, you know, one of the greatest fighters ever, just an amazing fighter in and out of the cage. And we're pulling that he can fight this one and beat this one and get back to being 100% healthy. So my thoughts go out to his family. I'm pushing for him.

I'm pulling for him. I'm praying that he's okay. I'm praying that he'll get better soon. Just all sending positive thoughts towards the family of Matt Hughes and want to send our condolences and best wishes to the family of Tim Hague. I mean, just hearing those two pieces of news in the span of 12 hours was a real, you know, was really heartbreaking. It was gutting. so very sorry that it didn't there wasn't a happy ending to the Tim Hague story there was a moment where we thought maybe there were early reports that were erroneous but just was so sad to read that

pulling for you Matt pulling for Matt Hughes hopefully he'll he'll get through this and he can you know join us at an MMA event come back on the show talk about things and you know just just get back to being 100% healthy so wanted to say that I actually wanted to say it at the beginning of the show, but I really wanted to say it before we said goodbye. Any things you want to say? Anything you want to throw out there before we call it a day here first? Yeah, how much money are we throwing down on Connor McGregor? Oh, yeah. What do you want to say about that? What is the line? I think the latest line I saw had Connor in the plus 1,000 range. Do you share my sentiment? I mean, I know, I'll say this about the Connor stuff that I wanted to say also at the beginning.

A lot of people go back to early November. I was on the Dan. Patrick's show and I was, again, I don't have to explain myself a thousand times. I was talking about understanding what it meant for him to beat Eddie Alvarez and putting it all into context. But I will say, in hindsight, that I was feeling the effects of the election. I was feeling the effects of Donald Trump becoming our president or being voted in and thinking that the media, in large part, kind of had something to do with it. And what I was trying to say was like, just be honest with people. If this is a thing, report on it. If it's not a thing, don't make it into a thing. And we've heard from people on this show, the media kind of helped make it into a thing. Now that it's here,

now that it is here, I say enjoy it. It's two months. It's going to be insane. It's going to be absurd. It's going to be a circus. But let's enjoy the ride. Do you share these sentiments or are you one who says, eh, this is stupid. I don't want anything to do with it. No, but why make myself miserable over it? Do I, do I really care enough that I want to make myself miserable with every mention of it? No, I recognize it. Are you looking forward to it? No, I recognize it as a circus. I don't care about it as a competitive matchup. But I want to see the circus.

I like the circus. I just, if anybody tells me that it's going to be competitive, I'll simply disagree. That's all it is. But am I going to talk about how it's going to stain either sport? No, because it's not. And I think, you know, the point Stephen made earlier, and you pointed out is apt. this is not a fight that has long-term repercussions for boxing. This is not a fight that has long-term repercussions for MMA.

Now, the business of MMA, I think it will have long-term repercussions, but the sport of MMA, I don't. It's just one-off. It's Connor McGregor versus Mayweather, and it's real. And I'm going to enjoy the ride as it happens. But if you're going to ask me if I think it will be a competitive fight, No, I don't. Yeah.

But does that matter? I don't care. I don't know. I don't really care. If you're paying $100 and you're going to be disappointed or you think you will be disappointed, then don't pay for it. Yeah, exactly. If you're paying $100 because you think that it's going to be a competitive fight, I'm sorry. You're a sucker.

You bought in. So enjoy it as much as you can. The build up. That way as well. Let's enjoy the buildup. It's going to be fantastic. If they can bring that tour to Ireland, it's going to be magic. And I still believe that if Connor could get under his skin, if Connor can get in his head, no one has ever done that to Floyd.

And I'm sorry, you can say that Floyd is the better boxer all day long. And that's a fact. He's 49 and 0. But trash talking, mind game? No, McGregor will eat him up in the trash talk. Eat him up. It's not even close. It's not even close.

Floyd is actually kind of overrated at this point. Floyd is great at selling fights. He's not quite a great trash talker. look at him over the last couple of years, like the money Mayweather and the plane, that guy's gone. He doesn't do that anymore. He doesn't talk that kind of smack.

Connor is him 10 years ago. Yeah, if he gets into a war of words with Connor McGregor, it's not going to go well. And you know that's going to happen. That has to be part of the game plan. I just don't think it will, I don't think it will have any effect on what happens in the ring. But I do believe that verbal sparring,

Connor McGregor is going to win that battle. And then ultimately they'll get in the ring and McGregor. Like I said, Despernoza, I can't wait for every little aspect of this fight. Yeah. From the Barker videos to the press conferences to the way in, like everything is going to be. We have never experienced anything like this in our lifetime. And there's a very good chance that the MMA media will never experience something like this. And it's interesting to see the MMA media's reaction.

I think most of them are like you, just saying like, yeah, there's chance, but yeah, we're going to enjoy it. The boxing media is not happy about this at all. No. And I get it. It's their sport. like, ah, you know, this is a sham. Well, because it's taking place in a boxing ring that changes the nature of it.

If it was happening in an MMA cage, I think there would be a different reaction. I really do. I think the stance of people on the side of MMA would be different if it was happening in a cage. Yeah. Well, it's going to be fun. Will you order it?

Of course. I'm all in. We'll have plenty of time to talk about that fight as we approach August 26th. Jermaine Durandemey stripped earlier today. She gave me a statement. She said she had no idea that it was going to come. I think, if I'm being honest, I think what she meant to say was

she didn't know what was going to happen today. I mean, I have a hard time believing that she didn't know it was going to happen, period. But you can read the statement. It's on our website. And now they're doing Megan Anderson versus Chris Seiber. We've talked about this. No surprise.

It's happening. And the new main event for Invicta is... Tanya Avenger is stepping in into Megan's spot fighting at 145 for the first time. Is it a title fight? It is not a title fight, non-title. What is going to happen to her belt,

Megan Anderson's belt, or is that undetermined? That's still undetermined, but I imagine because because she will be fighting a different organization at 145 that that belt will be vacated and then a fight will either be made

or not made for the featherweight belt. All right. But the new main event is a non-title affair with Tanya and Helena. All right. A couple of things, James Vick has signed the new deal with the UFC. Eric Silva is appealing his loss to Yancey Medeiros. It turned into a no contest. RDA, congratulations to him, successful in his UFC welterweight debut.

Colby Covington, nice win, thought he blew his post-fight speech. don't talk about, you know, Dana, title shots, just called the next guy, and he should have called that RDA, to be honest, because he was calling him out before the fight. That was a perfect opportunity, right? I think he'll make up for it on Twitter. I'll say this.

All right. After Colby has a pretty good Twitter game. I think he'll make up with some good callouts. And Orange Yarolowski now drops his fifth straight, losing to Marcine, Tibera. We wonder what is next for him. But Holly Holm, what a finish, question mark kick. And then sort of, as Esther Lynn put it,

on our Slack group, the bowling ball punch at the end there. It was just beautiful. And I know, like, oh, Holly's back, Holly's back. She's back on track. She's back on track. She's one of the biggest names in the sport, certainly in women's MMA. And this was a huge result, not only for her, but for the UFC, because I still think that there's a lot of money to be made by putting on Holly home fights.

She's still a draw. I think, you know, I'm not sure I'm ready to jump all in on like this was some kind of statement win because it was. wasn't. But if she hadn't done this, if she had looked less than this, if she had looked less than impressive here, I think it would have been a statement. I think there would have been an indictment to make. So I think she did it what she did it. I think she did what she needed to do. Yeah. But I'll also say this was the perfect kind of fight for her to get back on track. 100%. So there's nothing wrong with that. No. This is actually something that we need more of.

This is not insignificant, but it's also not very significant. It was a good. exactly what was needed. It was what the doctor ordered. Would you book GDR versus home next, or would you need some separation from that? I think if I'm either one of them, I'd probably be okay with that.

I kind of feel like GDR needs to kind of move on and fresh talk. I think, yeah, well, she clearly wants to drop down into 135, but I think that would be a fine fight for both of them at 135. Does BJ Penn win this weekend? Oh, boy. Why would you do this? Will you watch it? I'm not watching.

watching. I said I said I'm not. Yes. Do this. Do like a live thing, like an Instagram live or a Periscope. I'll do an Instagram live of me doing dishes. Yeah. That fight is happening. Are you going to Bellator? If Bellator wants to happen. Wow. No, no, no, uh, Rick's Ticks, no nothing for Belator, huh? No love. Look, they didn't, they didn't give it up. Damn. Well, what about the, what was that company? Draft Kings.

Draft Kings. What about them? Come on, the biggest, the biggest, uh, fantasy's, uh, name in the game. what was that company? What was that company? The dream maker for Brian Keller. That's right. Okay. We're out of thought. Damn.

Now I was just getting into it. I was kind of flowing. I was kind of rolling. I gave it. What more do you want? There was a lot of stuff going on, as you know, before the show. I didn't want to do a half-ass Rick's picks. That's what it was.

Oh, okay. So next week it's going to come back. It's going to be better than ever. I'll say this, though. You people are slacking on sending me stuff. There's some people who I can rely on, but send me everything that's happening in the world of MMA. They're the latest and greatest. Even if it's something I've seen already, send it, I'm interested, I want to know, I can't see everything.

Send it to me on Twitter, on Instagram, so it can be featured on Rick's Picks next week. So I want to feel better here. You actually didn't prepare Rick's Picks because you had to do so much stuff. Look, there was a lot of, there was a lot of pre-show. prep. I don't want to throw together some kind of oh, here's, you know, two things that were half-assed. Now I feel better. Next week is going to be a banger of a rick-

No, no, I put a lot on your play with that montage of the... Yeah, you know, it's okay. We get it done. We get it done. Can we post that online? Yeah, I have the file, so I'll get it to our team over here and see where they want to put it up. But yeah, we can get that posted online. You know, last minute scrambles and I come

through in the clutch. That's how I do. That is true. Well, it's been a good day for everyone. It was a great show. The new set looks awesome. Now I'm going to be on the screen. I like this. This is better. Nice and big. Oh yeah. Look at this. It's a two shot now. Yeah, me. Me and you. It's great. It reminds me of that old show IMAX. Remember that? Max Kellerman. No. There was another guy. I think it was Michael Hawley who was on screen. Is that post around the horn? No, no, no, no, no, way before. Way before. Yeah, Fox Sports. I can't feel my buttocks. It is numb right now because I've been sitting for so long.

This might be the longest show in our history. It is definitely the longest show on our history, but you've got some breaks in there with the in-studio guests. I just want to say, though, I could go another five hours. You've sat on your butt for four or five hours before straight without moving. I just want to say, though, I could go longer if I want to, not if I want to, if I had to. Yeah, well, you know, I'll talk to Alex. We'll see what we can do.

Maybe let's just read through every single take on Floyd Mayweather versus Connor McGregor. Yeah, right. Just list them off. They're all right, by the way. And if you don't, if you did like this set, you're going to love the MMA beat. We've got a new set as well. Yeah. Teaser.

You're not allowed on that set because you said that you're too busy to be on the show. Listen, you know. It's all new here at M.A. fighting. I think it's more accurate that I've declined to. Yes, you're very busy. I'm very busy. I don't have time to do the MMA beat and, you know, shoot the S. I've got stuff to do, Ariel.

All right. Well, congratulations. It was a great show. The new set looks fantastic. I think, you know, I don't know how much you've been looking at the feedback, but I think everybody else kind of agrees. They're excited about this new set and how it looks. So we look forward to bringing the show to you every week like this. All right. And we shall leave it at that. Thank you very much, Mr. New York, Rick. Thank you very much to everyone in the back, who stayed a little longer. Thank you very much for all your hard work in getting this done. Everyone who worked on the set, it has been a. a long process, as I said at the beginning of the show, but so happy it's here and so happy with the final result. You can hit my music. We are here. The time has come to say goodbye.

What a fun show. I was so happy to get all the angles of the Mayweather McGregor News. I know that some of you may think that this is a one-sided contest, that there is no chance in hell. But I love a good spectacle, and it was just a lot of fun. to hear from all the major players involved. Now, there's still a lot of information that has yet to be revealed,

but it was super cool to hear from everyone. I really enjoyed it. Such a fun time. Beautiful day in New York. Look at that. Great for you. I want to thank everyone who tuned in on this Monday afternoon. I want to thank everyone who wrote us.

A lot of great feedback. I didn't get to read it all, but I really appreciate everyone's support and feedback. It has been a lot of fun getting ready for this show and doing this show. And I do hope that you check out the new MMAfighting.com because a lot of work was put into that as well.

Great job by everyone involved. Thank you very much to Adia Tar. He did the interview at 1.25am China time. I appreciate him staying up for us. Thank you very much to Leonard Ellerby. How fun was that? CEO of Mayweather Promotions.

Thank you very much to our old pal, Stephen Espinoza. That was great to hear from him and get his insight from the TV perspective. Thank you very much to one, Owen Roddy. Really looking for it his video blogs whenever they come out. Congratulations and thank you to

one Mike Goldberg who will be calling the Spike Action on Saturday from MSG for Belto. Thank you very much to Fyodor Emilinoenko and Tanya. Thank you very much to Matt Matrion. Thank you very much to Josh Gross. And thank you very much to Kevin Lee for stopping by. Good luck on Sunday. Back next week, same time and place.

Tilless a day, peace. So, Maria.