MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 397

Episode Date: August 29, 2017

Ariel Helwani speaks to Oscar De La Hoya (00:15:20), Chris Eubank (00:29:42), Holly Holm (00:59:56), Chael Sonnen (01:16:06), Daniel Cormier (01:37:27), Joe Cortez (01:59:18), Paulie Malignaggi (02:16:11), Max Holloway (02:38:44), Esther Lin (03:05:18), Derrick Lewis (03:27:49), and NewYorkRic for Ric's Picks (03:32:27) and to answer your questions during The MMA [After] Hour (04:20:14). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. It's the Mixed Martial Arts Hour with... The Mixed Martial Arts Hour, back in your life on this Monday, August 29, 2017. Hello again, everyone. I'm Ariel Halwani. Back inside our New York City studio. My voice is barely hanging on. This, in fact, is our fourth show in the last seven days back from Los

Vegas back from the fight of the century. Back to recap at all. And there's so much to discuss. First off, I want to say to everyone out there, thank you so much for watching our On the Road shows. Never have I ever had that much fun doing anything work-related, maybe even life-related. 29 guests in total joined us. Thank you to Twitter for giving us the platform.

Killed everyone, annihilated everyone, dominated the competition. Baroni, Bonner, Kawa, Conlan, Bernstein, Carrot, Top, Chef, Chan. The Maloof brothers, Baylis, Nunes, Ansaroff, DJ, Kevin Lee, Freddie Roach, Bruce Buffer, Chris Eubank, Couture, Floyd Senior, Thompson, Atlas, Thomas, Woodley, Hardy, Cube, Kenny, Khan, Stephen A. Smith. Those were all the names who joined us, and Mark Romundi, to cap it all off. What a week it was in Las Vegas. Time of my life. I'm kind of sad that it's over. But I really want to thank everyone once again for watching and for commenting and sending feedback. It was so much fun doing those shows.

It was so much fun covering Mayweather McGregor from start to finish from L.A. in early July. And I must say, you remember that show after the first week, the World Tour, when I was talking about the whole showtime thing? I said to myself that I would not let anything ruin the experience. And I also said to myself, not to all of you, but to myself, that I would do my very best to cover this unlike anyone else. And it's rare that I say, you know what, I'm happy with the results. I'm happy with the results. It was so much fun. It really was. And I was so proud to be a part of the team. And I thought, MMA fighting did a tremendous job as well. What a time, what a time it was. Now, we have a lot to discuss as far as the event was concerned. a lot to discuss as far as last week was concerned. But right off the top, I must say, if you are

in the Houston area, if you are struggling right now, if you are feeling the effects of Hurricane Harvey, we are thinking of you and we are wishing you well. A lot of people in the MMA community are in Houston or in the neighboring areas and some horrific scenes out there and we're thinking of all of you and hope that you will get through all of this. Now, as far as Saturday night is concerned, let's break it down this way. Of course, there's so many angles to take here. But this is how I generally feel about Saturday night. To me, it was a tale of two nights. It was trending towards disaster.

It was trending towards one of the worst nights in boxing history. By the time we got to the third to last fight, T-Mobile Arena was empty. There was like a thousand people in there. It was void of any energy. They overpriced the tickets. We're still waiting on the gate. They say it broke it, but let's hear that number. Let's get that official number because they didn't announce it on Saturday.

I was sitting next to nine sections that were completely empty until the very end. They never filled them up. Not a single soul was sitting in those sections. Paperview problems. People couldn't order it. People couldn't watch it. They had to delay the start of the main event. It was trending towards disaster, in my opinion.

The walkouts I felt were botched. By the time Connor gone in the ring, the notorious BIG part of his song, his entrance song, didn't even play yet. Usually they let the Shnato-Connor part play out. then he walks out when Biggie hits. That didn't happen. It all just kind of felt botched. And then the fight started.

And then the farce started. And then the spectacle started. And then the circus started. And a funny thing happened just seconds into the spectacle. A funny thing happened seconds into the farce. A funny thing happened seconds into the athletic contest that every boxing pundit and many of the mainstream sports media were oh so quick to call a complete joke, a mockery. any derogatory phrase that you want to come up with to speak about a sporting event.

And you know what happened? Seconds in, it turned into sport. It turned into a real boxing match. It turned into one of Floyd Mayweather's most entertaining fights over the past decade. It turned into M.MA and Conne McGregor in particular proving that everything he said leading up to the fact that he could hang with Floyd Mayweather, that he could land punches on Floyd Mayweather, that he can win rounds against Floyd Mayweather. Yes, he didn't get the knockout. Yes, he didn't get the win. but he proved that he belonged in there.

And the farce turned into a sport. And the farce ended up saving the night. How funny is that? Who would have thought that? We all thought that the buildup would be the best part. In the end, the fight was the best part. In the end, in my opinion, everyone won. Of course Floyd Mayweather won.

He ends up 50 and O. And he owes, in my opinion, Connor McGregor, a huge gratitude. Why? now he walks off with an entertaining fight of finish and the bad taste that was Andre Berto, the bad taste that was Manny Pachial is gone. People are celebrating Floyd on this Monday. People are saying that he represented. People are saying that he in fact did live up to his word and did come forward and did fight aggressively. When's the last time we said that about Floyd? When's the last time we said that the money we spent to buy a Floyd Mayweather fight

was actually well worth it, that we enjoyed the fight. Once the last time we said that, and that in my opinion is thanks to Connor McGregor, who brought the fight to him. Now, I will say, I thought that Connor looked a little nervous at the top. I thought he looked a little stiff. Usually he walks in, he does the whole billionaire strut thing, a little more relaxed, a little more loose.

And that didn't seem to be the case right at the top. And look, let's be honest, this was at first for him. I know he has fought before, but this was out of his element. this was a pro boxing match against arguably the greatest ever. His corner looked fantastic. Love the David August get up. It felt big. It felt special.

And then after round one, round two, you could tell that he was getting a lot more comfortable. He was joking around. He was putting the hands behind the back. And look, in my opinion, he won. I mean, there's no dispute he won the first three rounds. In my opinion, I don't care what those judges say. He won the first three rounds. I gave him the fourth.

That's the arguable one. Every round after went to four. Floyd. I saw Steve Harrod. I think he gave Floyd the eighth round, or maybe it was the seventh round, excuse me, he gave Connor the eighth or seventh round. I didn't agree with that, but I thought Connor won the early rounds. When's the last time Floyd lost three, four rounds in a row? The fight was infinitely more entertaining than the Mani Pachial fight, infinitely, not even close. And so it looked like he got comfortable, he was feeling it, and then again, the gas tag comes into play. The cardio comes into play.

And he admitted it, props to Connor as always, handling the loss like a pro. He is so much more impressive in defeat. And hopefully it doesn't become a common thing for him, but so much more impressive in defeat than he is in victory. Because he tells it like it is. And he admitted in training for this fight around the six or seven round, he would lose steam. And then he would think to himself, how am I going to get over this hump? And then he would get over it come the 11th. And that's why he wanted to come and keep going in the 11th.

11th. It wasn't meant to be. And I've heard from a lot of people who said, well, Floyd just, you know, Floyd just carried him. Floyd just wanted to make it an interesting fight. Floyd let him win those early rounds. And that may be true. But Connor had to win the rounds. Floyd could say, I'm going to let you win the rounds, but it's up to Connor to actually go out there and land the punches and the uppercuts in the left and actually go out there and win the rounds. And I thought he did just that. He didn't buckle under the pressure. We all thought that the first four rounds, as has been said leading up to this fight many a time the first four rounds were most important for Connor.

That's when he was going to win because afterwards Floyd would figure him out, he would hit a rough patch. Floyd's been there before 12 rounds. It's a completely different ballgame despite the fact that the three rounds, excuse me, the three minutes per round are shorter than the five minutes in MMA.

And he got through those four rounds, but he couldn't get the finish. So you could say that Floyd let him win those rounds or that Floyd carried him. in the end, Floyd says that was the game plan and it proved to be the best kind of game plan because, as he put it, Connor did shoot his shot. He did kind of empty the gas tank

and then there was nothing left. So it ended up being great. But Connor had to go out there and actually win those rounds. And he did. And it was fascinating to go online and see the way the MMA community and a lot of these people who do not like Connor McGregor,

guys like Eddie Alvarez, people like Daniel Cormier who said he had no chance, it felt like the entire MMA community was rallying around this guy. They finally recognized who Connor McGregor is and what he means to them. He is opening doors

that no one thought was ever imaginable. An MMA fighter scored around 100 million on Saturday night. This opens doors. This proves that if you put yourself out there, that if you market yourself the right way,

that if you believe in yourself, you could get more than the 250-250. and it was so cool to see how the MMA community rallied around him. And it felt to me like they were walking around with their chest a little puffier come Saturday at around 1 a.m. This was one of those rare moments in sports where every single angle of the fight came out a winner. Floyd comes out a winner.

Phenomenal game plan, fought well, got the finish, 50 and O. People are speaking about him in glowing terms. Floyd comes out a winner. He rides off into the sunset a very, very, very, very, very rich man. One of the greatest ever beats Marciano's record. Now, let's just assume the pay-per-view, you know, didn't bomb. Let's assume that the issues in terms of ordering didn't preclude them from breaking the record or coming close to it. I think Showtime was a winner. This was a massive deal for them. I heard the broadcast was great. I couldn't really listen to it. The UFC is a winner because Connor looked great. He represented, didn't win, is still calling himself a free agent, but has said time and again.

including after the fight that he's coming back. Will it be December 30th? We don't know. Will it be against Nate? We don't know. When will it be? We don't know. But it sounds like he truly wants to come back. And that's a big win for the UFC because Connor McGregor and the UFC, they were under the spotlight on Saturday. And they represented. No one laughed.

At least the sane-minded people. Everyone gave them props. And so that's a victory. And of course, it's a victory for Connor. The second that bell rang on Saturday, Connor won because he scored 100 million. And people thought he would just go in there. to collect a check. People thought he would get hurt. People thought he would get knocked out. People thought he would get outclassed. People thought he would get embarrassed. He didn't even get

knocked down. And afterwards he said, why didn't they let me get knocked down? I wanted to get knocked down. And you see everyone, you know, guys like LeBron James and Lennox Lewis, who is very critical of this fight saying, my respect for him has grown immensely. I heard from a friend who's a big boxing guy, nodded an MMA guy and said he didn't have to earn my respect, but boy, oh boy, did he earn my respect. He went in there against Floyd Mayweather and didn't even get knocked down and hung in there and won three, four rounds early on, was landing his punches. His game plan was working. You can't take anything away from Floyd. Won the fight, fair and square. You can't take anything away from Connor. And oh, by the way, we are oh so quick

to criticize the Nevada Athletic Commission. But they come out a winner as well. We criticize them for making the fight. 49 and 0 against O&O, this is crazy. This is a money grab. It ended up being a hell of a lot more competitive than we all thought, right? We criticize. We criticize them. them for the gloves. No one got hurt. They're vindicated as well. Now the judges were a joke. I thought Robert Byrd, the referee, did a great job. In fact, I thought he was way more lenient than I thought he would be. In the buildup to the fight on Saturday, it seemed like he was really going, he was really going strong against Connor. He was talking to him as if he was going to be a madman out there doing MMA stuff. But he actually let him fight and he let him be a little dirty, believe it or not. The

rabbit punches, I thought he was going to step in. Connor kept pushing, kept pushing, kept pushing, kept testing his limits. I had no problem with the stoppage. I thought it was fair. I thought it was just. I thought he erred on the side of safety and he needed to do that. But this was a winner for all involved. Everyone is walking away today saying, some are saying boxing one, some are saying

MMA one, some are saying Floyd won, Connor won, how rare is that? It didn't end up being a joke. It didn't end up being, you know, more spectacle than sport. It didn't end up being a farce. in the end everyone won and for our perspective MMA proved that it could hang and you saw that

go look at what John Danaher said about the fight go look at what every single MMA fighter not named Aldo and RDA who I thought handled themselves classless on on showed a lot of showed a lack of respect for the community should a lack of respect for Connor

say what you about Connor what he says in the buildup afterwards he gave Aldo props and to hold on to that grudge and I get it to come out of there and laugh look what we've said time and again about Connor the guy is not afraid to put himself out there the guy is not afraid to embarrass himself and yes the hundred million is a great incentive to put yourself out there we would all do that for a hundred million but to go out there and believe that you could do it and to hang in there I know moral victories mean nothing but you don't think he he represented he represented all of you as well all the fighters So I thought it was a win-win for all involved.

We're going to break this down. We have a lot to get to today. A full lineup of guests. It is going to be a phenomenal day talking about this fight and a hell of a lot more. We've got Esther Lynn coming up. Max Holloway, Polly Malinaji, Joe Cortez, the referee who is a part of those sparring sessions. Daniel Cormier, Chal Sunnan, Holly Home, Chris Eubank. But first, let us start with a legend in his own right.

A man who has a big fight coming up as far as a promotion goes. On September 16th, it's Triple G versus Canella Alvrez. honored to be joined right now by the one and only Oscar Delahoya of Golden Boy promotions. Oscar, are you there? Ariel, it's a pleasure to hire at you for the first time, so thank you very much for having me on. The pleasure is mine, Oscar. So thank you so much for the time. I know it's a busy time for you, but I appreciate you carving out a few minutes and have long been an admirer of yours. I have to ask right off the top, you were very critical of this fight. You wrote a very long

piece on your Facebook page. It was eloquently written, but it was very much against the fight, and you urged the fans to not support. this black eye for boxing as you put it. Now that the fight is over, did you watch it A, and if so, what did you think of it? I really, I thought it was, I still think it was a farce. I think, I still think that the fans deserve better. I think that, look, I mean, the fact that this morning news articles are coming out on how Floyd bet tons of money to win in a 10th round. I mean, I just don't fall for it. I just do not fall for it.

And look, it's like boxing is one sport, and the UFC is a totally different sport. And I'm a huge supporter of McGregor. I think he's the best fighter in the UFC, and I respect him. And I'm going to buy his fights when he fights because I'm a fan. But I just think that it's like it's like the, it's like it's like it's just two different sports. And I just, I just feel bad, you know, for the fans. who obviously, look, boxing is a sport that, I mean, fighters train all their life to be a boxer,

and fighters train all their life to be UFC fighters. They're two different sports. Punches come from different angles. I just thought it was just all a big cross. And fair enough, and I respect your opinion wholeheartedly, but did you not think Connor ended up doing better than you thought he would for him to win three years? or maybe four rounds.

I mean, isn't that better than most boxing pundits? Guys like Max Kellerman saying he wouldn't even land a punch? Didn't he somewhat represent that at least he could be in there and not get out class and not get seriously hurt like many thought he would? Well, because Mayweather let him. The first four or five rounds, he let him do that. I mean, look, when you have Mayweather, who's arguably the best boxer on the planet today, the best defensive boxer, and then you have McGregor,

who's the best UFC fighter, hands down. They just don't, the punches are coming from different angles. It was, it was a bit awkward to watch, actually. But look, I respect McGregor. I respect the UFC. I really do. I just think that, look, I mean, when you have, when you have these stories from reputable people coming out saying that Mayweather bet on himself in the 10th round to win,

in the 10th round, I mean, I just don't fall for it. So I think what I heard from him afterwards was that, He saw that the line was nine and a half rounds, and so he wanted to get in the under. So technically he could have won in the six and still won that bet. I didn't hear that he actually bet on the 10th round specifically. I heard that he was trying to get in the under. But overall, as I said at the top, I don't think you heard. I thought it was training towards a disastrous night.

I thought the crowd was dead. They overpriced the tickets. There was no energy in the crowd. But the actual 10 rounds, the actual action, I think it was one of those rare moments in sports where everyone came out a winner. Connor showed that he didn't get out class that he could hang. Floyd showed that he won.

And actually, I think Floyd owes Connor a debt of gratitude. And I don't know if you agree with this. He walks away with a finish, with a nice little victory, and no one's really talking about the disaster that was the Pachial fight or the Berto fight, right? I mean, in a way, Connor actually did Floyd

a big favor as well. Do you agree with that? Well, look, I mean, I respect any fighter that gets inside the ring. That's the bottom line. And the fact that McGrager even tried. I mean, yes, there's huge respect for my part to him. You know, I, like I said, I respect the UFC. I respect any UFC part of that step inside the octagon. I respect fighters who just

go out there and put their life on the line. But what I'm just trying to say is that it's just they're two different sports and I wouldn't want to see anything like it again. Sure, that's fair. That's fair. I also thought in a weird way, and I don't know if you agree with me, Oscar. Your fight coming up, if there's any boxing peers out there, they know this, but any sports fan will be very wise to watch this fight on September 16th, Canello v. Golofkin, this is the best that boxing can offer right now. I mean, this is the two best, and you were able to put it together. I thought in a weird way, this fight getting made so close to yours, actually helped the promotion to your fight because you were able to say, this is the real fight.

People who talked about and debated Connor versus Floyd always mentioned your fight along with it. and there was that debate of what was the better fight, what was better for the sport and things like that. In the end, did you kind of feel like them being so close initially was maybe bad, maybe stole your thunder, whatever, but in the end actually helped elevate your promotion as well? Well, look, I mean, obviously, obviously, look, I'm actually glad that so many people were able to watch,

were able to watch Mayweather McGregor, because, I mean, on September 16, you will find out what a boxing match is. I mean, look, boxing is boxing, boxing, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, fighting is MMA fighting. I mean, look, like, for instance, we train all our lives for one style, and that's a boxing style. You guys in the U.S.C. train one style, and that's the NMA style.

And it's pure, it's respectable, it's amazing, it's incredible. The way the MMA fighters throw their punches from different angles, the foot movement, everything is different. And you just can't compare it to boxing. Boxing is a whole different sport. The angles, the punches are coming from different places. You know, so it's two different sports. But what I'm trying to say is that now on September 16th,

Pinello has been training all his life in the boxing world, and Triple G has been training all his life in the boxing world. You will see the best boxing match that boxing has to offer this year. Oscar, what compelled you to send out that tweet on Friday? You usually don't speak like that, that aggressively. and then of course Dana White responded to you. Why did you feel the need to do that Friday afternoon? Just respect, just trying to defend my sport.

That's it. My sport gave me everything I have. My sport allowed me to win an Olympic gold medal to win 10 world titles in six different weight classes. I've been boxing since I was four years old. And, you know, I was just, I was a little fed up by what was taking place. And, you know, I mean, obviously emotions, you know, run run through my vein and and you know I was just defending the sport that I

deal it up. What did you make of Dana White's response? I mean I just brush it off. I mean obviously look this is I'm I never attack him personally whatsoever you know I mean I was obviously very disappointed by by by his words but look it is what it is I'm going to continue defending the sport of boxing. I'm going to continue respecting the MMA and move on to September 16th. Because you have been a supporter of MMA. For those that don't know,

I've seen countless interviews with you where you support MMA and some of the fighters. So this is not specifically Oscar being anti-MMA. You're just saying you don't want to see non-MMA guys come into the sport of boxing with no professional fights fighting guys of Floyd's caliber, right? Oh, and vice versa. I mean, like, for instance,

for instance, look, I guess, I did talk about Conello McGregor before this fight. Yeah. But after seeing Saturday's fight, I mean, Canello probably would have knocked them out in one round or two rounds because Canello's a knockout guy. He's a guy who is not going to trick people into making a fight last longer than what it should last. I mean, I just feel, I just feel that, look, MMA fighters are amazing, amazing fighters, and I respect them dearly. And boxing fighters are boxers. I mean, that's just the bottom line.

Can we agree, though, that because he didn't get seriously heard, he didn't get knocked down, knocked out, because he won rounds, that Connor didn't put a black eye on the sport of boxing, that in the end it just ended up being a fight, and maybe one of Floyd's more entertaining fight? Is that fair to say? It's fair to say, absolutely. I mean, look, it's fair to say.

I mean, like I said before, I mean, I'm glad all these people spent their $100 on watching, on the world. watching this event, and because now on September 16th, they will know what two peer boxers will be, you know, will be demonstrating and showing on September 16th. It'll be an amazing fight. I mean, you know this for a fact. This is going to be an incredible, incredible fight. McGregor, look, like I said before, McGregor, I probably will even go to his fight or

buy his next fight when he steps inside the autograph again because he's an amazing guy. Wow, okay, I appreciate you saying that. Now, on September 16th, as we said, tremendous fight, in my opinion, the fight of the year on paper as far as boxing is concerned. And again, kudos to all of you for making it happen. In the buildup to this fight, some of the promoters were saying, oh, it's not really sold out. Oh, they're saying that the gate is higher than what it is.

Can you tell us for a fact that September 16th is already sold out, and do you know already what the gate will be? It's sold out. I mean, it's sold out in 10 days. I mean, there's no secret about anything. I mean, it's sold out in 10 days. And I mean, this is this is the fight that people have been asking for. And I'm happy that we were able to make it happen.

Any idea right now what the gate is? It's going to be a high number. I mean, look, I mean, this is for me, for me in boxing, for me, it's not about the money. It's not a money grab. It's not a, I mean, I even hate talking about money. Yeah. Comes to this type of fight. But look, it's going to be a really, really high number.

And both fighters are going to make amazing money. But for me, this is all about the fight. This is all about the fight, and it's all about the fans. And would you say that this is the biggest fight that you've ever promoted? Well, I've promoted Mayweather's about 11 to 10 fights. So, I mean, there's been big fights out there. I mean, this is, I would have to say, yes, by far, this will be the biggest boxing fight that I'm going to promote in recent years.

but I've been involved in some really big events. Obviously, you know, I've had the opportunity to be involved in Pakeyell's career and Mayweather's career, the biggest fighters. But, yeah, this by far, in terms of action-packed fight, in terms of the event and itself and whatever money it generates, it's going to be a big event. And how about this, Oscar? Here we are 15 minutes into an MMA show talking about boxing. in my opinion, boxing won on Saturday.

I thought it was a great fight. I thought everyone walked away happy. MMA boxing, one of those rare moments. And you know in boxing, it doesn't happen when the world is watching. We often leave with a sour taste in our mouth. But to start off a show like this, post that event, and I know you were critical, and I respect your opinion for you to come on and talk and, you know, say that you do have respect for McGregor and want to watch them again.

I think it's a victory for all of us. I think everyone's happy now. And hopefully you and Dana White can make up. We can all make up and all live together harmoniously, all combat sports. thriving together. How about that? I agree a thousand percent. Thank you, Oscar. All the best you on September 16th. I cannot wait for it. I will be ordering it, and I've been loving the 24-7, the first

episode that aired this past weekend was tremendous and looking forward to the build-up, and I wish you the best of luck as far as the promotion goes on September 16th in Las Vegas. Thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you. We'll talk to you soon. There he is. Oscar Delahoeia stopping by. The Golden Boy, how about that? Canelo Golofkin, 12-round fight, middleweight championship of the world, presented by Golden Boy Promotions, Triple G Promotions,

takes place Saturday, September 16th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas produced and distributed live by HBO pay-per-view. Check out their first 24-7. Now, want to thank our good friends over at the Marines. They've been supporting us from the get-go.

Here's a quick word from our sponsor. You know where it comes from. Why, some have it, and some don't. It's the fighting spirit. It consumes fear and weakness. It stands ready to fight whatever shape the battle takes. Because as long as there are battles, there will always be.

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Chris Eubank Sr. The British boxing legend who stopped by our set on Thursday afternoon to break down all things Mayweather McGregor and did so with a flare, with an elegance, with class, with dignity, with intelligence that we have never seen as far as any kind of breakdown is concerned. And it was very important for me to have him back on the program, on the Monday after to hear what he thought of it all. So it is a huge honor once again to reconnect with the one and only Chris Eubank who joins us on the phone.

Chris, are you there? I am excellent. Thank you. And yes, I am here. What a pleasure this is. Thank you so much for coming back on. First of all, how about the reaction that you received reciting Invictus and Rudyard Kipling and Theo Roosevelt?

That was pretty fun, right? I told you people would receive it well. Did you feel that as well? Oh, absolutely. it's been astonishing. It really has. I mean, I suppose in Britain, this is the norm. And so I guess people appreciate it,

but it's nothing they don't know of me already. And I've been doing that for the last, I suppose, 27 years. And so it was surprising to actually get such an influx of, I suppose, goodwill in regards to what, I suppose, is fairness. You know, what we don't do as worries is we do not condemn. Anything, everything there is a positive. Everything has a solar lining.

Everything can be slightly moved to the side, and you can see it from a different angle. So there are positive in everything. Wonderfully said, once again, now I'm dying to ask you, what did you think of the fight? The performance by Connor, the victory by Floyd, the early rounds, the later rounds. I want to hear it all.

What did you think of it overall? Well, I mean, okay, so here you have it. It's all positive for these reasons. It's positive because it engaged the globe in terms of the martial arts. Boxing and MMA have evolved as a result of the fight. the tactics used in the fight, in the future, this will be looked upon by MMA fighters if they should contend against boxes. And they will have to better the game. No two ways about that. And then that also proves the fact that we are evolving as fighters. looking to look at the positivity of the fact that Connor was in this fight our Rocky.

We imagined that he would step up to the plate as he did and fight the best possible, with the best possible tactics to have a competitive fight. It turned out that it went the boxer's way. The fight, however you view the fight, I'd more like to actually concentrate on the fact that he stepped up to the plate. The tactics, as I said before, if he boxes him, it's not going to be that much of a contest. If he fought him, and I'm looking to tell you as follows, for your viewers, If you watch, again, Ubank versus Collins 2, you'll see the blueprint. You know, he's retired now, so the blueprint was never used.

And no one knows of a blueprint to beat Mayweather. I think the closest anyone ever see to that blueprint is that particular fight. Eubank versus Collins 2. As I said, he would have to be an absolute madman. He would have to act like he needs. needs to be sectioned to actually beat Mayweather. He used another method, but for the future, I suppose it can be seen. If you want to, if an M&E fighter wants to beat a boxer, you have to watch that particular

fight. Or, or watch Rocky. Rocky watch. That's how it's done. Do you think, Chris, that he went out there and represented? Did he put out the game plan that you thought he should? I mean, it wasn't quite madman-esque, but for him to win those first few rounds, do you feel like he did as well as he possibly could?

Well, using the tactics he did, he did as well as he could have done, using the tactics he used. When you are an experienced boxer, you know that over a period of rounds, you know, you drain, you drain the fighter, you drain your opponent because you understand pace. You understand 12 rounds. You understand that you're never the fighter that you are in the first, that you are in the fifth or that you are in the 10th.

So, you know, this was loaded in Mayweather's favor from the start because it's a timeline and a pacing which suits his art, his craft, and what he has been doing for all those 21 years. being at the stop. So what we do, we we, we, we, uh, we pile, um, props. We give Connor props and, you know, we, we admire the fact that he stepped into, uh, the, the lion of them.

Look, I mean, you know, it could be said, you know, okay. would you step into the oxygen? Because if Mayfather stepped into the oxygen, effectively, what would happen is Floyd did to Connor, Connor would do to Floyd in an octagon, D.C. Probably it would last shorter, right?

Yeah. I mean, all Connor wants to do is take him down to the ground, and then he would be rendered useless, because that's not his skill set. And, you know, Connor had however many months to prepare for a professional boxing match. You know, Floyd would need seven years. Yeah. Five years of grappling, of jiu-jitsu, of judo, of uh,

Ma'i. I mean, it's, it's a different martial art. So, you know, what we admire is the fact that he actually stepped up to the plate and went into, you know, the lions then. And Mayweather is the king of the lions. Am I crazy for thinking, Chris, that you thought that he could actually do better, that Connor could actually do better in the fight? No, you're not crazy at all for thinking that.

I mean, I said as much in the interview, you would have to go to the Eubank Collins two fight to see the blueprint. Yeah. Without fighting. Mayweather, like, I'm talking about someone who is insane. You have to watch this Colin Vuebank, too, fight. Yeah, yeah. Then you'll...

I mean, he comes at me like an absolute maniac, and he does it for 12 rounds. All you have to do is watch one round of this particular fight. I mean, it is... It's really something to see, and that's the only blueprint, as I said, it's the only blueprint I've ever seen of how you beat a man who is superior in boxing skills if you're not.

Which Collins wasn't. Right. How many rounds did you give, Connor? Okay, so, all right. So let's say the first three, you know, but you see for Floyd Mayweather, what he was doing is feeling him out. Yeah. You see, so, you know, after two, three rounds, you understand exactly.

I mean, I'm talking about precisely what your opponent is capable of. So the three rounds or four rounds, if you were going to give them to McGregor, then the point of fact is that was the time in which Mayweather was feeling him out. and while you're feeling your opponent out those minutes those 16 minutes of feeling him out that takes your you're expelling

your expending energy which is it's important energy and once you don't have that energy then you start flailing and you start losing your composure and once you start using your composure and once you start using your composure

then you are open to shock. So again, you know, from an overall view, if I was to look at it from an overall view, Connemerrugher is to be admired for stepping into the king lion's den. And the MMA world would give Mayweather the same credibility and the same love and respect if Mayweather stepped into the oxygen. Yeah.

What did you think of the stoppage? Yeah, well, that's what the referee is supposed to do. Uh-huh. He's supposed to stop the opponent who is getting damaged. He's supposed to stop them from taking further punishment. That's his job. And he did a magnificent job. Because, you know, Rocky in the movies is fantastic.

to look at because the referees allow it to go on. But that's the movies. In real life, you know, the head actually does not recover. The body can recover, but the head doesn't. And so therefore, the referee did a fantastic job. What about the rabbit punches that Floyd complained about? Do you feel like he was too lenient towards Connor? So this is how I view the rabbit punches. Okay. The rabbit punches, if you look at, you know, I wish I had the ability to be in front of you so I could show you about body weight.

So do I. Body weight. Thank you. There was no body weight in the shots. In those rabbit punches, they were just arm punches. So it was more, um, the shots were more frustrated, um, taps. they wouldn't have been hurtful

and if anything no I mean you know they wouldn't have hurt Mayweather they would have looked on gamely it looked a little novice

but there is no issue with those rabbit punches because there was no power behind them they were arm punches you know he wasn't he wasn't actually bringing his knuckles down and bringing his body down

with those shots. And if he had been, then it would be illegal. Then it would have meant something. But there was no power in Vouchard. And remember, boxers can absorb and take a great deal of punishment because of what they're doing every day in the gym.

Do you subscribe to the notion, Chris, that, in essence, everyone won on Saturday, that Connor wins, that Floyd wins, that the UFC wins, that the boxing world wins, that the NAC for sanctioning the fight win. It's really one of those rare moments in sports where everyone's a victor. Do you believe that? I absolutely do.

I absolutely do. There is no negative. The only person, in actual fact, the only person or persons who would be bruised is certainly Connor McGregor in terms of his code. He is a warrior. So he, no matter what, he will be bruised, his ego, his pride, his manhood will be bruised and he will recover. In saying that, he still has conducted himself like a gentleman in defeat, which again is a triumph in itself. the Irish

the nation of Ireland and all Irish men and women will be still live in hope let's say the Irish always like anyone who can actually prop up who they are as a people

so they may be slightly bruised but that's okay you know it's okay because he was fighting the Casparov of boxing, as I said before. He was fighting, you know, the lion, the king lion in the boxing world. I'm happy that you're harping on that notion because I actually feel like that is a point that was missed leading up to the fight. In the hours leading up to the fight, you felt the spirit in the air in Las Vegas, a hope from the Irish people. And let's be honest, as far as athletic achievements are concerned, they haven't had much.

much to be hopeful about on the world stage. And this is a nation that, you know, has been through a lot economically over the past decade. And you felt just a sincere hope that he would represent them and would win and would shock the world and would knock them out. And that was the most beautiful part of all of this, the hope, the buildup, you know, the innocence. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. And, you know, and obviously the views that I had beforehand, it was more of a, it was, I had.

It was, if I had that same hope, I want to see a competitive fight, I want to be entertained. And that hope, you know, as fleeting as it may have been now, we are talking to this fight. Yeah. It was beautiful to enjoy, to wonder, to think, to dream that Osama McGregor could replicate the rocky of, 1978, whatever the first one came out. You know, we lived in hope. And we continue to live in hope. For what?

Entertainment. Chris, at this juncture, would you... Would you suggest to Connor to continue boxing? Do you see something in him as a boxer, or do you feel like he should go back to MMA? You cannot become a boxer over a period of a year. It took me seven years to... from day one

to my first championship fighter to seven years. He's 29 years old. His skill set is the martial arts of MMA, mixed martial arts. So for him to switch

and become a boxer, you know, I always teach to boxers, you know, stick to one thing. You know, don't look at the movies, don't look to an actor as well. You know, don't look.

If you're going to be a boxer, be a boxer. You know, don't be anything else. One thing, put 100% of your efforts into the pursuit of excellence in the one thing. And he has mastered and done that in MMA. And he has made himself a wealthy man now through switching and going over to boxing. in the future, if he should want to actually compete again in the four-cornered circle, then so be it. But he will never be the master in boxing that he is in MME,

which is an obvious point. He has spent his entire fighting life in the mixed martial arts. that's where he is a master. Who do you give credit to for the early rounds, Chris, because some say that Floyd just carried him and let him win those rounds. Do you feel like that's unfair to Connor? Well, I think I answered this question before. It's not so much that he carried him.

You know, keep in mind, you know, think of what, now forget about the first. of the two combatants. Think about their spirits. So beforehand, you had the spirits at play.

You could see that Connemagher's spirit crushed, absolutely crushed Boyd-May-May-Withers' spirit. He shouted them down. He antagonized the spirit. He pushed a spirit around.

He out shouted him. He outdressed him. He out-thoughted him. He out, his, his energy was so vibrant. It was scary. It was scary. So he had dented the spirit of Floyd Mayweather. We saw it in the press conferences, even at the way in, especially at the way in, when he was shouting. him down, he saw that the spirit within Mayweather was quiet because he couldn't compete with it. Okay, now, now that's usually half the battle. It's half the battle, but what he needed to do on top of that is actually run at him like a madman. Right, right. And that mad, that blueprint can be seen in, again, Eubank, Colin, too.

and when your viewers actually watch that, I think you'll get a ground full of comments. I see now what you mean. Yep, I watched it after we spoke and I 100% see what you mean. I'd be remiss if I don't ask you this last thing before I let you go, Chris. And again, thank you so much for stopping by. It has been such a pleasure getting to know you a little bit over the last couple days. you recited some wonderful poems leading up to the fight,

and I'm wondering if the performance on Saturday brings to mind anything else that you can share with us, any other poetic pieces, anything else come to mind as far as what transpired. Yes, I've been thinking, you know, to leave you with something, but I couldn't find anything in my head. Oh, okay. But as I'm speaking to you, in actual fact, yes, I have a beautiful piece. Okay.

I will recite, I committed it to memory, and it goes as follows. Go placidly amid the noise and the haste. And remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth, clearly and quietly, and listen to others. Even the dull and the ignorant for that too have their story. Avoid, loud and aggressive persons for they are vexatious to your speech.

If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter. For always, there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plan. Keep interested in your own career, however humble it may be. It is a real possession in the changing 14th of time. So as I have caution in your business affairs. For the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is.

Many persons you see strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself, especially, do not sane affection, neither be cynical about love. For in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the Council of the Years, gracefully surrendering things of youth, nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. but do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears you see are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. After all, you are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars.

You do have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore, be at peace with God. whatever you conceive him to be and whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul with all it's sham

drudgery and broken dreams it is still a beautiful world be careful and strive to be happy wow I feel like I need to do this afterwards wow who wrote that called Dezada it was found in the churchyard

in 1692, author unknown. Unbelievable. That summed it up. I felt it. I saw the fight playing out of my mind as you were saying that. That was it. You nailed it, Chris. What I'd like to point out is that my son, Joseph, was actually filming this.

And so just in case of your viewers may think I was reading from a piece of paper, I'm going to get him to upload it so that the viewers can see that it was. I had no doubt, just for the record. I had no doubt. You are a real treasure, my friend. Wow, what a pleasure it has been. And I hope that we can continue to have you on the program and to get your insight, because the way that you are able to look at both sports and just be unbiased and your opinions and your knowledge, and of course your intelligence is just second to none. I've never met anything or come across anything like it. So kudos to you, Chris, for becoming one of the stars of the week. Thank you so much once again for stopping by.

It was a real honor to have you on the program. In London, we say triple AP. Always an absolute pleasure, sir. Cheers, my friend. We'll talk to you soon. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Bye, bye, bye. Holy smokes. Chris Eubank. Wow.

I will never be as smart as that man. That was amazing. Okay. What more can I say? Let's move along now. I can't wait to get our next guest's take on what transpired on Saturday because I thought that she had one of the smartest take. And of course, experience-wise, no one knows better than her what it takes to go from one sport to the next.

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to go from boxing to MMA and the most decorated fighter, if you count everyone who even dabbled in both sports, to ever compete in boxing in MMA. Her name is Holly Holm. and she joins us on the phone right now. Holly, how are you? I'm good.

How are you doing? I'm doing great. Thank you so much. I really wanted to get your take after the fact because I remember speaking to you around two months ago and I thought you had a really smart take on the fight. So I'm assuming you watched it. If you did, what did you make of the fight on Saturday night?

You know, I don't want to say like it went how I thought it would go because I don't ever, I mean, I was saying anything to help him now, but I really felt like McGregor was going to be able to launch him. punch is kind of a different type of style a little bit, you know, different for Mayweather. And he's quicker and a little bigger. And, you know, I feel like, I knew that he would be able to cut. My phone's going to switch. Hello?

Yeah, I'm sorry. No problem. I'm there. I was getting in my car. You know, what I was saying is I think that I felt like McGregor was going to be able to learn some shots on Mayweather at first. and, which he did, I gave him easily the first three round, I started using the little fours, maybe eight, but, you know, the beginning of the fight, he,

but with that being said, Mayweiler always kind of let people kind of punch a little bit and has more of a slower start and pastes himself. So it didn't surprise me that Mayweiler was kind of, you know, letting McGregor do a thing, but I also think at the same time, McGregor was frustrating Mayweather. It's been a long time since someone's frustrated,

of Mayweather in there. And just by his different style. And, you know, I know that being a lefty, you know, McGregor was kind of throwing a couple of those backhand uppercats because Mayweather leaning to the right. He always kind of fights like that in his

defensive style. So I felt like he, you know, he did some good things. And I was, I'm proud of both of them. I think it was a big fight. I think McGregor should people. I think he really surprised a lot of people. And, you know, Mayweather, now he's got 50 and L.

I mean, you can't really... I think a lot of people were happy to watch the pilot. Some people were thinking it was just this big joke, you know, and I think that that just showed that in this, you know, it's martial art, whether it be boxing or a man. I think that it shows that, you know, it's just two people passionate about fighting about martial art. And, you know, they were able to kind of bring their breath to the table

and gosh, that's a big deal to be able to take on some, you know, Mayweather and be able to make it a fight. So I thought it was an attaining to watch. So do you believe, because I see most sane-minded people say, you know, great fight, everyone's a winner, Connor did better than I expected, et cetera, but there are some people who seem to believe that Floyd just basically gave up those first few rounds. I thought Connor won the first three. I thought he was aggressive. He was landing punches, and you can argue he won the fourth. Do you give Connor credit for those early rounds, or do you think that that was just Floyd, as he said, the game plan, let him punch himself out, and then I would take over?

I give Connor the credit in those rounds. I think that Mayweather is more of a slow starter, and he's kind of a master of, you know, saying before the fight, like, the later it goes, the more it's going to be in Mayweather's paper, because he does take it in the later rounds. and he's really good at pacing that. And so, yeah, I think he was, you know, not wanting to punch himself out in the first few rounds, Mayweather. But I definitely think that it's not like he wanted to let McGregor land on him. So you can't say that Mayweather let him do that. That's just any fighter, especially a fighter that's 49 and 0, will not just get in the ring and say, I'm going to let this person hit me.

Yeah. Maybe he wasn't as aggressive in the first few rounds. I don't think he ever is really the aggressor in the first few rounds. However, he still moves and is so defensive. He doesn't let people land shots on him. Gregor was landing shots on him. He was winning some, you know, uppercuts. That side is landing some jabs.

He was landing some straight left. He was, you know, taking some angles. And he definitely, there's no way that that was McGregor just, like, playing around with it. Like I said, no fighter, especially one that's undeceived to get in there with that kind of mindset. Do you think in a way McGregor hurt himself by gassing out, had he not had cardio issues and not tired himself out, do you feel like he could have done even better? I think he could have been better, but I think that that's just what comes with 49 fights of a 12-round fight.

They whether have that experience. So it's kind of hard to know what that is going to feel like to have 12, three-minute round, and you've never done it before. And to keep things kind of in so people can kind of, it's just to have people like look at it a little differently. But five-minute round in a minute is 25 minutes. Well, a box in a high is 36 minutes. So it's 11 minutes more. That's three-five-minute round is 15 minutes.

So basically to do a 12-round boxing fight, that's doing a title fight by five-minute rounds and a little over two-round, like almost three, it's almost like a title fight and a regular three-round fight. It's only four minutes shy of that. You know what I mean? So it is longer when you think about that. It's people all 25 minutes, 36 minutes. It's like, no, that's only four minutes shy of doing a title fight and a three-round fight in the M.A. What is it?

to different ways. Holly, what do you think of the stoppage? I thought it was early, but I think it was going to end soon anyway, and so, you know, you don't see, you didn't see McGregor really upset about the stoppage either because he was tired.

You know, when you're tired, it doesn't matter what kind of skill you have if you can't do anything. It's over, you know. So you don't see McGregor, arguing that it was stopped but

I feel like the rest jumped in a little early yeah what do you think like like

go ahead sorry say it again it's not like he was like out on his feet or about to get knocked out like that

he was just so tired he could hardly you know stand in there to counter or anything but definitely like it was an early stoppage

for sure I just I just I I think inevitable was about to happen, so you really argue it, you know. My take on it was everyone won on Saturday, Connor won, Floyd won, MMA one, MMA one, boxing one. Do you believe the same? Yep.

I do. I do. I think that it shows that there are crossovers in this, and it's not, you know, I'm glad that it kind of came together like that, because I've always been a fan of both, obviously. And, you know, there's, like, that battle between boxings that are in MMAs that are Like, no, it's just boxers are boxing because that's what they're passionate about. And MMMAX is what they're doing the MMAP because that's what they're passionate about. Like, that's the only thing.

I don't know why there's always this kind of, like, fight about it. I think I love fighting, no matter what it is, I'd love to watch it. So it's one of those things I think that this created a little bit more of respect from both sides, And it was so worldwide watched that feeling and that got to be, you know, expressed that spread across the world where people kind of can just, I mean, let's just respect and appreciate the sport as a whole. It's fighting. You know, it's just an art, no matter what type it is boxing in the main.

It doesn't matter. I think it's just when people really put their passion into it and really train hard and go in there and they're just putting their best against someone else's. I mean, there's a reason why everybody wanted to watch it. And I think that's why people like to watch fighting. It's the unknown, and it's just unpredictable. You have no idea what's going to happen, and how can you not respect these people that really...

They both put everything on the line. McGregor walked in saying, I believe I can do this. They're going against a fighter that's never been stopped, but I've never been beat. You know, he's got the record now. That's a big thing to take on. A lot of people wouldn't be able to fathom what kind of mindset that you would have to have in order to do that.

A lot of people would not be able to do that. And Mayweather, because anything can happen in a fight, any punch can end it, he's putting a lot on the line to make it 50 and O or to lose somebody who has been in a Mayfair who never bought before. I mean, that's a lot to put on the line. But there's a reason why, like I say, there's a reason why Mayweather is 49 and 0. It's because he does believe in himself as well.

And, you know, it's just some of those where they kind of just, man, they put themselves on the line. They really put themselves out there, and I'm proud of both of them. Considering what you saw from Connor, would you suggest to him to keep boxing, or do you think at this point he should just go back to M.MA? I honestly think he can do either. I really do. I think, especially after this fight,

think about how much he probably learned, and how much he would probably think I could do this better, and I could have done this, and this was great that I did, and so I can, you know, use this as one of my tools. I'll keep with me forever. I mean, after each fight, especially if I like that, you learn so much, I think he can honestly do either one. Wow. By the way, who were you rooting for, considering your ties to both sports?

Were you rooting for anyone in particular? You know what? I was so kind of, I just wanted to watch it, and I really, what I wanted, what I was rooting for is for both of them to be able to show, what they could do because I really, I respect both of them as fighters. And there's a small piece of me that wanted to see, you know, McGregor be able to really pull it off. And then there's this other part of me that's like, we don't ever get a see a fighter that's, you know,

and so we get to witness that. So really, history was going to be made one way or the other. And so I wasn't going to be upset either way. There was a little selfish part of me that I wanted to be the only one that did bold. But, you know, I wasn't sitting here saying, oh, I want this person to come down. You know, I really, that wasn't in my mind at all. I appreciate you being honest about that. And even if you did win one fight, I don't think it would, you know,

relate to what you've done in both sports just because you had so many boxing matches. And now I'd be remiss if I don't ask you about your own career at this point. There have been some talks of you and Chris Cyborg, and she's putting it out there. Where do we stand? Is this fight going to happen? You know, we're waiting to see if it's presented or not. It's obviously something that, you know, we said we're open to doing,

and we'll see if it happens. I know she's putting it out there saying she's calling me out and everything like that, but that's, you know, social media and a lot of, you know, that, you know, I don't really get into. So I'm just here to train, and if I get put together, then I'm going to be training to theater. And that's really, as far as that goes, I'm not saying I won't and I'm not saying it's got to be this day or date or anything like that. It's just, hey, if they present a contract, then let's do it.

Has it been officially offered to you yet? Not really. We've talked about it a couple times. before the 145-pound belt was even like, before the 145-pound weight was even brought in to UFC, I talked with Dana about doing a catch weight, but she said, you know, he didn't think that she would really want to do that anymore.

And I said, well, you know, I'm open to a catch-weight, you know, whatever. And then the 145-pound belt came in, and that's when she had her, she was kind of on like a suspension for the who's got us and so that's why Tremaine and I wound up fighting the

bell Right and then after that her first fight for the belt was you know July which was one month after I fought in Singapore so right now

yes there's been talked about it but there hasn't really been like this opportunity to make it happen yet so um now that it's an opportunity.

You know, now that it makes sense, um, let's see if it, if it goes through. Would you like for it to happen? Is this the fight that most interests you right now? You know, I always want to take whatever opportunities in front of me and whatever challenges me.

So yeah, let's make it happen, but I'm, I'm not going to sit here and just focus on that. Because what if they come and say, well, we have this other fight, well,

then I need to be ready for that. So, like I said, I'm, I'm, I'm at the gym. I'm trying to, you know,

go 70% not 100% because I want to be fronted out and whatever comes my way I want to be able to get in second gear and go hard

when do you want to fight in a perfect world when do you want to return I'm ready to be in a training camp many times soon I mean I'm ready I'm healthy and everything

everything's pretty I mean I I really have gotten nothing, really. Okay. And just curious, did you watch her fight against Avenger? And if so, what did you make of her performance? Yeah, I was at the fight, actually. I mean, I see every time you watch someone,

you always look at things that, you know, you can expose on them, and then all the things that you think, okay, that's one of those strengths and weaknesses. Um, Ebinger made it a little harder fight for Cyborg, which I think surprised a lot of people. I know Evancher is a really tough girl. She's tough, you know. So, um, I think there's, there's positives and negative. There's plus and minus.

You can see some of the strengths and weaknesses in that fight. And, um, you know, if I didn't look at it and try and learn from it, then, you know, I'd be foolish. too. But, so yeah, there's things that you look at and think, you know, here's exposure for this, this and that, and then here's her strength that I need to be careful for. And even with that being said, there's also the whole fact that styles make a different, you know, every fight is different. So we just try to put into consideration my style against hers, and then that even

changes some of the aspect of it. Holly, really appreciate the insight. A pleasure, as always. Thank you so much for coming on and talking about it. and I thought your insight was on point. So thank you for carving out some time. And we'll talk to you soon and good luck. Whatever that next fight is, perhaps we'll be talking before that,

but good luck as you prepare for whatever the next challenge is. Thank you so much. All right. We'll talk to you soon. There she is. Holly Holme, former UFC women's bantamoy champion, the best athlete to succeed in both sports. Boxing and MMA really appreciated her insight.

All right, let's move along. Another person who was at the fight on Saturday night. In fact, he was working for ESPN, did a phenomenal job. job, our good friend, Chale P. Sunnan, standing by. Come on, that was good. That was good, Chale. Come on. That was good, Chale. Come on. That was good stuff. Tantalizing interview, Ariel. Do you have like a little pin needle you put in your shoe that you have to step down on every now and then to keep away? Yeah, that was, that was riveting stuff, my friend. Riveting stuff. That was a great show so far, Ariel. Thank you. I appreciate it. Our numbers are through the

roof, and now I expect them to go even further through the roof now that you're here. I have to ask you about a few things. I know we have a lot to discuss, but first, The most important thing, the most important thing, right off the bat, Saturday night, you're there as Stephen A. Smith and Teddy Atlas are arguing about steaks and cheeseburgers. And I don't know, God knows what else. And then they cut to you. And I look at your face, what is going through your mind as those two crazy people are arguing about each, but I don't even know what? Gourmeted chef cheese. What is it? What do you think you get that juncture? Questioning Teddy Atlas on boxing is a very bold move right there. Now, trying to go head to head with Stephen A. Smith and commentating is equally as tough. But I mean, I mean, come on, you've got the genius Teddy Atlas himself sitting right there telling you how things were. Let the man talk. So you felt like Stephen A kind of overstepped his boundaries. Fair?

I'm saying when it comes to the world of boxing, I just don't know if there's a more reputable mind. I mean, I think, who would you even compare Teddy Atlas to maybe go to a Freddie Roach, maybe a Max Kellerman? I mean, wow, he really is an expert. He really is an expert. I want to hear what he had to say. I'm not jumping in the middle. What are you trying to do to me, right? I almost fell for that area.

I'm not getting the middle, but I will tell you this, when it comes to an analysis on boxing just as a straight shoot, man, Teddy's the man. Yeah, he is the man. For you personally, being there all week, being a part of that, being sort of the MMA voice for ESPN's coverage, the worldwide leader, what was the experience like? Did you enjoy it? Oh, I had an absolute blast. It was such an incredible event, and particularly in hindsight, I mean, to tell you how amazed, and that's the right word, without exaggeration, how amazed I was, with Connor would be very difficult for me. I don't know that I have the rhetorical skills.

It was incredible. I mean, first off, he shouldn't have been there. People were saying he didn't belong. Those people were right. People were saying that fight shouldn't be made. The commission shouldn't even sanctioned. Historically speaking, they're right. There's never been a fight with such disparaging records in the history of commissions that's

been sanctioned. The rule is three. You and I can fight. If I've had three fights and you've had none or I've had six fights and you've had three, that's the rule. It's not the law, but that's the rule of thumb. 49 versus zero and Connor came out. He did exactly what he said he would do.

He came across the ring. He put it on Floyd. There was nine seconds left in the first round, Ariel, before Floyd took a hand and moved in a forward direction. He never even tried to land a punch. And the second round and the third round weren't a whole lot different. And the incompetent judges of the Nevada State Athletic Commission still only gave Connor one round. That should be a bigger story here. If that fight would have gone the distance, they were getting ready to rob him.

And we see that in boxing constantly. But because this didn't go to the cards, it isn't being, you know, there was no spotlight put on it. But there should be. That was absolutely absurd. And what was also an incredible era, Conner's putting the pressure on, and Floyd's not doing anything back. Finally, Floyd gets off a piece of offense with a straight right. Connor slips it and throws an uppercut, followed by a hook, followed by a cross, to explain to you in words how difficult that combination is to slip and throw an uppercut. upper cut. So hard to do. Fighters, no, that is almost an impossible combination.

Connor landed, and that's when all of us in the arena that were the smart marks sit back and go, oh my God, this guy can box. I got the feeling afterwards, despite the loss that the MMA fighting community, the fighters, you guys, not us, you guys, held your, your, your, your, your heads a bit higher, your chest were a little puffier, that finally MMA, this sport where, you know, what do boxers say about MMA fighters? You can't box. You can't move your head. You can't hang. And I know we're talking about one guy, but it felt to me like everyone was proud and had his back.

And despite the loss, felt like he represented them well. Did you feel the same? Yeah, and I think a few of us trying to put our fingerprints on the fight, too. But the reality was this was Connor. You know, I don't know that he represented all of MMA. He represented one rare and special athlete. I will not be part of anybody saying anything different. I was a naysayer before this thing started, but I should have been.

I had evidence on my side. You've got a guy that's never done it against a guy that's never lost at it. That's a fair statement, and I made it several times. But, Errol, Connor went out. He kept his nerves about him. Connor never gets enough credit for the way he deals with pressure. You know, what's the golden rule? You put yourself in somebody else's shoes.

If I had to go in there and box, the best boxer in the world, my size, Arrow, that is the most frightening scenario I could think of. Take all my tools away, and I just got to go out there and get punched in the face. Really hard thing to do. Connor dealt with it. He held up. I mean, the number one thing that that kind of fear is. and stress does to you, and we all deal with it on some level, I would just imagine that his

would have been higher for this, is it drains your battery. It takes your energy away. It did take Conner's energy away. But a half hour later, my God, it was amazing what he did. In Arrow, there was a great thing that Dana White said at the post-fight press conference, where Dana just laid it out there and he said, guys in boxing, you start with three rounds, you go to four rounds, you graduate to six rounds. Connor stepped into a 12-round environment and made it a half hour. with the baddest dude to have ever done it. Come on, man. Connor McGregor is amazing.

There's nothing else you can say. I appreciate that insight. Speaking of Dana White, you're a promoter. Put yourself in his shoes. His guy lost. But yet he did all that. He went that far. Was this a victory for Dana and the UFC?

Oh, yeah. Tremendous victory. Everybody won here. You know, never in my life have I seen an entire integrity of a sport put on trial. Boxing is a dying sport. I say this as a boxer. I boxed before I did MMA. I did wrestling before I did MMA.

I'll fully admit those sports. We just don't have a lot of fans. Boxing is not recognized by the NCAA. Any level, Division 1, 2, or 3. They're not recognized in any high school in this country. The only reputable body with any level of integrity that says boxing is still a sport that needs to be contested is the International Olympic Committee. It is a dying sport.

Boxing defended itself. It passed the test. MMA stood up. Connor McGregor and the brand stood up. UFC as far as going, look, we're not putting on a circus here. We think we've got a competitive event. We're coming to the table. Sure, there's a lot of money, but we really think we have something here.

They all held up, and every fan in that arena left satisfied. That's the first time I've seen Floyd have to fight. He found himself in there with a street fighter. What none of us knew about Connor is how well he could box. Yes, we knew he could throw the punches, but can he deal with them? Of course he can't deal with them. Well, wrong, slip, upper cuts, hooks, dig into the body. These are very hard things to do.

They look easy when you see them on TV, Aero. They are very hard things to do. And Connor did it all, and he did it for half of an hour. Yeah. I can't speak to the pay-per-view issues because I was there alive, but I could speak to this. The only negative that I came away with was I thought the crowd was very disappointing. It wasn't full, a lot of empty sections, no energy,

didn't feel like a Connor fight. There was points in the night when they were stalling. There was no music. It just felt very dead in there. Did you feel like it was a bit lacking? even the entrances were lack, it just felt a bit off until the fight, the fight delivered, but the buildup felt very sort of empty, in my opinion. Yeah, I agree with that, but you and I are spoiled with MMA.

You know, what Bersari and Dana White do, I mean, that is a totally different deal. We are entertained from bell to bell as fans that are live. I don't know if the people at home would have felt that. They probably saw something pretty cool. I hear you on that, but they are different products. And, yeah, I mean, look, the only thing more embellished than Floyd Mayweather's personal wealth is Floyd Mayweather's pay-per-view numbers. Eric, you've reported this.

ESPN, everybody's guilty of saying, Pachiao versus Floyd is the highest fight of all time, that $4.4 million. Not direct TV, of which I'm a shareholder, not the DISH network, not Comcast, not Time Warner, not one person backed those numbers. 4.4 million is nowhere close to what Pachiao and Mayweather did that got put out on a press report that you all laid up.

If this fight wants to be the biggest fight of all time, All it needs to do is put out a report that says it did $5 million. Absolutely not true. No more real than that belt that they brung out and put around Floyd's shoulder. Fair enough. And we'll see if the issues actually affected the fight. Was there a moment for you that stood out? Favorite moment of being a part of this?

I mean, it's a real honor for you to be a part of the ESPN coverage as the lone MMA voice. That's a big deal. Was there a moment that stood out? I mean, we'll be talking about this for decades, I think. What about for you? anything that really you walked away with? You want to hear?

You want to know? So when the fight's over, and ESPN had really cool sets. We're doing a lot of stuff outside, really hot, really uncomfortable. It's still very beautiful scenics. When the show gets over, we have a set outside of T-Mobile. You've got to go up a special elevator, and then it's kind of on a rooftop-type deal. Some guy comes up to me up there. He's dressed in a white shirt and he's got a bow-tie.

I thought he was the waiter. For good reason. He looked like a waiter. He came up to me and he grabs me and he sent some really. nice things and we did a little selfie. It was about 20 second exchange. One minute later, security has him and yells to me, hey, Chale, do you know this guy? I look up. It's the guy in the bow tie and I say, yeah, I know him. And I go back to what I'm doing. I then hear security say to him, oh, okay, you're all right. You're with Chale. We didn't know that. Just make sure you stay

behind this line. Well, then I'm going, oh, wait a minute. No, no, I don't know him like that. He's not with me. Some guy had snuck up. So I grabbed security. I pull him aside and I say, hey, when you asked me a moment ago, if I knew that guy, I had just met him. I thought you were like going to introduce me or so i had just met him at that very moment the dude rushes the stage jumps in front of the camera and appears live on ESPN that's my most memorable moment i saw that guy with the Celtics had who said f the mayweathers that guy i'm the one that got him in there i'm the one to turn to i'm sent in a text i look up to security i see the button yeah yeah i know him oh my god i'm the reason that that that guy was and then he and then he makes me look like a scumbag so anyway that was my

moment, but I thought it was an incredible event. I thought it was an incredible night. Yeah, it didn't sell out, but frankly, that's just because they priced their tickets too high. I mean, it was a big cash grab. They did incredible at the gate. And as far as the pay-per-view, I mean, it is what it is. Pacchio and Mayweather did about 1.8 to 1.9 million. It got reported at 4.4. Welcome to promotion business. That's still a great night. And let me ask you this. He said afterwards, Connor did, I'm a free agent, which was such an interesting thing to hear him say, because we all know he has four fights left on his UFC deal. If you're him, what do you do next? he does? Well, I think he's going to fight in the UFC. You know, my respect for Connor

goes up, but it goes up for different reasons than it does with other people. One thing I really, you know, let's start at the beginning. One thing really cool about Connor McGregor, he's stuck with his team. You know, nobody in boxing, nobody in MMA makes it from the streets to the big time and keeps their same coaches, same gym and same teammates, even their same girlfriend. He did them all. He's just a real guy pursuing his dream. You know, he gets into this sport and he says something very cool. He's talking about Nate Diaz. I do think that Nate's going to be a next little insight information. I'm sure you have the same information. I think that's going to go down in late December. But what I respect about Connor, and he actually brought this up with you when you guys

did the one man show. And he said, we got one apiece. We got to go to the third. Well, that's a guy that respects the history of the sport. And as much as he's paved in his own path, he is showing respect for tradition. And he's right. When you're one of piece, you go to the third. That's what the sports says, that's what history says. It's the right thing to do. I think he's going to do it. You have some news to break. Before we get to that, I want to ask you quickly about a man you know a whole lot about. That was the big news. And he actually owes a debt of gratitude to Connor because he took the spotlight away from him. John Jones had another horrible week, another black mark on his resume, if you will. What did you make? I'm sure you know about the drug that was reported in his system.

What do you make of this John Jones story now? Yeah, so it's a little bit like Bill Clinton to bring a good political example in it, when there was so much stuff surrounded you and something comes up every day. At some point, it just quits making news. And I think that John had that on his side. Maybe that's a good thing for him in the world of PR right now. Okay, John Jones failed another drug test. You know, it was kind of one of those situations.

As far as what Trendball, if I'm even saying that right, you'd have to go to a museum to find that. That's not something that a person would take. On the list of performance enhancers, it's probably number eight on the list. And you might be thinking, well, eight, that's pretty good. Well, there's only about 10 things on that list. So to take that, you would traditionally take that in a stack. I can tell you, and I don't know what John did, I'm speculating off of what I've done. If they catch something like that, they missed the good stuff.

So, yeah, he's got to deal with this. There's no contaminated. substance or anything. This stuff's pretty hard to get. It's pretty expensive if you do get it. The problem with this one is it's an illegal drug. And people always get confused on a banned substance versus an illegal. An illegal means if you're caught with it, they will put you in handcuffs. I'm talking about it's illegal. Pretty hard to get, pretty hard to find. I was surprised whoever gave him the advice and he listened to. That part of it kind of caught me out guard. So you think he's gone for four years probably? Let's see what happens here. You know, I don't think

in a time like this you could really use some friends. I don't think the words that he used leading up to the president, Dana White, before his last fight, are going to help him very much in this situation. You know, if there's anything that John likes to do besides ban substances, it's burn bridges. I don't understand why he does that, but it's a time right now that he could use some friends, and I don't know that he's got him. He's probably going to look at more like two years. And we'll see if, I mean, do you think it'll be for? He's got two fronts. He's got California to deal with, but he's also got Usada, and it's whichever one is higher is what he's got to deal with. I mean, what's your heart says? I think he's facing it. I think it's a strong

possibility because it's multiple offenses, and I know the first time he got the max because they said he was reckless. And even if it goes back, so if he goes back to the reckless alibi, which it seems like that's what they're going to say, they're going to say tainted supplement, okay, that's a minimum two because it's the second one. But as you've said in others, this is the kind of drug, it seems, that doesn't just show up, you know, it doesn't just like, you don't lace something with this. I'm no expert and I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but you're right. I mean, how many, look, if D.C. came out and we found out that he failed, that's a shocker, but how many benefits of the doubt do you get? You know what I mean? From the public, from the

commissions, the regulators. Yeah, and there's a couple schools of thought there, and I've seen guys go both ways with it, and some is just deny, deny, deny, and take it to your grave. I have found that commissions and public, the quicker you can come clean the better. That's one guy's opinion, but it's mine. Jones is never going to do that in a million years. He's going to lie to his inner circle. He's going to take it to the grave. And a lot of times that will come back and bite you.

So let's say, we're trying to guess human nature and psychology of what they're going to give him when he's in that room that day and has to say whatever he says. But I tend to think he'll probably get two years. I tend to think he'll get the lower side of it. Do you think he was using when he fought you? Well, all I can tell you is I had a higher juice concentrate than Tropicana, and he pushed me around like a Mack truck versus a Volvo. So I think for the better part of his career, you know, that seems to be how it works.

And I know for me, I know exactly the day I started taking banned substances, but I would never deny it. You know, I've been competing since I was nine years old, and if somebody wanted to go, well, his whole career's in question, it's like, yeah, There's really no point in telling it. Now, if you did a dishonest act, sometimes the most honest thing you can do is just say, yeah, you got me. So do I think he was sure? I knew what was going on the whole time.

I can take one look at every single one of those guys and tell you not only who's using but what they're using. But you don't say anything until the guy gets caught. You know, there's a bit of a game there and there's a bit of an honor amongst thieves. However that wants to sound to you, take it how you will. But there it is. All right. Submission Underground returns in October, correct? this is your promotion. You've had John Jones there before. You've had him compete against Dan

Henderson, I think back in January, and you've had plenty of events you had recently, Dylan Dennis against Jake Shields, et cetera, et cetera. You've got some news regarding submission underground, so the floor is yours. What do you got for us? All right, return to flow grappling. October 1st. Let's start. We're going to have almost 20 matches this night. It's star studded black belts up one down, up one side down the next. For the main card. Right out of the gate. Brian Marugue is taken on Andrew Marshall. Craig Jones is taken on Ben Eggly.

Andrew Alexander is taken on Joe Bays. In the co-mate event, A.J. Alizarm versus Phil Barone. What? In the main event. Yeah, I knew you were going to love. I love Philberon. I knew you were going to pop on that. Wow.

In the main event, Brazilian Shik Tzu, world champion Amanda Diggins, is going to be taken on Strike Force champion, Sarah. Kaufman. Oh, yeah. All going down October 1st, Arrow, I'll be back to tell you all about it. Story behind every single one of these fights. These were match made largely for drama. Everybody's got an issue with the other one.

If there's anything that's cool for fight night, it's that. Wow. Wait, you got Barone? That's worth, I don't know how much this, how much is this? Barone, it's worth 20 bucks, but it gets you 30 days. It's not a one-time window. It gets you a 30-day subscription. You'll be able to see the matches the next week.

You're going to see Abu Dhabi the week before. Everything goes down at play. Grappling. The guys at Flow Sports, man, this is how they do it. It's a network. It's an online network, not just small pay-per-view windows. That's one of the reasons we've had such success, but the business model is a little bit different. Do you love that? I really appreciate you popping for that arrow, because that is a big one. That is a big one. AJ Allen versus anybody and do well, I could say Barone versus anybody and they're going to do well numbers-wise. AJ versus Baronee, come on. Barone's a living legend. He was on my show

last week. He stripped with Stefan Bonner. Looks to be in phenomenal shape. He's got the beard now, the long hair. He's newly divorced. So it seems like he's got a new lease on life. And wow, any time, listen, for me, Barone's must-see TV. And I like the fact that he's involved in this, because we've never really seen him in that light before. And I didn't know, you didn't tell me beforehand. So this is my initial reaction. And if I'm being honest, I like the fact that he's not getting punched in the head in this one. This is a win-win for all Barone fans. I appreciate that. That was exactly how I felt. And, you know, he's a college wrestler.

He's won the Naga tournament a couple different times. I mean, he knows how to grapple. There's no way around it. Is this a hard match? I mean, come on, AJ. Yeah, you say what you want about AJ, but you can't question his skills. And I think they're going to have some fun leading into it, too. I'm about having some fun.

Let's go back to what we saw Saturday night with Connor and point. Can we have some fun every now and then? And I realize, you and I have got to look at this from an integrity standpoint and a little bit different with the positions we sit in. But every now and that, once every 10 years, once every 15 years. Let's just have some fun. Let's throw the rankings out. Let's throw everything. Don't forget, Dana White was the last one to the table.

The two fighters were begging for the fight. The media was begging for it. The fans were begging for it. And finally, Dana goes, okay, fine, I'll sign off on it. It's just not the way this sport gets done. The promoter's always the first to the table and got to bring in all of the other arms. It was a really neat evening.

And then when you look at the way that Connor performed, Floyd Mayweather turned his back to him four times. You can't do that. And those crooked and competent judges still gave the rounds. to Mayweather, there is so much story to this that isn't being told. You know, I even saw Dana at the Post-Fight press conference almost a little bit down, and it's like, that's because he cares about his guy. Business was great, nothing changed, but he cares so much about his guy on an individual level.

I feel like those sides of the story never get told. You just get this cold-hearted promoter. But as we saw, Errol, it's just not true. That's a real guy that went into a real battle with his guy, and they did great for 30 minutes. My goodness. It was an incredible performance by Congress. I agree. A victory for all. Everyone wanted to hate it, and it seems for the most part, all sane-minded people walked away enjoying it. A great night for combat sports, MMA, and boxing included. Thank you, Chale. Funamental stuff on ESPN. Thanks for coming on and breaking that news. And good luck. October 1st. We'll talk before then. Phil Barone. Yeah. Phil Barone's back. Kab boom. There he is. Chale P. Sun and great stuff, as always, from the American gangster. All right, let's move along. There was one guest that I really wanted to have today. He was always so.

gracious with his time. He has always made time for us. He is always available last week. I can't imagine the roller coaster of emotions. Let's bring in the one and only Daniel Corme right now. Very much looking forward to talking to DC. DC, are you there? Yes, I am here. Good to talk to you again, DC. I wasn't planning on this, but of course, a funny thing happened last Tuesday, and you know what's so interesting about this? And again, thank you so much for the time. On Monday, we actually spoke on the phone, and I'm not trying to break K-Fabe here, but we spoke a bit. and I said to you, you're back. You sound like yourself.

You're going to Hawaii. The clouds were opening up. You're moving on with your life. You're back. And then Tuesday comes. Can you describe the emotions that you felt as you're trying to get over this? You're rounding the corner

and then all of a sudden you're sucked back in. You know, it's just, it always seems like things happen at the most inopportune times, right? It just seems like every time, because it takes time to get through something like this, you know, from, and I've experienced it, you know, I've experienced at a high level, you know, with the Olympics and the Jones fights and the NCAA finals.

It takes time to get over these things, and when you start to come around, the last thing you want to do is be stuck back into the situation that you're trying to overcome. So it was tough, you know, it took a day. I felt sick, you know. As we were heading, we got to Disney, a lot of, and it was time to check in and I had to go to my room and lay down just because my head was spinning, you know,

because you just don't really know how to take news like that. In a way, you were validated because you're the one who said for many months and years that you believed he was using for a while, and we're going to find out about the B sample, but I'm curious, after the fact,

we didn't really talk about this when you were on a couple weeks ago, we were just talking about how you're doing, but did you feel like something was up in the fight? Did he feel any different? Did you have any questions about who he was, his performance, his body, things of that nature? No, I did. You know, I walked away from that fight and he had beat me, you know, point blank, period. You know, I mean, I feel like, you know, it was a good fight, but he had beat me, you know.

That's what I took from the fight. You know, I didn't leave saying, well, he felt stronger. He felt, if anything, I thought he looked a little bit smaller in that fight than he did the first time. But I think it was because he said he spent so much time with his weight low. He said something to that effect, leading up to the fights. I was like, well, I got smaller too, you know. So I didn't, when I far run, I weighed 232 pounds going into the Octagon. But against Jones, I weighed 223 because I spent the last.

last like two and a half three weeks at 223. And so he was saying that he had been light. I figured he was smaller because he had gotten lighter because of the California Commission rules. No, didn't feel anything. Didn't feel anything. Do you believe at this point that he was changed or do you think that once again it's a supplement?

What do you believe now? I guess, I guess now. So, I've been. in the Usada testing pool since 2001. That was when I first started to get tested by Usada, my first U.S. national team. So 16 years now, I've been in this program, and 16 years I've been doing, or not 15, because there wasn't a Ysada when I first started in MMA, but 2001 to 9, and then when did you saw to get back in 15

in the UFC? Yeah in the UFC yeah yeah I got in 15 so it's been it's been about nine years

that I've been in this program and all this time that I was in the USADA program I was actually taking a supplements and I've never actually had anything like that happened so

I just don't understand how I just don't understand how you could something like that could happen especially actually back to back. You know, and I really want to be careful with how I answer these questions because,

you know, John is entitled to the process of what's going to happen with his other test, but if you were, I think in the last case, they said he was reckless, so they

gave him a year. Yeah. How could you be reckless again going to another fight? it's so odd. So for me, it's very concerning because it seemed as though in the last two fights

that him and I were supposed to fight, something like that happened. And I don't want to be sour grapes. You know, I thought it's hard to answer the question. Yeah, no, I understand.

You know, so it's like, but it just makes it very odd. Somehow in these dark moments, in these moments where you have every right to be frustrated, you end up rising to the occasion and you put out these statements and you answer questions the way you're answering now with the utmost class. And I'm not just saying that because you're here. I would say that

if you're not. Deep down inside, how do you feel about John Jones now? Like I can't imagine, I said this to you before the fight. I thought, and you correct me, but I said I thought at times he brings out the worst in you. When you're talking about certain things, I know you're not typically that kind of guy, but the rivalry is so intense that sometimes I feel like you bring out the worst in each other. Now to go through this again as you're trying to move on, can you even put put into words how you feel about the man? I think that's what's probably the worst part of it. Again, you know, and that's the problem again.

You know, it's like we've gone in these nasty circles time and time again. And just when you think that it was kind of like we were going to head off in different directions for a while, you know, because if I was to hope to get another fight against him, it was going to take some time and a big win, you know. So I kind of figured we were heading in a different direction. And, you know, since the fight ended, it was all, every conversation I had with my management, with my coaches, was how do we find a way to do this again? And Bob Cook was like, I think the John Jones story is a bit over. He said, but we can be creative if that's what you really want.

So I go, well, how do we get it done? And that's all we thought about in terms of the fight aspect of it. But to hear something like this, something again, that's not really, it has not. nothing to do with me. It's very frustrating. Again, my whole issue is just, I don't understand how in these situations you could be, you can put yourself in the, he's in trouble, man. I mean, I got to be honest with you, you know, I think he's in a ton of trouble now.

Based on, based on this thing's coming back positive at all. and again I've been in this program for a long time and a lot of times you take a piss in a cup and they split it between two cups you know that's what your B sample is not like taking it from two different

samples it's one time you use the bathroom they split it split it into two cups so to think that half would be messed up and the other half isn't. It's very, very rare. In the times of Usada, there has been some B samples that have come back different, but that's whenever they've been stored for a really long time, sometimes,

sometimes with EPO in a hormone because we produce it naturally in our body. So sometimes that may happen, but for a steroid, especially a performance enhancer, especially if it is what they're saying that it was, it's going to be very difficult for this thing to be any different, I think. So I think he's in a lot of trouble. And that's sad, you know, because the guy's very talented. Right. Many consider him the greatest.

Last week was a busy week for Dana White and company, but I'm wondering if you had... You know what said, you know what's that, please. Please. Is that I don't think, I don't know, I really don't believe he ever needed to do anything wrong. if, and you see a lot of people just flat out saying he cheated. I've seen Cheo and I've seen a lot of guys and obviously they're not in position that I'm in regards

to him in our fight but he really didn't need to do any of that stuff and I think if he was doing that as long as I was saying he was doing that, I think it became just a comfort thing and that's probably why he did it again. That sucks.

Well said because early on he did seem to have I mean just an infinite amount of talent and was blowing through everyone. What has the UFC slash Dana White told you about the state of the title about what this could mean to you? What kind of conversations have you had with them? You know, first, he was just very, I think, I heard the end of Chale's segment.

And he said, you could tell that Dana was a bit upset because, you know, he looked like he just heard for Connor. And I think in regards to me, I felt that same way. It was like, I cannot believe him having to make this call to this guy again. And I felt the sincerity, and I felt him a bit sad because he always says things to me like, man, you're a good guy. He's always like, you're in this sport. He's crazy. You know, you're a really good guy.

But I have to tell you something. And I'm like, what? And he's like, you know, Jones's example was positive. I'm like, wow. but he said to me exactly what he said in the media. You know, he goes, if he tested dirty, he goes, you know, you're the champion. He goes, if he tested dirty, you're the champion in the fight. The result can't be the same if you test positive force steroid before the fight.

So I guess that's what may happen. I don't know. I haven't really thought about it, honestly, because that opens up a whole other can of worms. You know, so I haven't really thought about it. Would you accept that belt? Like, would you be okay? Because the knock on you, which again, I felt was unfair, was, oh, paper champion, this and that, you didn't do this stuff.

You're just the guy who's there in winning fights, and it's not your fault that he's dequeuing himself. How would you feel, again, if you're a name championed and go on to defend and do your thing? You know, the crazy thing was that the first time, I got a lot of you were given the belt when in reality I won the belt by fighting Anthony This time

I think I would be given the belt because of what happened As a competitor I know that we fought But if he was not fighting cleanly Then how is that fair to me You know so I would probably I would Regardless of the situation I'd be fighting for the belt

in my next fight either way. You know, so I probably would accept the belt. I mean, honestly, because I'm going to fight again and I'm going to beat whoever I'll fight and would still have the belt. So if, if, you know, I keep saying if, because again, John's entitled to due process, if it is proven that he was dirty,

then we would not have fought anyway. And I would still have my title, regardless. So yeah, I probably will take the belt, and I will be a proud champion just as I was before, because I will show people what the belt means. Now, if it comes back and it's not dirty, then I go back to work to get a belt so that I can find a way to fight him again for a title. Such a weird thing has happened since the end of your second fight against John. At times I get accused of being a D.C. sympathizer, but the truth is, you, you, you, you, you've earned that respect from the community,

and it seems like your popularity has gone through the roof with the way you handled the loss, and even now I see. So these pictures, these TMZ, you know that you have become a star when TMZ is taking pictures of you at the beach with your family on vacation. It's somewhat despicable, and I feel for you, and it's an invasion of privacy, but that proves that you have become a certain kind of elite superstar. And when I see the comments below those pictures,

it's all like true champion, clean champion. that's our guide DC. Now everyone's supporting you. Have you noticed this change? And so we're coming off a loss and all this other nonsense. But this is what has happened. Now everyone loves you because you are handling these situations so well. But I don't know how much I've, I don't know if I changed. I haven't ever changed. This has always been me. I think the issue is, was the circumstances under which I won the championship, which again was not my fault. But also when it's time to sell a fight, you've got to sell a fight. And, you know, some of these guys don't play the game,

so I may come off as a bully, you know, because I'm talking about Alexander Gustafson, and he doesn't really talk back, and then Rumble another guy, you know. I make fun of those guys, just trying to really drag them into to engage it with me, but they don't, so I may come off as a bully, but, you know, it's my job, you know. At the end of the day, when there is no problem,

when people aren't interested in the fights and they don't buy them, then it directly affects it. me and my family and my bottom line, you know, so maybe that's what it is. Maybe me crying in the octagon was off-putting to some people. Maybe me crying when I lost the first fight was off-putting, you know, it's like you're a big, tough guy, you're not supposed to be that emotional. I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve, not only in terms of physically breaking down when I see myself getting beat, but also just if someone says something to me that offends

me, I just kind of go crazy. I don't want to. It's just who I am. It's been like that with all the kids, you know. And when you lose track like that, sometimes you can say things that are a little bit out of line, I guess. Is it fair, though, to say that you're done with John? Do you care to ever fight him ever again,

considering all that's happened in the last couple years? Sad thing is, man, I would actually fight him again. I just don't know. I just don't know that there will be times because at the end of this process, if there is another suspension, I will have run out of time, Ariel Hawani, because I've always said that I won't be fighting at 40,

and I've done so much better than I ever could have envisioned when I started this career that I think I may, if this is true, as it probably is, because you saw it is a very upstanding organization, they would not have said anything if they just made a mistake, then I will probably run out of time. And the last time we fought will be the last time we fought. And it's, you know, that's the truth. Do you have any idea what you want to do next? I know I asked you about fighting again this year.

Have you thought about it more, or is it still kind of up in the air, especially after what happened last week? I think if anything, this whole deal with John probably gives me more time. That's right. Because I'm going to have to wait to see what happens with him and the championship and everything. And when that's all finalized then, I can start the plan going forward. You know, I had the option to fight this year and turned it down. And imagine if I would have taken a fight and then been stuck in this thing in the middle.

of the fight camp. That's not the best situation to be training for something under. So I'm just going to wait. You know, I've got a lot of color commentary duties coming up. USC tonight, obviously, is my main job. And so I've got some things coming up. I'm going to enjoy my family, man.

I mean, I fought twice this year. And had three training camps last year. I only fought once, but I had three training camps last year. So I'm going to enjoy my family. I'm going to go to Pittsburgh. I'm going to go watch Luke beat David Branch. But earlier in the day, I'm going to be at the Oklahoma State versus Pittsburgh football game.

How good does that work out? Oh, wow. She was playing Pittsburgh on that day. So I get to take my son to watch the game and then go corner Luke at night. And then I'm just going to get back in the gym and start with my teammates and see how this thing plays out. It's really all we can do is just wait and see. Last thing before. I'm upset. I'm upset. I was upset. I'm very upset.

But my coaches were upset. They were very, very upset because they saw the work that we put into this. And it's hard for me. You know, I mean, you know, if he did do something illegal, imagine if I did that at 38 to be able to wake up and not feel like I can't walk down the stairs every morning, you know? So, you know, that would really suck. And it's pissed off my coaches because those guys know, work that I put into that fight. Last thing, D.C., you were very, you know, you were very adamant that Conner didn't stand a chance against Floyd in the buildup to the fight. Afterwards, you put out a nice tweet saying that he represented. How did you feel about the fight and why do you feel like he

represented M.MA so well? What compelled you to put out that tweet? Because when I was watching Conner fight, I felt this sense of, like, pride. I was probably, I was actually proud of him. I mean, it doesn't matter, you know, that I'm proud of him or, you know, It just felt like because I think I expected, I didn't expect him to do as well as he did. And when I watched him out there and I watched him look good in there and watched him hold himself high and be, give a good account of himself, I was like, man, look at him. Look at him. You know, look at how professional. He didn't just chase money. You know, he went out there to try to win a fight against the greatest boxer, I think, of all the time.

maybe, you know, so he, he went out there and he looked, he looked the part. He carried himself well in the promotion of build up after the fight, in the fight, he fought well. But, you know, again, Floyd won, you know, he won. And it was clear, you know, what he was doing, you know, he was trying to like kind of punch himself out and, you know, getting the finish. But, yeah, man, I was very proud of him. You know, he went out there and he represented himself and the UFC and every other guy with a great deal of class. and dignity, and he did a fantastic job. So I felt like as a guy that's been in the sport for a long time,

a guy that every time I'm in contact with Connor, it's only respect, and he's such a respectful guy. I want him to, if he got it, you know, I know his coach pays quite a bit of attention, John Kavanaugh, to see that we are very proud of him as a mixed martial arts community because he has nothing to hold his head down about. He fought the greatest box of all time and won rounds.

I mean, when Brennan Schau put that bet up against that he went and went to win rounds, I was like, I'll take the bet. I mean, I would have lost a lot of money to Brennan Schau, because Kahnna won some rounds. He won some rounds, and he did a fantastic job, man. We're all proud of us. We're all very proud of what he did out there on Saturday.

100% accurate. We could say the same about you, D.C., the way you represent yourself in the sport. Second to none, all class. Really appreciated it, and keep doing what you're doing, and I'm sorry that this has happened, but I'm happy we get to speak again because I thought you were going to go away for a while,

so it was nice to catch up. And by the way, you looked phenomenal on the beach. I don't care what anyone said. You were all man on the beach. You were living life. Hey, hey, when you, loco-moco, Kalua pork in Hawaii, I was like, hey, listen, whoever was taking those pictures, do me like the Kardashians, and at least let me pose, you know.

Let me give me the good angle. You don't catch me from the bottom of my stomach. The guy's like under my belly. like, I'm like, what? You want my undercarriage? Oh my, that is great. Thank you, D.C. I really appreciate it. Enjoy some time off. See you in Edmonton.

Edmonton, Alberta. Yes. For the debut of the Great Arjun Bullar. Yes. Can't wait. Jinder Mahal. Oh, man. With the Jinder Mahal. All right, buddy.

All right, we'll talk to you soon. There he is. Daniel Cormier. What a guy. Great insight. Interesting to hear that he said he was offered a fight before the end of the year. Good to hear that he's taking time off. We'll see what happens with the John Jones situation. All right, let's move along. I've been dying to speak to this man.

I've been dying to speak to the Hall of Famer. I've been bothering him every week leading up to this fight for the past month. Please come on the show. Please come on. Ariel, I got to come on after the fight. After the fight. After the fight, is finally here. And it is a pleasure and an honor to be joined by one of the greatest referees in the history of boxing the man who refereed, who officiated Connor's sparring session, most notably against one Polly Malinaji, but he was there every step of the way and prepared him in many respects

for Saturday night. We're talking now to the one and only Joe Cortez. Joe, are you there? Yeah, how you doing, buddy? Joe, it is a pleasure. Thank you so much for coming on. As you know, I've been bothering you, and I'm so happy that we can finally speak to you. So I'm dying to ask you this. What did you make of

Connor McGregor's performance on Saturday night? I thought he fought an excellent fight, I think, considering that it was the first time to be in a boxing ring with an eight-ounce gloves with the best in the world, you've got to take your heart off to the man. He really showed the fans that he had what it takes to stand up there with him. He lasted 10 rounds. Not many fighters can go two rounds with the best in the world in the real world of boxing for him to come step up to the plate and do what he did Saturday night.

I mean, he's surprised the boxing world as well as well for what he did as far as the first three rounds. You know, I saw McGregor winning without any problem. But then as he saw as a fighter, when you got a guy like Mayweather in front of you and the adrenaline kicks in, you feel like, you know, it takes a lot out of you. You know, you start to, fatigue starts to set in. And that can happen to it. The best fighters out there. and he managed to weather the

songs for those six following rounds after winning the first three rounds after he was doing okay but then towards the end there you can see he was getting tired he got stopped not because he was hurt he got stopped because he was just exhausted he couldn't keep his hands up

and the referee Robert Burgess is the right thing and stopping the fight just on time but people say that he could have let it go longer I'd say it better stop a fight too soon than a punch too soon than a punch too late because we don't want to see any tragedy than boxing and especially

a fight of his magnitude could be a four-round fight. The referee has to do his job and stoppage just right because he did. So you were okay with the stoppage, no problems with it? No, no problems with it because like I said, he'd come back another day, he didn't get knocked out. He got stopped, but

you know, he gave a good account of himself and everybody saw what he was coming me next, but why, why, quite prolong the punishment? You don't want fighters to take unnecessary punishment. He did a great job up to that point. You got to say, you got to take off your hat to the man. And I think the USC fans out there should be very proud of his achievements, what he did that night.

And the way he marketed the sport, he marketed the fight just right. And the biggest live attendance, I believe, they went like 80 minutes. dollars at the gate, plus all the, I think, 4.6 million pay-per-views. So, I mean, that was all kinds of records. Shattered all the records and cut back sports. So, I mean, you got to take your heart off to the man. It was him who did it. Joe, what do you make? Okay, so here we have this situation where, you know, Connor comes out there and surprises a lot of people, but you're one of the few people who actually saw him inspiring that got a bird's eye view. Was that a better version than the

Connor McGregor you saw inspiring? a worse version, the same version. How would you compare the one that we saw on Saturday to the one that you saw leading up to the fight? Well, you know, leading up to the fight, when you're in spawning sessions, it's all practice. It's really, it's something that's not really, you're not really going all out.

You're not really in it with an eight-ounce gloves. You're in it with 16-ounce gloves. You got the head gear on. So you take a lot more for granted when you're in there with the head gear, the protection, and you feel like you may drop with dogs a little bit more during the training session, Because, you know, if you get hit or you get hit with a headgear on,

you get hit with 16-hour gloves. When you're in the real thing, everything changes because now you're fighting with smaller gloves. And, you know, it was originally 10-a-old. Then they went out to eight. So I think that, you know, it was not a – what I saw in training was not the same as the night of the fight. In the night of the fight, he really stepped up – he stepped up to the plate of the night.

He really was really all on. But you know what? He came right out in the beginning. He was not running. He showed that he wanted to try to take Mayweather out. And he was, that's what he prepared for doing training. I made sure doing the training, when I was training him on the rules on boxing, that he complied with everything that he had to do that night.

I mean, he got away with a couple of unintentional kind of a fouling technique that, you know, Floyd turned his back on him, you know, several times. it was trapped in it was the way the positioning it was and you know thank God nobody got hurt seriously but I think that he did an excellent job as far as what he was doing in to fight that night like I said he set up he raised a bar that night because doing sparring like I say a little more lacks moving around the ring what night and and he was doing eight 10 12 round fights in the ring during the sparring session and I had a lot of fun to doing that with him and he really learned the rules

he wanted to make sure that I sat on top of him to make sure that he followed the rules to the teeth and which we tried to do the best we could. It was not an easy cross-over from MMA to boxing and you saw he went out there

I'm sure he surprised the world with his boxing skills he showed a lot more than what people would expect it they thought he'd come out there like a real amateur not knowing what he was doing but like I said the first three rounds and some of those following rounds he made it very competitive it was not that he's fighting a polucca out there he's fighting the best of the world he's fighting you know Floyd Mayweather and if he did that to him of Floyd Mayweather you know he was not a loser that night um do you so at this point

do you feel after watching that if he didn't guess if he didn't get tired that he actually could have won the fight. Do you believe that? If you were going to keep going the same way he did the first three rounds, he was confusing Mayweather, but Mayweather, the champion that he is, that's why he has a 49-0 that going into the fight, is because he knows how to figure out

with the fight his opponent. That's why made him such a great champion. It makes, a champion is made of good skills and Mayweather has those skills. You figure a man out, and you feel him out the first round, the second round, see what he's got.

Okay, now I can start do this, start doing that. And he started figuring out McGregor. McGregor, it's a very difficult fighter. He's a Southpour and throw punches from different angles and you see those few of the punches

coming like Prince of Siena met the fighter from Europe used to do. He was kind of awkward and he would land punches from different angles and they say the punches that you don't see coming are the punches are going to hurt you. And that's what happened to me. He wasn't expecting these punches

coming from different angles. But McGregor trained for this and McGregor was very smart to know that he not going to go out there and fight the conventional style like everybody else. He had come and he do something different, which he did. And that's why got him to where he got him, got to the tennis round and Mayweather would have probably put him away had he had a different kind of a style. But he came with an un-altodox type of a style that made him look like, wow, I didn't see this one coming. I wasn't prepared for this. because you can't imitate McGregor doing sparring.

Mayweather had a good spire partner, South Paul, to try to imitate, emulate McGregor. But you know what? McGregor is one of a kind. That's why he did such a great champion in UFC, and that's why he gave Mayweather the toughest fight that he did.

When you were watching the fight, did it feel like deja vu in the sense, were you saying, oh, I know this is the game plan, he's executing the game plan? Was he doing what you saw them talk about? and try to execute in sparring, or was it completely different on the night? No, no, he came out, like I said, he raised a ball that night. He did basically what we were training to do, and he had more confidence.

I was impressed how much more confidence he had going into that ring. He went in there with all the confidence in the world. He went in there that I can beat this guy. And that's the mentality. That's the way you have to go into that room with that mentality, knowing. I got to beat his cap. I know I can beat him. If I do my game plan, I can beat him.

I'm not going to let him intimidate me. He can be the best in the world, but I'm going to show him that I can do better. And you know what? He went in with that attitude. And that's why makes a great champion. That's why he's also such a great champion in the UFC. He can be dominant. And he's not a just a regular fighter.

He's an A-plus fighter in a comeback sport. And that's why he's where he's at. today. Joe, would you recommend to him to continue to box? Do you feel like

he can hang with some of the best boxers or do you think he should go back to the UFC? Yeah, he can take

a shot again at the boxing. I think he got a, it was a good experience for him. Now he knows what it's like

and if he has to change anything, he'd go back to the drawing board with the team. We can all go back together and say, work at it

again, and we can say, okay, let's work on this, let's work on that. And, you know, I was glad to be,

part of that team. And me being the next fighter myself and being involved with so many world championship prizes under my belt as a referee, I think I can help them a lot more. I was born in for teaching under rules on refereeing, but I can raise a bar and go to another level if they want to continue. And not only him, but anybody in the comeback sports, and maybe I can step off there and show them, listen, we can work on this, we can work on that. There's so much more we can do to talk about.

when a fighter is a win or lose and go back to the drawing board and say mainly when you lose, go back to the drawing board and say what can we do better to make sure we get to victory next time around. But there's so many fighters out there that want to learn I'll talk about MMA

fight that want to learn boxing. You know what? I think it would be a good crossover. The pay-per-views, the attendance, the attention, this fight guy with crossing over MMA to boxing, it could be a good trend. It would be at the beginning of a trend of something new. So I think that maybe we can follow up on that.

And I sure want to be part of this here because I'm part of boxing history, and I want to continue to be part of what we're doing with the USC MMA as well. I think that is a great idea, especially because boxing purists have knocked MMA fighters for their lack of boxing skills. And of course, both sports are different when you're actually competing in them. You can't have the same, you know, boxing skills in an MMA fight because there's a lot more that you have to worry about. If someone wanted to reach out to you, Joe, how could they, you know, get your service?

and learn how to better box if they're an MMA fighter. Well, you know, I'm not on the air to do that to promote that. You know, I'm just saying that was just an idea that I bought out. Okay. But I think it's a good idea. You know, they can reach out to you guys. But I'm just saying that I'm willing to help out there and teach MMA guys how to block how to fight the right way.

I'm a six-time goal-ins club champion, winning the New York twice, the Eastern, the National, the Spass Gloves. And that was an 18-1 in the pros. so I bring a lot to boxing. I referee of a thousand fights, but 170 world championship fights. I bring a lot when it comes to knowing the moves of the skills of boxing,

what can we do to improve your skills and how to climb up the ladder and build your confidence and get you on the right track. I'm good at that, and I would like to continue helping out now that I'm retired as a referee. I'm on the other side now where I can promote and help out these fighters get him on the right track.

I work with ESPN as a boxing analyst for ESPN for the last three and a half years, and I'm very happy doing that. And I'm glad to be involved with the sport. And now with the MMA and boxing, I say, let's cross over. I don't know if Barks was to cross over to MMA or B that this was so successful, MMA crossing over to boxing, let's continue, let's continue the show. Let's let it happen again. Okay, now Joe, this is the biggest question of them all.

The world has been dying to hear what you have to say about this. Connor McGregor versus Polly Malinaji, was it a knockdown or was it a push? We never got your, we never got your ruling. You have to clear it up. This is a pruder film of M.A. I'll tell you one thing. I'll tell you one thing, you know. It was, I was not about to make any ruling on it because sparring is sparring, you know.

You can get pushed. You can get slipped or whatever. And I wasn't about to call it either way. It was just a freak thing that happened, and I wasn't even considering giving it a count. I wasn't considering, to me, it was just like an ordinary, it could have been a punch. It could have been a slip. It was a sparmac session. It was nothing that I was even considered by anything.

It was just one of those things that happened. And I can't say it was a punch. I can't say it was a slip. It was just something freaky that happened in there, was during the middle of a clinch, and it's something that either pulled back, and they went back this. that way. You know what? Pauli, I respect Pauli. Pauli, you know, he, he gave it all he had was inspiring, and we know everybody knows he came in to give McGregor to polish up his skills from boxing. And it was an entertaining night to sparrow in the gym. We had some fun doing it.

And I think it was, it was something that, you know, I could, I can go either way with that. I mean, I would want to say it was a knockdown. I would want to say it was a, slip. I wasn't even considering nothing about it. I mean, now that I can talk about it, to me, it was like nothing even happened. It was just a freaky thing. Was it a knockout? I don't know. Was it a slip? I don't know. It was just a sparring session. So, so when you stepped in and it cuts off, you didn't count, right? You just told Polly to get up and they resumed? Yeah, no, yeah, they were just, yeah, you got up. That's it. No, no. So what did that make it a push? What did that make it a push? It didn't make it nothing. It was just, it could have been a slip.

could have been a bit of push, it could have been, it was nothing. It was just nothing happened. So, so, but, but then it's not a knockdown, though, right? Because if it's a knockdown, you're counting. No, well, I was, I was going to count. I mean, I didn't count, you know, to see that way. It was just around, was just about over and that was it. Okay. Are you surprised that it turned into what it turned into and that they put out these clips and all that? I'm glad that they put out the clips, you know, because it was, um, I was glad, and I was kind of upset, too, because Pauli's a friend of mine.

You know, we work together, and nobody wants to see that. Somebody gets knocked down like that and put it down. I mean, it's not a good thing to put out there as far as the fighter is concerned. You know, did they help him with the promotion? They're probably, I'm sure, helped him out with the promotion, but not on Pauli's dime, you know. He felt it was not on his dime, you know. He gave it all he had. He came out there.

He threw some bombs in there. So it was a good night of boxing. I'll tell you know what, we had a lot of fun. I think all three were just like having fun with the sparring session. It was competitive. It was great. And, hey, wait, you know what? Let's make a fight with Polly and my Gregor.

Why not do that? I agree. I'd love to see it. So do you think Dana White said that Connor beat him handily, is that inaccurate? Did Polly win those sparring matches? How would you have scored them? You know, I wasn't scoring this yet. This was, you know, that's where Dana White saw it, you know, that's okay.

It was very competitive. Let me tell you. It was like, it was fun because there was a lot of crap going out, a lot of smack going on in the spy session. It was fun. I was just going on it. Maybe if I was sitting outside watching it, I would say the same thing that Dana White's saying. But if I was, I'm a Malinji side, I would say the same thing about Malinac. So I'm always trying to be neutral like a referee.

I don't want to get involved in the middle of this hula that's going out. All I can tell you is that they want to settle the score, let's make the fight happen with them too. I'll be one that the first fight I want to see. Is it been Malinagic? He can just shut him up or McGrath he shot Malinagia up, okay? Yes.

Okay, let's bring in Polly here for a second because I do think he's standing by. Polly, did you hear that? Joe Cortez wants to see the real deal. He wants to see you versus Connor McGregor. What do you have to say about that, Polly? I'm all about it, man. I'll tell you where.

I'll make it winner-takes-all. There you go. There you go, Polly. I'm willing to risk fighting him for free, just to punch him in the mouth again and again and again. And that's how confident I am that you can't beat me. I wouldn't make it willing to win or take all, just for the pleasure of sinking my face back into his teeth again.

Wow, put your purse on the line. If you lose, you get paid nothing. Yeah, that's how confident. I don't know. You have to keep in mind. You have to keep in mind. You have to keep in mind that Joe is talking about how competitive the sparring's war. This is at me at about 35, 40%.

Connor gets stopped by me. If Connor doesn't get stopped by me and Amma doesn't get a lot of stop because if I don't get stopped by me, I should be penalized at least a portion of my purse just for not stopping the guy. All right. Well, we heard that. Polly, stick around for a second. Joe, thank you so much. Tremendous insight.

We're even getting M.M.A. fighters already, they're tweeting you from American top team, Robert Whiteford, saying he wants to work with you. So the word is getting out there. I really appreciate you coming on and providing some insight. Thank you so much. And I want to say, before Joe goes, I want to, he did a great job

with the referee in that sparring. You know, that was no not easy sparring, such as the referee. Joe did an excellent job, doing his best to control it and putting, keeping the rules in action. Great stuff. Thank you. Fair but firm. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Fair but firm. Thank you so much, Joe.

Polly, let's turn to you because I asked the people on Saturday, what's Polly saying? What's he like? I couldn't hear because I was in the arena. And the majority of the responses that I got leading up to the fight were you were very unbiased, and that's what we expected because you're a true pro and one of the best boxing analysts out there. But now tell us after the fact, in the same unbiased way, what did you make of Connors' performance? Did he impress you by winning those early rounds by doing what he did?

Yeah, you know, that's my thing. I always try not to put my personal stuff in the way when I'm actually working, you know. So I tried to I tried to work as a neutral bi-pander As a commentator And I try to do what I could To just break down the X-N-O's And that's really what I wanted to get to the bottom of

It really the X-N-O's and whatnot As an unbiased commentator I'll tell you this People are shocked at the way Connor started the fight He started the fight very well But I'll tell you this I told you the first time I sparked Connor

That I said I thought he got the better of it Because I didn't get enough punches off and I felt like it was mainly because I wasn't in shape. Now, while that may be true, once I saw Floyd not getting off a lot of shots early, I thought to myself, you know what, maybe I didn't give Connor enough credit with my first sparring, because the first time you get a look at him, you really don't want to throw a lot of punches because you're kind of observing him and you're kind of, you don't want to throw a false shot

because he has a pretty decent counter puncher, as even Floyd found out in the first round with that uppercut, you know? So I think what it comes down to is I think Connor had early success. I think Boyle was kind of observing him in the way a boxer probably would with a guy who's who's, I lost a doctor and a little bit throws you off a little bit. But after a few rounds, the problem is Connor has no backup point. And this might be that, you know, it's just because he hasn't boxed for a long time, you know. And then, you know, there's not so many layers to him.

The only layers he has are the ones that you see, you know, as opposed to other boxers who have been doing it for a long time. They have many other layers that, you know, you may or may not be in certain fights depending on if they need them, you know? So having said that, I think once you get that, you know, once you get that, hang of it, but once you get the hang of what Conner's doing, you start to break him. And as I've said from the start, this guy is not the bravest guy in the world. There's a lot of punk in this guy. He's a loud guy. He's a brash guy. Honestly, in MMA, he's got the advantage most of the time

because he is talented. You have to give him that. He is talented. But a fighter is a fighter when faced with adversity, not in round one, or not when he's talking about a press conference. A fighter is a fighter when he's hurting, when he's injured, whatever. You know what I'm saying? I just want a fighter is a fighter. And anytime somebody gets kind of a grutter to that point of adversity, be it in MMA or be in boxing, he punks out. You know what I mean? And you can't teach that or unteach that.

You either have balls or you don't have balls, you know? And at days end, Floyd, I've never seen Floyd fight in such a determined fashion, but it was also a little bit one-dimensional. But I guess he felt like he just needed to break him mentally. You know what I'm saying? At day's end, so I didn't see a Floyd that's giving you different looks, who you used to give you six or seven different looks. I didn't see a Floyd that through any kind of faint at all.

He used using fainting in so many different ways. I just saw a Floyd that was going to say, I'm going to take you right to him. And I had Floyd after the fight. I said, why did you do that, man? I was like, you know, you didn't sell anything. He said, well, Connor said during the week that he was going to meet me in the middle of the ring. And he went to see who backs up first. So I wanted to see if he was going to meet me in the middle of the ring and do that.

And he backed up the whole fight, you know? And I said, all right. I said, you know, so you did it to prove a point. He's like, oh, you know, absolutely I did it at the approval point. So he made his point. You know, he made his point. And in doing so, he made my point. This guy has no balls.

At the end of the day, once you push him to the limit, he will look for a way out of the fight. He didn't throw a punch. As much as he wants to say, the referee should have let him go out on his back and all that stuff. He didn't throw a punch for over a minute in that last sequence while being assaulted. I'm sorry that you leave a referee no choice.

He has to stop the fight at that point. The referee will not let it continue if you're being assaulted. Wait, so you really thought that he didn't go forward? Like I thought earlier, I mean, those first four rounds, he was going forward. I think he just tired himself out. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I thought, I thought, Connor did a good job in the early rounds.

Well, I guess, like I said, I think you get a chance to observe him in the beginning, and it is a little bit different, you know, and while you're observing him, you don't want to come out of pocket and be a little reckless, you know? So while you're observing him, you almost stop throwing shots. And like I said, I did that, I did the first spawning session for a good part of the beginning part of the first spawning session where, you know, like, I'm like, you know, kind of observing what's in front of me, and you don't want to kind of, you don't want to throw a false shot, because Connor just

have some decent counter-punching ability, you know? So, so you're not going to throw a false punch, and you're observing this new looks, these new looks that you're getting in front of you, it takes you second to assess those looks, you know? Once you assess those looks, though, and you realize the best way to take it to this guy, it actually to just take it to this guy, you know,

because he's better at a distance, he's not very good at close range. He's not very good at taking body shots, and we all, basically, everything I said before the fight came true, Ariel. I mean, to the T, I said this fight, went into the second half of the fight, I said this guy doesn't take it to the body, I said this guy has no balls, and literally, it all came through.

Literally, I mean, the fight played out exactly the way I would have told you it would have played out, you know? With the exception of Conner did a little bit less holding. I got to give him credit for that. He did a little bit less holding. Sure, he did a couple of,

there was a couple of hammer punches and then hold it behind the head, but not as bad as one would think, you know, and not as bad as it was even in the gym, you know? So I got to give him credit in that regard. He did come through, and learn a little bit in that manner.

Do you think that he quit, Polly, or do you think he just got tired? Yeah. Are those two separate things? Ariel, Ariel, this boxing, bro. If you get tired, you get tired, you don't quit. I'm sorry. If you get tired, you find a way to survive the round. You find a way to try to work your way back into the fight.

I'm sorry. In MMA, I know what you can do. You can put yourself into a position to be submitted, not really fight off the submission, and then once you get submitted, you can tap out. You know, that's a way to cop out in MMA. There's no way to cop out in boxing. You know, and Conner actually did an MRA too. in any d a fight, you know.

He just put himself in a position where he'd be submitted so he could be put out of his misery. You can't cop out in boxing. You are exposed, you are exposed naked in boxing. If you're a punk, you will be exposed naked in boxing.

There's 36 minutes, is not 25 minutes. Those extra 10 minutes, especially when you're exhausted, they count. And you have to find a way to get through it and win the fight. He punked out,

and when you punk out, you quit. I'm sorry. And so what do you think of the stoppage? Because he said afterwards he wanted to keep going and he didn't fall down. He didn't get...

Yeah, and that's exactly what I'm talking about. You can say anything you want. You can't edit this video, buddy. You cannot edit this video. You can say anything you want. But the fact of the matter remains, you did not throw a punch for a minute straight while being assaulted. He was being assaulted that last minute.

He did not throw a punch for a minute straight. So you aren't going to leave the referee no choice. He can talk all he wants. All he had to do was throw two, maybe three punches in that final minute. That's all he had to do. He had to just show Robert Bird that he's alive and throwing maybe two, three, maybe four punches the entire final minute. And believe me, you would have went out on your back.

You would have went out right on your back. If you throw three, four punches, bird's not going to stop a fight. And trust me, trust me, he's going to go out on his back. You know what I mean? The bottom line is he didn't want to go on on his back.

You wanted bird to save him. Because if you don't want bird to save you, you'll show some signs of life. You'll throw a punch. You'll do something to show, okay, I'm hurting, but I want to remain in this fight. I don't want to be pulled out from this fight.

I don't want to be taken out of this fight. He did none of that. He threw no punches. He was waiting for Bert to stop the fight. So he can say anything he wants. he can't edit this video. Just like he can't edit the first three rounds against Mayweather to make it look like if you, imagine he could edit the first three rounds against Mayweather.

I'm sure he could come up with a 15-second clip and make it look like he'd get Floyd's heads. But the bottom line is he got the shit beat out of him on Saturday night, you know, at the day's end, right? I'm sure if he edited 15 seconds of the first three rounds, he can make it look like he beat up Floyd Mayweather too. So if someone were to ask you, were you impressed, were you not impressed with his performance, did he exceed expectations or not? How would you answer that question? Absolutely. There's things that definitely have to be spoken about that impressed, that one press.

you know, be it, were they on Connor or were they on Floyd being 40 years old, being away for two years and not showing anything? I don't know. It's a little bit of both, I think, you know, but bottom line remains the fight played out the way it did, and you have to show, give a little bit of credit to Connor for that, you know what I'm saying? I think Floyd for in a more aggressive manner. I thought Floyd fought in a manner where he was just looking, he was more of a one-track-minded manner, or he was just looking for the guy to quit.

Listen, at the end, when you're a punk once, you're always a punk. it's pretty much a fact that anybody in combat sports knows his guy's a punk you know, you just got to get him a little push, you just got to give him a little push to that discomfort zone and once you get him to that discomfort zone he'll do all the work for you. He'll want to be, he'll want

to get himself out of that fight. I have so much respect for you, but I have to disagree with that. I don't think that he is viewed that way and I thought that he actually made the non-believers into believers. He's all right, talk to any boxers. The boxing community, Polly, thought that he wasn't going to land a

a punch, thought that he wasn't going to land a I never said he wasn't a I never said he wasn't going to land a punch I never told you he wasn't going to land a punch maybe some people who were looking at a close-minded might have said he wasn't going to land a punch I mean it went around How many rounds did he win?

Yeah I'd say he won two, maybe three rounds A lot of the early ones, you know Yeah, I thought he won a good bunch of the early ones Absolutely Steve Farhood gave him I think the eighth What happened? I think he fought yeah he was he was starting to fade after three or four I mean you got already seen

Floyd was starting to land harder shots. You know, at three or four, I could already see the, feel the impact of the shot. I was in ringside. I could already hear the impact of Floyd's shots making more of a thud than they were at any point before that, you know? Also, the vaunted power, again, another thing that I was talking about that, that everybody got out of my case about that I was right again. I mean, where was all his vaunted power? I mean, he landed in an uppercut in round one against Floyd Mayweiler on the counter. That if that's Canello or Golovkin hits Floyd with that upperc, Floyd is still sleeping right now.

You know what I'm saying? I mean, Floyd literally took him and just kept walking him down. I mean, the fact that anybody thought this guy could hit like they thought he could hit. I mean, when I said him, I told you, he can't hit like that. And I didn't say it in a disrespectful manner at first. It became disrespectful because it was just comical the way these fans took him and the way even he took it. You know, the guy can't hit. I'm sorry, you either have it or you don't.

I mean, it's not something you can work on. It's not something that just because you get mad about it. You're going to have suddenly had more punch of power. He doesn't have that kind of punch of power. I'm sorry. And I think that's another thing that proved it. Saturday night was proven that as well. He did not have anywhere near

a solid punch and power. Earlier in the week, Pauli, you showed up at Floyd's gym and you were talking with him and this created a whole new firestorm and people started to think that you were telling him secrets that you were telling him about the game plan. Did you in fact do that? No, I didn't. I tell you what that was about.

I actually tell you the thing behind that logic. Floyd actually didn't even want to hear about Connor McGregor. He was just told me that night, the only thing he said about him to McGregor that night, he was going to knock his out, which he did. you know, but aside from that, I just wanted to go see, say, what's up to my boy. I know him for years. I never get to see him that often, even when I'm in Vegas, Floyd, he's traveling the world

and whatnot. So I wanted to see him. It was his last workout. I wanted to go, hey, what's up, and then, you know, talk for a few minutes, the how he's feeling, and all that good stuff, catch up to a friend of mine that I never get to catch up to. But when I saw the pictures come out and I saw the videos come out, I'll say this. I thought to myself, the irony is this.

You can make pictures and videos paint a picture. that you might think is real, but it's not real. Since when, through these pictures and videos, proved that I gave Floyd the game plan. Ford didn't even want the game plan. He didn't care, but he didn't ask for it. I didn't ask for it. I mean, it was literally, we were just catching up, joking around,

just having a good thing. He was in very, very, very good spirits. You wouldn't even realize it was fight weak for him if you didn't know him. You know what I'm saying? So, the bottom line was, when I started seeing these pictures and bits come out, to myself. The irony is people jump to conclusions and they jump to the wrong conclusion about this. Didn't they jump to the wrong conclusion about my sparring pictures and my, and the sparring

videos that he put out? I'll say, wow. I said, that's ironic. I said, that's ironic that these bum groupies can fall for it every single time. I mean, you can literally make them fall for it every single time. So, so it was just like, it was just kind of like a thing. They caught you on camera, but you didn't actually release anything, correct? Yeah, yeah. There was nothing there. No, no, no, there was nothing there. Floyd didn't want anything. You think Floyd really needs the game plan to beat Connor McGregor? I mean, if Floyd looked like he had any kind of game plan

besides just bringing the bitch out of him. Floyd's only game plan was bringing the bitch out of him. That's it. Hey, Connor landed more punches than Paciow did. I know, but that's CompuBox. Ariel, come on. Comby box is a guy playing Nintendo ringside. That's Compu Box.

Come on, that's not a fact. Hey, that's a guy playing Nintendo ringside. And that's also going to be on two accounts. One of them is Combo Box. So Comby Box and Punch sets that are not real facts. They're just a guy's a ringside. playing Nintendo. His interpretation I'm worth playing it and with Matt. I never ever go to Compton Buck. I always rather rely on my eyes. But when I look at my eyes, yes, he did land

some good shots. I have a couple of DC shots. But of course, it's also to do with Floyd being aggressive. I mean, Floyd had no respect for him. Of course he's going to walk him down and take a couple extra shots for sake of knocking him out. I think Floyd actually owes Connor dead of gratitude. He walks away now with everyone glowing about him, with everyone showering him with praise. You went out there on your shield. You were aggressive. I think actually Connor brought the best out in Floyd, right? Of course. Well, he brought the aggression on Floyd, but the only reason he brought the aggression on the Floyd is so limited. I mean, if Floyd, Floyd's not going to walk down a fight who's dangerous. He's not going to walk down a fight who's dangerous. Boy dominated the Paci Allen Canelo fights, but did he ever walk them down consistently like Connor McIntyreggar? Absolutely not, because he knows the danger and consistently trying to walk down punches that are really dangerous, real dangerous punches, real dangerous punches like Pike Allen Connollo. He knew the dangers of walking those kind of guy down. When it came to Connor, I mean, there was no respect. there. I mean, that's why he walked him down the way he did.

So, yeah, okay, you know, it was him a debt of gratitude for making him look good, but in reality, a debt of gratitude is because the guy's so limited. Let me ask you this. Some fans told me that on Friday that there was an incident, did you spit on any fans at the Wands? What happened there? No, it was just a little altercation. There was people

that would get heckling some stuff and saying some words, and, you know, there was no security by us, so, you know, I had a couple words with a couple of fans, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, you know, it was just saying, giving us a hard time. We had our host desk up in the middle of the seating area where a lot of fans were around, so fans were able to get to us a little bit easier than they would normally.

So, of course, a couple of hecklers were up there. So no spitting? None of that. Okay. Would you consider fighting Connor and M.M.A.? No, why would I consider finding M.M.M.A. The argument was never about M.A. I know, but I just...

I feel like that's what's next. I don't know. I envision that being the offer. I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy. Well, maybe it's the offer, but I tell you what I got money. I don't need to go chase money. I got money.

I got plenty of money. I live a good life. I'm, thankfully, I'm blessed with that. But at day's end, the disagreement here was about boxing and his boxing ability as opposed to mine. He's trying to paint a picture that was far, very, very far from reality. And like I said, even at 35, 40% of me, he got a dash whoops. I mean, I was competitive. You know, Joe Cortez was competitive.

But at day's end, I landed the hard better shots. I was landing the harder shots and sparring. So, again, that's, That's the whole comical thing about it. Everybody thought this guy was a puncher. I knew this guy was going into Saturday night already, because I already played with him. It was actually a point in this morning where I told him.

I said, why am I punching harder than you? They told me you could punch. Why am I punching harder than you? You know what I'm saying? So, again, if they ever released a video unedited from one camera, so if you can tell it's not edited, so around me, you see yourself. But at the day then, if anybody ever does get to see it,

35, 40%, and like I said, the dummies, dummies can talk about a 15-second, 30-second camera edit. Didn't I do that same thing with you? Floyd on Thursday night, and you think I was giving away the game playing? But in fact, I was just playing around with Floyd? Did I not take pictures with Floyd? Did I not paint a picture that you thought was a different picture than what the reality was?

I understand. These things can be painted very easily. Just like they can be painted if McGregor wants to make a three-round highlight, a 15-30-second highlight of the first couple rounds of the fight with Floyd Mayweather. He can easily make it look like he dominated Floyd Mayweather. When the fact of the matter remains, he got the shit be out of him, and the girl came out of him when he quit. Okay, what's the game plan now, Pauley? How do you get this fight on St. Patty's Day? What are you going to do to get it?

I don't know. They have all the rights, man. I mean, they're the ones that said they were going to release it after the spawning. Oh, no, forget about that. They're not going to release it because you're trying to get the pay-per-view. If they're going to try to get the pay-per-view, why would they give it away for free? How are you going to get the real fight? I don't know.

I mean, listen, I'm a realist here. And the realist in this way. The real part of me knows this. After a fight, guys go on vacation, guys go hang out. I wouldn't expect anything on the otherwise, neither of those guys, you know. So I don't expect Connor McGregor to talk about what the next for a while. And I'm not going to talk about what's next for a while, you know what I'm saying? I'm actually going to, I actually want to get some of my own personal stuff done because I basically blew my summer on this, on this ridiculous bullshit.

You know what I'm saying? I missed a trip to Italy that I was to go see my family. I missed my summer 2017 was basically a wash. So I got to catch up on a lot of things. I got to catch up on some personal matters and also maybe try to get there to see my family, see my father and whatnot. and then after that we'll see what happened. Okay, but you do still want it, right? That's still the game plan?

Absolutely, absolutely, man. Like I said, I would do it when it takes all. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely, I would do it and I would do it wouldn't take all. Are you confident it will happen? Do you think he wants it? Am I confident? I don't know.

I'll tell you what. I'll tell you the way I look at it. He's got a lot of options. You know, he's got boxing options. You know, I think boxing the option is mainly me. But, there's definitely other options. I don't know to what degree he owes the UFC, any fights in the octagon. I don't know the business end of that.

So I can't really speak on that. But as far as fighting me, yeah, I think the fans want it, for the most part, I think it would sell. I mean, I think it's easily a very sellable fight. There's a built-in inherited beef there already. How bad if he wants it? I'll tell you this. He has most of the public perception thinking he actually got the better of being sparring. He has most of the public perception believing the bullshit knockdown that he had.

So he's got most of that public perception there. if he risks fighting me for real, it's all going to phase out. You know what? He knows what happens if he fights me for real. He knows that's me at 35, 40%, 40%. You know what I'm saying? He knows that was, and the trouble he had at 35, 40% of me. Like I said, if I don't stop him in a 12-round fight, I would be disappointed in myself. That's not a guy that should go to the distance with any World Prize boxer. That guy should get stopped by any world-cloth boxer.

Yeah. Well, it seemed to go longer than most expected, but in the end, that's what happened. And last thing for you, Polly, regardless of if he fights you, would you recommend that he continue boxing? Like, were you impressed enough that, all right, this is a guy who can beat, you know, a lower level guy and work his way up? Or do you think that if he, I know you want that fight, would you go back to M.A.? I mean, you can be low-level guys in the terms of lower-level, like, journeyman types. And you got to treat him like a prospect. You know, if you're being like a prospect, like any other prospect, yeah, you know what? I think you can do something with him, you know?

I don't know how far. I don't think he can bring him to a world title. don't get them wrong, but then again, they made who you'll see your Chavez Jr. well champion in boxing. So business-wise, you sell and you do a lot, you know, they can mix and match you enough in enough way, in enough weird ways that possibly

they can get you to the top, you know? Boxes is very political in that way. So I do think he's decent in that, you know, he can beat a couple of decent fighters, but not names that you may ever heard of. I mean, why I talk about decent fighters, I don't mean anybody you might have heard of. If it's anybody you've ever heard of, he can't beat him. Okay. So I'm talking about, like, I'm talking

about guys who, like, a guy who's, like, 30 and 30, but hasn't for anybody, and you never heard of him. They can get him those kind of opponents and make them look good. Otherwise, his best bet as they am, is the UFC, of course. Appreciate the time, Polly. Thanks for squeezing us in, and it's been fun going along this journey with you. I'll leave you alone now for a bit, but great job on Saturday. I think your listener is a dog of sick of hearing me.

Hey, listen, you're a New York guy, Polly. You're a New York guy, and you know what happens with Howard Stern. They all say they don't listen, but they end up, the haters listen more, and I'm looking at the numbers, and the numbers have increased exponentially ever since you came on. So they could say what they want. I love the fans,

but they can't stop listening to you, and you should take that for what it's worth. Hey, as long as they're listening, right? Love you or hate you, doesn't matter. As long as they tune in and they're tuning in. I'm looking at it in front of my eyes. It's all good, Ariel. I appreciate you give me a chance to be on the show,

and even whether they love me, I hate me, I appreciate them listening, and hopefully they understand that. I'm just trying to get the truth out there. I'm trying to get my side of it. I came into this with good intentions, and, you know, I kind of got railroaded and, you know, got my reputation kind of sidestwipes. So I didn't appreciate it and it became personal from that level. And it's going to remain personal from that level because I don't like

people that do that kind of stuff to people. Thank you, Pauley. Safe travels. Take care about, man. All right. There he is. Pauli Malinaji stopping by. Great to hear from him. Wanted to hear his perspective. Post-fight, there you go. We have it. We move on. We bring in the reigning defending UFC featherway champion. and joining us from beautiful Wainai in Hawaii. Max Holloway stopping by. Oh, we're back.

We're back in the Paw Patrol room. I like this. Order has been restored. We're back in my son, man. I love it. Last time you were in this pristine hotel, it was beautiful. I felt like I was in paradise. But it's good to have you back in the Paw Patrol room.

Now, Max, there's a lot to talk to you about here, but I have to ask this right off the bat. We know you have a history with Connor. We know that, you know, somewhere down the line you'd love to fight him. We know that you have not seen eye to eye. But I must give you props right off the bat because it seemed like you were supporting him throughout this. And even on the night gave him props and the buildup gave him props. How were you able to separate the two, considering your personal history with him?

You know, first of all, congrats to you guys, man. It wasn't only MMA and boxing coming together. It was the media side too. and I think so you guys did a great job in killing it and covering it. And, you know, you guys are the man. And at the end of the day, you know, it's just, why I'd be salty about something that happened?

You know, this is a business. It's a business. And Connor was given the opportunity to go and represent our sport in a different sport. And I think he did damn well. I think so he did a great job. And it is what it is, you know, no personal issues.

The only time I'm not going to like you is if you're standing against the ring from me, you know, the cage. So, you know, you got to give respect where respect is due, you know, that's what you do. You know, that's a real man. And I got no, I got no bitter history with him, you know, it is what it is. We fought one time, you know, hopefully we get it back.

But at the end of the day, you know, I'm not going to be a salty little crybaby kid over here, being like, oh, man, grunted my feet, you know. If I had the opportunities that that guy had, I would take full advantage of him, you know, and I would hope I would get respected by my peers and motivated and supported by my. my peers. So it's cool, man. You know, a lot of people, a lot of people hold grudges and they hold hate and, you know, where's the love? You know, we need love and restore it back to this world. Amen. Did he do better than you thought he would? Actually, he did exactly what I thought he would. You know, I, I've been saying, man, us

MMA guys, there's a bunch of us, a handful of us, or even more than a handful, that can compete in boxing and kickboxing and whatever you want to do you know you take us remixed martial arts for a reason we do all these all these things we can go into a lot of other martial arts and do well and carry ourselves well you know and uh and i thought he did well i thought he represented the sport well and uh he did his thing came that night you know a lot of people talking about um um this and that and he giving away rounds and blah blah blah you know you and i know you and i know floyd didn't want to get hit that much times you know and he did did, you know, so it is what it is.

Yeah, this idea that Floyd just let him hit him with these upper cuts and lefts to me is ridiculous. He doesn't like to get hit. He prides himself on not getting hit. Do you think that if Connor didn't get tired, he could have won the fight? Only time can tell, you know, we can sit here and go back and forth and band it back and forward of if he didn't get tired, if he did, or whatever, you know. At the end of the day, should not got tired. Should have came in more better shape, but it happens. You know, this happens. A fight and anything can happen. I told anybody, you know, everybody asked me about the fight.

Yeah, you know, Floyd Mayweather was the greatest of all the time in his sport, but, you know, I think so. Connor did his thing in there. Okay. For you, does this inspire you to try your hand at boxing as well? Do you feel like, oh, look, he could do it, I could do it. Do you want to try that? You know, time tells, you know, I got MMA fighters calling me out.

I got boxing fighters calling me out now. So we see what happens, you know, people keep talking about boxing and hands and this and that. And I'm pretty sure a very, a lot of times in my fights, people tell me I have the best boxing in the UFC. So I would love to do it, you know. We see what happens, though, you know. Time tells all, time shows all. And I'm just waiting. Anything can happen.

A lot of things are on table, and we're just waiting. Okay, so now this is the real reason why I wanted to have you on. in the buildup to the fight on the conference call and even fight week and all that, Connor continues to refer to himself as the featherweight champion. In fact, in the ring, on Saturday, he walked out with two UFC belts, alluding to the fact that he's both the lightweight and featherweight champion. Of course, he never lost the belt in a match. He was stripped of the title back in December.

As the featherweight champion, as the man who just beat Josealdo, how do you react when you hear him say this, when you see him walking around with two belts? Hey, I can't do nothing about it. You know, he is, he was the champ once upon time. He was the 2015 champ. They forgot to announce the year part. You know, they forgot, it's a little mix-up, I think so. You know, it was a little mix-up on their part, but I think so they're going to figure it out soon enough that, uh, they was the champ.

There was 2015, you can't, you can't take it away from him, you know? If Demetius Johnson, you know, if he lost his fight, they lost his belt and he wanted to walk out with 10 of his. his belts that he have, you're going to tell him he can't. That he's his belts. He earned the damn thing, you know, he earned his belt and, you know, that's his belt, you know, but they forgot the clear cut 2015, you know, that's a, you know, that belt is a, it's just a basic do not defend belt, I guess, you know, that's what you call it. And that's what he did.

So I'm not going to take away from him, you know, they keep talking about something that happened years ago, a fight that happened between me and him years ago. and you know if you look at our if you look at our records I last four fights you know I'm four and oh you know I fought some great guys I stopped some guys that people thought I couldn't not stop and I and I did what I did you know you look at his record he's two and two in his last fights some people could say he's one and three you know if I was in issues I'd hold on to every little bit of glory I could so you know that's what he did you know Floyd Maywears walks out all his boxing belts when he fight and And that's just the way they live in, I guess.

Yeah, but as you know, he's calling himself right now the featherweight champion. He considers himself right now the featherweight champion, not the 2015 champion. So that doesn't bother you at all? It doesn't bother me at all, man. How am I, why should I let it bother me? You know, I got my belt. You know, next time I fight, they're going to announce me as the undisputed UFC featherweight champion of the world. And I can't change his mind, you know.

His fans, they're all there thinking of, you know, he's all there thinking of, you. he is, you know, like, I'm here. I'm waiting, you know. If that's what he want to do, that's what he want to do, I can't change his mind. What I'm going to do, bully him into a fight or bully him into saying you can't say this, you know, it's freedom of speech in America. You can say whatever you want. So, you know, shit, there's someone going around.

There's maybe a fan going around saying that he's the UFC champion on the world right now, featherweight champion in the world, you know, what I'm going to do? Like, go there and get into some hostile fight over Twitter over it, you know? No, no. Everybody knows who's a champion. I'm here. But you know Connor has a lot of influence. Witness the fact that he got the UFC

to make this fight against Floyd. Like he has, he wields a very, very, very big stick. Are you at all worried that he comes back and they somehow figure out a way to call him the featherweight champion or have him to defend that belt? Are you worried about that at all? No, no, because that means you have to fight my ass.

So if you want to ask whooping at 1.45, come on, come on down, man. You know, everybody can do. get like I told you before I'm I'm here I want to fight everyone you know you know being a champion being a champion now I get to hang out with champions inside the organizations I get to be around other champions that's not even in our sport and um it the mindsets the mindsets is different you know it's it's hard it's hard to go out there and protect something that you earned you know that you earned you I worked hard you know I got this belt I earned it and it's hard to find the motivation to be like you know I got to keep earning this and keep earning it keep earning it well it's

super easy to do what what what what Connor does you know he earns something then he looks over a fence he looks for something new you know and and and it's very easy to be to be motivated from something new you know if somebody told me you can go do boxing it's going to be way more easier to get out of bed like oh yeah I get to try something new you know or or if you if they if someone told you, oh, how about you do this and that? Everything is more, it's much more easier getting motivated for something that's always new, you know, for the first try, let's do this, let's do that, you know, always spreading, spreading around.

But it's hard to, it's hard to get motivated for something that you got to keep earning and earning and earning over and over again, you know? So I just don't think he's that type of guy, you know, so does he come back down to featherweight? We see, you know, do I go up there and bite him? we see, you know, there's a, between me and him, I just don't think that, between us and the world, I think action speaks loud in the world and actions speak louder than words and, his actions say a lot about him. So you don't think that he has any interest in going back down to 145 in fighting you?

No, no, not at all, you know, I, I think so the interest more is, is that trilogy fight with Nate, you know, and, and the reason why I say, you know, I'm not saying Nate is easier fight by any means. Nate is a motherfucker. Don't get me wrong. But at the end of the day, he fought Nate one time. He lost and people still call him the champ, you know. I lost to this guy years ago and people still call him the champ. They call me I'm the fake champion our way, you know? Nate is the man, you know, and that fight and it already showed, you know, it already showed that he can lose to Nate and he can still hold this championship level mindset to his peers into his fans or whatever, whatever,

versus if he comes fight me and he loses, then his fairy tale ends. It crumbles, you know? If he comes and fight me and he loses, then his fairy tale is done. You know, his champ, champ, this whole mystic thing is done. It's over with, you know,

and that's the type of guy that, that's the kind of type of person I think he is. You know, I don't think so he wants to risk that, especially against a guy like me. Now, where do things stand with you? After the win against Aldo, You said you wanted to talk, you wanted to get a better deal, you wanted to get paid. You brought the head to Dana White, so to speak.

Did you get paid? Did you get a better deal? Where do things stand? You know, right now, the contract is moving. You know, I think so we're going in the right direction and we're figuring out little stuff, little by little, but we see what happens. I'm still waiting. I think so it's moving in the right direction and I think things are going good.

I think so we should have something done soon. So you're happy with the way it's moving along? Yeah, you know. see what happens, you know, we see what happens. This things take time, you know, you're a business guy, I'm a business guy, we know this business thing take, uh, take time, you know, especially with that whole, this whole thing in August, this big fight and, uh, I think so now we're going to get back to the table and, uh, we should figure out something very soon. Did they try to get you to fight on that October 7th card? We were seeing, you know, we, um, they, they was,

uh, they reached out to us, but it made no sense, you know, I, I was still had, uh, I had to say hand injury that I'm dealing with student today. You know, I still didn't get cleared. You know, a doctor kind of semi-cleared me but told me to keep it open. We figure it out. So I got to go and see, in a couple weeks, I got to go meet up with my hand doctor and see what he's safe. Okay, so in a perfect world, when do you think you will fight? Perfect world, you know, hopefully, I don't know, man. I wanted to, I really wanted to get on that, that November 4th car, you know, MSG. That place is history, man, you know. Yeah. able to fight in there. There's a lot of history there.

And that's what I wanted to do, you know, but we see what happens. You know, it's looking like the December card, you know, maybe Detroit or maybe at the end of the year. The end of the year would be fun. I can get, I get to fight at the Knight Island in front of my Hawaiians, you know, and finally bring a belt to, if we can't get U.S. Hawaii, you know, Las Vegas is the closest thing. And we can do a U.S.A.A. in Las Vegas, and people are going to lose their minds, I think. Is it fair to say, at least as of right now, that Frankie Edgar is the next guy? Yeah, you know, that's what I said, you know, the whole Frankie thing, everybody's like, oh, fight Frankie, fight this.

I wanted to fight Frankie last MSG card. I asked for him, you know, I didn't want to fight Pettis. I wanted to fight Frankie in the MSG card, but things happen for a reason, you know, we ended up getting a fight, he ended up fighting someone else, you know, a year later, now he wants to fight me. So we see what happens, you know, only time can tell. And if he's the guy next up, he's the guy next up, you know. If he wants to be the guy, there's a little bit history there, but it's up to the UFC, man. I'll fight whoever. How is the hen now?

Is it 100%? It's all right. The last time I checked it, they said it was like at 80%, 85. And, you know, it's just my thumb. It's something that I used to, it's the gripping part that they're worried about. But he said it's coming along. He moved along. That's like I had a checkup.

couple weeks ago. He said, let's give it a couple more weeks and then come back in and we go from there. See, I feel like I put out this poll on Saturday about who the fans want to see Connor fight next. And I put Nate's name because I feel like he is right now the frontrunner. I put Polly's name in boxing because they have a history. And I put your name as well because you're the featherweight champion. And some people wrote in, you know, the winner of Ferguson Lee. They wrote in Habib. But I feel like there's a history there because not only did you fight so many years ago, what is it, four years now. He injured his leg in the fight, but you also had an injury as well in that fight, right? You weren't 100% as well, correct?

Yeah, yeah. A lot of people keep telling, they keep saying, oh, yeah, he beat you with a bum knee, whatever. The man got hurt at the ending of the second round with like a minute left. And the reason why we got hurt is because he took my ass down and we got tangled in the, we got tangled on the ground, his legs got tangled and went a search. and way and I heard him in the, when we was fighting, I heard him go, ah, he screamed in the fight. And I was like, holy shit. And I asked him, you okay? And he's like, yeah, we just keep fighting.

So it's cool. But I hurt my ankle in that fight very early in the fight, you know, like 30 seconds into the fight. I damn fucking kicked him in his damn knee and then I kicked him in his elbow. And, you know, my ankle is messed up due to the fact why I wasn't moving as much. You know, a lot of my fights, if you go watch, I move, you know. I didn't want to defend it. You know, I don't want to take away from the guy, but, you know, the guy that, it's just funny to me that

I'm the type of person like you know I didn't want to say anything about it you know it's just I don't want to take away from the guys win but the guy's over here every damn time he's done fight or something something comes out of an injury or this and that or he's sick you know the thing came out before this fight that

the first Nate fight he was sick before the fight and blah blah blah I'm like what the fuck man how much fucking excuses are you gonna say you know is this fucking just let the fight beat it doesn't say shit You know, that's what I believe in. And, you know, things ain't going on my way. That wasn't my night.

And if we're running back, I think so it'd be way different fight. You know, like I said before, we fought years ago. We fought years ago. And the way that he talks about a fight and the way he talks about our fight, and correct me if I'm wrong, ero, is the way a retired man talks. A retirement man talks about, oh, I beat that guy that time, this time, whatever. A true champion, you know, if, you know, I like guys like guys. like Kobe, you know, like the Mamba, you know? He's the man, you know why his mindset was, if I beat you one time and if there's people

around saying that you could beat me, I'll play you 100 motherfucking times. I'm going to fucking take everything you ever own and fucking show the world down the baddest motherfucker here, you know, and that's the kind of mentality I have, you know? This guy, you know, this guy's talking about this guy over here, he's talking about something that happened years ago. That's what a retired man talks about. I don't talk about my old fights. You know, if anybody that lost to me wants it, guess what?

Come open hands, you know, you know, the Swanson thing. Swanson is that I want to fight you. Swanson, I thought Swanson, I open them with open hands. Soanson, if you want to get this work again, I'm open to it. Go sell yourself to the UFC. You know, if you want your ass whooped, fucking 99 more times, come see me. It's easy, you know, it's easy. You want to prove it the best.

I'll keep proving on the best. I'll fight anybody and everybody. Even if I fought you one time, two times, ten times, 20 times. We can fight 30 times. If people are going to tune in, they won't watch the fight, they don't want you get your ass whoop for 30 more times, 29 more times, whatever it is. You know, that's the kind of mindset I like, and that's the kind of, it's the kind of championship mindset I have, you know? Does a party you wish that you, a lot of people forget, you took that fight on short notice,

you took it on a month's notice because Andy Ogle was originally supposed to fight him in Boston, and then they tapped you this, this youngster to fight him in Boston. Does a part of you wish you never took that fight on short notice because now it would be a fresh matchup and you would have more, you know, more on your side in terms of convincing them to make the fight no? No, not at all. Everything happened for a reason. You know, I'm not that, I'm not that guy who wish you didn't happen. That's, that's poor sport. You're a poor loser. Everything happened for a reason, you know, that fights, all my fights, they all happen for reason. The wins, the losses, the ups and downs, it's not even losses. It's learning.

You know, I learned a lot from that fight. I learned a lot about myself. And it is what it is. a lot of my fights aerial in the UFC I just passed short notice fights I had a point at time in my in my UFC career

to recently I took like maybe three or four fights that I had more short notice fights than actual booked fights with the UFC so it was just another fight

is this another bump in the road and I think so I needed it and that's what that's what mold me into this fighter you are today you know things happened you know certain times in certain places

and I had to be at that certain time, that certain place I had to learn, and now I'm here. You know, I'm the University Federation of the world. You know, I would never ever take that back. I truly sincerely appreciate the way you're able to separate your history with him and what he accomplished on Saturday. Because, and I want to get your take on this, you know, after you beat Jose Aldo, you put out a really nice thing on Instagram, giving him all the props in the world. After Conner's fight on Saturday, Aldo went to Twitter and mocked him. RDA went to Twitter and mocked him. And last I checked, RDA got injured.

It wasn't Connor who ran away from that fight. It was RDA who got injured. What do you make of some of these guys who have a history of them who are looking to mock him for doing what many could never even dream of doing? And I know the money helps. But to go out there and potentially risk injury and embarrassment, that takes something, right? That takes a lot, you know. Like, you said perfect.

You said perfect, you know. Everybody keeps saying that, you know, oh, it's easy to go for money or whatever. but he could have got went out there, got knocked on the first round, and everything would have went to shit and be like, what the fuck, you know, and whatever. So, you know, fair play to him, fair play to the guy. And I always, I always said that. I respect, I'm a competitor, and I respect our competition. I respect everything.

You know, my take on that is just, you know, it's sad to say, but it's sad to watch, you know, why you got to hate on a man's success and why you got to try and, why you got to try and hate on a man when they're down too, you know what man just lost, he went to a different sport. It is what it is, you know, move on. Because I'm pretty damn sure if I had, if he had it, if those two guys had the opportunity to do what Connor did, they'll take it. You know, you can't sit there and say, I wouldn't do that.

I wouldn't do that. That guy just made millions of dollars in a fight. And for you to say that you wouldn't do that, get the fuck out of here, you know? And there's no reason to knock the guy, you know, the guy was, the guy went in there, I think so he went out there not only for himself, but went to represent our sport to show that mixed martial arts is the great. greatest sports, we're fighters, we're true fighters, we're real fighters, and things are you went out there to prove that, you know, and I think he did a good job, and my take on that

two things, mocking is sad, man, it is what it is, but, you know, people is growing out different, people is taught different, you know, I'm grateful, like I said, I go back to my grandmother, my papa, my papa and stuff, like, no matter, even Hawaiians, you know, no matter how bad someone treated you, it's always treat others the way you want to be treated, and, And that's what I do, you know, respect. You know, there's a business side to this thing, and then there's actually being a human being side to this thing. And some people forget that.

Respect you, Max. Last thing for you. You were just in Asia doing some promotional stuff for the UFC. What was that experience like? And did you sense after the Aldo fight that your popularity has grown? What kind of feedback were you getting from the people there? Oh, man, I got a bunch of good feedback. My thing did, yeah, my, you know, my celebrity,

level whatever went huge you know i uh we we had guys uh we was at japan we had to do a meet and greet at japan or actually like a like they tweeted out and they say be here and go give some free gear and we went to the wrong side of the thing and people was just like normal people who wasn't even like on twitter or whatever did it's like walk past me it's like chapin chappin i was like yeah chat what's up and then they took picture in me they wasn't even there for that you know so that was cool that was huge and then uh china was super cool man we did this thing that um that you streamed online was just a questionnaire and and a million people tuned in live. Wow.

On, in China. That's, I was like, I was like, oh, how much people tuned in? And then I was like, a million. Like, they said it's so nonchalant. I was like, what the fucking million people? That's a lot of people, you know? So it was super huge. I felt the love.

And the tour is great, man. I tell you right now, every new butt, the Anderson Silver card, whoever is getting on that card, that China card, they're tapping into a new market. market man and you know like i go back to kobe you know cobi's over there tapping into that market too right now they know something that we don't know and um all you guys trying to get you guys fan cloud up you know head on over the china there's a bunch of people there there's a lot of people and uh and they're they're thirsty for any type of sports there so it's super cool man and um i like that i like the whole tour did you see my uh my luigi my brother my brother yes yes yes i saw that we

killed it on top of that damn rainbow road but uh it was good fun man I loved Asia. We got to go to Hong Kong. And it was just fun overall. You know, the fan experience, like you said, the fans and stuff and the Japanese fan and stuff. And one thing I took away from that, took away from that whole experience was sumo wrestlers fool the shit out of you.

They are so athletic and flexible I did not know. I had no idea how these guys are more flexible than me. I was like, what the? I'm not the most flexible guy. But, you know, you see this like 300-pound. dude, you're like, yeah, you're not that flexible. This guy's doing the splits. Wow.

Balancing on one leg with their leg, like up here. I'm like, what are they doing? I was like, yeah, they're super flexible, bro. Did you do sumo? I was tripping. Did you do sumo? I didn't do it. They didn't let me do it.

The UFC guy, I was actually like, come on, let me try. But it might have been a good thing. I don't know. They hit heads pretty hard, like two billy goats, you know? And I was like, what the hell? The people not getting knocked out. It was amazing. But the experience was cool, and I'm blessed to be there.

Well, I'm happy you got. that reception, it's well deserved. You handle yourself like a champ in and out of the cage, and that was once again on display on Saturday. Your take on the fight I thought was on point and unbiased, and I appreciate that greatly. So kudos to you, Max, and I hope that you get that contract that you're looking for, and I hope you get paid as you deserve. Hopefully they'll make it right for you soon rather than later and we can see you back in there soon. Get well soon with the hand. I know it's trending towards the right direction, but get well soon and hope to see you back in there soon, my man. Mahalo. Thank you, boss. Meja. Later. Mahalo. Easy.

There he is. Max Holloway, stopping by from the Paw Patrol room in his home. Great to hear from the featherweight champion of the UFC. And I still believe that that fight against Connor is a moneymaker and one that they can promote. And there's a history there. And in some respects, it is a super fight. You know, it's featherweight versus a lightweight. But with the history, see how much they have both grown and improved since that first fight back in 2013. I would be very, very, very interested in seeing that one.

All right. one more guest to go as far as today's concern, but I would want to remind you before we get to our last guest, I didn't have a chance to do that at the top of the show because it was so much to discuss. Go to mhmapfighting.com. If you're watching this on any other platform, you can open it up.

You also must send us questions and comments about Saturday, about John Jones, about Brian Stan leaving, about Francis Ngano, about 215, 216, about Rotterdam. The UFC is back with a show in Rotterdam. It has been forgotten about, about Edmonton, whatever you want to talk about, go to mMAfighting.com, use the hashtag VMMA Hour, send us questions and comments, New York, Rick, standing by to collect those.

We're going to hear from him. The back end of the show, the after-hour segment exclusively on Twitter. So I want to remind you to do all of that, and we'll talk plenty more about Mayweather McGregor, but there's one guest left, and I'm very happy to end on this note. This is the perfect guest to end with, because there's only one member of the media who attended every single stop on the Mayweather McGregor tour. Now, I'm not just talking about the world tour, which she was a part of. I'm talking about every single stop and then some,

the stuff that even the media wasn't invited to. She is the best combat sports photographer in the world. She's one of the best sports photographers in the world. She's one of the best photographers, period, in the world. She is our own Esther Lynn. She's also Showtime's own Esther Lynn, and she's joining us now for the first time, on the MMA hour.

How great is this? Esther, how are you? Hi. I'm well. You seem very excited to be here, Esther. I am. I'm actually really nervous because I've never been on the show before. Is this, in fact, I was trying to think,

have you never been on, like, even a brief cameo, anything like that? Oh, I've popped into the studio a couple times when I was in New York. Yeah, but not as a guest, right? No. Okay. Well, it's a pleasure to have you. congratulations on everything leading up to the fight. Of course, your career in general,

but you were all over the place. The photos were fantastic leading up. Photos were fantastic on the night. Let me ask you, you have had the pleasure of covering, at least at this point, every major UFC of the past, what, almost decade and every other major MMA event,

but in particular, as far as boxing is concerned, every major Showtime boxing event and the last few Floyd Mayweather events, where did this one for you professionally stack up? I said it was the time of my life. I've never had more fun for you covering it from a photo perspective, how did this one stack up? Oh, it was incredibly fun.

This one was actually really great because I felt like for years when I was working in a boxing, I've been with Showtime for about eight years. And when I was working in boxing, I'd always tell people about MMA. And when I'm in MMA, I was trying to tell people about boxing events. And the world's never got to collide. And I felt like this was finally everybody that I know getting to see them all together, getting to enjoy these big shows that I get to shoot. because I've shot Mayweather's last six fights

and just being able to share that circus with everybody was really nice. Finally people got to see the things that I get to see and share in the absolute just hugeness of a Mayweather event. You have a very unique relationship with Floyd Mayweather. When he was at the open workout, he singled you out and even though his security guard was trying to somewhat berate you and scold you, he brought you in the perfect spot and gave you the shot and it was great to see.

And then also, I mean, I got to witness this as well. When we did that interview at his gentleman's club and went there early, it was key to have you there. You were there. You weren't on camera, but you were there and everyone recognized you. Even the security guards, they're also happy to see you. How did you develop this? Why do you have this special relationship where it always seems like every time any member of his team, including Floyd himself, they seem to light up. when they see you. Oh, well, you know, as I said, I've been, I shot his last six fights and I've

been around. I did the Mayweather Canello Press tour, so I did six stops out of 11. We did a, like, it was a little different because it was staggered. They did two stops in the day. So, me and Tom Casino, we just kind of flip-flopped the different cities. It was actually possible for us to be at every stop for that one. So I've been around these guys a lot. I spent a lot of time there. I've been at the gym a lot. I've been, I've watched Floyd's bar. I've probably spent, I don't know, I think I've been, at least for each camp, I've been in Floyd's gym probably four or five days each time. And plus I do affiliate media days with them, which is all of the pay-per-view providers come and they get their own interviews. I am there every, every bout for that.

I'm there at all the commercial shoots, all the music video shoots we did around the fight, all that kind of stuff. So I've been around the guys a lot. And I made sure that, I mean, if you're going to get the right photo, you need to know the security guard so that you can get close. So I always made sure to introduce myself. That is a very good point. Is there a difference in shooting MMA as opposed to boxing? And if so, which do you prefer?

Hmm. I am definitely better at shooting MMA. I'm a much better sense of the timing. There's just body clues that I'm better at when I'm shooting MMA. I like boxing because the ring is easier to shoot in. And there's just no obstructions except for the ref. And sometimes the ropes, depending on where they are. But also, I really like boxing events because of the way the crowd is lit.

You really get to see the crowd is part of it. You know, you were there on Saturday. night and there's like blue lights all the way around the arena. And so every time something happened in the background, I can see people reacting. And I really love that. That's one of my favorite things about shooting boxing is getting to see all of the reactions in the background of your shot. So it's really a complete experience in terms of each photo you really get both the fight and the experience of being there. Yeah. And we just saw one of those photos. I think that you're referring to just the scene. It was perfect. There was a

was a picture that came out that you didn't take, but it's about you at the Connor open workout where you're hanging from the rafters shooting him, going the extra mile. Why do you do this? Why did you feel the need to do this? When everywhere, everyone was commenting on it, everyone was praising you for it, going that extra mile, you didn't have to do that. What compelled you to do that? Well, at the Mayweather, Jim, the all-access crew generally has a couple of ladders. And so I always pull a ladder out and we kind of switch off and I climb up really high so I can get a good overhead shot at how many media are there because I want to be able to show everybody not just, you know, the actual workout, but you want to see who's there. You want to

see how many people showed up. You want to get a feel for the event. And so at Connor's workout, there wasn't really a point high enough inside of the gym for me to get that shot where I could show people just how many people were surrounding Connor on the mat. trying to watch and work out. And so the All-Exus producer Liz, she asked me, she's like, do you need help? And I said, yeah, I kind of pointed to the top of the bags, you know, the steel rafters that hold the bags. And I said, I want to get there. And she said, okay, let me help you with that.

So Colin, actually, in McGregor's camp, gave me a boost so that I could climb onto a heavy bag, because I'm pretty small. and so I was able to reach to the chains of the heavy bag. And once I was able to grab that, I was able to actually climb up onto the Raptors and kind of inched my way down towards Connor. That's amazing. And you got some great photos. And I urge everyone to go back and look at all of them. Now, let's go to Saturday.

What did you, your position was ringside, but I've seen photos. And I know you had two other great photographers working for you, Cynthia and Scott. But I've seen backstage photos and things like that. Were you always positioned ringside or did you roam around? I roamed around a little bit, but for the most part, once the pay-per-view started, I was ringside. I did some walkout shots. I walked to where the fighters were coming out, and I got shots of them walking out. I have a couple shots of Connor in emerging from the tunnel.

And I also happened to meet Connor at the car when he arrived at the arena. What was that like? I went outside when he... It was really neat. It was just like the frenzy of people that kind of... I was out there earlier. I went out at 4.30 because someone told me he was going to be there at 4.30 and he wasn't. And there was a couple people waiting, you know.

But by the time I went out there around, I think 7 o'clock, everyone had gathered. All these media had gathered. All of the employees had gathered. There was a bunch of Teamable Arena employees, kitchen staff. Everyone was just hanging out waiting for a glimpse of Connor walking in. And it was amazing. It's something that we don't really get to In MMA, the camera crew, just the camera crew gets that shot, right?

Of them walking in. But in boxing, we kind of invite a lot of media to come in and it's like this kind of chaotic frenzy. But I really love the chaos because in that you get these really dynamic images and you get to feel the enormity of such a thing. We couldn't have been in more different spots. I was literally in the like hockey press box rafters. You couldn't have been closer.

Other than Connor, Floyd, and Robert Byrd, no one's closer than you, ringside, taking photos. I talked about the atmosphere from my perspective. From your perspective, way down low with all the big shots, the executives, the sports stars, the celebrities, the high rollers. What was it like? What was the buzz like? And how would you compare it to maybe the Mayweather-Packial fight?

Hmm. Okay. So, well, I would say that for both the Mayweather Paci-L fight and this fight, in comparison to the other Mayweather bouts, because the ticket prices were so high, you weren't going to get a lot of just straight up combat sports fans. This was an event for the rich. So pretty much everyone on the floor was somebody wealthy. So it was really different in that regard. And those people aren't going to be cheering the whole time. So obviously there was definitely, and even for the Paco fight, Lomachenko was on the undercard and he had an amazing fight.

and the crowd was dead for it. That's just how it is when there's a fight card that really is focused just on the main event in boxing. You'll often see, I remember Mayweather Paco. I saw people walking into the arena during the third round of the Mayweather Pac-Jow out. Yeah, that's how people are when they come to boxing events. They get dressed up and they want to show up right before the main event. And it kind of kills the fanfare a little bit leading up to a bit. But when they walk out, there was definitely a different feel.

The crowd switched over. You could tell there was a lot of excitement. That long break before the actual main event happened because they were trying to delay it was actually really great for me because that gave all the photographers a chance to look around at all of the celebrities that were seated. Wow. I saw LeBron. I saw everybody that I thought, that I wanted to see pretty much. I pretty much spotted everyone in the crowd.

And it was really exciting. It was just kind of neat. And there was a definite buzz around the ring on the floor from everyone that had gathered. It was actually, from where I was sitting, it was actually quite loud. People were very excited and really into the fight. Pausing the fight photography talk for a second. And you also have a great mind when it comes to just watching fights because you've seen a million at this point. Did Connor do better than you thought he would?

He did do better than I thought he would. He did better than I thought he would. Although I will say because I've watched Maywe there spar many times, he is the kind of fighter to give up the first couple of rounds to read someone. And so I've watched many sparring rounds where each time he takes the, he spars someone new, the first two rounds he'll almost always lose them. in terms of just giving them to kind of read and eat a couple punches just so he knows what he's doing. And then it changes. It's kind of almost magical to watch how quickly he can adjust. Mayweather just reads you, takes those first two rounds or first three or four rounds and just analyzes you.

And then the next, you know, however many rounds it takes, he breaks you down by everything that he's seen. in those first rounds. And that's really kind of the, that's the magic of Floyd Mayne, but watching him work and watching him go through his process of how he reads people and changes. Now, throughout the fight, are you near either corner?

And if so, could you hear what they were saying to either Floyd or Connor? I was seated maybe about, I was seated pretty much in Floyd's Corner because of the way they arranged the ring. Okay. So I had Floyd, Floyd's trainer is right behind me.

Oh, wow. They were yelling the whole time. Yeah. And Floyd's father was, I believe, the one in the ring with him in between the breaks, so he was the first, right? Could you hear, and they have a strange relationship. I mean, on Friday, when we were doing our show, the M.A. He didn't even know if he'd be in the corner.

He was still in the dark. He seemed a little bit sad about the whole situation. Could you hear any insight that he was giving his son in the corner? He wasn't nearly as loud as in the corner once between rounds he was going in there and just saying you're doing well and things like that. During the actual fight, it was really difficult to hear him because the guy that was seated right behind me was extremely loud. And he was just yelling the entire time, get your feet right, get your feet right, all right. You don't have to let him into the fight if you don't want to and things like that. So it was extremely loud.

It was actually really difficult to hear anyone else because he was pretty much yelling in my ear. Okay, fair enough. Do you have a favorite photo from the fight? I should have asked you this beforehand so we could show it. But I'm just curious if there is one that really sticks out from the fight itself. Well, I guess the one that came out first that we had posted of Floyd landing on Connor, you know, half a second later when all the snot and spit and stuff. That's probably my favorite action shot.

And then I have so many shots of them afterwards, just congratulating each other and just giving respect to each other. And I really enjoyed all of those. I always, that's always one of my favorite parts about combat sports is that you can, or sports in general, really, that you can, you know, compete against each other and still respect each other at the end of the day. Yeah. And I always really appreciate that part of that part of it.

Yeah, it's phenomenal. And I know some people are rubbed the wrong way and they're like, oh, you just did this for money. And of course, I mean, this is prize fighting. They do everything for money. But to have that respect, it was nice to sort of end on that note. You were also, I believe there, when Nate Diaz made his way to Floyd's locker room, could you give us some insight into that? Because I asked Connor about it in our interview.

and I don't know if he felt if he was disappointed or just not prepared to answer that. But, you know, it seemed like the entire roommate community was rallying around Connor. And I don't know, maybe I'm wrong on this. But when he heard that Nate was in Floyd's locker room, it seemed to me like he was a bit disappointed. We're showing the picture right now. What was that whole scene like and what were they saying to each other? Well, so everybody came into Floyd's locker room at some point. So pretty much most of Floyd's friends or major celebrities kind of filed in and out.

after the fight. Demi Lovato actually went into both locker rooms. And Nate came in towards the tail end after everybody had come through. I actually got a text from Cynthia Vance, who was one of my other shooters that night, that she had run into Nate and that they were heading over to the locker room at that moment. And so I stayed. And he basically just went in there, shook his hand.

They laughed. They might have whispered something to each other that I couldn't quite here. But then they just post for photos. He just said, you're the best, and they shook hands. And then Nate being Nate, immediately wanted to make sure that his guy, Chris, also got a photo with Mayweather. Yes, Chris Avila, right? Nate was like, oh, you got to meet my guy, Chris. Yeah, yep, Chris Avila, he was like, you got to meet my friend Chris. He's a fighter. And then May was like, yeah, you was a fighter too. You're a fighter too. And so they all kind of got together and took pictures and everyone posed. And yeah, it was just like a, it was a, it was a, it was a,

It was a really uplifting scene. Everyone was there just being happy. Nobody was really saying and talking any shit or anything like that. It was just very positive. Did you go into Conner's locker room as well? I didn't. I sent Scott Heronow in there. Just because he can't be in two places at once.

He said that he was there for a while and that it was actually pretty good. And then at one point, I think they wanted to have like a private talk. So everyone left. Okay. The photos, I talked about this on the show. last week and throughout your photos throughout the whole tour were the best. You had, you know, you had the greatest perspective of them all because you were on the stage. That one in Toronto, I don't know if we have that one.

Again, I forgot to give it to Eric at the beginning, but the one in Toronto where they're both pointing at each other and you see the crowd behind to me, like almost sums up the entire fight. That one and the Bruce Lee one from the press conference because that to me also signifies what this fight is. For you, do you have a favorite photo of the entire experience from Dave? one till Saturday night? Is there one that kind of sticks out that you say, all right, this is what Mayweather-Megregor was? For sure, that Toronto photo of them pointing at each other is my favorite photo because it really encapsulated just how excited everyone was to see this fight

finally happening. It was outdoors, which really made for a beautiful photograph because it allowed me to have a little more light and allowed me to show much more of the crowd. I could really I could focus both on the fighters and the crowd, and you could see all of the expressions. I printed out huge newsprint copies of the book for Showtime employees and for people that were part of the tour and some media members that Showtime wanted to give some copies to. But the centerpiece is that photo. And let me see if I can grab it. I don't know. I think Casey disappeared.

But I love looking at it. It's like I printed it out. Yes. Cowboy newspaper. And so I love looking at it and just finding all of the different expressions. Everyone's face is so fascinating in it. And that really kind of captured what I like so much about combat sports and price fighting in general, just like that excitement where you look at all the signs and

everyone's happy and excited. Like we're all part of this. Everyone in that photo is in this moment and we're all part of that moment. And that's exciting to me. It was just really that encapsulated the whole thing. Casey, can you get me a copy of my book out of the lighting case? And so in terms of that, that was my favorite. And for the actual fight week, hmm, let me think.

I don't know. The fight week was hard because every day there was something to look forward to. It was one of those times where even though I'm working every day from like 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. I felt like I was never really too tired to do what I wanted to do because it was just all very exciting. It was fun to be there. Last thing for you, how will you remember Mayweather McGregor? Because a lot of people, you want to show it? Did you have it?

Oh, yeah. There it is. Yeah, I do have it. Let me see. This is the, uh, there it is. That's the one. The book here. Tremendous.

Yep. Are you going to do another one for the fight itself or fight week? Yes. Okay. Yeah, I'll put together one for the fight week. I don't know what format yet if I want to do a newsprint or a hardcover. I love the newsprint. Old school. Love it. Yeah. This fight was very polarizing. Everyone was quick to call it a farce, a sham. I mean, everyone had a hot take. And in the end, I think it was just a sporting event. It was just a fight. And it was an entertaining fight. And it was one of Floyd's most entertaining fights. And Connor representative. and everyone won, and I've said this a thousand times today. How are you going to remember Mayweather McGregor? I'm going to remember it fondly. You know, I'm glad that it ended up as a sporting event. During the tour, I got a little worried because once we got to New York and London,

I felt that the dialogue of the tour had really devolved, and it was just getting, a lot of the talk was just getting offensive. There were things that on both sides just bothered me, and it also was getting really repetitive. And I felt like I missed, this is one of those like, you know, and people say back in my day or whatever. But like the nostalgia of old boxing events is that you miss like the smart trash talking, you know, the clever stuff. They were really getting to parts where they were just calling each other bitch and it just wasn't that exciting anymore. And so I was getting a little nervous. But then as we went to the workouts and we got through and, you know, I went to a couple of the behind the scenes shoots and things started to be.

build for me and then once you got to fight week, it felt better every day and more real every day. And the fight itself being as good as it was really made up for everything and pulled it all together and made it this great event because it was good to see that in the end it was a fight. Well said, Esther. Keep up the great work. It's an honor to work beside you. Very happy that you were the one who got to shoot all of that and you nailed it. You. You nailed it. you hit it out of the park and congratulations on everything. Oh, great work with you too. I really enjoyed all the shows last week.

Thank you. I appreciate that very much. All right. We'll talk to you soon. All the best. Again, congrats on all the success and the recognition and for killing it as always. You continue to do a great job. And Casey's not bad as well.

Thanks. All right. Thanks. He's all right. There she is. Esther Lynn, our photographer, the best in the business as far as any photography is concerned. Okay. We're going to take a quick pause on all things Mayweather, McGregor,

talk about something a hell of a lot more important. You may have been seeing on social media that Derek Lewis, the UFC heavyweight, one of our favorite guests in the history of this program who lives in Houston, who is as proud of a Houstonian as you can possibly imagine, is in Houston right now going out there, in the rain, in the flooding, and helping people and saving lives, and he's doing a lot more important things than talking to us, but I just wanted to check in with him to see how he's doing and to see what the scene is like, and he's kind enough to join us on the phone right now. Derek, are you there? Yeah, I'm there.

Derek, what is it like? How are you doing? How's your family doing? Can you paint the picture for us? Oh, my family is good. You know, my neighborhood is dry. You know, it's raining, but it's no flood or anything like that. But, like, outside of my neighborhood, everyone else is going through a truck truck. Right now, I'm waiting for a elderly couple to get on the back of my truck right now, as we speak. So what compelled you? So you went out today with your truck, and you're actually helping. people? Is that what's happening? Yes. My neighborhood is fine. There's no flood or anything like that, but like a mile away, it's like four inches of, four feet of my brain. What have you seen? What have you seen today? I've seen just about everything. You know, everybody really just out here, really just trying to get somebody safe and dry.

Have you been able to, you know, go into any places and get people out there and get them to safety? Have you been successful in doing so? Yeah, for sure. I'm not doing that. You helping out? Yeah. Hello? Okay, I know you probably have to go, but I'm just wondering, Derek, are you worried about your neighborhood, your house?

Is it looking like it's going to reach you? I know you said it's not affecting you right now, but is that what it's looking like? Okay, but I'm not worried about them. I can't really worry about it, so I don't care about that. Okay. And what do you have coming up? What are you doing now? What's on tap for you in the next hour or two?

Where will you be? Oh, I don't know. Right down back to me on the country now right now. Okay. All right. I'll see your message. Go ahead, sorry? I'll send your text message.

I'll let you know. Okay, thank you, Derek. Keep it up, man. You're a hero, and we're all supporting you. Keep it up. All right, thanks, man. All right, there he is. Derek Lewis.

Holy smokes. What is seen in Houston right now, if you've been following the news, I just wanted to talk to him for a couple minutes and see how he's doing. He says that his family's okay. He says that his kids are okay. But if you don't follow Derek Lewis on social media, I would say before today you are missing out because he is incredibly entertaining and funny

and just great stuff. I mean, it's just always great stuff. But today, he's been posting some videos of him in the rain and the flooding, helping people out. and what can you say? That is a hero right there. That is a saint. That is an angel.

You know, if you've seen this show, Derek Lewis, how much he, you know, how proud he is, how much he loves Houston. And he's going out there and helping his own people and, you know, didn't ask for any recognition. I asked Eric to call him. So I give him a lot of props. And there are a lot of members of the MMA community who live in the Houston area. I know Tanya Evinger has been affected Jeremy Bader, who is a longtime journalist. I spoke to Sage Northcutt yesterday whose family lives in Caddy, Texas,

who told me that his family's okay. He's currently in Sacramento. There's Mick Maynard, who is the matchmaker for the UFC in multiple divisions, told me that he's doing okay. I almost lost his car, but he said that he's okay.

There's also Michael Jackson, the Truth Jackson, who's in the Houston area, and I hope I'm not forgetting anyone. If I am, you know that we're thinking about you and that we're pulling for you and not just members of the MMA community, but everyone in that area and in the Texas area, it's horrific to see some of the older

people struggling and hopefully we can rally behind them and help and get as many resources out there as possible. I see that the Houston Rockets posted something just now on Twitter. They said, our hearts are heavy seeing the devastation that so many of our friends, family and neighbors are experiencing Leslie Alexander has contributed $4 million. Leslie Alexander is the owner of the Houston Rockets, who coincidentally is in the process of selling the team, but he said that Leslie Alexander, they said he has contributed $4 million to Mayor Sylvester Turner's Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund in an effort to help Clutch City come back stronger than ever. Please be safe or stay safe, Houston.

That's from the Houston Rockets. So major props to Derek Lewis. What a great guy. All right. We'll continue to monitor that situation and hope that it gets better in the very near future. For now, let us go. Before we get to Rick's Picks, let's just go to New York, Rick, for a second, if I can.

Is he still there? I'm here. Oh, he's still there. How are you? I'm good. I wanted to ask you about the fight before you get to Rick's Picks. Just your experience, I've weighed in on it.

By the way, is my brother still there? No. He left. David has gone. He tapped out. Listen, he got his Polly Phil and then he was done. My brother loves Polly Malaghi. It's interesting.

my brother said he wanted to come watch the show. And I was like, are you serious? You really want to come watch? Not the biggest I'm a May fan, but that's what this fight was all about. That fight, you know, spoke to everyone. And he wanted to hear the aftermath. He wanted to witness it in person.

I thought that you were going to do the slow reveal because there was that whole empty section there. I thought he was just going to pop his head. Never before have we had two Helwani males on the program. We've had my mom on the program, but we've never had two Helwani males. And so I thought we were about to make history, but alas, it was.

was not to be. Well, guess what? No, no, I'm just kidding. He's gone. Did he enjoy it? You know what? What? He got his, he got his, he got his Polly in, and then he was done.

Polly was like two and a half hours in. As soon as he got Pauley, he was out of here. Two and a half hours in, so that's a good thing. He didn't come for you. He came for Paul. All right. Let's just put it down with. What did you make of the fight?

Tell us. I know that's a loaded question, but overall. Yeah, there's a lot of aspects here to analyze. First of all, first of all, sorry. Where did you watch the fight? Home. By yourself? Uh, no, friends over.

How many friends? It was four of us total. Four total, including your wife. Including my wife. How's your feeling? Great. She's, she's a trooper. She's the best. She hasn't experienced any sickness, anything. She's doing great. I'm sorry to hear about your guinea pig.

Thank you. Rest in peace, Einstein. How are you doing? Holding up. I mean, we buried him. Where'd you bury him? Uh, in my mother-in-law's backyard. How did he pass? He got sick over the last couple of days. and then just passed.

And unfortunately, I was even away and came back yesterday morning. No, Saturday morning. Okay. Yes, Saturday morning, and we buried him. Where were you? I was at Glory on Friday night. So I wasn't back until Saturday morning.

Oh, but you did watch the fight in New York? Yeah. Okay. Home. All right, so what did you think? I thought it's hard not to be impressed with Connor McGregor. I didn't expect him to look as good as he did.

it's hard also not to be impressed with Floyd Mayweather at 40 years old, still being able to get it done. And also, I think fighting a style that many didn't believe, even though he was talking a big game, didn't believe he would actually do. They probably thought it would look more like the other Floyd Mayweather fights, maybe a replay of Pachial Mayweather. So kudos to both of them. I think they both ended up coming out looking really, really good. victory for all. A victory for all. Did he exceed your expectations? Who's he? Connor.

Yes. First thing I said, exceeded my expectation. Do you feel in a way like this was a victory for MMA in the sense that the MMA fighter hung in there didn't get, you know, embarrassed, didn't get seriously injured? The MMA fighters who are puffing their chest out. No. I don't. Okay. I think it's a victory for Connor and Connor alone. I don't think this really is indicative of anything about MMA. You didn't think I thought it was

It turned into an indictment on boxing If MMA If MMA's own Connor McGregor went in there And knocked out Floyd Mayweather That would have been an indictment on boxing Sure the repercussions of that would have been much Graver and much and much more

Dereasive But I don't think This has any impact on MMA I don't think it You know indicates anything about MMA It speaks to Connor McGregor In a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather And he gave a good account of himself

Yeah now let me ask Miles. Where's Miles? Miles is here. Miles. He's coming over. He has to untape his headphones together. Now, my friend Miles here, audio extraordinaire, we're getting all kinds of characters on the show today. Esther, Miles, there he is. The man who makes us sound good. Hello, 112, 112 testing. Oh, hey, hey. There's a bit of an echo now, Miles. All of a sudden you show up and the audio's bad. What's wrong with this? Hold on. There we go. Holy smokes. Now, you watch, you're not a fight fan. You have become one as a result of your role on this program, but you went to a movie theater in Times Square to watch this, right?

I did. Amc. 25. Now, what was it like? Tell us. Paint the picture. It was amazing. I got there. I got two fights in, I think, about before the main fight. I felt like a little bit like an outsider, you know, sitting there like surrounded by people that probably follow this

sport. You work on the MMA hour for God's I know, I know, but I'm a new fan. I'm a new fan. I'll be honest. I'm a new fan. I'm a new fan. And it was amazing. I was like a little anxious, you know, before it. Just something I'm not used to. And just seeing it on like the huge screen and, you know, eating food and, oh, God, it was amazing.

Did you enjoy it? I enjoyed it. I loved it. In fact, it makes me, you know, really going and watching a fight the way that I did and I've never done before. I never bought a pay-per-view. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I think that I would like, I think I'm actually going to be more active as a fan. Wow.

And of MMA and boxing both. I mean, I like them both. And I don't know, I might even take some classes. Whoa. You've been that inspired? You're going to start training? I mean, I go to the gym a lot. It's just a new way of looking things, you know?

This is a different kind of victory. This is a greater victory than I ever imagine. I really enjoyed it. Wow. And I don't want to ever, like, try to compete or anything. Of course. I would like to train, you know. So it was a really good experience.

My wife was, like, super into it. Wow. Look, she knows more about what's going on. Wow. Is she a big fan? I mean, not really, but she did her reading. That's great. I respect that.

It was really good. And as far as like your rooting interests, were you openly rooting for Connor or were you just kind of neutral? I was kind of hoping that he won, but would win. But I was kind of neutral. Okay. You know, just because listening to all the things that we've, you know, team, he's been covering and everything. Like, I didn't really know where I stood on it.

Okay. I was really excited to, like, see what happened. Wow. All right. So I'm happy you enjoyed it. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. Thank you.

I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't. By the way, is it a sign seating at the movie theater? You just show up like, okay. Yeah, for this. And they had like security there. I think they were treating it a little more carefully. Was it one screen or multiple screens? It was one.

Wow. And was it packed? It was packed. It was packed. They're only a couple seats open. I mean, the whole thing was, by the time the main fight came up. It was totally full. It went out for like eight seconds, and that was kind of, I was like, I need to get out there before the riots.

But that was not during the Connor. Okay, thank God. And by the way, the crowd, would you say more in favor of Connor, more in favor of Floyd, neutral? Floyd. Floyd? Yeah, yeah. Overwhelmingly. Yeah, like 70-30.

Okay. We were in Times Square. I don't know, but that just seemed to be the way it was. and immediately after the fight, like all the Connor fans dipped right away. Like, excuse me, excuse me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. If I tried, like, get by, it was like so awkward.

But we stayed because I wanted to see. Sure, the post-fight stuff. That's great. Well, I'm happy you did it. That's a good experience. Great report. That's good stuff. Thank you, Miles.

All right. Now back to the audio for you. Okay. Wow. Who else wants to weigh in on the fight back there? Your doll, did he watch it? Page watched it. My doll, you mean Batman?

Why? Why? What's going on? I don't get it. I see it, but I don't get it. Your doll and that has a Batman. The studio team. Yeah, the studio team is made it. It's a Batman. I'm happy about it. I feel like that's a compliment. Yeah, that's great. Nice. Okay. But yes, it was great. Page was there. Rob was there who's not there today. There she is. Paige was having the time of her life. She went kayaking. She watched it on the streets. Didn't have to fish. She went fishing, it sounds like. Fishing as well. Didn't have to pay. We had Scott there, we had Rob, we had Adam, what a team. Now, did you watch any of the shows that we did?

And did you have any FOMO? What shows? FOMO. You familiar with FOMO? Of sure, fear of missing out. Yes, did you have? What shows? Oh my God.

I mean, really. Did it feel like here we are talking to Isaiah Thomas breaking NBA news, talking to Caratop, you know, talking to all. Yeah, talking to Caratop. That's what I was really jealous up. Talking to a shirtless Phil Barronian, Stephen Bonner. Did you feel like, oh my God. gosh, you know, how am I missing out? This is the culmination. This is the apex. This is the moment

where the M.MA hour turns the corner and just becomes the hour, essentially. Did you feel like you were missing out? Yeah, definitely. When you had Karatop on, that's the moment I knew that I was missing it all. Yeah. I figured. Chris Eubank. That was incredible. Equally incredible today. Equally incredible today. Did you see our setup, Radio Row, Media Center? Yeah, of course. Can you shower with some praise, with some accolades? Nothing? Oh, you know. What were you doing?

You were in Hoffman Estates. Anything of note there? Did anyone even go to those fights? Yeah. 4,000 people went to those fights. Damn. Almost as many as the amount that were at the T-Mobile arena. I'd be gone.

Early on. Early on, outpaced it, for sure. But it was great. No, of course. It looked like a lot of fun. I did feel like I was missing out, and you made sure to rub it in my face. We were on PTI.

We were breaking news. Big Isaiah talking about Little Isaiah. We broke more NBA news than the SB Nation NBA site does. Easy there. Chill out. It was great. We were in the New York Post. That's right.

Yeah. Yeah. Hey, Adam is writing to me, the producer, the guy who got us all the big names, Isaiah and Ice Cube, all of them. He is saying, and I quote, Why is Eric hating? How am I hating? That's what the people want to know.

Where is the praise? No, it was great. And I did feel a little bit left off. I would have loved to be there. What about the gentlemen's club? Listen, you're stepping all over all my Rick's picks. Sorry, sorry, all right, all right. I didn't know.

Everything's about, oh, tell me how great I was, this fight. Why don't we just wait until... I want to tell the stories. Let me. Can I tell the story? Let me shower the praise instead of you begging for it. This just seems so needy. Can I, can I, can I tell this?

Or does someone ask about that experience? I'm going to ask about that experience. After I pick it. All right. Time now for everyone's favorite segment. It is time for Rick's Picks. And now it's time to open up your ears and your minds. MMA fans, it's time for Rick's Picks.

Still getting complaints, by the way, about Polly. These people don't stop. They love them. The numbers. The numbers. The numbers never lie. Yes. Didn't hear any Rick's Picks on the road because Rick wasn't there.

I know that people were disappointed. La La. La. It's time for Rick's Picks. Yes. About time. It feels good to be back. Does. Okay. Let's kick this off on a serious note.

Transition. We talked to Derek Lewis a few moments ago. I want to highlight some of this in my first Rick's pick. From over the weekend, Derek Lewis, here you can see him and a few other people in Houston moving the trees and shrubbery and just clearing the way for some of the stuff going on in Houston due to the floods. So, I mean, Derek Lewis, nothing needs to be said about, you know, about him beyond, like, what we've already heard from him on the phone. But truly somebody we can be proud of at this moment. Yeah, you heard someone calling him up. You see someone saying to him? Like, hey, you hear to help?

Yeah, what are you? You hear to help? And he said, yeah. So here we go. Derek pulling this tree out of the way. While wearing his Reebok kid, it seems. Look, you got to represent. You know, you got to represent the brand.

No, but, I mean, I'm not. joking. Like he's representing the UFC now. And hopefully the UFC gets behind him here. They're not obligated to, but here's one of their guys going out there. That's... I'm going to switch to another one here. Okay. Okay. This is from earlier today. Derek Lewis. That's him? Yeah. Oh my God. I want to cry. Oh, man. That is hard to see. Good for him. And we're thinking of the people in Houston right now. So actually, this is not MMA related, but I think it's appropriate. JJ Watt tweeted this

out earlier. There's a lot of people giving to support this. He started a fund here at youcaring.com slash J.J. Watt. Joe Daddy from H.Town. Yes, of course. One of the longtime listeners of the M.M.A. hour. He's doing well. I checked him with him yesterday.

He sent this link and asked if I could share it, and of course I can share it. I think I checked J.J. Watts's Twitter just recently and he said that Chris Paul just donated $50,000. A lot of the other athletes are putting in. So check out you caring.com slash JJ Watt and give to the people of Houston.

Wow. That is unbelievable. Yeah, I forgot about our man Joe. Joe from H-Town, visited the studio. Hope he's okay as well. Family's all good. And we're thinking of everybody down there.

So let's talk about Fight Week. Let's start with here. I think this is where it really kicked off. Yes. Let's bring the audio up on this. I have a story about this, by the way. Oh, I'm expecting you to have a story about every single clip I post.

better. You want to Where are your balls? I can't get enough. I don't know what all you are missing. No, you see, they're griping, but they're watching. They can't get enough either.

Now, there is a certain point where this will become unbearable. Okay, now it's over. It's over for now. But let me tell you something. No, it's not over. How dare you? Two million pay-per-views. Now, can I tell you the story about this one? Yeah, talk about it.

So they do the the grand arrivals on Tuesday. It was so hot. It was 100 degrees. I thought I was going to faint. It was so freaking hot. Why do these outside with no shade? And in fact, when the media tried to go into the shady areas, they would tell us to leave. They would tell us to go back into the sun. I think you got into some shady areas later in the way. Yes. But here's the thing. So finally they show up and they're not exactly the most punctual. And the grand arrivals, they come in, pomp and circumstance. Usually it's at the hotel or at the arena. This time it was outside. Outside.

the arena. And so then everyone rushes to Floyd. Everyone rushes to Connor. It's complete madness, complete chaos. Everyone's pushing each other. I'm sweating. And finally, Connor arrives and he goes around the crowd and he gives high five, says you didn't really know what he was going to do. There was even a moment where they crossed paths and they were like two trains in the night, but they actually stopped. And there was some pushing. I think you saw it and embedded. It was wild. And then Connor does like a mini scrum in the back. And as always, answer some questions. couldn't be more gracious, couldn't be more accessible. And then he walks off and they separated video and the writers.

The writers are in a room waiting and why they are the only ones who get, you know, the nice comfy access. I don't know, but they're waiting. And then Conner's walking off and Polly's there. And Polly, I see, goes up to Audi, who's Connor's manager and says, you know, is saying a couple things like, why'd you have to post those photos? And then Connor sees him. and then they start having that moment.

Casey, who's our photographer and videographer, I should say, is not there. I mean, I lost them a thousand times. It was impossible. All this media converging. I whip out the iPhone. That was my iPhone. I shot that. I'm the one.

And in fact, my phone is so slow and crappy. I'm convinced, by the way, that Apple, every time it's time for a new phone to come out, I'm convinced that they start to slow down your phones that you get a new one. So now I'm like totally slow. and the thing stalled for a second. I would have gotten a little more, but I got the gist. And then I even did like a little scrum with him

with the phone. So yeah, I'll get myself a pat on the back for that one. His little Barry Horowitz. Johnny on the spot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it on the phone. Now, a bit contrived that encounter? No.

No. Like they're standing in front of each other for four minutes. Listen. Something's got to, look at how close they are face-to-face here. Like, something's got to happen. What are you talking about? Look at the cops. Oh, wow, the cops.

It took them forever to get there. Listen, if there's one thing I learned about last week in Las Vegas, those cops don't mess around. But you, boy. There's no. I don't buy it for one second. What do you don't buy? There's no heat. There's no heat.

There is a hundred percent heat. There's no heat. Look at that face. Look at that face, Polly's selling a fight. Polly's selling a fight in Conner's Latin. You're wrong. You're wrong about this. There's no heat.

Okay. Wait, now... Pause that for a sec? Can you pause it? No. That's okay. This is long enough. All I just want to say, when I walked into the media center, when I walked into the media center, on the first day, Tuesday morning before that, the media center, the media center.

The media center was like we were at the Olympics. It was a huge media center. That's where we did the shows. Who's the first person I see upon entering the media center? Polly. Holly? Holly. Who then goes into a 30-minute diatribe about the knock-down, push-down whole thing and shows me what exactly happened.

so it was just amazing. All right, next one. Here's the video that you were begging me to mention. Yes, this is it. 4 a.m. The most important, this is the most important piece of fight week footage by far. Ariel Halwani. That's me.

Inside Girl Collection. There he is. With the best ever. Let's just hear a few seconds of this. I was here Tuesday. It's Wednesday. I mean, going to technically, Thursday, and I'm here. There he is.

Okay. Okay, now put it down for a little bit. Yeah, let's bring the audio down. First, no, here's a question for you. Did you explain to Floyd after the interview what nostalgia was? How dare you? All right, it was very loud in there. He couldn't hear everything I said.

Here's the story behind this interview. So on Monday, I believe it was, he posts on Instagram that he's going to be at his new gentleman's club, which just opened, I think, in May or so, every day leading up to the fight, right? And I say to myself, this is typical Floyd. he's marketing the club, getting people to talk about it. Will he be there? Will he not? Everyone's retweeting it, posting it, things of that nature. You can tell if you look at his social media, the only thing he cares about at this point is marketing that place. So I say to myself, it would be great if we actually went to see if he was there. It would be great if he's there

to get him. If he's not there, we'll say, hey, we waited and Floyd's a liar. He didn't show up. It was all just a marketing ploy. So Tuesday, we do our thing. It's a long day, flew out 6 a.m. Wednesday, we do our thing, a bit of a shorter day. It's around 10, 10, 30. Talk as a team, Mark Romandie, talk with Casey, talk with Chuck, talk with Esther, kind of polling the team. And I was like, you know what? We should go there. We should find out if he's a liar or not. This would make, I mean, if we get him, this is tremendous. if we don't, we'll get a piece. So Casey, Esther, and Chuck and I go.

Chuck was there covering. Mark said no? Yeah. He had some other stuff to do. Come on, Mark. Yeah. Happy birthday, Mark. Happy birthday, Mark.

Great covering everything with him. You know what? I know why. He's not old enough to get into a girl collection. Didn't make the age requirement. You know what? I'm not going to partake in that. How dare you?

So we go. And we get there. and you talk to one bodyguard who talks to the other bodyguard who talks to the other bodyguard and I got to give props to Greg one of excuse me Floyd's big bodyguards

the two ones who are famous not the one that has like the ponytail of the other one Canadian Greg shout out to Canadian Greg who put in the word and I said I want to go is he going to be there

he said yes he will be there he doesn't know what time but yes all right good enough for me so we go to the club he says he puts in a good word this guy talks that guy you walk into a gentleman's club with camera equipment

they're not going to let you like this is not the kind of place that you shoot stuff. So boom, boom, boom, they all talk. They say, okay, you can go in and you can wait for him. We don't know if he's in fact going to be there. He says he will, but, you know, you can sit and wait. So they bring us upstairs into this VIP room. And behind us is a massive vault door that if you're watching is like this thick. I kid you not. It was like one of those like bank doors. And they close it behind us. And for a minute, it's a bit jarring. They leave one of his security guards, his body guards, massive guy. in the room with us. So we're just sitting there the entire time. And so it's, you know, it's, it's, it's like

we're sitting there. What exactly is this place? We're trying to figure it out. Over time, Chuck left. Over time, Esther was tired. So for a good chunk of time, it was just Casey and I. So 1030 becomes 1130, which becomes 1230, which becomes 1.30. Which becomes 2.30. I'm getting a little worried. I'm super tired. Time difference, all that stuff. We're doing the shows becomes 3.30. All of a sudden, he Time out. Yes. Pause. You just yada, yada yada.

What? You just did the... I didn't. So we enter the strip club. It's 10.30. Yada, yada, yada. Now it's 3.30. What are you doing for six hours in a strip club?

I'll tell you what I'm doing. So you see where we're sitting? Yes. You see it right there. We're in a room overlooking the actual club. There's no one around us here. Everything's downstairs. And what's happening downstairs?

Happening downstairs is a whole bunch of stuff, but I'll tell you another thing. I won't name them, but I saw some other journal. panelists show up. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports showed up. And I didn't want anyone to see me. I didn't want anyone to try to outlast me. I didn't want anyone to know that I was there. So Casey and I, and he can, you know, he can back me up. We're sitting. So it's a room that sits deep. The closer you go, you could see over. Further back, you can't see anything. So we're sitting on chairs essentially hiding because I didn't want anyone to see me to say, oh, if Ariel's here, I got to stay here too, because I'm going to try to get a scrum or something. I wanted this to be an exclusive. I

you outlast everyone. So I didn't, I was just in the back waiting forever with Casey waiting, waiting, waiting, half falling asleep, you know, going to the, the, thank God there was a restroom there, going there, sitting back. And then, so then at one point, so I kept peeking over, I kept peeking over. Of course, you're seeing things, but like you're trying to, to not, you know, be seen. And of course, I'm wearing the same shirt that I was wearing earlier in the day, which was a very colorful shirt, and I didn't want any MMA fan or boxing fan to see me as well. And then, you know, get the word out that I was there and then lose the, exclusive. But then I see him because the guy who is with us, the security guard who is with us,

says, I think he's here and he leaves. So I'm, okay, now my raiders are up, I see him. He walks in. And I made a joke to Casey. I said, I never thought that I would be in a gentleman's club. And there's all kinds of action going on around me. And then I'm focusing solely on one guy and everything around me is noise. Everything around me is distraction. I'm focusing on this, you know, this one individual. And that's what I was doing because I didn't want to lose him. I wasn't sure if he would actually talk to us. I wasn't sure if he was going to show. up for five minutes, say I was there, and then, you know, go, go away, and this would all be for naught. So I was, I was focusing on him. And then, okay, so I'm focusing. I see that no one's really like

bringing him to us. So I'm starting to get a little worried here. So I go downstairs and I see his bodyguard and I'm like, hey, did you tell him that we're here? He says, yeah, but he's not feeling it. He doesn't want to do it. I'm like, are you kidding me? Been here for five hours. This is horrible. He's not going to do it. Like, it's all going to be for naught because he's there. My whole plan of saying that he wasn't there doing that video gets ruined if he's there but doesn't talk to us. Then it's just like, you weren't really there. There's no proof. So he's kind of like the mayor of the place. He's walking around with a stack of money this much. And by the way, it has been a while since I've frequented a place like that. I've never seen

like that amount of money just lying around like mountains of it. I've never seen that before. And then they like put them in bags. It's very strange the whole thing. Anyway, not that I'm knocking it, but it's just like, I've just never seen it. I've seen it in like music videos and stuff, but never in person. And so he's there and I'm like slowly trying to like sidle up to him. And I don't. want to like blow his spot. I don't want to like be intrusive. I don't want him to get pissed and be like, get out of here. So I'm like slowly, slowly, slowly trying to go up to him. Then all of a sudden there's these other writers there. There was Dan Wetzel and two other guys that I didn't recognize.

And then all of a sudden, he's doing like an impromptu scrum with them. He's talking to them. And now I was really pissed because I was there longer than them. I'm like, oh, he's just going to talk to these guys and then he's going to leave. This is horrible. So one of his guy sees me from the other side. He's like, hey, what are you doing here? And I'm like, oh, I've been waiting here for five hours now. I want to talk to Floyd. He's like, didn't you talk to him earlier? I saw you talking to him earlier at the press conference in the scrum. I was like, yeah, but you know, we're here and I wanted to know if he was actually going to be here and why is he here on Fight Week 48 hours before the fight. You know, I just want to talk to him. It would be such a cool

setting. And he's like, okay, go stand over there near him. So I'm like, all right, I'm going to go. Then I see the bodyguard who is staying with us upstairs for all those hours. And I'm, and the other guy tells him, go tell Floyd that this guy's waiting. So finally he stops talking to Wetzel and those guys and he sees me. And we lock eyes. And I look at him and I'm like, hey, at this point, it's been six hours. I'm like, Floyd, we've been here six hours, man. I wanted to see if you're here. You're here. We'll mention the club obviously because that's a part of the story. Please, can you give us five minutes? And he looks at me and he like, thinks for a second. And again, he's busy. He's surrounded by a lot of the, shall we say, employees.

And he's like, all right, let's go. And then he darts upstairs to our room. So he clearly knew where I was the whole time. He clearly knew that we were waiting. Darts upstairs, sits down, we do the interview, and then I didn't know some other guy comes up with a little camera, a camcorder, apparently he's from fight hype, which Floyd always talks to. But then Casey notices him, and then Floyd actually admonishes him and tells him to go off into the corner because he was in our shot. He still filmed the whole thing. I haven't really seen it anywhere, but it was a little bit whack that he did that,

but I don't really care. It didn't matter to me. And so now it's like 4.30. So we get the interview. You know, it was loud. At times he was dodging. But, I mean, just getting him there was just, you know, to me, was just such a thrill. So then we, you know, we left, ran to our rooms.

Casey worked on it. At this point, like my adrenaline is pumping, but I have to wake up. It's already 5 o'clock. We're doing the M.A. beat at 10. I got one hour of sleep, woke up, took a shower, went to do the beat, then went to do the MMA hour, three hours. That was the day that we had the Chris Eubank thing. And I thought that I was having an out-of-body experience.

and then, you know, it just kind of took a life of its own. And then to cap it all off on Saturday at the press conference, they do the press conference for boxing in the arena. They take down the ropes and they do it there, which I think is a great scene. And of course, there's so many media members there, so they had to do it. I'm trying to get the mic the entire time.

Floyd sees me putting on my head and he goes, give that guy the mic. He was that girl collection. And kind of for those that didn't know or didn't see it, made it, I don't know, like kind of seemed like I was just there hanging out. But it was kind of cool that he recognized me. and, you know, the six hours that we put in almost paid off, although I didn't get the mic,

and I didn't get to ask them a question. I wanted to ask him a few things. And then I tried to cash in on that and get him on the show today, but they said he's officially done talking to everyone, which I, you know, I suspected. But that, in a nutshell, is the story behind what happened and how we got that interview. How about that?

There it is, folks. It's a story behind the story. So, I believe, and this is not bragging, but I believe that, you know, we were the only ones to get one-on-ones with both of them. and maybe I'm wrong. Girl collection, the power. We got Connor at the gym

and we got Floyd at the club. Somewhat symbolic. He was not lying. He was a man of his word. He was there. He was a man of his word. He did it. And we got the big Bieber exclusive.

That's right. And then he said the thing about the IVs and I was like, okay, so wait a minute, you're claiming that Connor has been using IVs. He's like, no, no, I didn't say that. Now, don't you put words in my mouth. I'm like, no, you actually just did say that. And so I was worried that he would just walk away.

And then he had this moment where he was like, you're the MMA guy. You're rooting for Connor. And I was like, no, no, no, I've been waiting here for six hours because I want to sit and talk to you as well. I want to get both sides. But overall, he was very cool. It was, I mean, I never thought I'd do an interview there with him of all people. So it was, it was very memorable. Well, congratulations.

It was incredible. It was compelling. and yeah, I could think of worse ways to spend a few hours. Trust me, everyone made that joke, but ask Casey, we were all the way in the back, really just looking at the, basically you see that thing behind him with the, whatever that is, like the laser where it says, that's what I was staring at because I was afraid that someone would see me and then they would tell someone else or that they would try to outlast me.

I wanted to be the only one there. It seems like a bad decision. I would have found a better way to spend those six hours. All right, here we go. Yes. My favorite clip from the MMA hour this week. Chris Eubach, who we had on earlier, who gave us more. Yes, that was phenomenal.

But this, I believe, is the Rudyard Kipling. Is this the one that Casey did? With the footage? No. This is just a clip. Casey took this and put Connor footage over it. This is great. How does he have such an...

Let's just hear a little bit of this. When all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you? If you can trust yourself, when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too. If you can wait and not be tired of waiting or being lied about, don't deal in lies. Or being hated, don't give way to hating. and yet don't look too good nor talk too wise. If you can dream and not make dreams your master, if you can think and not make thoughts your aim,

if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same. If you can bear to hear the truth, you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools. Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken and stooping build them up with worn out tools. This so beautiful. What a setting for this kind of eloquence.

Can you look at my face for a second? You see how much, you see many times I'm blinking and like looking at him? Yeah. I felt like I was in a trance because this is after the whole girl collection thing. This is the one hour sleep. And this was the last guy who he spoke to after the beat, after the hour, whole show. I was like, I can't. they asked me, do you want to talk to Chris Eubank?

I know who Chris Eubank is. I know that he's a legend, British boxing champion, all that stuff. I didn't know about this. I didn't expect this. So he starts doing this. And by the way, his analysis of the fight was phenomenal. He was completely unbiased.

He was very complimentary of MMA and boxing. And I'm like, look at me. I'm looking at him. I'm like, I am lost right here. It truly felt like an out-of-body experience. Well, what a revelation. Yeah. I think, I think his addition to the,

to the MMA sphere. Yes. Someone needs to hire this, man. He's the best part of this. How is he not working for Sky or VT? I believe he is. No, I asked. No.

I asked. He's not. Or has at some point, but yeah, absolutely fascinating. And that continued on to today. Okay, here we go. The fight, the next fight of the century. I didn't like this. Floyd Sr.

versus Robbie at Barstool. See, I like the Barstool guys. But I'm not a huge fan of like instigating with Floyd's senior in that respect. Like, I don't know. Oh, come on. It's gall and good fun. It was playful. Does Floyd know that? If he didn't, he wouldn't be entertaining it. How sharp is he, though? Look at that. Look at that suit.

And Ice Cube is just sitting there enjoying it. Oh, there's Ice Cube. I didn't even notice that. He's like, what is going on here? I was on their radio show. It was fun with Michael Rapaport, Knicks fan. Oh yeah, rap I was on Colin Coward, Dan Patrick That's right, you did a lot of these How about Dan Patrick Excuse me, Colin Coward

extending the olive branch That's right Called me a shill last year Completely went against me Took the UFC side And then gets me on his show And pretends like nothing ever happened Like you think I was gonna forget that

So I had to I had to remind him of that I honest, I'll be honest with you I don't think he probably remembered it He didn't he 100% I was not going to forget it And then I had to give props to the real star of the show, Christine, who actually handles herself like a true pro in the face of bullies like Levar Ball. Indeed.

That was fun. Yeah, I appreciated you giving them a little bit of guff at the beginning. Yeah, they took that part down. You know they took that part down? They like cut that part out. And then on the back end they took it out. But I saw it. How did I see it?

You saw like an unedited version from someone else. But then they also took out the part on the back end where I said that. where I said that I never actually got to meet them when I was at Fox because they didn't let me mingle with the talent when I was working for Fox. Yeah, I saw that too. I must have seen it early

before they took that out. Have you watched it line? I didn't. Okay. I saw it after. Right after, though, immediately after. Okay, here we see,

let's move through the rest of these. This is just startling to see when you see the number 100 million and 30 million written down on these payouts respectively. Absolutely incredible. incredible. That's just the disclosed purse. Well, this is just their

purses, yeah. Make no mistake. They're going to make way... Not accounting for any other payments that they get in Floyd as his own promoter, Connor as his promoter in conjunction with the USC. There's all kinds of additions to this, but just purse money, $100 million for Floyd Mayweather and

$30 million for Connor McGregor. And here, you alluded to this actually earlier when you were speaking to Chale. We have a clip here with Teddy Atlas and Stephen A. Smith talking food and fighting. Big, big, big advantage of experience. This is the best. Teddy Atlas is just, hey, he was on my show.

Priceless. You wanted to fight. He always wants to fight. He's going to fight Stephen A at the end of this. He came in. Oh, here we go. Here we go, here we go. This is the best.

And I don't usually love this stuff, but I love this. Look at how intently Chale is watching this. I didn't say it was great. I know that, but you say he was what he was. He was a champion. But let me explain. Quality allowed him to do what he did. Well, let me explain what I mean.

It wasn't just that Floyd was missing. He was missing against a guy who had his arms down. And you had Stephen A. on as well. Stephen was phenomenal. Talking about the NBA was great. If Connor was moving, had a lot of head and body movement. And he was shifting and what have you. And because of that, he was difficult to hit.

I would sit up there and say, okay that was what it was but the problem is that Connor was standing there relatively stationary arms were down and when he put his arm out he wasn't even putting the jab out he was just going like this and by the way the door jab you got pull a you know this better than me you got to pull your arm back in the throw the jazz so I'm looking at all of these things like a teddy like a cobra he's about to unleash it's going to uncoil himself what I'm saying is what I'm saying is McGregor forced he forced the gourmet chef to

be a fast order cook. That's what he did. He forced a gourmet chef to be a guy. But doesn't that make it fast fool? I mean, are you saying that doesn't that make a fast food? He said of Al-a-Card steak. I mean, that's what I'm saying. He made him go.

He made him do something. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on, Teddy. Hold on, Teddy. Wait a minute, Teddy and Stephen A. You is this. If you go to a restaurant, to get some steak

some filet mignon and instead you get a burger a burger Slava Medvedvedanko burger That's what we saw tonight That's all I'm saying Okay

Chill Now let me ask you this No let me ask you this What was it like having No no I'm not gonna ask about Stephen A Stephen A Well wait but just about the clip About the clip

About the clip Stephen A was smiling at some points I don't think that Teddy was joking when he was talking about that. No, I think Teddy was joking. Can we just, can we just decipher what the point was? Like, he was basically saying, he's saying that,

tell me what they were trying to say. Typically, Floyd is a technician. Is all about not getting hit, evading. I would actually say the comparison could be to what Chris Eubank told you is boxing versus fighting. Yes. Typically, Floyd is a boxer. And I think Teddy is saying he turned him into a fighter. And Stephen A is saying,

well, I don't want to see a fighter. That's a hamburger. I want the steak. I want to see the boxer. And he's, you know, it's not as beautiful. It's not as clean. So Stephen A. was criticizing Floyd and Teddy Alice was saying, he switched out. He did what he had to do.

He did what he had to do. All right. It was great. What did you want to ask? Skip Bayless. Let's talk. Listen, Skip Bayless doesn't do a lot of interviews. I was shocked.

So Adam. Our producer, Adam Sigviano, did a fantastic job, was working with some... Shout out to Adam. The man. Who thinks I'm hating, but I love it. Yes, it was great. So this was the first time in the history of the show that I had someone else helping me book the show. So anyway, just something in my throat.

Oh, was that? Something in my throat. So he was working with some other groups that do bookings. This is a thing that exists. I don't like to do this. I like to do it on my own. But anyway, they got to skip it. Bayless. And I didn't believe that he would actually do it because we're an MMA show and he doesn't do

interviews, but somehow they got us. Why? He knows all about it. Yeah. And so people are like, why? I know, listen, like it or not, this fight was born on undisputed in first take. Like, they were the ones on the Monday morning. They were the ones who were talking about this. And I was critical of them saying that they should be talking about Eddie Alvarez and MSG and the two belts. They were the ones that sparked it and perpetuated it and continued the discussion. So I wanted think of his perspective. Also, he was the one who was saying from day one that Connor was going to beat him. So, yes, was there schick? Yes, did he say things that I disagree with? Yes, did he say that he's never said anything they didn't believe and I don't believe that? Yes, I asked him about the sumo thing.

I thought it was a fun 15-minute spot. What did you think? Did you think I misrepresented? Did I go easy on him? I had to, you know, it was interesting. I will say this. Someone came up to me, and it wasn't Adam, wasn't anyone working on the show who said like, please, you know, no, no, surprise attacks, no sneak attacks. I was like, no, I'm a pro. I'm not going to do anything. But I had to ask about the sumo thing. And I had to ask about, you know, his hot takes on MMA.

And I thought, for the most part, he was pretty real. He was actually, I felt more likable on the show than he was. I'm not one of these people who gets, you know, all worked up about Skip Bayliss. Let him do his thing. The haters who talk about him are just giving him more fuel. I thought it's interesting why he doesn't follow anyone on Twitter, checks his mentions. Yeah. Stuff was interesting.

Why not? No, I thought it was good. I don't think you were too easy on him. Because, you know, that's not the way. Well, that's also just not the way to get him to speak. He's not going to entertain that. Trolling Skip Bayliss doesn't make him not a troll. He will always continue to do what he does.

But, no, I thought it was awesome. Thank you. Nobody interviews Skip, so I was just, like, excited to see that. Yeah, I even got a text from you. The only guess that you got a text back. I was a little busy. Yeah, you're so busy, you know, can't even text me back. I'm like, oh, you know, let's chat on the phone, but it's just too busy for me.

too busy. All right. Kidding. Okay. The most important reaction to Connor McGregor, King LeBron James. In the house. Shout out to notorious MMA.

The hisy. Showed you're a champ and monster in your own right as well. Lots of respect. We saw him front and center next to Steve Harvey and Paul Pierce. Draymond was there, Paul George. But these guys were on screen for the entirety of the... Oh, they were sitting... You could see them?

They were front and center. Oh, that's funny. I didn't see them. What's the name of that camera in wrestling? Yeah, like the locked... camera. Whatever it is. Like the main camera,

that was, that was LeBron James and Steve Harvey who else was there. I couldn't see from afar. Those guys were in that position and then like, Rich Paul,

I think next to LeBron. And then, it's always fun. You know, they interviewed some other sports people. A lot of sports figures. I was looking for maybe like,

you know, where's Barack Obama? Yeah, come on. Where's Kanye West? Baroque can't be seen. Where's the megastar? What do you mean? Barack can't be seen

at this. At the farce. No, that's always one of my favorite things about a big boxing match that you don't get an is those faces that you watch throughout the night that you can see sitting front and center.

Dana was there, right? Could you see him? I can't say I could. Okay. Because LeBron and them were the ones that were so prominent. You're focused on him. LeBron looked good. He was wearing, he was wearing sunglasses.

In a minute, in a minute. Thoughts on Kyrie? Have to find a new favorite player. Wow. It's unfortunate. What about these people burning his jersey? Stupid. Stupid.

Props to LeBron for Sad. Losers. For actually sticking up for him. Yeah, it's dumb. It's dumb. And especially the people, you know, look, you can, Kyrie asked to be traded so I can understand an argument for that.

Isaiah Thomas came back the day after his sister, or buried his sister, and played for the team while he was still hurt and didn't ask to be traded. And those people are burning his jersey? Whoa. that's tough right there. He gave his everything to Boston. So if anybody's burning his jersey, I've got, you know,

I'm at a loss for what to say to those people. Kyrie, it's a little more understandable because he's saying, I don't want to be a part of this anymore, different story. But even still, like, get over it. It's fine. Yeah, Isaiah, I feel for it.

I'm sure you heard Isaiah Sr., if you will, talk about that. Well, that's not his father, so not as I'm saying. What great insight that was? was, right? Incredible. The only, the type of thing you can only have from somebody who really touches that world and has talked to Isaiah, who has been very quiet. Isaiah did a bunch of interviews that day, and I guess no one asked them about it. I don't know. I don't know why ours got out,

maybe because it was video and he was doing a lot of radio, but yeah, I mean, to hear that he was heartbroken and all that was great. It makes sense. It was so funny to see us on PTI and Tony Cornizer make that face, like, why the hell am I crediting the MMA hour for an Isaiah Thomas story? It was great. Okay. I've got to move through this. Daniel Cormier. Yes. Legend.

It doesn't get classier than this guy. I thought it was worth highlighting his response to the whole situation that he gave to our site. It's hard to find words to describe how I'm feeling right now. I'm disappointed to hear the news. It's very emotional. We as athletes are entitled to due process and I refrain from saying much more until I know exactly what happened. In my mind, on July 29th, it competed and I lost. I thought John Jones is a better man the day.

I don't know what to think anymore. I can't believe we are going. through all of this again. We will see what happens next. Thank you to all my fans who have supported me during this dark time. I love you very much. It'd be very easy to go down a less classy road than Daniel Cormiere did. So it's worth highlighting when somebody does something like this, especially a guy who is now 0-2 against somebody who, you know, he has a reason to be mad about going Owen to events. So Daniel Coromier, all class, came on the show today, all class again. We need more people like DC.

And here, I think this is our last one. Update from Tony Zuka again. We had this, I believe, two weeks ago, not last week. Matthews leaving the hospital. Now here we have Matt Hughes doing a bit of grappling. Good to see. I mean, it's just every time we see something like this, it's better and better to see Matt Hughes getting back into form,

hoping that he can make a full recovery and, you know, talk to us soon. That's beautiful. It's great. Well done. Well done, Matt Hughes. keep fighting my man keep getting better keep pushing everyone's got your back one more thing is that was the last one that was the last rick's yeah how about uh i see nbc talking about derrick lewis he's uh he's he's reaching all all corners so that's great stuff um all right so that's that as far as ricks picks

is concerned we still have more m m m m mott hour to go what you need to do right now is go to MMAfighting. Dot Twitter.com. That's MMAfighting. Dot Twitter.com. And that's where we will be doing our MMA after hour. That's where we'll be answering your questions, reading your comments, responding to all of them, whether it's about Mayweather McGregor, what's next for McGregor, who won on Saturday

night, the buildup, the aftermath, UFC Rotterdam, UFC 215 in Edmonton, my sister's wedding on Sunday. if you want to talk about that and what I'll be wearing and what I'll be doing. Whatever you want to talk about, go over to mhmap fighting. Twitter.com. Hashtag the MMA hour, that's where we'll see your questions, comments, responses and tweets and all that stuff and more. That's where we'll be doing our thing.

So it's mhmapiding.com. If you're watching us on YouTube, on Facebook, on mhmap fighting.com, keep doing your thing. But just open up your little Twitter page or check it on the phone. Whatever you need to do, mhmapfighting. Twitter.com will be there in a second standing by right now in a matter of moments going over there to answer

your questions and comments. Here we go. Time for the MMA after hour. Ah, yeah, here we are. We are back. It is time for the MMA after hour. Some might say their favorite segment of the show. This is when we let

our hair down. You wanted to say something? No, go ahead. What? Keep on. I said some might say. Is that wrong? No, you know. What a show it has been. I mean, I really feel like we got all the perspectives. Oscar, Holly.

Oscar throwing flames. Oscar just doesn't want to admit it, that it wasn't a bad night. He kind of admitted it, but he didn't want. He kind of admitted it. I feel like it was a lot different than the tweet. The tweet came off, you know, real salty. Well, the initial, yes, the going into it, the final blow on Friday. Yeah.

That was aggressive for Oscar. He's usually not that kind. And then Dana's... Look, he's a fighter. Yeah. He's a fighter. And he's fighting for it. And look, is he wrong?

Let's be honest about what he's saying. Is he wrong? No. Boxing match. Which is the boxing match that you want to see? And for me, it's no question. Okay, here's where, here's the part that he may not want to admit. This was actually good for Canello Triple G because it elevated.

It elevated boxing. And even Sports Illustrated, Greg Bishop wrote a great story about the summer of boxing. Boxing was on everyone's mind. every outlet under the sun was at that fight on Saturday, and they all went there, I don't want to say all, 95% of them went there begrudgingly. 95% of them went there wanting to confirm their prophecy, that this fight was going to be a farce, a sham, another black guy for boxing, and if they don't want to admit on Monday morning or Monday afternoon at this point that it was a success, that it was entertaining, that it was the best Floyd fight in a decade

that Connor represented, they're lying. They're doing themselves a disservice and their audience of disservice. They are lying through their teeth if they don't admit that that was worth the $100 and that that was better than they expected. It was not a farce. It was not a sham. It was not what people said it was going to be when they criticized the Nevada Athletic Commission. Now, only way to find out was for the fight to happen.

All the stuff leading up to it, fine. You could say that. You could feel that way about the fight. But after the fact, if you did choose to say that, which I didn't believe it was. But if you did choose to say that, then after the fact you've got to get props where it's due. Connor exceeded your expectations.

Floyd fought the way he promised he was going to fight. He had a great game plan. Connor came out strong. No one was hurt. The referee did a great job. There's really no negative. The only bad part about the fight, in my opinion, the only bad part were the judges.

The judges were off. That's the only bad part. It's the only negative thing I could say about the fight. I thought the referee was a little shaky. In what respect? He was letting Connor get away. with a little too many rabbit punches. I'm not for a guy's getting hit in the back of the head in boxing.

Okay, but look, I'll take Chris Eubanks' word over it, over yours. Sure, and you're welcome to do that. Chris Eubank said that those weren't powerful punches. And also, I believe... Of course they weren't powerful. It was Joe Cortez who said that Floyd was turning his back. Floyd was trying to bait him into doing that. No, no doubt about it.

If a guy's turning his back like that, you have to hold them accountable for getting punched in the back of the head. But now when Conner's wrapping him up and he's defensive, and he has one arm around him and he's rabbit punching him in the back of the head. I'm not for that. I think, you know, there's a line to that. He was a lot more lenient and I thought early on that he was testing his limits. But then it was interesting when he went, you know, one, two, three rounds up. I was like, okay, now, like at first I was like, yeah, he might as well try to lose a point just to set a tone. But then once you're up three rounds to none, at least in my eyes, okay, those points become precious.

You don't want to lose points now because you're up. And he kept testing, testing, testing. It's a shame that he got tired. I saw, you know, it was very clear to everyone that he was losing steam. I wish we could see, you know, a Connor. Look, give him credit. He admits that he hits these rough patches. And this is something that's going to plague him throughout his life and career.

It's a shame that that happened, but then's the breaks, and that's what makes Floyd so great. Let's transition to this question then. How much do you attribute Connor's apparent success in the early rounds to Floyd's game plan of gassing Connor out. Do you think that it was calculated by Floyd to allow Connor to look good early? Listen, I think, I believe that part of his game plan was let him shoot his shot and then we'll capitalize towards the end. I don't believe that it was part of his game plan to get hit as much as he got hit. We have the photographic evidence. We have the video evidence. He did not want to get hit that much. That's not something that he enjoys. He's made a living off of not getting hit.

So to say that Floyd carried him, to say that Floyd let him win those rounds, I think is taking something away from Connor. Now, Floyd figured him out as everyone thought he would and ran away with the victory, the back end of the fight. But to not give Connor any credit for attacking him the way he did and for more importantly landing the way he did, to me is not fair. So yes, it's a bit of both. And that's kind of the answer to all the questions about this fight.

it's okay to say that Connor did better than you thought, that Connor represented, that he fought valiantly, and it's also okay to say that Floyd fought a great fight, his most entertaining fight in a decade, and ultimately figured him out and won. I think there's a limit to that, though. I think it's clear when the low output is there in the first couple of rounds that Floyd was allowing him not to punch him in the face.

There's no Floyd Mayweather fight or circumstance where Floyd is allowing somebody to punch him in the face. But what he was allowing him to do was to see what his offense was going to be, test him, see his, see his output, see his power. And inevitably then use that and turn it on later. I don't think it's, I don't think it's unfair or, you know, inaccurate to say that Floyd was not trying to win those rounds. I don't think it's inaccurate to say that he was not, you know, he was purposefully not going at a pace that was short to win those rounds. But Connor had to do enough to capitalize on them, and he did.

And then toward the later rounds, I think it was clear that, you know, the game plan to take Connor into Deep Waters was working and he was able to knock him out. Yeah, it worked out. But he also changed his style. He also was way more aggressive than he would typically be at a certain. certain point he stopped respecting Connor's power because it was clear that Connor was not loading up the same way he could in the early rounds. And stopped respecting it came forward in a style that was definitely not Floyd Mayweather. Around round four or five, you're seeing Floyd Mayweather be the one on the offensive and chase Connor down, which was not what I would have expected out of this fight.

And Connor, you know, is a part of that dance. It's unfair to him to say that, you know, this was a completely... He brought up the best in Floyd. Floyd Mayweather led fight. But I will say this, at no point did I feel like Floyd Mayweather was in trouble. I didn't feel in those first couple of rounds

that Floyd Mayweather was in trouble. Fair, but wasn't it not a little bit surreal to be like, holy smokes, he's up three rounds? Like, he's doing a lot better. Not really. If you watch Floyd enough, he lets those early rounds. You could do this. You could do this all you want.

He was landing punches. He was opening. He was breaking his guard a little bit. He was landing punches. Those three rounds could have been dull. As I said, I was impressed by Connor. I came in not expecting anything, and I was impressed. I'm happy you mention Floyd's attack, though, because Floyd, you know, afterwards, Connor

said, I turned him into a Mexican. And a lot of people once again get all sensitive. It was like, oh, sure. No, that's actually a huge compliment. Mexican fighters are known to be aggressive, you know, balls to the wall, reckless abandon. They're the most exciting boxers out there. He was saying that he turned Floyd into that. It was a compliment, so relax everyone.

It's, you know, if people were watching the fight between Canelo and Julio Cesar Chavez-Jr, the whole buildup to that fight was we're getting two Mexican boxers. You know, there's this, there's this association with Mexican boxers that, you know, they stand in the middle of the ring, they trade, they're aggressive, they're relentless. And this is what he was alluding to. He's saying that instead of the defensive, you know, genius hiding behind the shell that Floyd usually is, he was out. of his shell and he was aggressive and he was chasing it like a Mexican boxer would. Yes. And my wife asked me, what does that mean? And I had to explain it to her.

But I think anybody who knows boxing knows what that, you know, he was saying there. Can I ask you about the line. So the line was nine and a half. And there are some who think that, okay, so there's a story that Floyd told on ESPN that he tried. Oh, that line. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you mean? You're talking.

I thought you were talking about the line of the straight up pick them. No, no, no. between them. Oh, that was crazy. I mean, he should have been 20 to 1. It's crazy that I got that fun. But anyway, no, it was nine and a half rounds. And so if you pick the under, you win, right? No, he's finished him in round 10. Yeah, but it didn't, that's not a completed 10. So he wanted to bet the under. No, so nine and a half, if you pick the under on nine and a half, he would have had to finish him in round nine. If you pick the over. Why do people say that it was nine and a half and he wanted to go under and win? Well, it was clear that he was trying to finish him in round nine.

He damn near took him out of there. But no, everyone said that if he would have gotten that bet, he tried to bet like $800,000 or something, and he couldn't. They wouldn't allow him. I didn't see the story, but all I'm saying is if the line is set at nine and a half, that was an over. He finished him in round 10. Okay, here's CBS Sports, all right? Here's CBS Sports. I just want to read this.

Mayweather tried to bet $400,000 on the McGregor fight but was denied. No matter how you feel about the spectacle. that was floated-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-d-d-d. Before the fight, multiple sources told ESPN that Mayweather went into a sports book, the M-Resort around 3.30 p.m. Pacific Saturday with cash and plans to bet on his fight attempted to place $400,000 bet, a $400,000 bet on the fight ending under nine and a half rounds at minus 200 odds. But according to a source, there were concerns over the legality of a fighter betting on anything other than a straight win, which caused a delay.

Now, according to the report, Mayweather also wanted to place the best on himself to win by knockout, but grew tired of waiting and left without placing any bets. But that doesn't necessarily mean... That bet would have lost. Okay.

This is what he said to ESPN. Quote, I think that we bet a hundred on nine and a half. I gave my guy six figures to go bet. I have to make sure he bet because really today I went to the sports book to bet and they wouldn't let me. And so he's saying that he won the bet, but just less... He lost that bet.

nine and a half. I know. That's why I didn't get that either, but they kept saying. If he finishes him around 10, that's an over. If the line is set at 9. If the rounds are set at 9 and a half.

See, okay, this is Deadspin. Had Mayweather successfully made the bets at the M Sportsbook, he would have won them both. The fight indeed lasted fewer than the full 10, full 10. It has to be full 10. And he did,

fact, went by knockout. You know what? That's right. They're in round 10. They're in round 10. I'm right. Yeah, you're right. So there you go.

And he won by knockout. That's the official ruling was knockout. You're right. You're right. That's my mistake. There you go. It has to go to the end of the 10th. He finished him in the end.

Exactly. You're right. So he would have won. And that's crazy. Yeah. Completing nine rounds. I've seen some people who, oh, by the way, I didn't mention this. I go on to the plane.

I had 45, 45, 45, minutes of sleep. I go to the plane and I'm looking at my phone. I'm about to board the plane. So you go through that tunnel where they scan your ticket. Then I look up briefly and you know who cuts me off? Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson cuts me off by himself without any bags wearing a cotton short sleeve button down, cotton shorts. And it's just me and him walking. And I go up to Mike. I'm like, hey Mike, did you like the fight? Doesn't answer me. I say, hey Mike, you're a legend. He's like, and he just kind of like wobbling onto. And everyone's like, holy crap, that's Mike Tyson, the Binghamton, University of Binghamton volleyball team was behind us, and they were

like freaking out that Mike Tyson. But for a minute, it was just me and him walking down the thing. And then he walks onto the plane and who's sitting there, Henzo Gracie. And I'm like, I can't believe that I'm just leaving an MMA versus boxing event. And here we have Hensow Gracie and Mike Tyson interacting. And Hensos like, you remember me from Hawaii? And so we were talking and I actually spoke to Hens. That was just mind-blowing, like, Mike Tyson, Hensle, and so Hensow, without saying too much, was kind of insinuating about like carrying him for the 10 rounds and stuff like that. Do you really believe that? Because he could have won in the six and still won that bet.

I don't believe that there was... I don't think that there was any foul play. It's damn clear. Why would he carry him to 10 to make it risky? It was very clear that he was about to finish him at the end of round 9, and that when he was coming out for 10, he was about to get finished. It was very clear. The end of round 9, Connor McGregor was done, was cooked,

and that fight was going to end in round 10. But why push it to the limit? Why not finish him earlier? Yeah. He doesn't make sense. If he had bet the over, and that's why the idea of allowing a fighter to bet on themselves on the number of rounds is not should not be allowed. Because then you have a situation where they're allowing the fight to go on or not allowing the fight to go on if they're in control. So clearly, you know, that makes sense that a fighter should only be allowed to bet on themselves straight up. Especially promoter.

And especially somebody who has more on the line than just the fight itself. Okay. That was only question number one. What was your reaction to the two judges that absurdly scored two of the first three rounds from Mayweather? I know you didn't have it. I don't know if they're biased. I gave him the first four. I gave him one, two, three, four.

Like I said, Steve Farhood even gave him. I think it was the eighth. I mean... I also thought he could have taken the eighth as well. Yeah, so come on. That was silly. I didn't understand it. I mean, as I said, I had no point thought Flay Mayweather was not in control of that fight and not going to lose that.

fight, but if you didn't give him the rounds, Conner, the rounds there, I'm not sure what you were watching. Floyd wasn't throwing anything. There were some good body shots in there. I, you know, I'd have to watch it again. There were definitely some good body shots in there. But I think Connor took the first three or four rounds pretty convincingly. He looked fresh. He had, he was landing good shots. Such stances and stuff. Again, it could have been, you know, look, if they, if they were looking at it from the perspective of Floyd not being in trouble, that's fine, but that doesn't mean that he's winning the round. The other thing was, like, I wholeheartedly disagree with Pauli on this front.

The knock on Connor has always been that he quits, right? That's what people say about the Joe Duffy fight, the first fight against the Lithuanian, and then, of course, an ADS fight. He actually didn't quit this time. Like, he could have quit. He could have easily fell to the ground and ended that. But not only did he not quit, he actually kept going, kept standing, had nothing left. He was completely on empty.

and then comes across looking like the biggest G of the mall and says I wanted to get knocked down why didn't you knock me down? Why don't you let me get knocked down? I'm making $100 million. Just let me... Paulie's point is you can talk about that but he didn't show case. Did you feel like he quit?

I don't feel like he quit but he also was not throwing punches back and that's a good... But that's a good sign of somebody who doesn't want to be in the fight. I would never say he wanted to quit. Did you get the sense that he was looking for a way out? because I did not get that sense that he was looking for a way out.

But I don't think he was looking for a way in, and that's what Paulie was saying. You had nothing left. That's the difference. That's what Pauley is saying. When you're at that moment, you have to be looking for a way in, and I cannot confidently say Connor McGregor. If you watched that fight and knew nothing about Connor and knew nothing about Floyd, if you watched that fight in a vacuum, just here's a tape of two guys fighting each other, right? You knew nothing.

You had never heard of these people in your life. Yeah. Would you think that that was Connor McGregor's boxing debut? No. Well, that's a hard question to answer, but probably not. The answer is no. And that is a victory. But I also wouldn't have thought that that was a Floyd Mayweather was a guy who is about to retire on top and 50 and O.

Fair. Although, I mean, it's hard to kind of quantify that in a fight. But that's why I'm saying you can't quantify it. By the way, if I walked in there against Floyd, and of course I don't have the, you know, athletic background, martial arts background that Connor does, you would know that this was my debut in boxing. Absolutely. Well, that's not fair. That's not fair. Conor's a fighter. 99% of the UFC fighters, why can't we give this guy his due? No, absolutely. If you're saying plug random UFC fighter in the same division as Conner

in there, not the same outcome. I think Connor is very unique in that way and deserves a ton of respect for that. My favorite part of Saturday was seeing how the MMA community, the fighters, rallied around him and we're happy for him and we're not jealous for the most part. And we're proud. Everything he does brings them fault. Everything he does brings them forward. Yet there is still this, from the rest of the world, and even from delusional fans, there's this unwillingness to give him his props.

It's insane. There's guys like, you know, Steve Amiochich, Diaz, they're all asking for boxing fights, right? They all want to do boxing fights. Connor McGregor has now opened the door to make that a reality. Yeah, and that's why. There was a time where that was only speculation, was only rumor,

only something you could use as an angle. Connor McGregor has now just entered a boxing ring against the best boxer of our lifetime and done it and made it real, made this a possibility. Everything he continues to do makes the impossible possible and is only benefiting fighters in MMA. And to be honest, boxing. He has benefited boxing.

And that's why I feel like he's one of the big, if not the big winner on Saturday night because A, a lot more people know who he is. He gained a lot of people's respect. and I thought it was just a... Wow, this is perfect. Sorry, continue. I'm looking at the next question.

It's absolutely perfect. It was just a great night for all involved. How are you guys... Rare is that? Okay, go ahead. Are you guys surprised that some still won't give Connor any credit? Cowherd, Whitlock, Floyd Senior, Shannon Sharp, come to mind. I don't know if Coward's that guy.

Coward actually, I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but... Yeah. I haven't... Look, I haven't seen what they've said today, these guys. And again, you have to sometimes give them, you know, I don't know, you have to take what they say with a grain of salt. some people on television. Floyd's seniors' comments

I thought were a little surprising. I thought it would have been nice after the fact to give him some props for landing those punches early and for hanging in there and for not, you know, not embarrassing himself. But it's not really those guys.

It's some of the, like, I have to say, I was very disappointed in RDA and Aldo. Yeah. RDA in particular. RDA got injured. Connor was going to fight him.

What are you mad about? Here's the thing. and Aldo. We're now talking about both of them. Yeah. They've done what they needed to do. I guess. They have done what they needed to do.

This, this. Look at Holloway. Holloway is in a better position to get that fight than either of those two. Do you agree? Yeah, but that's based on circumstance. That doesn't have to do with his tweeting. What do you mean? Max Holloway could be pouring it on.

Could be pouring it on right now. Yes, but it would have benefit him in the way that Aldo and RDA need this. And they've successfully inserted themselves into the conversation. Connor McGregor has opened tons of. of positive doors for fighters, but this is also something that Connor McGregor has opened the door for, is people who aren't in the line or not queued up to be next, getting opportunities that they haven't deserved. And that's the reality. And Josealdo and RDA are not alone in thinking that this is a path to getting what they want in talking and making their bad blood a way to get what they

want. So you can you can give Connor McGregor all the credit in the world for opening the doors, but you can also point to him as a very major reason why this is a possibility and why they're doing what they're doing. Josie Aldo pre Connor McGregor wouldn't be making this kind of declarative. Yeah. And neither would RDA. So these guys, the game of talking trash to get what you want is very much in his, in his hands, by his hand. And so this doesn't surprise me. and I don't think there's any I don't have an issue with it I don't have an issue with it

It's not classy No But it's how you get what you want It's how you get what you want I don't have a problem What about my buddy Bennett Brower on Twitter Saying right now

Hashtack the MMA hour Polly wouldn't last Eight rounds versus Connor Book it I have to admit I would think that Connor McGregor has a good shot in that fight

Now Holy smokes If they release the footage And we see that full sparring session that could definitely change my mind. Let me see it. They're not going to release that because now they're going to try to book it.

I mean, maybe the UFC will just release it if they have no idea or no interest, I should say, in booking that fight. I would not, look, it's just pure facts, right? Pauly is further removed from his career than Floyd is. Polly is never reached as high a peak as Floyd did. There's just a reality of the situation that a fight with Floyd, with Pauli and Connor would be more competitive than a fight with Connor and Floyd. Also, the size difference. Connor McGregor would tower over Pauli Malinaghi.

But I have to admit, I'm interested. I want to see it. I'm interested. Oh, yeah, I want to see it. I'd rather see Connor fight in an MMA fight in the UFC first, but I'm interested. We didn't really answer that question. But if you're not giving Connor McGregor credit for doing what he did and Paulie asked him if he brought his balls, In my opinion, Connor took his balls out and laid him right in the middle of the ring and showed who he was.

If you're not impressed what Conner-Regger did. Capital H. H. H. Yeah, you're not doing this fight game right. Connor McGregor did the damn thing. Okay. Does Saturday's fight, do you think more MMA fans will watch boxing and vice versa, do you think more boxing fans will watch MMA? Like, will fans who followed Connor now watch Canello and Triple G? Or is that kind of a lost, you know, is that sailed?

Has that ship sailed? I feel like it. I mean, we just heard from Miles who says he wants to not only watch more, but actually train in the sweet science. And what about people who watch boxing? Is there any way we now get them to watch a USC fight to even follow Connor McGregor? Absolutely. We heard from, who do we hear from?

OLLIVAN. Oscar, Oscar himself said he's going to go out and watch him fight, you know. So that's a guy who's invested in, you know, the rise of boxing and doesn't want MMA to do as well. I feel like Oscar's been friendly to MMA before. He has, but for him to say that I think is, you know, is notable. I think that Connor gained a lot of facts. Again, big win for the UFC, big win for WME, big win for Connor. I really don't think there's any losers here, again, except for those judges.

Now, I will say, though, I don't think it was that bad. Here's the thing, here's the thing. Here's the most fascinating part about this. What was said, what was the narrative from the hardcore boxing community going in to this fight? What they said was, this was a farce, and the real fight, the best fight is Connello Triple G, correct? That's the fight you need to pay money to watch. that's the fight you should you should take that $100

not give it to that fight the May with the McGregor fight and save it for Triple G Connell which will be cheaper that's what they said well guess what guess what guess who has all the damn pressure

in the world on their shoulders guess who has to deliver guess who has to step to the plate and historically boxing doesn't do that when the eyes of the world are on them now I've been saying one second I've been saying all year

that boxing is having a better year than MMA I love boxing I love boxing I have been watching boxing longer than MMA and I have in my heart no doubt that that fight is going to deliver and I will gladly pay to watch those two who are phenomenal. I love watching Triple G. I love watching Canelo. I will gladly pay to watch that fight and I think it's ridiculous. I think it's short-sighted. I think it's a massive mistake for the UFC to book Luke Rockholds return on the same night as that fight. But if that

fight fails to deliver, holy smokes, what will they say then? I don't see any way that fight fails to deliver. I just can't imagine it. Those are the, in my opinion, two best right now. Like, these are the guys I want to see. I can't imagine. But you're right. The pressure is all on there. But to be honest, once they get your money, there's no pressure.

The fight's already sold. You got the pay-per-views. People are going to buy Triple G and Canello. If it doesn't deliver, then what? What do they say? Ha-ha. Mayweather McGregor is going to be talked about until September 17th. And it will be talked about long after.

But it's going to remain in the ether, in the new cycle, until that fight happens because that's the fight. Sure. Sports Illustrated again, Greg Bishop wrote a great article, but he's comparing the two. It's about the two fights. And if somehow, some way, Mayerather McGregor, which I thought was very entertaining,

did you feel otherwise? No, absolutely entertaining. Floyd's best fight in years. Rividing, I felt like if I blink that was going to miss something, if that somehow is more entertaining than Triple G. Canello, what will they say?

But I don't think they'll say anything. I don't think they'll care. Who's going to say something? We'll say something. Who's going to say anything? We'll say something. What, the MMA world is going to say, Ha, ha, Connor McGregor,

our, you know, our UFC hero. I'll say that. Why not? Nah, who cares? No, because that's what everyone said, including Oscar, this is the better fight. Save your money for that fight.

This is not, like, everyone wants to be like, oh, you're a Connor fan, no, I'm okay with giving credit where it's due. He brought out the best in Floyd. Floyd, now, Floyd fought a great fight,

a fantastic fight, a great game plan, finished him, And that was because of Connor. But this is now easy for us to say in hindsight. It's on hindsight. It is in hindsight. That fight is over.

The MMA media treated that boxing match, that boxing match, I stress the word boxing, as more sport than spectacle. On the whole, correct? We went all in. The boxing media did not do that. They had more to win. This was a boxing match. And boxing had more to lose.

This was a boxing match. This was a historic boxing match. This was a 50 and O. And we treated it as the outsiders. as more sported as spectacle. Because MMA is now getting a seat at the big boy table.

Screw the big boy table. We're doing just fine. We had 214. We had 200. MMA had everything to win and nothing to lose. And boxing had everything to lose. To a degree, yes.

All the pressure I thought. But if they walked in there, if Kana walked in there got knocked down in 10 seconds, we would be hearing it. I heard it with him losing in the 10th round. I had people like Amin al-Hassin

getting all worked up about it. Listen, the point is the UFC guy went in there and whether he wants to take credit or not went in there and lasted 30 minutes with arguably the grace of all time and it is okay who was trying to take his head off by the way

it is okay to say afterwards well okay we saw it but how long would Floyd last with him why is that not okay in an octagon why is that not okay why is it not okay to bring that up we saw it with Tony and Couture but that was different

two same guys will we ever see that Will we ever see the MMA guy go to boxing and make all that money in their sport and then the boxing guy returned the favor? The same two guys. Will we see that? No, never. We won't.

What does that say? Yeah, listen, when this fight was first announced, I thought the best thing Connor McGregor could do is walk on there and kick Floyd Mayweather's head off his body and tell him, yeah, I lost, but what are you going to do? about it. Why don't you come fight me and do something about it? Because the reality is in a fight, not a boxing match, but in a fight, whether it's MMA, whether it's on the street, whatever it is, in a fight, Connor McGregor wins that fight 100 times out of 100. There's not a situation I can think of where Floyd Mayweather wins that fight. So if you're saying there's any circumstance where a boxer

gets into that fight into a fight, whether it's in the octagon, whether it's outside, whether it's, down the road, there's no chance on picking the boxer. We've seen, you know, now circumstances are different. We've seen what happened. Randy Couture picked James Tony up by his ankle and ended that quickly. But we're getting away from the idea that you can still, you know, I think there was a lot to gain for MMA. And Connor McGregor successfully did that, as he tends to do when it's time to step up to the plate, he does and he elevates the sport.

But there was a lot in the line for Floyd. Sure. There was a lot of pressure. There was more pressure on Floyd. There's no doubt about it. He had to, what's it like going around having everyone say to you, you're going to win in 30 seconds? He's not going to land a punch. You have to put out a virtuoso, masterful performance after two years away at 40 years old.

There was a lot of pressure on Floyd. And for the most part, I thought he delivered. But there was equally pressure on MMA if he would have lost in 30 seconds and embarrassed himself. And what did he end up doing? He ended up exceeding expectations. in gaining the respect from the George Foreman's and the Lennox Lewis's and his contemporaries in MMA who always tried to put him down for the most part. And so that's why I feel like this was a victory.

Who could have predicted that? Who could have predicted a victory for all? And that's the beautiful thing about this fight because that rarely ever happens, ever. I'm excited about Triple G, Canello. I think it's going to be good. Yeah, and it's okay to be excited about both. Do you think Connor is coming back to MMA a more dangerous fighter after lessons he learned in fighting Floyd? I guess the question is, do you think Connor's, now he's spent,

a very large amount of time training only his boxing, I imagine. I hope he wasn't training grappling. Is this going to help him in his game? Or is there a possibility that it might affect him in a negative way? Has he been focusing too much on one thing? I don't know if it really changes anything. I'd love to see him come back to MMA. That is his bread and butter.

That is what he's best at. That is where he became a two-division champion, not just in the UFC, but in Cage Warriors as well. So I want to see the best compete where they are at their best. That's why when Jordan went out and played baseball, it was cool, but you wanted to eventually see him come back to the Bulls. This is the same thing. I want to see him come back to mixed martial arts.

What? I said Jordan and baseball. Yeah, it was weird. It was weird. And my kids love watching Space Jam for some reason, so I relive it all the time because the beginning was all about the baseball thing. In the baseball, yeah. And so I want to see him come back to him.

I want to see just how good he is. And by the way, I want to see him defend that lightweight title. It's time. If he doesn't come back to M.A. soon and defend that title, he should be stripped. He should be. Yeah, unlike with the featherweight situation, this one feels endlessly appropriate. But by the way, I go back to that show after he was stripped. I said, I didn't like how they did it.

I didn't like why they did it, but they were in their right to do it. I didn't like the execution, but they were in their right. If you don't defend a belt, I've said this countless times, and it applies to everyone, including Connor. I believe if you don't have a fight booked or are about to come back and defend your title within a year, you should be stripped.

And so I'd like to see him fight, you know, or at least have a fight book by November 12th, I think it was. I would like to see that happen. So I'd like to see him come back to M.A. now. Yeah, it's time. And people say like, oh, you know,

he can't go back to M.A. because he won't make that money. Trust me. No. Trust me, that money is available. The UFC has just been getting away with not paying that money, but that money is available to someone who is as important as he is. That also supposes that he can get that money somewhere else. Connor McGregor is all about making that money.

That supposes that that money isn't available with the UFC, but it's available somewhere else. And the reality is this is something you can do one time. Maybe Polly Malinaghi, but you can't keep doing this. Connor McGregor has to be back in the UFC and he'll make a lot of money doing it. what would you rather see Connor versus Tony Ferguson or Kevin Lee or Connor versus Nate DS? So the issue with Tony Lee...

Let me ask one question first. Did this fight change any of that? Like, is there any impact based on this that affects who you'd rather see him up against? Not really, right? The issue with the Tony Lee fight is that it's October 7th. And by the way, still no announced main event for that.

And what are we almost? a month away, which is crazy. Will they be able to turn around? Yeah, I mean, if no one gets injured, I don't see, I mean, they're not going to pass up that money, especially if Tony wins. You can make a case that he's the number one contender, so I'd be down to see that. You know, I think the DS fight sells the most. I think the DS fight is the biggest spectacle.

I think the DS fight is the biggest deal that brings out the most amount of media. Tony and Lee, unfortunately for them just don't have that, you know, they don't have that that name, that stature, although I think Kevin Lee would be a very fun buildup, a Kevin Lee Conner Fight, I think a Tony Conner Fight would be a fun buildup as well. I have a feeling, though, given where we are with WME, given their decision making, that the one that they're going to go for is Diaz. And I was told that that's the fight that, you know, before going into it was the one that had the best chance of happening. I asked him about it. He's non-committal. He's got all the options in the world.

But it seems like that's the fight that they're most interested in at this point. Would I like to see him against some fresh blood? Yeah. Yeah. I want to see him defend the belt. Yeah. But I wouldn't be mad.

Look, if you're going to give me Nate Diaz and Connor McGregor, I'm not going to be mad about it. Going back to what we talked about earlier with RDA and Aldo, though, can you imagine a situation where Diaz or Tony Ferguson or Kevin Lee don't shit on Connor McGregor for his 4A into boxing? That's why I'm okay with this. Like, you're trying to sell a fight. Yeah, I guess.

Can you imagine a scenario where they're not going to shit all over him in the lead-up to that? I guarantee it happens. Fair. And I think Kevin Lee did as well, right? Yeah, it's going to happen. It's just inevitable. But that's why Connor is different because he can take that. First of all, he'll fire back with some of his own barbs.

Sure, he doesn't need to offend him. But he's also going to make that irrelevant come time that it's time to walk to the rank. Okay. Why do you think the UFC and Dana, in particular, this person saying, Dana, doesn't try to work with the D.S. brothers and refuse to acknowledge Nate Star Power. It is weird. It is weird. I think... I guess let's, you know, why is, why is Nate not talked about war? Like, why is his name brought into the conversation? By the way, Nick Diaz apparently lives in New York now. What's that? Yeah. Go go look at his Instagram. He's in

New York. And I asked him, and he's like, yeah, I'm hanging out here. I'm like, all right, cool. Come by the studio. He's not a New York kind of guy. And Nate is not. No, Nate is not. Nate is not. Nate, from my understanding, could not get tickets to the fight and somehow just appeared and ended up in the locker room afterwards. Look, when you're Nate Diaz, you walk up to that gate, they know who you are. Yeah, he even took a picture on the red carpet. They know who you are. What a guy. He is prolific. It is weird. I think that this particular issue stems from the negotiations after 200. I think, this is my hypothesis, that when Connor failed to show up to that press conference and Nate sat there and took Connor's side, that that really pissed them off. And then

when they offered him the fight again for August, he's like, nah, that's the 200 contract that you're giving me. I want a 202 contract, meaning this fight is even bigger now. You need to pay me more. And I think that that's where the issues stem from. I think that, you know, as Nate said on the show when he was on that show, and back in May, they tried to book the Tony fight. I think Nate was holding out for the Connor fight. And I think now's the time to strike. I think now is the time for him to go on the offensive and get that fight. isn't it in their best interest to promote him if they're going to promote that fight?

Maybe, I don't know, maybe they don't know, maybe they don't feel like he is promotable, like he doesn't play ball with them, I don't know, but they need to do a better job. I mean, if there's anything that we learned about this whole process is, the UFC needs to do a better job of pushing the individuals. That's why I don't like the Reebok deal. That's why I don't like that they water down the personalities, that they don't let, look at what, look at, look at, okay, look at Saturday night. Look at what Conner's team wore.

The vests, the ties. Yes. Everybody. No, no, no, no. Don't talk about how it looked. Just look at what they wore. They stood out. They were a topic of conversation.

I don't care about if you thought it was stupid or not. And then look at what Floyd wore. The mask. Everyone was talking about that. The fight game is about personalities. The fight game is about being unique. It's about carving out your own niche. In fact, someone just sent me a picture on Twitter.

Twitter.com. M.M.A. Fighting. Twitter.com. Someone just sent me a picture right now. Here it is. This is from Robbie Ryan. He said, what are the UFC marketing team doing wrong? Anthony Joshua, 1.4 million followers. Stipe Miyocic, 114,000 followers. Canelo Alvarez, 1 million followers. Max Holloway, 81,000 followers. Gannadi Golovkin, 423,000 followers. Tireon Woodley. 151,000 followers.

They don't do a good enough job of building up the personalities. These guys are their own promoters. These guys work with promoters hand in hand to build themselves up. You know, Canello with Oscar Delooya, they all have their own guys.

You know, Bob Aram has his crew. Top Rank has their crew. Floyd has his guys like, Tank Davis, we know about it more. Badu Jack, we know about it more. They don't do a good enough job of selling the individual. And we saw that on Saturday.

They have to do a better job of that. I agree with that, but I find it hard to pin that on them. What? These guys have their teams. The boxers have their teams. That means the fighters should have their teams. The UFC fighters should have their teams. The reality is it's an economics thing.

But you have to play by their rules. You have to play, yes. Should every fighter who's making enough money, remember, that's why it's not a fair comparison. That's all I'm saying. You can't say this guy has these millions of followers and this guy has these hundreds of thousands. in the respective weight classes. The UFC has a roster to manage.

They have all these guys. Bob Aram has this guy, two guys, three guys, whatever the case may be. He's got more than that, but yes, he doesn't have 500. He doesn't have the roster. He can take the time to focus on the fighters that he needs to promote. I'm not saying that you need to go out there and promote, you know, Joe Blow 46 ranked featherweight, but the creme de la creme? Sure.

I don't disagree with you on that premise, but I don't think it's fair to compare this guy has this many million followers. I think it is. You have 11 champions. Promote them. promote them. And the number one contenders, promote 22. Here's the point.

Here's what, here was the biggest, one of the biggest revelations of the past week. Dana White was phenomenal in the buildup. Dana White was phenomenal. Yes.

People don't like to hear me give him props. People say, I don't give enough props. No, I'll get props to when it's due. Dana White was phenomenal in the buildup.

He promoted Connor, his guy, and promoted the fight in doing so. But that was the best of Dana White. That was the best day that was the best day that was the best day. Because he was doing it

like a boxing promoter. He was promoting his guy. You don't have to be that biased in the sense that's saying like, oh, DJ's going to knock out Ray Borg. I mean, that's disrespectful. Yeah, that's the line. But you could still promote,

you could still go out and say DJ's the best fighter on planet Earth. Athlete, breaking records. He doesn't do that. He won't do that. There was a time. Yeah, that's what I said. It's the best we've seen in years.

You know, Henan Barrow is the great. Absolutely. He was on that wagon. But something changed. There's some, there's, I find it difficult. If you pick those, you know, champions, those 11 champions, then the other fighters go, well, why are you not doing that for me?

It's a very difficult... Get a belt. Get a belt. Things will change. And by the way, they do go out of their way sometimes, witness the fact that Connor got his own championship walkout when he was about to fight Max Holloway. Page gets, you know, promoted up the wazoo. Sage gets... Yeah, Frances and God, who is now everything, sweetheart.

But the problem is they pick them wrong. They have a tendency to pick them wrong. They pick them based on looks. You know, they pick these young fighters. who, you know, but now they're getting behind Kevin Lee. Great. Push that guy to the moon. Get him out there. Have him fight in Detroit. Do the right kind of media for him. Tyron Woodley, push him. Steepa. Push him. That's all. I'm with you. I think it's more difficult than boxing. I think boxing is able to be singularly focused and it is a little bit different.

Do you think Conner's reception, what do you think Conner's reception will be like at the next time he's at a UFC press conference. Essentially, does Connor now become a hero to MMA because he represented well? 1,000%. He's more popular today than he was two days ago. He's more popular today than he was last Monday. He is the biggest star in the UFC and MMA. And you can argue he's now in that LeBron's stratosphere. Let me ask you something. I see a lot more talk about Connor McGregor. Maybe it's because I'm inside the bubble than Floyd Mayweather. Is this because Floyd is, we're not sure Floyd is walking away? Do you think it's because people are not sure of that? I think that

Floyd has reached his limit. I think that he doesn't want to fight and I believe the public doesn't really care to see him fight anymore. So then why are we not talking about this guy right now? The day after. Because Floyd is a very, well first of all we're an MMA show and I think that we're going to. No, that's what I'm saying. I'm speaking

very generally. I feel like I haven't seen enough about Floyd as opposed to Connor. Well, because Connor was the one going in there and hung in with him, but I also feel like people have this complicated relationship with Floyd. For example, he has a very checkered past. He has a... Sure. He's personal things in his life. Polarizing, controversial, despicable. I mean, you could use any synonym. Even when I did that interview at the girl collections.

But people are like, well, why didn't you... There's a time and a place and B, you know, it wasn't necessarily about that. But yes, I feel that way about him. Like, I don't think that... That's why I always like to stress how great of a boxer he is, not how great of a person. Now, to me, personally, in the buildup, the... my first time ever covering him, he couldn't have been better to the media. This man knows how to work a room. This man, he's accessible like I've never seen. Like, he stands there and answers questions thoughtfully, but that doesn't take away anything that he did. I think that people have a complicated, complicated relationship with him. I'm pretty sure in that interview, it may have

been another time, but in that particular interview, I asked him about why he doesn't get talked about like other athletes, why he doesn't get revered like other athletes, why he doesn't get the endorsement deals that other athletes do. And I just feel like people have this weird relationship with him. A, because of the past, and B, because they feel like he doesn't deliver. Because over the past, you know, eight, nine years, his fights have been relatively dull. And then it was, you know, there was a point of exclamation on the Pachiaf fight. It completely underdelivered. And then he rebounds with a very dull Andre Berto fight. And that's why I go back to the fact that Connor actually did him a great service, that Connor

actually sent him off into the sunset with a finish, with a knockout, with an exciting fight, and that will stay with him forever. And I think that that's why he actually owes Connor a debt of gratitude. So people have a complicated relationship with him, but I actually feel like this fight is going to linger and help him a little bit. It won't take away all the other stuff, but a little bit as now people are talking about him on this Monday morning. But now we're sitting here, you know, at the end of his career, as a boxer,

you know, look, I have all kinds of problems with what he's done in his personal life. But I am willing to, if we are going to buy his pay-per-views, if we are going to support the product, which I am willing to, I am willing to buy that product, I'm able to separate those two things when I talk about him. Would he be somebody I'd want to hang out with? No. As a boxer, the guy is 50 and O, having taken very little damage throughout his career,

and has one of the greatest resumes. one of the best legacies of all time in boxing. And it seems like we're barely discussing that. I think that he's getting his props for the most part, but this wasn't just Floyd versus... Here's how I think about it. When above-average NBA player steps away, Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant stepping away. We go on tours. There's people giving him this. There's people giving him that. When Derek Jeter steps away, there's people giving him this, there's people giving him that. Floyd Mayweather at this point seems to be like unless something changes,

he's going to be riding off into the sunset. They didn't like what I was saying about Floyd. Thanks guys. Okay, just fight through it. Okay, please don't. Just please don't do that test while we're on the air. Thanks. They're going to do it.

But don't they know that the MMA hour is on it now? I mean, 6 p.m., nobody's out of here. I feel like someone's trying to tell us to wrap up. I got more hours in me. Anyway, I don't know. I think Floyd probably deserves more credit as a boxer than he's getting at the moment. I agree. The Corona Girls.

We have to address this because everybody was asking about this. The Corona Girls? King wants to know what was up with the girls standing in the back of the post-fight press conference. And in every shot in the ring. Now, we've seen the Corona Girls at every boxing event. This is not anything new. But the idea that they were shifting themselves to be in every single shot. was a new one.

Oh, you might have said you didn't see the broadcast, right? I didn't see the broadcast. Okay, so the Corona girls, you know,

are typically in the ring, they present the belts, they do all those things. We know this. This is a staple of boxing. But every time the camera turned, they were repositioning themselves to be in the shot.

Not just stationary at the focal point of where the camera is going to be, but they were literally walking and keeping these smiles on that was making people feel... They worked their butts off, those women. Way more than the UFC Octagon girls.

Like, they have to show up at the press conference afterwards. I want to see a ringgo face off. No, I mean, they really work hard. They're standing there. It's a lot of hard work to be standing there. But this was a very unique one. If you didn't see it, there's really, like, you'd have to see it. It was creepy.

It looked like the Burger King. Oh, I liked it. They were just getting into every shot with the, with the creepy smiles. I went to, they really like to utilize the Ring Girls in boxing. I went to this press conference on Saturday morning for the, for the top rank ESPN deal, which was a lot of fun. Right, right, right, right. And I saw my old friend Bob Aram, first time I've seen him since our interview at Yankee Stadium. And this thing, man, they, they pull out all the stops.

We walk into the wind in this, like, theater, and they are holding smoothies, like in these nice glasses and watermelon juice. And there's fountains and there's breakfast. And the ring girls are there, the top-rank ring girls. Like, they just bring them to everything. I don't know. They don't do that in an MMA. And to stand there and smile and have that kind of composure, I give them a lot of credit.

They actually, they work. Not say that the UFC ring goes, don't, but they have to work. That's work. Respect. Don't try to degrade them. Don't try to take away anything from them. Who are you talking to?

The public, joking. No, they're not trying to degrade them. They were... mock them. Anyway, you got to see. All right. Okay. We need to talk about this.

To this point, the UFC has not come out with anything about fans who purchased the fight and had issues with the stream. What do you make of all this? I reached out to them. No word back. I reached out to Fight Pass. No word back. Very disappointed to hear this.

It's a major fo'paw. In fact, I think our own Danny Segura paid $100 to watch it on Fight Pass. Oh, there he is. Oh, he's there? Tell us, tell us what happened, Danny. Quickly tell us what happened. Can you tell us? I mean, you're, I mean, this is a firsthand account.

All right. What happened, Danny? Tell us. I end up paying for the pay-per-view. Yeah. Go closer to the mic. Honest man. I was an honest man, paid my pay-in-my-paper-view.

And, you know, when I went to go look at the link, the site crashed, then it signed me out. So I'm like, okay. So I signed back in. and then when I went to watch the pay-per-view, it was asking me to pay another $100. What? Yeah, so that was pretty disappointing.

So end up paying $100, but didn't watch the fight, but did watch it through not an illegal stream. Okay, but, I mean, that's, that's, that's, so that's not the only person that we, you know, heard from. People were hitting me up all night, and they've said nothing, right? Not yet. No, not yet. I mean, they did put out a statement that they were going to try,

to resolve the issue shortly. But then, you know, everybody was complaining on it. And I didn't see, you know, anything else after that. But, yeah, I mean, there was a lot of issues with it. And a lot of people were complaining. But some other people like that also ordered through UFC FightPass. I saw apparently, like, their stream was working. So I don't know.

This guy right here. Yeah. What do you mean? I ordered it through Fight Pass and it was working fine. Now, why wouldn't you order via pay-per-view? Oh, you don't have cable? I don't have, yeah. Yeah, I don't have.

See? see you cord cutters you millennials I didn't suffer any ill effects came back to bite you in the butt now there's a class action lawsuit happening you hear about this class action lawsuit from customers unhappy because of streaming issues towards showtime

thank you Danny for that appreciate it Portland boxing fans Zach Bartel paid to stream the fight in high definition says that he saw grainy video error screens buffer events stalls Bartel is suing this is according to the Hollywood reporter

suing showtime for unlawful trade practices and unjust enrichment alleging the network rushed its pay-per-view streaming service to the market without securing the bandwidth necessary to support the scores of cable-cutting fans. Now, this is Showtime. You guys are talking about UFC Fight Pass. Will the same happen to Fight Pass? Will they get a lawsuit? I mean, they owe everyone their money back.

That's for certain. But that's a huge bummer. I heard from many fans who were texting me. Fighter is texting me saying, I'm trying to buy this pay-per-view. I can't do it. What a debacle? and that's why I said this could have turned into a massive disaster for everyone involved. It was void of any energy, overpriced tickets, empty sections, stalling.

You know, I thought the entrances were botched. Like it just, it was too quick, didn't feel big, lights, all that stuff. But then the fight happened and the fight saved it. Who would have thought? So we'll see what happens with that. It's unfortunate. I feel for everyone. I was able to order it through Fight Pass.

No problem. I've heard some people have had some success getting refunds through iTunes if you ordered it through 5Pass, but I don't know. You know, don't quote me on that. I have heard that, though, because my receipt came from iTunes when I ordered it on FightPass, but I ordered it. It was no issue. And I feel bad for those that didn't get what they're being for.

I really feel bad for them, for sure. Okay. Pauly, any chance he gets into the octagon? Well, I asked him this question. He said no. So let's move along. Yeah, I don't think there's any chance that he or... But it's telling, right?

I don't think there's any chance that he or any other boxer. steps in. Not with a Connor McGregor. I think the same way Connor, you know, stepped up and took on the best of the best. I don't think the same comparison could happen for a boxer coming into MMA. It would be very difficult. According to Darren Revell just now, the biggest bet on Mayweather has just been cashed. Better bet 1.21 million netted 242,000 at William Hill, U.S. Sportsbook. Don't come asking me for any of it. It's already in my bank account. Dang. Does Pauly have Xbox Heat?

I disagree. It's a question. So you're saying no? No, I say I disagree. He's not saying that he says Polly has X-Pok. No, no, I disagree with anyone who says he does. Like our friend Aunt Evans has perpetuating this myth that Pauly has X-Bok-Eed. I think Pauley is one of the best analysts. Give him credit for staying unbiased, right?

Was he unbiased on the broadcast? He was fantastic on the broadcast. Told it like it is. If you weren't watching the broadcast, like, you know, you were there or had a different stream. Polly is very, very good as an analyst, like amazingly good and was able to break down the fight in a way that made it super easy to understand

what was really happening. Didn't let any of the personal stuff that he's got with Connor McGregor at the moment bleed into it absolutely flawless on the broadcast. Best part of it. Yet before and after he has said a lot. Showtime kept him. Ended up being the right call.

But hey, now I want to see. I want to see it. Now, I'm not saying I want to see it more than Nate, more than Tony, more than Kevin Lee, more than Max, more than Habib. But if you're asking me, just, are you interested at any point to see these two in your future? Yes, the answer is yes. Does Pauly have a contract with anybody in boxing? He's an Al-Haman guy.

Yeah, Mayweather Promotes Connor McGregor versus Pauli Malinousia. I'll watch. Stylistic, how about this? Are there any M.M.A fighters that you would like to see in a boxing match? Okay, can we all agree if we're going to see that fight? why not do, you know, a series, one MMA, one boxing. Why not? Why not? We know the answer to that.

Why not? Let's just see it. We know the answer. We know the answer. We all thought we knew the answer to the... Everyone said, if a boxer... I knew the answer and this played out exactly as I thought it would. Everyone said, if a boxer went to MMA, they get smoked. If that same fighter went to boxing to fight that same boxer, he gets smoked. Well, guess what? He didn't get smoked.

He lost in 10 rounds. He lost for a knockout, but he didn't embarrass himself. He didn't get smoked? He got knocked out by a guy who takes a decade to get a knockout. Three round knockout is smoked. No. Listen, I believe at times Floyd just doesn't go aggressively because he wants to win boring decisions. Yeah, so that what that says is he didn't respect Conner's power and went aggressively

and knocked him out. That's your opinion. That's a hypothesis. You don't know what he respected or didn't respect. Look, Connor did better than expect. If he didn't respect his opinion, if he didn't respect his power, why didn't he finish him in one round? Why didn't he finish him in one round if he didn't respect his power?

Because he wasn't tired. Why didn't he respect? If he didn't respect his power, why didn't he finish him one run around? He wasn't, Connor wasn't tired yet. B.S. What do you mean? He respects his power. He finished him because, no, he didn't respect his power.

He waded forward in rounds five through 10 with zero regard for Connor's punches. Zero. You can definitely say that Connor did better than expected, but you cannot say that that wasn't a one-sided fight. It wasn't. He won three rounds, in my opinion, won four. How could that be one-sided? Six to four. No.

never in doubt, never in doubt. What? How can you say that? He won the first three rounds. Don't give me this whole like, oh, you'd let him. No, he had to, he had to, those rounds could have ended up being, you know, one landed punch. One punch landed. If Floyd did nothing and landed one punch, he could have won those rounds if Connor was whiffing and completely out of sorts. But that didn't happen. No, it was never in doubt. Anyway, there's a difference between exceeding expectations and the fantasy.

He didn't, you know, put Floyd in trouble. Stop it. John Jones, we haven't really talked about this. Yeah, how crazy is that? The other breaking news of last week. Do we have any, like, what are your thoughts on it? What's there left to say? Listen, at this point, let's just wait for the B sample.

If you don't want to believe him anymore, I think in this case you have every right because I do feel like you have X amount of benefits of the doubt, if you know what I'm saying. I think that John Jones owes Connor a debt of gratitude as well because he took the spotlight completely away from them. If that news comes out tomorrow, we're doing a whole show on that.

You get what I'm saying? And so, you know, he kind of dodged a bullet there. I thought his tweet was a, I mean, you saw the tweet last night, right? Yeah, I did. This is his first comment, right? Yep. What would the tweet say?

The tweet said, since we're on Twitter, we might as well read it. The tweet said, and I quote, times like these remind me how blessed I truly am, so much to be grateful for. Like, is that not tone deaf? I'll give him this. To all my supporters.

Thank you for the support. Thank you for having my back. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for not writing me off. The truth will prevail. The truth will come out. I am not a cheater. I'm blessed and have things to be grateful for.

That's your first comment. Agree with everything up until the like, I am not a cheater. I don't think it's in his best interest to really address the situation head off. Why not? To thank his supporter. you're not a cheater, then why not?

You know, it's the same, like, in court, even if, you know, you're not guilty, you can't, you can't just go out saying all kinds of, you know, things that, that can sway the ruling. But I agree with you. Thanking your supporters, you know, talking about the people who have stuck with you, all of that is, you know, the number one thing. It's tone deaf, man. It's tone deaf. Like, like, I'm giving you the benefit of doubt.

I'm not calling you a cheater. I want to give the benefit of doubt. I want to believe that you are who you are. and I said it on the Monday after that, you know, he put his his money where his mouth is that he, his actions backed his words. But now, what do we say about this?

I don't know anymore. There's nothing, I mean, even if John Jones beats this. It was surreal when we got the news, right? Even if John Jones beats this rap, his legacy is forever. And by the way, reckless is still a crime. Being reckless is still a crime.

If you're going to say that you didn't know, like you should have been extra. careful this time. This is the time. Like, you already got the punishment. You already had your career paused. You already lost money. You already had your reputation ruined. You already had to back out of that fight. Like, how did you not, how did you put yourself in this position if you didn't mean to do it? It's very difficult. Why doesn't it happen to anyone else? Yeah. Why does it happen to Tyrone Woodley or Chris Widman or DJ? It's very difficult to back that. He's so damn good. I agree with DC. He didn't need it. He didn't need it.

any of this. This shouldn't have happened. He was the greatest. He is the greatest. His resume speaks for itself. His victories speak for themselves. He got so many reprieves. He got so many reprieves to the point where even up until this, right after this fight,

up until the news broke that this was a thing, he had the benefit of the doubt from everybody, even after all the mistakes in his personal life and even the testing. He had it. Everybody was still saying John Jones is the best and he's back and we can move on from this. Now I don't think that he will be granted

that same respect. No matter what happens with the ultimate result. We'll see. That's what they're pinning on. Even if it comes back, hey, it was tainted, whatever, I don't think he will get the benefit of the doubt from anybody anymore. Let's go. One more.

Yes. What do they do? Here's a question from Hey, Archer. My man. UFC, should they do a tournament? for the belt. What do you think should happen to the belt? Does it go to Daniel Cormier? Do they have to put it on the line? What should it happen to that belt? This is unique. It's never happened before. If the result is going to be a no contest, shouldn't it have to go back to Cormier? I think so. Why should he have to fight someone with the belt vacated if the fight now is no longer a loss? If the, if something would have happened where the fight turned into a no contest on Saturday night, July 29th, right? He would have kept the bow. So, well, Yeah, that's my thought as well. I think Daniel Cori may should get the belt back. You should get the belt back.

And you can still do a light heavyweight tournament. It could still be just as fun. You have one guy versus DC and two other guys squaring off. And then the winner meets up. You don't need the belt to be dangling for that to be the case. So I think DC deserves the belt. There's no doubt about it. I agree.

Okay, that was it. You said one more. That was one more. Oh, no, no. We have to hit this. I'm sorry. We have to do this. Snoop Dog.

Oh, yes. Thank you. particularly disrespectful to Connor McGregor. But there's been an outcry of a few MMA fighters. I know Matt Brown in particular has been very vocal about it. I'm happy about this. What do we think about Snoop Dog being in this position and the fighters being less than pleased about his commentary?

There is not an intense amount of pressure on the UFC to change this. And he is a very small part of their machine. He is the alternate color analyst for Dana White's Contender Series. there is a small amount of pressure within the UFC roster community to change this now because it's the second time that he's been disrespectful towards a UFC fighter. First time Daniel Cormier, second time, Connor McGregor, two of the biggest names, by the way. But I believe that if the UFC continues to employ Snoop Dog, if the UFC remains in the Snoop Dog business on their broadcasts, that they are telling

their fighters that they don't respect them. Here's a guy who's getting a paycheck from Zufa, from the UFC, who by the way has done a great job on the contender series alongside Yorai Fabor, who has brought them some attention. The experiment worked. I also thought that the idea was great. As I said on the show, it was the alternate. Why not? Have a little fun. Don't take yourself so seriously. But if you're going to have a guy in that position, act like that towards people who step in the cage or ring, you are telling your fighters that you truly don't respect them. It has now reached a point

where it's insulting and disrespectful towards the entire roster. And in my opinion, it's more important to have their respect than to remain in the snoop dog business. He has crossed the line now, in my opinion. If Kenny Florian or Dan Hardy or Daniel Corman,

or Brian Stan when he was working for them. If Joe Rogan would say something like that, I would say the exact same thing. He doesn't have the same position and they've been lenient in the past towards Joe Rogan and other people who have said some things about other people. But to act like that, to me, is telling the rest of your roster that you truly do not respect them and only care about being in the snoop dog business, the entertainment business, the clicks business rather than being in the respect business of your, and you want to be respected, you want to have their respect. The ball is in their court. He has forced their hand. Do I think they'll do anything? Probably not. Should they do something? 100%. It's disrespectful.

Does Connor care? No. Does Cormier care? No one cares. But we should care. those of us who care about these fighters who respect these fighters who want to see these fighters succeed and know what they put on the line every time they fight and know how dangerous this sport is they do not deserve to be berated by a rapper by a celebrity by an actor by a hip-hop guy by an artist especially one who is making money off the UFC who is getting paid to be an analyst for UFC events that that robs me the wrong way i love snoop dog he's an icon he is one of the greatest ever, but you could take your

MMA hot takes and, you know, stick him elsewhere. Yeah, I agree. I was all for the experiment. Like, I thought the idea of alternate commentary was super cool, but not if it's going to turn into this. That's it.

Busy weekend coming up in the world of MMA, we've got Invicta. Are you going to that? More California. How about that? Thursday night. Tachi Palace. Yeah, LFA on Friday.

Oh, that's a Thursday card. I like that. Thursday. I like, you see Invicta on Thursday to me is a good day. one on Saturday and also UFC Rotterdam on Saturday as well. A lot of people were saying to me, please, Ariel, get me excited for UFC Rotterdam. What am I, your promoter? It's not my job to get you excited.

Volkov against Stefan Strouve. How about this selling point? Tallest fight in UFC history. Does that do it for you? C.R. Bahadurzada returning. Brian Barbarina against Leon Edwards. C.R. against Rob Wilkinson and Talita Delivera against Marion Reno. So it appears as though that's the replacement for Jermaine Duranmi.

It's a tough, it's a tough one to sell, especially after this weekend, and especially after the first fight in Rotterdam, which had Overeem and Gunter Nelson, Struve and Bigfoot and Arlofski. I mean, it's just a tough one. It's not a great second showing. But there are some great fighters on the prelims, by the way. No bigger prospect than Zabit Magomet Sharipov, who our friend Mark Henry has been telling me all about for like two years now saying that he's going to be a future champion. He's fighting Mike Sariq. Santiago, late replacement as well. Desmond Green against Rostam Chavilov is a good fight. Daryntill is on the card. Meribik Tysumov. So there's something there for you. It starts at 11.30 a.m. Eastern time and that's on fight pass and the main card on fight pass as well at 3 p.m. Eastern time. And oh, by the way, the last thing before we go, we are off on Monday. It is Labor Day here in the United States. We're back on Tuesday. So Tuesday, what day is that? September 5th. Tuesday, September 5th. Labor Day. September 4th, my brother David's birthday. I'm going to Montreal. It's my sister's wedding on the third.

Fourth is Labor Day. We're back on the fifth on Tuesday next week. So please plan accordingly. I feel like I've given you enough. You've heard my voice enough. You probably need a break from me at this point. Thank you very much New York, Rick. Thank you very much to everyone in the back. You can hit my music. And thank you to Aubrey, who stepped in on somewhat short notice to replace Rob the director and did a phenomenal job. maybe the greatest job in the history of debuts on this program. So kudos to her and everyone back there. And thank you once again to the team who produced the show out in Vegas, Adam, Paige, Scott, and Rob, who's on vacation.

Thank you very much to all of you. I know this isn't a popular thing to say. I will miss Mayweather-Megger. I will miss talking about it. I thought as far as the media goes, the MMA media, I thought it brought the best out in us. I thought it was a lot of fun. Were there low moments? Yes.

Were there cringe-worthy moments? Yes. But overall, I'll enjoy it every step of the way, even getting pulled from Showtime. Because I feel like it made it better for me. I got to go out there and do our thing right here, my home, MMA fighting, MMA hour on the road. Loved it. It was an honor. It was a privilege.

It was memorable. I won't forget it. And now I'm curious as to what is next for Connor McGregor. That's the question everyone wanted to know. They wanted that answer leading up. Well, now we are here. What is next for him? Fascinating time in the world of combat sports.

Fascinating time in the world of the UFC. Fascinating time in the world of won Connor. Thank you to everyone who stopped by. Thank you to all our guests. Thank you very much to Oscar Delahoya, Hulay, Holly Home, Chal Sunnan, Daniel Cormier, Joe Cortez, Pauli, Malinaji, Max Holloway, and Esther Lin.

and thank you once again to all of you. Back on Tuesday, same time and place. So there, peace, everybody.