MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 418

Episode Date: January 23, 2018

Ariel Helwani speaks to Daniel Cormier (00:01:08), Chael Sonnen (00:48:55), Tony Ferguson (01:13:32), Joanna Jędrzejczyk (01:34:39), Rory MacDonald (02:01:24), Jimi Manuwa (02:34:24), Aaron Pico (02:52:45), Brent Primus (03:14:53), Jessica-Rose Clark (03:33:03), and NewYorkRic for The MMA [After] Hour featuring Ric's Picks (04:05:52) and the answers to your questions (04:42:28). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Save on insurance by switching to Bel Air Direct and use the money to fix your car. Bel Air Direct, insurance, simplified. Conditions apply. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. It's the Mixed Martial Arts Hour with... No, mixed martial arts hour. Back in your life on this Monday, January 22nd, 2018. Logan, everyone. I'm Mario Hawani back inside our New York City studio, back from Boston, back from a busy weekend in the world of mixed martial arts.

Originally, I was going to run down the lineup. I was going to talk to you about what happened in Boston, what happened in Englewood. We were going to wax poetic on all the crazy things that happened, the press conference on Friday, the way-ins, the aftermath, all that and more. But we're going to put a pin in that. We're going to do that in around 25 minutes because plans have changed, my friends. let us waste no time, let us go to the phone lines and say hello to the reigning defending UFC light heavyweight champion the man who was successful on Saturday night, the man who defeated Volcanozdemir via second round TKO, friend of the show, back once again,

the one and only Daniel Kormier is standing by. Daniel, are you there? Yep, I'm here, Ariel, how you doing, man? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but, you know, I told you guys on Saturday night that my wrist was bothering me on my thumb. So I went and got an x-ray And then they told me I needed to get an MRI

And I was able to get one scheduled for right around the same time That I'm supposed to be doing the interview So thank you guys for moving me up a little bit No problem anything for you So where are you right now, Daniel? I'm in my car I'm driving me and Selena are going from We're in traffic

Oh great California horrible traffic Okay well this is good If traffic isn't bad enough If traffic isn't bad enough It's raining in California and people freak out when it rain here. Oh yeah. It's amateur hour over there on the streets.

Amateur hour, amateur hour. Selfishly, this is good because you have a little time. I thought you were like in the waiting room about to be called. And so I was very nervous and that's why I changed everything up. I wanted to talk about how great the night was for you and, you know, how beautiful the aftermath was. But very happy that you're able to join us. So do you think it's broken?

What is your premonition right now? I just feel like I felt like my thumb was broken, but then I'm no doctor. You know, it's really swollen right now. So the MRI needs to go check because if it's some ligament stuff, that could actually, ligament in the wrist and the thumb could actually be worse than actually than actual break. So I'm hoping that it's nothing too bad.

I'm still kind of waiting. So are we? Okay, keep us posted. And if you have to get off, I'm not going to keep you for very long, but if you have to get off, just let me know and we'll cut this short. I want to talk to you about. before Saturday, Thursday night, heading into Friday.

Of course, with you, as you joked afterwards, it's always a celebration when you make weight. But now that it's over, can you tell us, was this one a little tougher? You were the last one to show up, last one to weigh in. It's always a little nerve-wracking. You were in a cold weather climate.

How difficult was this weight cut compared to some of the others? They're all tough. You know, it's like I went to Buffalo and had like a horrible, horrible weight cut. And then Anaheim was perfect because it was so warm. It didn't matter what I did.

I was sweating and I was also able to go to it's called Dojo Leo Vera's gym and Seal Beach they were able to kick the heat up to 8590 whereas here I was training in gyms that were at 75 so whereas I would lose 9 8 pounds I was only losing 5 4 and a half but they're always tough weight cuts but on this weight weight cut Tyler Minton did a fantastic job

So all week I was kind of worried because even though you guys may look at my face and I looked like I was starting to bring the weight down, I felt great, right? Like my energy was great. My training was great. I was that worried me because it made me feel like I may be too heavy. So I only had to suffer Thursday. Every other day, I felt pretty good, man. And obviously the weight cut was tough, but in terms of my energy all through the week, I've been. felt great. Friday morning

was probably the hardest part because I only had four and a half pounds to go, but I had to really, really work to get the weight off because the gym that I was doing the final cutting was so cold. Oh, okay. So then on Saturday, you get to

the fight, you get to the arena, you're usually a confident guy when it comes to athletics. We talked about this on Monday when you were in studio about how perhaps one unique aspect about this fight and this challenge for you is, yes, you're the champion technically, but you're coming off your first knockout loss. Did you feel any different in there?

Confidence-wise? Were you overthinking? This is your first time coming off a knockout. And yes, you were the champ, but it was very different. Can you compare what you were thinking about, how you were feeling in those final moments compared to when you're just, you know, on a long winning streak as champ? Once again, just kind of like, again, just so at ease with everything. It was kind of nerve wrecking for me because I'm usually a wrecked, man.

It's like really like, you know, I know I've done everything. I've trained hard. This should take care of itself. But again, why am I so calm? Why am I so comfortable? Why am I so comfortable right now? I want to feel more nerves. But I think as I got closer to the fight, I started to feel the nerves that I expected.

And it was good. But when we talk about me in competition settings, just because I lost doesn't change anything. It's never going to make me truly doubt. my ability to go out there and try to win a fight or win a competition in any way, shape, or form. So I still felt like I was going to get the job done, but I was very aware of the result of the last fight. And I watch my people, right? I watch my coaches, and they were telling me stuff.

And I was like, guys, it's fine. I understand, you know, we have to respect them and we have to make sure that, you know, we do everything right. But you guys, don't be too nervous. You know, I know you guys are nervous because of what happened last time, but just Just for a little. You still there, Daniel? Yes, can you hear me?

Okay, yeah, I lost you there for a quick second, but I think you were at the end of your answer. Once you got to the actual fight, once you started to exchange, you felt his power. How powerful is Volcanoos demure? Like, compared to the rumbles of the world, compared to Alexander Gustafson, John Jones. There were a couple times, I was like,

damn, DC's standing right in the pocket with him and just trading, once again, proving how great your chin is and how you could take a punch, but just how powerful is this guy. He's powerful. He hits hard. you know, some guys hit hard. You know, like Jones doesn't punch very hard.

He kicks hard. Gustafson doesn't punch hard. Rumble Johnson punches hard. And this guy punched hard. This guy had thudding power, right? Like his power was thudding. Like when I was getting hit by Alexander and by with the hands, they didn't really hurt.

like Gustafin, he cut me because his glove kind of cut my eye, but the punches didn't necessarily feel like there was much power behind it. But this dude, he had real thudding power. That's why when I look in the mirror after the fight, I was all marked up, you know, like red on my nose, black eye. Because every time he hit you, it was like there was a lot behind it. But I'm very confident in my ability to stand and trade with these guys and take damage. If I didn't get punched, it's a fight.

You have to understand that. and anticipate that you're going to get hit. But yes, he was very powerful. How much more time did you need at the end of the first round to submit him? Five seconds. Wow. It was just a matter of me either getting my hands back more, my right hand behind his head,

because then I can really start to shift his weight forward. To get that choke off and put somebody out, all you got to do is start to move their head forward into your arm. And I had him. It was, my arm was under his neck completely. I had my, I had my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, I was the position. I just had to get it behind the head to start to shift his neck forward.

But I had five more seconds he would have either tapped or he would have passed out. So, yeah, but it was in. It was, it was in very good. By the way, do you recall at what point? How quick, it was so, it was so, it was surprised how quick it actually went in because it didn't seem like he even grabbed my hands. I don't know if he had. anticipated me jumping on his neck that quick.

Do you recall when you injured your hand, how early in the fight? I don't. That's the issue because when we were done with the fight, I was in the doctor's tent, and I felt great. And it was when it was the adrenaline started to dump. I was like, man, something's kind of wrong with my thumb. And it as then I kind of went on and just got worse and worse and worse. I was up all the night last night because I couldn't sleep because my thumb just hurt so bad. Wow. Going into the second round after, you know, the way the first finished, you

survived the early storm, if you will, the onslaude, very reminiscent of the Rumble Johnson fights. Did you know, okay, this is the beginning of the end, second round, I got him? So, yeah, you know, I started to kind of feel more confident because he had started to slow down. Yeah. But that early rush was kind of like, wow, he really does believe that he's going to knock me out in the first round because there's no way he can fight at this.

pace for 25 minutes. So when he started to float on, Iax started to find my range, started to find my jab. And I know that guys get upset with me jabbing him because I'm so much shorter. But I'm able to hit him with the jab. And when I hit him with the jab too many times, they try to return. And I knew he would throw. And when he threw, I was able to secure a high crotch and then start to really play with his legs.

And, you know, he's a striker. You know, so they did a fantastic job of preparing him for my high crotch. Like he was doing a good job of covering the head, pushing my head down, getting my pressure forward. But Greg Jones, if I was fighting Greg and I was holding Greg's leg like that, I would never take him down because he understands the positioning so well. But when you're teaching us to people, you can teach them step one, two, three, but they have to process step two and three.

That don't come natural. And so I just kind of beat Volkan on steps two and three Where I would he would defend the high crotch And then I would just get him with the next level of technique To get him to the floor And once we got to the floor I tried to go KC control

Leandro's favorite position And when he falls in the direction I was able to mount him And from there it was just It was just my transitional jiujitsu To dominant position What about that let's go DC chant inside the TD Garden.

What a difference a year makes? Did you hear that? And if so, what do you thinking when you hear that? I've never heard that in one of your fights before. I've never heard the Let's go D.C.

You know, generally, when I fight, you do get some D.C. chance because I get booed on the way in, and then when they watch me fight a guy like Jones from 6'4, and I'm 511, and I'm way smaller,

but I'm the guy that's pressing the action. I'm the guy that's going forward. I think people can't help help to cheer for a little guy, you know, and you start there to DC chance, but this one was kind of throughout the entire fight. I'd never really gotten,

I haven't gotten that type of reception from the crowd for a really long time, probably since I fought Antonio Silva. Wow. Or Josh Burnett in San Jose. Wow, that is amazing. Credit to the Boston crowd. A beautiful moment afterwards,

you get on your knees, you're so thankful, you're so happy, you're talking about winning the belt and the trials and tribulations, you're also putting over your teammates, it was just great to watch. How does that compare it to when you beat? Because, you know, when you beat Rumble at 187,

you pretty much said like six words and walked off. And some people were almost upset that you didn't allow yourself to enjoy the moment or get emotional. This time it was a lot different. Just what you were feeling inside. How does this one compare to when you, you know, you fought Rumble the first time

and then eventually won that belt at 187? Oh, it's so great, man. It's so great to take it all in. You know, like, I went through a rough, rough knockout in July, you know. So to get back in the winter circle, to get my hand raised again, to get the belt wrapped around me was a tremendous feeling. And I just want to take, you know, as I get older and as I get close to the end of this deal,

I've got to really take time to appreciate everything that I've done and I've accomplished and just really live in the moment, you know, and not make it about someone else. You know, like before it was about get, get it together. I'm over here waiting. We need a fight again. Right now it's like, take it in, Daniel.

You don't enjoy the work that you and your family and everybody have put in and enjoy what you've accomplished. So, yeah, to really sit in the admiration of the fans and talk to Joe Rogan, who's a friend of mine, and just really experience that moment together was great. I truly enjoyed it, and it probably is the first time that I've done that, like really just taking it in. And gustavite I did, I did a little bit too.

But in this one, I felt like I just took in every part of that victory. And it felt good to have that. Yeah, underrated thing. I love that you called him Joey. That was really nice. Yeah. Afterwards, you know, you told me this story about your son the morning after 214 that has now exploded everywhere.

We were a little far. There were lights in your face. But I was totally crying when you were telling me that story. I mean, that just got me right in the heart. It was incredible. And it makes it even more incredible that you brought your son and daughter to this fight after experiencing that. Why did you decide for this one to finally bring them to a fight, to have them there in the arena to experience it all? Because you don't know what's going to happen.

It could happen all over again. Why did you decide this time to do that? It could have happened. You know, I could have gotten knocked out and my kids would have seen that. And, you know, they were surrounded by 50 people that love them so dearly that they would have gotten them through it, you know, and the UFC would have went and gotten my kids and brought them to me so that they could see that their dad's okay. But it's time from them to start to know, you know, because I'm always gone. I'm always at practice and I'm always at the gym and I'm always gone. And my son gets to watch, and my daughter, she's not very interested in going to the gym and watching me train.

but my son kind of gets to watch it a little bit but doesn't truly understand what his dad does. You know, why does dad have to miss certain things? Why is dad always gone every day? And it's time. And as I start to get towards the end of this deal, I want to see it on videotapes and stuff like that. I want him to experience it.

I see guys like Andre Ward, you know, and his kids have always gone. And he told me it's just special to him. And I really wanted my kids to experience what dad does as I start to wind this thing down. You've said this a couple of times now as I start to wind this down as my days are getting a little bit numbered in the sport. Do we have a heart out? You're about to hit 40? I've never heard you talk about this so much in a post-fight interview.

Have you, like, do you really believe the end is soon coming? Yeah, I mean, at 40, you know, I've always said at 40, it's over. You know, so I've said this could be the last year of my career. This is, I mean, I say could be because we're not truly at a year yet. Come March, we'll have 12 months at max left, you know. So if I'm not, you know, if I'm not done, I'm going to be done by March 20th, 2019. I won't be fighting again. No if, answer, buts.

We've heard this in the fight game before. Like Bernard Hopkins famously lasted like 10 more years after he said he was going to be done. There's no chance you're fighting past March of next year. I'm not done. Yeah, I'm done. I'm not going to fight. Part because I'm going to lose service down there.

I'm going to be done at 40. Yeah, I won't be back. It won't be, you know, jumping around or I'm done until I get the right type of fight. It'll be over. I'm not going to be done. doing this anymore. You know, I've said time and time again that I've lived a great life in sports. I've loved every moment of it. My family has revolved around sports, not only my family today with

Selena and the kids, but also my mom and my dad. I've been the center of the athletic universe for my family for a really, really long time. And time for that to be little Daniel and Marquita. It's time for them to be the center of our athletic competition. And I just want to be one of those crazy dad, I guess to yell on the sideline and just go crazy and kind of brag about his kids. You know, like, yeah, my kid won this tournament. My kid won this gymnastics competition. That stuff excites me, man. I've always wanted that, and I've had my time.

I've been doing stuff since I was 15 years old. I've been wrestling international competitions and going to the Olympics and the NCAA championships and fighting and strike force UFC. So I've had my time. I've lived a lifetime in the spotlight. It's okay. I can be done with it before when I'm 40 years old. You know, like three, four months ago,

I love the idea of you going back up to heavyweight, winning that belt and proving once and for all that you are the greatest of all time. Now I don't really like it anymore. I kind of just want to see you continue to dominate at 205 and stay there. And this came up, like minutes after the fight, Dana is saying he wants to see you versus Stipe. What do you think about this idea? I know the cane thing is there and you're very clear if he's there,

you're not going to even touch it. but let's just say he's not there. Do you have any interest in going after that belt? You know, I've talked about this time and time again, and people keep asking me, like, look at the size difference between me and these dudes. Yeah. It's like, they want to see me fight these big guys, you know, so that's not on my radar right now, you know? I'm just going to try to figure out what's going on with my hand and see what's next.

You know, I mean, it's not like I'm fighting small guys. I mean, Alexander Gustafin could be a heavyweight. So it's not like fighting at heavyweight is the only way to fight big guys. I mean, that's the big guy. So, yeah, I'm just going to hang out right now and see what's next and see who presents herself as the next challenge. Do we have time for two more questions? You got time for two more.

Okay, okay. If you can lay it out, if you could book it, how do you book the next, you know, what, 14 months? How many more times do you fight and against who? Can you lay it out for us? What's the perfect scenario? I don't really have a perfect scenario, you know, because if I start to think, well, it'd be great if I beat Gus or Sun in July and beat Jones in December. Now it's about them.

It's not about them anymore. It's about me. It's my story. I don't care who I fight over the course of this next 14 months. It's going to be who's deserving. My legacy, my career is not. tied to beating Alexander more convincingly at his time or are finally beating John Jones. It doesn't matter to me anymore. It's about me and what I'm doing. At the end of the day,

I have to be okay with my career when it's said and done. And my career is good with me when it's said and done, whether I beat Jones or if I have to beat Gus again or if I never face him, I'm fine with everything. Last thing, you said leading up to this fight, and it really resonated with me because it was so honest that you felt that there was a stench that you had to get off, that you had to re-earn that belt. You said afterwards that, you know, you feel like you can call yourself a champion. Is the stench gone now?

Do you feel like 214 is finally gone? It's in the rear of you, or you're the champion, no if ands or butts? Yes, I feel like I am the champion because I won the fight for the title on Saturday. That stench is always going to be there because, as I've told you time and time again, my loss is don't leave me.

I wish they did. I wish they did. I mean, there's a guy, there's a guy that beat me in my very first youth state championship final. It's really two years in a row, and I remember his name because those losses don't leave me. You know, it's like I just remember those types of things. I think that's what motivates me to be who I am.

So, yes, the stench is washed off right now, but the loss will never go anywhere. It's going to stick with me for the rest of my life. life because that's who I am. I could go out and beat him two, three times in a row, and those losses would stay with me because that's just who I am. I don't want them to go because they're part of my journey, right? No good, the bad, they're all part of what makes you who you are completely, and I just

want to be the best Daniel Kormier that can be. So, yeah, it's all part of the journey. So, yes, I am the champ. I feel good. I feel like I've washed that stink off. me of getting knocked out because I got my hand raised, but the losses will stay with me forever. I don't think it's possible for me to have more respect for a competitor and a human being. You know how I feel about you, D.C. Thank you so much for coming on. You're an incredible ambassador

to the sport. We're so lucky to be watching you in your prime, and I'm a little sad that you're leaving in a year, but I'm honored to be able to cover your career in these fights and the ups and downs. It's really a privilege. So thank you so much, D.C. Congratulations on the win. and good luck at the hospital. Please keep us posted on how that goes. I will, Ariel. Hey, thank you so much, man. Ariel, best in the business.

Thank you, homie. Thanks, my man. There he is. Daniel Cormier, the reigning, defending UFC light heavyweight champion. I know I've taken some heat over the years for banging that DC drum a little louder than others,

but I just can't possibly hide it. I mean, I just can't possibly have more respect for someone who has been through all the ups and downs. personally, professionally, he doesn't talk a lot about his backstory. He's talked about it a couple times, you know, about what happened to his first child, about what happened to his dad, about what happened at the Olympics. I mean, if we could all overcome adversity the way Daniel Cormier has overcome adversity, you know, with grace and confidence and just letting that, you know, water, roll off the back, dust yourself off, keep on fighting, never giving up. We'd all be

better people. And it feels good, I must say selfishly, it feels good that he's finally, at least in my eyes, getting his dude. Like when I heard that Chen on Saturday, let's go DC, I was like, yes, finally, finally you people are starting to realize. When I was, I, UFC 200, sitting in the arena, honestly. I don't know and I remember writing some tweets and I remember feeling weird about the tweets

because it was right after the whole banning thing at 189 but I wrote a couple tweets just saying how disgusted I was with the fans about them booing Daniel Cormier after that win over Anderson Silva

and I was like these people man these spoiled fans yeah I know a lot of you bought tickets to see Jones versus Cormier it wasn't his fault that Jones pulled out. 99% of the roster,

as they probably should, I do not begrudge them for this, as they probably should, 99% of the roster is saying no to Anderson Silva on three days notice. That's just a fact. That's an absolute fact.

Not only Anderson Silva, they're saying no to Joe Blow coming from LFA. They're saying no to this unknown fighter coming from God knows where, let alone Anderson Silver. And those people had the audacity to boo him.

He stays on the card. He's not fighting his greatest rival. He's overcoming this incredible roller coaster of emotions. And oh, by the way, he's fighting someone who at the time people still considered the goat, one of the greatest ever. And you guys boo him? Come on. Blew my mind. It absolutely blew my mind.

Now, almost two years later, I feel like everyone has seen the light. You've seen what kind of a person he is. You've seen what kind of a competitor he is. In a weird way, as I said on Saturday, losing to John Jones and showing his emotions afterwards, crying on TV, not rubbing it in his face after the suspension, after the failed drug test came out less than a month later,

just being honest and open and authentic. I feel like it's actually worked wonders for him. It's weird and it's cruel the way that works. But I really do think it has worked. for Daniel Cormier's career. Our own Chuck Mindenhall wrote a phenomenal piece on Cormier that went up this morning. Just an absolutely phenomenal piece. It really captures why I think he is such a special athlete and human being.

There was one line about Sunday morning that Daniel Cormier, what's the line? This is what Chuck wrote. Many fighters can talk to you about the X's and O's of fighting. Not many can make you understand Sunday morning. Sunday morning is a very, very, very special thing and it's something that none of us can understand. And we are privy to it. I saw Steepin Miochich at the airport on Sunday morning.

More often than not, these guys just want to get home. I usually take the earliest flight. I didn't just go through hell inside a cage against another human being. So when you see someone like Steepa, you see someone like Daniel who said he had a 7 a.m. flight with the black guy limping. It obviously feels a little sweeter after a victory, but that Sunday morning win or lose is a tough one to digest.

It's especially tough after a loss. It's incredibly tough after a loss. Imagine being in that pain and walking around and having the bumps and bruises on your face. When you see those guys after what they go through in the cage, the males and females, and you see them at the Post-Fite press conference, There's like, there's something, how do you explain it?

Like, there's something a little bit romantic about it. There's something on-inspiring about it. It's like, I don't think I could, like, when you see someone, I'm a huge basketball fan, I'm a huge sports fan. You see someone after a basketball game, they look the same as they were going in. But you kind of go through this roller coaster with these fighters as media, when you start the week, you know, open workouts, and then it's media day. and then it's the way-ins and they look like they're at their worst and then it's Saturday morning

and it's all the inspirational social media posts and then it's Saturday night and it's them walking out and then it's the fight and then it's the aftermath and then it's the press conference and then they look like

they've just gone through hell and it's just like it is so amazing to watch them up there handle it in victory and in defeat there's just something about it it's like 2 a.m. They're exhausted,

they're beat up, up, they're limping, they're injured, and you see them go through that. And so I experienced that on Saturday again, you know, looking at D.C., looking at Francis and Gano, who was exhausted, looking at Volkan, looking at Steepa with his face all mangled in victory. And it's just, there's nothing like it. And I think sometimes at home we don't get that perspective. You don't get that feeling. You're not in the room with them. You don't see their family. You don't see how relieved everyone is. And so that line about Sunday morning in D.C. told an amazing story. Let me play this story. Do we have this clip of DC? I asked DC at the end of the press conference,

you know, if he appreciates being up there. And especially coming off what happened at 214 when he was in the hospital. And he told me a quote, I mentioned it in the interview, but I want to play here because it's kind of exploded online. And it did make me cry. But he just put it so well how difficult it is for these fighters and really why we have to have so much respect for them in victory and in defeat. This is the clip that I'm talking about. This is the clip that I'm talking about. This is D.C. talking on Saturday night about why the 214 loss was so hard to take. In July, obviously, it was emotional. You weren't up here.

You've been up here before with the belt. You've done the post-fight press conference. Do you appreciate this a little more after what happened a couple months ago? You know, I do. I've always appreciated it. I appreciate it every year, you know, like when I was 30 and 31 years old, maybe not so much. But as I start to get closer and closer to the end, I do appreciate it. And I appreciated from trying to build back from a loss and trying to feel like I had some success in the job that I do.

You know, I love to fight. I love to compete. And I was able to get a win tonight. You know, that was that last time I was in a hospital, right? And the press conference was going on. I was at the hospital. So if not for anything else, to be able to look at my mom and not see tears in her eyes and look at my wife. and not see a look of confusion

or wake up on Sunday morning and hear my son who came to the fight for the first time. You know, the whole Jones thing, it sucked. I lost the fight and I got beat. I got my ass kicked. And I cried in the octagon.

I cried before I went to bed. But you know what I cried the most was when Sunday morning, I'm laying on the couch next and my kids are in bed with their mom and my boy rose over and he taps his mom because every time he'd never go the fights he wanted to know if his dad won.

And you know what I heard at 7.30 in the morning in Anaheim, he tapped his mom and he goes, Mom, did Dad win? And she said, no, Pop. He didn't win this time. And I was laying there. I could hear him. So I got my back to him and I'm crying. And not long after, I feel like my boy behind me hugging me, you know.

That was the hurtful thing. So for him to get to experience the other side of it is big for me. me and my daughter and my family. It's all family to me. So I appreciate this, but I appreciate them being able to smile tonight instead of shedding tears. Appreciate that man, my friends, really do. Appreciate that man. He is unlike many athletes we've ever seen in this sport.

And for me personally, unlike many human beings, I mean, I could tell you stories ad nauseum about things that he has done behind the scenes for others that I've witnessed really incredible to just be. able to cover him. And now that we find out, you know, it's coming to an end. Now that we find out that we have 14 months or so, let's see if he stays true to that. We've heard this in combat sports a lot. But for some reason, right now, it sounds like he is going to stick to that. He is going to retire when he turns 40, which would be next March, March of 2019. By the way, I hear an echo in my headphones. I don't know if the mic is on back there, but I hear myself in my headphones. Okay, now it's

gone. All right. So, that's the Daniel Cormier story. He defeats Volkan Osdemier via second round TKO. He weathered that storm early, as I said, and he took his best shots, and he stood right in with Volkan. It was incredible to watch. And once again, proving that he has an incredible chin. But hey, Vulcan was game. I mean, he went in there. He stuffed some takedowns. He, you know, biggest stage possible for him, biggest fight of his life. He was game. Ultimately, though, he succumbs in the second round. So we'll see what happens next. Dana White talking about a super fight with Steve. I'm not feeling it. I remember I was the one who tweeted about that like four months ago. Not feeling it right now. We'll see what happens with John Jones. Gustafin having shoulder surgery. You know, there are some guys out there.

You know, Jimmy Manuel if he gets back on track in March. So we'll see what happens with the whole light heavyweight division. Let's talk quickly about what happened in the main event. Steve Amiochich is the reigning defending UFC heavyweight champion. Steve Miochich is the baddest man on the planet. There's no doubt about that. He's also the most successful heavyweight champion of all time. He's the winning his heavyweight champion of all time by defeating Francis Ngano on Saturday night,

via unanimous decision, 50 to 44 times three. He is now the winning his heavyweight champion of all time. That's three straight title defenses. No one else has ever done that in the heavyweight division. That's an incredible feat. And it's also incredible when you consider who he has defeated as of late. The names, the guys he's gone through, the heavy hitters that he's gone through. That first round was one of the most first round.

kinetic, exhilarating, terrifying, fascinating, riveting. Any adjective you want to throw out in that ballpark, you could throw it out in regards to that first round on Saturday. My heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to come out of my throat. I couldn't stop. I mean, I was afraid to blink. It was terrifying. Miochich, I mean, that one loss to Stefan Struve will be with them forever. Obviously it's there. So you're like, okay, let's see how he responds to Francis and Ganu. He took some shots. I mean, that's just one of them. Many of them came, you know, via the hands that would, I mean, I think I would have broken an half. I think I literally would have become two pieces. And then he gave him. And as has been discussed going in, okay, what,

what's it going to be like when Francis gets to the third, fourth, and fifth? I saw some people who said that that fight sucked, and I could not disagree more. As I said, like the first round was one of the best. I mean, that's obviously a front runner for round of the year. One of the best title fight rounds that have ever seen, just because you had no idea what was going to happen, what was going to happen. They were both landing, you know, the most powerful shots possible.

They were both giving it their all. They were both connecting. It was terrifying is the word that keeps coming to mind because it was just so scary to see these two behemists going toe to toe to and we know what they can both do in the first round. second round was a little more of the same, not exactly the same, but a little more of the same.

And then, of course, it trails off. But Stipe did what he had to do to win. He too was exhausted. He too was banged up. He had to do whatever he had to do to win, and he did it, and he skunked him. And he was the underdog, and there was so much going in.

And then, of course, you know, the big story afterwards, traditionally they're standing there, hands raised, Dana White comes, puts the belt around the waist, right? That's the story, right? That's what we've seen.

we've seen that scene play out a million times. What happens this time? Steepay turns around, takes the belt from Dana, gives it to his coach, Marcus Marinelli, who's been there with him forever, hands it to him to put around his waist. And this blows up. And I think a lot of people actually misconstrued the whole situation.

A lot of people, I think, believe that Stepe did that because he was mad at the way the fight was promoted. He was mad at the way Francis Inganu was promoted. maybe he was mad because he thought that the UFC wanted him to lose. In reality, I think the fight was actually promoted wonderfully. I think the UFC

did a great job of building up Francis and Ganu. They did what they had to do. Again, as I've said on this show, a gazillion times, it's not about building champions, it's about building contenders. People who the audience will now believe could dethrone the champion. Everyone wants to see history made. Everyone wants to see a new

champ, something, you want to get your monies worth, right? So what's the plan? You've got to build up the contender. If you build up the contender, like a bomb, no one's really going to buy in. So they had to, you know, I have no problem with the promotion. I have no problem with the fact that maybe, it looked like, you know, Francis was the guy that they wanted to win. You know, maybe that's what he tells himself. Maybe that's how if I had no problem with any of that. That's not why Stipe Miochich took the belt from Dana White. If you have been paying attention to this show, for the past year, steepe has come on, you know, a few times.

He is unhappy about his treatment in the UFC. He is unhappy about his parents. He is unhappy about his Hey, he talked about being disappointed about, you know, the fact that Junior Dos Santos made more than him. He talked about being disappointed that when he sold out the queue in Cleveland, Alster Ophrey made more than him. That has not been rectified. This thing dates back over a year now. It's not about the promotion. Sure, the promotion probably didn't make it any better. But that's the problem.

Dana White was on a Boston radio show on Wednesday, Toucher and Rich. and he said that, look, I like this guy a lot. And I believe Dana likes him and has respect for him. Firefighter, Good Samaritan, family guy, knocking people out in the first round. He's a promoter's dream in many respects. Yeah, his interviews need to be worked on his, you know, his enunciation. Sure. But I maintain, by the way, post-fight stepe is a phenomenal steepe.

Like, he's hilarious and he opens up a little more. Going into the fights, it's a little tougher, but I think he's getting better. The problem isn't the promotion. That wasn't the issue. The issue is the issue that he talked about when he was on this show last January about being unhappy with his pay, being treated as a champion financially

with that same kind of respect as the quote unquote legends, right? The overreams of the world, the JDSs of the world, the former champions. That's still the problem. That's why he took the bell because that's not been rectified.

And that's why when Dana was on that radio show, he said, yeah, we've butted heads, professionally, but I have all the respect in the world. And yeah, that's been the case. Like, he doesn't want to ever come out and say it. He doesn't ever want to do that. And maybe that's to his detriment because not everyone knows what, you know, what we know.

It's very inside baseball, so to speak. How else are you going to know unless he comes out and says it? But if you have been sort of paying attention, look at my pre-fight interview with him on Thursday of last week. Look at the way, you know, he talked about the car stat that Dana brought up at the press conference. Go back to the couple of interviews, you know, last January and then he came on again around May or so. He's not happy about his pay. He wants to be treated better. He wants to be compensated better. That's why he took the belt. Enough's enough already. Steve Miotich, the most

dangerous thing about him, so to speak, is that he is ready. I have no doubt that this man will walk away from the sport if he feels like he's not being treated fairly. Like if he has truly had enough, he will go back to being a fireman. You see him on Embedded and Embedded does great wonders for him. Again, I think they actually promote him well on Embedded. Like, he's funny. He's entertaining. I love watching him on Embedded. Like him going around with his friends, the snowblower thing, that's relatable.

That's cool. And then you go out and knock people out. It's amazing. He will go and ride off into the sunset. You know, and he's not the youngest guy in the world. He's around 35. But like, even at his peak, that's a dangerous guy. He doesn't need the fame.

He doesn't care. Clearly doesn't care about it. So he will go. And I think this was a message once and for all, I'm tired of this. I've had enough. So I'm going to give it to the guys who respect me, who value me, who have been there with me. That's what he was doing on Saturday. It really had nothing to do with the promotion, in my opinion.

It may have made it a little worse, but you've got to pay attention to what's been happening leading up to all this. That's the story. That's what happened. And he does deserve more. He just broke a record. Whatever he was asking for last January, he certainly deserves more now. Because since then, he's won two fights. since then he's finished the big bad

scary Francis Aganou and he finished JDS in the first round he certainly deserves more in my opinion and so we'll see what happens there's no clear cut number one guy right there for him we'll see what happens but in my opinion he is the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time he's defeated a murder's row

he's been in them at their primes don't give me this revisionist history BS he's been everyone they put in front of him and he's finished most of them and then he's He outlast Francis Inganu and took his best shots. And again, I bring up the Stefan Struth thing from years back, which now feels like decades ago. But don't forget that Stipei lost to Stefan Struve in England. And this is not taking anything away from Stefan Struv, who is still active in the UFC.

But guys lose that heavyweight. So anyone jumping off, like anyone saying like, oh, you know, the UFC's golden boy, Francis and Gano has been exposed. That is BS. Francis could very well win his next 20 fights in a row. Sure, he has to work on his cardio. And yes, he's only been doing this for five years. years. And yes, he looks like, you know, a fish out of water on the ground. Absolutely. But let's not forget, heavyweight. I mean, just the fact alone that no one successfully defended the title

more than two times going into Saturday night should tell you all that there is to know about the heavyweight division. Do not jump off that bandwagon. Do not jump off that bandwagon. I was so impressed with Francis Ngano last week. I mean, a lot of people got mad at me for asking him about, you know, the Donald Trump story, the immigrant story. I see. still don't understand why. Why does it make you so uncomfortable? This is a story that directly relates to him. He is an immigrant from Africa. I mean, it literally could not relate to him any better. And now he's living in the United States. How is that a crazy question? I don't get it. Just maybe because you didn't like the answer, fine. But you have no problem with Dana White

showing up at the R&C convention or talking about, you know, the Hillary voters. Whatever. I couldn't care less. This is the point that you should have taken away from all of that. whether you like the answer or not. Here's a guy who is just learning now how to speak English. When he first came into the UFC, he could hardly speak English. He's living in the United States. He's fighting in the main event. He has a lot to lose.

He has so many supporters to gain. Here's a guy who's comfortable in the spotlight talking about that, giving you the answer that maybe some of you would not like, but telling you how he truly feels and doing so in a very eloquent way. That said a lot about Francis Ngano, a guy who seems very comfortable in the spotlight, you know, in the main event slot with the cameras on him.

The fact, I thought he would give me like a one line answer, maybe nothing. He spoke for five minutes about this and probably would have gone longer. That says a lot about who he is and how far he's come in a very short amount of time.

Do not write this guy off. He's not So could you. I don't believe that. I saw some people comparing him. So could you. Just because they're from Africa, both of them, it's ridiculous comparison.

This guy, I mean, he was very close to winning that fight in the first round. he'd landed some massive shots. Tepe's just that damn good. He's the greatest heavyweight of all time. Respect him. Pay him.

Francis will be back, though. I have no doubt about that. It was a fun night. UFC 220 in Boston watching Belator at the same time. Belator 192 happened as well in Inglewood. Roy McDonald is finally a champion. He's the welterweight champion in Belator. He defeats Douglas Lima via decision, a close fight,

a gutsy fight. His leg looked mangled. had like a whole separate part sticking out and he's able to overcome that and defeat Lima Chil Sondon wins in the first round of the Beltor heavyweight Grand Prix he defeats Rampage Jackson via decision Aaron Pico looked amazing

winning via body shot Michael Chandler winning as well against Goichiamauchi their first night on the Paramount Network and I thought there was some very good I thought there was some not so good I don't like all the filler the desk just reminds me of the Fox days

and I feel like it's not necessary. It's a lot of filler. I thought they did a good job with the Grand Prix putting it over. I don't love the Grand Prix. You know? I don't love the fact that half the Grand Prix is non-heavyweight.

It just doesn't feel like, you know, like Ryan Bader should be fighting at 205. Chale Sondon should be fighting at 185 or 205. But it's here. So I thought there was some good and some bad on Saturday as well as some good and some bad on the UFC card, some good performances. Calvin Cater with a nice win.

John Valante with a. a win as well, Rob Font with a win. Some nice performances overall. They were going back and forth. It was so weird, like seeing Jimmy Smith on Fox, seeing Big John and Mike Goldberg on Bellator, Jake Glazer on Belator. It was like some kind of bizarre world, right? Abdul Razaka Hassan, Islam Machachev, great knockouts. So all in all, a fun weekend in MMA.

Of course, we also had that press conference on Friday, with Chabib Nirmagamadov and Tony Ferguson, absolutely confusing stuff. I thought it was botched. And we'll talk about that press conference as the show rolls on as well. Give me a minute here. Let me run down the lineup.

I haven't had an opportunity to do that, you know, 45 minutes into the program because we had to get to D.C. fast. So let me quickly run down today's lineup. And then we'll move along to our next guest of the day. At 4.25, we're going to be joined by Jessica Rose Clark to talk about her big win over Paige Van Zent last weekend in St. Louis, Missouri.

and everything that she had to overcome on route to that victory. We'll talk to Brent Primis at 405 on 405 later on today because I'm really curious to hear what he has to say about Michael Chandler, about the belt. I think he's a little bit upset with me. So there's a lot that we have to get to with Brent Primus at 405, the Beltore lightweight champion. 345, we'll talk to the aforementioned Aaron Pico about his big win on Saturday night at Belltor 1092.

We'll talk to Jimmy Manoa at 324. who's returning to action in March in London and ask him about the whole light heavyweight division. Royne McDonald will stop by at 305. I can't wait to talk to him and very appreciative of the fact that he'll be joining us at 305 to talk about becoming a champion finally for the first time in his career.

And by the way, this is the first time, in my opinion, that Bellator can confidently say that they have the best welterweight in the world. This is the first time that they could say that they have the best fighter in a specific weight class ever in their history, right? It's not been a very long, history. It hasn't even been 10 years, approaching 10 years. But this is the first time they could say,

yeah, our champion is better than the UFC's champion. Rory has a win over Tyron Woodley. I still consider him one of the best fighters. And this is by far their best free agent signing. It's the one that's paid off the best. He is the face of Bellator, in my opinion. Did you see that doll? I have to get that toy. What's that company that made that toy of him with the bloody face? That's incredible. That would look really good right over here, like right here, right there. it would look amazing. What a win for Roy McDonald. Very happy for him,

and I really think that they should bring him to Canada next. 245. We'll talk to Paige Van Zent about breaking her arm against Jessica Rose Clark, where she goes from here. 225, the former UFC Strawway champion Yuan of Jacek will stop by.

We'll talk to her about fighting Rosed Namunis in Brooklyn. April 7th. That has been announced as well since we last spoke. That's the co-main event of the Habib Nirmagamagamatov versus Tony Ferguson, undisputed title fight or is it undisputed, I'm still confused. 205, we'll talk to Tony Ferguson about that fight and maybe he can provide some clarity on the

whole situation and the bizarre press conference. And in a matter of moments, we are going to be joined by the aforementioned Chil Sunnan, who was victorious on Saturday night at the Fabulous Forum in Englewood, California. He won the first round and the first fight of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix. I do believe he is joining us now via the magic of Skype. There he is. He's back. J.L. How are you?

What up, Ariel? Congratulations. I am doing well. Thank you. Thank you. Could have happened to a better guy. How are you? I'm doing great. It's crazy. Like last time we spoke, you're about to leave. Now you're back. Victorious. It's an amazing world. It's an amazing sport. It really is. It changes quickly, man. It changes fast. Well, it was a pleasure to watch.

a big victory for you. In hindsight, I couldn't tell. I watched the post-fight press conference. Of course, I wasn't there, and I'm sorry about that. I feel very guilty that I wasn't there. You know, I always love being at your fights, Rampage, Rory. But unfortunately, there's just one of me. I felt like you didn't love the fight.

Like, you weren't all that happy with the fight. Is that, did I miss something? Am I accurate here? You were missed, by the way, and I don't just say that because we're talking. You were brought up a number of times. No, man, I felt great. I am in so much pain. And the soreness you feel after a fighter, after a good battle, it's the best feeling in the world.

You might sit and complain about it, but you feel so accomplished. This is different, man. I am in pain. For 15 minutes, I don't know if he ever touched my face. He touched my body non-stop. My chest hurts. My body hurts. So, no, I was kind of suffering through that press conference a little bit and just trying

to get out of there. And, you know, I was trying to maintain my composure. where really I just wanted to lay down and go, ah, I scream out in some discomfort. So that's what that was. Okay. Now that makes sense. Now, obviously there was the massive weight discrepancy.

You talked last week about myths, about, you know, height and reach advantage. But, I mean, the fact that you're fighting a guy who's weighing like 40 pounds more than you, did you feel that? Did you, like, could you notice? Can you actually, like, feel that difference in the fight? Yeah. Yeah, I did.

You know, I learned a lot of stuff in that fight as far as, you know, progressing through this tournament or, you know, particularly the division, the heavyweights. I got to change some stuff. You know, I need different angles. I blasted him a couple of times. And, you know, with like a double leg, a tackle, and he just stood there. I mean, nothing happened at all.

And it was as hard as I could penetrate. But, you know, when I found some angles, I was able to get him down. It was just totally different. So Randy Couture used to talk about that. I never knew what the hell he meant, but I didn't have to know. I was never at heavyweight. But he was trying to take down guys like Tim Sylvie and Rico Rodriguez. and so I kind of, I learned some stuff about the angles and why that makes a difference.

But yeah, it was different, man. It was a one-off for me. I got a couple of sparring partners that are heavyweight, but only a couple. And they don't even take the sport. You know, they're not there every day. It's not one of those situations. So this was, man, it was unknown waters for me. I was just out there trying.

Last week on the program, you said, like, sometimes you have to remind yourself that you're fighting because you don't have to cut weight. It doesn't feel like your normal fight week. What was it like in the days leading up? up to the fight in California because you're literally cutting nothing, I would imagine. Did it feel off? Did it just not, you know what I mean? Like that, that stress, was it just not there? Yeah, it wasn't there. It did feel off. And I never knew how that was going to go. I was kind of using that as a little bit of an excuse, but I was well aware that, hey, maybe it's a positive.

I don't actually know. I'm going to have to wait until Sunday morning and see how the performance was. Regardless of the outcome, how did I perform? And I thought, I thought, I thought I performed well. I thought I moved my feet well. I only had a couple of things that I was real focused on doing, but moving my feet was one of them staying busy, beating him to the punch, reacting as soon as, you know, he flinched, right. So I only had a couple of things I wanted to do, and I was pretty focused and disciplined about doing them. So, you know, maybe it was a positive. Maybe not having that stress and that burden was a good thing. I don't know if I have a final analysis there, but this is where I'm at. So, you know, there was a lot of

unknowns and a lot of a new thing. As long as I've been in this sport, man, something new, always comes up. Something new that I never thought I was going to do. You know, that's where the experience never helps. I was here guys talk about experience, but for me, it's never the same thing twice. It's just not. Something's different. And that was the difference. That was just something new that I hadn't gone through before. Initially, Rampage said, I want nothing to do with Chale. I don't want to fight another wrestler. And I don't know if that was like gamesmanship on his part. But did you take that into account? Like, I think a lot of people were surprised that you, you strictly almost boxed them the entire round in the first round.

Like a lot of people were like, wow, and you talked in the post-fired press conference of your boxing history. We've seen you do this before, but I think a lot of people were surprised that you went that route. Why did you go that route in the first round? Well, it's always my second choice. I would rather, you know, be on top

and a little bit more comfortable there. And, you know, I would try to tackle a guy, but he was just too big. I didn't even see any open. He's hit. His hands down a little bit. I came in one time. He threw an upper cut. It kind of grayed. me and and I could feel the power even on a grazing shot I could feel the power that I was getting I just didn't see an opening to get in there I just I didn't know how to do it I was looking for it the

whole night I was circling I was looking for it but he would move and uh I don't know it was I had a hard time in there I had a really hard time because of that and then every time he did touch me and you probably couldn't see it like I told my mother this and she's going I don't really know what you're talking about but every time he touched me I mean his power was incredible it was It was just something that I'm largely a middleweight. I've done some fights at light heavy weight, but largely a middleweight. I've never really dealt. I've never dealt with anything like it.

Were you thankful on Saturday that Beltor's main events aren't five rounds? Would that have been problematic for you? Oh, that had never crossed my mind. I suppose I would rather go three rounds than five rounds, you know, candidly. But I don't know that I would care. I've been in plenty of five-round fights. And so, yeah, if you're asking me, do I prefer three? sure.

Okay. After the fight, what do he say to you? Like, right after they said that you were the winner, I saw on television that you guys were talking for a few seconds, he was saying some things. What do he say? Do you remember? Yeah, I couldn't have been a cooler guy. Was the whole time.

Wasn't all the press and everything. I was just waiting for him to turn on me like a pit bull, but he never did. And after the fight, he said, you're a tough mother blank. And he said, you had a great game plan. And then he went over to my coach Clayton and he told him the same thing. He said, I didn't expect him to. to box with me. Great game playing coach.

He was such a gentleman. I don't know if he takes that as a compliment that I say that about him, but he was, and I think a lot of people don't know that about Rampage. I didn't know that side of him. And he only was with me. In fact, I was in the back in right away and King Moe walked in the room. Oh, man, they almost got into it right there. Rampage's team, Tiki had to get in between and hold him back.

And Moe was all by himself. It was Rampage's whole team. They start going at one another. I thought, oh, my God, what's going to happen here? So he wasn't nice to everybody. It's not like some new nice rampage, but it was nice to me. Okay. So then he goes on Twitter afterwards and says that you fought like a BITCHH.

What's up with that? Hey, I think he means that. That's been kind of a dialogue for Rampage. He wants guys to come in. I don't know totally what makes him happy. But one time he did have a fight, he lost it, and it was to Glover to Chera. But he did do the opposite. He said, I got no problem with this fight.

Glover came out. He traded with me. He kicked me. He hurt me. the guy is supposed to do. I got no problem with the way he fought. So he has something there that is sincere and legitimate. I don't fully understand what it is. I'm out there looking to win fights. I don't really know about this other dialogue, but he does have something in a style that he likes and he respects. And I couldn't speak on what it is, but I will have to say he has been

consistent with that message and he's been fair. It's not just the fights he wins that he's okay with. He's okay with losing as long as a guy, you know, fights him in a certain way. Do you think he should keep fighting? Yes, I do think he should. I personally believe from following his career, I don't know him personally all that well. I just have followed his career from the beginning. And I think that 205 pounds forced him into a certain discipline, making that weight class, sacrificing, getting those extra runs in, forced him to get into a different level of shape,

just to burn those calories and get that size off. I think he should consider going back to 205. But he would do fine heavy win him. He did just beat an Olympic champion in Eishi, who maybe hasn't had the best MMA career. But, you know, a real opponent, I wouldn't ride him off at any weight class. But I do think that at 205, he's,

that was probably his best weight. Okay, so as a promoter, what did you think of Saturday night, the pageantry, making you guys come out at the beginning with all the fighters and the jackets and all that? you're about the fight. You have to go through all that. What did you think? Yeah, I was fine with it. I thought, you know, Coker puts on such an amazing show. I can only tell you the electricity of the building. They were pumped. Everything was great there. But as far as the fights going to see, and Aaron Pico, hottest prospect,

toughest teenager, in my opinion, to ever get into MMA. You got Chandler, who, you know, coming off a loss, but I believe is the best fighter, they've got under contract over there. Move for move, skill for skill. I think Chandler is the cream of the curve. off. And then you go look at what Warren McDonald did. Ariel, he was a one-legged man in an ass whipping contest and found a way to come back and win. It was unbelievable. And as far as Lima goes, Errol, told you. Told you, told everybody else. Lima's the real deal. If you can knock Roy McDonald down, that is so rare. If you can go 25 minutes with Rory McDonald, that is so rare. If you can win a round against Rory McDonald, it's so rare.

Lima did them all in one fight. He's as good as the hype. He's not as good as Rory, but we always knew Rory was amazing, but Lima was as good as advertised. Backstage, what's the temperature like? Do people do executives? Do you believe that the gap has never been closer? Bellator, UFC, let's put strike force to that mix. As far as a B league, so to speak, you know, the number two, is there some momentum there? Is there confidence backstage with the new network and this Grand Prix and a guy like Rory

paying off and in some ways now becoming the face of Bellator, if you will? is there a feeling that the gap is closer than ever now? Geez, I've never looked at it in those turns. I need a second to think, you know, don't leave pride out of there. Some people thought pride was number one. I didn't. I thought USC was number one, not pride. But I could just tell you, man, that the buildings are full.

The people are having a great time. The ratings are great. I haven't seen the ratings for this show, but the ratings have very consistently been great. They went head to head with the UFC a couple of times last year. They beat them one of those times. So, you know, they split one and one. I feel like it is. I was a little bit stunned at how many people showed up.

You know, you only have a few metrics you can go off. And you can make your argument all day. But then when you come to LiveGate, live attendance, and you can't argue those numbers. So we have to see what they all come in at, but the forum was packed. You kind of said all the way. Go ahead. I'll add this to your theory. You know, Dana White has always been given such tremendous confidence.

compliments that he's able to build stars. And Coker and other promoters have always had that hanging over them. You know, how do you build these stars? You're great at bringing guys in and keeping them, you know, as marquee names. But how do you build the stars? It's a really rare thing that Dana's been able to do. But Coker has made some real changes. And I think he deserves some credit there.

And I would turn to Aaron Pico as one of those guys where he saw him. He saw him early on. I saw him in high school, got him locked up under contract and brought him. You wouldn't believe the reception that young Aaron Pico got when he, he walked in that arena. And again, it's not my opinion of how much I personally like him or I personally believe in him. The numbers don't lie. And another thing that doesn't lie is the roar of the crowd. I mean, they were really there to see this young phenom. So I think that that's changing too. And I think that's important. I don't think that would be anything, anyone who disagree with.

You know, Dana does have a long history of creating a star. And it's a very hard recipe. And now that's starting to rub off on on Koker a little bit too. So, Yeah, man, the gap is, you know, I'll let you put it in the words you want, but they're good products. Okay. I know you said, you know, you're kind of indifferent on Saturday, but considering how miserable the experience was in terms of fighting a guy that much bigger than you, are you kind of rooting for Fador to beat Frank Mears, so you don't have to fight? I mean, like, Meir looked especially large on Saturday. I know he's, you know, still three months out, but he will be bigger than Fador come April.

He would be bigger if he fought you. Are you rooting for Fador as a result of that? Yeah, boy, boy, did he. No, I'm not rude for either one. I think that I'll be commentating in the fight, so I'll particularly make sure I'm disciplined to stay out of it. But I do agree with your assessment. When I saw Frang Mir in person, I don't know, 270, maybe closer to 28, he was so big.

And that was one thing I thought after I felt rampage. Oh, my gosh, you know, Mir's so big. Maybe I should be cheering for the smaller guy. But I haven't given that a lot of thought. Man, you versus Frater, I mean, that's a fight that dates back almost 10 years. when we were sitting down and you talked about his fake fights and pride, I feel like there's a lot of juice to that one. Like we can really promote,

we could go into the archives for that one. That one gets me excited. I feel like this has been building. This is a dream fight, you versus Fador. I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah, I think Fader could be a dream fight. I mean, I'm just letting the whole thing play out.

They've got alternates in there now. You know, one thing about tournaments, you start looking ahead and you get excited about something. You know, something ends up happening in an MMA. So I'm not there yet, but I appreciate. you're saying that. Was it annoying throughout the week, the questions about the main event switch and all that? The press conference seemed like it was kind of going.

Eve Edwards showing up, you know, going after Coker and stuff like that, a weird scene. What did you make of it all? You got some trouble there, didn't he? Yeah. Yeah, well, I didn't know how to handle it. I mean, I just don't know the answer. Nobody made me privy to it. I found out from Mark Romande.

I had to call him up and say, hey, you put out a tweet on this as is accurate. So I've never known. I've never been told what happened there. I believe that Coker had said at the press conference that it was a network decision. I accepted him at his word. But I didn't know a damn thing about it. So that was the problem. You know, I would never get annoyed with any question.

People can ask whatever they want. But I don't have the answer. And I hate when guys give a political answer where they try to sidestep. You know, they give a whole bunch of words, but they don't mean nothing. That's what I had to do, though. I'm doing it to you right now because I don't know. They said this is when you're walking out. Well, that's what I got to walk out.

How weird is it? Honestly, I mean, we started together on Fox. Remember, Jay Glazer, now he's at Bellator, Jimmy Smith, UFC, Big John, Mike Goldberg. It's like, who could have predicted this when this Fox deal started around, you know, six years ago now? This is complete topsy-turvy. The only one who lost out is me.

I'm the only one who still doesn't have a job on TV. How about that? I'm the one old Ariel got screwed. Yeah, and you're also the richest and most successful. Yeah, right. It's asleep in his own bed every night. So don't shed a tear for Arrow. But I'll tell you this.

I'll tell you this, Arrow. Am I making too much of this? I mean, when they brought in Jay Glazer, you got this Fox deal going on to the UFC. They're hoping to renew, but no one knows. Now, all of a sudden, a meaningful personality from Fox comes over to belt. Am I wrong to take that as a sign of the impending the negotiation? Am I making something out of nothing? I thought that that might be a telling move.

I said, Glazer, Glazer's amazing. It was so great to have him. But he's still a very well-known face at Fox. I don't know. You know what I'm trying to say here. I was shocked. I was absolutely shocked. I'm happy for him.

And I noticed, I mean, especially as you know during the football season, he isn't used as much because he's very busy doing that. You know, he's working on Sundays for football. I was shocked. And honestly, I was taken aback. I was like, wow, this has to be a sign of things. You know, like it doesn't necessarily mean that they're not going to resign. But something is up here that they would let,

lest we forget, I was fired from Fox for going to a press conference, a Bellator press conference. That's it. That's it. And I'm not comparing myself to Jay Glazer. He's got Cloudy's been there for two decades. But to me, that was shocking. Absolutely shocking.

Okay, so you connected those same dots. I don't know if you've talked about it on your show or if you and I are the ones breaking this right now, but I took that as a sign too. And I even asked a couple of people, this has to me something a little more. People brushed it off, well, one's got nothing to do with the other.

No, no, I think it does because I remembered your story as well. And that press conference, your time about ended up to only being about eight miles from your house. Of course you went to it. And you still got that back. I thought, the same thing. I thought, wait a minute, There's more going on here that a bigger story.

You know, MMA fans that are so great on picking up, you know, where there's smoke, there's fire. And nobody said anything publicly. And I personally think this is very telling. Yep, I agree. When are you coming back? Like, what, in a perfect world, when would you like to fight again? Yeah, no, I was told. I was told it was later than I thought.

And now I can't remember what I was told. It might have been August. So they're going to go through the quarter final round and rampage and I out of the go through all the quarterfinals and that will kick the can through mid-May so then give everybody a little breather and come back. So I think I'm back in, you know, that August, September, October, somewhere right in there, some semifinal will be. Now, whether we're both the same night so that we know, you know, you can face the guys off or how that's got. I'm not privy to that at all. I know at one point they wanted to culminate this whole thing within 12 months, which wasn't hard and fast,

but, you know, kind of December of this year, if not January or February of next year. And, and, uh, So that might be a little bit, excuse me, it might be a little bit later. I don't know. But a longer break than I thought. I thought I'd be up in summertime. It looks like maybe end of summer. Is that not really desirable for you? I mean, it's kind of good to go first because you get to, you know, heal up.

But is that longer than you wanted? Yeah, for me personally, I mean, my only resentment in this whole sport is that we only get three fights a year. And I came from a wrestling background. We do five, six matches every single week. And yeah, so some of those breaks are tough. And particularly when, you know, the more you. years you have or maybe a different way to say it is the less years you have left. Yeah, if we can get some competitions in there, I like to build memories. I like to go out and be part of something and

compete. You know, why can? Okay. Last thing for you, Chil, a best free agent signing. I don't like the new thing you're doing. I'm not crazy about the new okays you're throwing out. I'm making statements and you're okay. I feel it's a little bit condescending. What, what, wait, how am I supposed to interpret your okay? How do I interpret that? Is that just you acknowledging the, you're you've heard me say my piece or is that like a dismissal of what I did say? Is that a bad thing? Should I drop that? Okay.

I just don't know how to take it. That's all I'm saying. I feel like you're rushing me off a little. No. It's kind of like a bridge to the next point which has nothing to do with the previous point. So I kind of need something to sort of acknowledge it, but then move on as opposed to just make it seem like it's rapid fire.

All right. Yeah. But I, you know what? Larry David should. I'm getting a Larry David from you. Maybe I'm taking it the wrong way. No, I, listen. I'm a commode.

originally Jew, so we do have something, you know, we do have that in common. And, you know, I will take that to heart. You know what? See, this is the problem. Now I'm going to think about this. For the rest of the show, I'm going to be so self-conscious, I'm going to text you afterwards. I'm going to apologize. You're going to make some kind of joke, but I'm going to think that you were offended. This is my problem. This is my disease, Chale. This is what I have to live with. Okay. Hey, look, can I ask you something, though? Can I ask you something? I didn't get to see the UFC, but I was very interested in Corby's fight. I heard he had no problem at all. Is that accurate? He weathered the early storm. He took the big shots, and then it was like the Rumble fight all over again.

Most interesting thing about Cormier, though, is he says March of 2019, when he turns 40, he's done. There is absolutely no way he fights past that. Do you believe him? Wow. He said that, yeah, I mean, I take a guy at his word, I will tell you historically, and from my own experience, it's easier to save and do. It's a very hard thing to walk away from it. It's a very seductive sport for the entire process, from the gym to the press, to walking out, to competing, to, you know, getting your dreams met with your hand raised or your heartbroken. You know, that's compelling, too, for all the wrong reasons, but it's a rare emotion. You don't get to feel very many times. So I ain't tell you, for me, I wouldn't want to leave anything on the table. I think Daniel's probably the same way. But, with the level of success he's had, yeah. You know, guys that climb a mountain, sometimes they only want to climb it one time,

and he's climbed it several. So I would respect his decision, but it would surprise me. Hey, I got to ask you one more thing. So on steepase fight, also he had no problem. He didn't lose a single round. Is that right?

Did not lose a single round. In fact, one round 10-8, again, weathered the storm. It was terrifying to watch. I thought at times his head would fall off, but he took every punch. He gave out a lot of punches as well, won the first round,

which was the round that he was in, the most amount of danger, but fought the perfect fight. I thought it was a phenomenal performance. I think he's the greatest heavyweight of all time. Yeah, he's certainly in there. Yeah, you know, because I would also argue that Ferdin is in that conversation. He shut Verdum off, I think, in the first round. So I would get that argument.

Isn't there kind of a false narrative going around, though? I heard something about the belt. He wouldn't let Dana put it around him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It appears if this is true that he did that out of some kind of a spite, aren't his feelings hurt for all the wrong reasons? I mean, isn't Danish job to go out there and build up the opponent who's unknown so that they can bring in eyeballs so that Stepe can get a bigger check?

I mean, isn't maybe he looking at that wrong? See, Chil, you just expose yourself clearly. I thought you were a loyal watcher of this program. Clearly, you do not watch the first hour of the show where I debunk this myth. He is not upset about the promotion. He is not upset about Francis. In fact, I feel like they promoted the fight very well and the way they should have promoted the fight.

You know, the big challenger coming in, the destroyer, all that stuff and more. He is upset about the fact that for his first two title fights, he was paid less than the challenger, and they have not rectified. He was paid, yeah, paid less than the challenger. So in Cleveland, Overeem got more. In Dallas, JDS got more.

They have not rectified this. He feels disrespected, and it's continuing. And so he has essentially said, enough is enough. I'm going to roll with my guy. I want my guy to put the belt on me. That's what he's upset about. And I think rightfully so. Oh, okay.

Come on. All right. Well, that is a little bit different. And that's always a tricky spot. Arrow, that conversation is never going to go away. You know, at the end of the day, the way that it works is your contract is your contract. That's a tough spot for the promoter when you try to look at it. Because let me just bring up the other side of it, right?

And I'm always with the boys. You know, sometimes it sounds like I'm with the company. I'm always with the boys. I'm with steepe or whoever the guy is for the locker room. But, you know, when you have a deal, your deal is your deal. We can all agree on that. And then here's what ends up happening, though. When you're steeping, you're just an up and coming and you're doing everything right.

and you're hungry and you want that title shot, the promoter finally gives it to you. Should you succeed and you reach your goal? The promoter wants you to look at it and I go, yeah, I could have given that shot to anybody, but I gave it to you. How about you're grateful for that, but we still have the contract.

Our financial agreement, still our financial agreement, but I gave you this opportunity that you asked me for. For some reason, once the guy gets that opportunity, he's so grateful, but then once he gets that win, he turns the gun back at the promoter, goes, why aren't you doing this for me? And the promoter's going, I already did it for you.

gave you the opportunity you asked for and the money that we both agreed upon. That may make sense to your listener, as I said it, it may even make sense to you, but Ariel in reality, it doesn't. It always is a car that crashes and guys get upset. I don't know how to solve it. I'm not sharing an opinion on who's right here as much as I'm just telling you. I don't know how to solve it, but that always seems to be the problem. It is. And it will be a problem that is around in this sport until the end of time. It's combat sports. Shail, we have to run. I appreciate the time very much. Thank you so much for coming on. Congratulations on the big victory on Saturday.

Excuse me. What? Are you under the impression? Are you under the impression that you ended this interview? Yes, we have to run. Are you under the impression that you decide when Chale P. Chal P decides when he goes. Come home.

The one and only Chal Sondon. Thank you very much to him. And congratulations on the victory. Let's go to the phone lines. Patiently waiting is Tony Ferguson. We've kept him long enough. He is the lightweight champion of the UFC. I think, I'm still confused, maybe he can clear it up for us.

Tony, are you there? Yo, what's going on there? Sorry for keeping you waiting. Chair likes to talk a lot. I was trying to get him out and he just wouldn't stop. Oh, it's good, man. Thanks for having me on the show. Oh, it is a pleasure, man.

I've been wanting to have you on for quite some time, so thank you for doing this. So, Tony, I've got to be honest. I have never seen a press conference like that. I'm confused. I don't know what to call you. And I want to call you something. I just don't know what it is. I don't know what it is.

From your perspective up there? What happened? What was that? You know, let me take a second. First off, Earl, before we don't get sorry, I just want to say thanks to you and my fans. For everybody, I've always wanted to bring the clarity out to the situation and really trying to stand up for what's fair. Not many do. But shit, I mean, trust me.

This whole situation and keep anybody up in there. I mean, it kind of sucks. But I've been excited about this fight for a very long time. I don't want to fight against somebody that doesn't want to fight. I've tried before. but once a fight was decided and my opponent was given, my main focus is on the guy in front of me.

I mean, for me, this is for the real fight, this is for the real belt. I'm the current champ. I might now always be given the respect that I need or given that I should have be. But it's what fuels me and I can't be ignored forever

and I'm going to derail this hype train. I'm going to cut that eagle's wings. Were you told before this press conference that you're the real champion that you're no longer the interim champion, that you're the official, undisputed UFC lightweight champion? As far as what they were told me in the contract, that's what they were telling me.

They were saying, look, you guys are fighting for the undisputed title. That was right before they told me that I was going to fight Cona McGregor. And then just the whole bunch of shit just went down. I was like, you know what? I have management to help me deal with this. But in speculation, what it didn't happen was they offered me a fighter that didn't want to fight. I don't know if it was a contract issue or what it was. But the dude didn't seem interested.

He doesn't seem interested. To the public and to anybody else to defend his belt against the current. number one, seriously, defending interim lightweight champion, but now I'm the champion because he didn't want to defend it. That's defendant vacate, so my campaign actually worked. And so why do you think Dana White didn't just come out and say that? Well, because he's saving it. I don't know. What do you think, Ariel?

Let me ask your opinion. What do you think? What does the media think? I'll tell you what I think. I think that Conner-Megger is a very powerful man. He didn't want to upset him, and that there's still stuff that they need to sort out, and he's trying to hedge, right? He's trying to hedge. He's trying to hedge. trying to say, oh, they're fighting for the undisputed belt, but then we're keeping this guy with the belt, and we're just going to kind of let this slide, and then eventually whoever wins the fight, let's say you win on April 7th, they'll do a champion versus champion, and both of you will have belts, and it'll be a really nice poster. And I just don't think the sport can work

that way. I think that that's really bad for the sport. I didn't like all these interim titles. I think that that was bad, and now we're taking it another step where we're having just two undisputed champions, that's more confusing than ever. And I think you have to make a decision at some point. Now, I think that if I could for a second, this is your time, but I think that they learned a lesson from the Robert Whitaker situation where they made him the official champion from interim champion, you know what I mean? But then he gets injured and now you have to go back to the interim belt. And so I'm kind of okay with it just being sort of like a title fight, but you have to strip the belt if you're going to make it for an undisputed title fight. You can't have two champions come fight night. You just can't. And that's what makes it very confusing to me. Yeah, I might just be just like a glorified award record that night or something like that, you know? But doesn't that bother you? At this point, if I get paid the same and I'm still drawing in my numbers and I have an opponent in front of me, that game that the fans actually want me to go and fight and compete against and showcase my skills, fuck you. Why not?

You know what I mean? Dana White and everybody else are going to keep being the same person. I have a lot of respect for the company. I shared some words with Dana over the holiday saying, hey, fuck it. Look, overall, thank you for giving me a chance. Thank you for bringing me in on the ultimate fighter, and ultimately just give me a job, as I appreciate you, sir. And, you know, trying to build up that relationship with, you know,

the dude that gave me an opportunity on this. But what I see is, like, if you're not, the poster boy, which I'm not, I don't care. I wear half the ship half the time because I know it gets to people. And so once they figure out that I'm that, that creative, and just kind of that kind of a person, they figured out that I made this image the same way that I have

the Connor made his image for people to hate if they like to hate me if they want to boo me because I'm the champion and they don't believe the numbers that I've produced and they believe that you have to talk and it's all about the money fights, this and that, well that's why I call them a casual because they're not really in it for the reason why a lot of people got in it.

They need to go back and mean to watch the Forrest Griffin's and Stephan Bonner fights. They need to watch the Pride Days. The Madge I mean shit, watching that Matt Hughes thing was freaking amazing. But I only It's just crazy. So, I mean, it's just a fighter spirit is something that's different. And money's not everything, man.

Don't make my fucking world around. That's for sure. And I never had anybody else to have to pay for my fucking meal. I've tried to earn my way through this whole entire sport, through thick and thin. And the people that have been there with me is my family. My wife has been there through every single step of the fucking way. And I'm thankful, man. And my circle keeps getting bigger.

And I'm kind of weird about that, but it's cool. Because you heard Steve, man. And Steve did it perfect. These guys, and even DC, I have to say congratulations to D.C. too, because just like champions, this past weekend, what they did was they showed up. They did the preparation. They were probably nervous as far, but what they did was they turned that energy into positive energy. And that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm not going to go in there with negative energy. I'm not going to try to hype this fight up politically or do anything else besides that. I mean, shit, I'm a fans, man. I'm always out there. I'm taking pictures for everybody smiling and always wishing people good luck in their future endeavors. Now, if you don't know me and you think I'm something different than that, then fuck you.

Does it annoy you at all that unless there's some clarity to this situation come April 7th, that you're probably going to have to answer questions about this leading up to the fight? Like, Stipe ADC didn't have to answer those questions. It was very clear who the champ was, what they're fighting for all that. Now it's not. Does that bother you? Yeah, it bothers me. It bothers the shit I mean, straight up.

I mean, wouldn't you? I'm the fucking champion. We don't know if we're fighting for the real belt or not. What the fuck is that? Dana White's telling us one thing on one part of the curtain And on the other side, he's saying, no, Connemagher's the champion Go into your home and there's an interview out there And I love Dana, man, but I'm like, what the fuck, dude?

Am I not the champ or am I am a champ? You know, do you want to hype me up or do you not want to hype me up for this fight? I have a decision, but it's cool. My hands will let that shit. We'll balance that shit out on the side of the Arctic I want to go against Khabi. That's cool. Don't sure.

Just curious, after the press conference, were there any conversations, did you ask him or any of the UFC brass people? like what was that? Why was there no clarity? It was almost like they were kind of embarrassed to ask or the question and they didn't know whether what the fuck was going on. I was kind of like, well, shit, you know, what's going on? Look, I understand that there's business and there's probably big business

that has to do with McGregor, but that has nothing to do with myself or my family. He does not make our world go around. That's what I'm trying to say. I have 10 fights in a row that I have one via my my coaches and my teammates and mine and my families, and not even in that order. So even before that, I've knocked out everybody at 170 pounds. I'm a fight finisher. I'm a fan pleaser. And I go out there and I make people bloody.

I'm the worst nightmare for anybody that steps inside that octagon. And I am the fucking champ. It's only until I started believing in myself and stopped doubting myself because of all this fucking hoopla and hype fucking shit is when you have guys like Steve A and D.C. going in there and doing that shit and putting these motherfuckers away like they should like a champ. And then it's not an an an an innumer. anymore. It's still defender vacate, but it's fucking and still. And I'm still going to be the fucking champ

after I finish the beat. So don't matter what Connemick Nuggets does. And I'll still keep Connam McNuggets. That bitch is full of shit. And so you're saying you were actually offered that fight and he turned it down. He said no. Yeah, management presented me with the opportunity in the contract and they told me the benefits and the negatives

if I were going to sign up for it. And then I was like, well, shit, man, is this bitch can even sign up? They were like, probably not. No, he's too busy or something bullshit, whatever. Not even in their words. But it's just kind of like the whole entire holidays. They were kind of like, I enjoyed them, but I kind of did it because all the shit was going on. So I decided to like kind of like let everybody do the politics and do all that kind of bullshit and let me just fucking fight.

Did they try to make this fight for 219 U versus Khabi? Because all of a sudden it kind of like popped up where guys were saying even D.C., like, hey, Tony, accept the fight. And Khabib was fighting at Sen Barbosa. it was a very weird thing. Did you notice that? I do want to me to fight Kabid since the beginning, man. I understand that. But it's just a bunch of hype, and I don't understand it. I try not to look too much

into it, and I just let my fights do the talking. Like I always have, and I will always continue. I think the most interesting part is everybody forgot that I can translate punches inside that octagon. I don't need a translator for that shit. I get hit for a certain reason.

I want people to use the energy against me, but for Khabib, that bitch is not going to touch me. Not one time. I'm going to dance circles around this kid. I'm going to be hitting him with some nasty

fucking uppercuts. That's going to make them think twice about shooting in on me. And I'm going to hit him with some other things too which is going to fucking cut him up.

Have you ever seen Kibit cut in a fight? No. I don't think so. I'm Mexican. I got some fucking sharp-ass blades on my elbows.

So I'd just better think twice about fucking showing his face in front of me. Special inside that cage. Give me your fucking face. Dude, I'll hit you with my knee. I'm going to leave you

fucking bloody. inside of round one through three. Come after me, Uncle Cui. Fuck it, dude. I'm going to wipe the mat with that hat. That's it. I can't stand this shit. I think of Khabibu going down.

I'm going to derail that high train, and the time is now. So it's key time, man. That's Tony Tiram Tsu time. Let's go. And as far as like the actual athletic challenge is concerned, like forget about the belts or the politics, whatever. Which fight interests you more?

Connor or Habib. like if you had your choice you know just like in front of no one just to test yourself which fight did you like better well I'm faster than Connor and stuff that bitch tried to run away trust me we saw in the cuckuno fight what happened

so honestly I think Khabib is a much more gamer fight besides the besides the hype I have to give the well I don't know I'd like a strikers chance

I mean I'd beat a whole shitload of grapplers and I just been tying them up and submitting them so maybe I'd you know maybe McGregor would be a little bit more game of a fight I don't know they're both bitches to me. They're all full of shit and they have a big-ass hype show that needs to be derailed. So I'm not going to give any of them props. And so, okay, so like, this is the fourth time that we've tried to do this, right?

I mean, and the fans want to see this fight so badly. Is there any doubt in your mind that it won't happen? Like, are you going to mentally prepare for this differently because of what's happened in the past? Well, no. Dana's going to be right there in Kabib's back pocket to make sure that that bitch makes weight and he's going to be right there to make sure that he tries to beat me. and I'm going to be preparing for three to five opponents,

just in case any of that bullshit switch happens, I'm going to make sure that I retain my belt. So, you know how Connor said, bring a fucking army? I'm like, dude, fuck your army. I got something better than that. I'm going to show you guys come UFC 223. How do you feel about fighting him in Brooklyn,

which is a very predominantly Russian area? There's a lot of Russian people live in Brooklyn. Do you have any issue with that? No, it's cool, man. This is Rumble in the Bronx, and I'm Jackie Chan. Let's do this shit. Okay. And by the way, I didn't allow you to answer the question.

Why do you think that they're just not stripping Connor and making you the official champ? Do you have any idea? Money. What do you mean? I don't know. It's the fucking first thing that comes in mind because I'm looking to this shit.

I guarantee you he probably makes a little bit more money than I do and has a little bit more fans than I do, so I'm just guessing that has to do with money. So I don't get too fucks about it. I'm going to keep doing me and I'm going to keep punching people right in the fucking gut and it would be nice to finish Khabiby by a liver shots, wouldn't it?

Why that specifically? Oh, I just want to see him wincing on the paint on the ground where he belongs. A lot was made of his performance against Edson. People blown away, one of the most dominant performances. I asked you about it a little bit on Friday, but were you as impressed as everyone else was? I was impressed that he showed up.

I wasn't impressed that he didn't make championship weight to demonstrate that he could to me. I was impressed that he went three rounds instead of his traditional 10 fights in Russia like he had only for two professional rounds because that's only rounds he had a fight so with his fluffy record and his fluffy hat I had to say I was kind of impressed

that he actually showed up to the mat and I allowed him to actually show up on my mat how about that so he had a decent performance but he didn't leave any blood on it and I finished Edson in the second round all due respect to Edson and he's a hell of a fighter.

But he had a hell of the time trying to take him down. It took me one time, got it done. I mean, it moved on from there. So, Khabib's old news. It's first time. So you weren't all that impressed or maybe not as impressed as everyone else was. Have you been told that if you beat him,

you're getting Connor 100% or at this point, you're not believing any of that? Well, you've got to remember, Ariel. I prepared for this gentleman four times in a row. Well, this is going to be the four times. So I'm not that impressed about him since I was even the first time I stepped eyes on his footage.

Right, right, right. I'm a wrestler. He had the hardest time beating wrestlers, and look at the hard time that he had beating Gleaf and Tebow, who just performed this weekend and just got knocked out. Yep. I finished Tebowl on the first round by a knockout, or submission. Now, Khabib had to go all the rounds,

because he couldn't take him down. Now, this might have been pre-U-U-Sahler or whatever, but I'm talking techniques, man. He looked fucking sloppy. And he looked so beat that he lost that fight. And that is the one fight that he lost in the UFC. So all you fans go back and watch Kabibn Mekhna Mekh Vres versus Glec and watch Tony Ferguson versus Gleason T-Bowl. And you tell me the fucking difference who the champ is.

It does feel like you have a point to prove on April 7th, right? Enough is enough is enough already. You have a chip on your shoulder going into this? I'm going to keep proving my thing what I do. I'm not going to do it for the media. I'm doing for my fans and I'm doing for my family and everybody else and my family and friends that matter the most. I mean, shit, dude, when you put an amount of hours and the amount of fucking gross, about work that I do.

I'm no different than a lot of these fighters out there. But the difference is, is on blue collar. I put my nine to five in. And I take my little small breaks, my little 15 minutes here and there, and I take my little fucking half hour to go eat. But I don't eat. I stay fucking hungry.

I shave that shit for nighttime when I'm really fucking hungry. So the more I starve myself, the more I train my body, I know I can prepare for that fucking insane fucking feeling inside that octagon. And you fans are lucky I do that shit. Straight up, man. And I don't get to.

that much encouragement and that much recognition for it. So you guys better start fucking hype in this fan shit up, man. Seriously. Because I'm getting tired of this shit. And real cuckooey's here. So fucking April 7th, rumble in the Bronx, UFC Brooklyn. Let's fucking go, man.

This fight doesn't need any more hype. This shit's for the real deal. This is what fucking go. And Tony, what happened with your elbow and how is it feeling now? I had a bone fragment inside of it. It fucking sucks. So it was like locking up. which from the last fight with Kevin Lee

my jab I had to kind of elongate it chasing after him after a couple rounds so just I had to get the shit done and how is it now? Is it fully healed? Fucking good man I mean shit how many fights have I had

where I used my elbows so I mean I can only be wool green for so long until I need a tuna you know there's no adamantium in this boy so it's all pure bone. Okay okay so to end off right now we should call it

You're the lightweight champion. In your mind, you're the lightweight champion. Is that the man? I'm trying to get some clarity. Is Tony Ferguson the UFC lightweight champion right now? Or are you fighting for that belt? You saw the C at the name, right? Yeah, I saw the C.

I saw it. They didn't say I see. I see champion. No, it's champion. Okay. We'll see when the rankings come out. There's a theory that has been thrown around that they're going to, if he doesn't accept the fight against the winner by April 7th,

then they'll strip him. Have you heard anything? like that? So, so, so, so, so,

so, so, so Kabeb wins, they're fighting in Russia. Is that what it is? I don't know. Like, seriously,

I'm aware about one fight at time. Okay. I think these bitches worry about, you know, the fighters, they worry about

the next fight that's at hand, which is Kabeb's problem for a long time. And I've known those types of athletes and now he's an athlete and he's a mental head.

And that's, that's where I know I've got on deep. This is chest and that's chest, not checkers in Kibb, trust me,

dude. I know there's a lot of money and all that bullshit, but come on. This is an honest man's fight. Tip your hat, son. Let's fucking put a toe to toe. Oh, I can't wait. Last thing, do you envision a minute? Do you see the way this fight is ending? You've had to think about it and dream about it for so long now. Like three years it's been in the works.

How does this fight play out in your mind? Lever shot. I'm not playing. I'm going to fucking go Mike Tyson on this bitch. You guys used to, hey, go back and watch my old footage, man. Go back and watch my old fights, right? Used to knock people lot of 170 pounds. I've seen Kabib.

I think he was wearing platform shoes when we were over there facing off. That dude has an issue if he's trying to compensate like that. So he's already lost. So I'm going to finish this guy in distinct fashion. I'm not going to try to hurt him too much.

I mean, I think we're past that point of animosity where we needed so much anger to fucking train for this. Hopefully we can have some fun. Be a little bit more lighthearted this camp so nobody gets injured. Please, AKA, don't hurt you fucking boy. Did you guys have no,

course, for that shit, and show up and make some weight. So I know you have the world's best weight cutting guy besides myself, because I'm number fucking one. So, show up, dude. Do your shit. And let's have a good fight. Tony, I can't thank you enough. What a pleasure. I can't wait for April 7th. Thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it. Best of luck in training.

And hopefully we'll talk to you soon. Thanks so much. Okay, sure. All right, there he is. Al-Kukui. Lightweight champion, interim lightweight champion. Who knows? the problem is that like I don't want to talk about this I want to talk believe it or not you may not believe me but I don't want the confusion this fight is so incredible so amazing

talked about for years this is the best that MMA has to offer 25 and no against a guy who's won 10 in a row who just won the interim belt like it's just the best it is one of the best UFC title fights of all time why do we have to harp on this because I want some people clarity. Josh Gross said to me like, think about something else. No, I can't just think about something else.

This is one of the best title fights of all time in one of the best divisions in the UFC, in its heyday, and I don't know what they're fighting for. And I actually do think that the UFC learned the lesson from the Robert Whitaker situation. I really do. They made Robert Whitaker the official champion. He was interim champion, so they took away the interim belt, made him official champion. But then he gets injured. have an interim title again. That's a mess. What they need to do with the interim belt is

once it's time for that guy to fight, you strip, you either do a vacant title. If you have a situation where you can unify the belts, that's ideal. But the GSP situation is somewhat like this one. And then you fight for a vacant belt. So that if Habeb gets injured, if Tony gets injured, you slide another guy and you're still fighting for a belt. But now what they're trying to do is they're trying to hedge. That's the problem. I have people coming up to me and saying like, oh, it's very clear what they're trying to do. It's very obvious what they're trying to do. X, Y, Z, 1, 2, 3, ABC. No, it should just be a title fight or not. That's it. Title fight or not. You can't hedge and then come April 8th, you're promoting champion versus champion. It's unacceptable. I'm not going to allow it. I will not allow it. I will put my foot down.

Okay, I have a feeling we'll talk about this a little more. But that was one of the most confusing press conferences I've ever seen. It was, to me, it was botched from the beginning. Come out. Tell us what's going on, tell us the situation. And if it's a fluid situation and you're planning on doing something in two months, tell us that too. But that wasn't done. That wasn't said. We also found out, by the way, on Friday, that the co-main event in Brooklyn is Rosamma Yunus defending the Straway title for the first time against the former champion, Yuania Jacek. This is a phenomenal fight. This card is incredible. And it certainly makes up for what happened at 208. They are giving back to the Brooklyn fans. And so it is very exciting to talk to the aforementioned Yoniyanja,

Jayek who is now in Florida. There she is. Yawanna Champion is here. Yawanna, how are you? Hi, guys. I'm very good. I'm very good. Got back yesterday.

I did a training, wrestling workout this morning, and I feel amazing. Happy to be back. We're excited. So you're back at ATT. Are you doing anything this time differently than you did leading up to that fight in November because this is your first fight without the belt in a while? Are we changing anything? Sometimes this happens, as you know.

know. Nothing changed. Like before I came here, so many people asked me if I was going to work with ATT or Cattle and Mikey Brown. I said yes and I will say yes. It's the best gym in the world. I feel so great here and I don't see myself training in other places than at ATT in Africa. And what I'm going to change this camp, for sure, it's not. it's the Chinese team and that's it. But I will expect more not only from myself, but from people who are working with me.

When you were on the show after the fight on the Monday after you talked a little bit about the weight cut but you said you didn't want to go into it and then later you did an interview saying that it was really bad. Can you talk about how bad it was now and will you do anything different as far as your nutrition and weight cutting is concerned going into this fight?

man I will like people can people don't believe me you know I I never look for excuses my last camp before UFC 2017 was the best camp in my fighting career and I felt so good and this is what Cattle Cubis said my striking coach I should fight two days before everyone can see my media training and people saw me in shape and I was in shape that the way could kill me and I gave a big interview for Polish media four, five, six weeks after the fight, you know

I didn't want to blame anyone for my for my loss but I did it for myself I had to put dot on eye and I know what happened that night and people can say whatever they want but I know what

happened and I know exactly what happened and I believe in myself, in my team and I got lots of support and what I can say to my real fans that I'm coming for this, but I will get what belongs to me. But, man, I felt so bad. I had to cut 15 pounds in 14 hours.

I did it in 14 hours. I think that perfectly athletes, they couldn't believe that I did that. And I started my weight cut at 5 o'clock PM on Thursday, and I was on weight five minutes before. 11 a.m. on Friday, yeah, so it was a miracle. I was praying to God to for this miracle, you know, and it happened. I took this mentally. I was crying. I was so weak, but I did that because I said to one of the perfecting athletes members, people, I

like, hey, it's a shame for a champion to not make a weight and I did it, you know. I, like, like I said, I think they couldn't believe, but after the way, I had only fluids and I went to bed because I took like two, 15 minutes nap during the weight cut. And the thing is that my legs got numb after I woke up and I said to my doctor, hey, my legs got numb and she was like, oh, nothing to worry about. We're going to hydrate you more and you're going to be fine, but next day I felt the same and that's the most crazy thing.

things, you know, about this, that I took this fight mentally. I wanted to go to the opfagon and I pushed away all the worries and how I fled because I could go to the doctor, get an IV, but I was worried that they were going to cancel my fight and I couldn't make it, I couldn't do that to my friends. And I am a real warrior and people, if they want to believe, they can believe. If not, I would prove them wrong that I'm still the champion, you know. And I paid the ultimate price for someone's mistake. And like I said, now I will expect more not only from myself, but from other people. Because when you are the beginner, everyone wants to cheat on you, you know.

They see potential in you, but they want to use you. When you are in the middle of your fighting, it's the same. So at the top, you think everything is fine. You keep control around and everything. But it's not true. guys keep your eyes open and expect a lot from people

who are working with you so like I said the punches were not hard but she killed me and the fight was over and you know Rosie is a champion I have so much respect to her but

I lost not because I was cocky because I was not cocky or arrogant you know but because of the terrible weight of it and right now I'm happy that I'm healthy, I'm still alive, and I'm looking for one. That's it. Was there any point when you were trying to make the weight that you were afraid for your health, that you were worried?

I was, but, you know, we take the risk. We take the risk. And I can say, I was stupid that I did that. But it's not going to happen anymore. It's not going to happen anymore. Because it's not worth it, you know. People think, people were surprised how I was acting after, after, that fight that I show up, you know, that I was smiling, smiling.

I had a good vacation with my family right after the fight. But man, I'm 100% into this business. I've been doing this for half of my life. And I take this very, it's real for me. But the thing is, it's only part of my life. In a few years, I will stop fighting. I will do other things in my life. And life is too short to worry about mistakes.

you know and I'm looking forward and yeah I'm looking forward you know it's just part of my life you know I'm an athlete right now but in the future I'm going to do other things and I'm looking forward

last thing on the whole weight cutting story will you be working with perfecting athletes for this fight no so what will you do as far as your weight cut will you do it by yourself or with someone else I keep I keep I control my weight I'm looking

I'm still looking for some new team I spoke to some people but I will figure out this week who I will work with for the next fight Okay I was so impressed They were like family

You know I trusted them so much And I paid the ultimate price For someone's mistake And they agree with me We said and talk on Monday after the fight and they agree with me that they did a mistake

but I paid the ultimate price and that's the thing. What's the mistake? Could you tell us what the mistake that they said they made? I don't know. You know what's weird? I was like like this camp. I was 127 on Friday, Saturday week before the

fight so we were planning to be to get me to 125 on Tuesday and my weight went up on Sunday to 1.30 and I couldn't drop to one, I couldn't drop the weight for three, four days. I

did everything what I could and it's theirs mistake. So I started my weight cut with the limit 130 so it was impossible to, like it was almost impossible to make that way, you know. Have you watched the fight?

No. No. Not once. No Do you plan on watching it before the rematch? I don't think so I cannot like Guys that night I couldn't I was not a competitor

I couldn't compete so I cannot Explain this you know I cannot explain I cannot explain I cannot explain this you know When you go to the fight You must be 100% I was not 100% And that's the most crazy thing about this and it was not a sport event for me, you know,

because I was not a competitor that night. I've been so impressed with the way you've handled the loss. Like, I see you, you're holding the Olympic torch, you're smiling, you're everywhere, you're on vacation. I said last week on the show that I wish for myself in the world that we can come back from adversity the way that you're dealing with this, you know, not being champion anymore. Was there ever a time, like quietly, private,

with your family, where you broke down, where you got emotional about losing the belt, about what happened in MSG, or has it been the same way that we've seen you publicly? Not at all. It's real. It's real. You saw the real moments of my life after my last fight.

I turned the page for the same night, you know. I have an amazing thing, great coaches, Cattle Cougies, Mikey Brown, other people from ATT. I've got lots of support, you know. I know that people are focused on the hate, the haters on the bullshit that are talking about me

but you know what? I just met people full of love to me and I've got more support than I got before you know so I'm very happy about that because they knew that it was not a champion that night in the octagon.

Do you miss the belt? Do you miss being a champion? You know, like I said now I'm happy that I'm healthy, I'm still alive and and like physically not but there is something deep inside that you know I will get this belt back and that's it that's it what I can say this belt belongs to me

was there any was there any question about you you know not getting the rematch like was there ever any talks of fighting someone else or was it always going to be an immediate rematch I signed the contract two weeks ago and I was waiting for rows to sign the construct, you know, but, you know, I don't want to wait. I know what happened that night, and I will change that, and this is not going to happen anymore, and I will get this belt back, and there was no other option. And Dana promised me that fight right after my last fight, and I'm very happy. Dana always keeps his words, so I'm very happy.

that I got what they promised me. Did you at all consider 125 for even a second? No, first of all, I must get what belongs to me. Okay. And how about going back to New York? Do you like that, the fact that it's in New York? I like the idea. That's another to me if it's going to be Brooklyn, New York or Dallas again or Sri Lanka, you know.

I don't care about this. I want to put on great performance, great camp, and get this built back. There's a huge Polish community. You remember when you were in my studio, I brought you the donuts from Brooklyn. There's a huge Polish community in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. So I'm assuming you're going to have a lot of fans there.

Of course. I receive so many messages right now. So many people want to come and watch the soul. So I believe that there are in ice going to be packed. By the way, could you tell us how the torch thing happened? I mean, you carry the first female fighter to carry the Olympic. Olympic torch in Poland. There was a huge smile on your face.

How did this come about and what was it like to actually do it? It was a very emotional moment in my life and it was a big honor to carry the Olympic torch a month before the Winter Olympics in Korea in Pyong Chang. So I don't know. It just happened, you know. The process was very long. I heard the first message about me carrying the torch. I received like five, six months before that.

So it was a long way to get there and carry the torch. But it was an amazing experience. Like I said, very emotional moment, different. How long do you actually get to hold it for? Like, how long is that period? Oh, it was like for three, five minutes. Okay. Is it heavy?

Because there were so many people from all of them. Actually, not that heavy. and what's good, we got the torch. I got the torch. Oh, you get to keep it? Yeah. Wow. Where is it in your house?

That's amazing. Yes, it is. Okay. And what is it like back home? How are people treating you now after the fight? You know, sometimes people act like, oh, someone died. They don't know how to react. What's it been like being back home?

Yeah, I think I don't like when someone is trying to like, you know, sit next to me. and like, yeah, like, react like someone died, you know. That's the thing. Like I said, I met people who are full of love, they support me, and that's the good thing, you know, like now the people who are hating on me, I don't care about them, and they hate me because they don't know that I've been doing this for 14 years, that I did 100th war fights in Muay Thai, that I did

I was a champion for two years and eight or nine months that I was about to defend my title for the six time and they don't know this so they should go back and check on my fighting career and then make a comment about you know a long time ago

GSP lost to Matt Sarah and you know it was hard for him to take he reinvented himself and he never lost again in a way do you believe that this could be the greatest thing to ever happen to you, that this will sort of change the way you approach? I know it's going to happen. I know it's going to happen, you know.

Like I said, I got to the top and the work is harder on the top than before. It was harder to stay on the top. But it was a big lesson for me to trust people, but expect more from them, you know. And keep the consequences. How do you think it plays out? Do you see a way that it plays? What do you want to happen? What do you see happening on April 7th?

Me winning the ball. A certain way? No. Me winning the ball. That's it. And I know it's going to happen. This be patient and I will put on great work and I will get this type of. But everyone was super surprised, you know.

Even Rose. and final thing will you do anything different my brain like I said my brain was was not there you know my brain was frozen that night that's it and it was funny thing my coach saw that and he changed the warm up you know he he knew that that something was wrong you know and that's it but I took this you know mentally I wanted to I wanted to give it to people what they came for to MSG that night as far as the other funny thing I always I always I was wanted to talk to Rhonda about how she felt that night before she, that night when she lost to Holy Holm and I was like afraid to ask her, you know, because I was on the, on the winning like way and actually we have one agent and I spoke to him and I told him that my my legs got numb and I felt like a bit groggy or something like this and the funny thing is the Ronda felt the same way. He had a terrible weight cut before Holy Holm and And I would like to sit with her and give them an interview to people and to protect other fighters, you know, younger fighters just to protect them, you know.

There is no price for our health or lives. So we must be serious with this one. Did you end up talking to Ronda? People who. Not yet. Okay. I haven't. But I will.

And the funny thing is that people don't believe that your brain can be. frozen that the weight cut can can change the game you know but it can it can and that's the worst thing you know and this is what happened to me in Ronda we paid the price

for the weight cuts for you know that's the thing this may be it may be tough to answer but they didn't go through the weight cut they didn't understand they don't understand what we have to go through but I one day I will explain to all of them We've seen some bad weight cuts recently.

Could anything be done differently? I know it's hard for you by yourself to answer. What could be done differently? Of course. That night, two days before the fight, day before the fight? Like, you know, so many small mistakes happen because of perfectly athletes. And this is what happened. Like I said, I paid an ultimate price.

I'm not blaming of them. like I said I sat on Monday after the fight and I wanted to work with them you know I wanted to give them a chance other chance but

not anymore nothing what happened I think that I cannot trust them anymore you know I feel bad because we were like a family you know and things changed and now I have to make my life

again in Florida you know that's the thing but I trust them and I still like them as as in people as a human but

I cannot trust them in the business way because you used to live with them right when you were in Florida yeah yeah so what will you do now oh I have an apartment

very close to the gym and the number the owner of ATTs and it's an amazing person he's helping with everything everyone is so kind here. So they know what happened. They know what happened and they want to help me because we are one team. We are

ATT nation. So it's almost like you're starting over again now. Yes. So I'm very happy. I couldn't wait to start this year, you know. I was super set on December 231st because I wanted the New York so so much, you know.

Wow. This is fascinating. I really appreciate you being so open and honest about this, Joanna. Yes, I am. I'm always honest. And like I said, I'm always honest. If people want to believe, they can listen to me. And I, I, I, I, when I gave the interview, I said, only true, I told the truth. Okay. I told the truth. So it's up to you guys, if you want to believe or not. But I know I will get what belongs to me. Is there a chance, you may just do it by yourself the way cut or do you want to have someone with you? You know, I think

I've got lots of experience, but like I said, on this level, you must have someone to help you. Right, okay. Well, I wish you the best, Joanna. Really, I do, and I can't thank you enough for always coming on the show and being so open. It really means a lot.

I'm so happy this fight is happening again for you, and it's a great card. It's a great opportunity and looking forward to seeing you back in action at 100% health. healthy with everything working the way we've seen you in the past. I will. JJ is back. JJ is back.

So I want to thank you to my friends from all of the world for all of the support, all the support. And I will be back for you guys, for all of you. And I want to give people extra power, you know, people who fell. We're falling every day in our lives, but I want to show to them that even you're on the top and you have like big fell. you can stand up and go forward, you know. Well said. Thank you, Yuana. I wish you all the best. I really appreciate him.

We'll talk soon. Good luck. There she is. Ioanna on Jacek. Wow. That was intense. I can't thank her enough for that, for that honesty.

Really incredible. Opening up the way she did, she's always very gracious with her time, always very open to coming on the show and talking, even in her worst moments and you saw it, you know, the Monday after UFC 217, you also

have been, we were just talking about it last week on Rick's picks, right? The way she's handled the loss. That is the way to handle it. She didn't hide from it. She didn't, you know, she didn't make up, you know, some story and then just go away. She was as present, if not even more present than she was

when she was champion. She's holding the torch. She's running with the torch. She's doing all kinds of appearances, just look at her social media, her Instagram, her stories, did not hide for a second. Like, didn't take a week off. You know, sometimes you see that. You put up a post. You take a week off. And everyone handles it differently.

There's no perfect way, but you would have thought that it was all good. Back on the horse, let's keep going. The winning street continues. And of course, she's coming off the loss. Now she gets the rematch against Rose in New York, cross the bridge, in

Brooklyn. There will be some changes. as you heard once again, weight cutting, rearing its ugly head. It is a scary thing. And when you hear her say, my brain froze, that is just unbelievable. It's one thing to feel that way. You know, just in general, you feel sick, but you don't have to go into a cage and fight another human being. That's scary stuff. And, I mean, I can't imagine with all those people watching with so much at stake, your life changes, your pay, your stature, you lose your belt to have to go.

when feeling like that is pretty scary stuff. As she said, she was very close. With the good people over at perfecting athletes, something went wrong. Now you can sort of see that vulnerability in her having to restart things. So it's going to be very interesting to see which you want to shows up.

She seems supremely confident on April 7th. That's UFC 223 in Brooklyn, Barclay Center. What a great card that is shaping up to be. So we were expecting to talk to Paige Van Zend. now, but I actually got a text message from Uriah Faber 14 minutes ago who told me that Paige woke up throwing up this morning and is feeling very, very ill. So we're going to have to reschedule that. So I'm sorry about that.

Paige, not feeling well. Very sorry to hear. Hopefully she's okay. Just booked her a couple days ago on Saturday, to be exact. But some bad news there. She's not feeling well. And we're going to have to reschedule that, which is certainly understandable. bowls. So let me just let us move along. Appreciate Yowana very much for coming on. That was

fascinating stuff. All right. Saturday night, as we said, it was a very busy weekend in MMA. It was a very busy night in MMA with UFC 220 in Biltour 122 in Inglewood. One of the great stories on Saturday unfolded at the forum, a place where many championships have been won. By the Lakers, Kings never won them there, but it is a historic building. If you don't know the fabulous forum in Englewood, that is a historic place. And on Saturday night in Englewood, one of the great fighters in the history of this sport, one of the great fighters in the history of Canadian MMA finally got the goal that he has been looking for for quite some time for around two plus decades at this point. Roy McDonald once fought for the UFC title, it didn't go his way.

He was minutes away from winning that belt. it was the fight of the year. It was one of the great performances of all time, but in somewhat heartbreaking fashion, it didn't go his way. He reinvented himself. He changed promotions. He took a chance. He left the UFC, signed with Bellator,

and historically, that has not worked out. Historically, Belator's free agent signings have not worked out. People just don't seem to enjoy success after leaving the UFC, except Rory McDonald, it seems, because he looked fantastic against Paul Daly. And then on Saturday night against Douglas Lima, the welterweight champion. There was a time where, you know, a moment where it looked dicey, his leg looked completely,

you know, I mean, as he said, it looked like a human was growing out of it. But he was somehow able to dig down deep and overcome that and defeat Douglas Lima. No if answer buts. He is the now undisputed belt away champion and just couldn't be more happy for him. And also very happy that he is on the program right now to talk about all of that. Rory, congratulations on the victory Saturday. night. I know the entire community was happy to see you win that belt. I saw all the tweets rolling in from people in the UFC belt tour all over the MMA world. Just so happy that you

won the belt and very appreciative that you're able to join us this morning. How are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me on. It is a pleasure. So congratulations. A little less than 48 hours later. What's it like being a champion? Having that belt, how does it feel? Well, I'm really happy. You know, it's a dream come true to be a world champ. It's what I said. out for and it's been awesome. Where are you right now, Rory? If you don't mind me asking. I'm still

in L.A. Are you in L.A. because of the leg or was that always the plan? Yeah, I needed to spend a couple more days because my leg was so swollen. So what is the problem with the leg? There was some fear that it was broken, you know, all kinds of things pop in your mind when you see the leg like that.

Do you exactly know what happened? to the leg? It was just a hematoma on on my kind of the side of my shin and it was just swelling from getting kicked. Were you expecting him to attack the leg that much? I knew he was good at leg kicks. I didn't expect the low

leg kicks to be a problem but they were fast and powerful and yeah I wasn't able to able to block them very well. Do you remember at what point in the fight that it started to feel like a problem for you? Like, okay, these are affecting me, this is hurtful? Like, was it midway through the fight

early on in the fight? Do you remember when it started to actually feel like, okay, this is something I need to worry about? After the first one, I knew I didn't want to get hit with another one. Okay. And, yeah, like, in the first round, I was already pretty hurt by them. by the third I was struggling pretty badly with it

I feel like this is a silly question to ask you but was there any point where you thought you couldn't continue yeah a few times went through my head but I just kept pushing through it wow yeah I had to dig deep a few times and just break down some mental barriers and keep pushing have you ever felt that in a fight before

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Any of those, any fight that I've had to endure a lot of punishment and keep going forward, yeah. Your mind always plays tricks on you and wants you to give in. It's just, you know, it's just being disciplined to be able to push through those doubts and anxiety. Was this the worst pain that you felt in a fight, like something that you've had to endure and overcome? come or like the Loller fight some of those other fights are they equal or maybe just kind of different hard to compare hard to compare a physical pain i would say this one is the worst for sure um yeah i would say this one is the worst as far as pain goes are you actually surprised that

you were able to continue like this is your leg we're talking about standing on it you're you're essentially fighting on one leg now are you impressed with the fact that you didn't give up yeah i'm i'm happy that i was able to to push through those barriers, like I said, those aren't easy moments in a fight to get through. So I was happy that I was able to stay focused on the prize and just keep going forward and stay focused on what I had to do regardless of how I was feeling. I had to change things up and a fight, you know, I would have liked to have fought differently, but I had to adjust and the fight went the way it did because of that.

Because of the leg, you have to change things? Yeah, like, I think even, I think it started in the third round or something. I had to switch Southpaw. Maybe it was the fourth round. But, yeah, but no, I definitely, I wish I would have just fought the way I wanted to early on. And I think it would have went a lot better. I think it would have been a more exciting fight for me

and just better as far as my health. But, you know, say love, V. You live and learn. You said afterwards that Douglas Lima, toughest opponent you've ever faced. Why was he the tough? That's a big statement for someone like you who has fought everyone at Welterweight

over the last few years. I mean, every single name possible who's been active over the last few years, you fought him. Why is Douglas Lima the toughest? I think he just came in the most prepared for one. I could just tell by little things he was doing. He was keen to a lot of the things I like to do.

So he gave me a lot of problems for that. I could tell he knew how to stop some of the attacks that I wanted to use. But another reason is he's just powerful everywhere. The guy, whenever he hit me, I felt his power. So that was another issue that, you know, just disrupted some of my game. It's always interesting to hear about like the internal struggle that a fighter goes through and especially in a five-round fight because it can be somewhat of a roller coaster. Are you talking to yourself to try to break through those, you know, those barriers, through the pain and all that?

How do you deal with that and how do you actually overcome that? Absolutely. Your mind's going to a thousand miles an hour and you're thinking, like the thoughts come into your head about giving up and if it's worth it and you know what I mean? Like they all race to your head and you think why you're doing it and all those thoughts in milliseconds. But you know, a couple moments, you know, when I was really serious, you know, when I was really struggling, you know, I just found myself, like, silently in my head, praying to God to give me the strength to, you know, push through these barriers. And, you know, I was able to do it because of that, I think. Have you ever done that before in a fight? Like, to actually pray to God? Have you ever done

that? Um, I don't believe so, no. Wow. Are you a religious person? Uh, yeah, I'm, I'm a Christian. Okay. Yeah, because I, I've just, I've no, I'm religious as well. I just, I've never heard you kind of talk about your religion before. So that stood out for me. So you're actually talking to him. You're actually trying to draw strength. Yes, absolutely. That's fascinating to hear you talk about that. Is this the kind of thing that you don't want to talk to your corner about? Because almost if you say it out, you know, out loud, it becomes more of a reality. Like, did they know, they could see, but did they know how much pain you were in in the fight? Yeah, I'm pretty, like, I try to be as honest as I can with my corner.

So I don't exactly remember our dialogue, but I always keep it pretty straightforward exactly how I'm feeling with them, and they know what's up. They could definitely tell I was struggling with the leg. Did you break your nose in the fight? No. Okay. No other injuries?

No. Okay. That is great news. Was it hard to, enjoy the moment and enjoy the fact that you became a champion because of the pain that you were in? A little bit. It was like a little distracting just because I was in a lot of pain. I'm still not feeling that great. It's pretty sensitive spot on the body. So, you know, you definitely, I'm going to be feeling this for a little while. Are you able to walk right now?

No, I'm on crutches. Okay. How long did they say? say the recovery is for something like that? No idea. I'm confident I'll be walking next week. Do you have to wait for the swelling to go down in order to get on a plane? Well, I'm on the plane at 1 a.m. tonight, so I'm doing my best rest today.

Okay. And you seemed like you were getting emotional afterwards, you know, like once they put the belt around your waist, like, could you, I know you're in pain, but also you're happy probably, and you're emotional and it's been such a journey for you and the highs and lows, like that actual moment where you're finally a champion and they put that belt around your waist, can you even put that into words, what that feels like?

Yeah, I was definitely emotional, you know, especially going through a fight like that for the belt. It was, you know, it was a special moment for me because I got to push those mental barriers to get to, you know, this championship. It was a nice feeling, you know, It was a hard fight. It was a close one.

So it was something I really appreciated and, you know, always remember. Also seemed like for a second like you were kind of waiting to see who won, you know, to hear your name. And then there's that moment of relief where they actually say that you're the champion. Were there any doubts as to whether or not you won the fight? I was very confident that I won the fight. But, you know, whenever it's in, it's a judge's decision, you never know. So, you know, I was just waiting to do the decision before I got ahead of myself.

Mentally, what do you think that would have done to you going through that pain and thinking that you want? And then for whatever reason, you know, judges are screwy, they don't give you the nod. How do you think you would have handled that? I would have been sad. But I would have just kept trucking, you know? I would have just got back on the horse and kept going forward. what's the best thing to come from being champion like I'm sure you got a gazillion text people reaching out moments you know you're you're there with your wife I mean

anything that stood out in the aftermath of finally conquering this mountain finally accomplishing this goal that you've been thinking about anything that stick it that you know that that really like will stick with you I just like I really enjoyed seeing like the people who are who are there for me through thick and thin truly happy. It's nice to see the smiles on their faces and just the expression and how they reacted to it.

It was nice for me to share that with them. I feel like this is the first time in Beltaire's history where they can say, our champion is better than the UFC's champion. Of course, you have the history with Tyrone Woodley, and at times it's debatable, but now they have a guy who beat the UFC champion, who's still one of the very best.

What did they say to you afterwards? what did Scott Coker say to you afterwards? You have given them, you have legitimized them in that division. I think you're the face of Bellator now. They signed you to a deal, and some of their other free agents did not work out. Like, you're the guy who was actually living up to his deal. What were the conversations like behind the scenes? If there were any, because I know you went to the hospital,

were there any discussions with the brass? Well, the only things that they were really saying to me is they were checking in on me a lot. They wanted to make sure I was okay. and, you know, they were congratulating me and telling me, you know, they really appreciate how much heart that I showed, and they really enjoyed the fight and things like that, but nothing to do with anything else. Okay.

Do you feel like you're the best welterweight in the world? Yeah, I do. And you said afterwards, the injury won't sideline me for too long. I should be back soon. honestly how long do you want to take off like when is realistic for you to fight again and defend that title for the first time

I think June is a fair assessment but you never know I just gotta wait and see how this how I feel in the next month I feel like it would be it would be foolish to not have that first title defense in Canada are there any talks of that is there any

anything on the table to have you fight in Canada in your next fight I had heard some people talking that Scott mentioned my first title defense should be in Canada. And I even heard someone say that it was like they were thinking June, July or something. So yeah, it's possible. I haven't spoke to them about it, but I'm sure in the next couple months we'll be discussing that. And what's this new Red King line that you announced? Okay, so I came out with the logo.

It's RK, sends for Red King, and yeah, it's my brand. And Everlast is doing a line of shirts for it. So look for those on Everlast website and things like that coming soon. And then who knows what's going to happen with it. It could branch out from there, depending on how successful it is. And we'll see what happens. But we're just going to, they're doing a collaboration with Everlast, for t-shirts and you know the sky's the limit from we'll just see how it goes.

Congratulations on that. I also saw that you were wearing the hat. I think it's Dash the company and I heard the stock or whatever, however you talk about its value has gone up since you were wearing that on television. Is that accurate? Yeah, I had heard something like that, but I don't know how much if that's from me wearing it. That's all you. I mean. Or if it's going to be more of a subliminal play for the long term, who knows? But I'm very excited

to be working with Dash and hopefully it will be a long-term relationship. This is a first baby step and I'm looking forward to it being a big part of the MMA community

if the network accepts it or accepts it well. You never know. You could be seeing Dash all over Belator all over the fighters. It could be the next wave of income for MMA fighters. So, you know, I feel like a bit of an ambassador in that sense for MMA and cryptocurrency. Before your debut for Beltoor, you said that you kind of took less, but it's like a long play for this fight.

As far as sponsorship goes, for this fight, did you end up making more than you did in your last few UFC fights? because it was a title fight? Yeah, I've made a lot more in my sponsorships in this fight. Okay. One of the things that you came out with that bobble, I don't know if you ever seen my show like in video, but I love the little toys.

The one that was made of you with the like the bloody face is the greatest one in the history of this sport. Who made that? And where can people get that? Because I like I just was staring at it like a little kid who sees like a new toy or something on a commercial or in a magazine. I was so envious of that.

that thing. Who made that and where, if anywhere, can people get that thing? Because it's absolutely amazing. Well, they can't get it yet. Okay. We're talking talks with them that we might do a small line. The only ones they made right now are just gifts. And you were supposed to get one today from what I heard. Really? Yeah. Yeah, I spoke to them. And they, apparently someone was supposed to drop one off to you today. Oh, wow. So, yeah, you'll be getting one. Oh, my God.

That is going right here, right here in the front. I was hoping to see it on your desk, actually. That's why I got the video of you playing right now. Ah. Didn't arrive. Didn't arrive. I'll ask the guys in the back. Wow, that's the best news I heard all day.

Yeah. Yeah, so, but anyway, the company's name is Plastic Cell. Okay. And they have an Instagram, Plastic. Excel and you can find their website on there and they got all kinds of cool figures and stuff and yeah I was I was really impressed with what they did I love the little character and uh it'd be super cool if we figured out some kind of deal to do like a little mini line mini series of uh of it it's phenomenal it's really like it's the best one I've ever seen like round five the old like it's not even close

it's absolutely amazing really it's it's they they they captured your essence perfectly and that look and the blood, the detail, just absolutely amazing. Last thing, I've kept you too long and I know you're not feeling great. I can't thank you enough for doing this, Rory. I really appreciate it. Is it a lock that your first fight, like, you know, now your next fight, I should say, would be a welterweight title defense. You've talked about going up to 185. Is that still something you're considering?

What do you think is next? I have no idea what's next, but yes, I'm still considering 185. I'd like to fight for the title there. But honestly, I think it just comes down to timing and what fits best with the promotion. All right. We'll leave it at that. For now, enjoy the victory, enjoy the belt,

long time coming, very well deserved and earned, and obviously feel better soon, Rory. Again, thank you so much for doing this, and I can't be happier for you. What a great moment on Saturday. I wish I was there in attendance to witness it, but hopefully I'll be at the next one, the first title defense.

Thank you so much. Thanks a lot All right, there he is. Rory MacDonald, the Red King, the new Bellator Walterway champion. How about that? The best free agent signing in Bellator's history.

Is there any doubt the first time that Bellator can actually say that their champion is better than the UFC's champion? Now, like saying things, they can fight again, I'm very well aware of the fact that they can fight again

and Woodley wins that fight. But this is the first time that they could say, look, our guy beat that guy and if he was still in the UFC, he'd either be number one or number two. I mean, there's just no doubt about it. There's just no doubt about it. I don't even know what this is.

What is this text? New York Rick's telling me that it's coming next week, the thingy, the thing he's coming next week? Is that true? That is incredible. The Rory guy. The actual artist is bringing in next week? That guy who created it lives in New York?

Is this what you're saying? the face, the Rory face, the cut up face, the look, like the zombie look on his face, right here? Wow. What news? Makes me feel better about the fact that page canceled on us. So, okay, so someone, what is happening? Okay, so someone is saying that, that I'm, that, actually, that I'm pouring it on a little too thick. No, I disagree. How about that? I disagree. Best free agent signing in Bellator history. and the first time that they can actually say that their champion is better than the UFC's champion. First time.

That's the, I mean, what this person's telling me, I had to go check because I've been talking for two and a half hours. I had to go check the record books, but they're saying, yeah, what about Julia Budd? She beat Amanda Nunes. No, she didn't.

What are you talking about? What are you saying? I don't even understand. Mandaninez knocked around 14 seconds. What are you talking about? enjoy the victory enjoy the evening maybe maybe it's uh what are you talking about this guy keeps telling me julia am i crazy julia bud lost i have to write back i'm sorry this is very she got k-oed in 14 seconds by nunez what are you talking about i mean really

what do you i mean what what have you guys lost your mind what what's next you're going to demote him to the prelims now rory let's not talk about the ludicrous don't get me fired up now about that decision that night that card should have ended with roy mcdonald being carded out that card should have ended with roy mcdonald being carded out with the belt finally overcoming conquering and now you're talking to me about julie mcdonald's being carded out Bud and Amanda Nunes, Amanda Nunes knocked out in 14 seconds. This is a rule to any manager

or any power player in the sport like I did last week with Ali. If you're going to text me some wrong information in the middle of my program, you are getting called out on the program. There's just no if, ands or buts. You are getting called out, especially when you claim that Julia Budd

beat Amanda Nunes when it in fact was that Amanda Nunes knocked around in 14 seconds. Now you get Rory's the man. Go back to that story. Yes, he is the man. Congratulations, Royne McDonald. You are the champion, and it's about damn time that you get a belt and that you can claim that you're the best in the world.

Now, important to say Douglas Lima is a G. Douglas Lima is one of the very best there is. That's why the win is so impressive. And to hear Roy McDonald say that Douglas Lima is the toughest guy that he fought when you consider the fact that Roy McDonald has fought the likes of, you know, Carlos Condit and Robbie Lawler and one of the first. Underboy Thompson, Paul Daly, of course, just recently. I mean, he has literally fought a who's who.

Everyone other than George St. Pierre, you know, in the last five, six years, Tyrone Woodley, of course, you know, like that is an incredible resume that he possesses. And so to hear him say that is amazing and a testament to Douglas Lima. And I have a feeling considering the fact that, you know, Douglas Lima, you know, fights in that welterweight division. It's not the deepest welterweight division. I have a feeling they'll meet again. It seems only right.

Lima has been a fantastic champion for Belator. One fight I'd love to see, by the way, and I hope that they can make it happen, is Ben Askren versus Roy McDonald. How great would that fight be? Can we figure that out once and for all? Can we make that fight happen? What a phenomenal title fight that would be for Belator.

Ben Askron, Roy McDonald, amazing. Could you imagine? Do that one in Toronto, do that one in Vancouver, do that one in Montreal. Let's make it happen. Oh, now they're telling me that they meant to say, Jermaine Durand to me, who Julia Budd did be. Guess what?

Guess what? guess what germane d'randerby isn't a champion in the ufc kidding me come on you you come to the king you better come correct it's wrong with you people all right enough of that great night for belator just a piece of advice like the show doesn't have to be so freaking long why the filler why so much filler why do we have to do like that's the one thing that the UFC does that annoys everyone you don't need so much filler enough with the filler like go to the desk once twice like look at the way Showtime does it. Showtime goes to the desk a couple times. And yes, they don't put on as many fights on the telecast, but it's just too much filler. Let's get on with it. People want to

see fights. They don't want to have to stay up to. I know you want the programming and all that stuff, but they don't want to have to. And by the way, I should say that the idea to not put Rory last, even though I think it was a monumental mistake and, and disrespectful towards Rory and Lima, ended up working out in their favor only because it did not go toe to toe with the Francis Nganu, Stipe Miocchich fight. So they kind of, you know, backdoored into that one. Right? I mean, it didn't go toe to toe to, if it was the main event,

Chale versus Rampage, you know, went toe to toe with Stipe versus Enganu, and I'm assuming a lot less people were watching that. I'm assuming, we'll find out when the ratings come out. So yes, so maybe their grandiose plan ended up working out. I don't think that was the reason why they did it. At least that's not the reason why they said they did it, but it did end up kind of working out in their favor in that regard. Beltor back, by the way, on the Paramount Network this week.

Lorenz Larkin in the main event, I think, in a must-win situation. You talk about free agents working out. It has not worked out for Lorenz thus far, but he could get back on track on Friday. So let's see what happens there with that one. And, of course, the UFC is back on Saturday with the event in Charlotte, the Fox event in Charlotte, which I have some thoughts on that one as well. that's the one headline by Derek Brunson versus Jacerre Soza

A great main event, the rest is a little Much to be desired on that one But we shall see Okay, so In a matter of moments, I do believe we're going to be joined by Jimmy Manoa. Jimmy Manoa is returning to action in March. March 17th, to be exact. He is fighting Jan Blahowitz

And if that sounds familiar, he has a win over Jan Blachowitz beat him via unanimous decision back in April of 2015. Of course, I think Jimmy Manoa is still very much in the mix at 205 even though he is coming off that loss to Volkan Ozedemir. I think that there's not, obviously we've talked about this ad nauseum, not a lot of big time names at 205. So they're probably going to need,

if he has an impressive showing, don't be surprised if his name is back in that mix. And so want to get his thoughts on having to rematch Yan Blahowitz, why he's rematching Jan Blahowitz, the fight on Saturday. Of course, he's coming off the loss to Ozedemir, so he knows Ozdemir, never fought D.C., but it's had a lot of interaction with D.C.

We'll talk about that with him. We'll talk to Aaron Pico at around 345 about his great victory. Now two in one as a professional. He's rebounded very nicely from the loss at MSG last June. And an incredible body shot. Actually landed two. The first one

was just as vicious, kind of the beginning of the end. And then just an absolute, you know, like a missile going through the stomach. So he was victorious on Saturday and also some nice moves. I like the Matador thing that he was doing. That was really cool. I was very impressed with Aaron Pico. He's a youngster, of course, but, you know, he's like a veteran out there and he's chiseled.

They've got something with him. There's no doubt about it. All the hype, you know, sure, it kind of backfired a little bit in June at MSG, but he is certainly paying off. You need those blue chip prospects. need people that you invest in early on. You need to sign people before the UFC gets to them. And Aaron Pico is one of those guys. Brent Primis is going to be joining us at 405. He is the Bell Tour lightweight champion. I think he's a little mad at me these days, but we're going to clear that all up.

We're going to talk about the Michael Chandler win on Saturday against Goichi Amoichi. We're going to talk about Chandler's recent comments about him on this show, on many other shows, press conferences, all that and more, long overdue that we have them on the program. So Brent Primus will join us at 405 and then at 425. We're going to be joined by Jessica Rose Clark, who is now 2 and O in the UFC. She's coming off that victory over Paige Van Zent on Sunday of last week in St. Louis. And you may have heard the story that her house was robbed on the Thursday a fight week, so just three days before the fight. And not only was her house rob, but her cat,

her dear cat Dwight, was killed in the process, which is just absolutely mind-boggling. Like, it's one thing to be a scumbag and to rob someone's house. I mean, that's just the lowest of the lows. Well, but to then go in there and kick a cat to the point where the cat has to be put down, like, what could the cat have possibly done to these disgusting human beings? Really? Like, what was the cat doing to you? It's a cat. It's a house cat. What could he have possibly, like, did he really, like, did, I mean, like, you know, you're talking about like, oh, there's a pit bull there, there's someone attack you, yeah, okay, you're defending yourself, it's a freaking house cat. Did you really have to do that? horrendous. I want to know if they found those people. So we'll be joined by Jessica Rose Clark at 425, then Rick's picks, then your questions and comments. Where's Jimmy Manoa? No Jimmy Manoa? All right. A couple other things while we're waiting for Jimmy Manoa that happened last week. They announced that. Justin Gaci and Dustin Porreier are going to be fighting in April on a Fox show, April 14th location, TBD. Curse where are they going to put that one.

And of course, we wanted to see the Eddie Alvarez versus Dustin Porre fight. That's the fight that we all wanted to see. This is a nice plan B, if you will, but I really wanted to see that Pori Alvarez rematch. Alvarez has one fight left on his contract. He is on the verge of free agency, and it doesn't sound like they have a deal. deal with him just yet. So they went with gay chief of support, which is a phenomenal fight.

Again, I mean, it's as violent as it gets. It's as fun as it gets. There's no doubt that this is going to be a fun fight. Someone's going to sleep, right? I love every time we say someone's going to sleep, someone's getting knocked out, it inevitably goes five rounds. But I just wanted to see a resolution to that Porier-Alvarez

feud, if you will. That's, you know, eight months now. It has been brewing. They had the fight at UFC 211, and we don't have resolution to it. Jeremy Stevens is returning very quickly. He is fighting on February, is it February 25th? Yeah, February 25th in Orlando, Florida.

So now he just fought last Sunday, you'll recall, right? He fought in St. Louis against Dujo Choi. And they were having, you know, they were having a very tough time finding a main event for that card. And they had Y'O. Romero and David Branch sort of, you know, earmarked as the main event. Romero goes off to fight Luke Rockhold now, and so they call upon Jeremy Stevens, and he's fighting Josh Emmett in the main event of UFC on Fox 28. I was looking at the comments for that. That's a great fight, but I don't know if that's a big Fox main event, with all due respect.

We were always told that big Fox main events are either title fights or like number one contender fights. Is that a number one contender fight right now? I don't know. With Brian Ortega there doing his thing. And of course, Sedger's fighting Holloway. So I think that that was a bit of a surprise. They just couldn't find a main event. That's one of the stories of the year. The number of cards, are they going to change that with the new TV deal? Something to watch. So that's what the fans in Orlando are getting on February 25th.

The UFC is back in London on March 17th. One of the fights on that card, Jimmy Manoa versus Jan Blachowitz. By the way, they don't have a main event for that card yet as of today. So we'll see what happens with that one. But happy to be joined right now by the one and only Jimmy Manua. Jimmy, are you there? Hi, Jimmy. Good to talk to you. Thank you for joining us. So there's a lot to talk to you about. First, let me ask you,

are you surprised that you're fighting Jan Blachowitz again? This wasn't really a rematch that was on a lot of people's radars. Yeah, a little bit, a little bit, but that's due to people turning down fights. And I would think, and he's the only one who is the president of a mix of a fight. So, you know, I don't know that he's the only person I've been to a decision with in my career, so I've got to recognize him out. Okay, so that's a little motivation, but, I mean, considering you beat him and not that long ago, is it hard to be motivated for this one

compared to like a new, fresh opponent with maybe a bigger name? No, it's not hard to get motivated because the fight's a fight, and he's a trained athlete, I'm a trained athlete, and he can beat me. So that's my motivation right there, is to win the fight and not get beaten. Is there a chance that you end up as the main event for this card?

Yeah, it's always a chance. There's always a chance. Lending my home town and everything, and I'm a main event in London last year. I think it's a spectacular knockout. And, you know, it's what it is, and I wouldn't mind the main event in it, so we'll see what happens.

Okay, so they've told you there's a possibility that you end up as the main event? I haven't talked but we'll see what happens Okay I was in a minute event I ended up

so what happened the main event is involved me really I just want to put on a great performance

to get and get a win did you watch the fights on Saturday night yeah I did man the fights were great the main event and the main event

were great are you surprised you've been there with Wolkin are you surprised that D.C. to take those punches? No, no.

No, I'm not surprised. DC's got a good chin. And, no, I didn't see punches land flush. Like, flush, like not any knockout punches. I didn't see any knockout punches land. But there were punches that you can't take. So, yeah, I wasn't surprised. Okay.

Did you think that D.C. was going to win that fight going into it? yeah yeah I said that in my pre-fight analysis and everything I said um DC will take him down and DC will wrestle him and hire him out and in the second or third so that's what it did yeah that's almost exactly what happened um definitely

um it was it like what was it like for you to watch the fight knowing that you just fought Volkan and you probably you know if that fight goes differently you're fighting for the belt after everything that happened with John, was it difficult? I wouldn't say it was difficult. I did think that that should have been me, but that's how it goes, you know. I lost the fight, and Vulcan got the fight,

Wauken got the wind, Waukow got the title shot, and he lost the title shot. But I'll tell you what, though, D.C. won't be able to take me down that easy. He won't be able to do all those, all what he did to Volcan now, to me. Because I got better wrestling defense,

I'm better to juice than vulcan. But that's neither here nor there, and we'll see what happens in the future. So I said on Saturday, you know, I feel like you're not a name that we should forget at this point. I feel like an impressive win in March. You're right back in that discussion,

and who knows how Alexander's shoulder heals up. Do you feel the same? Do you feel like an impressive victory over Blahawitz in March on March 17th? To be exact, get to you right back in there? Exactly that. But I'll just keep my thoughts myself. I'm keeping quiet.

I'm focusing on my training, and I want to blast Blackavich out of the oxygen. And then we'll see what happens after that. You know, Alex is next in line for the shot. And, you know, but you never know, you never know what can happen. And I'll probably won the title shot. I'm not thinking about that right now, you know.

Is that because maybe going into the fight at 214, you were thinking about TitleShod too much? Is that a lesson learned from what happened in July? No, no, no, no, never, never. I'm a professional. I always focus on my fight, and so I wasn't thinking about the title shot, fighting, fighting, um, Volcan.

You just got caught? I just got caught. This shit happens in a fight, you know? You can't, you can't ever predict fights, can't ever predict fights and say this is going to happen, you know? That's, uh, not in MMA, maybe the same fucking stuff, I'm not in MMA.

Anything can happen in the autism, and then I got a call. And that was it. How long did it take for you to get over that? Or maybe you're not over it until the fight against Jan happens. I'm still not over it. I'm still not over it. But I don't let it eat at me and everything.

It is what it is. Shit happens, and that's what happens. You know, I've learned from it. I learned not to not to be complacent and the clinch and stuff and that's what it is I use it as a learning curve

for myself do you harp on in the sense like do you watch it a lot do you think about it a lot no no no no I don't think about it a lot in effect how much rain and carry around with my life

never think it hurts to always it hurts it should hurt everyone to lose you know like like like DC says like everyone says, it hurts, it hurts to lose, especially in front of everyone in the work of watching and everything and that.

But I've got my family, I've got those who matter, matter, you know, and that's it. D.C. said earlier today that he's going to retire in around 14 months once he turns 40. Are you really hoping to get him before he goes because you had the back and forth with him for quite some time? is that a goal to try to get him before he retires? How much going this year? I truly believe in myself that I can stop DC in two rounds. I truly believe that at myself. So all it is getting there.

All it is getting in there. I believe I'm one, possibly two, but one more fight away. And that's Blackovich in March. And then we'll see what happened. Why, is there something about DC's game that makes you so confident going up against him? Or is it just about your, you know, your game, you're confident? The short, is a short, fat wrestler. He thinks he can box.

He thinks he can kickbox and everything. It's a short fat wrestler. And that's it. I've got, I've got wrestling defense. I've got good jihitsu, good wrestling defense and everything. He will not be able to stand with me. And that's it. I'm different to Volcan, my striking game.

I'm distant to all these guys these fault in my stricely. I'm patient and I'm devastating knockout power. So, you know, I'm not even, I'm not even going to talk about that. I'm just going to do what I've, like I've always done, just let my fight and do the talking, you know. Knocked out,

Elvincent throwing two rounds. I knocked out Corey Anderson in one round with one punch. And that speaks for itself. You know, I've got a call in. I got caught in my last fight, but I can give it, I can also take it, you know? I have the impression, and correct me if I'm wrong, that at this point, if given the option,

you'd rather fight D.C. than John Jones somewhere down the line. I feel like most people would say John Jones because he's been the champion for so long and never beaten, but there's something about D.C. that you just want to, you just want to beat the guy. Am I off? 100%.

I don't like the guy. Min have got past problems, and past issues and I just don't like the guy and I think he thinks he's above himself he thinks he's better than everyone else

and everything I just don't like his aura and his guy's a great champion he's a great fighter I can't take that away from him but I just don't like his personality and himself and that's it

you know what I don't even know who I'd rather fight at John John's because I'd like to fight John Jones because he's the best ever and that without maybe he's got done

for steroids and PEDs and everything but what he's done in the Oxford he's the best ever so I'd like to

challenge myself like I've always done I always like to challenge myself in fights but I like cherry picking

and picking easy fights and everything I like to challenge and fight the best everything so John Jones is the best so that's why

I'd like to fight him did something happened between I have to be I'm not, I'm not competing. Does something happen between you and D.C. behind the scenes that we don't know about? It started from Buffalo, from Buffalo when he beat a rumble. He started talking shit backstage and everything, and I went for him.

And since then, since then we've had, we've had big issues. And I don't know how to die. The fat wrestler, that prick, as we say in London. The fat prick. Oh, man, now I really want to see this fight. Can we just scrap the Blachowitz fight and just do this? Hey, ask McManad, I'll say, I'm up for it. I'm up for 100%.

And is it... There's a pecking order. He's a champion, in it, so I'll respect that. He's a champion. I'll work my way towards him. To the best of your knowledge, was the fight against you offered to anyone other than Jan Blachowitz for March?

I called for Glover to Shira because he's number three, I'm number four and he's not next to his line for the entire shot. I don't know what he's waiting for or what he's his strategy is, but I don't know. But I called for anyone in the top 10

or top 5 in that. So I called for Glover, he said no, because I've just last, so he came out with some excuse why I do, like me, to think about he doesn't want to come to London or, or, or, or why can't I come to Brazil. I don't mind coming to Brazil.

I don't mind, I don't my travelling. And that, by the London card, I'm on a London card. It makes sense for the number three and number four to give the fans what they want. The fight with me and Glover will be a fucking farm burner. Do you know what?

And that, and that, and that, he's like, and that. And that, he said, he said no. I called for Shogun. Shogun said no. I respect Shogun. And no one else was available.

Everyone else was either fighting or injured. And Blackovich accepted. I'll talk with my team and that and we accepted the fight. And that was it. Yeah, that was it, really. Okay. And will you be training at all in Sweden for this? fight? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've started, I'm starting the camp over in London. I'm just shaking off

the December, the December, a good time, and everything, and I've started camp flying, and everything. I'll have really good results in the last couple of weeks, a few weeks, and everything. I'll be heading out that, Sweden this weekend to do a few weeks over and over in all-stars of the team, come back, and then head back. I'll be doing two trips to Sweden before the fight. Is it, is a decision not enough for this fight? Like, do you have to do something spectacular to get back into that conversation considering how much you want to fight, D.C.? Yeah, I don't want a decision, man.

No, I've had one decision. Out of my 17 wins, I've got 16 knockouts, yeah? And one decision. One decision, and that's black of it. And it was due down to him running. If you watch the fight, it was down to him. him running all the way, all the way, all the for three rounds. I was chasing him,

trying to engage, trying to engage and he was forever fighting backwards and doing this, that and the other. But I feel he's improved since his last fight, got a good jab on him. And I think he's like to do that left kick and stuff and everything. So we're working

on the strategy to put him to sleep. Are you still thinking about boxing, or have you put that on nice for now. That's kind of, I'm still thinking about it, but I've got my fight. David Hayes got his fight against Elue in May, and I've got my fight in March. So after my fight, depending on what happens, and I'll wait for David Hay to have his

fight against Honey Bellew, and then we'll talk again. I know he's definitely interested in it, but. He's kind of died down for now. I think I'm going to be chasing in on the smart fire as well. We'll see what happens with that as well. All right. Well, I wish you the best, Jimmy.

Thanks for doing this. Thanks for coming on. And, of course, good luck on March 17th. Looking forward to it. Thanks very much. All right, there he is. Poster boy, Jimmy Manua, stopping by. Not a fan of D.C.

Here I am at the top of the show saying that universally everyone loves D.C. should love D.C. Short, fat wrestler. prick. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. They've been going back and forth for a while. He mentioned you know, Buffalo, UFC 210. He was in attendance. Remember, Jimmy Manuel flew to Sid Cajside.

And, you know, if John Jones is still out last year, you know, around, you know, April or so, Jimmy Manow was probably getting that title shot. But as it were, Jones is back. Jones fights D.C. Jimmy's put on that card. Remember, he said that he was sort of like an alternate, if you will, if something happened, ends up fighting Volkanos Demir, doesn't go his way, gets knocked out in less than a minute.

Volkan moves on to fight for the belt. Jimmy now has to fight Jan Blachowitz. No doubt in my mind, if Jimmy wins that fight, he would have been the one fighting in Boston on Saturday night. It's a crazy game. It really is. It's crazy how these things go. As of right now, as far as the card in London is concerned, I've heard a lot from the London fans.

They're not happy. But again, you kind of have to have to have patience in the new UFC. We're not dealing with the times where they're booking cards, you know, three, four months in advance. There's just too many cards. And for whatever reason, they're a little slower these days. As I mentioned before the Jimmy Manow interview, the Jeremy Stevens main event for Orlando was just booked last Thursday. And that show is in just a little over a month. Tickets have been on sale for quite some time.

And so you kind of have to look at it as a domino. Like they're kind of doing them in chronological order. So we finally got the Orlando one. We have the pay-per-view for March. Yes, we have April. But there's a few cards in between there, including London, which don't have a main event as of right now. And I've heard from a lot of fans in London who are very upset,

who are very anxious, who feel like the UFC isn't giving them, you know, quality cards. some fights have either been announced or reported like the Jimmy Manuel Yan Blahews fight that has been announced but there's not a ton that really jumps out when you look at the sheet Rustam Chabila versus Cajun Johnson is a solid fight John Phillips finally making his UFC debut

Jack Marshman there's not a ton there though there really isn't but they still have a little less than two months to go so we'll see what happens I know the fans are getting anxious They want Darren Till They want Gunner Nelson

I love that fight I also feel like we can't really hold On to these rules That someone coming off a loss Should not fight someone coming off a win Like I thought the Glover to share I just don't think Glover is there right now at 205 Of course he's coming off a win

So you know he's he's closer to it than Jimmy Mano is I think there's a little more heat Between Jimmy Manuel and Daniel Cormier But I think Glover's Sherr versus Jimmy Mano would have made all the sense in the world. But he fought not that long ago. He fought in mid-December in Winnipeg.

So perhaps that was a little too soon for him. So we'll see what happens with that card. Jimmy Manuel was some strong words there about Daniel Cormier. We'll see if he's able to catch him in the next 14 months or so. Okay, let's move along. Throughout the show, I've been talking about Belator 192. One of the big stories coming out of Belator 192, of course, Aaron Pico, once again, looking phenomenal,

picking up his second pro win. really putting June in his rearview mirror. He continues to look good. This time wins in just 37 seconds. Wins via one of the more brutal body shots that I've ever seen. It truly hurt to watch that. He knocked out Shane Crutchin in the first round, as I said, in just 37 seconds. And he's kind enough to be joining us right now.

Aaron, how are you? I'm doing, Ariel. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Congratulations on your second pro victory. This felt, at least to me like, okay so we know what happened in MSG then we know about the

second fight you finally get that win in September but I felt like there was a little more swagger with this Aaron Pico coming out nothing but a G thing just like strolling into the cage doing your thing and then of course the knockout in 37 seconds like I really felt like this time

like June was nowhere near your mind you were not thinking about like you were just this is this was the real Aaron Pico am I crazy here or is there something to that no no you're correct I was having fun. I'm enjoying my time.

You know, the biggest thing for me, just go out there, have fun, and do what I do. I have all the skills in the world, and I'm enjoying myself. I'm having a blast. Does it feel almost like, okay, now that you got that first win out of the way, like, did you feel a lot more relaxed and confident

and you're able to enjoy the moment? The first time you're trying to get the win in your debut, the second time you're trying to write the wrong. Now you're just having a career. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I felt so good out there, Ariel. I mean, since the walkout, I felt just calm. I saw this.

Okay, this is where I belong. I'm going there. I'm going to do what I do. And just stay focused. Training camp really, really well, working with Antonio and the guys at the body shop. No injuries, nothing. Weight was great. But, yeah, I'm just, I'm having a blast.

I'm enjoying it. After the first one, it was, you know, you had to reevaluate some things. And then, like you said, the second one, it's like, okay, you got to get the win. You have to get the win. And as I got the first one out of the way, I just relax and have a good time. And wrestling is kind of, I always, the first match is always very shaky for me. And I knew once I get past the first match, I'll be fine. So kind of was fighting.

Once I got the first one out of the way, I'm right on track. Was the body shot something that you were specifically looking for with Shane? I knew he was going to be very weak in the stomach. I watched some video on him, and I knew he took some kicks to the body, which he didn't really, really like. So I knew, obviously, he's a lot taller than me. So I knew if I got to the inside and I just let it rip,

he was going to go down. I knew that for 100% I knew it was going to land on him. And it's just a shot that I always do. I walk around the house, I throw left foot to the body. I just constantly shadow boxing. It's just kind of like, It's something I do. So I don't even know how I threw it.

It just landed. Like I said, I do. I'm constantly shadow boxing. People think I'm crazy. I'm in the store shadow boxing, you know. So it was just muscle memory. It happened so fast. It was good, though.

But I knew I was going to land it. There's something very stimulating about the body shot, and I feel like it's underused in MMA as opposed to boxing. You don't see it as much. Do you agree with that? And why do you think that is? Yeah, to me honest with you, I ask myself the same question.

I know in boxing, body shots are very crucial. And I've always, from a very young age, I've always been, none of the ones going to the body. And, you know, it's been a big punch of mine. But I ask myself the same question. I don't know why people don't, a lot of people headhunt a lot. But for me, I like to hit the body, get the guys, you know, their hands low. Because if you, I don't care who you are,

you get hit to the body in the right spot. So for, man. I've been hit to the body, and it's like, man, it's a feeling that's terrible. I'd rather get hit to the head than the body. But I don't know why people don't go to the body. I know in Bockey, it's very important, and I don't think MMA is no different. When you land that, like, could you put into words what it feels like to hit someone in the body and then see them just kind of crumple to the mat?

And you landed one just like a few seconds earlier, and then the finishing blow once again, as you mentioned with the left, what does that feel like to hit that spot and then see another human being go down? It's a great feeling. I knew when I landed the first body shot, I knew he was hurt really, really bad. That's why I didn't go to the ground with him.

I'm like, I know he's just trying to recover. So as soon as he stood up and I hit him with that last one, it's just in fighting. Anytime you can get the job done quick and get out of there, it's a beautiful feeling. So, yeah, I look forward to many more of those. Yeah, it was somewhat comical to watch you land the first body shot. He goes down and then he's saying, like, come to the ground and, like, knowing your background on the ground, you know, like, you're like, wow, this guy's that hurt that he's actually inviting you to the ground, which is also your bread and butter.

Did you, like, did you kind of chuckle at that notion as well? He's inviting me to the ground. He must be really in pain. Yeah, that was a dead giveaway. I knew. this fight before this start they worked a lot on the ground but people were saying

you're not going to the ground but I was like I don't have to you know he's on I know he's clearly hurt I just stand him up and I'm gonna rip at his body again so yeah

I mean I was prepared to even go on the ground but I knew when I landed that first one it hurt him really bad so I was like no I ain't gonna take no chances get up and let me finish this and what was this move that you were doing afterwards

It's like this sort of Matador thing that you, it was incredible. You did it a few times then you did it again. What are we doing here with this move? I'm a big fan of bullfighting. I love bullfighting. I like bullfighting on horses. I'm a big fan of it. So this week I was just watching a lot of bullfighting.

I mean, I don't know. I just knew one thing I really like about it is just these guys fight these bulls and they're just like big beast, you know? And then the Matador's are just so relaxed, you know? They sidestep, they move, and they get the bull tired. Then they go for a very elegant kill. And I feel like that's how fighting should be. You know, you should just be very...

I saw him the Madador. He's a bull. I knew Shane Crutchin. I was thinking, like, he's going to be the bull that's going to come out and he's going to try to, you know, come after me. And I need to just relax, take my time and look for a very, very elegant kill.

And I feel I did. I was just very excited after the fight. Especially being... at the farm with all my friends and family there, and it just, that just flowed. It was natural for me. How many friends and family members were there? Oh, there was a lot.

I had a lot of family. For me, I mean, I've always been, like, traveling the world, competing, doing all kinds of stuff. So I don't really have a lot of family. I can go and watch me because I'm always aware. So to finally be able to be in L.A., I had tons of family there. They were friends all over. It's very different.

I mean, it's very, I loved it being at home, but it's a different type of pressure of fighting at home. It's, you know, everybody from all, like, you know, everybody's coming. It's just, it's a little bit different, but I enjoyed it. I felt right at home at the forum. I've been there a few times for the World Cup for the wrestling because I was part of, part of that. So I knew everything was at.

I felt great. And like I said, I just, I just felt so calm, relaxed. And I knew if I just stuck to the game playing. with Antonio and I, you know, discussed, and it was going to be a great night, which it was. And by the way, have you ever seen bullfighting in person? Yeah, I've been to Spain three times. I've been, one time I went to, I saw a bullfight in Madrid, and then I was in Sevilla, which is like Andalusia, Spain. And I'm going to go back this month, too.

I'm one of my favorite bullfighters is fighting, so I'm going to go watch him. I'm pretty excited about that. His name is able to do so. So if you ever go on YouTube, watch him, he's a bullfighter on a horse, which is actually really crazy to watch. What? What? Yeah, look it up one day.

It's pretty crazy. So I'm going to go watch him, and I like it. Wow, I can't believe you actually know the Maddoer's name, but you're an actual fan of bullfighting. Yeah, I really love bullfighting. It's called Reconnail, which is bullfighting on a horse. They have, like, bullfighting when you're standing, and then there's a guy that does it on horseback,

which is really, really cool to see. You see the way that the move, the horse moves, it droops, the bull out. It's, uh, yeah, it's pretty cool.

I mean, it's, uh, I mean, it's nuts. Wait, wait, I'm watching it right now on YouTube.

You say pretty cool. I think this is the most insane thing I've ever seen in my life. This is absolutely nuts. Are you watching on a horse? Yes. Yes, yes, on a horse.

Yeah. Yeah. The horse, the horse, the horse looks terrified, though. Yeah, I know. I know the same tradition, but yeah, it's pretty crazy. I just like, I mean, I feel, I mean, the bull is like fighting for his life,

but I just like really like the way that the horse moves and the way that the horseman is able to maneuver the horse. I mean, it's pretty crazy. What? You don't feel bad for the bull and the horse watching this? Yeah, I mean, I do, but I mean, like, I don't know. It's been part of history for a very, very long time, but. Yeah, I know. I'm very anxious watching this. Oh, my gosh, Aaron Kiko is so bad.

He likes bull fighting, but I don't know what to say. Have you ever done the running of the Bulls in Pamplona? No, I haven't actually. I've been there during the time. I didn't actually get to see it. But there's like an academy in San Diego that I was looking up. It would be kind of cool just to kind of go against a cafe, like come at you and stuff. I mean, to actually really learn how to do it.

It'd be kind of cool. but I think I'll wait on that. I don't want to get hurt. One day before it's all done, is this a thing you must do? Do you want to actually do this? Yeah, honestly, yeah. I think it would be kind of cool.

I think it would just be cool to do, like, practice. I don't really want to go and have to kill the bull, but I think they have cabs that are, like, raised to fight, and, like, you practice on them would be really, really cool. But to go against a big, big bull, I would rather fight a guy in the cage than have to go against that. I'll just be a fan and watch it from it. watch it from a distance.

Have you ever met Mr. Diego Ventura? No, that would be a dream of mine to meet him, actually. I don't even think, you know, so I am, but I'm like the biggest fan of his. Wow, you have his poster on your wall and stuff? No, but I watch him a lot. I watch, I love horses. I have a Spanish horse and An illusion, so I'm constantly watching the videos, trying to be a better horseman and just trying to learn as much as I can.

And it's a really good with fighting and having my horse. It really keeps it down. Because you can't just think about fighting all the time, which I always do. But I get to go to the stables every day with my horse, relax, and then I get my day started. So it's a good, it's a good little mix for me. Wow. And sorry for harping on this.

It's just so fascinating. Do you have to teach the horse how to do that? Like, is he part of the preparation as well? You can't just jump on a horse and expect him to know what to do when the bulls coming at him, right? Yeah, I mean, there's many, many years. I guess like an athlete, I mean, there's years and years of experience. And you've got to have the right breed. Okay.

Yeah, they're trained to fight bulls. And the breed is actually called the Lucentano, which is a Portuguese breed. And back in the day, they were just bred to fight bulls. And I'm actually kind of curious, too. I'm still trying to figure out as much information as I possibly can. I don't speak Spanish fluently, but I know a few words. So I'm always on YouTube trying to do the translation, trying to learn as much as I can.

Like, how do you teach the horse? But I said, hopefully one day I get to know one of those guys and go see them train. I'd be a dream of mine. So I'm still working at that. Am I crazy or is this the first time that you walked out to nothing but a G-thing? No, I walked out actually in my second flight against Justin Lynn. That was my song.

I really liked that song. And it just keeps me loose. I really like it. And that's going to be my song from now on. Okay, I like when someone sticks to one song, and that becomes your song. I think that's a smart move. Yeah. What are the chances Freddie Roach actually corners you one of these days?

Has that been discussed at all? Yeah, he was actually going to be in my corner this time, but his fighter actually took a fight on the same day, which I totally understand. He's got to go with him, and he fought in New York. York so he wasn't able to make it but for sure fredoes would definitely be in my corner one of these days yes you know some box obviously he's got a good amount of boxes that train there so he's always on the go but for sure in the future you'll definitely be in in my corner could you explain your training

situation because i think for the longest time we considered you an a ka fighter but as you mentioned you're you're you're now training with with ntonia mckee and his crew over there are you are you no longer with i mean clearly you're not with a k a right you're now an official member of that team and if so why aren't you with AK anymore um well I was like a lot of people don't know that I was never with AK my my management of Bob Cook and Dwayne Zinken um it managed a lot of fighters from AK so a lot of people just assume that I'm up at AK I know those guys I'm really good friends with them and every now and then when I'm up north I get a practice in and I've popped in but I live in southern California so I'm with team body shop with Antonio McKee Joey

Davis, Kimbo Slyze Jr. So we got a good team there. We got a really good team there. I feel right at home. Everybody keeps each other accountable. At the end of the day, we just have fun and we work. It's great. Having a leader like Antonio McKee guide us to the top is what we all need. And I can't say it enough. Antonio McKee is a very, very good coach.

I think he's the best coach in MMA. Wow. He's really open-minded when it comes to MMA. He's constantly studying film, trying to figure out how he makes us better fighters. But the thing that makes him so special is that he understands that we all have different styles. I have a way completely different style than AJ. And he's really adept to coaching each individual how they're supposed to, how their style is. And he's a guy that is, I can call him literally.

I can call him any time of the day and he'll be willing to practice. always at practice. That's all he wants to do. And it works well with me. And that's all I want to do is train. So it's a great combination. So he keeps me really relaxed too. I mean, he works hard, but he keeps it nice and relax, have fun. And I mean, I enjoy being there. That's great. Yeah, I've heard some glowing reviews of Antonio McKee, who, you know, I remember, of course, as a fighter not that long ago and seeing what he's done with you. And, of course, his son, Joey Davis, who had a phenomenal win on Saturday, Kimbo Slice

Junior, it's amazing to watch. Not only do you win the impressive body shot 37 seconds, then afterwards you're hanging out with Brooke Hogan. What a life you have, Aaron Pico? Are you friends with Brooke Hogan? Are you guys dating? What's going on over there? No, no, no.

I walked by, and I was with a good friend of mine, Bob Shapiro. I see him all the time. My wild card, he's always there. We train together. He watches my sparring. He introduced me to some people there, and she happened to be there.

and I got a picture with her. So it was a good night. Yeah, there was a lot of L.A. There was a lot of stars there. I know there's a good amount of people there. So it was a fun night. By the way, you're not talking about, like, the famous lawyer, Robert Shapiro, are you?

Yeah. Yeah, Robert Shapiro. Like of O.J. Simpson fame? I'm sorry? Of the O.J. Simpson trial fame? Yeah, yeah. That's your friend? Yeah, I see him all the time at Wildcard.

he's always there. I train with him. He's there with, you know, watching sparring. He's a really, really nice guy. And,

yeah, he's a big, he's, uh, wanted to watch me, watch me fight. Like I said, I see him all the time,

the wild card, so. That's incredible. He's a really, really nice guy. And he's a big fan of, uh, boxing and,

uh, now I'm a man as well. Next time you see Robert Shapiro, uh, you could let him know that after the trial, I was such a huge, um, I was so invested in that trial.

I don't know why I was so fascinated by it. I watched everything. I consumed everything. I was in the eighth grade. After the trial was over, he came to Montreal, which is where I grew up and spoke at a local synagogue,

and I brought the newspaper from the day after the trial was over where it said that OJ was acquitted, and I went up to him and I asked him to sign it for me, and I still have it at my parents' home. Robert Shapiro, the lawyer for O.J. Simpson, now you're just buddies with him,

hanging out at the gym. How crazy is that? So please tell him that many moons ago, I went up to him and that I was a big admirer of his work. Yeah, I will let him know I actually take a picture with him And I was like

Eight years old At a boxing that he was there And then Yeah, I was a big fan of his as well Like And then I showed him Like oh man that's crazy You know

So he's a very, very nice guy He loves boxing He's funny He like you know He trains very very hard At the boxing club It does his rounds And you know

He puts in his work too So it's a great little environment there When do you want to come back You know, I'm healthy. Everything is good. My training is well. My weight. I mean, I'll come back whenever. Honestly, I want to sit down with my team and figure out when I will be back. This fight was said very, very quick. So I have no injuries, no nothing. I love being in training camp. I don't really have a training camp. I don't like to use that term because I'm kind of, I'm always training. So as soon as possible, that's good for me. Time is my friend in the cage, and I need to get as much as I possibly can. and are we staying with the same weight class for now? Yeah, featherweight is perfect for me. I mean, my second fight I was two pounds under. This time I was a pound under.

I mean, I eat very, very well all year around. I mean, I just like to be healthy. It's just obviously this is what I do. So, I mean, I don't have to drop a ton of amount of crazy amount of weight. It's perfect. I feel lean. I feel fast. And I've been at this weight for like four years now because I wrestle about this.

weight. Yeah. Yeah, this is my weight. I feel very, very good at this one. Yeah, you're absolutely chiseled at the weight, so I'm not suggesting. But I know at some point, I mean, you get older. It may get a little tougher, but certainly not the case right now. By the way, you posted a picture on your Instagram, and it was an MMA fighting picture

taken by our own Cynthia Vance of you making with that stance. Is that also the good morning one? Is that also, is that like a nod to the Matador's as well? That face that you're making is phenomenal. What is that? Yeah, just, I know it's funny. I saw a picture.

I was like, man, that's a great picture. But yeah, in the cage, I just felt so, so well. I just felt so confident. I just, like I said, I felt I was a Madador. He was the bull. It was not that I was going to just put him away. I just looked at him. I saw in his eyes.

I was like, this guy is not going to be able to go with me. Once he feels my power, it's going to be a short night for him. But, yeah, I just got to. in my stance. Once that bell rang, I was ready to go. Congratulations again. Great job. It's a lot of fun watching you progress and to see you kind of come into your own here and to come back from what happened in June. You've done everything right and then some. So again, enjoy the victory and looking forward to what's next for you, my man. It's a pleasure to talk to you. It's a pleasure to watch you grow in MMA.

Ariel, I appreciate it. Thank you for having me on. I mean, we're just going to keep getting better and better and, you know, life is good. I'm just going to keep progressing. All right. Thank you, Aaron. All the best. We'll talk to you soon. It was well. Thank you. All right, there he is. Aaron Pico, the definition of a phenom. No one talks about what happened in June anymore, and that's just, you know, a debut that went wrong, but he has rebounded phenomenally well. Two knockouts,

a vicious knockout back in September. Now that body shot, if you haven't seen it, the fight lasted just 37 seconds. He is 21 years young. And again, Phenom, Blue Chip Prospect, all those words. Beltor made an investment in him long before he was ready to make his debut. And now here he is, and it's paying off. And they're starting to build some younger guys. They've had to sign some younger guys a little earlier than they were ready for the big dance, so to speak.

But guys like him, A.J. McKee, of course, Joey Davis, who had a phenomenal, wind at Ruth's of the world, Taro Fortune. These are the guys, the kind of guys that Scott Coker and company built back in the Strike Force days. Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier. Remember the story about Daniel Cormier last week on the program? Kane Velasquez. Before they were ready for

the big time, you get them in your system, so to speak, and then eventually things start to pay off. Aaron Pico, just another example of that. All right, great stuff from Aaron Pico, now. A name that was brought up last week on the show by Scott Coker, was Belator lightweight champion, Brent

Primis. We've been talking about him for quite some time. We've heard Michael Chandler talk about him. And I have a feeling that Mr. Primis isn't the biggest fan of mine. So I want to clear the air with him. I want to finally clear the air with Brent Primus. He is the Bellator Lightway champion. Make no mistake of that. He now joins us via the magical Skype for the first time on this program. There he is. Brent Primis joining us. Brent, how are you? Great, man. Thank you for having me on. You're not happy with me, right? You're not a fan. You're upset. Can we clear the air? Can we fix this? Yeah, for sure. You know, I was just, uh, wasn't happy that, you know, Michael Chandler is on your show a few times just talking a bunch of crap about me and honestly making up lies and, uh, you know, you're not having me on the show to back up my side of the story. I wasn't really too happy about it, but, um, yeah, you know, it is what it is. I'm on the show now, so, you know, it's great. Thank you.

Okay. So let's let's get your side of the story. And, and truth be told, I've wanted to have your side of the story. And I apologize for being late. But I think this is a really good time after Chandler's win. on Saturday night. What is your side of the story? Why didn't Michael Chandler fight you on Saturday night? Why wasn't his first fight after what happened in June you winning the belt at MSG? Why wasn't it an immediate rematch? Why have you not fought and he came back in the cage on Saturday? Give us your side. What happened? Yeah, I'll give you my side and I'll give you the truth. Okay? So like,

so after or before I even fought on Chandler, you know, before we fought, I asked my manager in Bellator if I could take a month or two off not only because I'm having my first baby, so I want to help around the house with my wife and be around for the baby, but I also had a couple injuries that I wanted to heal up. So I asked for two months off, and then about a week or two after our fight, I got a call asking if I want to fight Chandler in October.

And I was really kind of just frustrated with the call because I asked for time. They said I could have the time off. And so I said, no, on October, and I said, can I fight him in December? And they said, okay, you're going to fight him in December. So I started looking up plane tickets, started getting ready for that fight camp. And they said, no, no, hold off on December.

You're going to fight him some other time and we'll let you know the date. And so I was like, okay. And so a couple weeks passed. And then my manager called me and said, Brent, it's on. You're going to be fighting him June. What's the date? In the 26th, you know, next week. I'm supposed to fight him next week.

Okay. And so I started looking at playing at a plane ticket. to go to California to get ready for the training cam and then usually I get the contract the next morning and like six days passed and I was wondering what the heck is going on why don't I have the contract yet and then my manager called me and he's like dude you're not going to believe this but Chandler asked the fight at 170 he doesn't want to fight right now and I was totally blown away I literally was like just crazy because not only that because all the crap that he's been talking and all the controversy and then so man I was blown away and then I 100 didn't think he was

going to be saying my name after that because he just avoided our rematch or whatever and wanted to fight somebody else. And then I hear him saying that I'm running from him and just talking crap about me. Literally, I just am so blown away. I'm so shocked and it's crazy, man. I had no idea what's going on.

Because obviously he didn't fight at 170, right? He fought at 155 on Saturday night. So why didn't, and you were apparently ready, willing to fight this weekend. Why not just have you fight at 155 on Saturday on this big, you know, debut show on the Iron Mountain Network. That is what I'm saying. I am so confused. And not like that. I know Scott Poker came out on the on the, on the show, I think last week or whatever. Yeah, yeah. It was saying that, or Michael Chandler, maternity leave or whatever the hell he's saying. But yeah, man, I asked to fight Chandler December and then they said January. And so I've just been in limbo, man. It's crazy. Like I, you know, if Chandler doesn't want to fight me or if he doesn't want to get to rematch and he wants to have bigger fight, supposedly, then.

So be it, I just, I want to defend this belt and I want to get in there and fight. And if it's Chandler or Pitbull or whoever it is, man, I just, I just want to get in there to fight. I think I should have fought it already. And it kind of sucks that Chandler, you know, he had a fight before me. And he's got a bigger name than me. He's got a bigger platform. And he's been using it well. He's been talking a lot of trash and honestly making up a bunch of crap.

But, man, yeah, I don't know. I'm just waiting for the contract like it had been for months. So just to be very clear, you could have fought last weekend, you were willing to fight this weekend, there's no reason to suggest that you were ducking him or anything like that, right? Oh, 100%. Like, not only that, I mean, I'm the champion. I fight who Bellator tells me to fight, and, you know, if they tell me I'm fighting Michael Chandler, that's who I'm fighting. I just don't understand how people think that I can just not fight who they want me to fight, you know? Like, I'm the champion. I'm going to fight the best guys. I'm going to fight the money fights.

who Bellator wants me to fight. And right now, it sounded like it was Chandler. And, you know, I don't know. Like, it's crazy because I heard I was fighting Chandler. And then I heard he wanted to fight at 170. So then I heard I was fighting Pitbull. And then they said I was going to fight the winner, or either Pitbull or Compost.

And so I was kind of waiting on that. And then I find out that Pitbull is fighting compost. And so it's just crazy, man. Like, I'm sitting, I have a child. And I need to make some money, man. I need to get in a fight. And I'd love to detend this belt. and so it's crazy man so it's been a roller coaster and honestly i would like to just train

and fight and hang out with my family and all the social media bull crap and talking crap and i think it's stupid and i just want to get in there and fight um you are your management sit down with with the bell tour brass and ask them exactly what happened why aren't you fighting on the card last weekend why aren't you fighting this weekend like what is going on here did you did you get any kind of clarity recently man i've been hearing so many things and This is kind of crazy because, like, I've been getting so frustrated with me, not only not, with me not fighting, but with Chandler saying all of this stuff and making up all these lies. And I got really, I got fed up with it. You know, I was getting really upset. And I don't want to get on social media and start talking crap and being a jerk, you know. So I literally, I sat down my wife and I was going to fire my manager that I've been with forever since day one. And I called him two months ago. And it was a really hard thing to do. And I was like, I want my, I want out of my contracts. I'm not happy with things. And he's like, Brent, it's not me.

I promise, Brent, it's not me. And he hung up the phone and I had Bellator calling me within a couple minutes, you know. And they're like, Brent, it's not your manager. It's complicated what's going on right now. We're going to have your fight for you really soon. It should be Wednesday when we have your fight for you. And I was like, okay, okay, fine. And that was literally like two months ago, you know, so,

wow. Man, it's crazy, man. I don't know. I've been waiting and waiting and waiting to defend this belt. And then at the same time, I hear Chandler saying all this things about me. And it's like, it's just, it's just crazy, man. I have no idea what's going on. I've been, I'm not running from Chandler.

There's no way, man. I've been ready and I've been waiting for the damn contract. So are you still with that manager? Yes, I am. And we talked about it. And especially since I talked to Bellator about it and everything. And, you know, I thought that it was maybe just my manager just had, I don't know, I thought it was my manager, you know.

And so I was literally going to fire my manager that I've been with since day one. And we're like, he's my, I mean, we're really good friends, you know. And so it's really hard for me to do. And but obviously I didn't do it because we talked about it. And I talked to Bellator and everything. But, man, it's not me. I don't know what's going on. If Chandler wanted that rematch, we should be fighting next week.

So it doesn't make sense to me. Your manager, by the way, that's Jason House that you're talking about, right? Just for the record? Yeah. Okay. What a strange situation. Did you watch his fight on Saturday? Yeah, yeah, definitely.

what do you think of his performance? I mean, he did great. You know, I mean, Chandler's a beast. I, when he gets steps in that cage, he's a fighter, you know,

he is, but at the same time, I saw some holes in his game that I know that I can capitalize on. And, you know, yeah, like,

I'm excited. After I saw him fight, I actually was excited. I was like, man, I know I can catch this on him. I saw this, I saw this.

And, but it's a fight, man, anything happened in there. And, you know, I'm ready for it. You know,

If he wants to get the rematch, then, you know, let me know and let's do it. But if not, if he wants to have money fights or bigger fights or whatever the hell he's talking about, then so be it. You know, I just want to get in there and fight and make some money for my family. Every fighter dreams of becoming a champion in the best promotion possible that they're fighting in. And you had that opportunity to fight for the belt at Madison Square Garden and you win the belt. And then all of this happens afterwards. And it's kind of a weird ending and blah, blah, blah. in hindsight,

obviously you're happy that you're the champion and stuff comes along with it, but this couldn't have been how you thought it was all going to go down, right? I mean, is this kind of disappointing that your first few months as champion, it's all this drama, and he said, she said stuff?

Oh, 100%, man. It's like, I literally did not think that Chandler rolled his ankle until after the press conference to like one or two o'clock morning. I had no idea that he thought that, you know, I had no idea that everybody thought he rolled his ankle. because in the fight, the first kick, you know,

I heard my man, my cornerman saying he's, something's wrong, his leg's injured. I can't remember if they said it's injured or broken. But I remember thinking, oh, my God, I remember looking at his eyes, and his eyes got so big. And then he, I remember kind of reached down and kind of like, it was shaking his leg

and kind of pounding on the mat. And I was like, oh, my God, I broke his leg. And so that's when I started kind of just attacking his leg. That's all I was kind of focusing on. And literally, I had no idea that he rolled his ankle or that everybody thought that or whatever. You know, This is kind of how they were showing the replay over and over of just him rolling his ankle.

And it is what it is, you know, like it sucks. Like that was my game plan, but it was never to kill the nerve in his leg in one kick and in the fight with one kick. Like that was not it. Honestly, like I've been using that late kick for the last like year, probably a bit longer, but really focusing it on the last year. And Douglas Lima, what he did to Roy McDonald, that's my kick, man. I love that kick. That's what I've been doing to all of my training partners.

And with big, fluffy shin pads on, man. it just takes three of my three four kicks and my training partners are switching stances. They're limping. They're like, oh, don't kick me there anymore, please. You know, like, that's such an effective kick. And Douglas Lima attacked it to a T how I would, how I like to do it. You know, I just, it just sucks with the refs stop the fight and all the controversy. And like you said, man, it sucks for sure.

You know, like you never want to win the belt and wake up the morning and have all this controversy and bull crap. But it is what it is, but I'm ready to defend it and get past all that crap. Do you feel like the Belator champion? I mean, sometimes yes and sometimes no. And it sucks, you know, it really does. But at the same time, like, deep down, I know 100% that my kick stopped that fight and stopped him. And I know Chandler knows that, you know, I 100% know he does.

I saw it in him. And even after the fight, I remember Scott Coper is walking into the cage. And he looked at Michael and Michael had his hands against a cage. And he's like, Michael, what's wrong? What's wrong? Is your leg broken? and Mike's like, yeah, I think my legs broke. So right there, I mean, it tells you, like,

he knows it was from impact from my kick, and I know it was, too, 100%. So, you know, and really, I had so much respect for Michael Chandler. Even, you know, stepping in the cage with that guy was a freaking honor, man. It was like, I've been watching him fight Eddie Alvarez and all these dudes, and it was a true honor

to get in there and fight with him. I was so excited. And, man, I looked up to the guy. He's a beast in that cage, you know? And when he was on your show, after our fight and he's like yeah I just rolled my ankle he hurt himself he didn't do anything I literally just

man I my heart broke I was like dude this guy is not who I thought he was and he's not a true champion and not only that just all the crap he talks about me and man it just sucks you know like I literally have shown him nothing respect even last month I saw him at the photo shoot for Bellator and as bad as I wanted to go up and just slap him

and tell him he's a little shithead I went up to him and said congratulations on you know the baby that's awesome and um that was pretty much all that was said but man i've shown that guy nothing respect and every he every single time he can get on an interview or talk about him he's talking shit you know so whatever it is what it is i'm the champion and uh i'm ready to defend it whoever it is what do he say to you you went up to him you congratulated him did he say anything to you um i think he said thanks man i'll see you the next one and that's all and i was thinking to myself you'll see me the next one the next photo shoot or the next fight

because you, we couldn't fight. Like, what are you talking about? You see me the next one. We should be fighting for our next, yeah, I don't know. It was weird. It was weird. Yeah, I don't know. So you've heard, like, he says little things like maternity leave,

and I don't think that's a mistake when he says that. I mean, like little shots here or there. And you're kind of just in the background, taking it all in. Did you think maybe of going to L.A.? And just being there and being, you know, cage side, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I know that's not really what the champion should do in this case. but you know like you're you're just kind of there taking and I can understand your frustration

I can understand why you'd be mad at me for not having your you know your your side on and and you're you're you're on the show to tell your side of the story all that stuff and more have you have you thought about trying to chase him or like what how do you take like how do you just sit there and take all of this man it's so hard man like I've had my wife I almost tweeted and got on social media and said so many things in my wife like don't do that brand don't do that and like oh okay okay it's just so hard man having somebody talk shit and I and I and and me just sitting in the background, you know, and not only that. Like I said, I don't have the name like Michael Chandler does,

and I don't have the platform to get my voice out like he does. And he did a great job about it, you know. And, man, yeah, it just sucks. But I'm not going to chase him. I'm not going to get all crazy about it. Like I know, like I said, I know what happened in that damn that cage. And so does he. But if he wants to score it out and do it again,

then I am 100%, you know, welcoming the idea. And I mean my coaches already have a great game plan for it, if so. But if not, man, bring on pit bull or compost or any of these guys. I just want to make some money for my family, man. Yeah. It sucks, you know, being once or twice a day and not having a fight lined up. And that's what I'm doing. I'm training at least once or twice a day.

And no matter what. And yeah, just waiting on that call. Fair to say, though, that would be your top choice to fight him again and settle this once and for all? Yeah. I mean, it wasn't, when the fight ended, I did not think that there was any controversy. I was like, man, I just blasted his leg, just having practicing for months, you know. Sure, sure. But since all the controversy and talking all this crap, I'm like, man, if you want to talk all this crap, then let's do it again.

You know, I'm 100% ready to. I've been ready. I thought that we were going to fight. You know, I should be in training camp right now. This should be my last week. I should be in California, you know, right now, ready to fight in this week. So it's frustrating for sure. especially just all the crap he's talking and all the lies.

I just cannot believe it, man. It's mind-blowing. Last thing for you, Brenton, again, thank you for doing this. Great to have you on for the first time. How's fatherhood? It is the best thing in the world. I cannot, can't describe it. He's literally like, man, I leave to go train and I miss him,

and I just cannot wait to get home to him. And he's the coolest little dude ever, man. And, you know, it's one of those things, like, when I, have this next fight, you know, I have to go to California to get ready and I'm going to have to leave my baby and my wife and it's, it sucks. I mean, it makes me want to cry just thinking about it, but it definitely makes me train harder when I'm there and it makes me, and it drives me for sure, but being a father is the best thing, do my little boy is the man, he's growing so fast and his giggles are the coolest little thing in the world for sure. Awesome. That is great to hear.

Congratulations to you and your wife. Hopefully this gets sorted. I think it's a great fight. I think it's a great opportunity for Bellator to have a title fight that people care about. There's a backstory there. So hopefully you guys get the fight and settle this once and for all. I appreciate you doing this, Brett. Again, sorry for taking a while to have you on, but I think this timing is better. In a crazy way, I think this timing is better. So at least I'll say that to make myself feel better.

Good luck, you know, and hopefully this all gets sorted out sooner rather than later for you. Awesome. Thank you so much for having me on, man. I really appreciate it. And yeah, thank you again. All right, there he is. Brent Primis joining us, the Beltor Lightway Champion. The good thing about a confusing feud like all of this,

the story, you get the he said, she said. The good thing is now you have a fight that I think people care about. It's kind of like the Jimmy Rivera-Marlem-Marie's thing. It's just all kind of promotion for the fight. Still don't quite understand why the fight didn't happen last weekend or this weekend based on now the two stories that we've heard. But, alas, especially because Chandler fought at 155, if you fought at 170, then it would make sense.

It's still a bit confusing to me. But now that event is over, and I have an opportunity to have a fight that people care about, a rematch. Maybe you do it in a St. Louis or something. I don't know. But it seems a little silly not to do that fight. Now, and by the way, Scott Koker was on the show last week

and said that the winner of Chandler v. Yamucci would fight premise next. So Chandler wins. Hopefully now we get that fight. All right. Let's move along. Just one guest left, excuse me. And we talked about her last week. She beat Paige Van Zand on Sunday in St. Louis.

But what a story, what a ride, what an emotional roller coaster heading into St. Louis. We're being joined now by Jessica Rose Clark. She's joining us via the Magick of Skype. I do believe. There she is. There's something in my throat, Jessica Rose. What a horrible start to this interview. I apologize. How are you?

You're fine. Hi, I'm good. How are you? I'm doing great. All of a sudden, like something came in my throat. And I feel like I'm going to choke. But it's great to have you on the show. And I know your manager, Danny Rubenstein, giving me a lot of crap for not having you on last week and the week before that. So I'm very happy to have you on. Congratulations on the Victory Over Page.

Thank you. I appreciate that. He actually told me I had to give you a lot of crap today about having page on the same show. But I said I wanted to do that. Guess what? Page canceled. So. Called in sick. Yes.

She called in sick. So how about that? Yeah, Danny getting all upset that both of you were on the program. I said, what do you care? You guys won the fight? What's the big deal? I don't understand. But correct me if I'm wrong.

You guys a little bit upset that she got a lot of attention after. Like maybe going into the fight that's understandable. you know, she's the name, but after the fight, you felt like you were a little slighted, like you weren't getting the respect that you deserved. Is that accurate? To be honest, like, I don't really care. A lot of people were talking about that. Denny has spoken about it. Yeah, like, it was a little bit upsetting, but I kind of already knew that that was going to happen. She's a bigger deal. Like, she's a bigger name than I am, and her fans are crazy, and I always knew that, you know, kind of no matter how it went,

I was going to get overshadowed a little bit. Okay. So you don't feel slighted or disrespected. respected at all. It is what it is. Like, kind of feeling that way is I going to change it. So what does it matter? Okay. And of course, you had a lot on your mind in St. Louis.

So I know you've told the story a few times, but not on this show. So if you don't mind, I just wanted to start before the fight. When did you find out that you had been robbed? On Thursday, so the day before we started cutting weight, my housemate message me. She's like, oh, someone broke into her house an hour ago and destroyed it. She sent me a bunch of videos and, like, there was so much stuff missing. The whole place would be ransacked. And then I guess the cat had been taken to the vet.

So she didn't mention anything about that when I spoke to her. And then she texted me like 10 minutes later and it was like, oh, they also kicked the cat. The cat had to be put down. So it was a pretty horrific day. I can't imagine. How long did you have, and the cat's name was Dwight, right? Dwight, yeah. How long did you have Dwight for?

He was at a year old. He'd been... Well, he'd been living there. So that was three of us living in the house. We had two cats. Dwight had been there for, I think, four or five months. Yeah, he was like a part of the family, for sure. Yeah.

I just can't imagine. I said this at the top of the show. Like, it's one thing to be a scumbag and rob someone. But why, like a cat, like, the cat's doing nothing probably. He's probably hiding and scared. Like, I know you can't answer this question. It just blows my mind that someone would do that. Yeah, that was like, that was the hard.

part of it, you know, because all the stuff, like, some of it can't be replaced. Like, they stole my UFC debut gloves and a bunch of stuff from my first flight, which I'm upset about and some jewelry that's been a lot to me. But at the end of the day, like, that's just stuff. But that cat, like, he would have been trying to talk to him, you know? He was so friendly. He would have been, like, talking to him. And then who does that?

Yeah, horrible. Did you live in a, I don't know, like, in a bad part of town? Or, like, is this, like, a thing that's happened? Sometimes these things happen, you know, in, in, you know, in, and, in, you know, in, you know, in twos or threes? Like, had you heard of any burglaries recently? Not in our neighborhood. Like, we lived in a pretty good neighborhood,

but I guess, like, there's nothing to rob in the bad ones, you know? So it makes sense that that attack where we live, because it's full of big three, four bedroom houses and like nice cars around and everything like that. But apparently there has been a spate of home invasions

in January and Vegas, so could have been the same people. We don't know. They got a bunch of fingerprints and stuff, but, like, That's what we know so far. Did you consider going back home after finding out about that? To Australia? No, no, no, no. Back home to Vegas.

Like, like, because your cat, not in Australia, to Vegas. Like, sorry, I know that's your real home or your original home. But did you think going back home back to Vegas after you heard about it? Like, did you think about pulling out of the fight? Oh, God, no, no, no. Like, that wouldn't have made any sense because then I wouldn't have made any money and I couldn't replace anything or move, you know? So I knew I was going to move in a few weeks after that fight.

I needed that money so that I could do that anyway. Okay. As you're about to cut weight, I mean, cutting weight is sometimes an emotional thing. Like, what was going on up here? You find out this news, not only the burglary, but the cat, and now you're about to cut weight and you're fighting in the biggest fight of your career. How are you processing all of this? Yeah, I just try to take each kind of minute and hour as it came, you know, like Danny

and my coach would message we were both talking to me a lot going, you know, try not to think about it, trying not to think about it, like we've still got a job to do. Like, no, no, no, I'm cool. Like, I'll worry about it when I get back. And then when the weight cuts started,

it was like hours and hours sitting in a bath tub, you know, like, what else do you think about? And then, but I still like, I still didn't feel that affected by it, but then when I actually went to fight, like, it's like all of it just came rushing to me in that exact inopportune moment. at any point did you break down

did you get super emotional about it or were you able to kind of put it aside up until the fight as you just said I didn't get emotional until afterwards but like literally as soon as the fight was done like I well I had to go

kind of be alone for a little while because yeah I just I had a real hard time with it afterwards do you think it affected your performance at all I mean you got the win but do you think you would have fought even better had it not been on your mind oh 100% like I don't know

I don't know if you've seen when they announced me as a winner, but I was super disappointed. And, you know, like, that should have been one of the happiest moments of my life. But I just, I felt like I could have done so much more, but I just didn't. Like, I know that winning is what matters. But at the same time, like, there's so much stuff that I've been working on and so much stuff that I know I'm capable of doing. And I just, my body just didn't want to respond the way that I was trying to tell it to. So, I mean, have you watched the fight since? Yeah, yeah.

And I'm not as disappointed with it since watching. it but still like that's not that's not my fight started just grind on people you know like I like to strike and I just yeah it's just I don't know I don't know I'll never be completely okay with it okay um could you tell that her arm was broken at any point in the fight no not at all so like people keep saying to me like you know I can't believe you didn't you couldn't even finish her when she had a broken arm and it's obvious when she broke her arm like it wasn't obvious at all like I could not see I didn't notice that she wasn't the wrong right because all she was doing with those

goddamn switch kicks, you know, like she'd barely been throwing at the start. So, like, she did nothing different. Right. Knowing that she broke her arm, did you get, I mean, like, Paige is somewhat of a polarizing figure in the sport. I'm sure you know that. She gets a lot of attention.

People don't think she deserves the attention back and forth. Do you have a little more respect for her knowing that she fought with a broken arm? No, God, no. I don't, I don't know it. I don't have any more respect or any less respect for it than I did before. We thought, you know, I've spoken three words to her in my entire life. I think that her breaking her arm gives her a good reason to not win, you know?

Like, I don't know. It is what it is. Okay. What were those three words that you spoke to her? I'm pretty sure it was just, thank you. She was like, she came up to me when we were in the cage and she was like, oh, I broke my arm on your head. I'm like, okay, cool. thanks that was it

I don't know what do you say to that like sorry do you feel like she has been promoting the broken arm too much to sort of give an excuse for the performance does that bother you no not at all like I honestly like there's nothing that she's done or she said that I could be upset about or have an issue with

it's her crazy fans that talk a lot more trash than what she does what do you mean if I had a broken arm in a fight like I'd be talking about it too. So her fans are coming after you? Dude, they're crazy. The fans, it's crazy.

What? What are they saying? Yeah, the fans are. It's like a cold. It's insane. But like I've had hate, I've never had hate messages before ever,

ever. Even when like, I used to get real drunk and talk trash on Twitter all the time, you know, and no one would even send me trash messages then. But since this fight, like, I get so much.

hate. Really? Comment on everything. People send me personal messages. What are they saying? What's the worst kind of stuff? What are they saying to you?

How could, like, what could there be set? Like, you won the fight? What could they be saying? Just, like, just that I'm a shit fighter and that, you know, if we rematch, things would go differently. And that the only way, the only reason I won was because she broke her arm and how much of a warrior she is and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's just the same thing over and over again.

Okay. This is, this is via, like, social media. Twitter, stuff like that? Yeah. Yeah. Is it maybe it's time to stop reading that?

Actually, on everything. I usually screenshot it and just repost it. Oh, really? I'll see what shit people are talking.

Yeah. Is there something to be said, though, like the more you do that, the more people want to talk smack, so it just invites more of it? I've thought about that. And I kind of like,

I only did it for a couple of days and then I stopped. I got bored of it. You know, and people have kind of, it started off now as well, because I think like, the less I engage,

I think it's pretty funny. Some of the stuff that people write is pretty funny, but the less I engage, the less they actually keep talking, you know, but for some reason, like, people were upset that I was posting photos from the fight that I want, you know, like every time someone would get on there

and go, I can't believe you're being so disrespectful, posting this photo. You haven't even said thank you to her. You haven't respected her for being in the fight with you. You know, I'm like, man, I said thank you to her personally in the cage. Like, that should be what matters, not be putting it on social media. It's ridiculous.

Wow. Jeez. Like you win the fight. Most, you know, important fight of your life, biggest stage. You said you got emotional. That's when it kind of hit you. And then you come home to a house that's been burglarized and no cab. What was that? Like now the reality sets in, right? Yeah. That sucks, man. That birthday was the worst. I didn't sleep at all after the fight.

I got back to Vegas and I walked into my house and saw there was so much stuff missing. But at least like the house was clean. And then I walked into my room and it was just destroyed. And then I like realized how much stuff it then taken like all my training clothes, all my shoes, all my UFC gear, like cameras. They took my bedding, like everything. And then, yeah, and then I was like, so I was supposed to move at the end of this month. And then I called the guy whose apartment I was moving into and I said, hey, I want to move today. Like, I can't, I'm going to get anxiety if I sleep in this house.

You know, like, I don't feel comfortable being here. And he's like, okay, cool, come pick up the key. So I went to go get in my car and my car wouldn't start. And then because I have, like, remote that keyless entry and I don't have a normal key. I had to go to Cadillac to get a key made and then come back. And then my battery was flat. It was just, the whole day was just dramatic. And I was hungry and I was tired.

And I just wanted to go to sleep. And yeah, it was, but I'm glad like I moved now and I feel a lot better, but that Monday was bad, you know. Wow. So that Monday that you came home, you actually moved. Yeah, straight away. Wow. Like that night, I was in the new place. I didn't even have a bed in the new place.

I was sleeping. I'll be sleeping on the couch. Thank God you had this other place. I mean, because it is a little uncomfortable to then just stay in the same place, right? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Even though, like, the old house, like we put security cameras and everything in their new. hour. But still, like, just, just, I've got nothing there. They took everything. Like, they took everything our own. It was just an empty trash bedroom. Wow. How long have you been in

Vegas for? About a year and a half. Okay. Does this make you want to just go back home to Australia? Screw America, screw Vegas. This is too much to handle. No, no. I love Vegas. Like, Vegas has made a lot of things possible for me that I couldn't do back home. So something like this isn't going to me want to leave. It just made me move into a more secure apartment and get a dog. Right. Oh, so now you got the dog. I was going to ask you if you were going to get another cat. Yeah. I got a dog and I got a cat. Already? In the last seven days? Yeah. Wow. Yeah, because someone, well, so I was already going to get a dog anyway for like to have as a buddy because I knew I was moving in by myself. And then a friend of mine was like, hey, we're about to take this cat to the pound. Do you want her?

Okay, cool. Bring it around. Wow. They get along great. You move fast. That's impressive. So now you have a cat and a dog. And they get along.

Yeah. Yeah, they're great. They love each other. Wow. That's incredible. Way to turn a negative into a positive. You also tweet it out to Reebok sort of telling them about what happened. And then I know the good people over at Roots of Fight tweeted back at you.

They're going to hook you up with some gear. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And finally, they're sending it to the gym, which I'm excited. out because I love their stuff. It's like, it was nice that so many people reached out trying to help as well. Because like I couldn't, after moving, like, I couldn't really afford to go and buy new

training clothes, you know? So it's been, yeah, I'm very grateful. Anything from Reebok? Yeah, they said they're going to send some stuff. Okay. Hopefully. Any other? I mean, I know there's some really, like, you know, creepy bad people out there, but there's

also some great people out there. Any other stories of people wanting to help you reaching out, anything that touched you? Oh, tons. Because the people they stole all our video game systems and a bunch of Blu-rays and pop figurines and stuff, like all that stuff belonged to my housemate anyway. But like I had a bunch of people have already sent DVDs, they've sent, you know, replacement pops,

they've sent, we've got like an old Nintendo 64 coming to the gym. People have been super, super helpful just setting a bunch of stuff that, like obviously they didn't need, but it's just nice. Like little things, it's just nice to know that people care, you know, when people could be so bad

and do something like that. Like, there's even more people who are good and want to help out. Your background, you grew up, like, living,

not outdoors, per se, but like living in a motorhome, correct? Is that accurate? Not even in a motorhome, like in an actual van, like a Ford van.

I was going to say van, but I didn't want to be disrespectful. So, so I was trying to, and like made. So in an actual van. Like a van like that doesn't even have like just a van that you would drive in, not like a van that you would live in?

Like a, yeah, like a work van. Like a seven-seater work van. And that's where you slept. Yeah, I slept across the front seats. And then my mom had like built a bed into the back as well. So all the other kids and mom slept in the back. So how many people lived in the van? There were four kids and my mom.

I think we had two dogs at one stage as well. well. Wow. Yeah. For how many years? It was like on and off for about 60 years. I didn't like I didn't live in a house house until I was about 10. So I think from birth till two or three we lived in a house and then there's like a big chunk where we traveled around and lived like lived on a bunch of different farms and kind of communities with with tons of other people as well. Like everyone had just gather on a farm and everyone would help look after it and everyone would live there in tents and tepees and beds. Wow. And part of my ignorance, like, are you a gypsies? Are your family gypsies?

It's kind of like that. Okay. Not technically, not like gypsy gypsy, gypsy. Travelers? Gypsies tend to like travel in families. Okay. It was just us. Like we'd just travel, like our immediate mom and the kids, we just travel to different kind of communities. Okay. And where was your dad? Dad traveled around a lot as well, but he, like, he's a carpenter, so he was always working.

but he wasn't like they divorced when I was four I think so okay he wasn't really in the picture that much we didn't see him much okay do you still keep in touch with your mom yeah yeah I love my mom she's the best like she comes to all my fights this last one is the last one is the only one that she hasn't been able to come to but like she came to South Korea she was in Sydney

she came to Kansas wow and your dad do you speak to him at all or no yeah I speak to him sometimes but not like not as much as well we don't really like my dad and I, we get along better in person than we do over the phone. So I kind of talk to him if I'm in the area. But I saw him right after my Cindy fight. He came out since my birthday as well. So he came down to see me for my birthday. And that was cool. But it's the only time I've seen him in like two years. Do you feel like your upbringing kind of helps you in a situation, like the one

you just experienced because you didn't have many possessions or live in a fancy house? Some people who would grow up that way would harp on those things. But to you, you know, maybe those things weren't important growing up so you're not as emotionally attached. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Like, I've never been a materialistic person. And even, like, I just bought a bunch of, like, pairs of shoes that I didn't need and I was already feeling really guilty about spending my money on all these shoes, you know.

And then they got stolen. So I kind of see it as a bit of a lesson to stop wasting my money on things that I don't really need. Wow. Okay. Yeah, like, I definitely think growing up with nothing has helped me kind of find the lesson and all the positive and all this anyway. And by the way, how many tattoos do you have?

Do you know how many exactly? I think I've got 32 now. Wow. How old were you when you got your first one? 18. My mom bought it for me. Wow. What a nice mom.

Does she have tattoos as well? Yeah. Yeah, she's got a few. Not as many. But like she was supposed to get this tattoo with me. She chose it and everything. Took me to go get it done and was like, yeah, I'm going to get it too. You know, this will be like,

our little thing and then she didn't get it done. And now I have this shitty gecko on my hip, but I won't cover it up because of what it is. But still. The first one, what was it? It's a gecko. Oh, that was the first one? Tribal.

Yeah, it was the first one. Like this weird tribal lizard thing. Okay. Interesting. And you have one on your face over here, right? I have two on my face. One on the inside. What does that represent?

Yep. So one is a broken heart, or it used to be a broken heart. Now it's a purple heart because my fight name was the heartbreaker. And then the purple heart is supposed to signify domestic violence survivors. So I got it coloured in purple after I moved out to Vegas. And then the other one is an anchor. An anchor, why? Because there's like, there's a lot of stories about how in traditional tattooing,

like in the Navy, the captain of the ship would always get an anchor tattered on to signify that they were the one that chose the direction they were going, you know? So it's supposed to be on the hand, but I got it on my face because I wanted one on my face. And I don't know. I don't know why I put it there, to be honest. I'm glad I did because I like it. But there's no real reasoning to why I chose that spot. Okay.

And why did they call you the heartbreaker? My first coach gave me that name because he said that I was always really nice to the people that I fought. And then I broke their hearts when I beat them. Oh, I like it. But I was still real nice to him like the whole time. Yeah. I've always tried to be that way anyway. Like, I've never been mean or I've never hated anyone that I've fought.

You know, I've always tried to be friends. I actually think Paige is like the first time that I haven't had any form of friendship with someone that I've fought. Oh, wow. That's interesting. And you know a lot. Do you still use that nickname, though? Yeah, sometimes. I haven't tied it on my knuckles as well.

Like, a lot of my fan art and stuff gets done as a heartbreaker. But because people know me as Jesse Jess, that's kind of a nickname anyway. Yeah. But I don't really use. I don't really use anything else. But sometimes, yeah, sometimes other people use heartbreaker. Who gave you the Jesse Jess nickname? Oh, so I did that because I like broke up with an ex-boyfriend.

Actually, the boyfriend who got me into kickboxing, funnily enough. And I broke up with him and I didn't want him finding me on Facebook. So I changed my name from Jessica O'Claught to Jesse Jess. And then people just started knowing me that. So it kind of, it kind of just stuck. It was weird. Like there was no real I didn't just

I don't know It just came from Facebook Yeah yeah yeah And so does he know That you're now a pro fighter Because he got you into kickboxing right Yeah he knows He still messages me occasionally

Every time I'm doing really well He like tries to make sure That I still know who he is Do you respond? Yeah Yeah Just I like rubbing in people's faces You know

He was a dick He did a lot of really bad things Oh okay So you are domestic violence survivor. Correct. This wasn't that guy. This wasn't that guy.

This was like way back when I was 22. Okay. The domestic violence was just was a year before last. The year before last? Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry to hear that. Oh, it's all right. I wouldn't be in Vegas if it didn't happen.

So I wouldn't be in the U.S. if it didn't happen. In a weird way, I'm grateful for it. That's why you left Australia. Yep Danny pay As soon as it happened Danny paid for my flights to Vegas

bought me a one-way ticket Oh really Okay And why did you feel Like you had to leave Australia Because I'd go back To that relationship So many times

And then this last time I finally had him arrested For assault And Danny said to me He's like I know that if you don't leave Like I'd almost retired

Because of this guy I stopped fighting for a long time And Danny said to me. He's like, I know if you don't leave, like, the chances of you going back are pretty high, and the chances of you're retiring are pretty high, and I think you've got too much talent to do that. So, yeah, he got me out of the country and was like, you know, just come over until you figure out what you want to do. And I came out, and I still had, like, two years left on my visa for the states conveniently. And, yeah, after like four days, I went, no, I'm just going to stay in

Vegas and just have it left. Wow. And is he in jail? No, no. He got a suspended sentence. They didn't even, like take his passport or anything. I'm pretty sure he's in Texas right now. Wow. Does he reach out to you? He did for a while. He kept coming to Vegas, knowing that I was here and he'd message me. This one particular time, actually he messaged me and was like, hey, I'm coming to Vegas, you know. I'd really like to take you to dinner. I don't have any resentment towards you because of what you did, meaning me having him arrested for assault. And I was terrified. I told him I was out of town. I'm like, Oh, I'm going to South Carolina.

Sorry. Won't be there. Because I was too worried about him turning up at the gym if he knew that I was here or him finding out where I was going to be if he knew I was in Vegas. So, yeah, he's reached out a few times, but not for, I think the last time was like eight or nine months ago. Okay. He's been leaving alone. So even though you're a famous person now, you're in the UFC, you know, you talk about where you live and things like that,

you're not worried about him coming to the gym or anything like that. No, I don't think so. like he he knows that it would be worse for him if he did that, you know? Right, right. So you're going to stay in Vegas? Yes. All right.

I love Vegas. I'm trying to figure out how to get residency. I don't ever want to leave. Okay, wow. That's great. What do you want next as far as fighting is concerned? Or who do you want next? I want to take, like, I want to take a couple weeks off

and then I would like to fight within the next four months, you know. I come rank number seven. There's a lot of girls above me. But there's 93 that are coming off wins. So I feel like me being 2 and 0, I should be able to fight somebody who's coming off a win. So that's either Lauren, Alexis, or Nico. So Alexis would be good.

Alexis Davis. Wow, that's a big name. Veteran fighter. That gets you one step closer. Yeah. I've fought a lot of really high-name fighters. You know, like I fought Sarah. I lost to Sarah Kaufman, but it was a good fight.

Like, we went the distance. I fought Karina Dumb who's had like 40 odd fights I've fought Arlene Blanco who's fought for the Bellator title twice you know so I like I like it I think Alexis would be a really good fight I like this style I think it would be fun

125 is still pretty fresh Is it still kind of surreal that you're actually in the UFC Yeah Yeah I know honestly like I don't think it has actually It yet you know Because like I went from the debut happening and then fighting again so quickly that it's just, it's all been such a big rush and such a big high and then kind of pinpointed

by really, really low points like the robbery that it hasn't actually sunk in. I think once I go back to training and we start planning out, you know, the next steps and, you know, the next fight starts to happen. It'll really, it'll really hit. Well, I have to say it's super impressive the way you're handling all of this and, you know, just that alone would happen, what a little less than two weeks ago and then you're able to cut weight and fight and not just fight. but actually win on the biggest stage that you fought on. It's very impressive. So my proverbial hat goes off to you.

And I appreciate you sharing some of your story with us today. It's impressive everything that you've had to overcome to get to this point. I wish you nothing but the best, only success and continued success in the UFC. Two and O now. And as you mentioned, top 10, top seven, and the UFC is no small feat. So well done. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Thank you for having me on. I'm sorry. I'm apologizing to everyone today. I'm in a very apologetic mood. So I'm sorry, it took me a while. I'm sorry to you and Danny, who doesn't stop pounding me. And it's getting a little too big for his britches at this point. If you ask me, but in any event, I'm sorry to you that I took a little while, but it was really great having you on. I really appreciate you sharing your story with us. That's fine. Thank you. It's been fun. Okay. All the best. We'll talk to you soon. Thank you. See you. All right. There she is. Jessica Rose Clark. What a story. What a great way.

I mean, wow. I was saying this to someone on Saturday. Fights are great to watch when you watch a fight like what happened on Saturday between Francis and Ghanu and Stipe Miochich when you watch a round like that. I mean, there's really nothing like it. There's nothing like it in sports. I love that. But there's a lot of fighting. And sometimes they all blend in.

The thing that I love most about being in MMA, covering MMA, that's it right there. There's personalities, there's stories unlike any other. And yes, there's personalities and stories in other sports. But for one reason or another, you don't get them as easily. Like they're not as accessible and they're not as willing to open up and share their stories. And there's a million reasons for that, right? I mean, the exposure and the pay and the structure and the way they're, you know, sort of groomed to not open. But like each and every week on this program, Jared Gordon a couple weeks ago, Brian Keller her last week,

Jessica Rose's story here this week. I mean, just hearing from people is very inspirational and it's always very emotional. At the end of every Monday, I say this my wife, every Monday, I get like super anxious before the show. like, wow, we have to talk to all these people. I have to talk for four or five hours. I mean, how am I going to do this? How am I going to sit there and how am I going to perform? How am I going to actually do this?

It's crazy. And then at the end of every show, I'm so happy and relieved the show, you know, happened and usually goes well and people show up, et cetera. But I get always so emotional about the fact that these people took the time to come on the show and to open up and to share their stories and that they trust us enough to be comfortable on the program and to talk about very personal things. Like this isn't, like half of this stuff

has nothing to do with fighting and that they feel that they're able to do that and that, you know, it will be handled in the right way. It's a very emotional thing at the end of every week. It's a huge honor talking to people like Jessica Rose, like Jared Gordon, like Brian Keller last week, like DC,

I mean, all these people. It's just such a privilege and an honor and it's really the best thing about this sport, the personalities, the people are without a doubt. Like, you can, you know, the fights are great. They're awesome. The violence. It's all fun. You know, it all culminates, yes. But it's the, it's really the, if there weren't good people in the sport, if there weren't people who are that accessible and willing to talk to us and share their stories and be inspirations, there's no way I'd still be doing this. There's absolutely no way. They're the best part of, of MMA. It's not the fights. At least for me, it's the people,

it's the personalities. It's the people that have had the pleasure of meeting, you know, doing this show and covering the events. So I really appreciate her coming on and sharing all of that with us. All right. So that does it for today's interviews. Still more show to come around an hour or so. We're going to check in when New York, Rick.

We're going to talk about what happened this past week in the world of MMA. You've been sending us some questions as well using the hashtag VMMA hour. It has been a very fun show today. We've covered a lot of ground from D.C. to Chale to Tony Ferguson. Ewanian, Jaycheck. Wow, what a story that was

opening up. Roy McDonald, this has been a good one. Jimmy Manuel, of course, Aaron Pico, Brent Primis, and just recently, Jessica Rose Clark, apologies for not having Page on. She's very sick. I got multiple texts. These things happen. In fact, I'm surprised

it doesn't happen more often. So we've had a pretty good streak. Now we've got a streak of two weeks in a row of one guest not showing up. At least it's not two guests, right? There's the silver lining. So, in a matter of moments, we're going to go exclusively on Twitter. You see the address right there,

live.com slash mMA fighting. You've sent us some questions, I do believe. And there's still a lot more to discuss. Steppe Miochich, greatest heavyweight ever? Where does Francis and Ghana go from here? What does D.C. do next?

What do you think of D.C. versus Stipe? Is Royne MacDonald the best welterweight in the world? Who's the lightweight champion of the UFC? We still have to talk a little more about that press conference because it was so confusing. all that and a whole lot more. So let's get to it. If you're watching us on YouTube, Facebook, MMA fighting, minimize that, go to Twitter.

You've seen the address. I've tweeted out the link a bunch of times. The MMA after hour starts right now. All right. It's time for the MMA after hour. And that means it is time for everyone's favorite segment. And by the way, someone last week sent me a message saying, why do you call this your favorite segment or everyone's favorite segment?

I hate Rick's picks. Well, you know what? this segment is dedicated to you, my friends. Hit the music. Time now for Rick's Picks. Yeah. Here we go. Better have something good for us. Rick's Picks.

Rick's Picks are lots of fun. And his hair isn't a... Yeah. Because it's... You already know what it is. Rick's Picks. What are the chances he watched a single fight this weekend? I'm saying...

Not that good. ...tray is taking the world by storm. Probably watching some kickboxing. God knows what. There he is. The man himself, New York Rick. Very popular in Boston, by the way, New York, Rick. Got a lot of questions about your whereabouts.

I'm popular everywhere. A lot of people come up to me, hey, where's New York Rick? I'm like, yo, have you not been paying attention? He doesn't come to any event. Yeah, I don't go to the USC shows. Come on. Pay attention, people. What are we wearing over there?

What's that logo? This logo? Yeah. you always have something that you're hawking that you're repping It's just a logo of a very reputable photo studio in Brooklyn, Williamsburg Brooklyn,

known as Den BK So this is not something that you're I guess it is something that you're hawking It's always something There's always an alter your motive I didn't call it out You did Usually that's what we do

By the way, I met your friend From Reebok Kevin The goat What a mensch What a mensch Who knew he was Irish? Me

I knew because I talked to him Thank you, thank you a great guy was sporting a Zufa boxing sweatshirt they're in good hands with Kevin I really liked them a lot listen

you know say what you will about Reebok and I'll say a lot and you in particular have said a lot they are getting people who understand the sport

and Kevin being one of them on board and being able to you know to continue to influence what's going on over there but shout out to Kevin at Reebok, he's great.

Yeah, in fact, there was a fan who came up to me at the Wayans with a binder filled with designs. And he's like, please, can you give this to someone at Reebok? And I was like, you know what? I just met someone from Reebok. And he was kind enough to come back.

I texted him, came back, met with the young man, they sat down, they went through the whole binder. I was watching them. It was pretty damn impressive. I mean, Ariel Hawani out here changing lives? Kevin out here changing lives?

What did I do? made the introduction, right? You called him back. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on. Take some credit. I mean, you've been known to pass credit away all the time. Sure, well, I'm just not that kind of guy. You know, I'm just, I'm happy to drop dimes, assist here and there. I don't want the spotlight. I don't want the credit. I just want to make others lives better. That's it.

Shout out to that guy. I think he actually tweeted us earlier. Oh, wow. Did something come of it? Say thanks to Ariel for introducing me to Kevin. Well, there you go. At first I was like Is he talking about Kevin from Reebok? Yeah And turns out he was

There we go Enough about I mean Kevin Like we just made his All right Weekend for this one Maybe not Because sometimes

You don't want to get mentioned By this show You know Might not be good For the street cred Who knows No he's He's a good dude

And he's He's doing good things Over there at Reebok Okay Getting the right people Involved in Yes In the game

Okay Shall we jump into Rick's picks We shall Okay. First one up. Put it on the screen, if you will. We have. Yes.

Joel Embed. This tweeted from the 76ers' Instagram account. Sorry, I tweeted. This posted to the 76ers Instagram account. U.S. Heavyweight contender Francis and Ganu, stopping by shoot around

and copying a pick with Joel and B. Two Cameroonian sensations. Do you think Joel knew who Francis was? It didn't seem it. Did you see embedded? Yeah, he had no idea. He didn't seem to know. Did Francis know who Joel was?

The process? Come on. He's got to know what the process is. Oh, he definitely knew. What about Francis sinking the free throw? You see that? The form was... Questionable. Okay, you know what?

The form was better than Connor McGregor, but worse than, I don't know, who's somebody who's saying? Rose, wait, did Rose dribble or shoot, I forget. I know T.J. hit a shot. Cody threw up a few airbowl, so maybe better than Cody and Connor. The problem was it was a slow motion video, so it really emphasized just how bad it was. was. The form wasn't so bad. It just looked awkward. Yeah. But he had his elbows in the right spot. He took it properly. But more impressively, just look at how massive NBA played. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's incredible. I mean, Francis is like a big, scary dude. Like, everybody is, you know,

talking about Francis all week and in the lead-up as like this terrifying man. He dwarfs him. Joele-M-Bede is massive. Well, it's like LeBron James. LeBron James weighs 265 pounds. LeBron James would be a UFC heavyweight. You know what I mean? And like he's flying around like he weighs, you know, like he's a flyway.

Yeah. It's crazy. It really is. NBA players are just a special breed. But really cool, like more than anything, just really cool to see these two guys linking up. Speaking of Joel and Bede, by the way, I attended the Sixers Celtics game on Thursday night at the TD Garden.

Regal us, please. As far as, uh, basketball is concerned offensive basketball one of the worst displays I've ever seen like the Celtics were just absolutely

putrid for I'd say like the first three and a half quarters of the game then they finally made like a fake run but the Sixers are a fun team to watch

Joel Embed of course Ben Simmons I was very sad that your boy Kyrie was not playing I found out not my boy

they were doing the starting lineups where's Kyrie he's injured but you know who's awesome who I really enjoy and really pisses me off every time he plays the next.

T.J. McConnell, this guy is unbelievable. Great player. Doesn't miss. I like their squad. Yeah. J.J. Reddick. I love their squad. But the best part of the night, by the way,

was catching up with my old friend, Sean Grandy. What a great guy. Celtics play-by-play. Radio play-by-play man. In fact, he had John Anick. In fact, I was just sitting like three rows above him,

and I'd even know that. John Anick came in to do the second quarter with him and cornbread, Cedric Maxwell. Well, it was just cool. He is such a great guy, Sean Grandi, and obviously they're in good hands with Mike Goldberg and Moranallo. But I do believe that they pulled the plug on the Grandi experience a little prematurely. And I'd like to see an MMA promotion pick him up. I don't think he's really interested at this point. Like 82 games on the road. It's hard to do both. But I thought he was really coming into his own. For a guy who had no experience doing MMA, I thought he was doing a great job. So anyway, it was really nice to see him. Go to an NBA game. You made me think of that because of the picture. Sure. Good dude. Lots of NBA stuff going on that week in Boston. Here we have a video from the UFC.

Daniel Kormier getting a message from John Jones ahead of his fight. Hey, DC, John Jones here, or at least one that's a little bit friendlier than the one you're used to. I'm at John Jones on Twitter, so I get all the other guys hate mail. Anyway, I just wanted to say I've been binge watching your fights, and you kick ass, man. I'm a fan. Like, you're an incredible fighter, and you seem like a... a cool guy and a great dad. And I just want to say, good luck, you got this.

If I have one piece of advice to give, I've heard a lot about that Vulcan death grip. So watch out for that one. Good luck, champ, you got this. So I have lots of thoughts about this. Why do you even get this shit, though? Like, where do you even get this? Hey.

Do you think DC is aware of that, John Jones? Do you think he had known about him? He had to, right? He's pretty in touch with what's going on around him. So I'm sure he's seen the tweets. So there's a Daniel Cormier too, right? There's also a Daniel Cormier. Yeah.

So I feel like he's aware. It was good stuff. See, that's good social mediaing from the UFC. It is. Not always the case. Also, I just love... This was good stuff. Hi, DC.

It's John Jones. He's just so perfectly geeky, you know what I mean? Happy go lucky. Is he wearing a John Jones hat? Yeah. I wonder if it's his own or if it's what... No, I think it's like the John Jones's like fighter hat. That is hilarious.

Well done to the UFC. see, I saw the tweet. This didn't even come to mind. I didn't even consider that that's what that was. I thought, oh man, did John Jones soften up? Is he, you know? Wait, like Johnny Bones? Yeah.

Get the hell out of here. Well, what did you think? You thought it was the guy? Yeah, at John Jones. No, because he doesn't, it didn't say. It says it right there. At John Jones. I saw it somewhere else where it didn't say.

Oh, yeah, no. I read the tweet and I was like, oh, man, because you don't see anything at first, right? Yeah, yeah. You see DC's reaction. Oh, this is good. stuff. Well, well done to UFC, DC, and John Jones. Yes. The real John Jones. Speaking of John Jones. Oh. Great episode this week. Oh. From Tommy Toho. Oh, yes. The topic.

John Jones taking a polygraph test. This is free advertising for draft kings. Oh, listen. Okay, here we go. Yes, it's the only way to clear my good name with the people. You know that most people don't think these things mean shit, right? They must know the truth. They must know the danger of gas station dick drugs. Okay, John Jones. Whatever you say, bud. My name is Vaniel Pornier. I'm a fucking lie detector guy person deal.

I'm going to ask you a series of questions to start this thing that are really simple to answer. Okay, bud. Hit me, Vaniel. It's your name, John Jones? Yes. Okay, John, we got problems. This shit's already saying you're lying. It's because my legal name is John Jones.

If you want to see the whole thing, check out Tommy Toad's channel, but people really didn't like that polygraph story, yeah? I think this is a segue to talk about, obviously, the polygraph story. What kind of stock do you put into it? I mean, I don't know. I'm no expert. I know that

I don't think a lot of stock is put into polygraph tests, right? With the people who matter, the courts. Yep. So, all I know is it happened. I thought it was noteworthy. I thought it was newsworthy. I confirmed it.

not a lot of people want to talk about it. John Jones didn't acknowledge it, but I do think it was worth noting, but people get up. People are very upset. I don't know if they're upset, but they're just quick to call. Look, it's just another indication of my opinion,

as I've said time and again, and as I noted going into the fight on Saturday. And I know the reason for this. I do believe, to a certain degree, people have moved on. And they've moved on for two reasons, A, because it's not the first time he got in trouble, right? Yeah. Whether it was knowingly or unknowingly, it's not the first time.

And B, there's no resolution to what happened at 214. Like, we know he was provisionally suspended. We know that he's been stripped. We know that the fight was turned into a no contest. We have no idea if he's coming back in three years, six months, two years. So it's just kind of lingering. And I think at people, at this point, people just don't want to get hung up over it. And I was pleasantly surprised because there's nothing Daniel and Volkan can do about it.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much it didn't hang over their heads heading into Saturday night. It felt like people really accepted that this was the light heavyweight title fight. There was no, even if you look at tweets about like Daniel made the Ted Bundy joke at the workout. Yeah, that was great. All the comments afterwards were like, oh, DC's the man. Like one or two like fake champ stuff. Yeah, a lot of love heading DC's way. Unfortunately, though, I think unless another contender arises and it happens,

quickly, I do think John Jones will will then be inserted back into the conversation. I think because there was an opponent, because this had a natural conclusion, because this fight was something it could build toward, I think that minimizes the opportunity for that cloud to hang over. Now I do think John Jones will reenter this conversation. Not to say that, you know, John doesn't deserve to enter the conversation or any judgment about that part of it, but I do think there will be more conversation about Jones versus DC now that this fight has happened. It doesn't seem like, you know, there's a next contender right here, right now. I don't sense it.

Like, after the fight, people are talking about Steepay versus D.C. Yeah, but you also have to consider the fact that they'll be talking about Daniel Cormier's legacy. And that is always going to be tied to John Jones, no matter why. It will? I just don't feel like it's the same as it was two years ago. I agree with you on that. I agree with you on that. I think people are ready to accept D.C. in a way that they were.

People appreciate him more. Yeah, John Jones effed up bad enough. Like, did you see that answer about his son? son, who gives you that kind of stuff? And there's just something about the delivery and the authenticity and the willingness to open up. Again, Chuck's piece was spot on. Yeah. I don't know.

No, I'm 100% with you. I felt it as well. I, you know, I sat here and said that I believe John Jones was still the best and John Jones was the rifle champion and all that stuff. It's hard to make that case anymore. DC has been there and put in the time. And now it's likely time to move on unless something changes. Okay.

this one from our very own MMA fighting. Shout out to Ariel Hawani and Mark Ramundi for this video. You enjoyed it. I liked it a lot. Because we're covering events on both coasts. I like to see this. Wow. I like to see you.

Now let's wait here for the transition. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I want to talk about something. Okay. So you're setting the stage here. U.S. 220. Winningest heavyweight champion in UFC history. But everyone's hot on Francis and Gano.

He's like a locomotive right now. guy walking by. I thought you were going to note my gloves. My gloves were very popular. No, they're great. I got nothing to say about that. Setting the scene, coast to coast coverage. Yeah, setting the scene for Boston.

Doing the great job, as always. Yep, yep, yep, yep. Here we see Great fight in the 205. D.C. and Volcan. Facing the crowd. Yes, there I am. TD Garden, Bob Yor.

Okay, so we're making a transition here. Here we go. It's Belator 192. How about chow? Throwing? Oh, the screen comes in in Mark Raymondi. Wow. Look at that face. Here's the question for you.

Yes, I know what your question is, but please go ahead. What is it? No, I want to know if you do know my question. Yes, were we talking to each other? Could he hear me? You're shaking your head here. You're nodding up and down. What are you nodding to?

I'm nodding to the acknowledgement that he's standing outside Randy's donuts, that it's a nice day what he just said. I'm acknowledging it. Wow. That's a toss. That's TV. 101. Mark killing it.

Mark killing it. He's wearing a blazer. Now, I mean, we could have had a donut in the in the video. Like, I would have like that. Look at those undies, Rampage. Yeah, this is where we have to cut this off. So what are you trying to say?

No, I enjoyed this very much. That's what I'm trying to say. I mean, you can't pull it off all the time because there's there's not often, you know, two events close to coast, but I thought that, you know, being cold climate, warm climate, both, you know, coast, Boston, LA. There's, there's, there's, I thought it's perfect.

You know, we're setting the scene. They're both happening at the same time. We have a reporter there, reporter here. Credit to Casey for, you know, editing it. Credit to Cynthia in Englewood for shooting that. That's right. Cynthia joined it. You know, look, I'm a TV vet.

I know to do these things. Now, do you want to know the secret behind it or should we just... Talk to me. Yeah, yeah, no. How do you think we pulled it off? Let's break the fourth wall. How do you think we pulled it off? I mean, come on.

What? What? Are you about to explain this? Like it's some kind of intricate... No, no, no, really. I want to know. I was wearing an IFB. He was wearing an IFB.

Oh, okay. My bad. Yeah. What do you think? No, that was what I thought, too. Okay. Yeah, I thought you guys were wearing an IFB. But you didn't see it?

It's like one of those... Oh, I see it. I see it now. We're rolling this back. I see it now. I was actually impressed that we had that kind of technology. Listen, no expense spared. The two biggest, you know, things of the weekend are happening.

You got to pull up to... the box for hooking us up. Thank you to MMA fighting and box for making it happen. It was great. It was really cool. Shout to Mark. Mark. Great job.

Okay. Moving on to some lighter stuff. Demetrius at the event. Whoa. I mean this guy. Who is this guy? Or girl. I don't think we saw their face.

Get to the job. Oh. And then at the end they turned. You know what that is, right? That's the predator, right? That's the predator. You think he was dressed that way because of Francis and Gano? Oh, 100%.

got a support. This could be the new Chuck Liddell. Do you think he was dressed that way for the entire night? It must have been boiling. I can confirm that because in every way, in, in every prep point,

when the commission is patting them down, you see the predator head in the back. From time to time you see Chuck Zito, you see a lot of characters, but the predator was there that whole night. Featured prominently. I said on Twitter that they deserve a post-fight bonus for this.

For being there all night in that costume? Yeah, seriously. I mean, shout out to the predator and shout out to Demetrius for geeking out about it. Speaking of that fight, yes. Congrats to Steppe Miochich. Yes. Oh, going to be a dad. Going to be a father.

Having a baby? Hell yeah. Oh, you gotta love it. Turns out, I believe it was a little girl. He even told us the three names. Yeah, that's right. He did reveal the three names. That's all that's me right now.

Br. Super amped. And you know what? I feel it. I've been there. I was just recently there. I'm feeling it. Post-fight Stepe is the best Stepe.

Post-fight interview? Post-fight Presser Steepet, he killed it. After the fight, after he went through that war with Francis, Stepe told it like it is and did a great deal. Now, what did you make of the whole belt situation? I mean, you explained it pretty perfectly. You know, there's obviously, if you've been paying it, attention some kind of strife and he

you know is looking for respect and to be honest it's hard to make a case that he doesn't you know the the event in Cleveland the event that on the on the back of him was was promoted and sold out

it's hard to make a case that he shouldn't be getting paid at least as much as his opponent in that circumstance and then his opponent in the championship fights I mean it's it's pretty I think it's clear that steepa has earned his place at this point.

This was supposed to be, you know, this fight with Francis was supposed to be as tough as test. And guess what? Fasted with flying colors. There's nothing left to prove

for Steepi Miotich in terms of, well, he hasn't quite done this yet. He's done everything. Greatest UFC heavyweight of all time. Yes, I agree with that. He actually just tweeted records are made to be broken nine minutes ago.

It's crazy how long that record has stood and how many great heavyweights have passed through and he was able to do it. At this point, I think he's undeniable in terms of the respect he deserves and his place in history. I do think this fight was very important to that, though. I don't think if this fight hadn't gone his way or if it hadn't been as dominant, it would have been the same, but he passed the test here. I just remember being in Detroit 218 and Ganu knocks that over him and people are like, ah, Stipe's so scared.

Just like a assuming. And he's just like, yep, let's go. I don't want to go super ranty on this, but I did make a tweet that a lot of people. interacted with. What you tweet? That this idea that Francis is this like terrifying figure. He's so scary. He's so terrifying.

I get it. I get that he has punching power. But all the heavy weights have punching power. And Steepay knocked out the same guys. If Francis is terrifying, what does that make Stepe who has knocked out the same guys? Yeah. Has a higher K.O. percentage in his wins.

He has a higher knockout rate than Francis. And also has the other tools to be able to dominate a fight. if Francis is terrifying, then Steepa's the boogeyman. He's, or Tony Ferguson is the boogeyman, but he's some kind of iteration of the boogeyman. I don't understand how Stipey to this point has not gotten that kind of respect. I understand it because he just kind of looks like every day Joe Schmoe, he's... And he's going to go in there and knock out?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. More times than Francis will, percentage-wise. No, I get that, but I understand why people don't react to him the same way they do, say, Francis because of, you know, the, the overreem knockout and just, like, the way he looks. I think Francis is taller. He's bigger. Like, part of Steve-Bay's appeal, in my opinion now is that he does look like the every man, but yet he'll...

If that's what I'll beat you. But you know what I'm saying? And, like, I took exception. I saw some people saying that it was a horrendous fight. It was a horrible fight. Like, look, the first round was phenomenal to me, the first... I agree. You probably thought, if you were ordering this pay-per-view that it wasn't going to last

more than five minutes. That's what everyone was kind of banking on. 100%. So, so. if that's the case, then the other 20 minutes. You got your five minutes. And then some. You didn't get the finish, but you got your five minutes. The rest of the way, yeah, third, fourth,

fifth, I thought, okay, put him away. But you saw, like, there were a couple times where Francis was lining like one punching around, and it was a big punch. You still have to respect his power. You still have to respect who he is and what he can do to you with one punch. So I thought Steve A did what he had to do to win the fight.

Yeah, it was a great game plan. And the people who are burying Francis on the other end of this like need to reevaluate this for how long he's been doing this to get to this point and be dangerous against now a historic UFC heavyweight champion. There's plenty of time for him to change his game. Even though he's 31 years old and he's not exactly, you know, the 20 year old that's coming into the U.S.

He has not been doing this for long enough to say that Francis and Gano was a finished product. And the comparisons to some like, you know, single upset guy, you know, comparing him to Sokajoo or comparing him to, I saw like Czech Congo. I think Luke Thomas was. interacting with some people calling him Czech Congo. Czech Congo is not even like in the same ballpark in terms of fighting style or anything that that has been

shown to this point. It's ridiculous. He's got plenty of time and plenty of opportunity to fix the, you know, the deficiencies that he had in this fight that allowed an all-time great heavy way to beat him. It's not like, and also he lasted five rounds. You know, Overeem, Hunt, for Doom, are these guys no longer good

just because they got knocked out by Stepe? It's ridiculous to me. He said all the right things afterwards as well. He faced some music. He said, you know, I'm going to learn lessons. I've learned lessons. I want to see if he does, in fact, apply those lessons to his next training camp.

And I don't know, maybe it's finding a training camp. Like the whole PI thing sounds great. And it's an awesome, it's an awesome advertisement for the PI. But I do feel like you need a team. You do need a like a head coach. He does have his head coach, but his head coach lives in France. So I don't know. But clearly cardio is something that he has to work on.

Oh, that's funny. You should say that. Oh. Okay. Oh, yes. Derek Lewis. I didn't see this. What is this?

Seems like someone else been bullshit to me. Yes, my brother. That is a treadmill behind you. Wow. Taking shots. Wow. Was this after the fight? It was right after the fight.

Derek Lewis. In no uncertain terms. Win or lose in Austin. He mentions Austin there. Give me Derek Lewis versus Francis and Gunner next. Let's do that. Win or lose. It works both ways.

Don't give me the whole, even if he won the fight. Don't even start. Give me that fight. Love that fight, wanted that fight for a long time. Now's the time. Now it's time. Yeah.

Derek wins. You got a new contender. We have another post-fight reaction this time from Douglas Lima on Facebook What a photo pissed at myself but thankful to God

for another battle Roy McDonald you're a warrior thank you can't wait for the rematch thank you all for supporting thank you to my team for an awesome camp

I will be back and then he posts the same message I believe I'm guessing it's the same message Can you read that part in Portuguese? Now it was the result

that I want to keep going Thank you Godo for more a day of job and more

a apprenticeship. Logo we're back thank you my team and family

for all the next Phil 413. Yeah Bible What is Phil 413?

Is that the one that John Jones has on his Philippians? Yeah but Douglas Eamah handling it like a champion

I think both of those guys stock goes up after that performance. Rory gutting through what looked like a really, really horrific leg injury. Lima showing that against a guy is accomplished as

Rory in the UFC that he belongs in this upper actual. So a really, really good fight and both of them, you know, I think I'm out winners on this one. Rory also posted and we had it in the tricaster his post-fight photo

in the hospital as well, but congrats to Doug. Wait, why doesn't he get the Well, because we were, you know, we had it ready for when he was on. Oh. Well, he's going to get some more shine. I thought you were going to go with the, the GSP tweet. No, no, no. We're going to go with this.

There it is. Oh, my dear. I mean, just look at that thing. And so I have to correct the record. I had something incorrect. Oh. Our friend and whose Instagram this is from, Gian G. It's just so amazing.

He did the box art. If you look in the back there, he did the box artwork for this. Plastic Cell did the figure itself. plastic cell. They do figures like this. Oh my God. Acrylic. Look at that thing.

It's beautiful. And so next week, we're going to get a delivery, a special delivery. Unbox? We could do an unbox. We could do an unbox. But that figure will be ours next week. It's pretty incredible. God.

Great. Look at the box artwork is perfect. The figure itself is perfect. Everything about this is fantastic. If you're an MMA fan, I mean, you got to get it. this, right? I mean, if they sell them, yeah. Oh, they sell them. I don't have it on sale yet. Rory was saying not yet, but I think they are going to sell. There's a massive void in the

MMA collectible department ever since the departure of our good friends over at round five. Yeah. Those were great. Like, think about all the guys that they've missed since they left. I think what makes this also so iconic is that we saw Rory's face in that moment so many times and we remember it so well that this figure, you know, just brings that fight and that moment instantly back to mind for people. Oh, man. Can't wait. Great, great job by Plastic Cell and G.N. Okay. Max Holloway here. I don't have the second image from this, but you can go, listen, that is a bot. There's limitations to tagboard. That is a botch. Then you don't go with it. I mean, what is this? This is total crap.

No. Listen, you know what? It's a choose your own adventure. Go flip to Max Holloway's Twitter and you can find the answer. A botch unlike it. This is a worst. Here we go ahead. Well, I go to sleep. You can tell me. This is worse than what transpired at that press conference on Friday. This botch right here. I mean, come on. Come on. You know what's funny? Remember when I was on the show after the whole featherway title thing when they stripped Connor of the featherweight title

and they made Aldo, and I said that that was an epic botch. Yeah. Somehow. They have topped it. Oh, God. Holloway, not botching it, doing some good social media.

Jeopardy. Edgar had his own. There's a funny way. Yeah, and Edgar responded to it. No response? What about both sides of the story? Listen. Learn a lesson from Brent Primus.

Me? Well, I've learned a lesson, and now I'm trying to, you know, bring it to this segment. Speaking of Max Holloway, Max Holloway, obviously noticing in the Rock's new commercial, the trailer for that movie Rampage,

did you play that video game? No. There's a movie or video game? Yeah, they're coming out with a movie. No, there was a video game. Back in the 90s, I want to say, maybe even late 80s, where you would tear up cities

and you were like a gorilla, a dinosaur, or something else. And The Rock is the guy? The Rock is now in an action movie where those characters are being reprised and it was called Rampage and there's a scene where he's choking somebody out, a rear naked choke and Max Holloway was paying

tribute to his form and then the Rock responded to say thank you to the champ and that he learned this move slapping guillotine chokes on when he was a kid and showing love to the current featherweight champion. Does the Rock write his own tweets?

Oh for sure. I've noticed that his tweets are very long. He loves the retweet, the quote retweet. They're very long, but you can tell that they have this knowledge that he has. Yeah, all right. They seem Yeah, but he could be reciting it to someone else. Maybe, but is, okay, so does that mean that is not his tweet? I want to know if it's coming from his fingers.

If the person is literally pressing the button, does that make it not your tweet? I'm always fascinated by this because, you know, I even asked Dipe about it, if he's the one writing his own tweets, because you know, there's a whole psychology behind it, there's a whole sort of game plan and all that. How are we going to put on social media, blah, blah, blah, blah. And

you know, there's something special by knowing that this came from the person's fingers, you know what I mean, as opposed to coming from someone else. There's just something special. I get it. Are we going to talk about Danny tweeting from your account that Danny writes all your tweets? Who's Dan? Danny Sigura. Yeah, yeah. Well, of course. Thank you. Thank you for outing me. Pull back the curtain a little bit. Listen, I am, I mean, I'm tweeting the guests. I'm doing, I'm doing like eight things on this show. Kidding me? Multitasker extraordinaire. Okay, we're going back to Demetrius. Yes.

Here we go. Let this roll back. We caught this in the middle. But we'll... Why do you have to do it so violently? What we're going to see here is Debutreus getting caught off guard and killed here in battlegrounds. Oh, shit! Actually getting shocked by how he got deaded.

Oh, this is after... And he hurt his shoulder. Oh, my God. After his surgery. Why do you have to do it so violently? Also, if you notice, I think they teebag him. What? Yeah.

You're kidding. No, no, I'm pretty sure. Let's see one more time. Oh, shit! Here we go, wait. They're going to come into frame here. Oh, yeah, they're definitely a teabagging. What are you talking about?

That's horrible. Is that true? Is that a thing that people do? Oh, Ario. What do you tell? Oh, Aria. What if he's, like, stealing his stuff? I gotta teach you about video games.

Oh, my God. I want nothing to do with video games. That's what you guys do? You sickos? What's wrong with you? It's been a minute since I was on the sticks, but... Hebagging? It's disgusting.

that's what he's look I mean it's the reality of online gaming I wonder here's what I wonder though did they know it was Demetrius you know did they know and then you know

they're knowing that there might be a chance that they get on his Twitch and all that but shout out to Demetrius shout out Matt Brown seemingly yes

short live retirement when I said I was retiring I never said how long looks like I know really Matt Brown I mean we are on the show you're telling such great stories you go out with the elbow from hell from hell, the yaks.

Now, did you think it was real? Honestly, I did. I mean, this is the shortest retirement ever. And yes, we're getting a good fight, it seems, right? We're getting Carlos Condit. But, uh, Jesus. Now, let me ask you this. Do you believe Daniel Cormier when he says he's going to retire?

He's one that I have no reason to not believe because what it, for Daniel Cormier, you did it all at heavyweight. You did it all at light heavyweight. the only one thing I would be holding out for if I was Daniel Cormier is to beat John Jones is a third fight with John Jones that is literally all that's left for Daniel Cormier he's done it all in wrestling he has nothing more athletically to accomplish in my opinion he's proven it at every level

yeah but he's a competitor and if he's still the champion come 40 will he be able to say goodbye he's got other options out there to make money right Fox this than the other but can he actually stop competing I believe he can I don't know Look, I've had a good sense of these things in the past. I don't think he's in the same spot as many others. I think he has enough outside the cage and enough interaction with it to allow him to live that,

that I don't believe he will need to continue fighting. But the one thing I do think could get him to stick around longer, let's say John Jones' suspension is up. And, you know, he's bordering on 40 or already turns 40, and that fight could be made, I have to think that that will get the competitor in him to jump. But that, I think, is the only thing. I don't think he'd necessarily hang around for another fight on pay-per-view.

I don't know if he needs it or has to do it at this point. What do you think about him versus Stipe? Like it as a fight, but don't really think that that's the thing that needs to be done. Like, I'm okay. If they do it, I'm okay with it. I think it's a good fight for both guys. I think they could capitalize, but the champion versus champion superfight stuff

seems to be a last resort at this point. Everybody's being talked about as a champion. I would disagree. It seems to be a first resort. What I meant was, we've got nothing else. Let's just do that. That's kind of where I feel about it. And I don't know if it needs to go there.

Like Nunes versus Cyborg. That one actually makes sense because there's really nothing going on. And also, Nunes has fought at Featherweight before, Kormia has fought a heavyweight before. So it's not that I find it absurd. And I don't think that it's a matchup that wouldn't be competitive. But even Daniel himself seems to be kind of, you know, pressing the brakes on that a little bit.

That's not really his weight class. And how big, you know, some of these heavy weights are. Steepay being on the smaller end of heavy weights, though. I don't know. It's not my first choice. But I definitely think that it would be a great fight between those two. No doubt about it. So well-rounded, it would be good anywhere.

I'm not like emotionally invested in it right now. I'm not dying to see it. I'm not feeling it. I'm in the same place. They're too nice, both of them. Well, I mean, that's in the cage or not. I think those two are nasty. Those two will break you down.

Bad intentions. Yeah. Not everything has to be about a one-shot kill. Those guys will put you in the grinder and mince you up. Okay. Last thing we have here. Okay. An artist, a lot of people were sending. this to me actually. An artist named Barry Kagan

did a great little comic related to MMA. It's actually Chuck Liddell kind of traversing the shadow realm. If you're interested in comics, if you're interested in this type of artwork, give it a look.

Barry Kagan did an interesting little comic here. Okay, well, you want to read it or sell it or what are you doing here? I'm not going to read it. Go read it if you're interested in comic books. Wait, is it just those four little boxes? No, there's a full comic. What, you want me to read a full comic? Well, I just saw a little fit.

I thought it was just like one little strip. No, no, no, no. There's a full comic book. M.M.A-related Chuck Liddell traversing the Shadow Realm. Wow. Go look for it. Okay.

Well done to Barry. And that is it for Rick's Picks. Okay, well done. Now we will transition to some photos. Some questions. Look, it's been a long show. It has. You've talked for so long.

Yeah, you know. I have to carry the, the water here. Yes. Okay. We start as we always start. Three questions of the week. Three questions of the week.

Are we, I mean, is this going to turn into what we do with the lineup? Are we going to 10? Yes, maybe the whole show will just be questions of the week.

You never know. That could be a show. By the way, these were all very, yeah, that actually could be a show. These were all very relevant. I had more.

For all intents and purposes, is the beat, not kind of that. It is like the topics of the week, the questions of the week, it kind of is that. I'm a very interactive guy and I like for my audience

to feel like they're a part of the show so I like to ask them questions and also I feel like it's important to sort of get the pulse of the nation, you know what I mean? I do know what you mean. We got a lot of voters this week. And I feel like you get a sense

of how the people are feeling, right? You do. Okay. In this one, first question. Okay. Is Stipe Miotich, the greatest UFC heavyweight ever with over 20,000 votes?

Oh, that's a big number for this. 78% saying yes I don't think Is there an argument Is this even arguable? I mean yeah there's It's hard to compare errors

But when you look at the resumes I don't think there's really anybody Who's even in like close second I mean yeah you can make an argument I'll let's like it crazy here But I do believe that He has now cemented his place I'd say this is

This is a further gap than Most of the other divisions Where you're looking for an undisputed number one. I don't think Kane has had the longevity. I don't think some of the... Kane's in that discussion. It's hard to put him there

for how long he's been inactive. Who brought up Fabrice Overdome this week? Chale. Oh yeah, that's right. Chale brought him up. And I think he had a great case until Steepen knocking out. That makes it very easy.

See, I felt bad about that. You know, like I hate when that happens. Well, we've got Tony Ferguson, the champ is waiting on the line. He's getting impatient. But like, man, wish we could do like a whole hour with him, just talking stuff, you know? Sometimes it's a little too business like. Anyway, Randy Couture. So I'll forget about him.

Yeah, I mean, I think that these guys are all in a conversation, but I don't think it's, I don't think it's very close. I think Steve A has done it. Brock? No, come on. Same. but no, I mean, Kane, obviously, above Brock. Like, that's not even... Yes, because he beat him.

But I think Steepa's number one. Yeah, I think so too. And I think 78% says it all. Now, here's the question. Here's the question. People are great to say heavy weight of all time, period. Too soon. I would say yeah, too.

I mean... Whoa, now you're going to piss people off. Who am I going to get? Fador, Big Gnog. All those people coming out, Crow Cop. I'm riding with Steepay. That's my thought. It is such an amazing streak.

like what he did to Mark Hunt, remember that fight in Adelaide? Another finish, finishing Mark Hunt, and before it was kind of everybody's flavor of the week. He's been finished a lot. There was a time where he was unfinished. Wow. He's been finished. Arlofski 54 seconds.

Redoam in the first round, Overeem in the first round. JDA. Well, this is kind of what I was getting at earlier. Everybody was proclaiming Francis. This was supposed to be a coronation. He has done all these things already. Yeah, I know.

He deserves all the respect in the world. As he said in the post fight the post fight presser, not the interview, he's had a tough path. It's not like these have been you know, give me fights. He has beaten everybody that is notable in that division and done it impressively.

It's hard to... Steve is one of the few guys who actually benefits from embedded. I actually feel like he comes across... He's more natural, for sure. Like something about when he's at the media days, the pre-fight press conferences, it's no good. But when he's in his, you know, home,

around his wife, his friends, he's going to buy stuff at Home Depot, whatever the case may be. It's just very entertaining watching him. I don't know why. He's arguing with his wife. He's hanging up on her. And then post-fights,

DiPay, when he's got that chip on his shoulder is fun as well. But it was interesting. Like Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports, who's one of the best sports columnists in the world, in my opinion, at least in North America, you know, the people that I read,

his post-fight article was about the whole belt thing and the respect thing. There's a lot of attention on it. I still believe people think that it's about the promotion and maybe that's a small part of it, but it's something that's been brewing for quite some time. And now do they figure it out? There remains to be seen.

It would be a shame if they don't because you finally have a heavyweight champion who's winning, who's consistent, who's finishing, who's not turning down fights, who's willing to fight anyone, including the big bad, scary Francis and Ghanu,

like this is a guy you should get behind. Speaking of getting behind, there's a lot of horses in this race. Yes. Question number two, who do you consider to be the best lightweight fighter in the world? This is an interesting one.

The choices, 24,000 votes. The choices. Wow. 24,000. That might be the most we've ever had. It is a lot. People are engaged today. Big fight weekend.

Big show. The choice is, is Connor McGregor, Tony Ferguson, Kabibnurmaga Madov, and Other. Yeah, who won? Interestingly, the other did not get a lot of votes, which is typically people like to, ah, joky joke. Yeah, ha, ha, ha.

46% Kabibnur Maghamedov. Wow. 39% Connor, 14% Tony Ferguson. The only guy of the three who doesn't actually have a belt right now. And you know what? Yes. They're correct.

Wow. Khaben Maghamedov. is the best lightweight fighter in the world. I've been saying this for a long time. And I think there's a lot of people who feel this way, obviously 46%, almost 50% of 24, or 25,000 people

feel the same way. There's one problem though. Yes. He has to make it to the cage and he has to prove it. You know, there's a bit of a misconception about Habib, because he is right.

Like, he did misweight that one time and he's had had injuries. You know, but like all the, like, the, like, the second time they were supposed to fight. It wasn't his fault. We can't blame solely Habib for this fight not coming to fruition. Remember? It's not about who's to blame for the pulling out. There is a history of

injuries there that have kept him out as well. And that is not his fault per se, but if you're not in the cage, then you're not proving it. The same way you could say that about Connor McGregor, and it doesn't have to do with injuries. If he's not there getting it done the way Tony Ferguson, for example, has been, then you

can say that he's not proving it in the cage. It doesn't have to do with whether this fight not materializing was his fault in this case or his fault in this case. Truth be told, he has not been proving it. And then he comes back. He takes one fight, gets this opportunity again and it doesn't, and it doesn't come to fruition. This time, I'm hoping that it will, and I believe that it will, and I believe that he will prove that he is the best lightweight fighter on the planet when it does happen. More importantly, what did you make of that whole press conference and the way it was handled? what did you make of it and how should it have been handled? No idea what to make of it because the answers that were given did not make sense.

They cannot be fighting for an undisputed title if there is another title out. That is logically not possible. It cannot be undisputed if there is another title. And Connor McGregor has that. So until the day comes where Connor McGregor no longer has that title, they cannot be fighting for an undisputed bill. Just not possible. Is this disrespectful towards

Habib and Tony, the fact that this wasn't cleared up before the press conference, the fact that they have to answer these questions, sit there and listen to these questions being asked? No. For the simple reason that they have a negotiation that happens behind the scenes.

Whatever is in their contract, whatever they've been told, is what they have to rectify, is what they have to justify. Yeah. So. Contract states. Then,

fighting for the underspeed of title, then why aren't you stripping that guy? If you're telling us one thing, why aren't you? Now, it's important to note that if they fight for the belt, they make more money. So at the end of the day,

their bank account doesn't care. Why do you think the UFC or, in this case, Dana White, was reluctant to just come out and strip him or at least provide some sort of clarity. He has a deadline,

something. I don't, you know, I think this is a UFC thing, more than a Dana thing. I think so. Well, because they've, also. It's not like Dana

had things out there and was being stubborn and not saying what had already been said. The UFC has not said that Connor McGregor has been stripped. No, I know. But I mean... Organizationally. Yeah. So he wasn't just being difficult for the sake of being difficult.

This is a company decision at this point. But why do you think they're not... Do you agree that if this was any other fighter, they would have done it? Probably. Yes. Do you agree that do you agree that this was just another indication as to who really is the most powerful person in the sport? The only thing making me reluctant to say that and the reason I said probably rather than yes or definitely is because they have stripped them before. They removed the featherweight belt from him and...

A lot more powerful today than he is. No doubt about it. But they have done it before. It's not, it's not the thing doesn't make sense. He doesn't need the title. He doesn't need the title. He is so popular. like I'm not coming out here and saying like Connor this thing we know Connor is the most powerful man in the sport he's the biggest draw in the sport he is the biggest star of the sport has ever had period he doesn't need the title

so to me you learned a lesson from 221 you learned that if you make your interim champion the champion and he gets injured now you're stuck with an interim belt so you learned that lesson like for example if they were to strip Connor right if they were to strip Connor

and and and made Tony Ferguson the official champ, and then Tony Ferguson gets hurt. Now, Habib is screwed, right? Because now he has to fight for an interim belt. He doesn't want an interim belt. So, what do you do? If you're going to move ahead with an undisputed title fight

that doesn't involve Connor McGregor, you have to strip him, and then you have to make it for the vacant title so that if Tony and Habib, because I heard from a lot of people, they don't want to strip Connor because Tony and Habib have had a history of not showing up. Well, just make it for the vacant belt.

Because then if Tony or Habib gets injured, Eddie Alvarez steps in. And Porre steps in. Anyone steps in, right? It doesn't matter anymore. There's a step that people are missing, which is that by Connor McGregor not being the lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson doesn't automatically become the lightweight champion. It's just so confusing.

He doesn't even know what to call himself. That is something they can choose to do. They can make his title. That's what they did with Whitaker. An official title like they did with Whitaker. But they could also fight for a vacant belt, as you've outlined. They could say this interim title is going to go away. Whoever wins this fight will be.

the undisputed champion. And I think ultimately that's what we'll get. Like I think that's what we're holding out for is at some point there will be some movement with Connor McGregor's belt and the title will. I hear from a lot of people, oh, it's so simple. If he doesn't accept,

what are you talking about? You just wrote me like 10 lines explaining whether or not the title fight on Saturday, April 7th, is an actual title fight or not. I don't even know what it is. Yeah. And you know what sucks most about it?

The fact that we even have to harp on it because that's a phenomenal fight that we've all been dreaming about. And then you'll tell me, stop caring about these things. What do you mean? The whole point of this thing is to find out who's the best. In every sport, that's what we love about sports. Here's a question. Why did we care about UFC one?

Because we wanted to see who would win that tournament. And then it evolved into title fights. Why do we care about the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl and the NBA finals? Because we want to see who's the best. Why do I not care about college football? Because it's always been like a bunch of bowl games and there's no real championship. Like, what are we doing now? What are we fighting for?

Does the belt even mean that anymore? It does mean something. It doesn't mean that. They're doing a great job of not making it mean that or something, but I do still feel I'm a traditionalist. I feel like belts should mean something. And I feel like the best guy in the organization in that way class should have the belt and should be fighting for that belt and should be defending that belt.

But guess what you're trying to do now? You know what they're trying to do? They're going to they're going to hedge. They're going to buy time. They're going to buy time. And then guess what's going to happen? and there's going to be two champions. And then you're going to have a poster with two belts,

and it's going to be champion versus champion. You can still do champion versus champion without. No, you can't. Not if you strip them. Not well. What's better than... You can do it if it was for the interim belt. If Tony and...

Habib's not fighting for an interim belt. I get it. But there was a way to do that without, you know... Well, then he's not fighting. You had to make the fight. And by the way... I don't have a solution for this. By the way, have you noticed that they're starting to pay attention.

And you know it's from this program, Whitaker and Perth. Holloway 9th Island Habib in Brooklyn they're starting to listen right it's not Habib in Ferguson fighting in Texas

or or Boston or San Francisco you know what I'm saying sure it starts Rose and Yohanna coming back to the

back to the place to the place huge huge Polish community in Brooklyn starting to listen oh and now they want to do Cyborg versus Nunes and guess where?

Guess where? Tell me. You can hedge. That's the problem. They learned the lesson. They didn't properly execute the lesson that they learned. I think this is just another example

of the belt doesn't really mean that anymore. No, it does mean something. They know it means something. We all care. And don't tell me not to care. The belts mean something. I want to know who's the best

and the best should have a belt. But you can't have two guys claiming that they're the undisputed champion. And that's an oxymoron. Two undisputed? That doesn't happen. They'll only be one undisputed, all right? So let's not let this linger and be this weird cloud

because I'm going to harp on it and other people will as well. Question of the week number three. Who is the best welterway fighter in the world? 27,000 votes. What? 44% were in McDonald's. Okay. Wait, say it again?

44% Rory McDonald 40% Tyron Woodley 16% other Dory McDonald being voted on by 27, 27,000 people 47% of those 27,000 think that Rory is the best

well to read. Yeah, but the people that Belator say that Julia Budd is the best featherweight because she beat him in. No, this is the first time that Belator can claim this. This is a big deal for them. Do you agree?

Do I agree that, okay, I'll tell you this much. It's so hard because they're not fighting the same people anymore. But yeah, I have no problem with that. I have no problem. I would disagree, but I could hear a case for it. I wouldn't be so sad. Because there's a weird thing that happens, right? Because he lost to Wonderboy and Woodley beat Wonderboy twice.

So it's, you know, MMA math never works. But I'm happy I don't do rankings. I'm also not going to hate someone who makes that. It's the first time you can legitimately say it and not have. someone, you know, throw a shoe at your head. I agree. It's a pretty big deal, actually. I think it's a massive deal for Bellator. I think he's the face of the promotion. I think they need to put him in Canada next. They need to go to Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal. One of those? Chale? Chale, maybe not the best?

He was the headliner. Wait, the best what? The best free agent signing or the best fighter? Oh, light heavyweight, you know. What are you talking about? Light heavyweight. He was headlining. Heavyweight. So, oh, my mistake. My mistake. Oh, man. Yeah, no, no. I mean, look, Chales worked out.

I also thought that was a good fight. It was a fun thing. Yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't upset. It was just going on at the exact same time as the VC main event. Wait, was it? It was. I saw it after, so forgive me.

I was trying to watch both, but then I just like became transfixed. Yeah. It's an interesting debate. Please give us Ben Ashton versus Roy McDonald. That's the fight. is Ben coming for that though? No, he's not. But what a fight that would be, right?

I would like it. Oh, man. I don't really know. Who would Rory fight? Here's a question. Is Ben Asker in the best Walterway fighter on the planet? He was upset, by the way. He tweeted me saying, where's the love?

I had the perfect response, though. I was talking about active fighters. He's retired. Sorry. Can't get the love if you're retired. I'm throwing GSP's name in there. I think it's Tyron Woodley, but I wouldn't argue with you

if you thought it was Rory MacDonald. I think there's a reason. I don't argue with that as well, but I think it's a fun debate. Yeah, no, I think it's great. Anybody feeling either of those two or, you know what, even if they said Ben Ascran, I'm not... Strength of schedule. It's tough.

I get it. Colby Covington discreet as well, by the way, just for the record. Okay. Question. We're going past the questions of the week now to the fan questions. Okay, okay, okay.

In a world without John Jones, where does DC rank in the greatest of all time conversation, 20 and 0, excluding the one-in-one with John Jones over two weight divisions. Oh, man. You want me to get all crazy? Look, take away how I feel about him as a human being. I'm the one who's been saying for the past like two, three years that he's the number two-pound-for-pound guy. Yeah. Number two-pound for pound. Now you can make a case that he's number one with Jones out.

Yep. I mean, I cannot. Will history be kind to do it? Daniel Cormier. Yes, very kind. I mean, it's trending in the right direction, right? Yeah. It's just so amazing to see, you know, how people viewed him two years ago and how they view him now.

What's interesting about Daniel Cormier is objectively, if you objectively look at his legacy, it's in the top five best of all time. And it entirely hinges on John Jones. I really don't feel that way anymore. I think that where he falls is completely up to where you fall on the conversation about John Jones. But you know what?

At this point, if you forgive what John Jones has done outside of the cage, and now in this case, you know, we're dealing with a situation where what he has done in the cage is affected by this.

But if you feel and are able to put aside whatever John Jones has done outside the cage, you may feel that that impacts Daniel Cormié's legacy and say that no, John Jones is still the best. If you don't, if you disregard John Jones now

because of what he has done or has been accused of doing, then Cormier becomes a much more a much more attractive option for the best ever, for the conversation about the best ever. It all hinges on how you feel about John Jones, but objectively, it's hard to say

that there have been better fighters than Daniel Cormier. He's up there for best ever. He's in that conversation. Very, very, very short list. And belongs in that very, very short list. Daniel Cormney's not Charles Barkley. He's not Patrick Ewing. No.

He won the big one. He couldn't... He has climbed every mountain and done everything except for one thing. And that one thing determines how you feel. Yeah, but it's not his fault. The people want to begrudge him that he's beating Rumble Johnson twice and stuff like that and he's walking around with the belt. It's not his fault.

Because, yeah, Rumble Johnson's just some schmo, right? All these guys, the things he did at heavyweight. These guys were just busters and bums, right? No, Daniel Cormier has put together a resume that is unassailable. I'm just so happy to see him getting the love and respect that he deserves because even long before, I mean, this guy, what he has overcome, he has won. I mean, you think about the guy who met with Scott Coker at that pizza place and what he was battling, not just the Olympic failures, but the personal failures, what he's had to overcome the tragedies. and the fact that he has turned this into an outstanding Hall of Fame

career inside the cage, one of the greatest ever to compete. Not only that, just sort of like walk into TV work, no prior experience, has turned into one of the best analysts, you know, has essentially his own show,

all this stuff. It's incredible. It really is. The movie will be great. Oh, yeah, as I said to him last week. It's,

what a story. And like, he's just beating the guy. He's beat, like, X-Man up, you know? He's probably going to play himself, to be honest. Yeah.

Why not? Be an actor. He's going to be like Eminem. Why not? Marshall Mathers. Why not? He'll probably be good at it. What a story.

Okay. Lots of people saying, Steepet is beating a murderous lineup, but some have also been saying that most of them are out of their prime. Oh, get out of here. Get out of here. Do you agree or disagree? Oh, couldn't disagree.

What are you talking about out of your prime? What are you saying? What are you saying? Francis Angano? Out of his prime? Talking about. What are you saying? JDS?

Yeah. coming off a great win his last fight. I would say that JDS, Overeem Hunt, those guys were on the back end for sure. But I think if we're going to do this as an exercise. There's five or six just like young heavyweights, just waiting. No, that doesn't exist.

Everyone fights those guys. In this division, that age is higher. That age that you are a competitive heavyweight is higher than other weight classes. And I would say if we're going to do this as an exercise, then nobody ever beats anybody in their prime. They say that about John Jones too. Oh, Rampage Jackson. You know, Shogun was on the way down after that.

You'll never be satisfied if that's the way you're going to look at it. You can only beat who's in front of you, and the names on that list that Steepa has beaten are some of the best ever in that division. He deserves a credit. Anybody saying that has issues. Pay the man. Now that UFC 220 is in the books. Yes.

What was your favorite part of the UFC Boston experience? Excuse me. What? PDN and Gia. Wait a second. this guy is the one who's wearing the Fader sweater? Yes, he always blows my mind.

I had a whole conversation with him about the Fader sweater at the Wands. I'm sure that's why he's referencing it. Yeah, but he tweets us all the time. You would think he would say, I'm that guy, PDE. He was a finalist for Rick's tics. Why wouldn't he say, I'm Pedy and Gia? Of course I know.

Maybe he was a little embarrassed. Maybe he would... I was having a whole conversation about it. He's probably assuming, and this is me. That I know who he was? No, that you wouldn't know who he is. That he goes, oh, I'm PD and Gia. And then it's embarrassing if you don't know.

You absolutely blew it. By the way, he was wearing. He's a very nice and humble person. So that's what I was the one. He didn't mention the sweater. I'm like, holy crap. No, no, no. He was there and he was at the way and asked for a photo, all that.

But I was like, holy crap, I saw. Look at that thing. Look at that sweater. It's amazing. Yeah. He was being humble and assuming that you wouldn't know who he is. He didn't want it to be awkward, that he goes, hey, I'm that guy, and then you're like, I don't know who that guy is, and it gets real weird.

Well, anyway, he was wearing the fader sweater, and it was awesome. My favorite thing, I thoroughly enjoy Boston for multiple reasons. A, it's close to New York, so it's a short flight. B, because of its proximity to New York. The media workouts were at Fenway Park, and that was incredible. It's like you're like in a time warp there. It's amazing. That was super cool.

C, Celtics game on Thursday, awesome. Not related to the UFC. Fine. D. about my experience. D, after the morning wayans, I was walking, killing some time, and I went to this breakfast place

called, I think, the Paramount. Oh, yes, I saw this. You did see, no, no, no, that's another thing. I saw your Twitter. No, that's another place. I went to Paramount, great. Then, as a result of the Wayans show where I was reciting some facts

about Boston, I learned about the Boston Cream Pie, which was invented at the Omni Parker Hotel, and I'm walking back to my hotel to kill some time before the ceremonial wayans and the press conference, and I see the Omni Parker Hotel and I see a picture of

said cream pie and it says home of the original Boston Cream Pie and I was really full from breakfast but I said I gotta try this because I've never tried a Boston Cream Pie have you? I have yes not from this well I went to try it and I filmed it on Instagram and it was fun I have to say it wasn't all that impressed

oh boy buried it was a little buried this build up and you bury them I thought a Boston Cream Pie was kind of like the donut with like the creamy filling yeah didn't really have that. It was very sort of... The Dunkin' Donuts? Yeah, it was very fluffy. It was good. Whip cream, some strawberries,

the chocolate top, but I wasn't blown away. I was thinking something like the donut, with the had like, you know, my apologies to Omni Parker. But that was fun. What was your one moment? Well, I'm telling you, I'm just, people like when I was... Okay, okay. Sorry. I had the cream pie. Then we had the weird press conference. Then we had

ceremonials. Um, then on Saturday, I went to this place called Mamalez, which is like a Jewish delicatessen all the way in Cambridge. I walked 45 minutes just to eat there. Had some chocolate bubka, had mutts bowl soup. You know, one of my rules in life,

if a restaurant is selling mutts bowl soup, I have to have it. No matter if I'm feeling it or not, I must have the mutts bowl soup. It was a great mutts bowl soup. I had some lot because, I mean, it was just a very juice meal. I was loving every second of it.

That is very cheap. Yeah, went back to my room, watched the thunder annihilate the cavaliers. That was a lot of fun. Oh, give me a. Went to the game, not the game, the fight.

It was in the Boston Guard. in like media room, very cool media room. I mean, all in all, it was a great trip. And then, you know, 10 o'clock, I'm home. So what was your favorite moment? Telling me that the thunder annihilated the cavalier? I just really like Boston. I hate every sports team there.

I hate the Red Sox. I hate the Red Sox. I certainly hate the Patriots. I can't believe that this is the Super Bowl that we're getting. It's horrendous and nightmare. And of course, the Celtics, I hate all of them. But I got to say, it's a great town. Like Boston. With a lot of history attached to it.

Put Piti over. favorite moment was meeting him. Okay. That's your try. Okay, my bad. Pedy. By the way, the fans were just amazing. So nice. They seemed very... It was so nice. It was a good... It seemed like a good group. Yeah, yeah. It was great. Okay. Is it unfair for the U.S. to strip Connor of the belt because

he has achieved this status? That's probably why they're not stripping him. You know? Is it unfair? Is there a justification for that? Could you understand the reasoning? Here's the thing. They stripped them of the featherway. belt. And I know they

very quickly called it relinquished, right? Unless it was a year. It was actually like a week it was a week

less than a year once you wanted. Now we're like we're approaching what 14 months. You know what I mean? Here's the question for you.

Would you strip Krona McGregor? That is the ultimate question. If I want to book Tony Ferguson versus Rueen-Rong made off for the undisputed title, yes, I would strip him.

Okay. Because it has created confusion. It's a cloud hanging over the fight. It's taking away from the fight. And I firmly believe that Connor doesn't need the belt. I'm with you on all counts there. Doesn't need the belt.

I think he doesn't need it and it muddies what is ultimately a very good fight. Carmegger is a bigger job than everyone combined. Like he is the only guaranteed million dollar pay-per-view guy, regardless of opponent. Like there's certain matchups that could get you to a million, but like he's regardless of opponent. Sure. They need him badly.

They need him badly. You need to be on good terms of them. I get that. But they also need to recognize that he doesn't need the belt. And I know he knows that. And it's a prestige thing to be the champion,

the champion, and all that's the only guy that doesn't need the belt. He'd have more ammo if they took the belt away. He would be more sympathetic as a character. They need to do it on the same page. Yeah.

They need to do it together, so to speak, right? I mean, he's coming back. He'll get the first crack, blah, blah, blah. But whatever they did on Friday made no sense. Okay, we're going to do these rapid fire real quick. go. Will Ariel Hawani be partaking in some haggis, neeps, and tatties for Burns night on the 25th? I have no idea what this is. Robert Burns Day. A day to celebrate...

Robert Burns? Yes. Who's Robert Burns? Robert Burns is a poet. An author of many Scots poems. Oh, okay. I've heard of it. January 25th is Robert Burns Day. Are you on January 25th going to be partaking? Haggis, Neeps and Tatties? I don't know what Neeps and Tadies are. Absolutely not Haggis. We barely know what Haggis is at this point. Yeah, I have the Haggis toy right over there. I'm going to say it's a hard no.

It's a hard no. I will not be partaking in anything involving. No, Haggis and Neeps and Tadis. Okay. Should the Rick Flair woo? I appreciate the question. Oh, yes. Be banned at the O.C. events. Unequivocally. Unequivocally.

Yes. If, if... Once we book the arena, we tell security, if anyone is caught, wooing during a fight. They are banned, not just from the building, but they are banned for life from UFC events. You're, I get, you know, being a lively crowd, but you're taking the attention away with this, and it's becoming tiresome. Enough already. Does Ariel still support Leicester City? Or has he already moved on to another bandwagon?

As you can see right over there, my Leicester City mug is right over there. You know if any of those guys are still on the team? Well, that's, it says like me, Esther Lin. Dave Doyle. So none of them are Jamie Vardy, my man. Look, it's hard to recreate magic. It's hard for underdogs

to recreate what they, you know, like no one expected that out of them. You know what I mean? Like no one. Including ardent supporters like yourself. Yes. Like nobody could see it coming. Look, you know,

it's just hard to recreate it. Am I going to jump off the bag on wagon? No. You know, was there a tough draw recently against Chelsea? Yes. You know, F.A. C. Fine.

But look, we had a great match against Fleawood. Oh, wow. Fleetwood. We're on a bit of a role as of late. Watford 2-0, Fleetwood, 2-0, you know? Wofford? Watford, okay?

Oh, I'm sorry. What do you know about Ashley Young? You know nothing. I don't know anything. I'm going by you. I just, these names sound. No, the Foxes are my team. Right off the top.

I'm living and dying with them until the very end. Just like I lived and die with them up until they won the championship, all right? I love it. Jordan, he's here to stay. Yeah. I mean, this idea that I'm not a Vardy supporter, that I'm not a Shinji Ozakazi supporter,

you know? That I'm not a Riyan Meharre's supporter. It's almost insulting at this point. Like, what more do I have to do, you know? Somebody needs to contact these guys and let them know that they have a supporter.

Adrian Silva, Harry McGuire. Like, I can just go on and on. Yeah, no. You got it. Okay. I'll, Regent Al, I equinta, Realty. Who is Ariel's

favorite real estate agent? I think it's got to be Alia Quinta, no? I was trying to think of another famous real estate agent. Oh, you know what? Al Jamein Sterling also.

You can't. I definitely. If I had to decide between the two, I'm definitely going with Iaquinta realty over. No disrespect to. No disrespect, but I just feel like Al's been doing it longer,

you know? He knows the game. I think he just posted on Twitter. I saw he posted a nice looking house on Long Island. Yeah. It's killing it. It doesn't need to fight.

Will either of you be watching the raw 25 year anniversary show? That's tonight, right? I believe it is, yeah. Well, I don't want to send my wife into a panic attack because every time she sees me

watching wrestling on TV, she almost faints because she feels like we kick this habit, if you know what I'm saying. But no, I know they like to bring back the old folks and reminisce.

I think it could be cool. I'm going to try and get some of it, you know. Or at least catch highlights or something. Yeah, maybe highlights. You know, I don't know. I saw Brett Hart tweeted. He's not going to

be there. It's the only one I ever... Is he your guy? No, but there's some talk that maybe Ronda Rousey's going to show up. I think it would be a very big mistake. You can't debut Roussey without promoting Roussey debuting. The reason you have Rousy on the roster. Isn't that like a thing in wrestling? Yeah, but this is too big. Okay. You know what I mean? Like, when Mike Tyson was on, like you say Mike Tyson's going to be there. You know what I'm saying? Like you can't. Yeah. But I think my memory. Yeah. There's a thing though in wrestling where like you kind of are hush, hush. Like they keep it super. super secret and then the big

like reveal, the act comes out. That's what they do, more often than not. But it's one thing when it's like the Undertaker returning. It's another when it's Ronda Rouse. Right, because they haven't been in the promotion before. This is, I get it. You want to promote that. You want to spike the ratings. I got you.

You know what I'm saying? Okay. So you may catch something. No, you're not going to tune in, but. Oh, look at social media. If Ronda Rousey's there, you're not going to find it? You're not going to look for it? Well, I mean, if it's tweeted about it, I'll probably find it. Aaron Chalmers versus.

to see on punk, yay or nay. Yay. I like that. I think that's perfect. Yeah. I'm in. Give it to me. Which MMA fighter

would you like to see on another season of the challenge? I believe this is for you. Yeah. I mean, there's obviously the fantasy choice of Connor McGregor.

I think he'd be dynamic in the game. I think he'd be dynamic in the game. I think he'd be great at the political. It's hard. Um, who would be athletically capable?

That's an important part of this, because this is truly an athletic competition. You can't just be a, uh, a run your mouth kind of person. Page Northcutt? No. Oh, yes for the, the, well, no, for the, the interesting throwing Sage Northcutt into an environment where the, key components are physical competition, copious amounts of alcohol, and it'd be like putting Sage on tough. but with intergender mixing

and lots of sexual promiscuity. I would like to see Sage for the you know what? Sage is the answer because I would like to see that as an experiment. I want to see Darren Till because I'd like to see the action. Darren Till would be great. Oh, this year they've got some scouser from the UK.

I don't know if they're scousers, but definitely they've implemented some UK people. Sage Northcutt is the answer because I think that would be extremely entertaining. Sage Northcutt. I would like to see Sage. Sage, do it. Do it, Sage.

That's it. We're done. It was a good week. It was a good week. All right. Thank you very much, sir. Appreciate it. Look forward to next week.

Take care now. Bye, bye then. All right, you can hit my music. We are done for the day, my friends. We covered a lot of ground. We talked about a lot. We talked about USC 220. We talked about Steve Amyochich,

reigning supreme. We talked about Steve Miochich, the winningest heavyweight champion in the history of the ultimate fighting championship. We talked about Steve Miochich and the belt. We talked about what is really troubling him. We talked about respect. We talked about Francis Ngano and the cardio issue and him coming back and not being ready to write him off. Talked about all those things. We talked about Daniel Kormier finally getting the respect that he deserves. the appreciation for Daniel at an all-time high, and that's cool to see. We talked about Volkan Ozedemir, coming ready to fight. We talked about Chales-Sunnan defeating Quentin Rampage Jackson, the first round of the Belator Heavyweight Tournament.

We talked about Rory McDonald, finally winning Belator gold. Finally winning any kind of gold. An amazing story. Congratulations to Roy McDonald. Congratulations to Canada. You have another champion in the World War II Division. cool is that. All right. Time to wrap up. Thank you very much to everyone who tuned in. Thank you very much to everyone who stopped by. Thank you very much to Daniel Cormier. Hopefully the trip to the hospital went

well. Check in on that. Thank you very much to Chelle Sondon. Congratulations. Thank you very much to Tony Ferguson. Great to hear from him. Thank you very much to Yuan and Jacek as well. That was fascinating stuff. Thank you very much to Roy McDonald. Congratulations once again. Thank you very much to Jimmy Manoa. Thank you very much to Aaron Pico. Congratulations on the Big victory as well. Thank you very much to Brent Premis. Jessica Rose Clark, that was amazing stuff as well. Back next week, same time and place. Until that I say, peace, somebody.