MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 426

Episode Date: March 19, 2018

Ariel Helwani speaks to Leon Edwards (00:10:17), Francis Ngannou (00:31:38), Anthony Pettis (00:54:43), Cynthia Calvillo (01:11:05), Devin Powell (01:39:20), Duane Ludwig (02:01:37), Max Holloway (02:18:14), Dillon Danis (02:38:51), Nick Newell (03:00:45), Paddy Pimblett (03:18:37) in studio, and NewYorkRic for The MMA [After] Hour featuring Ric's Picks (04:22:31) and the answers to your questions (05:10:41). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The morning will begin when passenger Fisher is done celebrating. 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned by your gambling or that if someone close, you call 18665330 or visit comexontera.ca. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. It's the Mixed Martial Arts Hour with... The Mixed Martial Arts Hour, back in your life on this Monday, March 19, 2018. Hello again, everyone. I'm Ariel Hawani back inside our New York City studio. Hope you had a lovely weekend. Beautiful day here in New York. Much to discuss, as always.

We have a loaded show for all of you. which is the norm I know but I like saying that top of the show gets me very excited much to discuss with many different people from around the world of mixed martial arts we are coming off another fun weekend in the world of MMA

as you know the UFC was back in London their 10th show in London on Saturday and I'll say this about the London shows lately they have been much maligned lately they have been criticized

let's just put it that way you know like I mean people in London and England, they get upset because they think that the cards aren't good enough. But there's something about the nationalism. There's something about a lot of these local fighters, if you will, not necessarily like London-based fighters, but English fighters who always seem to rise to the occasion. The events still feel big, even though they're not the deepest cards of all time. And I think because London's obviously a very big market, because it means a lot to fight at the O2,

I feel like the fighters on these cards rise to the occasion and really kind of push themselves to put on great performances. And maybe that's not the case when you're in some random city in North America. It just seems like even though these cards are pretty thin, we usually get great performances. And that was the case on Saturday afternoon. By the way, love the Saturday afternoon cards. You know this.

Love them on Fight Pass because they just fly by. And Saturday's card was super fun. We saw all kinds of crazy finishes. Of course, the headlining act featured Alexander Volkov defeating Fabio Verduem, K-Oing him in the fourth round. Verduem didn't look his best, took the fight on relatively short notice. But as did Volkov, Drago, as they call him. And I thought Verdom looked like he wasn't in the best of shape,

looked like he gassed early. And here all of a sudden we have Alexander Volkov who left Bellator, not that long ago on a two-fight losing streak, losing to the likes of Tony Johnson and Czech Congo. Now all of a sudden, according to Fight Metrick, he has the second longest winning streak in the UFC's heavyweight division. How about that?

Second to just the champion, Stipe Miochich. What an unbelievable performance. And who saw this coming out of Alexander Volkov? Now all of a sudden, I feel like he's... You know, prior to UFC 120, when the UFC was looking for an opponent for Stipe Miotich, had Inganu lost to Alist to Alistur Overeem, there were serious talks about putting Volkov

who's coming off a win over Stefan Strouve in that spot. So they certainly see something in the guy. Is he still a work in progress? Yes. Does he have a long way to go, in my opinion, before hanging with the likes of Miotich? Yes.

But all of a sudden we've got this youth movement in the heavyweight division, not necessarily a youth movement, but certainly an influx of fresh faces, guys like Curtis Blades, like Alexander Volkov, like Tai Tui Vasa, and Francis Ngano as well,

who I'm not ready to write off, it has been a while since we've had this influx of fresh faces in the heavyweight division. I think the UFC matchmaker, the relatively new UFC matchmaker, McManor deserves a lot of credit for his matchmaking, developing these contenders, these stars.

So that happened on Saturday. Volkov beats for doom. How about Jan Blahowitz defeating Jimmy Manua? In the rematch no one wanted, the rematch no one asked for, turned out to be one of the best fights on the card and now it kind of feels like with nothing going on

at light heavyweight and this log jam in like the two through six rankings why not just do this fight a third time their one one now the second fight was great Tom Ducenwa got back on track

with a win over Tarion Ware Leon Edwards who will be talking to in a matter of moments defeated Peter Sabata and what was unique about this was not only did he almost finish him in a matter of seconds early on He ended up finishing him with one second left in the fight. And that would have been the record for the latest stoppage in a three-round UFC fight. If not for just a few minutes earlier, probably around an hour or so earlier, when Paul Craig did it in the third fight of the night,

Paul Craig doing it in a sort of Hail Mary situation locking up the triangle choke, he was about to lose the fight. He also won at the four minute and 59 second mark. Edwards was on route to winning and still got to finish. So we saw two of the latest stoppages in UFC history happened within the span of like an hour, 90 minutes. Pretty crazy stuff. So a huge win for Leon Edwards. He wins his fifth in a row. And then he calls out Darren Till.

And we'll talk to him about that. What a great call it was. It was timely. It was perfect. It was short. It was succinct. It was to the point. And you can sign me up.

And I'll tell you why. Charles Byrd defeats John Phillips in a very one-sided fight. How about Danny Roberts with a win over Oliver Encamp via knockout in the first round? Danny Henry with a fantastic performance against Hakeem Dawoodoo. And he just submits him in 39 seconds and came out guns blazing, dropped DaWoodoo early, and then submitted him when after the choke. It was a phenomenal win. Cajun Johnson with a win over Stevie Ray.

Maybe not the best fight. He was very vocal afterwards. not only about the fans, but about Dana White. Cajie Johnson's on a roll these days. You can't shut them up if he keeps winning. So some good performances overall. A fun card. It was an afternoon card,

and I always like those. And the best part about it is now the UFC has a three-week break before UFC 223. They can properly promote this card. I guarantee you, come April 7th in Brooklyn, you are going to be foaming at the mouth. You are going to be dreaming about this card because now all our attention turns to this card.

This is the way you perform. promote cards. This is the way you do it. You give a little bit of a break. It's not week to week to week. This is going to be the timing. I don't know if they scripted it this way, but the timing for the UFC is absolutely phenomenal with this card, which in my opinion, the one coming up on April 7th is the best of the year. So we have all that to discuss so much more, all kinds of news going on as far as future UFC cards are concerned, Bellator 200, upcoming Bellator events. There's a ton going on. Let me run down today's lineup. Then we'll get to our first guest of the day. We'll talk to Leon Edwards, like I said, in a matter of moments. We're going to talk to

Francis Ngano after that in what I do believe is his first interview since his loss, his DiBemiotich at UFC 220. At 145, we will talk to Anthony Pettis, who's returning to action at UFC 223 against Michael Kesa. It's been a while since we talked to Showtime. We'll talk to Cynthia Calvio at 205 about her suspension, not only from Usada, But then how about Nevada doubling down and giving her a longer suspension, a nine-month suspension for having marijuana metabolites in her system? I've said this before. I am not a marijuana smoker.

I think this is absolutely ludicrous. The fact that Nevada A gave her suspension, fine, okay, we could debate that. But then to give her a longer one than Usada is just mind-blowing, especially when you consider the fact that the Nevada Athletic Commission, chairman Anthony Marnell, is involved in the marijuana dispensary business. I mean, you talk about hypocrisy. Holy mocks, holy smokes. Holy mocks and holy smokes.

Devin Powell will be on at 225. I didn't want to say smokes because it felt like a pun and then I screwed it up. Devin Powell will be on at 225. And we've talked about him a little bit on the program. This is the guy with the rupture testicle. I really didn't want to do this. But I feel, I don't know. I feel compelled at this point.

Why? I don't know. I feel weak just talking about it right now. I can't imagine how I'm going to feel when we have. on the show. But, you know, a guy ruptures his testicle wants to come on the show. Who am I to say no, right? Who am I to say no? He's been through enough. Dwayne Ludduk will be on at 245. We'll talk to Bang

about T.J. Dillshaw and other things going on in his life. Max Holloway, the reigning defending UFC featherweight champion will be on at 305. Dylan Danis, who is now fighting in his Bell Tour debut on April 28th in Rosemont, Illinois. He'll be joining us from Ireland. He's

there to train with SBG. So we'll talk to in his first interview since that fight was officially announced. Nick Newell will be on, much to discuss with him. And then at 405 in studio right over here in front of me, the one and only Patty the batty Pemblet in studio, Liverpool's own. And what timing they announced the Liverpool card on Friday? And now here he is, the Cage Warrior Star.

He's in New York. He's training gear. He'll be joining us in studio. How much fun is that going to be? I can't wait for that. After that, M.A. After hour, your questions, comments. You know all that stuff and more. So speaking of Liverpool, they announced the card on Friday.

They announced that it's going there on May 27th. It's going to air here in the United States on FS1. And they announced that Darren Till is going to be in the main event. But they say he is fighting the dreaded TBA, the dreaded TBD. They don't have an opponent for him. And they're having a lot of trouble finding an opponent for him. They just can't find someone. There's no good options.

enter Leon Edwards. He wins on Saturday. He defeats Peter Sabata. He picks up his fifth straight win. And then he gets on the mic and it's a perfect call-up. So you'll recall last week on the program, we spoke to Leon Edwards for the first time. We said, you win this fight on Saturday. You'll be back on the show. And how about this? He kicks things off for us right off the bat. He's back on the show. We'll go to him right now via the magic of Skype. And there he is. Rocky Edwards with a Patrick Ewing poster in back of him. What? there it is my good friend my good friend Patrick Patrick Ewing where'd you get that oh now we lost you the Lord giveeth

and the Lord taketh maybe someone's calling you right now that's amazing so you remember last week on the show we'll reconnect with him in a second last week on the show I asked Leon Edwards

if he was familiar with Patrick Ewing who is my favorite athlete of all time the pride of Kingston Jamaica Leon is from Kingston Jamaica I was blown away that he had never heard of the greatest athlete, at least until now, until Leon burst onto the scene.

Usain Bolt, too, I said, you have to know who Patrick Ewing is. He's the greatest of all time to come from your country. Are you kidding me? It's a tiny island. Haven't produced a lot of sports stars. Some notable people have come from Jamaica, no doubt about it. But Patrick tops the list, the greatest New York Knick of all time, one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time, should have been a multiple-time champion.

Unfortunately, he couldn't get things done. but now, of course, the coach of the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team. And much to my chagrin, much to my surprise, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, was unfamiliar with the great number 33. Patrick Ewing. And now look, maybe he was playing possum. Maybe he was doing the old Ropo. Maybe he really actually knew who Patrick Ewing was, and this was all a ruse.

Where is Leon Edwards? Do we have him? I'm very excited to talk to him about Patrick Ewing. Okay, we're going to call him. Well, we got a glimpse that he actually has an old school Patrick Ewing poster in whatever room he was in right there. That is huge. That excites me greatly. Just seeing Patrick wearing the 33, wearing the orange and blue, that just warmed my heart.

That was a beautiful sight. Okay, well, we'll connect with him in a matter of moments. So like I said, that's five in a row for Leon Edwards. And how about this? Longest active winning streaks in the UFC welterweight division, Kamaro Usman, seven in a row, Santiago, Ponzovino, six in a row.

Number three, in that particular category, is Leon Rocky Edwards, five in a row, tied with Colby Covington. The man is streaking these days, and he said last week that he was disappointed

with the assignment. He wanted a bigger name. He wanted someone who was ranked. He wanted someone maybe on a bigger stage, no disrespect to his home country, but he just, he wanted the push. He also predicted that next year he'd be in that title,

contention. So where is this? What's going on? No, I don't have anything here. We can just call him on the phone if the Skype isn't working. It doesn't matter. You know, so wins over Dominic Waters, Albert Tuminov, Vicente Lucay, Brian Barbarina. That was the win back in September. And you'll recall, he called out Donald Soroni before Seroni ended up fighting Darren Till. And then he ended up getting the Peter Sabata fight, defeating him at four minutes and 59 seconds. And the crazy thing about this is we spoke to him last week about his brother, Fabian Edwards, who's a big time prospect, currently

fighting in Bama, the British-based organization, 4-0 right now. He fought two weeks ago and dropped his opponent early on, but then was able to secure the submission victory. What happened on Saturday during the Edwards fight, he dropped Sabata early on and then Sabata almost submitted him. It was like the reverse. It was crazy. And this was like all in like the first 45 seconds of the fight. But he was able to get out of that. He was able to regroup and then ended up winning that fight, as I said, at four minutes and 59 seconds of the third round. At first I was like, well, that's a questionable decision. It didn't seem really necessary to stop the fight. But then after the referee did stop the fight

and Sabata got up his entire face was a was a bloody mess and it looked like the right call. The crazy one was the the Paul Craig fight getting that submission in four minutes and 59 seconds

and I mean like it's easy for us to say but you have milliseconds to hold on do we got him something just happened in my ear okay Leon are there? Yes yeah I'm a yeah

okay I think we're having some Skype problems, but I did catch a glimpse of your room over there, so you got the Patrick Ewing poster. Patrick up. Patrick is up. I've been doing my studies. Yeah, where did you get that? Where did you get a Patrick Ewing poster from in the last

seven days? I ordered the offline. I do that. I do my research. I got it ordered. So, yeah, all did. I appreciate that. You have no idea. I idolatize Patrick Ewing. Everything I did was about Patrick doing 30, like everything.

Did you go on YouTube? Did you look at this guy? Did you watch some of his clips? Yeah, 100%. It's among Kingston, Jamaica. And I was born as well. He's a great man, so, yeah, 100%. Well done. Well done. I love it. Okay, we have a lot to talk about.

First off, congratulations on the win. Five in a row for you. You get the job done. But I have to ask, did you not, and maybe not in the moment, but after the fact, the way your fight played out in like the first minute was very reminiscent of your brother's fight a week ago. Did you notice that? It was it? Because you dropped

Sabata and then he went for the submission. Your brother got dropped and then he went for the submission. It was just the reverse. Exactly. The same arm bar is now. Yes. Crazy. I didn't think of that, but yeah. Do you regret going to the...

I didn't have the arm bar so good. Do you regret going into his guard? Do you think if you just would have waited for him to get up or... or maybe attacked him differently that you could have finished him within a minute? Yeah, 100%. I should have passed the legs and carried down my pounding,

but for some reason I went to his guard and went to serve for the armbar. But yeah, I should have passed them legs and I could have put them away there, but it is, or there's, I live here you there, so it's all good. How pissed off for you? Like, were you thinking about that throughout the fight?

That's something that I would harp on. I'm that kind of person. Were you thinking about that? Like, ah, I had him in the first minute. Why am I even hearing in the second, third round with them? Exactly, exactly. After the fire, my coach was pulling in that I was telling me about it.

And what was going on? I was in the moment, so wherever the fight was, that's where that's where that's where my head was. So I'm really thinking about I should have been there. I was like, I was in the moment. And it was good, but like I said, I should have passed his legs and I would have put him away then. But it is it.

I got to finish late in the third round. So it's all good. yeah you tied paul craig's record which was set just like an hour prior were you watching the craig fight in the locker room like were you even aware that a record had been set earlier i know you probably weren't trying to like break that record or tie the record but did you

even know that you weren't watching it no no but no I'm watching it but i didn't know the time of submission or I remember I remember watching it and thinking uh he's losing the fight and I looked around again and then the one to fight so but i didn't know it was the time limited

and so now i didn't know it's time So someone told him after my way, after one, instead of the second of the night, which is just madness. Like, you never really heard of that. Yeah. It's magic. Yeah. And are you, like, when you're, you know, on the ground and you hear the, like, the, like, the clack, clack, ten seconds left.

Are you thinking, like, let me try to get this? Let me try to get this. Because it didn't look. I mean, you were still nailing him, but it didn't look like, okay, you were thinking, okay, let me try to, you know, let me try to squeeze this in in the next 10 seconds. It all kind of had. I even think the crowd wasn't aware that the fight was stopped. They just thought that it went the distance.

Were you trying to squeeze that in before the final horn? Yeah, 100%. You could see, I was pounding away the last 10 seconds, trying to get to finish because the battery was leaking of blood. So I kept pounding, kept pounding. But I thought the bell went, and the coach was right now. They stopped the fight. So I didn't even know that they stopped the fight until after the bell went.

To my coach and said, I stopped the fight. But yeah, I was a hundred percent looking for the finish So I kept pounding away, pounding away It wasn't moving, so It was good to get a finish In the last second At a fight, so yeah, all good Yeah, the finish helps

Five in a row now, as I just said You have the third longest streak in the Welterweight Division Overall, are you happy with the body of work? Were you happy with the 15 minutes or 14, 59? Like, were you happy with your performance? No, not really late.

I give myself a 7 out of 10 for that performance. performance. Paro-to-fight week, I was ill. I came down with the chicken packs. I was in bed for two weeks, I was in bed for two weeks, trying to recover. It was from the last 10 days before five-week. I recovered a little bit, and then I could cut weight. So, yeah, the top 7 out of 10 for the performance. I should have finished them earlier. But like I said, I don't think pitchers on my level. I said from the get-go. I don't think it's on my level. So after this fight, though, like I said, I want the top 10 guys. So I'll call out Mr. Till.

So let's get this fight for Google. And we will get to that in a second. But first, let me just make sure I heard you correctly. You had chicken pox two weeks ago? Yeah, exactly. What? Last two weeks, I was in bed with chicken pox. I was like, I never had a, my son brought her home from school.

Oh, my God. I thought I had it before when I was a child, but my mom said I didn't have it before. So he gave me chicken pox. So I was in bed for like 10 days And then I had to stop my wake up and I can start I'm like getting my shit together for London So yeah So probably 7 out of 10 for my performance

That night and Saturday I should have finished them earlier Wow Did you consider pulling out of the fight As a result of having the chicken pox two weeks ago? Not really Not really I'll be some research when I said

In 10 days You used to start clearing up And start feeling better and so I'll ride it out and seal ourselves. So, yeah, it would be hard to get my weight down because I was in bed and I couldn't train because that's probably the hardest part of it, apart from that, I was all right.

How itchy were you? How miserable was it? It was terrible. It was terrible. You tell you're not worse when you're adults as well when you're a child, it was terrible. It was terrible. It was all in my face and my body and it was madness.

you all clear it up now? Yeah, it's all clear up now. It's scar here and there, but it's all gone. Wow, that is unbelievable. Okay, and so, you know, the performance is great, the win is great, tying that record, 4-59 is great, but then how about that call-out? I mean, it's one thing to, you know, wait for them to ask you,

who do you want next? You wanted nothing to do with Dan Hardy's question. You wanted nothing to do with a follow-up question. You knew exactly what you were doing, and you knew where he was, and you looked right at him. You called out Darren Till, and what's so notable about this is the UFC is having such a hard time

finding an opponent for Darren Till. Here's a fellow Brit saying, I will fight you, I will go to your hometown, I want this, I'm the man in Britain. I mean, it was perfect, and then you walked off.

Did you think of that on the spot? Or is that something that you were planning on doing before the fight? I hardly before the fight after a sabreacher, I will call him out. Like I said before,

if you look at my path, I've taken, look at his past years, to get to where, get to. My path is way hard to fight. So nobody needs you to Fort or four from Donald Serrani.

So I knew I was going in there. I'm going to put the battery away. Then I'm going for top ten. I'm going to go on the tail. So here's what it is. Like I said, Liverpool is only an hour away from me because it's only a drive down the road

to get to Liverpool. So it's all good. So good. I'll push the fellow fight. I'm hoping to get it. It says nobody wants to fight him. I want to fight him. So let's see what it is.

it's amazing because I saw some people say Leon Edwards doesn't deserve this fight I think that's absolutely ludicrous your winning streak your current winning streak is longer than the the amount of UFC wins that he has with all due respect to Darren Till I'm a huge Darren Till fan I love everything about him

but he's 4-0 and 1 in the UFC and you're right the strength of schedule apart from the Donald Seroni fight who you can argue is maybe on the tail end of his career it matches up so this idea that you don't deserve to be in there with him is ludicrous in my opinion have you afterwards, like since this call out,

have you received any feedback or your management from the UFC? Is this something that they are considering? Seriously, do they like this idea? Well, for what I've heard, I heard they're trying to make the Wonderboy fight with him and Till. Well, I put my name out there. I told my management, keep pushing for, keep pushing for it,

just in case that falls through. But what I'm hearing now, that are trying to get the Wonderboy fight. But like I said, I'm here. I'm on a firefighter streak. I'm ready to go. I'm just waiting to hear what to come back with. I think it is attainable.

I don't think Wonderboy is taking that fight. I spoke to his dad on Friday. His hands are still not healed. They say he's at around 60 to 70% and he wants nothing to do with fighting in England against Darren Till. And correct me if I'm wrong, is there like some kind of rivalry

between Birmingham and Liverpool, like a football rival? Is there any kind of history between the two cities? Not really. Not really. Okay. Probably for football, but not really. Like you said, this is a UK-based fight,

so I love for the UK and everywhere in the UK. So it's not really a rival with just, I think I deserve that top 10 spot. Well, what he's got, I've caught up done a story before. I'll beat tough opponents, so that's all it is, just between me and him, so it is what it is. Do you have a history with Darren Till? Have you ever run into it?

Do you have any kind of backstory with him? No, not really, not really Not really I've seen around in the five week Hotel but apart from that Not really, nothing much I just know that I'm the better fighter And I deserve that type of time

That's all How do you feel about the push that he's getting The buzz that he's getting That they're bringing a fight car to his hometown That they're putting him on the broadcast I mean they're really getting behind him How do you feel about all this? Is it warranted in your opinion?

I'm not going to hate on another man's success, you know. He's doing his thing. Does he deserve it? I don't know, but he's what it is. Like I said, he was the beat, apart from Donald Theroni. That was on a losing streak when he beat him. He beat Theroni Leak Frog to number seven. And now he's God's gift.

Everyone's eyes is God's gift. So it's madness to me. I don't see what they have been, but clear play to the man, he's doing this thing, but I'm ready to go. I feel like I wanted to fight. It's an hour drive for me. It's perfect, so let's go.

And he said afterwards, like he was doing a scrum. It didn't seem like he was all that, you know, blown away by, did you see his comments? And if so, what do you make of him? It doesn't seem like he's jumping at the callout, the opportunity. Yeah, I've seen it.

But like I said, I feel he's pushing for that, that, that, um, that one. Wonderboy fight. So, it's it's what it is. Like I said before, I don't think you want to see it. I've got many ways I could beat him. He's looking for a striker because he wants him to strike the whole fight. I mean, I can strike with him, I can wrestle him,

I can shove him. So, I believe I'm a tougher fight for him than Wonderboy. But made no mistakes. I'll go to Liverpool and I'll put it away if it's to give me the opportunity. So I'm just waiting to hear back to the OSC and see what they got planned for Liverpool. I think this is perfect. I mean, it just

It just makes so much sense, especially considering the fact that no one really wants to take this fight, and it's only 10 weeks away. Other than the chicken pox that you just got over, any injuries? Are you banged up at all after going almost 15 minutes with Sabata? No, I'm fresh of the days. I'm ready to go.

I have a few days after. I'm back in the gym. My brother will be fighting again in May, so it would be perfect to be in camp again with me and my brother, and either soccer was one. And Tom Breezer being camp as well, for May as well. So it would be perfect for me. I'm ready to go.

I'm fresh. You say that you can beat him many different ways. How do you see a fight with Till going? How would you expect that to go? I'll see him coming out. It'll be his hometown. I think he's more aggressive for the first round. I feel I'll stand in him.

I'll put the pressure on him. I'll put the pressure on him. I'm wrestling in him. I'm punching him or kicking him. I feel I'll stop him late in the round at the fight goes on. The moral of the story, though, like the lesson here, like you're ready to take that step.

Enough of these like sort of like mid-tier. You want that big fight on a big stage against the ranked opponent. It's time now. Five in a row, let's go. Enough of these fights, right? Yeah, exactly, exactly. Like I said before, I'm five in a row. It's the third win streak in the World Trade Division.

Like what's there to wait for? I don't know if to wait for, I'm going to guys out. If Till doesn't want to fight, I'll take muscle though in July, in Vegas on that DC card. either TIL or Mastodov in July so either way I want someone in the top ten I'm hard enough now

fighting these guys and I care to put myself every time and let's go now and top ten Forget about Mazvedal in July at least for now keep all the focus on Till I feel like you have a real shot of getting this and this is no inside info

there's just not that many options like they've already announced them in the main event they have to put someone there you've got a story you're the fellow Brit you want to take his spot stop talking about July and Mazvedal at least for now because I feel like that takes away from the call.

Do you feel me on this? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear that. Let's keep it focused. I want a total fight, 100%. So let's just go. You know what I'm going to push that five for now and let's see what to come back with.

Wow. What a great idea. I didn't really think of it as it was all going on. He was just on TV like right before your fight and then you called him out and it was just so perfect. And you're not really that. And correct me if I'm wrong, you're not the type to want to really trash talk, but you're great in those callouts. You were great when you called out Seroni in September,

and you did it perfectly on Saturday. It just seems to come natural for you in those moments, like on that stage when the mic's on, and then you walk away. But I think in general you're not like a very boisterous sort of, you know, like braggadocious kind of guy, right? I'm what I am.

I'm what you're sitting Saturday night, you know? I think the U.S. you don't get behind me, so people don't get to see my personality as much, you know. But that's who we are. That's kind of person I am in my personal life. and so I think because the deal isn't they'll get behind me as much you know people already see my personality

and I think that's probably it but yeah that's definitely do you think they'll get behind you now do you feel like are you confident that now you'll finally get that love that you're looking for yeah 100% I feel like them pushing me a little bit more leading up to the sabbatte fight so

hopefully they stay on it and keep pushing me and and keep building a star because I feel that I got everything to be a star so just get now them get behind me and believing in me. I'm on a firefighter street.

And being all these guys are giving me, the so-called, like tough guys, up-and-coming guys, I'm beating them with ease. So hopefully they get behind me now and start pushing me and start giving me a top-10 fights.

So to recap finally, May 27th, Liverpool, Echo Arena, you want that main event shot against Darren Till. You want to go in there and stop his undefeated streak. Till responded after your call-out

said, Any final words to Darren Till? Start being a pussy and let's fight. Like, you say you're the greatest world on. Let's prove it. Let's prove it. So that's my words. Yeah, let's go.

Just start waiting for the Wonderboy fight. I'm down the road. Let's go. Let's go. I love it. Let's do it. All right. Well done, Leon.

You got the win. You got the finish. You tied a record. And then you called out the Golden Boys sitting cage side. I think that was a great night for you in London on Saturday. Well done. Great to talk to you again. and good luck getting the fight. Keep us posted on how that goes.

I will do. Thank you. Thank you. All right. There he is. Leon Rocky Edwards. Making waves. Not only is he a new Patrick Ewing fan. Yes, Patrick Ewing retired like 15 years ago, but that's okay. Better late than never. He's on the bandwagon. He's on a winning streak, third longest in the Welterweight Division. He ties a record for the latest finish in UFC three-round history, and then he calls out the golden boy, Darren Till. What a great time to be a Leon Edwards right now. I mean, wow, living his best life. is Rocky Edwards. Very exciting.

Okay, I'm all fired up. Let's go to the Skype machine. Let's say hello to the one and only Francis in Ghana. We have not talked to him in quite some time. No time to waste. There he is in his car. Francis, Sa va.

It's great to talk to you. It's great to see you. Am I mistaken? Is this your first interview since UFC 220? My first interview in America, yes. I did some stuff in a case. Meirone. Okay.

But you have, for the most part, stayed out of the spotlight. Not a lot of, you know, tweets, things like that. You've kind of stayed away since the fight. Any particular reason? Did you need a break after the steep fight? No, I wasn't good. I was very disappointed for what's happened, you know. Or seeing how, what was my mistake for all the fight, the training,

income and everything, and I was very sad about it. How difficult was it to deal with that afterwards, and do you feel like you're over it yet, or do you need to fight in order to get over it? No, I'm not over. How can I be over when I just, I don't start, you know. I just, you know, for me, it's just the beginning. It's just because I'm like, you know, has to be really tough. with myself, but, you know, I've been doing this sport for four years, four years and a half,

probably years now, four years and a half. So at this point, you can't be like done, no, you're just that. I'm just started just because I keep doing well and then I be where I was in this short amount of time. But, you know, it's still good, but it wasn't, what that I was expecting. Do you still think about it a lot? That's kind of what I meant. Does it still bother you? Is it still like a sick feeling in your stomach over what happened?

Yes, I still think about it, you know. But unfortunately, I think we need this kind of, sometimes we need this kind of thing to learn more. Because what I learned on this fight, the mistake that I did, I can't do it again, you know, because I know the fact, the impact of everything. I know the signification of everything now. So you mentioned this twice now. The mistakes that you made leading up to the fight, the mistakes that you made in the training camp, could you tell us what you believe these mistakes were?

What went wrong leading up to the fight? You know, there were many things. First of all, the fact that I traveled to Paris, three weeks before the fight and then travel back and a lot of media that I wasn't prepared for that. I didn't know that you're going to be that much and I wasn't prepared for that. So at some point there were some weeks that I'd have it. It was really difficult to me to train three times because I will travel for, travel for media and stuff and be by myself. you know, I didn't, I wasn't able to have a team to travel with. So a lot of things like that.

I learn of it. Next time, I will know what to prepare myself to. So, going through. For your next training camp, where will it be? He will be here. In Las Vegas. The whole time? Yes.

So far, I think so. But, you know, I don't have a fight set of years. So after setting the fight up, I would decide what to, I will see what to do, what best to me for me. You spent a lot of time at the Performance Institute leading up to that fight. Will you do the same whenever you get your next fight? Yes. I mean, the performance institute was very good. I did a lot of good work there, but I didn't manage it very well.

I didn't manage the benefit of that work. How early into the fight did you start to get worried that you were getting tired and that, you know, cardio would be a factor? Were you thinking about this early in the first round? You recall, you know, it crossing your mind like, wow, this is going to be a problem. I'm getting too tired here. I feel it right for the first round. You know, sometimes I never did like three rounds, but. I did two rounds, but for this fight after, of the middle of the first round, I felt like something wrong.

And then, you know, it wasn't the same thing like he used to be. Have you ever felt like that before? For how. No, meaning it seemed like you were getting tired. Have you ever felt like that in any kind of training, you know, sparring, things like that? Yes, in sparring, so you push yourself, you did, you did more. than you should do. You take a fresh guy every single round,

and you did a lot of rounds, and you get very tired, very exhausted. But no, no for the first round, you know. No for the second round either. I used to do two-round fight in the fight, but I wasn't tired for the first round in this fight. Have you been able to watch it? Yes, I watched it.

and no other fight. I don't watch other fight. I watched like two rounds and I was very sad or like, shit, you know. So you watch like the first two rounds and then you turned it off? Yes.

It just bothers you too much. Yes, I just, yes, I just very sad about the auto mistake. But, you know, that was something that I will never know if I have never been true. Now I've been through. I think I will

know more about it. I know more aspect about this. Do you think that you'll ever watch the fight? The full fight? Of course. Okay. How do you correct this? I mean, you said, you know, you shouldn't

have flown back to France. Is it just a matter of staying in the same place and maybe doing a little less media before the fight? Or do you feel like you have to do something drastic to improve your cardio? To be honest, I think the work that I did at the performance center too was very good. But I have to do something to manage my condition. I have to do something that to avoid me to travel, maybe.

three weeks before a big fight like that, you know. Yeah, so that was all the aspect. Okay. Does this mean that you won't train again in France or just not that close to a fight anymore? Maybe not that close or maybe the full training comes in France. So stay there half my time, train all the full training come and come here to fight. What did you think of Steepay?

It seemed like early in the fight, you actually hit him with some big shots, and of course he didn't go down. Did he impress you, his toughness? I mean, some of those shots that you've hit him with, you've knocked out a lot of people. Were you thinking like, holy smokes? I can't believe he's actually not falling down here? I think it's really tough than I thought.

But I wasn't surprised because I didn't hurt him very well. You know, he was very smart. avoid my punches, you know, keep moving. Okay. But you never felt like you got him with a good shot. No. I never thought that. But you say he is tougher than you expected him to be,

than you thought he would be? Yes, because I didn't know that he will, after maybe that shot or something, he will keep going, you know. What about? And then he keep, he really... Go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, no, you please.

No. No, I say he really do a very, very good job. The first round, he just keep moving, keep moving, and then the second round, that work. What about being in your first? Oh, go ahead. Yeah, please. Yes, and then, even me, I should do that, but, you know, I, I fuck up the game plan because they are supposed to go slowly for the first round as well.

And then before start, the second round, you know, my corner, my corner always tell me, tell me that it's five-round fight, you know, have to rush. You're going to be, take it easy. But for the first round, I just went crazy. I just went really. crazy so I didn't give time to my heart rate to go up.

What about being in your first UFC main event and there was so much attention on you? Do you feel like the moment, just all that attention got you a little bit? Sometimes we see that guys, you know, they have like an adrenaline dump when that happens, the first big UFC fight title fight. Did that affect you at all?

No, I don't think that is the problem. I just think the problem is how I managed to fight. how I get out of the game plan I went out of the game plan you know

I used to be patient to take the first round easy and then leave my opening came to me but I didn't do the same thing after the fight

like what have you been doing you said you went back home to Cameroon just trying to lay low you went to see some family is that what you did yes I see my family

and then it was such a great time out there and the whole I didn't expect in that but the whole country was really proud because this is the first time that we have someone some Cameroonian guy

even African guy fight for the world title and they was very proud they said you did a good job we are proud of you basically know where you came from basically know that you were years, six years ago, you were here six, five years ago, and then to like try to find your life. And I was like, really? That's true.

You know, it's true. So it made you feel better? He makes me realize, he made me realize that it's not that bad, you know, it's not that bad. I did great so far. I've been through this poor just. still remember I was still watching some video stuff, then people sent me stuff, and then how the story, how I started the MMA, you know, how I worked to the gym the first time, how my first training come. I was like, really, it's just like four years and a half ago, and I look around me, see people in four years and half, and then I realized that I did a great thing,

I improve. So it's still a good thing. Yeah. I learned about it. And I strongly believe that this fight make me become no the stronger fighter in the world, not just the stronger fighter in the world, but very, make my wisdom, you know. Yeah, I can see that. It becomes very smart.

Because there were something that I didn't. understand in the fight. I never know how to go to the three round. I've been to five round and then even with all that fatigue. So I know how how is it. I have I have that experience now and I really need it. Now it seems just based off your social media, are you back to training now? Are you kind of itching to get back in there? Yes, I'm back in training. I'm back

in training now. I came back one week ago and I just start training slowly, slowly. I'm looking from fire up. Yesterday on Twitter, you said, hey, Derek Lewis, enough's enough, let's go.

And he responded to you today. I don't know if you saw that, but he said, I've been waiting for you for a year. Let's go. So is it safe say that this is the fight you want next, Derek Lewis? Derek Lewis is number six contender. It's not really what I won, but if the fight that they're going to set it up, I're going to fight it. You know, I'm still looking forward to work to the title shot after I show fight.

That is exactly my goal. So up to what they're going to give me. There are a lot of people out there that want to fight me. I saw Mark Kent. he will be a great one I saw I heard about by myself

I want Brock Brach listener That's the one you want You want Brock Lesnar Yes And there are someone too I heard Anthony Joshua

He's going to fight in MMA And if he wants to face me And I was like Hey Be welcome man You know we're gonna do it both sides in the autogon and inside the ring.

Is that a dream of yours to do something like that? You're going to get me anyway, yes. Wow, okay. So you mentioned Derek Lewis, you mentioned Mark Hunt, Brock Lesner and Anthony Joshua. That's quite the quartet. Let's just say...

No, no. Listen, there are three people who wanted me and that I want. Okay, fair enough. Because the order three ones, the one who wanted me. And me, I want Brock. Okay. Have you asked Dana White?

Because they have been talking, and a lot of people believe that he is coming. Back to the UFC, have you asked the UFC? Have you asked Dana White? Is this possible? Can I get Brock Lesnar? No. I know Ash Dana White yet. But I ask Mick.

And what do he say? Yes. They don't know much about it. he can check. Oh. Did he get back to you yet? Not yet. Why do you want Brock Lesnar?

I like the fight. I like, you know, it look like the... I don't know if you ever seen this guy. He looked very, very big and strong. And I really want to try that. Yeah, and scary too. He is scary. Yeah.

Kind of. Not so much for you. For someone like me, yes. For someone like you, no. Let me ask you, though, between Derek Lewis and Mark Hunt, which one of those do you prefer? Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. The both is the same rank.

Yeah. But it seems like there's a bit of a history between you and Derek Lewis. You don't really like Derek Lewis, right? After your fight, he was kind of making fun of your cardio. He's been talking about you for quite some time. I think to say I don't really like it is over. It's too much. But, you know, we are a fighter.

We have tension. We have to say stuff about other fighters. But I don't have in person. I don't have nothing again directly with. But as fighter, I know that he'll probably be my opponent. So I'm going to fight it, you know. He's just a fight business. So no more than that.

Did you see his last fight? He won last month. Did you see that fight? Yes, I see the fight. What did you think? No, no, the fool. Yes, I watched the fight. It was the great one. Okay. I mean, so far, Derek Lewis is a good fighter. They are nothing to say about that. He's a very good fighter. And that's why a fight between us would be a good one, too. Oh, it's one of my dream fights. I dream

about this fight. You two together. And I, I know that. I know you. I know you. I know you. I know you've been working off the fight. Yes, yes, yes. When would you like to return? Like, when's a good month for you? Maybe July. Oh. Same card as DC and Stipe?

It doesn't matter what is opened. And then, you know, I'm here now. I'm here for that. Okay. Who do you think wins, by the way, D.C. or Stipe? In that fight, I don't really know. I can pronounce myself. because they both have the same style,

and they're going to be very cautious each other, you know. I don't know. Okay. How many more fights do you think, in your opinion, do you need to win to get back in the title fight? Up to what is the opening. Yeah. I think maybe two.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think it's going to be that many. And how... Yes, and how is the win. I think if I take someone like a Brock and then have a good win I can go back to the title shot again. Any message for Brock Lesnar?

You want to say something to him so that he comes to the UFC anything you want to say to the man? Yes, I just want to tell you that. Please, bro, come back, come back, my friend. We need you here. We need you to put fun in this division. I need you to give me that my fucking fight.

I've been waiting for for a long time. I'd be dream for. Wow. This is amazing. What about Derek Lewis? Anything you want to say to him? For Derek Lewis, I know I have nothing to say. When the fight will happen, it will happen.

And you'll probably happen. He's already in the UFC and I don't have to back him to be there. Sure, sure. Wow. Okay. Well, you've given us a lot to think about. I just, I just want to say, if you want to fight, he just

get to process like the process send his manager at the UFC and then his manager will contact mine and will try to

deal the fight that's how things work it's not just stay on show so yes yes and Gano blah blah

you know let's go let's go come on yeah I hear you I hear you Francis so good to see you so good to talk to you again

so good to see you smile Good to see that you're in great spirits, my friend, and we're looking forward to your return. Thank you so much for doing this. It was great to talk to you today. Thank you, Ari. And I want to remain that. I'm very in good spirit. You know, I've been in this tough time, I have many support, many friends, you know, a true friend. I don't mean about people who think shit. The true friend really support me. And then I want to let them know that I am back.

I won't leave them. You know, I'll give them what they need. I'll keep my head up and come back very stronger. All right, Francis. Bon courage to you, blue, in July, and we'll talk to you very soon. All the best, you, Francis. It's a pleasure.

Bon courage to Cameroon and France in the World Cup, of course. Thank you so much and I wish you all the best It was great to talk to you. Thank you, too. All right, there he is. The one and only Francis Inganu. Do not forget this man.

Remember the name. He is not going anywhere. I suspect in around two or so fights, we'll see him back in there. Okay, as far as the title shot is concerned, we'll hopefully see him this summer back in action. Let's move along. It's been a while since we talked to Anthony Pettis.

He is standing by. Let's go to the phone lines now and say hello to Showtime. Anthony, how are you? Hey, what's up, very? How you doing about? I'm doing great. It's great to talk to you. So we will see you back in around three weeks or so, April 7th, Brooklyn. Michael Keisa, this is a big opportunity. This is a big fight. Did you like this fight when it was proposed to you? Yeah, most definitely. I mean, honestly, anybody in the way, because you know, me, I'm not afraid to fight anybody that's vision. So, you know, I want to fight up. I don't want to fight backwards. So that's why I was good to find somebody like, you know, Kesar.

I was told that it was something that you kind of wanted, you wanted to fight in New York. Why is that? Man, it's been a dream of mine since I was a kid, bro. I mean, I'm Puerto Rican, so watching video code or a Canada, all these guys, you know, fight in New York, especially Brooklyn, you know, it's just for me because it's a great opportunity. The last time we saw you, of course, was the Porier fight, and it ended via TKO, you hurt your ribs. How painful was that?

Like, have you ever... I've never hurt my ribs before, but I'm told that it's excruciating. Have you ever felt anything like that before? Yeah, man, I've had some injuries in my fight crew, but it was kind of just a dumb error. You know, I didn't clear the body triangle. I tried to twist out, and I tore a cartilage in my rib. So, you know, it was like a shock that I felt the pop,

and then I just didn't know how bad it was until, you know, I was after the fight and we got X-rays. Was that an injury that you had going into the fight, or did it all happen in the fight itself? No, it happened in the fight. There's nothing, no injury before that to the ribs. It was just, I didn't clear the body triangle, and I tried to get out and kiss the ribs the wrong way.

and how long does it take for something like that to heal? It took about one and a half or two months. You know, your ribs, everything you do, breathing, laughing, stretching, it's all part of the ribs. So, you know, it took a little bit of time to heal. So you couldn't do anything? No, I couldn't because I had to get my nose fixed too. So I had about a month off of, you know, just cardio and basics, but no contact. What happened to your nose?

I broke my nose in the fight First out wasn't. That's what blood came from. I had a cut during that fight. Three weeks before the fight I got cut and sparring and it closed up well and often the same fight. So we fought and, you know, obviously the first exchange that cut opened up over my eye.

Wasn't too much blood though. The blood came from the nose. So you think you broke it that early in the fight and then he's continuing to hit you in the face? What is that like? We don't feel it. I mean, obviously you see the blood, but it just made things harder.

I had them locked up in some triangles and the blood just made it harder to actually put squeeze on him. He did a good job defending. One of the triangles, the rest, you know, took him out of it. I don't know why. He took him out of it and put me in guard after I had the triangle locked up. But, you know, it is what it is. You move and you learn.

You came back to the 155-pound division in July. You won against Jim Miller. It was a great fight. And the narrative seemed to be like Anthony is back. And then you have all this bad luck in this fight, these injuries and whatnot. How difficult was it to sort of swallow that victory after it seemed like you were kind of getting back on

at 155 after the 145 stint. Yeah, I mean, 155 is my home. You fight, but when you're fight guys, like, Coyer, you've got to be in your A game, you know, and I had some stuff happening in camp that, you know, took one mental off a little bit. Obviously, you can cut little personal things that, you know, any little errors in your camp, you know,

reflects in the fight, and that's what happened. I think, you know, I've known this for a lot. I've been fighting for a long time, so I've known, you know, training camps always don't go as planned, but try to make the smooth as possible. that one wasn't very smooth training camp, but all you can do is, you know, put your head up and keep pushing forward. Was that one of your worst training camps?

Yeah, it probably was, yes. Wow, that bad. That bad, yeah. There was a lot of personal stuff that, you know, that was going on in that camp that just threw my mental off. Do you feel like you're in a better place in this? Like, is this one going a little better as, you know, you approached? Way, way, way better.

I mean, this camp feels like, I'm usually, so having a good time training. I'm in Milwaukee full time. I went out to Vegas for a little bit just to try that P.I. It's a place out. But it stands good. You know, it's about three weeks out. Hopefully we need to stay on track. And I get my performance that I know I can put on.

What did you think of the Performance Institute? Man, it's beautiful. It's a great place. The stuff they're giving us is stuff that we should have had a long time ago. You know, access to nutrition is access to, you know, therapy, PT, training conditioning, food. I mean, there's this stuff that, you know, we should have. professional athletes, we already had access to that stuff.

Does it bum you out, though, that it's in Vegas? Like, you could only really, you know, take advantage of this if you fly out there, which is pretty far from Milwaukee, of course. Oh, I split my time in Vegas and Milwaukee. So when I'm in Vegas, I'm, you know, usually at the gyms out there, and I have a place that I can train at. So, no, it's going to be, I mean, it's good. Okay, and what other gyms are you training out in Vegas?

I just do my jits out there. I've cross-trained with Kevin Wee, at a Couture. I've crossed trained with, and I spar with them. lunche of times. It's been a Bias. You do a gym under the Red Rock. I went to BIAs. I've trained it all the places out there.

Wow. I heard, I've been wanting to talk to you about this for quite some time. Are you kind of dabbling in the managing business as well now? Yeah, I am starting. We've got a great crew here in Milwaukee, man. I had a property that I had,

I was going to put up to sale and I ended up just turning into a fighter house. I got guys that are coming in, from all over the place and just staying here for a week, the month at a time and just joining the team. For us, more bodies, the better we get. We got a crazy squad up here already. Paul Felder's in town. Maccadeshi's here.

You know, we probably, all the UFC guys are already on our roster, and then just bringing more bodies, and it just helps everybody out. So, like, other than just giving them a place to stay, are you actually helping some of these young guys with their career? Like, are you guiding them? Are you, you know, you've been and done at all? I will be. As of right now, this is the first step, but I will be.

That's the first step was, you know, getting guys here, then obviously now it's going to be making their careers to advance and take them down the path hopefully and be able to your organizations. Is this something that you always wanted to do? I just feel like I had a lot of connections with it. I had a lot of, and I was blessed with a great opportunity and where I've been at.

I've been to the top of all these organizations, and I've met a lot of people along the way, so I just feel like it's something that makes sense and the next step. Any young guys that you're, or one name in particular, or two names that you're really excited about, who we may not know about. My little cousin, Elias Garcia.

He just had a great performance. He's one of the guys that's just right there on the brink of breaking into that next level. So look out for Elias Garcia. He's your actual cousin? Actual cousin, yeah, from the other side. First cousin. First cousin.

Wow. What a family. You know, some people say cousin like, you know, their bro or something like that. I got a lot of cousins. like that, but now this is, he's actually a ever relative. He lived with me since, man, for almost four or five years now, so

he's one of his main training partners. He fights at a 125 pound of pitch as well. What we got, but he got skills. And you recently got engaged as well, right? Yes, I did. Congratulations to you and your... Was that a tough call on your part? No, I wasn't, man.

I think, you know, I'm 31 years old. I feel like, you know, we've been dating for a long time, and it was the next step. no complaints on my end of the relationship and she supports what I do so it works out. When are you getting married? I don't know yet. No plans on that.

You know, with the ring, you know, bought me some time. We'll figure. I guess we'll put that out as we do. Do you listen now, you know, as you prepare for this? I know you don't pay too much attention to online social. You're not like a big, you know,

Twitter guy or anything like that. But when people talk about you that's like, okay, will we see the real Anthony? Is he coming back? The old Anthony, things like that. How often do you hear that? kind of stuff, and does that feel you at all? I hear it all the time.

Honestly, I'm the biggest credit to myself and anybody is. I mean, I have an opinion is what I'm seeing in. I don't see my phone, and see the stuff I don't think of this, but for me, I need to have, even the Miller fight wasn't a great performance. And I did, I did well, it wasn't, it wasn't my best performance.

I just feel like, it's coming. It's coming. It's going to take some time, and hopefully this is a time right here where I can come back and feel like myself. Do you have any sort of theory as to why you haven't been able to go on a long winning streak? Is it just like the 145 decision was not the best? Do you have any kind of other, you know, the bad training camp here? They're like, is there a theory in your mind?

And have you done anything to correct it if so? I would say, I mean, the fear that I had going into the last couple of fights is like stop chasing trying to be, you know, chase that goal. I was trying to get that belt immediately. The next fight, who's the next fight to be near the belt? Who's the next fight to get into the belt? just fixing the holes in my game and really just the mental I guess

just getting my mental preparation better you know I'm just going in there no matter what's going on in my camp whether I feel good if I don't feel good just going on there turn it on for just 15 minutes and having the performance so you no longer think about title shots and things like that you're just taking the fights and I definitely want title shots I definitely want to be

I'm not in this to be a gay keeper I'm not in this to have guys make their name off of me you know I've I've been the best in the world I know I can do it it's just taking my time and getting back to the right way Are you worried that you're being viewed as a gaykeeper now? I don't care what people think of me at all, man. I don't know. I stop thinking, like, once you become the champ, you get put in the spotlight,

and you learn a lot really quick. So I think I learned a lot about people's opinions and what they expect for me. It's not about that. It's about what I expect for myself. If I expect to be champion and I push myself as a champion, that's what's going to happen, and that's what happened before. When you won the belt, it seemed like everything was like almost everything, list. Like, you were just on a rocket ship. Looking back, did you not really appreciate what you were

accomplishing at such a young age? I didn't know what I was accomplishing. I didn't know how hard it was to accomplish it. Obviously, now I see how deepest talent is in this division. You know, I got more cut out for me. But I definitely appreciated it. I wouldn't say I didn't appreciate it. I just understand what was going on at the time. Do you still, and you feel, you know, you feel that same fire. You feel like you can be back there and you want to be back there? I will be out there. It's just a matter of time. You know, I mean, I won't say down forever. Obviously, I'm still pushing. I'm still training.

I'm still in the gym. I'm still doing better. And I just got to show to my fights now. That's the big thing. It's coming in with that mental mindset. Honestly, for the Porriere fight, I warmed up at like 3 p.m. You know, a walker before the fight. If I would have fought for it at 3 p.m., I would have smoked them. And then coming out at midnight, when we fought out there, I was flat, you know,

like a mental thing again. So that's what I'm trying to figure out. Okay, so for this one, because it will be around the same time, right? maybe a little bit earlier. Well, I'm not the main event. Yeah, I'm not the main event. Sure. I think it would be a little earlier.

Did you watch KSA's last fight against Kevin Lee? Yes, I did. What did you think of his performance? I mean, it's hard to tell. I mean, obviously, you know, he got caught in a rear-knaked choke. They didn't believe having him to change it. So it's hard to tell what his performance was. But, you know, he lost the fight and coming off loss.

I'm sure he's hungry and he's motivated and he's coming. But when you compare him to some of your recent opponents, like the poor he's, the Millers, do you feel he's on that love? level, a bit above, a bit low? Like, where would you put him? I'll put them lower than employer. I mean, obviously, you see the rankings, and he's reported it at.

Miller, I think he's fought Miller, and, you know, I try not to think about the rankings, because honestly, that bullshit. The rankings don't really matter. I mean, you can get a title shot if you're number 10 in the world, if you talk away to it, and you make it up noise. So the rankings for me doesn't really matter. I just, it's just another guy that I've got to figure out, and I've got to put it together.

By the way, punk is coming back. We know this in June. Have you seen him at all, and do you sense a difference? Like, has he gotten better based on what you've seen? I see him every day, man. That guy's in the gym every day. He's probably one of the hardest workers in the gym. He's always there, always improving.

And yeah, he definitely gotten better. I mean, he put that much time, then, it's going to get better. You know, he's working the geese, working no geese. He's trained with top level of, you know, UFC guys at his weight class. So I think we should see a great performance Are you surprised that he came back for more Like two years later he's still doing this? He never stopped

He never stopped Like he didn't take a break He was right back back at it I think he had a couple injuries But he was right back at it Does that surprise you? Because most people thought I think after the first fight going You know the way it did that he just wouldn't come back

He's old, you know he's a bit beat up Why do this? You have enough money It doesn't surprise me He's a competitor man And he loves the grind You know it's not I don't know what else he'd be doing if he wasn't doing this.

He's always in the gym. So the short time I've known for his first fight, because this fight, it's the same dude. He's pushing hard, man. He's grinding. He's getting better. He's putting the mat time in. And there's no way around getting better besides putting the mat time in. Last thing for you, Anthony, you mentioned your brother.

You mentioned Joseph Benavitas. They're actually fighting each other next. Is that awkward for you at all? No, man. It's a fight game, you know? You know, Benavita is a, as I've done it for a long time, obviously, coming from the MAA. He's part of the family since I started at the WC.

And, yeah, I think I see him all the time on Vegas. I know his wife very well, Megan. And I think this is part of the fight game. So it's going to be a great fight. Obviously, I'm running for service. Right. It's just part of the play game. Great to talk to you again, Anthony.

Thanks for doing this. And great to hear that you're in great spirits. Congrats on the engagement, all the great things happening. And, of course, looking forward to see you back in there on April 7th in Brooklyn. Thanks, man. I'm pretty good. Bye. All right, there he is.

Anthony Pettis stopping by the former UFC lightweight champion. What a card that is on April 7th. Like I said, at the top of the show, there are no UFC fight cards between now and then. So the UFC can focus all of its attention on UFC 223. And I typically feel like if you have, you know, two to three weeks, you can properly build the thing up. And I think come April 7th, we will have... waited now, you know, at that point, three, oh, less than three, yeah, three weeks between fights, it's going to start, it's going to start feeling like an eternity. It's not that long,

but because we're used to having UFC fights on every single weeks, every single week, it's going to feel like it has been four months. And it's a great card and we're just praying to the MA gods. Like, I don't want to talk about it. The promos are cool. The piano is cool. I just don't want to talk about it too much because I feel like, I feel like the MMA gods are just waiting for us to jinx it. Ferguson, Habib, Rose, Yowana, Kesa, Pettis, I, Quintafelter, Kovacovich, Herrick, Borg, Marino. There's a lot to like there. So, we'll have plenty of time. Zabit, the return is a beat.

Artem against Alex Cesaris, much like. Okay, so Anthony Pettus coming back, and that is April 7th in Brooklyn against Michael Kesa. One of the big stories last week was that, so you may have heard a couple weeks ago, Cynthia Calvillo, who fought at UFC 219. after her fight, she tested positive for marijuana metabolites in competition, and she received a six-month suspension from you side up, but there's a chance if she does things the right way

that the suspension would be reduced to three months, which would essentially be around now. However, last week, we found out from the Nevada Athletic Commission that she got a nine-month suspension because that fight took place in Las Vegas, and a lot of people, including myself, as I said at the top of the show, found that to be ridiculous.

Why are you adding three months? Why is there no option to reduce? Why is Nevada so strict on marijuana metabolites when there's all kinds of inclusive evidence that doesn't allow us to know when the marijuana was smoked, when it was in the system? Also, you have the chairman of the Nevada Athletic Commission, Anthony Marnell, who's in the marijuana dispensary business, all kinds of hypocrisy here. The thing just blows my mind that we're doing this in 2018.

So I wanted to have Cynthia on the program to talk about this. And more on where she goes from here, she is kind enough to be. joining us via the magic of Skype. There she is. Cynthia Calvio. How are you, Cynthia? I'm doing all right. I'm doing okay. Well, it's good to talk to you. And let me actually expand on that. I asked you, how are you doing? It has been, I'm sure, a very disappointing time for you. How are you dealing with all of this? Yeah, it's been pretty crazy. I mean, I work really, really, really hard for this. And now I just feel like they just like, like, I'm frozen right now. And I can't do what I, you know, love doing, which is fighting. And like, there's just been

a lot of changes, a lot of stuff going on. And, you know, this just kind of adds on to it. And it's very unfortunate. I did like seriously, very smart. I'm not going to be competing for, I mean, nine months, luckily. I mean, it's already past three months, but still it's pretty crazy. When did you find out about the positive test? And what was your reaction? And what was your reaction to that. Before you found out about Usada and Nevada, just the initial news? I found out about

two weeks after in mid-January, two weeks after my fight. Okay. So I got the news and it was the same time I was at the contract for my next fight already set up and the very, a few hours later, you know, I got a call from

Dana letting me know that I felt the test and it was just kind of like a really, really good day turned into a really bad day. Oh, wow. Who is that fight against, if you don't mind me asking? It's sorry. I'm probably not. I don't even know if I'm, I don't know. I don't know if I'm like, well, I was, yeah, I'm not, I don't know if I'm allowed to say, but I guess it shouldn't matter, but. Yeah.

I was supposed to be fighting Michelle Waterson, but didn't happen, so. Okay. I mean, that's the thing we're looking forward looking as one of the options at least, I mean, for the next bout. When was that supposed to be? April, maybe we hadn't like really discussed it, but that was pretty much what we were going towards. At that time, they didn't have the location or date. So it was just what we were looking, you know, because it was like two weeks after my father. Just trying to see what the next fight was going to be, the next step after my last fight.

And now, you know, the story of marijuana testing, it's a controversial one because we've seen situations where someone has a medical marijuana license in the state, which they live. You live in the state of California. We saw this with Nick Diaz. And then you're being tested and we don't know how long it's in your system metabolites. And then you're getting punished for it. Are you willing to explain, like, when was the last time you smoked or consume marijuana and whether or not this is even fair to be punished at all?

Yes. So I consumed marijuana, which they tell us to you, like, they're comfortable about it as far as like, you know, how much time we would need to be cleared for an in-competition testing, you know, as far as like, the last time I had consumed cannabis was on Christmas Eve, which was the week of the fight. I usually use it for sleeping. I do use it for inflammation. I have had my medical card for over two. years. It's something I used especially because I had broken my injury where I broke my arm three times in a row and it is proving that C, the component in, you know, cannabis CBD does help, you know, heal your bones. And I was also having trouble sleeping for a long time, which is a lot better than using any over-the-counter stuff, you know. And, you know, it's something that I had discussed with Jeff Nivinsky before, even once I got into the EFC, you know, as far as the using of marijuana. usage of marijuana. So I've done the same thing for every single fight.

I've been tested as soon as I get to the arena every day from the day of my fight. And it's never been an issue before. For whatever reason, it was, you know, I don't know if it was a weight cut. Maybe I didn't hydrate properly. You know, there's a lot of factors that pay into as far as, you know, why I test it positive. I mean, they have the threshold. The metabolites is like pretty high. So they say it's like you have to be literally.

like super super high you know in order for you to test positive that high you know like the day of your fight but there's no way now there's no way in how i i smoked or took any type of cannabis the week of my fight at all like you know let alone the day of my fight i just know it's i don't see it as something that's going to enhance my performance i don't use it i don't think that it's going to help me in any kind of way in that way whatsoever so it's just it's just very unfortunate because i really thought that i was like following the rules and following the regulations a lot of people where like, hey, you know, you know the rules. You're not supposed to be using it.

It's not so much that, you know, they say that you can use it. And they sometimes, like, advocate for it. You know what I mean? It's just like for athletes. It's something good for them to use, you know, for concussions, for inflammation, for there's a lot of usage, you know. So they tell us it's okay to use it. It's okay to use it.

It's okay to use it. So you don't use it in competition. Here the guidelines, you know, quit so-and-so, you know, maybe three days. Sometimes they tell you, I never heard it before. Other athletes, they'll tell them, like, hey, three days is, more than enough, you know what I mean? And even then, I did not use it within three days just to make sure, you know, it just really sucks. You know, if there was a chance, if I didn't make me feel so comfortable about it, and if there was a chance that I could have tested that high and I could

have still felt my test, I wouldn't have done it. You know, I trained so hard. I've, I've had success that I have because, you know, I put this first, I prioritize this. Like, forget about weed. If they told me, if they told me that I need to not be doing this at all just to make sure it doesn't happen, then that I would follow it. I would make sure of that, but I really didn't think I was doing anything wrong. Like I, I, you know, I'm not trying to be a rebel. I'm not trying to, you know, just, I don't know, it's just, it just, it just really, really, really sucks that, you know, I'm in this position right now. Um, I'm, you know, I can't work. I can't make any, it can't work and do what I want for nine months, you know, uh, I've lost sponsorship,

you know, I'm going to have to pay a fine. line like I had my next fight lined up now I don't have that anymore you know it's just it just really sucks and it's embarrassing it's embarrassing me it's embarrassing that I have to you know do this in front of my parents and and you know for them to see that it's just it sucks because I was actually pushing for my dad who has rheumatoidic stress I was trying to convince them how like you know I like trying to show them the benefits of of cannabis and you know really wanted to advocate for it and then not just sitting here being in trouble for it and you know being out of job or you know me not not working for the uc being able to do what i'd love to do for nine months

it's just it's crazy it's really crazy to me you know i'm the least person they need to worry about i mean the nevada state commission is like find other people six months for performance enhancements drugs but that they're going to find they're going to suspend me for nine months for cannabis for something i use for sleeping or for inflammation you know that's not going to hurt me or my body and it's not going to hurt any opponent that I'm like fighting against. It's not enhancing any kind of way. And, you know, it's legal there. There's a lot of people in the commission that actually are involved in, like, you know,

the dispensaries and then that business. So it's just kind of, it just kind of sucks. It sucks the stigmatism that it has. It sucks at, you know, people just look at me like, I'm kind of stonerated. I don't care and, like, just doing whatever I want. It's not even about that. Like, you know, it's just, it's just really unfortunate. And just to be clear, you last smoked on December 24th, that's not unusual.

Like, that's, that time frame between the 24th and your fight on the 30th, you usually stop around that time, correct? That wasn't like you pushing the limit or saying, I'm going to sneak this in here right before, right? Correct. And was that in California? Yes. That's the part that drives me nuts. you were doing it in a state where it is 100% legal for you to do. You have a license, all that stuff.

So how could they determine if you're doing it before the fight, 24 hours 48 in Nevada where you may not have that? That's the part that really gets me. They can't. I mean, the urinalysis doesn't prove, you know, like I said, whether you're high actively, you know. And like what's considered in competition would be that you would have to be actively high. I guess it's like eight hours prior to eight hours.

after, you know, and like there's no way to prove that with the urine analysis. I mean, they can prove out their blood, but they're not going to take the blood. They can prove that with maybe saliva, you know, they take a swab. They can, you know, show whether you use it within eight hours, you know. They need to use other means of it. But at the same time, it's that I don't even think it's something that should be on the band list, you know. I mean, if they can't propulate tests for it to really prove whether I'm high, actively high, like, it's not fair.

it's just it's not fair when you received the usada suspension because that was the next piece of news the six months but with the chance to reduce it to three obviously you were disappointed you mentioned all you know the embarrassment all that stuff but were you kind of at peace with it did you think okay this will be over in three months or less than three months at that point and i'll just kind of move on with my life were you were you okay at that point yeah absolutely i thought that uh you know obviously i was really bummed out but i really thought that you know i didn't anything about to state commission was going to give me a nine months suspension, honestly. I didn't really realize it until the day before of my hearing because when I was talking to Jeff Mavitsky, I just went in contact with a few people in the UFC and you were just like working towards this

and like people in Osada and you know that we were all looking and hoping to see that maybe the Nevada State Commission would do the same thing, whether they'd be a six months or you know and then allowed me to at least do some kind of program, you know, to get that reduced and stuff. But they don't even have the

option for that. It's, it's just, they just pretty much just gave me nine months and they find me and I'm just sitting here and for something really stupid, you know, it's just, it's just my father. Like I see, there's so many athletes and even other athletes that are using marijuana at the night of their fight, but because there's not going to be a sata testing you there, you know what I mean? It doesn't, like, matter. So it doesn't matter as long as you don't get caught, I guess, you know, but it's just it's it just sucks. I really don't think I was doing anything wrong. There, you know, there's guidelines.

I thought I was following them. I thought I was, you know, I used it. I quit using it more than enough, giving enough more time to make sure that, you know, as far as I was advised that that that was more than enough time to, like, fear me that I wouldn't, my test, I wouldn't test that high in the threshold. But, you know, that's what they figured they thought that was going to help the fighters or the athletes is by leveling up the threshold, they didn't completely take it off the ban list,

but they figure that if they up the threshold, then, you know, based on their studies, they thought that they were going to be able to determine. That's going to be more than enough. It can still show up in your system, but it can't be this high, you know? But guess what? It still showed up my system really high.

Like, there's no way to determine, really, you know what I mean? They've got to use other means or they've got to take it off. With Nevada, can you appeal this? Is there any chance of fixing this, or is it nine months and that's it? From what I was told speaking to Jeff, you know, in hunting a few other people, they told me that I can't. And it's kind of one of those things where it's kind of like, okay, I already served three months.

I've six months. I'm going to sit here and try to fight it and maybe prolong it and probably pay more money to fight it. Or do I have to just sit here and just kind of deal with it and then just wait until September comes around, you know? and that's six more months. And so it's just kind of one of those things is that I'm hoping that these policies changes, like moving forward,

I have to make sure that this doesn't happen again, whatever I need to do, whether it just not use it for a whole month or find other ways, you know? I mean, honestly, for me, I've used it a lot for inflammation, something that I have used for a couple of years already, especially with injuries. And, like, it's helped me out of mental, I don't use. any other pain killers. I don't use anything else, you know, it's just like, and it's not harming

anybody and it's just like helping me and it's benefiting. Like I feel like the law of athletes should actually be using it even after their fights, especially like football players or anybody who's like playing a combatants or anywhere where you're going to be like constantly like just like, you know, hitting yourself and it's like it's proven to help that helps you. And so we're being punished for, you know, there's something it's on there. And I understand it's on there. It's not like I didn't know it wasn't allowed in competition, but I wasn't using it in competition, yet I'm still getting in trouble for it as if I was. Yep.

That is, it's crazy. Did you hear from the Nevada? Like, were you at that hearing? And did they give you a reason why they felt like they needed to give you nine months as opposed to the six that you saw that gave you? No, I guess that's just what they've had since in regulation, since, uh, which I didn't know, I thought maybe they were going to work something. out. I mean, just because they were saying that they were working on changing the policy of getting

a weed is something that was in discussion last year in January. And it looked like, you know, going towards that way. And, you know, I don't know, it just seemed that way. It seemed once I got into the year seeing, and I've seen, you know, because that's one something I, I talked to Jeff about before because I had a last minute fight when I took that fight with Amanda Cooper. You know, those were two weeks notice fight. And that was just something that I did think about. I was like, hey, you know, I do use cannabis, you know, for sleeping, I do use it for information. Is that going to be paying into a factor, you know, you know, if I quit, like, right now and then like just, you know, they're like, no, no, no, you should be fine.

You know, with the regulations as far as the threshold, as long as you quit, you know, a week out, then you'll be fine, you know. And so I was still a worried, a little worried because you never know, you know what I mean, but I had the fight and I tested it. And, like, you know, I had my test and everything was fine. I was like, okay, cool, then, you know, it's not a problem. As long as I don't use it in competition, and it's not an issue, you know?

And so that's how I felt about it ever since I got in. I never thought anything of it. I didn't think, because I don't see any benefit of using marijuana the day of your fight. I just, I just don't. You know, it's just, so it's just crazy. I just never thought that it was just going to be an issue for me. I mean, just the way the laws are going, you know, you can legally use it in California. You can legally use it in Vegas.

like it's just it's just crazy it's crazy it's just you know I thought you know times were changing

but apparently not not in Nevada last year you had one of the great like rookie years in in UFC history

and you did it in a very short amount of time and of course the year didn't end well but it didn't take anything away

from what you accomplished I mean right all of a sudden you're fighting a former champion you're on the cusp of fighting for a belt if you beat Carlos Sparza

we haven't heard much from you even before, you know, the marijuana stuff came out. How were you handling the loss and looking back what went wrong that night against Carla? I honestly think I just wasn't there. I was just focusing on the wrong things. I just wasn't there mentally. I felt like I was in the best shape of my life actually for that fight. I prepared very, very well. There was just like other personal factors, you know, there in my mind. And I just started headhunting. You know, I just like, you know, I, we had so many things that we had trained for,

and I felt so good. And I just, like, felt like there's no way I'm going to lose this fight. I just felt amazing going into it. And, you know, sometimes things just don't play out that way. You can't go in there thinking that you're just going to, like, win no matter hard or how great you feel. Once I was in there after my first round, you know, my game plan was like, you know, I'm going to take her down and, you know, I'm going to beat her up lower. but she gets out of the first.

I'm, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to knock out. I'm just going to, you know, standing and just showcase my stand-up because I had been working on it a lot. And, you know, in my sparring sessions, I was looking really, really good, you know. I felt really confident. And it just didn't come out, you know, and it was what it was. I was a little, like, obviously, you've said with the decision when it first, when it first came in the cage.

But after looking at the fight, you know, it's just as far as, you know, she's a vet. veteran she outscored me with like little like shots you know that just kind of added up and you know and and you know also you know as far as how they scored takedowns you know she took me down but it didn't help me down and you know there's just a lot of a lot of things it could have there's a lot of things in there but you know I always want to leave it to the judges you know my coach Justin buckled you always just says like I ran out of time but I just don't think I adapted correctly I should I feel like I should have gone down to the ground and taken her down and maybe a little bit dirty a fight and, you know, wrestled a little bit more because I did have success with that

in the first round. I just, you know, I just didn't, I just didn't make the adjustments. And, and, you know, it's a big learning, a big learning lesson. I mean, for me, it doesn't take away from, you know, what I've accomplished. Like, I still have a long way to go and I still believe I'm going to be champion. I lost, but it's okay, you know, some of the best in the world. I've always lost it. It was come back. You know, it's not a big deal. It's not like I got demolished or, you know, I got beat up and, you know,

she just beat the crap out of me or something, you know. I mean, I fought the former world champion, you know, and I've only been a professional for like a year. And as far as me accomplished me as much as I have, I don't think I did that bad at all, you know. And it's just small bump in the road. And now I got to deal with this shit. But I was hoping.

I was ready to fight. I was ready to go, like I said, two weeks after my fight, the same time I got the news, I was already to sign my contract to get my next fight born. It's like, for me, it's like, okay, I'll dwell on it a little bit. Like, not even then, you know, I'll feel bad and stuff like that, but that just motivates me to get back straight to work. And that's kind of like what's happening right now, too.

It's like I was really bummed out last week when they handed me my nine-month suspension, but it's just like the show must go on. I'm going to continue training. I'm going to stay busy and, you know, hopefully this next six months will pass by and I'll come back stronger and better than before, especially not just physically, but mentally, you know, any other times I've ever had to be held down where I'm not, you know, held back. And I've always come back 10 times stronger. So I feel bad for whoever I have to fight next. So is that your plan next six months? Just train, sharpen your skills, things like that. You don't have to, I mean, you were pretty active last year. So you have to like go get a job. job or something like that? Where do you stand? Yeah, I mean, I'm probably definitely going to try to figure things out where I'm still kind of bringing some kind of income doing something else. Like, I have to. I mean, last year,

it's great, you know, you make a ton of money, but then you also have to pay a ton of taxes. Yeah. And then, you know, and then you want to prepare yourself this year by further taxis got to pay, you know, I didn't know how it was going to unfold, you know, how much I was going to be able to work or what I was, my projection was going to be as far as like how much income I was going to make this year. There's a lot of other expenses I had to add, you know what I mean? So it's like, it's more expensive now the cost of living here in California. A lot of things have changed. I like moved into a new place, got a new car, you know, and then boom, I got this. I'm not going to be able to make that type of revenue this month, like nine months. I'm not going to be able to make

the amount of money I made last year. No way. And so it sucks, but it's, it's like I'll be okay. I'm okay. It just, it just sucks. And you lost a sponsor because of this, because of the marijuana suspension? Yeah, I'm pretty sure body armor. I mean, I'm pretty sure that they dropped me. I haven't really officially told me that,

but I've assumed once they stop setting me stuff. I'm sorry to hear that. Yeah, you know, so it's just a lot of, a lot of things. It just really, it just really sucks. You know, you go from like being really, really successful. I was like, you know, stay on top of the world and I lose. Then I get the suspension and then I lose, you know, body armor.

And then there's just a lot of other factors. There's a lot of changes going on. And, but it's just the way it goes, you know, when it rains, it pours and, you know, I'll be okay. What are the changes? Just a lot of, like, just personal stuff, you know, just like having to move and just other other things. By the way, you have a lot of water bottles in backview.

Do you collect water bottles? No. These are these are my glass. I have a roommate actually. I mean, I'm in the middle of moving, but he's all into making sure he uses like glass.

Oh, I like it. Bottles of water, the mountains and stuff. Oh, that's cool. Spring water. So, Yeah, no, that's just the setup right now in the middle of movies, so it's a little that stuff all over the place. Well, I appreciate you coming on and talking about this, Cynthia.

I know it's not, you know, the happiest of times, but I will disagree with one thing that you said. I don't think that there is a negative stigma attached to you or this. I think in 2018, a lot of people have very strong feelings on this kind of thing, and that you were kind of, in my opinion, you were sort of screwed here, especially, I mean, it's one thing for the USADA suspension, the added three months and everything that you mentioned regarding the Nevada Athletic Commission and the chairman being involved. There's a lot of hypocrisy. And I'm no expert when it comes to this stuff, but that is something I feel very strongly about,

especially when you have a medical marijuana license. So I wouldn't worry about the way people view you or losing fans or things like that. You had a great year in 2017. And as you said, everyone loses. We all expect you to be back in there, you know, as a top contender at 115. So don't be too hard on yourself. Keep your chin up. All the best to you. I appreciate you coming on and talking about this. And you'd be surprised how quickly six months go. So I suspect that we'll see you back in there sooner rather than later. Yeah, no, for sure. Definitely.

You're going to see me out there. We're still going to continue working hard and getting better. So, I mean, it doesn't stop. Slow down for a little bit, but definitely not stopping. Good luck to you, Cynthia. We'll talk to you soon. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right.

There she is. Cynthia Calvillo. I do believe that she got a raw deal there. She definitely got a raw deal there. Six months with a chance to reduce it to three. Cool. But nine months, come on now. What is going on over there?

Just when we think that things are starting to figure themselves out in Nevada, they give us something like that. Nine months. When Usada's giving six, come on. What's the line of thinking? Because you did it like that in the past? Really? That's it?

Okay. Let us move along. So we'll go from that somewhat depressing story to another very depressing story, a more painful one than depressing one. So you may have heard a couple weeks ago, Devin Powell, who's a UFC fighter, came to the UFC via the Dana White looking for a fight show. He is 8 in 3 as a professional.

He is currently 0 and 2 in the UFC. He lost his debut to Dracar Close, and then Darrell Horcher in June. So he fought in January and June of 2017. You may have heard that he is a training partner of one Joe Lozon. And you also may have heard that around three or four weeks ago, he was training with Joe Lozon, and he got a knee to the midsection.

And he suffered a ruptured. testicle injury and had to be rushed to the hospital and seemed to be taking this pretty well, seemed to be in great spirits, was even joking about it on his Instagram and Twitter and did some interviews, and had tagged me in a couple of tweets here or there, had said that he wanted to come on and tell his story, I am someone who is squeamish when it comes to these things, not just ruptured testicle injuries, but all kinds of injuries, all kinds of sicknesses. I don't handle them very well. But I felt like, you know what? Here's a guy who ruptured his testicle. It's almost like, I can't stop saying it. He deserves a chance to tell a story. He seems to be handling it well,

seems to be in good spirits, perhaps an inspiration, some kind of motivation, some kind of role model for people who may go through the same thing, although I've never met someone who has been do the same thing. You know what? Let's have the young man on the program to talk about the injury and more importantly how one overcomes such an injury, how one recovers from such an injury. In fact, I saw on his Instagram that shortly after, which is just, I mean, my son, my middle son, Walter, I just put him in basketball. And he was doing like some kind of running drill. And he wasn't looking where he was running. And he bumped heads with another kid. He was going one way. The other kid was going another way. They bumped heads. And he got a bit of a black eye. And he has vowed to never

play basketball ever again because of this. He says, I will never go to basketball. I'm never playing basketball. Basketball is stupid. I hate basketball. It gave me a boo-woo. I want nothing to do with this sport, which breaks my heart as a basketball fan. And why am I telling you this story? I'm telling you this story because a mere days after being released from the hospital, Devin Powell, according to his Instagram, was back at the gym training. So here's a three-year-old kid, bumps his head, says, you know what, I'm never doing this activity again.

Here's a, I don't know, how old is, how is Devin Powell can't get his, age here, but a not very old man, but a little bit older. Rupters his testicle says, hey, let's go back to the gym and keep doing what we're doing. That is unbelievable to me. Let's go to the sketch machine and say hello to one, Devin Powell, and hear about his story. There he is. Devin, how are you, my friend? I'm well yourself. I'm doing great. It's great to talk to you. It's great to have you on the program. So I just gave people the backstory in case they didn't know. Are you okay? Before we get

into the story, because I want to know the story in great detail, are you okay with this newfound fame with being the guy who's, you know, overcoming this horrible entry. Is that okay with you? Yeah, totally. I mean, we'll get all into it, I'm sure, but I was the whole reason it happened. I could have been quiet about the situation, but I just kind of brought a little levity to the unfortunate situation, and it brought me a lot of publicity, which it'd be a lot better to have that than none and still be there with a broken testicle. So. Sure. Oh, my. Even you saying that. makes me feel very weak.

Okay, so let's go back to the day. What day this happened on? Do you remember the date? It was about one month ago on a Monday. Okay, so around a month ago. Okay, February 12th, perhaps. What are you doing? Tell us what you're doing. Set the scene for us. So every Monday we travel down to train with Joe Loz on me, some teammates. and we go there for a no-gi jiu-jitsu class and a kickboxing class with this guy Jimmy and Joe teaches the no-gi.

So we do that and then we go do a little bit of live rolling. And during the live rolling, me and Joe Lowe's on word, word training. He was trying to pass my guard and he decided that his best bet would be to just bring his knee up and straight down and rupture my testicle. Oh, come on. So he was trying to put the knee cut. So he just thought it'd be cooler to blow up my testicle instead of past my guard. Why do you have to put it like that? I'm sure if he kept going, you would have to pass my guard.

Okay. And this is something that you've done a million times, right? I mean, you're a professional. This is pretty routine for you. Yeah. I mean, aside from the exploding a testicle part, definitely a freak act. A very normal jujitsu situation from half guard.

the leg comes up and tries to cut through to pass. He kind of went up and tried to go straight through, but it's kind of like the testicle was sandwiched against the pelvic bone and the knee came and just crushed it. Stop it. What's wrong? No, no boss. Are you?

Were you wearing a cup? I wasn't. So Diamond M.M.A., I've always worn their cup in fights. and it's the best on the market. And they've actually reached out to me, and they're really good to me. But I usually never do during grappling. And if this can be anything to help some young and old people decide to wear a cup during grappling, this I hope will help because this is something that can happen,

not just kickboxing. It can happen in Jiu-Jitsu. And I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often because it was a freak accident that made total sense with what we were doing. So safe to say that. that you will always wear a cup now when you're rolling, right? Right. When I'm rolling, when I'm eating cereal, when I'm going to bed, anything.

Okay, yeah, I think that's a good idea. So when it connects and the injury initially occurs, can you describe that feeling? I can try. Okay. The impact happened. and there's actually TMZ did like a little article and they released the audio because two of Joe's teammates were bowling and they filmed it and you could hear the audio of me yelling in the background. They both looked at. We're like, what the hell was that?

But he hit me and I was like in gasps. I was trying to like explain what was going on to. I was like, oh, that has never happened 10 years. and it was just it was so sensational I thought that what happened happened yes you thought so you could feel it

but I also thought that it's just such a sensitive area that anytime you get hit there you kind of think that you must have done something really serious and then a couple hours later you're okay but this one the pain lingered man and

I basically went to take a shower. I tried laying on the mat for like 30 minutes and just wasn't feeling any better. I had to like hold myself up to take the shower because I couldn't let myself not be supported. So it was like one-handed shower. And then shout out to Nick Newell because he's hopefully in the UFC next and he's on this. I don't know if he was already on yet. Great shout-up. That was good. He's a friend. I like him a lot.

But yeah, so I took the shower and then I went back out and I was just like, all right, we got to go to the hospital, I think, because I felt it in my first mindset was when I go out back, feel it. If it feels normal, maybe you can go train again a little bit because you drive two hours to get there each day. So I felt it and it felt like it had a unicorn hon poking out. Stop it. That's not right. Stop it. Stop it.

What are you talking? Please. Oh, my God. I feel like I'm going to faint. I feel so lightheaded right now. this is horrible. Really? You felt a unicorn?

Yeah. Horn sticking out? That is horrible. Was it leaking? It wasn't leaking, was it? It was leaking on the inside. Oh. But it was...

Okay, keep going. So, yeah, I decided that it's probably good to be going to go seen. So we went to, like, a walk-in clinic, and the amazing thing with the UFC, and for whatever reason, this time, it didn't work out too well. But if you have a training-related injury, after a deductible, which is just any insurance, you can deal with a deductible. But after that's met, you can hear my awesome dogs in the background. Yeah.

After met, you need to, then they'll take care of it. But this place shooed me away. They're like, you don't have a traditional insurance, so you got to kick rocks, buddy. So I was like, oh, F me. So I went and got a couple good old stiff adult drinks and tried to sleep it off for a day and a half. What? Everybody's messages accumulated.

They're all like, dude, you got to. to go be seen. I was like, all right, I'm going to limp down to my attic bed and go be seen. And then I went to the, to another walking clinic closer to home. Wait a second, wait a second. Keep pause for a second. What does your attic bed have to do with anything? I missed that part. What does that mean? Well, it's a ladder straight up and down. So it's, it wasn't easy to navigate up and down in this situation. All right. Yeah, it's like a firefighter. So yeah, so I limped my way down, went to the walking clinic.

waited for like an hour, hour and a half before they brought me in to get an ultrasound. And then when I was waiting to get the ultrasound, the lady's sitting there complaining like, you know, I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm hungry. And I don't want to take it on you. I'm just holding myself. Oh, baby, please, just do this. And then finally she's like, all right, like, let's get this over with. And then she didn't know how to work her mouse. So somebody else had to be called into the batteries and the mouse. Finally, they did the imaging, which was excruciating. and having that metal rod being rolled over my injury.

That was maybe one of the worst parts of it because it was probably like five to ten minutes of her doing that. And then they brought me back to the other room, waited for like another 40 minutes to an hour. And then they came in, they're like, hey, what have you had to eat or drink today? It's like, oh, I'm going to surgery, aren't I? Oh, my God.

So they're like, yeah, we called the emergency surgeon or whatnot. And he's driving in now. I was like, I hope he hasn't had any red wine. But then he started driving in, and they're like, we're going to bring you by ambulance to get the surgery to the actual hospital. And right when they said that, I was like, quick, get me my UFC hoodie with my name on it.

I'm going to take a picture with the ambulatory staff. And I'm going to post it. So I made that post when I just finally got medicated to be taken out in the stretcher. Why are you thinking about that? Why? What was I thinking about that? No, why were you thinking?

about that at that moment. I'd be freaking out. I'd be on the verge of, I don't know what, suicide at that point. I don't know. I mean, that sounds like the worst thing I've ever heard in my life. This sounds, this is the worst injury I've ever heard in my entire life. No questions. I can't even imagine. And the fact that you waited two days, you waited two days to get a check. How did you do that? How did you function? How are you not in the worst amount of pain possible? I mean, alcohol helped a little bit. I was in a tremendous amount of pain, but I just, I tried to wait it out to see if it would get better and it wasn't. And then, again, everybody was saying that I should be seen.

So finally listened. But the actual injury, it doesn't sound like you actually want to hear like what the real issue. I mean, I feel like I have, journalistically, I feel like it would be poor form on my part to not ask. So please, just go ahead. I mean, forget about me at this point. Just kill the audio on your headphones. Yeah, I'm just going to... Go ahead. What was it?

Yeah. When the impact happened, there's basically like the sack, and then there's the two balls in there to have their own little sack or big sack. And one of them got smashed and all the, or most of the contents on the testicle itself exploded to the outside. So they basically had to take all the,

content, stuff it back inside of its sack, stitch it shut, and then they had to super glue the sack on the outside shut. And that looks like a full on Frankenstein project. And then the ball itself, the stitches staying forever. So if I didn't have the surgery, I think I'd that I had cancer because it's a huge lump of stitches. So that was it. And also, the fun part, I didn't know this until I went to my follow-up a week later. They had to cut some of it out because they couldn't fit it back in because of influx it. So that was cool. And now it looks like, as you just described, or has it healed up?

Well, the outside, the scar is probably like four inches long. It's like they almost cut my sack off the day. Yeah, it's pretty bad, but luckily nobody has to really look at that all the time. And is that, do you have a car seat in back there? Do you have kids? Yeah. So I got a kid. I got a wife.

I got two dogs in the back. So, yeah. Will this, if you want kids, will this affect you? So the, what the doctor told me at this point, basically, like, you could have just one and you should be able to function fine. Because the other one's supposed to take over for testosterone and like any child production kind of deal. but I'm going to get tested in another two months. They're going to check me and see if I need to be like, like TRT detour style or something.

Yeah. But I think I'll be fine. We'll see though. But I think if there ever was somebody that could potentially need the, like a T-U-E, I think this is the kind of injury that they might be talking about. But I hope everything's, I'm back to training. I was back to training after a week, like teaching classes. actually five days later I was teaching classes

just not jiu-jitsu but with the cup on the diamond cup I'm doing live wrestling jihitsu sparring everything but just still being safe never going without a cup again yeah are I mean are you

affected like day to day do you feel the pain how does it how does it feel like when you're walking around when you're running when you're doing things like that actually with without the cup it's a lot more painful.

Like the more support, the better. Like, if I just wear, like, compression shorts and shorts, and I'm, like, bouncing around shadowboxing, it's painful a little bit. So the more compression, the better. I still have pain, like, in my stomach, because I guess the tubes go all the way up there. And then the scar itself is very painful to the touch. I feel like a very adult version of Harry Potter.

I don't know what that means. I'm not familiar with Harry Potter. his scar hurts for it. Oh, okay, okay. Now, you say your wife is there with you right now, right? Yeah. Can I ask her a question? Yeah.

Hello, what's your name? I'm Carolyn. Carolyn, pleasure to meet you. How do you feel about this injury? And your husband's decision to continue essentially doing what caused the injury? I mean, I don't know. We don't really know much else. I don't know what we would do.

You know, we pretty much, actually, we left the hospital on a Wednesday and went right into the gym because we hadn't been there for three days. And, you know, we own the place. So we don't really have a choice, you know. It's, it's been a very long, interesting month and a half since this has happened. But, I mean, it got his name out there again. And, you know, it's not the most glamorous sort of stuff to be talking about. I've never talked about testicles more in my entire life than I have since February 12th. I don't even know if I ever tried to say that word because it just puts a gross feeling in my mouth.

Yes. Yeah, Devin said that's what she said. Yes. Bye. We've been watching a lot of the office lately. Yeah. Yeah, it's been really crazy, a crazy situation. I was there.

You know, I was at Luzon's. training in the other room when it happened and pretty much yeah Joe was like I just broke your husband and I was like oh he's fine like it's not a big deal happens you know and then I didn't really realize the extent of it and uh yeah it was why didn't you urge him to why didn't you urge him to go sooner um I mean we tried we left we left lozons and went right to a gym or not a gym a um hospital and you know they they turned us away so I was just like what do you like what do you want to do, you know, I'm driving. So whatever, whatever you want me to do, I'll, I'll do. You know, we can, we can go to the hospital. We can go get drunk, like, whichever,

whichever you want to do will, we'll do. And so, yeah, I think, I think he just wanted to, like, be like, well, I'm just, I'm just kind of being a baby, you know, like, I'll, I'll be fine. And it was just, it was just not fine. You know, he talked to some people, and there was not a single person that said don't go, don't go to the hospital. And it finally just, you know, accumulated. And yeah, so he finally went, but it was just, it was so strange. I've never felt anything like that. It was just like there was like three of them crammed in there.

Oh, my gosh. That is horrible. Obviously, he's like, oh, you've got to feel this. Like, no one. Oh, why? Why? Yeah. I mean, part of it really was like, like, I've only fought twice in the UFC and I lost two decisions and it sucks.

And like we're professional athletes, but it's not like we make a million dollars. Some of us do. And those guys are great for the support because they're bringing more eyes and they deserve the money they make. But I already have a lot of hospital bills. And I know the first $1,500, if this wasn't anything serious, I have to cover out of pocket. So I was like, if I can wait it out and they're going to tell me you need a lot of ice and ibuprofen, then, you know, so be it. But that it was extremely serious. So it's being covered.

It will be after I pay the first $500. Because, again, like any other insurance policy, you got to deal with the deductible. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The UFC's great with that. She talked me through all the steps with the injury and all that. So, yeah. any reservations about continuing to be a fighter? Like, has this changed your opinion, your stance on your career choice at all?

No, it hasn't. I mean, it was like my first fight in the UFC, I broke my eye socket, you know? And no matter what you get out in the face, that can happen. If I wore a cup, everything could have been changed in this. You know, it was a huge mistake that was, I guess, 10 years in the making. It sucks for anybody. And again, I hope people decide to wear that cup. and protect themselves.

But this is just something that I think that I'm going to make a full recovery. I'm feeling pretty close. I can roll hard. A few things hurt. But yeah, I love martial arts. I own my own academy, no-so with MMA,

and I teach every day youth and adult. And I left a horrible job at a passport center where every day went in and I was unhappy. Now I get to do what I love for a living. I'll take any injury and keep going forward after it because it's not the There's nothing else that I want to do with my life. So this is what I'm doing. Realistically, when do you think you could return realistically?

So, I mean, I'm the kind of person that just goes with the flow. Like, the guy that was helping me with management, he messaged me a couple days ago. And I think it's fine to say because it made sense that he didn't fight me. But he was like, hey, will you fight Evan Dunham in four weeks? I just had surgery, but yeah. And then he took a fight that made more sense. He took Mercier. But we put our name in the hat.

So they know, like, the same thing happened. I was asked to fight. Marston held on three weeks notice. I said yes. And then they found someone else five days later for him. So it's just, whenever they say, go, I'll go. I train six days a week, no matter what. I'm in my gym that I teach and train at.

I don't take big breaks because I can't. This is what I do for a living. I don't have another job. But your doctor must have said, please don't do this right, for a few months, right? Yeah, maybe. No, he said,

he told me after my first week checkup, he's like one more week, you can start easing into strength and conditioning a month from now you can introduce contact. I would think he meant, like, don't go and just get kicked in the balls. But if it were to accidentally happen, you're wearing your cup, you should be, like, strong enough to not, like, have a re-rupturing.

Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, I must say all kind of comments aside, the way you've handled this, I mean, just turning this negative into a positive and getting out there, I know you were on the Jim Rome show, TMZ, covering all that stuff. And I've seen you tweet me, but honestly, I'm just, like, very squeamish when it comes to this stuff. So it's something that I didn't want to talk to you. It was just I didn't think that I would handle it well.

I don't think that I handled it well today. But I give you props for the way you've handled this. You've really taken a negative into a positive. So, like, kudos to you, man, really. I can never complain about any injury that I've ever received after hearing the way you've handled this. Well done. Thank you so much. It was an honor being on the show, too.

It's very cool. Even in these circumstances, super happy to do it. Next time we'll talk about your first UFC win. That will be a lot more enjoyable for, I think, both of us, for everyone involved. but I wish you the best, Devin. All the best to you and your lovely wife, your dog. You have a boy or a girl? A little girl, little baby Clementine.

Awesome. Does she know about this? She doesn't know about this, right? You didn't tell her, right? Oh, she knows. He even visited me in the hospital before surgery. Oh, gosh. Yeah, six years old.

It's kind of hard to keep a secret. Probably tells all the friends. Yeah, I'm sure the parents love it. All the best you, Devin. Get well soon. I hope you have a very speedy recovery and looking forward to seeing you back in there and getting that first UFC win.

Thanks for doing this. Thank you very much. You take care. All right. There he is. Devin Powell stopping by telling us about without a doubt the most gruesome entry that I've ever heard in any walk of life,

let alone mixed martial arts. But hey, you've got to give the guy a lot of credit for the way he's handling this and getting all that attention and turning that negative into a positive. Wow, that is just I can't feel like basically from here down, I can't feel anything at this point.

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ZipRecruiter.com slash MMA. That's ZipRecruiter.com. MMA. Again, ZipRecruiter is the smartest way to hire. So, go to ZipRecruiter.com slash MMA. Now back to the show. Let's move along. Let's say hello to our next guest. Been a minute since we talked to one of the best coaches in the game. Dwayne Bang Ludwig is standing by. Dwayne, how are you? Doing good, sir. Thanks for having me on. Yet once again. Appreciate it. Yes. Pleasure as always, Dwayne. We just had Devin Powell on talking about his ruptured testicle injury that he saw while rolling with Joe Lozahn.

Have you ever heard of an injury like this in Jiu-Git-Tor martial arts? You've been in the game a long time. Have you ever heard of something like this? That's so funny you tell me this because the first time since a boss route and came to Colorado to train for his camp against Kevin Roundelman, I was sparring with the Kyokishin Black Belt. His name is, what's a, what's a, baby, Kiotaka Kamaatsu. It's a Kiyokishin Blackbelt.

I threw a round kick, Taki, threw a front kick. and kicked me right in my boys. And yes, my right testicle was broken. Come on. You're with you guys. Are you serious? I'm sitting here with a boy and a half, I guess I should say. Yeah, I have half of one of my boys are gone because that happened to me also.

So I'm listening to the story. And I'm like, wait a minute, is this the same thing that happened to me? So I don't know what happened to him, but I got kicked in my groin and one of my boys broke, actually. So they had to go in and do emergency surgery. So I'm right there with you, baby. Look at that coincidence. Wow. I had no idea when I booked you two back to back that you've actually experienced the same

thing. This is blowing my mind right now. I really talked about my injuries and I cry about things, right? But I will say this. I didn't say anyone's crying, but I will say this. When I got kicked in the groin, I wasn't wearing a cup. That was my fault. But I didn't go down.

I stayed on my feet. Oh. And you had surgery? Yes, sir. Emergency surgery. My buddy, Oscar Martinez, is driving down one way. going the opposite direction to get me in the hospital. I was in a good amount of pain.

But I have three healthy, happy children now, so I'm good. And that was quite a few years ago, because again, that was the year that Boston fought Kevin around him when he won the UFC title. So you had your three kids after that, right? No problems. Yes, sir. Yep.

No problems. And you had a whole career. You had a whole great career. You didn't think twice about this career choice after suffering something like that. Oh, that's funny to say that because I've been thinking a lot a lot lately about decisions and career choices and things like that. And I've always been set since I was a kid. I knew I was going to be a world champion and have my own academy.

And not really looking at any bumps in the road, but only focusing on the goal on the task of hand, which is to win a world title and then have my own academy. And that happened. So case and point, keep your focus, guys. Keep your focus. Oh, my Lord. This is crazy.

Wait, so why have you been thinking about career choices and things like that lately? Well, just because I'll make sure that what I'm, I've done in the past. I'm doing the right steps in the future and making sure that I've taken all the lessons I've learned in the past and make sure that I'm putting them in the correct direction to help other people become better martial arts to human beings now. And not really necessarily career path. Well,

because I think if it wasn't martial arts, how good would I be in another field? So that's my point because I've reached a pretty good high level as a competitor and the highest level as I guess a coach as well. Yeah. But I was just thinking if I was an engineer or if I was some other something else, how good I would have been at those at those uh subjects do you do you do you have regrets like do you think oh i wonder what my life would be like if i did this took this path that path uh regrets uh well yeah

i have i have some freaking regrets for sure like i have technical regrets of things that have that have happened during matches and fights right just little things that still actually irk me like like when i fought gawmi that fight still bugs me when i fought joe way par that fight still bugs me because the preparation leading up to them weren't the best. So I feel like I was, I could have done more. So I guess they're just personal regrets, not pointing the finger on anybody or anything else. But for sure there's things I look at the past and I wish I could have done better. That's for sure.

How are things with the academy now coaching, a professional student? How do you feel about where your life is at right now? So yeah, that's another decision because I had some fights this weekend. I had two of my guys fight and they both lost. And I thought, you know, if I was doing what I used to do and run a fight team, I don't, I feel they would have done better. But me personally, I'm super happy and I just love teach martial arts and I'm with my family a lot more often, a lot less traveling, even though I have a huge seminar coming up this weekend. Yes, I'm asking. Because this goes back to career choices and things in the realm of, I guess, regret.

But life right now is good. I don't run a professional fight team. I work with a couple individual fighters, but I focus on just teaching martial arts to martial artists, not really catering to the fight world. And, you know, it's not, it's not stressful. I'll say that much. It's pretty rewarding and enjoyable. You prefer that, like, are you happier when you're dealing with kids?

What do I prefer? As opposed to the fight team stuff? I don't teach the kids' classes. Okay. Yeah, I don't teach the kids classes. My focus is helping people become better martial arts than human beings because what I ask them to do are just simple things that's showing up on time, bowing on the mat, being a respectable person, being accountable, and having those things in the brain carry over into other subjects

in life. So that's how I'm helping them become better human beings. But, you know, if I was running a fight team, I'd have the best fighters. If I was raining in a martial academy, I have the best martial academy. And that's what I have now. I have really good martial artist. So life is enjoyable, that's for sure. Ariel, how are you doing, my friend? I'm doing great. Thanks for asking. I mean, I've just heard about two individuals. I see the shirt. Thank you. Thank you.

I see the fingers up there. I've never ruptured my testicles. So, you know, thank God for that. And I hope to never rupture them. You mentioned... I hope you don't ever have it happen either, sir. Oh, God, no. You mentioned the seminar.

Tell us about the seminar. You're coming to this neck of the woods, right? You're coming to New York. Yes, sir. I'll be in New York this weekend. It'd be me, Bossroom, T. T.J. Dillashaw. We have Andy Sauer.

We have Shinsome Machita. We also have Shane Faison. We're going to do a three-day seminar. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Queens College for the Super Seminar Series. It's a seminar series that's going to be traveling in the world and, you know, collecting the best martial artist to teach and share and help out, give back, uplift, and inspire. So it's good to be a part of this. I'm super excited to get all these martial artists together and pick their brain because one thing

that I pride myself on doing is being the Google of martial arts, you know, condensing and bringing together all the real stuff that actually works in a combative situation, but trained safe and effectively because even if it's a common member or T.J. Dillashaw, it's the same goals. I have to keep them healthy and happy and get them to improve. So finding the rhythms and the patterns to do that and to be successful and keep everybody healthy and happy has been my current focus in life. I like that. The Google of martial arts or mixed martial arts. If someone said, so is this open to the public? Yes, sir. It is open to the public. If someone comes up to you and says, bang, I heard you.

talking about this seminar on the MMA hour with Aria Hawani. What do they get? Do they get something? Do they get to give you some kind of like-taker? I'm going to give them a hug. A hug, okay. A hug. And a couple extra minutes of attention, just to make sure the technique is correct. Because if they're a friend of the family, yes, then I'm a friend of them as well. All right. So you heard it here. Go take advantage of that. Now, you also, you mentioned T. J. Dilshah. You knew that I was going to ask about him. Where to things stand? Because I'm starting to feel, bang, quite frankly, that this super fight is kind of slipping away. I'm kind of getting a little worried here. Where do you think stand as far as TJ? Last week we had Demetrius on the show and he said talks are dormant.

So what's going on? Well, what's going on? To be honest, I don't know. I'm not actually in the conference calls with this, with his management team and so on, but I would really love to see the fight with Demetrius Johnson. That's the fight I want to see the most as the fan, as a trainer, as a martial artist. That's what I want to see. And it's the super big money fight. I mean, what other fight is there for TJ, that's a money fight. You were against, right? You were openly against

the idea of fighting Cody in March, right? You said, no, we're not doing this. We're not doing this in March. I just feel that he needs to earn and deserve. He needs to earn and deserve his title. You know, he got knocked down in the second round. He doesn't really, he hasn't earned anything. So, yeah, he needs to earn and deserve it.

I feel that the better fight is against Demetius, you know? I mean, Cody was a, was pretty, We got dropped in the first round, but that was us falling away from the game plan. But once we got back to the game plan and changed things up, we were much more successful. But, I mean, do you honestly feel that Cody deserves a rematch and immediate rematch? I would, I think it is a perfect time right now to do the Demetrius fight because obviously DJ doesn't have any clear-cut contender right now. Like, it would be good to give that division some time to form a line.

Yes, to vote it up. Exactly. And so this is the time because I love the story of TJ going down to try to stop the streak. That's what he wants to do. It's a great story. And we've been talking about it for a year. Although my fear is, and maybe, you know, you have a different take. My fear is TJ said thanks but no thanks in March because he just had a kid. I thought he had very valid reasons. I think he was well in his right to say no. And I feel like he's going to get punished now. And they're not going to give him the fight anymore because there's even some reports that, and I've heard that they're trying to do Sehudo against DJ. maybe T.J. Cody, too. I heard that as well. What's happening? What's going on? Yeah, you tell me what's going on. What's going on is we have an entertainment company buying a martial art fight business. And that's what's what's doing with these certain situations. You know, they, whatever they spent, what, a couple billion dollars in place?

Four billion. They're trying to make some money back. Yeah, four billion. So they're trying to make their money back, right? But they're still putting on good fights and doing a kick-ass job. I just think they need to take another direction instead of the fight with T.J. and Demetris because I just think they must really love Cody he doesn't deserve a rematch but the timing

for that rematch wasn't good for us either because again TJ did just have a baby and we're trying to focus on the time of having an actual family member together and put the fighting on the back burner and focus on the family for a minute plus you know we weren't it just wasn't the best situation to take a fight that quick for many

reasons that I I don't have the right to say I'll say okay um did he even come to and talk to you about the like was he even open to it or or okay and you and you talked he's open made tj tj's a fighter you know he'll fight he'll fight right now and i'm glad that he's listening to the people around him because we had to come together and make sure that we were being smart about this decision and again just like you we are searching for the fight against demetris and then again let the 135 pound division build back up for some quality contenders and then maybe fight

someone down the road end of the year for tj's 135 pound Bill. Does he kind of need to know now? Because he does have to cut that extra weight and he's pretty shredded. It's a pretty big change lifestyle-wise, right? Lifestyle-wise, no, he's not a big 135-pounder. He has to eat and lift to keep some weight on to cut to 35. So making 25 is not going to be easy, but it's not as hard as people think. Because, again, TJ is not a big 135-pounder. Would you want to stay? That's why we're going down rather than going up. Yeah. But you don't want him to stay at 125, right? Let's say he wins.

would you really want him to stay there? Might as well defend the belt, right? Defend the belt. Maybe we have, defend two belts. He can do it. T.J. could do it. That's the thing. Other than the...

He's a, you know what they call it? A tweener. He's basically between the two-way classes. Okay. Other than there's the obvious, like, you know, making history, stopping the streak, all that stuff. Why do you like this matchup?

From like an actual, you know, martial arts standpoint, why are you so confident we're talking about this fight? Well, we've trained from day one to be the best. And now we're at that point. you know, we beat me, like I'm saying we, but I put a lot of time into TJ, but I don't want to take anything away from him. But since I've been helping TJ, my main goal and our main goal is to see how good we could get him. Right now, he is the best mixed martial artist that has ever walked to earth. At 135 pounds, Demetius is the best mixed martial artist that's ever

walked to earth at 125. So it's time to meet in the middle and we'll meet at 125 and see who's the best mixed martial arts because for me personally, I am super fascinating. with the development and the evolution of the human species and specifically in the subject of martial art. So I want to find out exactly how much I know by testing that against Demetius Johnson, utilizing T.J.'s skill set as a martial art enthusiast. But then as T.J.'s coach, I just want to make sure T.J. is doing all that he can to be the best that he can be. You think right now he's the best in the world regardless of weight class? Yes.

Wow. You think he's better than he was when he first won the best? belt. 100%. Each and every training session, our strive is to improve and he improves each and every day. Well, who not Cody out in the second round? Right.

Anybody else? No. Yeah. Who ran through Henan Burrow twice? Right. Right? Yeah, you mean, TJ is on another level. When his mind is right and he's peaked,

he's got some really good people around him now that he did not have around him before that are making a drastic difference. I don't know if they're getting the credit they deserve, but Sam Calavita from the training lab is a genius. And he has T.J. in the best shape of his life. And that is transferring over into when we do our sessions, it's just making our sessions even better.

So he has the correct people around him to pull out his full potential. And I'm very fascinated to see a human's full potential. And again, the martial art world and spectrum. And you mentioned that he made a mistake that led to the knockdown in the first? What was that mistake as far as the game plan is concerned? Well, following in, right? because the game plan, when somebody who wants to counterfight,

you don't attack. You bait it. And we attacked without baiting it. But we made the adjustment in the second around and baited him. So we created the opening. So you and I did an interview years ago, and I asked you, Ariel,

if I was in your guard in the jitzy standpoint, and I reach for your throat. Yeah. You're basically going to do one of two things. You're going to go for an arm bar or you're going to try to break my posture and pull me down close. If you go for an arm bar,

you open the guard, I can just stand up out and pass. So I'm baiting you. And that's what we did in the second round against Cody. We baited him and made him throw what we needed him to throw so we could set his feet and counter him. That was literally trained in the gym, how he knocked him out. And that's what I pride myself on just being fascinated with those details and dealing with split seconds and fractions of an inch. I mean, I'm just, I'm just OCD about martial arts. I want to find the correct most truest path for a human to be successful in a martial art realm.

because, I mean, that's just what we do. People in all facets, right, we try to find the best, most fastest, easiest way to be successful. We have the smartest, highest definition phones and electronics now. I'm that person for martial arts. Well, I'm not saying I'm the best, but I'm doing my best at an OCD level to figure out this rhythm of martial arts. Can you say right now unequivocally this is the fight you guys will try to get you? You are not interested in any fight at 135. This is what you're fighting for.

The fight we are most interested. interested in is the fight with Demetrius Johnson. And do you think it will happen? I think it will happen during international international fight week in July, whatever that date may be. July 7th. July 7th, T.J. Dillashaw will be the 125-pound champion.

Wow. You heard it here first. Where can people find out about this seminar? Is there a website? Thank you, sir. Superseminars.com. We'll be at Queens College this weekend. Me and T.J. Sensei Boss Rune, Andy Sauer, Shenzhouma Chita, and Shane Fasin. And the guy who's putting this all together is Sensei, Jonathan Ruiz. I'm thankful for that guy for putting this on. And if guys come out, we'll have a good time.

If you say you heard about it from the M.M.A. Hour from my aerial, I'll hook you up. Thank you, Dwayne. All the best to you. Great to talk to you. Good luck at the seminar. I appreciate it, sir. I love your show. Thank you, sir. Thank you. There he is. The one and only, Dwayne Bang Ludwig stopping by. And let's see if we could go three for three here. Let's go to the phone lines. and say hello to the reigning defending UFC featherweight champion. The man that has been ducking me all over town, the one and only Max Holloway is standing by.

Max, are you there? I'm here. I'm here. Oh, not quite. By the way, two for two here, no Skype. You said last time, last time I'm on the phone, the next time Skype, no Skype. I think you're officially too big time for us. I think, I mean, it's, God forbid,

I could get in touch with Donald Trump easier than Max Holloway these days. I mean, this guy is just on a whole other level. No, no, I'm sorry. man. I got to get back on Skype though, but the next one we should have a Skype for sure. All right. All right. Hey, I heard from Devin Powell and Dwayne Ludwig back to back. They both told me that they have

suffered ruptured testicles in the midst of training. So I want to see if I can go three for three. Have you ever ruptured your testicle in the midst of training? I am not, Dan. That sounds pretty painful, man. What the I kind of keep that shit personal too, man? No one wants to hear that kind of stuff. is going on.

It's been the worst day ever hearing about these injuries. I'm glad that you... Oh, wow. Okay, so let me ask you about your injury. You suffered an ankle injury, right? Yeah, yeah. What happened? Could you tell us what happened? It was a forced injury.

It wasn't one of those injuries that happened over time. You know, where it gets weakened. It gets soft, soft, and they finally give. out. Mine was a force. We got stuck in a pretty weird position. Bad things, bad movement, bad weight, weight went on it and, you know, it just went. So we're here now. We're fixing it. You know, I finally be able to get back on the mat, so that's great. And I just can't wait to go back out there. You know, we got, we got one more doctor, doctor meeting before everything and in like a month or so we see what happens i don't know when it is exactly but

that's what we're trying to do we're trying to get cleared you know the fight there's no hold up on any fight there's just a hold up on the docks we're running on the docks to get cleared PT is coming good the injury is coming back stronger than ever and uh I feel great you know I started doing drills I started getting back on the mats you know it's hard to hold me down man It's hard to hold me down and keep me there. So I'm getting back on again, back in the midst of things, and can we wait to go out there and perform again soon? So no surgery, right?

The surgery happens if it doesn't, if the injure won't hold up. So we're waiting, the doctor gave us a certain timeline, and we're just playing it by ear now. We see what happens. Okay. I know that fight was a big deal for you. The 9th Island, you got a chance to fight in Vegas. this is what you asked for.

How difficult was it to inform the UFC that you couldn't fight on March 3rd? Oh, man. It was difficult, man. It was a tough pill to swallow up the shore. I never ever pulled out of a fight in my life, not even in my amateur days. And, you know, the first one to beat at,

the first one with that. That's so much history is on the line, you know. There's a lot of history on that line with that fight, Frankie. And, you know, things happen. and things happened for a reason and this injury popped up and, you know, it wasn't my day. And it was a tough pill to follow, man. I was trying to find every single way out of it, trying to talk to the doctors and this and that

and figure out a way so we could still go out there and fight, but it wasn't budging, man. You know, they had the last call, they had the final call. They called it and it was definitely a hard one, man. were you able to even watch UFC 222? Yeah, we was able to watch it I had to do something for our sponsor and they ended up getting us signing and stuff

and we were able to watch the fights and there was a great night of fights you know, I thought so the card was good that the 145 fight was good and I'm excited Were you as shocked as everyone else when you saw Ortega not necessarily win but to finish Edgar, to be the first one to finish Edgar,

to knock him out. What was your reaction when you saw that? Ah, you know, Tatega's underneath him for a reason. He's good. He had knockouts on his record. You know, I thought if he finished him, it was going to be a submission, you know,

because he pretty well there, too, and he's super good on the ground. So I thought so if it was a finish, it would guarantee be a submission. But he went out there and did his thing, you know. He went out there. He fought his fight, fought his fight,

At the time of life, you know, he looked calm, he looked good, he looked super good, and took his time out there, landed shots when he had to land him. And the rest is history, man. This sport is crazy, man. I tell you this much, we've been telling you guys, you know, you put these little gloves on people, you give people some confidence, and they go out there,

and they do amazing things. So, you know, congrats to him, and I look forward to the fight. Was any part of you a little bum that he won only because you and Frankie have now supposed to fight, you're supposed to fight twice, it doesn't happen, a lot of excitement. Did you really want that fight against Frankie next? Yeah, I really want to fight Frankie, like I said, man.

He has a history with the Hawaiians, you know? And that was a tough pill to swallow, you know, that with him having so much history and I had to pull out the fight, you know, and got to fight in the ninth island, death and that. But, you know, this is a sport. It goes on. It keeps it moving.

And, you know, I wasn't mad at all. You know, there's where people keep thinking that Frankie is out of the picture completely, you know. After Artiga fight, we should happen, you know, a couple more wins and he's back in the discussion again. So I don't really care, you know. We're trying to move on. It's time to focus on the next guy up. And that's our tagos, supposedly. I can't wait.

And I'm just ready, you know, it's just, I'm ready to fight, man. I'm ready to fight, man. I'm ready to fight whoever, you know. If you want to beat the best, you got beat the best. He has heard before, and the best is blessed. So, bring them all. Did any part of you feel bad for Frankie that it went down like this?

Like maybe he should have just waited for you? No, you know, I don't think he made a mistake by taking the fight against Ortega because I don't think he regrets it. You know, that's the kind of person he is. That's who Frankie is. He's not sitting around and hoars him to opportunities. You know,

he puts it on the line every time he keeps the sport moving. And after a fight, you know, But it showed why people loved it. You know, people loved him because of what he does for the sport and what he does. Because he's a true fighter, and that's why so many people are, you know, giving that guy some love after the fight. So I don't think so he made any mistake, you know.

He's a fighter, and he did what he thought was best. Brian Ortega said after the fight that he thinks a fight between you and him for the belt would be the biggest featherweight title fight since Aldo McGregor. Do you agree with this? It's huge. I'll tell you this much. A lot of people was talking about

this fight born in the Frankie fight I feel like so I can't wait you know to two young guys you know in the midst

their career you know the guy is a guy looking super good he's looking super good I can't take nothing away from him you know

he said don't me pick my poison you know and he got he got striking everybody knows he did Jitsu so

I'm excited you know when these this kind of thing that's intrigued me. You know, when I see danger, you guys all know, I walk straight to it. I ain't, I try to run away from no danger. He's like, this is supposed to be dangerous for me.

And I want to go and take a peek, you know. I want to go and look and see what's so dangerous about it. What part of his game impresses you the most, if any particular part? I mean, obviously off his back, but now he's developing into, you know, a pretty damn good striker being the first guy to finish, Frankie. what are you really impressed by as far as Brian is concerned? It's toughness, you know? He's just a tough kid.

You know, he goes in there and takes some tough shots, you know, and that's the most impressive thing. That guy can, he got a chin on him. You know, he got a chin on him. That's what I think, and that's not even named skill-wise. You know, he can finish the fight either way. You know, he's striking, he got a couple striking finishes. He got a bunch of submission finishes.

But I'm most impressed that the shots he can take, you know, he can take a shot. So it should be a fun of him. You know, it's great. He looks good.

You know, with two guys coming up, coming up, and burning our prime, so there's people going to be in for a great fight. Is there any chance in heckas? Now we're starting to hear

maybe August Hawaii, but our man, Rob DeMello, our brother said that there's a snag. Is there any chance in hell at this point that this fight happens in Hawaii? I don't know. I don't know, man.

You know, eyes as I didn't hear nothing yet you know I'm over here waiting I'm waiting just like you guys I don't know what is Hawaii I think so that talks with Hawaii has come a long way this is the closest they ever had to having a fight event down here so we should happen you know I don't know like how you said that snag day they usually uh when when the NFL come down they would give uh the NFL uh five million dollar country conversation and I think so UFC was trying to ask for that and then

they kind of re-conner and they're kind of just finding back and forward connering so we should happen you know I'm just glad that the HTA is actually taking the time to finally listen to the UTC and they're finally talking about it and you know we might have I don't think if it happens

this year it happens this year if not you know I got to keep doing my job and hopefully next year around the summertime it happens you know so we should happen I'm positive that it's going to happened, we came leaps and bounds ahead of what it was before. So we got the ball moving, you know. We just got to keep on creating the height. Now, Max, you are doing a phenomenal job.

Like, a lot of people try to, you know, go back and forth with Connor. You don't even mean to tell you this. I know you've talked about it. But your responses have just, every time, it's just something else that you're coming back with. And here you have this or take a fight. The Conner fight is not even there. Is it annoying a little bit that, you know, you're, I mean, I know you sort of feed

into it because of the responses, but that's not the fight ahead of you, but yet it seems like everyone wants to talk to you about Connor. How do you separate the two? It's easy. It's easy to separate the two. You know, I'm not going to get, I'm not going to get into something that's a what-if battle with someone or, or, or, or, uh, keep waste and focus my energy on something that's not going to happen, you know? The fights that, I got, I got a crown. I got a thrown to defend, and, you know, we got to keep the 145 division moving. If that guy wanted to fight, you know, I would see a contract. You know, the guy tells Dana what he wants to do, and Dana usually does it.

So if that's what he want to do, you want to do it, you know, so be it. But I know where he takes up next and I'm focused, you know. I'm focused on him 100%. And like I said before, you know, the guy keeps, you know, jabbing at me, jab at me and whatever and every time i replied they're like why are you doing this why are you reply and i'm like uh do you guys every got picked on you guys like getting picked on stand up for your damn self you know and then at one time i finally this guy goes to throw the juicy underhand pitch i take a swing at it and hit it up the park and everybody's all salty you know they're like oh

they're looking for money i ain't looking for money fight this guy's been trying to bully me the whole time talking about enjoying his retired life talking about all this kind of wild stuff and then the one time my attack of you guys get on me, you know, get out of here with that stuff. I know what's on the timetable and the timetable right now is our tag. So that's my full focus. He does a very good job of not really talking about anyone, but yet, as you mentioned, you were right, he does talk about you or reference you a lot or post things about you. Why do you think he's picked you to do this?

I have no idea. You go get him on your show. You said you can get a hold of Trump. Go talk to that, man. You go ask him yourself. I can't talk to the other guy. Do you feel like this is attainable now? Like, is this a sign that he's interested in the rematch?

I wish it happens, yeah. I don't know, you know. A lot of people like talking, you know, until we see a contract or until we see something actually in motion, then I would believe it. But, you know, right now, talk is talk, you know, and talk is cheap, so I'm not too worried about it. I noticed on Twitter, though, and I give you all the respect for this,

you said enough of the Floyd Mayweather talk. You're tired of it. Is that accurate? Are you tired of this story? Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you guys really believe the dude is going to, you know, all his fights, every day in boxing, he's the greatest, you know. There's no hate towards him.

You know what? He did it smart. He made a lot of money. He changed the sport in a lot of ways. And he got there using his brains, you know, and being smart and not fighting and not being humiliated. You guys really believe this guy is going to take an MMA fight And however old he is right now

It's like against a young guy that's you know That's people consider one of the best in the sport So it just blows my mind man I you know If people believe that kind of stuff You know it's wild man I really don't know what they say What do you make of Woodley training him

Do you believe that or do you think it's all PR? I mean, you know, I love Woodley. Willie's the man. You know, he's a great dude, but I swear he talks about everything. He's talking about everything. Whatever he can talk about, he talks about it. That guy is always on P&Z or something. He wants to be talked about all the time.

Woody, you are the man, brother, but I think it's a PR stuff. How can you not think it's not a PR? I don't know. This guy is always, every time I go, I see on Twitter or something retweeting about TMZ, it's Tyrone really talking about it.

So I was like, gosh, like, this guy is a champion or is your TMZ reporter? What is going on, my friend? Yes, he does. He does do some stuff for TeamZ, so I can understand why he has to, but yeah, I don't know.

I don't know how to feel about the whole thing. It kind of gives me a headache, to be honest. But, you know, Connor has the deal with Burger King, but you're doing well, You were just at the Budweiser offices in Hawaii. What is your deal with Budweiser? Could you tell us about that?

What kind of sponsorship deal is this? You know, they picked me up. It's a national deal. I'm with them for a year. And I went there. We sit down. We had a couple ideas what they wanted to do with me that I can't really talk about.

So I'm getting excited, man. It's a huge deal for me. And it's a huge deal for Hawaii, period. and for my brand. So I'm just excited. I'm excited to be a part of the bud team, and I can't wait. We've got some big things on horizon. Wow, that is great.

Congratulations, in your mind, when do you think you can return? Do you have any idea, or is it still too soon to say? You know, if everything goes well, like how it's been, you know, if the PT, I've been doing super great in the PT, you know, they finally started to let me move and do a little bit more stuff on it so we see what happened you know I told you guys I want that

July fight you know on that July card but everybody seems to be on that so you know and supposedly Hawaii is supposed to happen in August so depends if it's it's a July card or the August card is in Hawaii or wherever the August card could be if it's in the States or

something that's the timeline we're looking at right now most of my doctors my physical therapist my That's all the times that we're looking at right now. You know, they're trying to see that July and August return. And that's all I can do, you know, be positive, keep training, keep getting this thing strong. And I can't wait, man, can't wait to make that walk again. You know, it's a pretty crazy experience getting injured this bad.

And I don't wish it on no one. By the way, speaking of the July car, what's up with you in D.C.? Oh, hey, well, what's up? D.C. is a funny dude. I tell you that much. gosh, oh my gosh. D.C. should do a contest of

hang with me for a day and D.C. that man, he's funny. He's a funny dude, man. He's a wild man. How did you end up as a coach on the Ultimate Fighter with him? He reached out to me. We got the same,

we got the same, what is that called? Nutritionist. Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and that was the connection there. DC was always cool and always nice to me. And, you know, he asked me to come out. You know, I ended up going out there for three days, you know. Got to check out the tough house, got to hang out him,

no TC limit better. Got to get teased from him for three straight days. And it was great, you know, it was fun, man. D.C.'s no jokes here. I like it, man. He reminds me, he's a good person, man. He's a good person. Everybody see champion of D.C., you know?

The person beside D.C. is even more funny. So it's a great dude. He told me that every time you guys played Madden, he beat you every time. Is that accurate? That is not accurate. I actually won one time, and then the other two times she was getting lucky. So there's some dog shit stuff. Don't I put some respect on it.

I won the first game. I won the first game. I shouldn't even gave him the rematch. She just went on with life. That's right. The lesson for all fighters, although with Aldo, that worked out well for you. Great to catch up with you, Max. I really appreciate it.

I know you kind of wanted to lay low, so I was just kidding about all the stuff at the beginning. But I hope you get well soon. Speedy recovery, you miss you out there. We were all bummed that you couldn't fight in March. I know no one was more bummed than you. But I hope that the ankle heals up very quickly and that we'll see you back in there in a few months' time. Thanks, Max. Thank you, brother.

Take forward to having on and make your time. You have a great one. All right, you two. There he is. The reigning defending UFC Featherway champion. He is scheduled to fight Brian Ortega later this year. We don't know when. August would be phenomenal in Hawaii. We've said this ad nauseum. We reported, based off the reporting of our friend Rob DeMello in Hawaii, that there was a little bit of a snag. But he is right. It is moving along. There are talks. It is closer than it ever has been. That doesn't necessarily mean it's close, but there is interest. They need to get this done. They have to get this done. They have to get this. this done. They have a champion who is Hawaiian, who is proud to be Hawaiian, who is proud to be

living and training in Hawaii. It's time to figure it out. And what a great scene it would be if he's able to defend his title against Brian Ortega there. We'll see. Great to hear him on the show. And hopefully that was a serious injury. There's no doubt about it. Hopefully he's able to recover sooner rather than later. Okay. Let us move along now and say hello to our next guest. It has been quite some time since we talked to our next guest, one of the more policed. polarizing figures in the sport and mixed martial arts. But always great to chat with one Dylan Dennis. The news last week, well, he is making his Belator debut at Belator 198 against Kyle Walker,

who is 2 and 4 as a professional. This card, of course, taking place on April 28th in Rosemont, Illinois, and it will air on Paramount Network on the main card. Headlining Act is Fader Emilineco v. Frank Meir. Dylan Dennis is in Ireland getting ready for this debut at the world famous SBG Ireland Jim. He joins us right now

via the magic Skype. There he is. In a dark room. I don't know if this is symbolic of where he's at mentally right now, but that is Dylan Dennis. El Jepha himself. Dylan, how are you? Yeah, how are you doing? Can you see me or do I need to... Oh, no, you were great. The connection is phenomenal. It's a bit of a dark room.

It's a dark room. It looks like you're like the undertaker. takeer. No, I'm in John's house. I'm in one of his his room, so it just looks a little bit because the light

is kind of weird here. No, no, it's all good. I appreciate you doing this. Are you staying with John in Ireland? Yeah, for the time being,

I'm here now that, yeah, I'm staying with him. What's that like? Do you like staying with him or would you rather your own place? I know,

I like staying with John. John is really, he's really cool to be around, especially around a fight, you know, because like me and him kind of the same mind. at what we're always on and talking about techniques

and talking about everything. So even after training, we come home, I mean, oh, do you see that position today? And we'll just, like, even do it in the house, just kind of work on it. So, I mean, I like to be on with this stuff 24-7. So being around John is awesome for me. He has a great mind for the sport,

and I like to talk to him and discuss ideas and stuff like that. Why did you decide to do your whole fight camp there? Because in New York, it's a little bit, like, if you think about New York, there's really no really good fighters from New York, because it's very hard to kind of find like a home. You have to be doing your boxing and some other place and doing your jitzy and doing all this stuff

and all these different places. So it's a little bit harder to get the training that you need in New York and people cancel it. It's just a little bit harder. So the camp here is good because I have everything under one roof and I have John here for me. And yeah, it's just, you know, where I live is a little bit harder to do that. And obviously my connection with these guys, I love all them, so it's good.

And being away for essentially, you're going to stay the entire time there, right, leading up to the fight. Are you okay with that? Yeah, I'm still deciding. I might come back for Artem's fight and then finish out my camp there because I do train with Phil Nurse back in New York and I have my jiu-jitsu. But I'm just going to see how I feel. I'm kind of just played by here. Okay. You signed with Bellator almost exactly a year ago and now here you are getting set for your debut in April. Why did it take so long for you to finally get that debut fight? Even when I signed it, I said I wanted to still do jiu-jitsu. I wasn't saying I'm going to

fight right away. At the time being, everybody was trying to sign me. So I said, why not just take the deal? But I feel like since I've been 15 years old, I've been ready to make this debut. I feel like 15, 16, even going on, I could have done this and submitted everybody. So I've been ready for this since I was a kid. And you can ask anybody that's ever train on me. I was born for this. How are, like, now you're sparring, right? You're getting punch in the face, correct? We began punching the face for a long time. No more. I kind of like all these questions. I've been getting this a lot.

Like, what's the stand? I'm going to be like and all this stuff. But the only good thing about, I mean, the good thing about MMA is that everything gets answered. So I guess you'll see you have the two and in a while. So you're almost insulted when asked these questions because you feel like people don't believe that you're comfortable getting punched?

It's not even that fact. It's that people would think that I would do this not prepared. You know, like they think that I would take this as a joke. And I know MMA is a very ruthless. this game and you can get hurt and you can basically you can hurt you could change your life with I mean a wrong fight or something so it kind of I feel disrespected that people would think that I'm just going into this lightly or I'm just going to train jihadza or something like that I respect this game a lot and I'm preparing for a world title fight in a sense because that's

how every fight should be treated and yeah just felt a little bit disrespect that people would think that I took this lightly what if anything do you know about Kyle Walker. I mean, I have no clue. I don't really know anything about him. I mean, I give my hat off to him because a lot of people weren't taking the fight. You know, it was taking a while to find someone, but they just needed someone to sacrifice LA for me.

And that's what's happened. Were you a part of the process in finding your first opponent? Like, did they bring you names and did you choose? Or did they just say, okay, Kyle Walker? And stuff like that. I didn't really get involved with it. Whenever they sent me him, I just said, okay, it's good. I mean, I'm fresh in the sport, and I'm just starting out.

So I have a lot of years ahead of me. So I start out and just, you know, go for. The way in which you decided, okay, April 28th was it, like you calling up Bell-Tor and saying, okay, I'm ready, this date sounds good. I like this card, or were they keeping tabs? Like, how did the process go over the past year? Did they just say, like, call us when you're, how did it all shake out? I just called and said the phenom was ready.

That was it. And then they just put me on the card. I said that Chicago card looked nice. I was like, that's close to my house. and it's a good city, and I said, let's do that one. Okay. You obviously recognize there's a big bull's eye on your back, correct? Yeah, I like that, though.

I mean, if there wasn't a bullseye on my back and there wasn't questions, then who would really care about the fight? You know, there's a lot of guys that are in this game that have been in it for years or like journeymen or something, and no one even cares about them. So at the end of the day, questions, bullseyes, people talking shit, and it's all good. You know, you can put as much pressure on me as you want, when you're this good you don't feel pressure. You study some of the more publicized

debutsed debutses in recent memories. I mean, Belator had Aaron Pico, right? And there was all kinds of talk about him being a phenom and then you know what happened in his debut. Do you study those things and listen to what they say about the mistakes they made so that you don't make those same mistakes? No, I wouldn't say I studied them, but I've seen it.

And for my, I wouldn't say I studied them in a sort, but I study a lot of jiu-jitsu guys debuts, you know, and I try to look what they did wrong and stuff like that. And, you know, it's kind of weird. A lot of people in jihadica kind of tell me it's different and all these kind of things. And I kind of think about it. I'm like, why wouldn't you try to motivate me and try to tell me, you know, what I could do better. But I feel like at the end of the day, when someone didn't do it or someone couldn't do it, they try to put it on you like it can't be done. And everybody's different. So I feel like I'm prepared for M&A.

Do you feel like you are getting support from the Jujitu community? I would say half and half. I mean, there is a lot of guys that send me nice messages, and I talk to at tournaments are kind of moving me forward, I mean, pushing me forward. And then you got guys that are kind of like they didn't do it, so they want to put it on you, and I find that a lot in the sport where someone can't do something, and then they try to tell you you can't do something. And I just see that as hate and, I don't know, I kind of just stir away from it.

Like, don't talk to me if you're not going to talk to me about positive things. Right. And where do you think stand with your jih Tzu career now that you're pursuing this and your fight camp has started? How are you going to divide your time? In the day, I still love jih Tzu so much. And I was thinking maybe after this fight, I would do the world. But, you know, in this sport, you just really never know. But I really want to do jihitsu still.

And that's my passion. That's my love since I was a kid. And even when I'm training M.M.A. I still feel like, you know, I have that love for jihuts. but I'm still doing jujitsu. It's just at a different stage and a different sport. So you are going to continue, you know, competing in jiu jih Tjitsu, right? You have not retired.

You're not taking a break, like a long break. So, I mean, we'll see. I just want to see where it goes and see where my training is going and everything like that. And I don't know. I'll decide. But I do want to, I still have a lot of things to prove with jiu-tzu. I have a lot of guys I think are not that good that I'll beat. and I really want to win the world championships at Black Belt.

You know, it's kind of funny, I guess, a rival of yours in the world of jih Tudu, Gary Tonin, is making his MMA debut this weekend. Did you know that? I did not know that. So I was going to ask if you were going to pay attention to it, but I guess you're not going to pay attention to it. I mean, I wouldn't pay attention to it, but I don't wish bad things on anybody. I hope he does good, and, you know, it's going to help the sport. So, yeah, I hope he does good. I don't like to say, like, even over rivals, I wouldn't say, like, oh, I hope you lose or something like that.

That's just bitterness and hate, and I hope he does good and best of luck to him. And I wasn't expecting you to say that I hope he does poorly, but I was wondering if you're the kind of guy who would watch his performance, hope he wins, but then hope to top his performance, do something even better than him. No, man, I see just me in this game. I don't watch anybody else and try to top anybody else. I mean, at the end of the day, I'm in it from, you know, me, and I don't really care what he does, and it is what it is. As far as your corner is concerned for your debut, will it be all SBG guys? No, it will be John Kavanaugh, and then it would be my jih Tuducoachau, and Merello's Santana. So, and then I don't know about the third yet. I had stuff to decide, but I trained at U.N.D., and now U.N. Jitsu in New York, and my coach is Marilla Santana.

So he will be in my corner, too. when we had you in studio you talked at length about you know the falling out with marcella Garcia has that been repaired are you are you back on speaking terms no i have not talked him i seen them in the street a couple times in europe but that's it we haven't really talked or anything like that so when you see each other in the street do you say hello uh yeah it is what it is a little bit awkward head nod or something like that you know wow marcella's very uh stand And holds grudges. So, I mean, it is what it is.

I have no ill will towards him. I hope he, you know, like I love him. He was like a dad figure for me. And I hope everything kind of works itself out or we can just keep going like this. Doesn't really matter to me. But, yeah, I always love him like a dad. And I always hope everything goes well for him in his life. But you are hopeful that one day you'll be able to repair the relationship.

Yeah, I think so. I mean, Marcel is, yeah, like, you know, he gave me my, I'm a black belt under Marcelo Garcia and I will be until I die. And yeah, I mean, it is what it is. At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason. And I think it will patch itself over time or it won't patch itself over time. If it happens, it happens. You know, it's a weird ways.

You have an unbelievable mentor by your side and John Kavanaugh, you're staying at his house. But you also kind of wish that you had him to speak to you as you prepare for your debut. You know, I think about that sometimes, you know, but I did talk to Marcel a lot about MMA and we thought about the mindset about it before I left. And we have trained MMA together. He used to get gloves and we were kind of just, you know, spa here and there.

But, yeah, I mean, I have a lot of good people around me. So it is what it is. How present is Connor McGregor at the gym these days? I mean, he's there. He's always helping. He's a mentor to me. I look up to Connor a lot. He's, in my opinion, the best fighter of all time right now.

And it's really cool. to talk to him about training, mindset, everything. You know, yeah, I look at him as a mentor, and I'm really happy to be able to be really close friends with him and training partners. And, yeah, it's a good relationship. You cornered him in two of his biggest fights ever. I'm wondering if he'll return the favor

and corner you in your debut. I don't know. I'm probably not. I wouldn't imagine he's a very busy guy. I wouldn't expect him to, but I know he'll for sure be watching. So, I mean, he doesn't owe me anything. I don't, like, operate like that. I might do something for you to do for me.

And then the end of the day, we just have a relationship. And, you know, it's crazy. He's supported me over my jitzy matches more than a lot of people would. So, yeah, I have a lot of respect for him. Will you ask him to corner you? No, no, I would never ask anybody to do anything. You know what I mean? That's just, yeah, no, I wouldn't ask him.

He is brilliant when it comes to the brilliance. of fighting, right? Like the mindset of fighting, the psychological part of it. Have you had any talks with them since being in Ireland about just tackling this mentally and the debut and everything that goes into it? I haven't spoke about it too much, but ever since I met him, we have talked about that kind of stuff. And so I feel like we have covered it before. And I'm pretty sure I'll talk to him about it. I'm still here for like four or five weeks. Yeah. Yeah, just being around him, he's a very motivating person. And he always instills in me that, you know, this is, you know, you're going to do this and this is your shot. So he's really good at

motivating and he's a really good friend and he's really good to talk to about all things. Is there a particular part of training about preparing for this fight that you've, you know, kind of surprise yourself at how much you like it, how well you're doing at it, a certain component of mixed martial arts training that you're like, wow, I didn't expect to like this, but I actually like this? I like everything. I love just improving and getting better and I feel like a white belly getting sometimes

in certain things like it's fun to learn and it's fun to just you know kind of put your mind to something even in jihidtu when you get to blood felt you're still a white belt because you're always learning but it's just cool to be able to kind of start over again and to kind of work on new things and stuff like that I really enjoy MMA training but at the end of the day

it's all the same in Jiu Jitsu and MMA It's just hard work that pays off nothing else. So that's why it's easy for me because I know how to work hard and I know how to work really hard. So MMA is pretty simple. It's the same kind of recipe. Work your ass off and you'll get the results. By the way, you said on this show famously last year

that you are the highest paid fighter in Belator, right? You did say that. Yeah, I did say that. Is that still the case? Have you been keeping tabs on other deals? Are you still number one? I think so. I mean, at the end of the day, no one knows what they get in sponsor money.

so. Sure. No one's ever going to find that. But, yeah, I feel like in Belator, I mean, who really else is getting that much, even in sponsors, you know, so we'll see. Do you have big time sponsors for this fight? Yeah, we're working on a couple deals and stuff like that,

and I always had sponsors to Jiu-Jitsu and stuff, so I'm one of the bigger names in Jiu-Jitsu, so I get a lot of the sponsorship and stuff like that, and we're working on some good deals for this fight. When you say we, Who's we? Like, do you have a MMA manager as well? I'm not completely signed yet, but I'm almost the deal. Like, it's just like almost there with Audi and the paradigm.

Okay, all right. That obviously makes sense. And have you noticed... What's that? So we're very close to signing the deal. It's just a couple little, like, here and near thing. Okay. And have you noticed that BJJ sponsors are going to follow you into MMA, like they want to be a part of this as well? I would think so we'll see I mean I haven't talked to them about it yet

because right now I'm still kind of far away from the fight but I'm pretty sure they will because in Jiu-Soo they're very supportive and everybody you know always helps you so I would imagine why they would help me in a new endeavor so we'll see how it goes

Are you going to try to not win via submission to prove that you are a well-rounded fighter like is that a goal of yours no I mean I like to win by submission because I represent Jiu-Siu-Zoo and at the end of the day I feel that a true jih Tjitsu fighter should be able to fight anybody of any style at any time. And I want to prove that.

I feel like it's a gracey in action kind of thing. I feel like I'm going into a fight. It's like those old gracey challenges from back on the day. Yeah. But we'll see what I do. I mean, this guy has all the pressure on him. He has, what, six fights pro. He has seven fights amateur.

He has a couple of boxing fights. And I'm the O&O. I'm a MMA fighter. So we will see if what I say is true. So you actually think he has more pressure on him than you? I think so. I think everybody's saying, go shut this kid up. He doesn't know how to fight MMA, all this stuff to him. So he's going to one that has the big burden on his back to shut up the kid that is saying he's the best. Did you consider taking an amateur fight?

No, because I know what I could do. And I know my work that I put in the gym. And I just believe in myself 100%. And I want to go straight for the top. Is this one of those things where you kind of wish that you can fast forward time? Like, are you ready for April 28th? Or are you happy that you have a month and a half left in this training camp? No, I was going to be tomorrow. Yeah, I wish it was tomorrow. I would clean them up tomorrow if it came down to it.

I've been ready for this since I was 15 years old. So it could be tomorrow, it could be a month, it could be a year, it doesn't matter. The result will stay the same. Wow. That's amazing. Who's the bigger draw on that card? You or Fador? me come on obviously me i mean that's i mean that's i don't know fader's the curtain jigger for me

no but to be honest to be honest to be honest though uh being on the same part as fader being a kid and watching for it that that's a super cool thing uh it plays in the back of my head you know i mean sometimes you sit back and you appreciate those kind of things my debut fight i'm on the same card is the arguably the go of the may but i mean nowadays is different fader is a little bit old older now and you know there's a new error in town. I would say that the numbers peak when I fight and then maybe go down when he fights, but we'll see. By the way, have you been keeping tabs on McKenzie Dern's MMA 4A? And if so, what do you think of it? Yeah, I'm friends of McKenzie just from Jiu-Jitsu and stuff. And I think that's awesome what she's doing,

fighting in the UFC and stuff like that. And I hope she does well because that just helps everybody in Jiu-Di-Soo and stuff like that. And she's a really hard worker and she competes in J-Jitsu. really well. Like her style transitions in the MMA perfectly. And I think that's a lot of, that's what a lot of people say like all this guy's Jitsu won't do good in MMA and it all has to do with styles.

Because you go into Jiu-Tzu match by stalling or anything, but her style is very aggressive and very submission-oriented. So she does really well in MMA because of that. And I feel like I have a very similar style where we go for the kill and the belt. So yeah, I'm very happy for her and I hope she does really good.

So the fight is a month and a half away. Is it okay to ask for a prediction? How do you see this playing out? Can we get an official prediction for your MMA debut? It'll be a submission in the first round, 100%. Wow. Take it to the bank. Yeah.

On the record. Maybe TKO. They'll be the first round. Wait, now you're saying, well, you just said TKO. That's a completely different fight. I'll go with the submission. I'll go with the submission. You were right, because sometimes you want to take the TKO just to, like, you know,

I mean, I'm a TKO, but I believe it will be a submission. Is there a particular kind of submission that you think will really be your signature in MMA? No, I mean, I'm well-rounded from everywhere. And if you go watch my jih Tijuana matches, I can finish anybody from any position. So, you know, it will be fun to see what I will catch them. And I don't want to, I don't want to limit myself to one submission, but I will say that it would be really fun to watch, trust me. I'm looking forward to it. I'm very excited about it.

I'm happy it's almost here. I appreciate you doing this, Dylan. This is very exciting stuff. Good luck in training. Thanks for jumping on. I know it's tough to, you know, find... We had John Phillips on from the caravan last week, and the Wi-Fi wasn't so good. So this...

I guess you're inside the house. The Wi-Fi is better than outside the house. Yeah, exactly. But I wish you the best, Dylan. Thank you so much. And, of course, good luck on April 28th. Thank you, Eric. Appreciate it.

All right. We'll talk to you soon. There he is. The one and only Dylan. Danes making his MMA, Bellator MMA debut on April 28th,

Bellator 1.98 at the world famous Rosemont Horizon. No, all state arena in Rosemont, Illinois. And the headlining act, as I said, is Fador Emilineco versus Frank Meir, Emmanuel Sanchez versus Sam Cecilia.

Hafeel Lovato Jr., another BJJ star going up against John Salter. How about Naman? Gracie, who has been talking about wanting to fight one Dylan Dennis, also on that card against Javier Torres. If you're a BJAJ fan, this is the card for you. And a 175 pound catchweight fight, Dylan Dennis going up against one Kyle Walker, who is two and four, has lost his last three in a row. So there it is. The debut going down on April 28th, we are a month and a half away. Okay. So,

if you've been following this show or the MMA beat over the past week, we've talked to a lot about Nick Newell after his win in the LFA main event two Fridays ago. It is time to talk to him once again. And more importantly, it is time for him to finally fight in the UFC. And there's a lot of momentum behind this now. There's a lot of things going on behind the scenes. He's a lot more aggressive about it. No beating around the bush.

So let us welcome in one more time, notorious Nick Newell, who now is back in the exact same spot as he's. he was when he joined us two weeks ago. It's like deja vu all over again here. Nick, how are you? I'm good, I'm good. Glad to be back on the show. Yes, it is a pleasure as always.

Congratulations on the win. Before we get to all the stuff that's happened, you know, after the win, just being back in there and you look great, but I'm just wondering, did it feel a little weird? Like two years later, did you feel a little rusty?

You certainly didn't look it, but like what was it like being back in a cage after the layoff? No, I felt completely. comfortable. Honestly, it was the most relaxed I've ever been in there. You know, my outside life outside of the cage, I started

a business, I got married, I did a lot of things, and my life is in a great place. I'm a happy guy outside the cage. I have a great life and it honestly felt like yesterday was the last time I fought. It didn't feel like any time it passed and I was relaxed and I had

a job to do when I went out and did it. You know, leading up to the fight, there was a little bit of talk, but yeah, You obviously had to get the fight out of the way. It went great. Another victory, you're 14 and 1. But afterwards, like I said, there's a lot of momentum behind this idea of you finally fighting in the UFC.

Why do you feel like now it seems like everyone's getting behind this idea? And you're being, I think, more aggressive about it. Yeah, it's time. You know, I'm in my prime right now. I'm 32 years old. And really, one thing was important to me is I've been ready mentally to be in the UFC for a very long time. I just had to physically make my first.

myself ready. And in this time off, I train on my technique, work my technique, and I got better. And I know that I'm one of the best in the world. I'm not even asking for certain opponents or fight this guy or that guy. I'm ready for anything. When I go places, I always train with the best people. You know, I'm a black belt and jiu-jitsu, a college wrestler, and I'm a great striker, too. When I go places, I go with world-class strikers. I go with world-class grapplers. I go with world-class wrestlers. I hang with all of them. I'm a well-rounded fighter, and I'm ready to ready to go out there and just prove it. In the last nine days, have there been serious talks?

Have they reached out to you? As anything changed as far as the UFC stance towards you? You know, if something happens, you'll be the first to find out about it. I'm just campaigning hard. I want my opportunity. You know, I don't feel like anything's owed to me. I'm not begging. I'm just stating my case.

And it seems like the whole MMA community is behind me. You know, I've been fighting for 10 years now as a professional, and I've been training for 17 years. And these are 17 years that I've been working the entire time, busting my ass in the gym, working to get better, not trying to be cool, not doing it for the money, not doing it for anything but myself and to just show where I stand in this sport. From what I understand, you recently hired Ali Abdel-Aziz to be your new manager. Is that correct? Yeah, he's working with my current manager as well, Angela Boddadi. and they're working together. And to me, I'll leave someone I've known for a very long time, and he's a guy that gets things done.

You know, he's got the connections I need. And, you know, having talks with him, he's got my best interest in mind. And he's going to go out there, and I think he's a guy to get it done. So he's someone I needed on my team. Yeah, and of course, he signed you to fight for World Series of Fighting. So he's, you know, one of those guys who gave you that opportunity

to fight on a bigger stage and fight on NBC. You also had Justin Gaecchi who you fought on NBC. Like it seems like more fighters are coming to your defense. When you see these tweets, when you see these people trying to, you know, give you, you know, I guess their endorsement. What does that like for you? Well, because, you know, real and recognize is real. You see a guy out there fighting. People that don't know anything about MMA just see a dude with one hand and say, oh, my God, how can this guy fight?

But people that know fighting and watch fighting can see that I'm a badass, you know, that I mean business, that I'm a well-rounding. fighter and that's why these people are sticking up for me you know um ali has the numbers that i that i pull into when i fight and um you know it was funny i fought in connecticut one time i'm i'm big you put me anywhere on the east coast i sell you know and and everyone left after my fight and they were actually were begging people to come back so you know i am a draw and this was this was after i i had lost a gaugie which um you know was a good fight i had my moments he was the guy that won but But in the first round, a lot of people scored that for me, and he's top five in the world. You know, he was just a better man that night.

No one's perfect. But I'm ready to just go out there. You know, I went four and one in World Series of Fighting, and then I went, I'm 5 and 0 on Access TV. How many people do you know go 5 and O on Access TV or can go 4 and 1 in World Series of Fighting and not deserve an opportunity like this? How do you not lose your, I don't know, I don't know, patience is a the right word, but like the fact that you have to actively campaign for this when very few have to do that. You know, people who campaign sometimes say, like, give me my shot on the UFC,

but like you really have to go, you know, you're going strong here. And most sane-minded people agree with everything that you're saying. Does this take a lot for you to do? Like, do you have to dig down deep? Do you have to put aside your ego? Is this difficult to have to go out there and sort of puff your chest out and say, look what I've done. Look at my resume. For God's sakes, give me a chance. No, because I'm used to people looking past me. I've been dealing it with my, dealing with it my whole life. You know, uh, one time I was about to fight, I was about to make my pro debut. I said, hey, excuse me, sir, you mind? I, uh, I have to get to the bathroom because it was just porta-potties. We can only go to the bathroom. And I said, I have a fight coming

up. And he said, oh, you have a fight going up. And he laughed at me. You know, um, people, people always have doubted me my, my whole life and said, I can't do this and I can't do that. But I, I, I've just done it. You know, I would never get myself into something I wasn't ready for. And I'm ready to compete with the best in the world. And I feel, It's time. So that's why I'm doing this push. You know, I wouldn't, I wouldn't get myself into something that would embarrass me or something that I thought was too much for me to handle right now.

I'm on point. Loose, relax. My body feels great and my skill is there with the best in the world. What do you say to someone? Because I get this a lot when I talk about you. They're like, it's just a bad look for the UFC. They say it's bad optics. They can't have someone in there who only.

has one hand. What if you get seriously beat up? What is the perfect retort for this kind of dialogue? What should we say? What do you say to people who say that this is just bad optics for the UFC? They can't let this happen. Sometimes things, you know, they just seem so ridiculous to people that, because they can never imagine themselves doing this. So it's something they don't maybe want to see or whatever. And then they say, oh, what if he loses? And then I win and the guys are never good enough. You know, I beat Eric Reynolds for the XFC title and he went three rounds with George Masfadal and Eddie Alvarez, and I finished him in the first. You know, I'm, I'm in there with tough guys. I'm beating tough guys. And the real people in MMA, the real MMA fans, the people

that know the sport can see what I'm capable of, and they know that I deserve a chance, or at least I'm good enough to hang with the best in the world. Have you ever had a... These guys are, like I said before. Sorry, no, no, no, no, please. You sure? These are the same people that are just going to talk some shit about me no matter what, you know? So they don't like me for whatever reason.

But I'm out here just collecting wins and doing my thing. You know, I've been training for 17 years, like I said before and every day. So if you do something for that long and you're that dedicated to it, you're going to get good at it. you're going to get good at it. And if you work as hard as me, you're going to get good at it. And whether I win or lose doesn't really matter because I have the skill and I've proven that I'm capable and I'm ready to go to the next level. But I will win.

I guarantee you I will win and I will be successful in the U.S. I also love your evolution on social media. Like, it used to be sort of like the jokey cat guy. Now you're coming at people. Now you're bringing it strong. Like the one thing about never being hit with a with a, with a head kick of any kind. That stuff is great.

Like all your little fact toys that you're throwing out, keep hammering the haters with that. I love that you have come to the point. Maybe it's annoying that you've had to reach this point, but I love what you're doing and the voice that you're sort of, you're owning right now in terms of shutting up the haters. Well done. Yeah, I mean, that's the stupidest shit I ever heard.

People telling me what I can and can't do. You know, I have an arm. I can block a head kick just like this. Boom, you throw it at me. I block it. How about footwork? How about I just get out of the way? Like, these guys are going to kick me in the head sitting on a couch in their mom's basement, you know?

And get over yourself, buddy. You don't know anything about the sport. Have you ever had a face-to-face conversation with Dana White? No, actually. You know, that's something that I want. And Dana White over here is, you know, he's always going and doing stuff for sick kids. And, you know, they brought the amputee on stage the other day with Michael Bisving and making all these dreams. dreams come true and stuff like that. Well, I'm a kid and I have a dream too. You know, my dream is to

fight in the UFC and beat some of these guys up. So, you know, my goal is to earn a face-to-face with Dana. And I'm ready to have him talk to me man to man and tell me yes or no. You know, that's what I want. I want him to look me in the eyes and tell me yes or no. I've been rejected my whole life. You know, I can handle it. I'm not going to bitch or complain about anything, know, it's, uh, I'm really, I, I, I've embraced myself and I've embraced the way I am. And I've embraced how people are going to treat me my whole life. And, uh, that I'm, that I have to work harder to, to get people's respect. And I have to do more than everyone else to to, to kind of earn, uh, the appeal, you know, 14 and 1 right now. And, and I just like to

meet them face to face. So you can see the passion that I bring for the sport. And what I, I, I can do in this sport. You know, and you can see if you meet me in person how passionate I am about this sport. And I will, you know, I think I could change his mind if we were to meet face-to-face. No secret that Ali has a great relationship with Dana White and the UFC. Is this in the works? Is he trying to get you a face-to-face? Is there anything being discussed right now?

Yeah, I mean, that's what I'm really hoping for, is that he can get me out to Vegas. wherever, you know, I don't live too far from Brooklyn, so I can go to Brooklyn, you know. Yes. This is something that I want, and this is something that I would like, and whether it's yes or no, that'd be good, because then I'd finally have an answer, and I can be at peace with myself at least a little bit and accept it and go from there, whether it means that I get the opportunity to fight the best guys in the world, or if I'm going to have to stay where I am and just destroy everyone.

I have seen some people suggest put them on the Dana White Contender Series show or maybe the ultimate fighter. How do you feel about these suggestions? Yeah, it's whatever. You know, whoever I fight is going to, is going to be in for a long night. I'm ready for anyone.

I really want the fight in the UFC if I can have it my way. I would just go straight to the big show. But if I do one of these shows, is at least I have a clear path to the big show, you know, and my goal's always been the big show. So I feel like that would be my number one choice, but it's not up to me. And I don't know if you've thought of this. I know I'm sort of, you know, getting ahead of myself, but do you have like a dream opponent

for your debut? Is there someone that you think would be perfect for your debut? I'm pretty much down to fight anyone. I'm not scared to – I don't need to be protected. Whoever they throw me against, they throw me against. You see these guys out there, and you know that I would be happy from pretty easy. People are talking about me fighting Mayweather. That would be fun.

I'd like that because I'd make a lot of money, but I don't think he's ever coming over to MMA. He knows better. Fitting that the Skype would go out when he mentioned that. I've seen this pop up just kind of in passing on Twitter throughout the day. What is this? First at CM Punk, now Nick Newell, Floyd, May. Are you kidding me? What's wrong with people? Really? Why do we keep doing this? Honestly, why can we enjoy MMA? Enjoy the matchups. Enjoy the active fighters. We'll get Nick back here in a second. But why do we do this? This is like the lowest of the hanging fruit. Hey, Nick. How are you? I'm back. Sorry, I was just waxing poetic about the... I'm back. Yes, you are back. I'm here. You see me? You hear me? Yeah, yeah, yeah. People are saying it. So people are interested in it.

You know, but honestly, the truth is I'm just going to fight someone that they have and whoever they match me up with or they think is the best match. I'm ready. Whether it's a beginner or it's someone in the top 15, I really don't care. I'm ready to make a statement. I wouldn't be fighting here if I didn't think that I was capable. What is your gut say right now? Do you believe, are you more confident than three years ago that this will happen? How are you feeling about it right now?

I'm an optimist my whole life. I haven't always been an optimist, but I believe in the power of hard work and I believe that closed mouths don't get fed. So I'm out here talking about it and the people have really gotten behind me. Obviously there's some people that are against me, but the majority of people and the majority of people

in the industry and successful high-level fighters all want to see it and they all feel like I belong. And I know that I belong. I've done pretty much everything I've said I was going to do. 15 times I went out there, 14 times I was right. The numbers are in my favor. I've been beating good guys. All of them have winning records.

And if you put the percentage, the winning percentage of the guys I fought versus most of the guys in the UFC right now, I fought people with better winning percentages than they have, especially to get in. Yeah, what is the collective record of your opponents? You also post this. It's like something like 70 something and 20 something, right? Yeah, it was like 79 and 24 or something.

Yeah, it's unbelievable. It's high time that you get in. You have earned it. And, you know, a long time ago, I called you Mr. Must See TV. You are MustCTV. And I can understand why a promotion, who is in the fight business, who has bended rules before. And I'm not here to compare you to anyone else.

I know you're friends of CM Punk. I don't think anyone should be compared. Everyone's different, but there is no excuse after your body of work. Now, if you're 1-0-0-0-0, okay, I get it. They want to see how you do. 14-1, you have proved your point. You have proved your worth. You have proved that you can hang.

You've proven that you can beat, you know, top-level competition. I sincerely hope that they finally rectify this and give you a chance like they've given so many others a chance. And worst thing that happens, you lose. Guess what? They all lose. No one's undefeated. Everyone loses at some point.

and your loss should be no different than anyone else's. So I love the fact that you're being aggressive about this. I love the fact that you're going out that you're speaking out. And I hope that you at least get that meeting. If nothing else, at least get that meeting face-to-face with Dana White today. He could tell you face-to-face why you're not in the UFC. So keep it up, Nick. Please keep us posted on your efforts.

And again, I sincerely hope that you finally get to realize your dream. Thank you. I'm still the funny cat guy. I'm just ready to rip some heads off. No, no. I like this. I like this kind of edgy. Nick. Like, enough. Enough. We've waited long enough. Let's go. Get in the UFC, then go back to the funny cat guy.

For now, edgy Nick, beard, grow it out, NWO. Let's do it. There we go. All right. Keep us posted. Best of luck to you, Nick. Thank you. All right. There he is. The one and only Nick Newell stopping by. What a story this is. 14 and 1. You know it by now. I don't have to run it by you. 32 years old. 14 and 1. you know, how many finishes here? Where is it? Boom, boom, boom. Two via KOT, KO,

9 via submission, just three decision wins. Only losses to Justin Gachey. Come on, already. Mr. Must CTV, you need ratings, you need intrigue, you need stories, you need feel-good stories, you need great talent. This is your guy.

It's a no-brainer. It's the no-brainer of all no-brainers. What are you waiting for? Unbelievable. All right, let me take off my headphones. Because, in a matter of moments, my friends, by the pride of Liverpool.

Now, this is very timely. This is very exciting. Patty Pimbley is the pride of Liverpool. He's one of the biggest stars fighting out of Liverpool. He fights at the Echo Arena and he sells the damn place out and he's here in New York.

And guess what? We've got his entrance song here. That's what happens when Patty Pimbleau comes in studio. Look at this guy. Let me stand up. Bell set. Didn't we get off the tune on? Hey, Pimlet.

How are you? Levoy. We'll finally meet you there, deal. Pleasure, Patty. I am so excited about you being here. You got the tune on and everything. Feltter. How do you feel?

Great, great. This is a great song. I've told you this is one of my favorite entrance songs in the sport. This is amazing. I can't believe you're here in the flesh. I know you're a legend in this studio, right? Everyone talks about you. They love you here.

Great. I'm a lovable guy, aren't I? Did they give you love when you were waiting back there? Yeah, of course. Okay, good. Now, let me put this down a little bit here, Patty, because we couldn't have scripted this any better, right? With the news on Friday?

with you being here this is incredible but I don't want to get there just yet why are you in New York me as a train I booked it after me I booked it like two or three weeks before my fight to come and get some training

because I was going to come in January and do some jiu-jitsu but I just booked it after me fight and then I'm glad I booked it after me fight now because I've been eating well enjoying the New York food so what have you been a bad idea coming here while I was dieting

What have you been eating? Had a few things. Went to Applebee's last night. Oh, nice. That's a fine American institution. What do we get the other night? A Philly cheese steak. Philly cheese steak.

Yeah, have you had pizza? Yeah, we've had a few pizzas. I still want to go to Katzelli. Oh, that's... He goes to Katzelli. Yes, that is phenomenal. The roast beef sandwich, the muttsabal soup, you have to have muttsabal soup there. It's phenomenal.

So I highly recommend that. I'll have to get that stuff. Yes, yes. You've never had that kind of soup, right? No, no. Is this your first time in you are? Yeah, my first time in the States. First time in the States.

Well, when I was about one or two, my family went on an Aldi to America. I've been in them, but it doesn't really count as if you don't remember it. Right. And why did you feel like now was a good time for it? Just because I've never, like, other people go to other places to train. I've never really been anywhere else to train, no what I mean. I've only ever trained at home and my own gym. And a few of the lads have been to Henzos over the past few months.

And we've been doing some of their stuff in the gym ourselves with my girls. coach Paul. Okay. So we just thought it was a no-brainer really. New York. Go to go to Hensos and say. I was going to try and get some sane in him with him like Frankie Eggkin and stuff as well, but I wouldn't know how to get there.

What do you mean now? You want me to put you in touch with them? How far away is it, though? It's like a couple hours. Like we're staying in Jersey at the minute. Yeah. Just getting the bus over every morning. Okay.

You figured it out? You kind of at the lay the land? The bus over this morning at like quarter seven in the morning. Oh my. trained at a half seven, waited until at 12 o'clock class and saying it again, and then come here.

And how does it work as far as, like, training at Hensos? Can anyone just show up there? Did you have to call in advance and say... No, anyone can just show up, but you've got to pay like the weekly or the monthly fee, no what I mean?

Wow. And is it a different vibe from what you're used to at your gym? Well, at my gym, it's like, there's a few of us, no what I mean? Like a big family, like there's a few of us

that are there all day, every day, all the time. And I'm sure Hensos is like that, no what I mean? People are there all day, day but it's different for me I'm gonna mean I walk into next gen back home

and I just got my phone and put the speaker on full blast and put my tunes on on you're the kid you're the king know what I mean I just it's like me house yeah in Hanzos it's different obviously there's about 50 people there and just sat in the corner on my own like don't even know anyone

you're like the kid at school for the first time right but um is it uncomfortable no but you're uncomfortable like you've just it's one of them in it people going into new gyms it's hard for some people but we fight no what I mean it's not new is it we go into new gyms all the time so you have a you're basically going into a new gym when you're getting in the cage aren't you fighting with someone for the first ever time so but I've had some like I've had some high level grappling over the past week and I'm

still got like another nine days of it so looking forward to it I mean have you met the man himself Hinto Gracie yeah he was dead yesterday wow what was that like you're near the day just spoke to him after one of Danah hard classes. Oh, you've been trading with John Danor as well? Yeah, yeah. What a mind he is, right? Yeah, what a mind, no.

Unbelievable. Like, I rolled with, like, Gary Tonin the other day, you know what I mean? Like, when I first got here, I rolled with Gary the day, but they went now, haven't he? Sure. They're not back till next week,

but still, even without them there, there's the juggia two level, and Hensos is tough of you, I don't know what I mean? It's very high. Do you get the sense that even though you haven't fought in the UFC that people know you in the gym? Yeah.

They recognize you? Americans don't, to be honest. No, no. Americans don't really. You only get love on this show, none of the Americans have jumped on the bandwagon, right? I feel like they're a bit late on this one.

A French fella, got a picture with me in the other day. Okay. And then coming in the building, then two dudes are outside. They always know because they know when the guests are coming. Yeah.

Their belt is then got a picture with them and I'm starting the pitching and stuff like that. That's cool. And do you come here just for Jiu-Jitsu? Are you actually going to do like some boxing? No, I went to the Mendes gym the other day. Oh, nice. Okay.

My mate to him here with Chris, he's my coach. He's one of me, he takes me on pads and stuff. I want to my boxing coach. So I went to Mendez, Jim the other day with him, done something there, and we're going to go to Gleesons and old church gym as well over the next few days. Yeah, church street. Yeah. Wow. Okay, so you're really getting a lay of the land here. You're getting a feel for New York martial arts. Yeah, we've been about the last few days. Like, my car after burning,

and we've done that much walking. Wow. And we're about to get another storm on Wednesday, so I hope you enjoy that. Yeah, some snow. You like that? No. No. No, no.

It was just before I come home, we had snow by ours. Okay. Proper bad snow. And I thought, oh yeah, I'll go to New York. It won't be as bad there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It hasn't snow for days, but where we are in Jersey, there's still big piles of snow that big, where it's just that cold.

Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about back home because there's some interesting news. On Friday, news came out. The UFC is going to Liverpool. This is happening. May 27th. Did you know? Did you have a feeling?

Had you had heard Rome? I know you're here, but you're one of the faces of Liverpool MMA. I spoke to people back home. I spoke to me coaching stuff and you managing that. I heard little things about it, no one I mean. But it was always going to happen, wasn't it? They had to come the arena at some point. And I spoke to someone a few weeks ago

who was saying about Dublin, well Dublin gets, and I'll be honest, I didn't think that they'd just cancel Dublin's events to go to Liverpool. Because it's easier for people to fly into Dublin. and stuff like that, no, I mean, and it's a bigger arena, I think,

but I was, through the day, I was shocked, but I wasn't shocked. The amount of fighters you've got in Libbyel, it's a no brain it down in Liverpool,

even in the North West, no what I mean? Or Manchester and other cities like that, it's not just Liverpool. But on our own, everyone from Liverpool could sell that card out,

no I mean? What has your social media, your phone been like since that? Because I see everyone saying... Twitter's being active. Twitter's just, I just had people constantly tweeting and tweeting and tweeting, tweeting, tweeting me, tweeting fishy, tweeting Molly.

Yeah. I don't know me. And pushing us all the time to get us there to the UFC, don't know what I mean. But see what happens in it. How do you approach this now? You just kind of lay back and see if they come to you. You're not actively trying to, like, what's your mindset as far as this is concerned? Well, I'm on holiday on May 27th.

You're what? I'm on holiday. Oh, okay. I'm in Mexico. So you can't even fight on this card. You're not interested? No. Really?

Not at all. You've just broken the hearts of many, many fans. I'm proper. I'm not that arse, to be fair. Really? About the UFC and Liverpool. I've headlined the show twice, no what I mean?

I've fought on it again the other week. It's great for UK and I'm great for Liverpool. But the show is for Darren, you know what I mean? Darren can have his show. I'm good, me. I'll have my own one in September. This is fascinating.

Your stance towards the UFC is an interesting one to me because it feels like a couple years ago, like even going through some of your old interviews, you were very aggressive like, hey, Connor, I'll kick your ass this, now you had a banner and all this stuff. But now you don't do that anymore. I don't see you being aggressive about the UFC, about Connor, about any of this stuff.

Why did you change your approach? Just the UFC is not to be all and end all, is it? Like, it's not. MMA isn't like a lot of people in the UK call MMA UFC, but it's not. it's mixed martial art it's a sport UFC is just one part of it

just one brand there's multiple brands would you be content if you never fight in the UFC yeah as long as I'm still remember there's a legend okay do you feel like you can be a legend

without fighting in the UFC yeah you can't plenty of them isn't that sure maybe not MMA very few MMA legends have not fought in the UFC right like Fador

obviously comes to mind but proud ones what comes to mind very Sure, but a lot of those guys ended up there. Ben Asking and stuff like that, you'd be okay with it. Yeah? Yeah. I'm just, I get sick of it now, though, people just like, oh, when are you going to UFC, Pad, when are you on UFC?

When are you on? And like, if I wanted to, I could sign for them tomorrow. You think so? Yeah. They need me more than I need them. You feel as, I know so. I don't think so. I know so.

They need me more than I need them. What do you mean by that? Well, I say, they need Paddy de Vadi more than Paddy the Vadi needs the UFC. everything's going well for me as it is no one of me or my MMA everything my personal life's going a lot better than it was

like just everything in general for me is going better I don't need to sign for the UFC can they sell out that card without you? Yeah of course they can't Liverpool we support our own scouses

no one of me and we support our own that card will sell out no matter what obviously but it won't be the same you've seen the cage, what he shows, and I'm on there.

Yeah. And you've seen the one when I wasn't on there, when Fisci beat Alexander Jacobson, and it just wasn't the same. Right. I know what I mean? And that won't be. Do you not like this situation because this is the Darren Till card and you don't want to play second fiddle to Darren Till? I wouldn't play second fiddle to anyone.

I'm a man, darn him, no know what I mean? I know that in his son, but wouldn't play second fiddle to anyone. What is your relationship like with him? Yeah, but if we see each other, we talk to you, know what I mean and one of his old coaches is a Thai coach in our gym

he's a sound I've spoke to him a good few times like I'll always support him I'll be knocked out to whoever he's fighting no one of me but

it's his show it's being put by the FC they want to go on there for that until to beat the main event so leave his show to him not fighting

on someone's undercard mm-hmm who's a bigger draw in Liverpool you or him because you've fought more actively there obviously because

well obviously I'm on the same me I don't mean I'll always say me Okay But I do really think me It's just The amount of different people

Who go to MMA shows When I fight in that arena You have hem parties there And then you have like An 8 year old with his grandma And then you have like a group of 12 to 15 year olds And then you've got like

Lads out on the aisle Where years ago When I used to go to a show It just used to be either big juice heads with loads of tattoos or big overweight people with loads of tattoos. Fellas, they never used to see any women there. But in Liverpool now, it's just like,

it's like the boxing or the football or the soccer. Yes. I just call it. That was nice. That was good. Why do you feel like they have such a great connection with you? I don't know. I'm just, I think it's just because I am one of them.

You know what I mean? Like, I'll never change. I'm just me. I always will be. What you see is what you get. You're never going to get anything different. I mean, this is me. I'm not going to change for no one.

People put personas on. People put ax on. I don't. This is me. This is Paddy Pimler. And that's it. I won't change for anyone. I never will.

I noticed, I don't know if you noticed this, but while he was doing some of the interviews over the weekend, after the news came out, he was saying, this is my shot. I brought the UFC here. I did this. They will remember this. I was wondering if that was like a bit of a subtle shot.

What was it? No, I don't know. You never know. It might have been, but I'll be honest. I think I've done more to get the UFC to Liverpool by selling out cards in that arena. Wow, this is fascinating. So just to be clear, May 27th, you're on holiday.

You're not even available. I'm not fighting. You were not fighting. I am not fighting. Did they even reach out to you about this card? I think they could have already spoke to me, manager. And I don't think no offer got put through. but they've already spoken.

About this one? About this card yet, but I'm in Mexico, me. Living it up, feet up like that. Pinochaladas. I'll be there, me. I won't be fighting in Liverpool. Okay.

I would like to have been there just for Dana and Sean Shelby and not to see me walking around and the amount of people run over to me and ask me for pictures. Yeah. But I'll just be enjoying myself for a cold beverage. Wow. My mind is blown here.

I get what you're saying. I totally get what you're saying. You're not going to play second fiddle. You've been doing the work there. You've been, you know, drawing very well at the Echo Arena. I get it, but I've just kind of blown. Yeah, obviously Darren deserves credit for bringing the UFC to Liverpool. But I've seen a lot a day getting all of credit.

What about me? What about Molly? What about fishy? What are the people, Lee Chadwick? What are the people who have actually been fighting in that arena in front of our home city for the past 18 months? Yeah, no, I mean, it's quite unfair, like, the way he's the only one getting any credit,

but you crack on, don't you? Would you like to see him give you guys credit, or do you not expect that? No, don't expect that, you know what I mean? Because he's being pushing for it himself. Yeah, yeah. He's being trying to get the UFC to come here. He's being pushing for it himself.

He doesn't... I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say, oh, he needs credit as well. It's just something that, like, you'll come out with. I don't expect him to come out and say, I'll give me credit. because I wouldn't. You wouldn't give him credit.

No, I wouldn't come out and say it. Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. It's just something that you don't come out and say. We don't need to. Do you think your teammates will, you know, Molly, Chris, do you think these guys will get a chance? Yeah. Do you think so?

You think they'll get the call? Definitely. They don't feel the same way as you. No. Okay. Have you talked to them about it? I spoke to them before or come away. Like, I'm earning good money.

I'm getting better every fight. I'm bringing mixed martial arts to my home city. I'm letting me team. I'm giving the younger teammates, my amateurs, who like I help coaching and I train with. I'm giving them opportunities to get on these cage warriors undercards. All the pros who are like three or four in our gym, they won't have a good show to fight on if we don't have this cage warriors in the Echorina.

It's amazing. Echorena has never been sold out, right? You came close? Yeah, we came close. when I thought not. Right. Pretty close when I lost. What did you think about him getting signed?

What was your reaction? Obviously, he didn't fight because his opponent fell out the last minute. Anyone can get signed on five days notice. Okay. So you didn't think to yourself, eh, that could have been, you know, obviously you're not taking a five-day notice, you know, debut. I'm better than that. Yeah. I don't have to take a fight on five days notice, me.

Right. You mentioned September. Is that done? Are you returning in September? I think so. Okay. 155? 155.

Any opponent yet? No, not yet. Title fight? You wins this lightweight belt first, then I? Will you get the title fight? Hopefully. Okay. There was talks that I might have to get another win at lightweight first,

but we'll see what happens with the title fight. We'll see you fight too. I think it's going to be shot him back versus someone. Okay. But we'll see who wins, see what happens. And you like September's in six months. Is that too far, or do you like that timeline? Well, I wanted to fight in Sweden.

I wanted to because that's something I want to do. I want to travel a world. I don't just, know what I mean? I want to get about. I want to see different countries and stuff. And I want to go to Sweden and see what it's like there. But when I, on the 28th I fly to Texas. Okay.

Of April or March? Of March, yeah. Okay. And then I'm there till the 4th of April. And then I get back home on the 5th of April. And I'm going to Cyprus. Okay. My mom and dad are getting something done.

So I've got to go there for that. What do you mean getting something done? Getting the wedding version. Oh wow, that's nice. And then I'm going to, I get home on the 16th. So we were talking about fighting in Sweden and like, I get back like 12 days before. So we ended up saying it was better not to fight on then

and just to wait till after. So I get back from there and then I go to Mexico. Right. Any girlfriend's birthday. Okay. Oh, you can't cancel that. That's the trip during May 27? Yeah.

Oh, you can't do that. It's not getting canceled, is it? No, it's not. I have big scratches all down in the face here. We're in Mexico? I mean a corner. Cancun. Nah, not Cancun. Yeah, is it?

Is it Cancun? Is that the... Not where everyone goes on parties, where everyone shows. That is where everyone goes in parties? Not Can't Coon then. Okay. Somewhere else.

Yeah, I can't remember though. So not only have you broken everyone's heart in Liverpool that you're not fighting in this card. Now you tell us that you're a taken man. Two heartbreaks in one fell swoop. Exactly. It's horrible. So, okay, so...

you can't fight in April so you're not going to in April you say you're going to Texas is that for training as well yeah it's saying in us well we're in Texas

there's a next generation in Texas Chris Brennan's Jim oh yeah yeah yeah yeah that's right it's the 20th anniversary so there's a few people coming over from the next gen in England

okay me and me and Mike Chris are going there for me yeah so wow this is amazing you're getting a real taste of America yeah New York Texas these are pillars of this country

these are going to have a look at L.A. as well don't I at some point where's that oh L.A yeah Right. Wait, are you going to be here? No, you're not going to be here. No, I'm not going to be here. That's too bad. I looked at the day to see it on a bin the other day.

I've been, looked down the door to my ear. I'm just like, oh, I don't know. What a scene that would have been? Even worse, though. Someone's got on me with tickets for Liverpool versus Man City. Okay. We're playing them in the Champions League. Yep, that's right.

And I go to Cyprus two days before. They were offering you free tickets? Yeah. Wow. I feel like being sick now. thinking about it, missing the second leg of the Champions League

Oh, that's the second? The second leg, yeah, at City, be a way of the game. So, you know, so I mentioned on Twitter that May 25th is Bellator 200 in London,

May 26 is the Champions League final, and then May 27, and I said, you know, this could be a great time for England, maybe Liverpool plays in the final. That's what of me I was going to say. Everyone was giving me crap, though.

No. You were laughing at me. Liverpool's going to make it to the final. You kidding? They're going to get bounced by a man city. Well, me and a few of me, mate said to the other week let's go and put a bet on Liverpool to win the Champions League. Wow. And we

should have me, Carney, ship a few other people Jack. We all said we were going to do it. And then everyone else shit themselves apart from me and Carney, we were pushing for it. And everyone else shit themselves. And it never got done. And the odds went down from like 30 to 1, now to like 7 to 1. Really? And I still think Liverpool are going to

win the Champions League. Wow. There's 8 left, right? Yeah, 18 left. You know what's fascinating? Molly was on the program you've seen that you put son up in your nil, saying so. Listen to this. Everton followed me on Twitter.

The Everton followed me on Twitter and DM'd me and said, we saw your interview with Molly and we are so proud to have you as a supporter. They love it. And not only that, get this. Look at this, I'll show you. I should have had it up for it. No, what it is, they're so proud to have you to have a supporter because they're that bad. No one even knows who they are.

They made me a custom kid. I don't know if you guys could see it right over here, but they made me a number eight Halwani kid. How about that? Liverpool's not doing that for me. Liverpool's got that many people messaging them and ringing them

and going there, no what I mean? Liverpool FC's too chocker. The people. They like to call themselves the People's Club. Yes. Only thick people support Evan.

I have to say, now I'm a fan for life. They've got to be there. They've made it at a top, haven't you? They bought my heart. Look at this thing. Number eight, Helwani. I mean, this is beautiful.

The blue is fantastic. I like the color blue like, but... Wow. Isn't that a bad thing for a red to say? To even admit that? Nah, like the color blue. Can't go wrong with the color blue. Everyone's got blue jeans, haven't he?

Can't wear a bit of red jeans. That's true. I saw Stephen Gerard give Darren Till a shout-out. Did you see that on Instagram? What did you think of that? I've seen a few boxers giving him a shout-out. Tony Bellu, right? Billy Joe Sean.

That's right, I saw him too, yeah. Is there a part of you that saying, where's my shout-out? Where's my shout-out? You're thinking of that in the back of red, don't you? I'm not going to start causing no scene on social media. They're boxes where I'm not. But Stephen Gerrard's a legend. Yeah, Stephen Gerrard's a legend.

My mate who's here with me, like, when you're in Europe, you can just turn around to people and go, and when they say, where are you from? You can just turn around and go, Stephen Gerard, and they go, oh, Liverpool. Really?

Yeah. He tried to turn around and say it to Americans, and everyone's just looking at them like that. Yeah. Stephen Gerard, what? And I'm like, the Beatles. Yeah, the Beatles. And they understand what I?

I mean then. That's right. And he's like, Stephen Gerard. I'm like, lad, they're not for a item.

You know what I mean? Yeah, they don't get it. I mean, Wayne Rooney now is with Everton. Yeah. Right?

He was with Manu. Yeah, he was at Everton originally and then swayed Everton because of how bad they are. Wow. I went to win trophies. And then he came back.

And then went back to Everton just for the payday. That's right. That's what he's up to now. He's got his trophies. He just wants his payday, no. Are there any, like,

you know, there's probably a lot of things that you can see as far as the Beatles are concerned in Liverpool, right? Is there any like famous place where they used to record or live? Yeah, there's a few in town and then there's like obviously

the zebra cross and where they walk across loads of people get pictures there. Loads of people get pictures there. You probably don't frequent there, right? No, no. The cabin club in town is. That's where loads of people

who like tour is coming. Okay. Go in and going there because it's got all sign, stuff in there and stuff like that. Did you have, like your family is not into March martial arts, like your bat, your history?

No, no. Who introduced you to martial arts? Um, the telly. Really? The television. Yeah. What, like UFC or something, some localish?

Well, when I was younger, I was watching, like, film, stupid films, like, Beverly Hills, Ninja and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, I was explaining this Sunday the day. When I was 15, I just watched the UFC once. I wanted me to try to get me into it. It was, it was it?

Might have been Wanderley versus Rich Franklin. When I decided to get me into it with that. And then I had a little awkward, and then I ended up staying up and watching Belfort's first fight back, UFC 103, Belford versus Franklin. Rich Franklin, yep. Dallas, Texas. Yeah. He knocked them out.

And I think it was about quarter past five, UK time. I put my hoodie in that on and went for a run. Wow. I don't know why. How old were you? 15. Okay. Just saying, I don't know why I done it.

But I went on a run. Went to gym the next Monday morning. on the rest history. Which gym? Next gym. Oh, so you just walked in? Yeah. And why did you pick that one?

Just, I didn't even know anyone that went there. It was just the best local one, I mean? Like, there was other gyms as well, but... Like, I could have went to Carbam. Carbone was quite closer, but even more so... I don't know what it's like now, obviously, but even more so at the time, it was very clique, you know what I mean? Like, you had to be in with them to be in there.

Like, next gym went. like that. Wow. And it was cool. What happened when you walked in? What did you do? I done a kid.

The kids class then jiu-jitsu and then Thai. In the same day? Yeah. Okay. All like an hour. And I'll never forget

it. One of the, he was a pro fighter at the time. It was him and Fischie were teaching the class Danny Sweeney. I had someone

on a guillotine but it was someone who'd like he'd been coming in the class for a while the kids class. And I'll never forget he was looking at

at like, first ever class just pulled the guillotine on. He's looking at me like, if you done anything before I'm like nah you know just try to wrap this up

do you tap him um no that first ever time he popped his head out but he never tapped me wow that is unbelievable and did you know right then and there like hey this is something I want to do yeah I just got like straight away

as soon as I done it I just got into it I mean what kind of a kid were you at school it was small small yeah do you get picked on um wouldn't say I got bullied but in our school it was an old boy's school.

Everyone give each other stick, no what I mean? I swear, everyone got it. On any given day, anyone got it, or boy's school,

people used to get tetted. Swear. Were you the one giving it out as well? Now and then, but like, I was about this big when I was in school.

Wow. Tarny, dead small, yeah, dead skinny. I think when I first went to gym, I was like 48 kilo. Wow.

Something like that, no what I mean? I'm like double that now. Did you graduate? Did you finish school? I finished, well, saying that, you just do it differently, don't you? I finished when I was 16. Okay.

And then I went to go to college, but he messed all my time table up, and it was hard work. College, I ended up going to college whilst training at the same time. But my mum and dad were pushing me to go to college because they didn't know how much MMA had come for me in a few years. But I ended up having an argument with my mum over missing college, the week before me pro, the week before I for a call rugby

and the week before me pro debut because of college, I got kicked out my house I had to go and stay in someone else's house for the week. By your mom? Yeah. She kicked you out?

Is that mad at you? Yeah. Why? Because you didn't want to go back to college? No way. I've ended up arguing with it over going to college and then I've said

something I shouldn't have said. What'd you say? Can't you remember? I'd swear at her and you can't swear at your ma. Yeah, no, you can't do that. Especially in the poor to get a beat down. Really?

But she actually beat you down? It was on the phone, no, And then my dad rang me and I was like that. He said you're out. Yeah, just got sold, you know, on an arse. And then my dad was at my fight out a week later. So it was all right after I done. Okay, they let you come back?

Yeah. Okay, wow. Why did you decide to be coming in it? Like, what was the moment where you said, I'm going to actually pursue this prize fighting, pro-MMA? Well, no, what I was saying, him for over a year when I hadn't fought. And like I thought that my coach you still,

my coach now, Paul, I thought he weren't going to get me a fight, but what it was, I just weren't ready at the time. I was only a kid, no what I mean? Yeah. So, like, he just, I was thinking, oh, it might even end up moving gym here, but then, like, 15 months down the line, one of the lads in the gym pulled out of a fight on a week's notice,

and he just said, do you want to do this fight. I was like, yeah, defo, 100% to give me that fight, and it was mad because I got kicked out of my school the day that I took that fight Why did you get kicked out? Just accumulation of stuff over the years Like I used to sell sweets And then in school

I used to sell chocolate and crisp And um On the side just to make some extra money Yeah to make some dough And then that'll pay for my gym Stuff like that And then like I would I'd give sheikh to some teachers

And that But what I ended up getting kicked out for Someone kicked a football And a soccer ball On the yard And I just kicked it And then someone else kicked it As well, Jay kicked it

And both of us just got given extended study leave. Wow. For that? For that? What kind of a school was this? Is it very strict? Very strict.

Very strict. Wow. And then you said, okay, I'm done with this? Yeah. No, that was before college. I ended up going to college after that. Yeah, I still passed all my exams in high school. And then went on to college and then that all just, I made up it all went to

for full now, though, because everything's ended up the way it has. Right. But was there a moment where you said I actually wanted. want to pursue this? That was probably the first day I went in the gym to be fair. Really? I'll never forget that first day when I said it on the kids' class and that. I'll never forget getting the gloves out the corner and obviously in the gym

the gloves stink. The ones in the corner didn't have me own and I can never get them. Like that. And I partnered with this bird, Millier name us. And she used to like half go mad on people. And it was my first ever session. I was only small.

I'll never forget it to your proper spinning back fist of me rad in the kite. But I'm like it. I'll never forget it. Paul was stood on the side of two other coaches and then she's hit me, the friends, ooh, all three of them like, and she went, ooh, don't worry,

a few months later I got her in there and beat her up. How old was she? She was about a 20s on, like, Wow, did you get knocked down? No, didn't get knocked down. Messing on you. Yeah, yeah.

And so you do this, your friends follow suit or were you the only one who did this? Well, what if you tried to, a few, like, when to come and then, like, give them the judo. a few of them stuck out of for a few months like Wade and Dale stuck out for a few,

and Sam, stuck out for a few months but then like a few others come now and then but I've got one mate who lives like lives far doors away from me Chris, Chris Walsh, he's a brown belt as well now

because it started coming after me and then like he's just he's in the gym every day now as well he's a brown belt as well he teaches private, teaches classes when you stepped in there for the first time your first fight were you freaking out?

No. You loved it. That's where you remember. meant to be. People have always asked me this like, I would out on your first and then. I was like, nah, you know, I was sad. Wow. How much you get paid for that first fight? If anything. Nothing? Nothing. Just tick a deal.

Just think it was five pound on each ticket. Wow. How old were you? 16. 16. And how old was your opponent? 24. 24. And you beat him, how? Decision. Man. So you went 15 minutes. Well, three threes it is. Okay, yeah. Oh, amateur. Right, right. What about pro? How old are you?

was 17. 17. Gosh. How was this your opponent? Do you remember? He was a journeyman like my first

he was, he was 20, something. Nathan Thompson, his name is he could probably get his record up. He's had about

60 fights or something. Okay. When I fourth him, he'd had about 40. We call him chicken and our gym because he fought someone out of our gym

and nearly caught him in like a chicken chokehold, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. And he ended up getting out and tapping him, and all I mean.

So, wow. We always called him chicken. we spoke about last year and losing the title and everything that happened but I heard you say recently that last year was the worst year of your life was it because of the loss or was it other things as well

I was other things as well I mean what happened not being able to fight at the end of the year killed me killed me though like even just walking

when I was in the echo arena it's just like when Molly won and fishy one I was just looking around like I should be fighting here why didn't you fight I couldn't the doctor's told me

I couldn't so what I mean I wish I could have even with the trouble I still would have be to add out sick but it's one of them

now in it in the past there's nothing we can do but like last year as well I just like couldn't be assed with nothing I mean

I didn't want to do anything I just wanted to go and be a kid I wanted to go and be an 18 year old I mean and it took 2017 for make me to

realize you know what I mean wake up and smell the coffee so it was a bit of because maybe you felt like you you didn't get that time as a teenager later on. So you wanted to, were you like, I think that is what is. Like I said,

the way I was like 16, 17, the first got into it. And it was from like 15, it's all of it done every day, constantly, train, train, train. And then like you say, I think it's just, I was getting sick of it, MMA. Because in 2016 as well, we was talking about today. It was fight after fight after fight after fight. Ford in April, late April, then June or July, then September and then November. Wow. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Like that's another thing with that UFC. Like it's like six weeks away, isn't it? Something like that, seven weeks, ten weeks away. Yeah. Like, I took a fight, I took that a Rosa fight on like five weeks notice, and that was one of the worst mistakes ever. Is that the one that you spit up blood? Yeah.

No, it wasn't blood. Was it not blood? I was eating for Eiro Roshay before the fight, and I had a hot chocolate. And that's what that was. Really? Yeah. You ate that in the locker room? Not in the locker room in the hotel before we left.

Wow. Four hours before or something. Have you ever... That's what I mean. I was just... You were spent? Yeah, it was just doing anything I wanted. When I wanted, I went...

Gotcha, okay. I don't I mean, I was... Just being a kid. I weren't switched on, like I am now. I weren't doing this like a proper fight I does. I don't I mean. I was relying on my talent. I said it before,

but I was relying on. my talent to get by. And I think that they had a rose of fights, my talent and my heart when we had fight alone because obviously the first three rounds I won them, but then my heart caught me through the last two rounds.

Have you ever thrown up as a result of a fight? Prior to that? No. No. Them weight cuts to disgust them. Horrible, right? Yeah, I also heard you say like that, like when you fought Nod

and not to make an excuse, but those wake cuts killed you, right? Like you weren't the same human being. Both of them fights? Yeah. I think even if I were on a four Frasie, if it would have went to the second third four, just would have seen the same.

Because I cut like seven or eight kilo overnight. That's disgusting. I always thought that it didn't make much of a difference, but I felt so fresh going into the cage other week. Right. I mean, I felt great. Why would you ever consider $1.45 again? To get my belt back.

Really? Does it really mean that much? $155 belt. Isn't it kind of the same? It's just a belt, right? Why put your body through that? Because I want one yet and I want one one yet I want to have one there

and then I've one there. That's gone now anyway. There's no one. Does that bother you that you won't get to rematch him right now? Nah, I needed that in my career. That saved your career. I needed to lose. Yeah?

I needed that doesn't matter who it was against. Could have been Nad. It could have been anyone. No one of mean, but I needed to lose a fight. How long did it take for you to realize that? A few months later Really? As I stayed away

Like When I lost that belt I just went home and cried I was sick all over myself After that fight in the back You were? Yeah Sick everywhere

Threw up? Threw up everywhere Wow Because of the weight cut you think Or something else? Yeah That had something to do with it like Definitely

I think I had a bit of food poisoning And had fight as well But can't make excuses No one mean He beat me third and square And you went home and cried Yeah Or how long?

How long were you like feeling down in the dumps? That two weeks. Really? Did you do anything? I was just like, say I'd go to gym and I'd be in the car. We made it just like, he'd go to the gym and I'd jump out and like walk to a shop but my mate works in and walking to the shop from the gym.

I'd just start crying. Wow. How long did it take for you to snap out of that? A few weeks, like, three weeks. Wow. And then so you said, but months later you realized that this was actually a good thing. The best thing that ever happened to me. What made you realize that?

How did you come to that months later? I don't know, like Paul said it to me when I thought of Rosa. He was like, you've learned a lesson there without losing, but I never learned a lesson. I thought I'd learned a lesson, but I never put them tools into practice. I mean, where we discussed it. And I was like, yeah, I learned a lesson from that. That fight can't won't happen again like that.

But it did when I thought not. I'd just come back in the gym like eight nine weeks before and we were just focusing on losing weight. I had to start them fight camps when I fought arose in. I had like six weeks out I was like 87 kilo I was fighting at 66

Wow Other than changing weight classes though What did you do differently For this last camp? Just done it properly I don't know what I mean I didn't It wasn't like a camp

It wasn't like just six weeks Because I was in the gym Toward the end of last year every day No what I mean I was constantly in the gym Like when I fought a rose Erosette and Frachie and stuff like that I was

with the Grimshaw fight I was in all the time to the Grimshaw fight and then I thought Teddy Violer I took two or three weeks off and then come stay back into camp beat him he was discussing about the arena show and then I said

we were saying yeah it's going to happen so I'm fighting again so soon yet September because it was the arena I said yesterday to way and then that was just a fight camp basically and then I think it was like seven weeks later after that I end up fighting a Rosa because I ended up fighting the same minds as

me where I mean McGregor versus Alvarez didn't I and like that was like seven weeks later and we only got the call saying I had an opponent four weeks before wow I'll never forget it I was out on a night out when I got the phone call bladded proper drunk pulled my phone out some end shit quite a fight wow did you consider saying no no no you don't say in down fights. You don't. You know what shocks me? We talk about the UFC

everyone wants to see you in the UFC. I'm shocked that Belator doesn't try to sign you. No. They go to the UK all the time. They're going there for Belator 200. You're the exact kind of guy that they need. Has a fan base, loyal following in the UK.

Have they tried to reach out to your manager? I don't think so. I just think loads of these matchmakers and they're just stupid. Do you think they don't even know? Eleanor and UFC matchmakers and that they just don't know they only look at what's directly in front of them

don't think of anything else They don't scout No Wow Like the main thing that makes me want to sign for the UFC is to build a proper legacy And to Just the amount of people

What say to me every day now When you're saying for the UFC lad When you're on UFC You need to go to UFC though don't you know You need to go to UFC though don't you know No but don't Does it get annoying Yeah, I don't know what I mean?

Like, I have both ends of things. Like, Nad beat me on all. I had loads of messages I had was, no point you even go in the UFC, your shit. And anyone will beat you in UFC, your shit, no what I mean, all that? And then a winner fight. And then it's just, when are you going to UFC then, lad,

when you go to UFC? Okay, Jory's isn't good enough for you. You need to go to UFC. How, isn't it? Why, isn't it? Right. Don't fancy being a small fish in a big pond. Right.

You'd rather be the big dog. Mm-hmm. And, well, along those lines, would something like Bellator interest you because you could be a bigger dog? See what money do you come on with? Yeah, you're not just going to go fight. You're a prize fighter.

You want to make money. I want to make money. I want to be able to live a good life and buy a house and have kids, know what I mean? And be able to support them. So I might as well earn as much money as I can now at this young age.

And then in years to come, I can be even more about my legacy. are you a big spender like we've seen countless you know fighters and you're smiling i'm the opposite you're the opposite okay i get called a dorange and a minge bag by people oh really okay i like to save my money i do my best to you don't think that'll change the price is here going in the shop and getting charged three dollars for a drinking match yeah it's crazy messing you lad yeah five hundred a milliliters of water you don't think even if you become like some big star you're not gonna, you know, I wouldn't be

walking around with all stupid givinci jumpers on and that's not your style. Lobs on. No, I'm not a divvy. A what? A divvy. What does that mean? Any idea. Okay. All right. Yeah. What a great, what a great lingo that you guys have. Yeah.

There's nothing better than texting with you on WhatsApp. It's like I'm texting with someone from a different planet. I try to decipher what you're saying. We are basically from a different planet. It's unbelievable. How did this happen? Is this like something Why you guys in particular Are completely different than everyone else?

Because we're not English, are we? You're not? No, we're not English, we're a scouse. I feel like I've asked you this before What is scouse? Scouse someone from Liverpool. Yeah, I know, but what does it mean? I don't know.

You don't even know. A scouser? Yeah, I know, but where does that word come from? I don't know, to be honest. I'd be honest, I'd really don't know. You never even looked it up. No. Really?

I don't need to look stuff like that up. We'd know. school, nothing? No, they don't teach stuff like that in school by ours. No. You prefer scouser, do you prefer

liver puddlian, right? Not Pudlian. I don't know. I don't mind me. As long as they don't get called, what is it? Great British.

You don't like that? What is Great Britain all about? It's mad. You see UK, Great Britain. It's all different countries. Right. And they all ate each other. They do.

England, Ireland, Scotland, Scotland, Wales. All hate each other. Although Ireland isn't a part of the UK. Northern Ireland. Yeah, half it isn't a part of the UK and half it is. That's right. When you go there, you've got to get euros, hard work.

And you have pounds? Yeah, we have pounds. Are you excited about the royal wedding? I couldn't care less about the royal wedding. How do you feel about the monarchy? Do you like this? No. No.

Brexit? That was the stupidest thing ever, Brexit. Is it happening? I think it is happening. My dad said to me before it happened. This is the stupidest thing ever. It'll never happen. And we were both sat in there and disbelief the next morning.

looking at say like, does that say 51% saying leave? It just made everything go everything's harder.

Like, even the exchange rates and stuff now to get dollars and euros, just like changing them to the same thing. I mean.

It reminds me of when Donald Trump was nominated as president here. People were like, that's not happening and then it happened. I know.

Crazy. Like when people said Mayweather versus McGregor we was like, that's not happening, that's not happening, and it happened.

And now they're talking about Mayweather McGregor and MMA. Never happening. Never? No. You don't think that's happening? Can it?

Because obviously we all know Floyd will get school. Sure, yeah. And he's never going to let anyone see him get schooled. Right. I know that you've talked about him, but like, do you have respect? By the way, what's up with your shirt? I just noticed it. You have an X on the Sun.

Yeah, the Sun's at him. The Truth was provided, shun the Sun, they printed lies. That's a paper. Yeah, I know the Sun, of course. What is this referring to? The gang of rats. That's what I'm fairing to. They made lies off about...

Rag, right? That's what they're called, is that I called the rag? They are a rag. What did they lie about? There was a disaster in England years ago. Hillsborough? Hillsborough. Yeah.

And they lied. They said it was Liverpool fans who'd done it. They said it was Liverpool fans causing stuff to, like, pushing things down. Not to make it happen when it wasn't. It was the police's fault for letting too many people in. Yeah, and then they got... They got crushed, yeah, against the thing. And they tried it, like the sun, put all...

terrible stories up saying that Liverpool fans were leaving other Liverpool fans who were injured and mugging them and taking watches off the wrist and stuff like that when it wasn't the case. Wow. They were all trying to help each other. Why would they do that? Because it's a piece of shit paper. That's why. Wow. But what would be their motive to make you guys look bad?

I don't know. It was years ago now, like, but still. Was it 88? Yeah. Horrible. Were you born in 88? No. No.

I mean, I wasn't even born. You've talked about it on this show. You've mentioned it in post-fight interviews. Yeah. This is obviously... That's like when I sang that song, Justice for the 96. They are the 96. They died, no what I mean?

And people just forgot about them and listened to the sun. And we got stereotyped. I don't what I mean? Like we always do. Scouses get stereotyped. It's just one of them. Has the son apologized for this? No, what?

They might not have. But they might have. They were being the actual chief of police who was all estate and everything. He went to court not that long ago. Okay. So something could happen, but man,

they're like 80 something now. They're not going to throw an ex-police officer in jail. Why it takes so long for them to... It's what I mean. It took so long. It's older than me. It happened before I was born. Sure, sure.

I mean. Do they sell the son in Liverpool? No. That's what I mean. This, they have states. because everywhere don't buy the sun all shops have retail shops have a sign on the door saying

we don't sell the sun Wow and where do you get this shirt? One of the people who does the actual like group and stuff come and see me in the gym and I got pictures with it on and then I should put it on today I was in Carragher's Bar on Saturday know what that is

It's a bar? Yeah it's a bar but Carragher play for Liverpool Oh no I didn't know that? Yeah he has a bar here? I don't think it's actually his but it's called Carragers Bar yet on Hattie 9th Street. Okay. Is it a Liverpool bar?

Yeah. Oh, so? You're in there. They were in there today and the ad. You'll never walk a lower on that. Wow. People go with nuts.

But when you walk in there, you have, don't buy the sun and shun the sun things on there, you know what I mean? Wow. It was nice to see when I walked in on Saturday. What if I'm a reporter for the son, I want to do an interview on you?

Will you talk to me? No. It gets old to eat shit. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Gets old now.

You will never, you will never talk. Never. or the news of the world or anything like that. Why news of the world? Was they owned by the same people? Oh, they are, okay. I feel like you're very socially conscious.

Like for a young man, even the shirt that you wore last time about the child. Yeah. How's that going, by the way? Still got to go back to court and stuff and try and get it sorted. But they've been to court a few times. It's not to say that he's unresponsive, but I've went and seen him myself. No what I mean? He squeezed my hand.

He's not unresponsive. Not unresponsive at all. he blinks and stuff he looks up and they're saying that he's unresponsive so they're going to turn his machine off and it's heart breaking, no what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I was to see him the other week

with his dad and I was crying my eyes out in there it was horrible to see but I just can't believe that there's someone that I'd want to turn a child's life support machine off. Yeah. I just don't understand where the brain comes from.

You want to save people's lives you don't want to render. You're 23, right? Yeah. It's rare to see someone. someone this young who receives this kind of attention and fame be this outspoken about things that don't pertain to you. You know what I mean? Like a lot of people are sort of like self-promoters and I get that. That's the game that we're kind of living in here. But have you always been this

way? Because I notice, I mean, I remember when you sang the song, this shirt, the other shirt from your last fight about Alfie, have you always been this way? Or do you feel an obligation given the platform that you're on to speak up about these things? Yeah, well, that partly, you don't know what I mean? Now that I've got the social media follow. and like you were saying, singing that after the fact I was on telly, you know what I mean? Stuff like that. It's easier for me to get a reach out there now at that,

no what I mean, I can tell more people about it because of my social media because of what I do. But just in general, I just think, what's the point in being horrible to someone? Right, right, right. But to speak out is one thing. It's one thing to believe about these things. The other thing, to kind of put your neck out

and speak out about things that may be controversial or whatever. I'll do anything for people from my city, I'll do anything. For my city, for people from my city, know what I mean? I really will. If someone needs help, someone needs something doing, I'll be there for them. If I can help in any way, shape, or form,

I'll be there to help. Do you get a lot of people reach out to you for help now that you become famous? Yeah, I get people asking me to, like, post the family story and stuff like that, and stuff on I mean, and put stuff on Twitter and that. I've read tweetings now and then. Does it get tiresome? No, it doesn't get tiresome. helping someone get tiresome

As long as it helping someone It's worth it I mean That's why they all want to see you fight On May 27 Yeah But Sorry to break it two years

I won't be there I won't even be there To get a picture with you either I'll be in Mexico On a beach With me feet up Will you even watch it? Depends what time

I'm saying that what time I'll be on It'll be on in the afternoon in Mexico because of the time difference. If it's on in the afternoon, yeah? Yeah. Shit in there watching it like that. If you drink peanut caladas. It's amazing.

I feel like you have sort of like a weird relationship towards this idea. Like you don't really want anything. You kind of want it to pass. You want nothing to do with it. No, yeah, I just wanted to go past. I don't know what I mean? The amount of times I've been asked over the years about the UFC. Yeah.

Like, it's got even worse now that they've announced a card in Liverpool. Oh man Like the amount of messages I've got on that But I can't be honest I thought I was ready to go to the UFC When I was like 19, 20 But everything much happened Over the past year or two

It's made me realize You know what I mean There's a lot that I need to work on I know I could go on the UFC now And I reckon if I went to the UFC They'd just throw a few people at me I'd get a run like McGreg ago Mm-hmm

They'd give me people that they know I could beat You know what I mean And they'd get me in the rank and it's sharpish and now after two fights I'd be in the top 20. You don't want that? No. You want the hard road? I want two belts.

Okay, you want that first? I won't. Like McGregorhead. I've said it before. I've said it in the past. I said it when I had the featherweight belt. I want the lightweight belt. But I'm not just, I don't just want to skip on something I said I was going to do.

I mean? I said I was going to do that. And I'm not going to just leave Cage Warriors and not do it. So you will not go to the UFC until you. you get those two belts. Yeah. Have you ever met Connor? Once, years ago.

This was before he was a megastar. I met him a cage warrior when I fought that night and I went four and no that night. And he just won both belts. It was about six years, five or six years ago.

Was that the New Year's Eve card? No, no, this was a card. He wasn't on the card. No, he wasn't on the card. Yeah, he was just there. He was cornered and someone with John Cavana. Yeah. I can't even remember his name now

he was cornered. But he ended up being in the bar after the night. It was the same night, Weidman knocked Anderson Silver Oaks. Oh wow, okay. That's what night it was. Yep, yep.

Because I'll never forget it. We were sitting there watching it, me, Danny Roberts, hot chocolate. Yeah, yeah. Adam Ventry. And I think there was like Ian D in the cage where he was matchmaker in there. And then just John Kavanaugh and McGregor.

And I was half falling asleep because I'd fought on that. Sure. And I'll never forget it when he got beat. Connor jumped up and was like Ah what the fuck man What the fuck

And then like Walked over to a door And just kicked the door I was like He's great him Turned to Adam And was like Cause I'll be honest

I don't know All my UK-May Stuff I know it a lot more now But my mate Adam He knows everything About MMA you know what I mean He was like

That's McGregard And that blah blah I didn't even know He was at the time Wow You respect him What he's done What he's accomplished

Got to respect him Yeah I mean Never didn't respect him Right But I've seen pictures of you holding the sign saying like, but Gregor, you're next and stuff like that. You know, that you went to, I think, a soccer match with this.

Yeah, I didn't go to that soccer match. Someone took that banner. Oh, okay. I didn't take that banner with me. That was when Liverpool got to the Open League final. Someone took that banner with them. Okay. And then I've seen it, and I put it up.

Okay, okay. But that one as well, there's a bet. Isn't there the Paddy Power one? People think I put that bet on myself. Okay. I never. I never put 10 grand on myself to beat my guy. by 2020, they just said,

if you do beat me, a guy guy, about 20, 20, we'll give you 10 grand. Wow. Someone put 10 grand on this? No, no one puts what I mean. Oh, but they put... Paddy Power just give me that big

bet and slip. Oh, really? Wow. Yeah. They pay you for that? No, they didn't pay me for that at the time. Jeez. That's free advertising.

It is. You're not wrong. Yeah. I know all this now. I'm switched on to all this now. You have good sponsors? Yeah, got some good sponsors. So life is good.

You don't need a 27th of the minute. Life is good. Don't need to. 27 for me. I don't need to fight on that. I'll fight on my card on September. Will you be main event? I'm fighting for the title then yeah. Okay. And I get more money. Right. Last time they put you, you get more money what? If your main event or in cage warriors? In cage warriors? You think so? Yeah. You don't get the introductory like 10 and 10 contract. You don't have to get that of course. That's all that they probably would give me that though.

You think so? Given your stature though? They don't give a flying foo. They'll do the at the UFC. Right. They run this sport, as a lot of people think. Wow. This is fascinating. We already talked about your thoughts on the Reebok uniform. Yeah, that's daft. Yeah.

Very daft. Daft? Daft? Yeah. No good. No, stupid. Okay. But you said then, no about main card.

I asked for that. You wanted to be opening fight? Why? I wanted to be first. Why? Because I ate it when your main event or co-main events. It happened to me, both of my last two fights. when I fought Nad

Tim Wilde fought before me and it went to decision and when I fought to Rosa Fisie fought Nick Hearnham Webb and that went to decision and I was just stood there for 25 minutes or 15 minutes and I got cold

and I was just like I don't know what I mean like you're trying to do a little bit to keep warm but you can't so I said I don't want to stand in that back area getting cold I'm going to stay in my changes until my opponent walks out and then I'll walk out

so I wanted to be first on the main card someone knew what's on. You know exactly because it has to start at a certain time. Exactly what time you're fighting. Man. It worked out. Flying triangle.

How many times do you watch that? I don't know. I've seen a few times on my Instagram. Like I haven't, I've only watched the fight back, the full fight once. That's it? Yeah.

Austin, can you put that up for a sec? I just want to see. I just want to, I want to watch you. There it is. In back of you here. I want to watch you, put it on the big screen for the people, but I want to watch you watch this. Here it is.

Oh, he's kind of got it a little late. Look at me mate there, Ellis. Get under his leg! Get under his leg! Look at this. I know what it is, though. I knew the triangle was on and it's even more so

when he started giving me his arm. Can you put it from the beginning? Keep it from the beginning? You know that the chokes on when they give you their arm. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, because they're... And then there's all the lads there going nuts. These are your friends?

Yeah. You know these guys? Yeah. You found them. He's at all my mates, yeah? Jack, Sam, Danny. there's Paddy the Have you ever been happier than right here?

Um That's a great feeling after what happened in April, right? Yeah, great feeling. Look at that. Not unbeat sitting on that cage with them arms folded me. What are you saying by doing that? I'm the boy.

Here it is, here it is. Boom. No what, though? Like I was saying, when you get this on here, when you get the arm across and you've got that locked up, that looks like that around there. Here, I knew that was on.

I knew that was on. over and I knew he gave me his arm he didn't want to go asleep and he didn't want to tattered the choke so he gave me his arm. Okay. Funny as well in a group chat like two weeks before it we made a party

in the group chat we was talking about the fight and I was like lad no what I've caught two flying triangles this morning I've been doing flying triangles again lad watch better I catch that and then like as soon as I come out after I'd fourth and then he was like, glad you said you were going to fly

in sight angle. And I did have said it like two or three weeks before I couldn't believe it after it. Great that, you know. Amazing. Brilliant. So there it is. Welcome back.

And everyone thinks it's my second of my career. It's not. It's my third. Okay. I got one when I went to two and a flying triangle. Is it not listed? I don't know.

But my second fight I won by flying triangle. Okay. So I've got three flying triangles now, pro. It's one of the first. the great finishes, although I was sort of nitpicking, like, should it be called the Flying Triangle because it seems like you really

locked it in once you were on the ground? Is that unfair? I don't know. I'm not going to tell you. I'm good with whatever me. That's fine. Flying triangle, Jumping Triangle, whatever you want to call it. When did you introduce that song? When was your first time having the song? When I won't buy Flying Triangle. Oh, really? Okay. When it'll be Conradiz.

God, I love that song. The first Echo Oreno, the first Echoirino show I fought on because I lost and then I fought in Ireland and went five and one against Martin Sheridan and I'd come out like before that I'd always come out to rap I've come out to like Shug Ones and go to sleep and that by M&M stuff like that

but then because I lost I was like I changed my music, you know what I mean and I changed it to like dance tunes and then that time I just picked that one and like years ago when we was younger all the lads that you see on that video then that was like one of our favorite tunes it's great I mean so when you lost did you think about changing it again yeah but what happened it's me tune yeah it is your tune

it's me tune yeah you're gonna add a little bit a little bit of another song in it's from alan fifth patrick a song called we do what we want which would have been perfect for the time what about you'll never walk alone I've taught that as well in the past but it's a bit too slow and cheesy yeah okay stick with this one yeah stick with this one I'm not I'm not I don't like all the cheesy year. Yeah. Phil Collins, is that what you're referring to? No, okay.

We'll leave it at that. This has been so much fun. Thank you for doing this, man. You're welcome. Anytime, you know that. It's been sound. Been sound. Bella, it's been sound.

Ludd, it's been sound. I really appreciate you doing this. How much longer are you here for? 28th is it? Okay, well, if you need anything, you can come back next week if you want. This is your home. If you want me back on.

You got some, like, some memorabilia for us, a toy, is there a paddy toy? I know what I have got there. What do you got? I got a paddy the baddies, she shirt. Oh, that'd be nice. I've got one there, a blue one. Oh, that'd be sweet. What size, I'm? X-L. Can you believe it? I'm big. Well, I've got a black XL and a blue large on me. I like the... Well, not on me right now, obviously, but I've got them in the room. Oh, here in New York. Yeah, in New York. Wow, okay. Well, no pressure, but it would be nice to have something, you know. I don't have to bring one down, I think a paddy toy would be great with the hair, the bobblehead, you know?

One of these guys? One of the main things about me wanting to get in the UFC. Just to have a toy. I want to be myself on the game. I know. That would be cool. I mean, I want to just be me on the game.

That would be great. I've made, obviously, a career mode than that on the new one. You made yourself? Do you haven't got the hairdo area? They haven't got the hairstyle? The closest thing to this is cornrows and it just doesn't cut it.

It just doesn't work, no. Just doesn't work. So you got UFC 3, tried to make yourself, but then sort of gave up because they don't have your hair. Yeah, just went back to FIFA. Yeah. Started playing FIFA again with Lipfield.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, well, hopefully you get in the... Well, I don't know about hopefully. You don't need the O.C. You just said it yourself. But if you do get in the... In time, in time I will get in the UFC. Because, like we said, it's about building a legacy.

It's about being a legend in this sport. And there's not many that haven't been in the UFC is there. There's not many legends, like we were saying before. There's only, like, Fado. That's about it. And then all the other legends, what did end up coming, the UFC, started getting beat. Right.

but I'm 23 years of age all these other people in the 30s I'm in no rush there's no point well keep doing your thing very few fighters in the sport become stars

without the help of the UFC and you have done that so you're obviously doing something right I wish you the best my friend thank you very much Ariel join New York appreciate you stopping by and we'll talk to you very soon my man Joe's going to walk you out over here

and they love you back there so love you as all Well, yes, the people at home and the people who work here too, so I hope they treat you well back there. I'm sure they will. Thank you, Patty. All the best to you. There he goes. The one and only Patty Pimblit. Yeah, go ahead. Let's do it. Come back. Yeah. We're live. It's okay. Here we go. Flying. Ariel. Pishawler. There he is. The one and only Patty the Batty Pimlet. Cage Warrior style. Star, excuse me. He is not fighting on May 27th. You heard it. He's. here. Thanks, but no thanks. That's what he said. I can put my headphones back on. How much fun was that? Wow. I've said it many of times. It's just a whole different ballgame when you have someone in studio and having Patty in studio was just a ton of fun. Okay. That was great. Great stuff from Patty. You'll never walk alone. Liverpool. Cheers to everyone. Appreciate it very much. Okay, so that does it for today's interviews. What a show it has been. Leon Edwards,

Devin Powell, Bang Ledwig, and their collective ruptured testicles, Patty in studio, Anthony Pettis, Max Holloway. The list goes on and on. It has been a fun day. Who's Who, but the fun does not stop my friends. In a matter of moments, we're going to go exclusively to Twitter. Live.tweller.com slash M.m. Fighting. You know the drill. That's the spot right over there. I've been tweeting it as well. MMA after our time will be answering your questions. look at the question of the day. We'll be talking to Mr. New York, Rick, of course, for Rick's picks.

Still much more show left. So, without further ado, go to live. Twitter.com slash MMA fighting because the MMA after hour starts right now. And we are back. Time now for the MMA after hour. No time to waste. Time for everyone's favorite segment.

It is time. And now it's time to open up your ears and your minds. M.MA fans, it's time for Ricks Picks. Yeah. What a day it has been. It's been a great one.

You already know what it is. Ricks Picks. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's the moment to have you been for. Timblet, huh? Just amazing. Live from the Vox Studios in beautiful New York City. It's time for...

Yes. Here we go. There he is. the one and only Mr. New York Rick. Hello. Who are we waiting? Who are we wearing today, I should say? A little roots of fight, Muhammad Ali.

Oh, yeah, I like it. Is this going to become a thing? You know what? Now I'm going to put a little more thought into my apparel on the Mondays. To be quite honest, I always thought that it was a thing. No, you see, it wasn't as calculated as... I kind of feel like it was pretty damn calculated. No, maybe.

Well, how much fun was that, right? Patty the Batty. Legend. Live and in color. Now, what did Paige back there, the number one Patty fan, think about it? Did she get to meet him, picture? She got to meet him. She introduced herself when he mentioned that he had a girlfriend.

She was a little bit. Heartbroken. Any pictures? But we're getting through it. We're getting through it. All right. She's off in the bathroom crying right now, but we will get through it. And what about the revelation that he has no interest in fighting on that card?

What do you make of that? Do you take that? Oh, okay, okay. You think it's negotiations? I think there's fostering involved. Wow. Wow. Do you think that there's any sort of feelings of like this should be my...

I think he's actually being serious when he says this. I don't know if it's that, but it doesn't help his... case to be super enthusiastic about it. So you're saying that Mr. Pimbleau is a lot smarter than we may think. Well, just a few moments ago you asked him about Patty Power

you know, shelling up the bucks. Did they pay him for that promo? And he said, I've learned some things. He certainly has. So I think he's I think he's wise beyond his ears. Okay. Wow. All right. You've just blown my mind. Okay.

Right now Yes. It's March 19th. Correct. After that, would you feel comfortable saying that he will fight on that card? Do you think that there's a good chance?

What do you think? What's your prediction? Well, it depends on the goals, right? I think I think he astutely pointed out, I don't think they need him for that to be a successful show, right? The strength of Daryntill,

if they can get some other people from the local area, I think he's right in assuming that they'll be able to sell that out and have a fantastic card. So I think it comes down to do they want to make an even bigger splash? Or are they satisfied with selling that card out, you know, doing all those things without him? And I think ultimately they probably can. So I would guess he does his Mexican vacation and Sips Pena Coladas watching from afar. Yeah. Oh, man. Kind of blew my mind, but I sort of get it. It makes sense. He,

He doesn't need them and they don't need him, to be honest. Like, it just doesn't... He claims that they need him. I think no, because you asked him, do you think that this show could be successful just with Darren Till? And he said, yeah, I think they'll do fine. I think the strength of Till will carry it. I really don't know that he'll add anything from a financial gain perspective.

And he'd come with probably a decent price tag. I think if you, but if you do add them to the card, you're amplifying the magnitude, the perception of the event by leaps and bounds just locally. But I don't know if, you know, if you're thinking of it as a bottom line equation, I don't know how much he's going to add to that that Darren Till won't already take care of. I think the combination of both of them sells that place out in minutes. You don't think that Till will sell it out regardless? I think you will. I'll say this. I feel very confident that Till sells it out.

zone. Okay. So I would put my life on it that they sell out together. You know what I mean? If they're going with that, then they don't need to gamble that. You know, they'll assume that Till's going to sell it out in a zone too. Yeah. And I think that that's a safe assumption.

Fair. Although I feel like this is the biggest European card since the Dublin card where Connor fought Diego Brando. The attention to it as soon as they announced this was leaps and bounds different than anything we've seen since Dublin. Now here's the thing. What made Dublin special? I was there, I saw it.

It built throughout the night. If Connor was in the main event by himself, it would have been special. Don't get me wrong. But what made it super special was, here comes Patty Pimble. Not Patty Pimbley. Patty Hulahan to start the show, right?

And gets his first UFC win. And then there's Cahal Pender with the great comeback. Then there's Norman Park from Northern Ireland. Then there's Gunny Nelson, who's the adopted Irish man. There were a bunch of Irish fighters, Neil Siri and they all won. You're talking about things that make something special though

compared to what makes financial sense. Like if the cost of those fighters would have not been worth having them on the card as opposed to just having Connor headline then it makes sense not to put them on the card. Like Connor could have sold that card out by himself as Darren Till likely can sell this card out by himself.

So if it doesn't make the money then... Sure, sure. No, I understand. I just think what a scene it would be if you have because the arena would be blown up he is right though there have been a lot of fighters who are worth mentioning he mentioned three of them

well including himself Molly McCann and Chris Fishgold as well who have done a great job of I think building that market yeah they primed it for this for this moment like they kind of they set the table so to speak absolutely so it would be quite the story if you're able to reward those fighters

give them the call up I wouldn't be personally and I said this to you before the show, I wouldn't be surprised if any of them fight on the card. We always have these high expectations for these European cards where everyone's like,

sign this guy, sign that guy, sign this guy. And oftentimes it doesn't happen. They end up using the guys who are local. Hot Chocolate Roberts is local, so they may use him. Darren Till did a phenomenal job live on the broadcast, went out of his way to put over.

It was very reminiscent of something like a Yariah Faber or Connor or Connor McGregor would do. Go out of his way to try to put over someone who's not in the UFC, put over Mike Grundy. these stories would be great but I'm not banking on them

like as you said and I agree Till headlining on his own probably sells the thing out on its own they've never sold out that arena look if you get to a point where it's not sold out bring some more money to the table throw paddy on it and I bet that extra push will be worth it but I don't know if that's

the calculation you need to necessarily make ahead of seeing what happens first with was it your initial reaction because I was kind of blown away by his sort of like nonchalance to the idea Did you think right away like, oh, he's just, this is just negotiation? I did. Who would not want to fight on that card?

Like, that is the card. Right. He wants to see himself in the UFC video game. Well, that's how you get there. That's how you make it there. Amazing. How about Everton, by the way, reaching out to me with my own? I mean, did you tell him in response like, that you have a squad?

No. You have a club or? Well, I have my Leicester City. Or are you not following Leicester City anymore? Like, talk to me about this. I'd like to make an announcement right here and now. I have decided to, after decades, almost a century of my family, the Hulwani family being supporters of Lester City, we have officially dropped our allegiance. Wow.

Lester City. We are no longer supporters of the Foxes. We are now full-blown Everton supporters, the People's Club, number one in our hearts. And I can't wait to wear my custom jersey that's coming on. love it. If ever you thought that there was a retort to me continually calling Ariel Holwani a bandwagoner, this was it. Proving his allegiance, the strength of sending one custom jersey. Yeah, that's it. That's all it takes to buy his allegiance. That is it. I make no bones about it. I saw a little bit of Twitter activity with Molly Meatball. Oh, during the show?

No, over the weekend, I want to say. Just somebody, her saying, that Ariel's an Everton supporter, somebody else chiming in with something about Lester City and then her saying, like, it's in the spirit of it. Like, she knew. She knew that this change was coming.

I will say, massive props to Molly, who didn't just leave it at that on the program, she has done a lot of work behind the scenes to seal the deal here. So she is,

she is one who knows what she wants. She's done a phenomenal job of really making sure that I sealed the deal here. Disgusting. Yes. Lester City,

I mean, I just want to hear from you people. I want to hear from the family. I mean, look, I put it out there. They didn't really get behind it. Wow. The Everton Twitter feed has been phenomenal in making me feel welcome. And I have really come to terms with the idea that for life now, I will raise Everton children. And this is an allegiance.

This is a companionship that is going to. You know, be a part of the Halwani family now for centuries to come. Well, you've heard it here, folks. Yes, this is big. And in two months when somebody else in Jersey, we'll see what team that is. Just don't make it Liverpool. I mean, as a long-time supporter, like, you don't do that to me. Because, you know, genuine allegiance here.

Sure. Okay, let's get into Rick's fix. Let's let's not waste any time. Okay, we're going to start with the move of the weekend. Oh, this is phenomenal. Just can we get the audio a little bit higher? This is going to run back. But this is from the UFC Europe, Twitter.

Our friend John Gooden on the mic. I mean, who's better than John Gooden? Now set the scene here. Craig was losing this fight. Yeah, so when it rolls back, we'll get into it a little bit more. But Paul Craig confirmed, as we've seen the judge's cards, to be losing this fight to this point. We flash forward to the third round where he's on bottom.

and with 10 seconds left he starts applying a triangle oh I'm sorry an arm bar it's amazing how quickly it happened and no no triangle trying and by the way this was less than a second this was less than a second to go he gets the tap unbelievable unbelievable especially because of the circumstances right a knockout like we saw later in the night make sense because you can't really control the timing on that so much

But with a submission You know sometimes somebody fights through that Kind of gives that one extra second Get to the horn And then you don't have to tap out Go to sleep even We've seen it in like a fight There was a fight in Invicta

Saline Haga and Amy Montenegro Where it goes to the horn Where the fighter passes out Right before the bell A submission at 59 is I mean absolutely incredible And Paul Craig not giving up And just getting it done

And then we find out that it was the last fight on his contract. And then we find out it was the last find of... Very good chance if he loses that fight, the UFC says, eh, thanks, but no thanks. I can't see that happening now. Back up against the wall, down in the fight, down to the last fight of his contract,

pulls it off. What a... He'd have to go back to teaching those stinking kids at school. What a win for the bear jue. I mean, unbelievable. And then how about... I'm assuming the next one is Rocky? No.

What? Look, I have to look for the Twitter feeds with it, you know, to make it all kosher. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And there was no Rocky finish? Look, sometimes, you know, you can find them, sometimes you can't. I want to keep it above board. I don't want to start showing this.

I'm going to support of this. But I'm just surprised because the guy tied it, like an hour later. Then we saw an hour later a finish at 459 of the third round. This time, a TKO versus a submission. But a really solid card for a Saturday afternoon. It was great. And I'll say it again. Give me John Gooden on the call all day.

Okay. Good, he's the man. Also enjoying the action, Liam Payne from One Direction. Oh, wow. We're going to do a little bit of a celebrity check-in. They had a lot of celebs there? Not necessarily even just this fight card, but here's Liam Payne. Although you think maybe some better seats? Is Liam Payne big time?

He's in one direction, man? Isn't that like the biggest band in the world? In the world? It's like a crazy. I don't know. Maybe not. Yes? Danny Cigura says yes. I mean, in the world.

I think they're huge. Okay. I'm pretty sure they're huge. These are putrid seats. Maybe he has a box. Maybe has a box. You know what? Maybe he just wants to sit among the plebs.

Maybe that's how it goes. Look, Liam's just one of the guys. It's a very Everton-like thing of him to do. Oh, boy. The people. Oh, my man. One, Jonas Hrebko. That's my guy.

Utah's own. We'll see how long he is, your guy. Yes, plays for the Utah Jazz. Checking out the UFC event before they had their game later in the evening. Yes. Oh, yes. At which point we had a promo.

This is a great promo. Look at that. The octagon. He's sparring in an octagon. Oh, that's brilliant. Or other shadow boxing. Coming to Liverpool. What a promo.

Can I tell you? Finding this little location with the octagon. It's phenomenal. Yeah. Can I tell you everything I loved about this? The fact that they had it, the fact that they're showcasing Darren,

the fact that it's national, like it's regional, I should say. I mean, it appeals to England, but it's really appealing to Liverpool here. They did announce it in London on Friday. It's just, this is what you have to do. This is not

brain surgery. Take a star, a budding star, bring him to his hometown, and then watch him blow up. But now, not only did they do this, which you said, you know, the octagon thing is brilliant. Did you notice the end? The part coming up with Joe Martinez? Yeah, Joe Martinez asking

Liverpool. He's never said. They took that from a cage warrior show probably. But they got a little creative because there have been cage warrior shows he's called them as the PA announcer. They made this seem special. Can I tell you what I didn't like about it?

Yes. What? No, God. You know what I'm going to say, right? Sure. He's wearing the godforsaken kid in the damn thing. Why?

Let him have some personality. Let him have some personality. Okay, but that's a nitpick. It was a great promo. My mom's calling me on FaceTime right now. Let him have some personality. You answered it? Yeah, I answered it.

And then she hung up. Come on. Why does you have to wear the kit and the darn promo? That kind of, that really, I'm not going to say it ruined it. No, stop. It's their branding. No, stop it. Stop it.

Look at this guy. He comes in wearing the shirt, you know, the sun. Now I'm not saying wear something like that. The UFC is coming. That is part of me. Something different. Give the guy Liverpool's shirt, for God's sake. You know what?

The promo gets an A plus from me. No points taken away. Great promo. Okay. You mentioned this earlier. Stephen Gerard. Yes. Wishing Darantel, good luck as he brings the UFC to Liverpool.

How amazing is that, right? Big time. Got almost 7 million followers, plays for the best football club, or, you know, I mean. I don't think he still plays for them. Played for the best football club. What a fugazi. Better than Everton, for sure. Yeah.

Way better. This is, I mean, look, so Darren Till has earned the right to be in the main event. there's no doubt. This is his show. Patty's right. I just don't think it should has to be one of the other. But maybe maybe for someone like Patty it has to be one of the other. It kind of comes down to that though. It does have to be one or the other. Only one person can headline.

It doesn't really matter. Oh, no, no, no. But look, Patty's never fond of the UFC. So to me, like you put him first fight on the main card. You put Molly on, you know, like you build it up. But this guy, unequivocally, is the headliner. I just thought it would be amazing if all these people who help build this scene, this market, to get to this point.

I get that and I also get his stance. If he's, look, if he's genuine about the fact that he's really not interested and it's not just posturing, I get it. He primed this.

It was his doing and the rest of the people on his team, I would understand not wanting to co-opt or to jump onto something else coming to town when he's been there

the whole time. I completely get it. But this is a big moment and I think Darren Till is going to carry it well. Okay. Also, across the pond, Bellator 200 adding, Yes. Friend of the show, Aaron Chalmers.

Yes. He's fighting on the May 25th event. UFC, Belletor 200. In his Instagram post, he lays out the timeline 12 months ago. He was announcing his first fight a year later. He's fighting on Bellator 200. How about the fact that tickets can be purchased over at Aaron Chalmers.co.uk. You know you're a big deal.

You got to get it where you can get it. I'll say this about, first of all, this is very smart. I know that he's not from London, but, you know, let's be honest, close enough. And it's in the same country. No, because people are like, that's not local. That's a three-hour drive. Oh, get it. I mean, come on.

Get over yourself. It's in the same country. It's close enough, all right? Close enough. Yeah, you know what I mean? It's like, yeah, Frank Yeager is not from New York, but they were calling it a local fight when he was fighting at MSG. From the tri-state area.

Yeah, just relax. Second of all, it's a great idea. there are a lot of people in Belator who I've spoken to who think that the UFC being on the 27th, two days after Belator 200, is disastrous. I would strongly disagree with that notion. I think it actually helps. I think that people are going to make a weekend out of it. Oh, go to Belator on Friday. And the great thing is you have the one day in between, right?

If they were back to back, that's a little much. But you go to Belvoir on Friday, you travel on Saturday, and then you go to UFC and Liverpool on Sunday. And from what I understand, there's a holiday on Monday in England. I think they call it a bank holiday. Anyway, I think this actually gives people more incentive. I would even argue that it gives media more incentive to cover. You could go two for one. Media, yes.

Ticket-paying fans. I mean, that's a lot to shell out over a weekend. What a weekend it is, though. Could you imagine going to the Bellator 200 show and then the first show at... I think for the hardcore, the hardcore, yeah. I mean, that makes sense to me, but... Okay, well, would you agree, though, that it doesn't hurt? are people choosing one or the other

no I think the choice I don't think it's much of a choice I think it's kind of Belter 200 right yeah I don't know if it's much of a choice I think it's kind of if you can't afford the UFC

then maybe you do Bellator 200 okay I think I mean look I don't know what the T's your prices are because they haven't our show you were all speaking you know a certain language

that people understand and I would be one if I was local to be like yeah let's go to both shows but I don't know if the casual fan is shelling out that much money for MMA over a weekend that's a lot there's a lot of shows

big shows you know this is not Bellator 200 is not you know a cheapo show like this is this is a big event for them still think it was a mistake to go to London in the first place but that's neither here nor there at this point I think it it actually helps well what else will help I think

will be Aaron Chalmers fighting on this card It certainly doesn't hurt. By the way, there's some, there's a little bit of confusion because there was a press release that said he had signed a one-fight deal. And I don't know, it's a very strange thing what happened there. Like, is he full-time Bell Tour now? Has he left Bama? I don't know. I tried to figure it out and no one really wants to talk about it.

Okay. Well, we'll find out after that fight. Okay. Continuing our celebrity check-in, Robert Downey Jr., aka Tony Stark. I'm not familiar with Tony Stark. Stop it. Offering a red carpet experience for somebody who donates money. Do we hear that?

Incredible. The Bryant Ortega Foundation. It's unbelievable. I mean, the guys on top of the world. He's getting promos from Robert Downey Jr. now? I mean, the ride is just continuing for one bird. Brian Ortega. But this is awesome.

And I wonder how Brian Ortega got involved with this, but fantastic. I like that he calls himself R.D.J. Why, what? Why wouldn't he call himself? I don't know. It's just, I never heard him refer to him. Honestly, who is Tony Stark?

Tony Stark is Iron Man. He's a billionaire. Never seen it. Iron Man. Do you know who Iron Man is? I mean, I've heard of the movie, obviously. I've never seen it. I can't be bothered. Tony Stark is like what

his alter ego Like what's Batman Bruce Keaton Michael Keaton Oh my God Bruce Wayne This is killing me This is murdering me

Peter Parker I know Peter Parker That's one of the all-time greats I mean also if you're a fan of rap music You should know Tony Stark Like Why Oh God you're just embarrassing me

No seriously Now I'm actually legit Curious Was there a rapper Called Tony Stark? There was a rapper who goes by another name In a famous Rap group

Wu Tang? Oh man It was a Tony Stark guy In Wu Tang? We're onto something Damn, I didn't know Who called himself Tony Stark For real?

Okay I'll let you investigate that one Yeah, please On your own But Continuing The Celebrity theme Victoria's Secret

Model Romay What? Is that Luke Rockhold? Here with Luke Rockhold. Man, this guy. I mean, I thought Brian Ortega was on top and now I just changed my mind. Like, Rockhold's

doing it right. Thrill to be working with one of my favorite brands, Polaroff Lauren, with at Luke Rockold. Look at this freaking guy of that face. Luke. Luke. What a... Must be nice, Luke. Romay stride. Here he is

talking about Michael Bisping and all these people and meanwhile, he's tweeting from the set of this. Well, this is from her account. No, I mean, I mean... She's happy to be with Lou. He's not even the one who's rubbing it out. Unbelievable.

Luke Rockold. Okay. From the sports world. Oh, yeah. Arjohn Bouler or Bular. Buller. Buller. From the Phoenix Sun's account,

joining Devin Booker here in the picture. D-Book. At practice. Here we have a video. Yes. Arjohn's... Arjun. Arjun.

Arjun. In Arizona, Glendale can support my man. I'll be in attendance. We need to see him get this win. April 14th. Go ahead, my brother. Okay, Devin Booker. Patty Pimlet just tweeted

about to go on with Ariel now, people. I think that one was delayed. He's got a draft tweet. By the way, can I tell you something about Arjun Buller? Talk to us. Okay, so Arjun Buller set this up on his own. He went to Phoenix Sun's practice by himself.

Let me get this right. Let me get this right. Because he sent that to me on Saturday. It makes sense that he was. would set it up on his own. No, no, no, no. The reason being like the team is not very good.

No, no, no, no. This team sucks. You would think the UFC would set this up. He's going to fight there in Glenda. Yeah, yeah. For ticket purposes or promotional purposes, um,

Jay Triano is the head coach. Head coach of the Phoenix Suns, great Canadian, former head coach of the Canadian national team. They both went to Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. And this is what he told me. I actually graduated with his daughter,

Courtney, who dated a wrestling teammate of mine in university. I even did a summer basketball camp with Triano back when I was in the ninth grade. Now here's the amazing thing. This guy goes out and does this on his own, D-Book, Triano, the rest of the sons, puts this out there. And what did I tell you when I first spoke to him? He reminds me of Cormier. He gets it. He understands how to promote. He understands how to put himself out there. One billion strong, wanting to wear the turban. This guy is such a breath of fresh air. I just love everything he does. He's going out there and pounding the pavement

and not trying to crap on the UFC here, but I'm just saying, look, he's a little bit lower on the card. He's saying, I'm going to go out there. I have connections with these people. I'm going to go reach out to the Phoenix Suns. I'm going to reach out to Triano. I'm going to put myself out there. That's what you have to do.

Do not rely on the UFC to do this for you. Do it yourself. And Arjun Buller is doing it himself. And I'm so impressed with what he's doing. Now, Argin, it's got a better team, but I understand Arizona. You know, you have to. But, God, I mean, Sean Alshadi can attest to just like how pathetic this team is.

Much more exciting and better team, for example, the Philadelphia 76ers. Here we see Edson Barbosa and Kevin Lee ringing the bell, which is a ceremony that they do during their shows. Here's video of it from the UFC account. Okay, ring the bell. Boom. Love it. Okay. Ooh.

And then squaring off. and on the same evening we get the recreation of the Daniel Cormier, John Jones, kind of almost tussle in this case with Kevin Lee and Edson Barboso with Dave Schaller in the middle here. New Schaller would be all over that. New Schaller? I knew Schaller would be all over that. Oh, of course. It's being of great promoters.

One of the all-time greats. This picture from Kevin's account. Okay. also from Kevin's account meeting Michael B. Jordan Oh yeah star of Black Panther most recently

upcoming Creed 2 getting some FaceTime Is Creed 2 the one with Drago It is Drago Sun Unfortunately not did they announce who it is? Who the Sun is

Yeah Yeah it was not Sage North Ted It was some other actor Yeah All right Unfortunately Michael B Keeping with that theme

Demetrius Johnson Checking in with the Black Panther mask I love the Black Panther movement As in the actual Black Panther movement From you know by any means necessary Right that no no no I mean like I just I just love how big this movie has become Even someone did it on Saturday

Who was it? One of the fighters after the fight In London Putting on the mask itself has become thing. Even what's his name? Victor Oladipo did it during the contest. Now I have not seen the film. I'd love to. Have you seen it? I have seen it. Was it good? Fantastic. What do you give it? How many stars?

Out of five. Five. Easy. Out of ten points. What do you give it? Ten. Easy. Out of two thumbs. Two thumbs up? Yeah. It was a really good movie. Is it long? I feel like it's long. No, it's like two hours. It's perfect. And is it good for kids? It's not good for kids.

I didn't there was nothing really that um that graphic in it I would say it's fine for kids if you're okay with like an action movie there is it violent not particularly not like blood or anything like hard to like follow understand kids will like it is a comic book right comic book movie Danny Roberts yes he tells me Danny was the one yeah hot chocolate that's no no he didn't do he did the the oh the Wakanda forever yeah what is Wakanda where they live Yeah, that is the nation that they live. Ah, yes, there it is. Wakanda forever.

Okay. We move now to Derek Lewis, who earlier today. Oh, yes. This is great. Tweeted to, sorry, Instagram tagged Francis Ngano. Say it's about time someone translated to you that I've been wanting this fight since last year. But the thing that makes it, not the cigar, not the caption, is the hashtag that says, see you soon, boy. I uh you.

I think he meant to put an L in there. I love you. It's very Yowel Romero. Doing the Yol Romero in his call out of Francis. But shout out to Derek Lewis, the undisputed king of social media. It's so much fun watching him on vacation over there. He's like wearing the big hats and stuff with his wife.

Just enjoy. The best. Wait, but can I ask you, well, we moved on. Okay, do this one and then I'll ask you after. Yes. Real quickly, this is a bit of a longer one. But Katzegano essentially getting into an art. awkward situation, asking to roll with somebody at the gym, who turns out to be somebody who

was there for work, was a technical person, was somebody holding a camera that she then went and did some grappling with. She went up to some random guy? He was there to film. Film like one of the fighters at the gym? Yes. And she asked him to grapple. And he said, sure.

And they grappled. But he was not there to do jujitsu, who was there to work. Weird. Let's bring the audio up a little. Part of the camera crew that was there to film and Phil. Phil Davis being filmed. So I just like wrestled some guy off the streets for 10 minutes. Wait, he actually did it?

Yeah, he said yeah. Wow. Shout out to Kat. Yeah. Being two nice problems, hashtag. What was it that you were going to say? What did you think of Inguanu calling up Brock? I'm feeling it?

everybody's calling out Brock are they yeah Kane wants Brock yeah I don't know if that's really him tweeting you know everybody

everybody wants Brock you like that matchup forget about the call out no no why Brock marks him as they say as the kids say no no Brock doesn't murk him

if history's any indicator Francis is taking his head home on that one well how's his wrestling didn't look terrible in my opinion against Steve is on Brock

as far as like a god going in there with one mission in mine. Better and more dangerous. Brock is not a threat on the feet. So you have to just worry about stuffing that takedown

and knocking his head off. I think Francis would take that in a heartbeat. Okay, which fight you like better for Francis? Derek Lewis or Mark Hunt? Mark Hunt. Oh, really?

Yeah. Why? Because I want to see Mark Hunt be able to stand with somebody. Yeah. I think that's... You don't want to finally see the Lewis-Nanu fight?

I think you can do it later. That one is like a... Later. Put that one in glass and break it when you need it. Mark Hunt is getting there. We need to see him fight before it gets too late.

I would like to see... This fight is been building for so long. Okay, if I can only have one and I don't get the promise of another at any point, I will take Lewis and Inganu. I think the trade, the exchanges have been better. But if I can say Inganu and Lewis is there

somewhere down the line, I'd right now rather take it. Mark Hunt and Francis. Wow. I'm surprised. But I'm not mad about Lewis and Ghanu if that's the fight. Okay. Daniel Cormier,

a notorious disturber of sleep in the car here with Habib Narmaga Madov. Oh, he got it. Played. Wow. I didn't see this. This is great.

Hashtag be humble. Hashtag don't blink with me. Hashtag belt, change your face. This is amazing. Habib getting it done. And Cormier giving respect at the end because he knows he got by his own move. That is great. I mean, we could have him on the show just to talk about this.

Oh, my gosh. This is his greatest defeat. That is awesome. Okay. Oh, my gosh. Notice this one on the weekly grind. Shout out to Danny Segura, who manages that for MMA fighting. Anthony Rumble Johnson looking at a svelte 350 maybe?

Like, look at how jacked he is. And he's also got the typical. bodybuilder tank top shredded tank top shoulders back of biceps completed this week today chest and tomorrow legs let's get it I mean I don't think he needs to do anymore he could probably stop for a little bit he's got this on lock

he looks like the incredible Hulk at this point he would come back at heavyweight no doubt about it in this in this form this man once fought Charlie Brennamen at 170 pounds you know what's funny about that beyond just the fact that they fought at 170 Charlie then went to 150.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not like Charlie was a 170 year. He went down to lightweight, and Rumble went up to heavyweight after that. So Rumble doing his damn thing in the gym. Man, monster. Okay, you mentioned this. Nick Newell on Twitter,

going out of his way to explain to the good people that, yes, he can block a head kick. And we're going to see it here. There we go. Oh, he blocked it. Yeah, what is wrong with these people? people. One more?

He did it. The stuff about Newell is just getting ridiculous to this point. I thought your promo at the end was fantastic. It's time. Let's just get new.

Yeah. I love he's like, look, I can move out of the way too. Well, he mentioned that before. He's like, yeah, I can move my feet also. I'm not just going to stand there. But, you know, props them for actually going out and doing it and sort of putting his ego aside.

Maybe we'll leave the audio down on this just because there's some profanity. But Cynthia Calvio Shout out to her For posting a scene from One of my favorite movies Half-Baked As a lighthearted way to poke fun at her

Suspension for Marijuana If you haven't seen the movie, go see it That's what I'll say about this Let's not It's not hurt people's ears With the profanity But funny Dave Chappelle

Bob Saggett in this scene Good stuff Okay Jesus and Mero My guys My guys Don't start this I introduce you to them

Good one Okay but In this context We have them breaking down here Let's put up the audio A fighter coming into the gym Wait is that Is that the Hafeel

Who's the guy The Brazilian comedian guy Oh Hanato Hanato No Oh my gosh Oh, damn. Boy, my ears are a rat.

Ah, oh, damn. A little gym storming here. He's like, chill, dude, my ears. I can't listen to Dave Matthews, man. Oh my gosh. And now, number two. Wait, but this is like a setup, right? No, I think this is a real guy?

A real gym storming. Come on. You jacked this guy. Well, didn't help him. Yeah. Because he got choked to sleep. Is this like a legit I'm gonna walk into your gym

I think so yeah Jesus and stuff like Yeah I'm doing Spring spring you back in action But shout out to that guy For a storm in the gym

Yeah well done Shout out to Deezza Semero for breaking it down Let me tell you something I'm on team Deezeses and Mero Good That's the team to be on Screw DJ Envy

All right well chill Let's not get into a beep with DJ Envy One of New York's own That's right, my bad But I think if we're choosing sides Like secretly, Team D's is a man Yeah, for real Okay

This got a lot of attention Oh yes Dana White in this In this tweet saying Have you ever wanted to punch me in the face Download now Because he's in EA Sports UFC3 So here we see a video of Dana

In the actual game This was so brilliant this was one of the smartest things they've ever done. And now, according to a lot of people who have the game, his ratings stack up there with someone like the best in the world. Like he's got better striking than Anders and So brilliant. It was so smart to make him so good. And all these people.

So smart. Everyone was talking about it on Thursday. This was the talk of the MMA community. Yeah, I've never seen more talk about the video game. So well done. Absolutely brilliant. Brilliant. I just couldn't believe how many people said they wanted me in the game so that we could fight.

It's a real sick freaks out there. What would your ratings be? I mean, look, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not yoked like Dana is. I've got to go, you know, I've got to go. Well, it's not, it's not about the popcorn muscles. Like, how are your skills?

Are you going to have like 90 striking, 85 graphics? I'm not interested, all right? I'm happy on this side of the fence. All I'm saying is, I couldn't believe how many people said they wanted me in the game too. But in all, you know, jokes aside, that was brilliant, that smart marketing, everyone was talking about it.

Did you notice though at the end of that promo, it's McGregor without the two belts and that's the cover McGregor with the two belts is the cover but I think it's been updated now what do you mean? I thought he's still the champion I thought he has him in strip he's not the champ champ though

but okay so where's the second belt where is his second belt I don't know I'm just saying it's weird what I don't know Austin said something he's moderating he wants to be in the game too

have you played the game I know I don't have the I don't have the consoles anymore Yeah, me neither Although let me tell you something I would have played this like five years ago though Yeah I never would have been all over this

MMA games have never been that good Like I remember I bought the pride one back in the day Yeah They're always just a bit clunky There was a UFC one on Dreamcast That I used to rock Now Fortnite though With Tito

I'm all about that Fortnite Let me tell you all you really Oh yeah Tell me about Fortnite The L The L thing And like the shooting Is just phenomenal

Fortnite is the shit What else? What else do we got? That's it, you know Drake and I like to play. Oh, you and Drake, you play? With Tony Stark? Tony Stark, yep, yep.

Fortnite, okay, now we know people. Ariel, Everton, and Fortnite fan. Okay, moving on to some non-lighthearted news. Congratulations due to Cody Garbrand. Oh, yes, Mazel Tov. Best day of his life, he's saying, Welcome to the World

Kai Fisher Garbrandt You know what I have a video Very similar to this But I got yelled at By the nurses Apparently you're not allowed To do this

But it seems like Cody is That is allowed I filmed I know but I tried And I think it was like a I mean look I think it's a What's it called

Like a liability thing They don't want on film If you know You're videotaping your baby And then all of a sudden Like something goes wrong But nuts But no

Like I have a video of me taking this almost exact thing and then you hear at the end of it like no it can't film in here and then they... Well at least you got it right? But I got it. Kai's a great name.

My son's, my oldest son's best friend is Kai. Spelled the same way. Kai Fisher Garbrand, welcome. Great name. Mazatov. Chris Cyborg featuring a video from her channel

last Friday. She handed out 222 in and out burgers. By the way, it took me a minute to actually that out. What do you mean? The 222. Like the reference. Right. She handed out 222 in and out burgers to the less fortunate in downtown Los Angeles because she had a victory at UFC 222.

Brilliant. Skid Row here in downtown Los Angeles doing something good for the community. It's an amazing thing. Not enough credit given to people that do stuff like this. Shout out to Chris Seibord. Now can I bring up one thing? Sure. I posted this a lot of people said, well, why'd you have to film it? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Dumb. There is... Yes?

There is this thing where people do... I didn't think of that. I was just like, this is great. You dessert. You're going to spend your Friday night in the rain handing out free burgers that you bought 22 of them. Does having a video camera

negate the fact that she gave 222 burgers to people who needed a meal? No. Enough said. The whole... I just wanted to get your... take on what my take is those people kick rocks go somewhere else she is doing something good i don't care if she invited the press corps of the entire united states of america and had a press conference ahead of it

doing something good for people is not negated by the fact that you filmed it um to promote that i've said it before chris iberg has a heart of gold you know she she works with the um the children's hospitals she did a great thing part of the holly home fight I understand why some people give her grief. I mean, she has a past where, you know, she's failed the drug test, yes. But that shouldn't at this point change, like what she's doing here. What's that? I said that's a great umbrella.

Looks like Resident Evil. What she's doing here has nothing to do with what she did in 2011. You know what I mean? So, you know, people change. People learn from their mistakes. She's, in my opinion, she's a great person. Yeah. And lastly, Ariel Hawani announcing the third.

33rd annual Yes. Havana be Nation NCA tournament being now live. If you're watching this

it's obviously too late. Too late. You sign up. You sign up. You sign up. Filled out your bracket here. Best of luck to all.

Of course I did not sign up. That's cheating. Come on. If I want to... Like, I have an edge. You know, I know everything about all these... This has been the best tournament

maybe of my lifetime. 16C. Beating a once. Let me guess. You're a fan of some of the underdogs. The Cinderella... I love this. I mean,

no. But I love the finishes, Loyola Chicago, Sister D. I'm sure you've been a Loyola Chicago fan show a decade now. I can't appreciate great games. It's wrong with you. Why? Just because I don't... UMBC, like, you know... Oh, oh, you mean these little guys right here? You mean the team that everyone said didn't deserve to be in the tournament?

You mean the team that everyone said was the worst tournament team of all time? You mean the team that had to win three times last week? I mean the team that had to beat Arizona State, alma mater. I'll admit. Shottie to get into the tournament. And then the team that had to be one of the best offensive teams in the nation, TCU, you mean

the team that stifled the Michigan State offense on Saturday afternoon? Which team are you talking about? These guys? Which team? Which team you're talking about? Which team? Well, I can't be happy for my alma mater. I actually went there.

How's Baruch College doing? Hey? How's Baruch College? doing in the Division 4? Hit my music. You get some music? No, we can't.

Hit my music. Music. Vaz. Music. Please. Anytime you're ready. There it is. And I sound.

Loyal son, no shall nah. We'll fight. Yes, we'll fight. And with all our might for the glory of old Syracuse. Down the field goes old. Syracuse just to see the backs hit the line and go throw down the field they go marching fighting for the orange daunt and true rah rah rah rah victories inside for old Syracuse

each loyal son knows we're fighting for our rights and we're all are for old Syracuse go Syracuse go fight and win then we're going to go on Friday and beat Duke, win one more time, and we'll see you next week at the final four. Yeah. Yep. Yep, that's right. What is the prize for this tournament here?

That I'll add. I mean, great run by Syracuse. Obviously not going to win at all. So what happens to the bracket? The winner of the tournament, I still haven't decided. I still have a couple more weeks. Look, I'd love to say,

the best thing I can do is like you can have something from the set, maybe. What about coming to the set? Well, if you don't live here. How about calling in the show? Calling in the show? How about a personal voicemail message from me? Hi, everyone.

My name is Ariel Helwani, and I want to thank you. Phil's phone. I want to thank you for calling Phil's phone. He won my NCAA tournament pool. No, I don't know. Listen. Okay, here it is.

Here it is. You ready for it? the winner gets to make his own request or her own request. To an extent here. Yeah, yeah. We'll negotiate this. I'm not saying you're going to get whatever you asked for, but throw something out there and I'll see if it's possible.

Okay. How about that? I think that's fair. Balls in your court. There you go. Subject to change, TBD. I wonder how I'm doing. Anyway, we'll find out.

Let me look it up while you move along to the next thing. Well, that's it for Rick's picks. Okay, we got any questions? I mean, I was hoping you'd have. some kind of answer for the people. But now you've made it... What people? The potential winner, but I guess you've made it...

I actually think that's a great prize. It's way better. Now they get to choose what they... I think it's a phenomenal prize. I'm currently ranked... Oof, 188. By the way, I got to say, really nice turnout this year. Over 550 people.

But yeah, 188 doesn't look like it. Although my pick to win, Villanova is still in it. Anyway, all right. Wait, wait, wait. What? What team did you pick to win? I'm not going to pick. I mean, come on.

I never pick Syracuse, ever. That's not the way I roll. After this whole thing, you don't even pick Syracuse. That's not how. That's not how I roll. Of course it's not how you roll. You're unbelievable. Okay.

And our question of the day, in the spirit of UMBC, number 16th rank UMBC upsetting number one, Virginia, a momentous, the first 16 to beat a one in men's college basketball. That's right. What is the greatest upset, rather, in MMA history? Asked by Ariel Hawani.

This is the question of the day. Yes. With 15,000, oh, sorry, let me give you the options. Sarah defeating GSP. Yes. Verdume defeating Fador.

Holm defeating Rousey and other, you offering T.J. defeating Barow, Wyedman, defeating Silva. I could have fit like eight more in there. There's a ton of them.

With 48% of the votes, after 15,000, nearly 16,000 votes. Serra defeating GSP is still number one with 48%. Holly Holm defeating Ronda Rousey in second with 39 percent, other 7%, because there's so many out there, and then

6% for Verdum over Fador. Huh. I think Verdome over Fador is being a little underrated in this scenario. I'm not surprised. But I also do agree that Sarah defeating GSP is number one. What did you think? It was actually hard to come up.

I agree with Sarah GSP, but it was hard to pick three meaning the top three you could only pick four right so I wanted to have an other and I wanted to have Sarah GSP and then to pick two and three was tough

I mean would you have picked those three you could always fall back on the betting odds and it was so could you over Lil Nog that was like the biggest betting odds one

I know I know but I think these are probably three very solid choices for you know Bispick Rockhold was in there but I don't even remember the moment the circumstances

the way it was done all three of these being finishes. Like I just feel like this is this is a solid crop. Number one and number two, I think, obvious. Three becomes the one that's harder to kind of fit in. What is

the number three? But Sarah GSP still the biggest upset in MMA history as per 15,000 folks out there. Yeah, it's going to be hard to stop that one. With rising prospects such as Darren Till, Sean O'Malley, Israel out of Sanya, is the

UFC still in the rise or does the loss of stars like John Jones and Brock Lesnar eclips that? Like is that able to offset the lack of those top level fighters that have been? Well, I don't mean to correct you, but you threw in a word that dramatically changes this question. You said, is the UFC still on the rise? This individual says, is the UFC on the rise? And I agree with him. It's not still on the rise because it's coming off a very bad year. But I do feel like the UFC has a very nice crop.

of young talent that now it's up to them to book them the right way, push them the right way. For example, I think McKenzie Dern could be a start. Now, could she be a champion? Could she be a top and totter? I don't know. I am against the idea of McKenzie Dern coming back and fighting in May. I think that's way too soon. And I think that these decisions can affect someone's career.

So they need to be careful. Sean O'Malley, don't bring him back so soon after the, you know, the foot injury. Dern bringing her back soon. So now it's a question of booking them in the right. right fights, booking them in the right time frame. But I really believe that they have a nice young crop of exciting, marketable fighters. This individual mentions Adasania, Omali, Till, like, these are great fighters. And there's a nice crop of heavyweights coming up. What becomes of them, who knows, Stepe is still, you know, relatively young. Of course,

there's Max Holloway. There's Brian Ortega who just won. It's not all doom. and gloom, we just have to be somewhat patient, and we have to recognize that like sports teams, the UFC has to rebuild. They have to replenish. So yes, they lost Ronda Rousey recently. Yes, they lost John Jones for the foreseeable future. Yes, Brock Lesnar is gone back. Who the hell knows? A lot of people seem to think that it's imminent that he's coming back, but for now he's not there and he still has to go through that suspension that he has left. Yes, Connor is currently, MIA. There is a lot to not be happy about and it all came at a kind of bad time as they're negotiating their new TV deal. But if we're patient and they book things the right way,

I really do believe that they have some really good young fighters on the rise. I really do. I don't feel like that well is dry. I don't feel like it's doom and gloom. I really feel like they have a nice crop of young talent. Now it's a, you know, roses in that. Like these, These fighters are young. You know, these aren't, you know, over the hill. But we got to give them time. They're not going to be draws overnight. This stuff takes time.

And proper matchmaking is more critical to that than ever. It's unbelievably critical. Unbelievably critical. It's an underrated aspect of this. You'll become a star just with a personality. In Ghanu as well. I didn't mention him. But like, that guy lost in the title fight and people are writing him off.

That guy's going to be a force. And he is captivating. He has a look. He has a fighting style that people like. He's another name. Don't write him off. You got guys like Leon Edwards coming up. They got to figure out Welterweight, though,

because Walterweight is just so stagnant because no one's taking fights. No one's taking fights in the top 10. It's crazy. Speaking of Walter Waite, there's a Walter Wade here in this next question. Who will make the UFC first? Ben Ascran, Nick Newell.

Or neither. Who gets there or does neither of them? I like how he hashtagged all the different. He hashtaged every show on the planet. But Nick Newell. Nick Newell makes it first. Has a better chance of making it first. Better chance.

You see, you... I mean, I don't know. I think it's... Honestly, it blows my mind. Look at that one clip that he put out, and that should be the end of the discussion. Meaning the one... If Major League Baseball, yes.

If Major League Baseball was okay with Jim Abbott standing on the mound as guys were hitting screaming live drives at him and he's having to switch gloves, if college football's okay with Griffin, who we talked about for the last couple weeks, it's the same thing.

What's the issue? That they're afraid that they can't defend themselves, properly defend themselves. Well, he has proven in 15 pro fights that he can properly defend himself. Yeah, he lost one,

but it wasn't like he was like run out of the building and knocked out with the first punch or kick. No, he lost to a guy who's now in the UFC. Who's one of the best fighters in the UFC. Yeah. Okay.

This was selected earlier before we had our conversation with Badi. But now the question is posed to you. What are the chances of Patty Pimlet, Chris Fishgold, Meatball Molly being on the UFC Liverpool. It's hard to say what the chances are. I mean, certainly,

if I would have answered this three hours ago. You would have said yes, right? Well, no, I would have said like, oh, yeah, you know, I hope they get it. But, like, I don't know. I kind of believe him that he's not interested. What about Chris Fishgold and Meetball Molly? Maybe one.

You know, how invested are they in 125 at the moment? That's where Molly fights. I don't know. again, make no mistake, I think that they could do very well and we'll most likely sell it out with just Darren Till because even the UFC coming for the first time is a big draw on its own.

The UFC is part of the draw here, right? When there's a boxing match and it's, you know, Ricky Haddon fighting in Manchester, well, a regular boxing match isn't necessarily selling out just because Ricky hadn't is a boxer at the time. But no, Ricky hadn't fighting. But here, the UFC is a draw on. It's like it's an entity that's, you know, drawing.

And Darantill. And then you add, so you've got this, two-headed monster now. The real question is, to me, who's Darren Till fighting? You know, it's very rare the UFC announces main events without both headliners.

And Wonder Boys... Not these days. I feel like that's happening more and more. I mean, I don't remember it. It's happened a couple times. It's a very WC-esque thing. They used to do that a lot in WC.

Like, oh, we're going to Sacramento and your eye favor is going to be on the car. I think it makes sense. Like, you can announce this event. No, trust me. They wanted to have someone. Sure. I think it's better.

Steven Thompson doesn't want the fight. They're not doing RDA. Mosvidal. I saw a video. Mazvedal. Dang. Mosvidal looks like he's pushing two bills at this point, if not way more.

I'm just saying, he's looking very healthy. There's really like Ponziabio, they're fighting in Chile less than two weeks prior. I don't think they're going to put him in there against Usman, who's eight. Magni maybe. To me, there's honestly,

there's two choices. Right now, from what I'm seeing, there are two choices. And those choices are Gunner Nelson and Leon Edison. I don't see anyone else. And both have been campaigning. I liked what Leon had to say about, you know, England versus England.

I feel like that gives it another layer. I'm kind of cool with both, but I don't see any other choices. I really don't. Unless they, you know, they convince someone, but we'll see. Damien Maya? I don't know if that's the fight. You want to do that? You know what I mean?

Okay. Thoughts on the fight. the pay the payout for the cancellation with Bradley Scott only getting a portion and zero Reebok pay

when he fulfilled all his commitments and Nasrat Hakparas got his full show money when he was pulled from the fight I've talked about this

a lot in the old days they were paying they were giving the show money new days they're not I think it's bad for them I think that the tickets are sold

I don't think anyone's refund funding tickets. This money has been earmarked. Someone was getting paid, at least their show. I think it's bad for them. Also, I would love for people to stop calling it the Reebok money because as Mark Mundy outlined, it's not Reebok money and it never was Reebok money.

In the sense that Reebok gave them money yearly, the UFC decided how to break it up. Stop pinning this on Reebok. Yeah. As much as I hate the uniforms and I hate what it's done to the product, this is not Reebok's doing. They signed the deal great. They knew what was happening. but the UFC is the one who makes these decisions here,

like in this particular case. It's not Reebok sitting in saying, like, we don't want to give them the money. You know what I'm saying? There's no direct deposit account from Reebok. I think it's really bad for him, but I think it's high time. Fighters negotiate this into your contract saying,

look, if my opponent pulls out and I make wait, if my opponent pulls out on the Thursday before and I've already flown there and paid for my training partners and my coaches and all this stuff, I should be compensated. There's just no doubt about it. And I saw Dean Thomas say, like, you know, if I hire someone to pave my driveway and it rains, should I pay him?

It's completely different because that man could then go take another job and another job and another job the next eight days to make up for the lost money. Bradley Scott can't do that. Bradley Scott can't fight this weekend to make up for the money that he lost last weekend. Why can't he? Because he's not it. Right? Can't just go take another gig. Can't do it.

So managers negotiate it, and it's going to keep happening. How many times this happened? It's happening a lot these days. Yeah. In the past, you didn't hear about it because they did good. Brow, all right, give them their money. Now they don't do it for whatever reason. I don't know why.

Be nice to ask. A question here from our friend Christopher Kit, who has come to the studio and will be so disappointed that you turned on Lester City. It has been four years since UFC Fight Pass was launched. Do you think it has enjoyed the success the company would have hoped? What is your analysis of FightPass now four years in? You know what's funny? I was actually just thinking about FightPass a couple days ago

because I got a charge for it. I think I get like a semi-annual charge, I think. It's like 50 bucks, right? I don't know. But I was thinking about it because I saw the charge. And I was like, do I get my money's worth with Fight Pass? Like, what do I watch Fight Pass for? I watch Saturday.

I love it. I love Fight Pass. It's a great product. because I could watch it on my phone. I was out with my kids. I could watch it on my phone. There's very little commercials. It works very well for me.

I know some people have technical problems. I've never really had technical problems. I watch it on my Apple TV. I'm fairly pleased with the product. I watch Invicta. I know there's an Invicta this weekend. Salt Lake City, very nice. Am I watching that much else?

I'll watch the odd. I remember watching Polaris when Tonin fought Dylan Dan. sometimes I'll tune in and watch TKO. They had the Roy Jones. But is there enough to justify the 10 bucks? So my point is, they could be doing more. I think they could be doing more.

I think they could be doing more original programming, original content. I don't think that there's enough fight pass only events. We were told that we're going to be more fight pass only events. There's a couple of prelims here or there. I'm not considering dropping it. But four years later, I thought they could be doing more.

I suspect that they would be doing it. I guess that's fair. I'm also very happy with it. I think they've really improved the mobile product. It feels and is super easy to navigate at this point. The app is phenomenal. I think you're foregoing one main area that a lot of other people are using,

which is the archive. Like you didn't mention going back and going to old fights. That is a huge value. That is a huge value. I don't know about that. Being able to watch those fights. Oh, what was that? last fight that that person had, let me go back and watch it.

You have a repository for all of that. I very rarely, if ever, do that. Maybe because I have... But what I'm saying is, for you, that may lower the value. But for others, that is a huge value. Having that content, being able to have that massive library of now you can reference these fights and actually go back and watch them, I think that alone kind of provides a lot of the value.

I want new stuff. Previously... I want original content. I want mini documentaries. I'm not going to argue with that. Where are those at? Where are the mini docs? Where the stuff the WWE network does?

I think they're even shying away from that though. Are they? WWE is toning down all that original content and really investing in the live events and the archives. Like I think that's the way it is. And I think you don't utilize that, but I think that is where the massive value comes. I mean, when you have time to sit back and just watch old fights?

I don't have time for that. There's enough new fights. Well, there's that. There's some people who do do that. But then there's even just, Just one fight. Hey, I need to go back and watch this specific fight. This was something I needed to watch.

I think is a very valuable proposition. Because those were lost to history before that. Like where was that UFC pay-per-view? How would you access that if this didn't exist? Yeah. I guess for me personally, how would you go watch GSP versus Sarah? How would you watch it?

Like, sure, it could be on YouTube, but now we're taking copyrights down. Sure. That would be lost. I just never have time to sit back and be like. I'm going to sit back and watch Pride 13. Hey, I'm not in that position either to be sitting there and watching old MMA fights all weekend. But if there's something I forgot or needs to check up on, I think that's invaluable for an MMA fan.

So ultimately, I think they're in a great place. I think they've got to see a little more. You want more of the new live content. You want shows. You want shoulder programming. Shoulder, live events, more UFC, you know, fight pass only cards. You know, there used to be way more. Now they're few and far between.

Well, we got a great one. Past Saturday. Yeah, it was great. Okay. Oh, you know what? This might be too much of a shot. I don't know. What?

From Christopher Kidd also. Can Ariel name three players from existing Lester City soccer team? But it doesn't really matter because you don't care about them anymore. Yeah, I'm not a fan. I told you. Who cares? I already told you guys. Sorry.

Jamie Varty, what? I don't know, chat shit can bang, you know? Not anymore, though. No. Who cares? No. Okay. I'm not a fan.

Ariel, have you ever gotten up to pee during the MMA? No, but I'd love to pee right now. Okay, one more question then. Do you guys have a car? I think collectively, do we have a car? Do we share a car? Do we share a car? No, we don't share, but I do own a car. Actually, I don't. I lease a car.

I own two cars. Two? I'd like to get a second car. And one more on the road. Yeah, the second car is clutch. Yeah. You have a third car coming? Well, one of them will replace one of the other cars, and then it'll be back to two. Dang. What kind of cars? Can you tell us? I've got a Hyundai Alantra, which is... Is that the one I was in where you gone to the car accident?

It was, yeah. Okay. That was my... Totally your fault. It didn't look as you were coming out of a parking spot. And that's my wife's. Okay. I gained it in marriage. The dowry. Yeah. Then I have a Honda CRV. This is an SUV. Okay. That's for the kiddies. We're adding a little Tesla to the family.

Tesla? Yeah, the Model 3, baby. that is so not how much is it Tesla this one's the like affordable sedan version it's like 50K and you just plug it in that's not exactly how it works

it's not like a vacuum cleaner exactly just I thought that I need to get a second car I have a GMC Acadia big old big old thing three rows lots of room it's a it's my kit is just like food everywhere

it's a total mess but it does the trick. I think it's a great car. I'd like to get a second one because sometimes we need to split up and I have to get a rental or Uber. Maybe a smaller sedan? Tired of this Uber nonsense.

Yeah, maybe something, I don't know, maybe a mini Cooper. I don't know. I haven't really thought. Oh yeah, mini Cooper. I hate car. I'm not into cars. Like when I got my first car,

the GMC Acadia. That was your first car ever? Well, it was my second car. But like the first one that I did on my own. my dad helped me with the first one. You know, like, I did this start to finish on my own. I went to the guy, I never went to look at the car. My brother had a GMC Acadia. I said, what car should I get? He said, get a GMC Acadia. I called the guy up. I said, I wanted GMC Acadia. I went to sign the paperwork. He said, in my X amount of years, 40 years, I've never

had somebody. I've never had an easier client than you. Never came, never haggled, never did anything. I was probably stupid for this. I just didn't care. Just give me something that goes. To break it to you. That price tag was inflated a little bit. I got screwed. Yeah. Next time you may want to hackle. But I just didn't care. Like, what, test drive? I don't want a test drive. They all work the same. Not about the test drive. The price, the sticker prices. Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just give me something that goes and let's, you know, let's get on it. You're right from Car Guy, Ariel Hawan. Give me something that goes.

So anyway, if you have a suggestion for a family of five that you know that I'll like, please tweet me at Ariel Hawani and maybe I'll get one this weekend. Who knows? Oh, boy. Good luck. Look, when I get my new car? Or can I get the third? Can I get the extra? All right, thank you. You're ready here first. That can be your prize.

All right. That's it. Bye, folks. God bless. Thank you very much. It has been a great day. So much more that we can talk about. By the way, a couple quick, quick things.

Cubs Swanson, getting close. Don't listen to that ranking stuff. Getting closed. Potentially, a rematch, potentially very soon in the UFC. So we'll see. It's not a done deal, but getting close. and Palo Costa being injured kind of affects it if you get what I'm saying.

New Jersey, Atlantic City, you feel me? I got the answer. You know what I'm talking about? Romero Whitaker, U.C. 225, Arlowski-Taito-Ivasa, 225. Ronda Rousey is managing. Justin Will is Chase Sherman going down in Atlantic City. As I said, McKenzie Dern against Amanda Cooper 224.

John Lineker against Boom-Kelleher. Boom! Is going down at 224 as well. Goyito Perez is debut. in April. Angela Lee returns in May. Chris Wade has signed with PFL. Sam Alvey and John Volante are fighting later on this year. Marcine Held has signed with ACB and Rashad Evans is fighting Anthony Smith at UFC 225. All right, we are done. You can hit my music. What a great day. It has been, my friends. A day to remember. Thank you to everyone who tuned in. Thank you to everyone who stopped by.

Thank you to all our guests today. Thank you very much to the great Leon Edwards, who is now, as you heard on this program, a diehard Patrick Ewing fan. Loves number 33, loves all thing Georgetown Hoya. It's amazing. Hoya Paranoia.

Hoyasaxa. Leon Edwards. Will he get the Darantill fight? Will it happen? Will they call upon him? We shall find out. Thank you very much to Francis Engano. And he has made some waves.

with his comments about Brock Lesnar. Will he get that Derek Lewis by Mark Hunt? Brock Lesner, we shall see. Great to talk to Francis and hear his thoughts post 220. Thank you very much, Anthony Pettis. Good luck to him at UFC 223. Thank you very much to Cynthia Calveo. Really appreciate her coming on as well.

Thank you very much to Devin Powell. Oh my God, Devin Powell. I will never forget that interview. And the unicorn. The unicorn line is the one that I keep thinking about. I can't stop thinking about the unicorn line. And thank you very much, of course, to Dwayne Bang Ludwig for his stories

about his ruptured testicles as well. Thank you very much to Max Hallway. Get well soon. Appreciate his time, as always. All the best to Dylan Dennis. Dylan Dennis debuting on April 28th. All the best to Nick Newell with his efforts to get signed.

Let's go. Let's do it. Let's get it done. The time is now. And of course, thank you very much to the great Patty the Batty Pimbleau for joining us in studio. How great was that? Amazing.

Loved having him in studio. Back. week, same time and place. Until they say peace. Somebody.