MMA Fighting - TUF Hang: McGregor vs. Chandler TUF 31 Reaction w/ AK Lee & Conner Burks | Ep. 1

Episode Date: May 31, 2023

Conor McGregor is back! Alexander K. Lee and Conner Burks react to Episode 1 of The Ultimate Fighter 31 on the debut edition of TUF Hang, which goes live on YouTube every Tuesday at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT/4 a.m. IST immediately following the conclusion of TUF 31. Watch the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/fJpaJ_fxBCc?feature=share Follow Alexander K. Lee: @AlexanderKLee Follow Conner Burks: @connerburks Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster,

the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two,

Ghosts in the Machine, available now, only from Audible. We're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Hello, everyone, apologies for these technical difficulties. We were meant to go on immediately after the show. You guys know it is.

You guys know how it is with the Internet and with the computer sometimes. But we are here. guys on the inaugural episode of Tough Hang. As you might have heard in the intro, the king is back. We're not talking about Connor and Gregor.

Of course, we are talking about the undisputed king of reality, television programming since 2005. The Ultimate Fighters back. Season 31, starring Connor McGregor, Michael Chandler. If you're joining us now, you probably, well, I mean, now, maybe like 10 minutes ago,

finished watching the scintillating season premiere. And they're just itching to talk tough. You're in the right place. This is Tough Hang, MA Fighting's reaction show for this season of the Ultimate Fighter. I'm one of your hosts, Alexander K. Lee, and it is my pleasure to introduce my co-host who will be with us every week, the jocular and jubilant G.C. Connor Birx, G.C. How the hell are you, man? I'm doing fantastic. As you can see, I don't have a microphone in front of me like you guys. That was the technical difficulties. But we are here. I mean, my beautiful studio had it custom built for this tough. Yeah, I mean, it's pretty great. I'm not going to lie. We got the proper 12 over this shoulder. Here we got some toys, some signed jerseys. The guys sent them over for me. So yeah, I mean, it's great. I'm happy to be here.

That's a quality, tough man cave. That is legitimate. It's great. Every episode, it's really fantastic stuff. Also with us tonight, producer extraordinaire, E. Casey Leiden, who will also be joining in, joining him with his opinion. This is especially important because, the three of us are kind of representing three different sides of this equation here. I consider myself a grizzled ultimate fighter veteran. I've seen almost every season. I might have missed a couple of the foreign ones, I think. So I am the grizzled vet, G.C., the breadeyed prospect. Casey, admittedly a lapse fan, a former frequent viewer of the Ultimate Fighter,

and maybe not watching every season regularly, maybe not appointment viewing for you anymore. Oh, no. Okay. I just wanted to confirm, yes. And if you're wondering at the vet prospect thing, maybe you didn't watch, we'll get into that in a second, why that's appropriate for this season,

Open Fighter 31. But just to let you know, guys, Tough Hang, this will be here every week, every Tuesday. The next nine weeks, immediately after the show, we'll talk all the McGregor Chandler drama, best moments from the show, break down the fights,

what there is to break down. There wasn't much tonight, and more. Tonight you have us live, live. So without further ado, let's just get to the first impressions of this show. Again, tough 31.

season premiere. Let's go to the prospect. The number one pick, Connor Burks. What do you think of episode one? I mean, I thought it was thoroughly entertaining. You mentioned it. I am technically a prospect in this. You are the veteran. It's very fitting for this show. I've never sat down and watched every single episode each week of a tough season. I've obviously seen the viral clips. I've obviously seen like the big highlights and some episodes throughout the years, but I've never sat down and watched every episode of a season. And I loved it. I mean, I'm not like a reality TV diehard,

but like I can get really into a season of reality television. And this is like my roommate watched it with me. And this is his first impression as well. And he was just like, man, this is so reality TV show. It's literally just the UFC's reality TV show. I thought this episode was pretty entertaining. I think as we go along, they're going to get more entertaining as we get to know the characters. And then we get to see, you know, McGregor and Chandler really start to shine.

but I thought this one was pretty good, entertaining, a nice way to start it off. I'm really happy to hear that because, as I said, I've watched a lot of the show. Casey has certainly watched enough that he's maybe gotten his fill of it. So it's really good to hear that. There's his reaction. It's really good to hear that you and your roommate loved it so much because if you hadn't watched the last six or seven, maybe eight, maybe even 10 seasons, the format has not changed in a long time. So I imagine there's a lot of people tuning in either for the first time or first time in a while

because of course McGregor and maybe Chandler as well and maybe are really enjoying it. But I think for some of us who have seen it before, this episode, this season of mirror was pretty much exactly the same as every other season premiere from a format standpoint, from a pacing standpoint, from a production standpoint. It hasn't changed, I think, since Ultimate Fighter, I want to say 16. That was the John Jones Chelsonen season when they kind of had to be. to first upgrade to HD cameras and clean up the show a little bit because they were getting on bigger networks. So less shenanigans, more focus on the human stories. And that's a lot of what

you saw today. We'll mention that, of course. We saw a lot of that with this week's fighters, Roosevelt Roberts and Nate Jennerman. But what else, what did you think right away of how they presented McGregor and Chandler? Did you want to see more of that GC or were you kind of happy that it was like kind of balanced with how they covered that drama and then the fighters and then explaining the show itself and all that yeah i mean i would have loved to see more of their interactions it felt like there was a lot of like just like obviously you know they're gonna they're gonna cut down a lot of it it felt like a lot of it was selective audio and we didn't really get a ton of them where i felt like they had a lot interactions in that beginning portion uh one question i do have for you though

you know you said it's it's kind of cut and dry from the last 10 seasons or however long it's been you're saying this is pretty much like switch out the fighters, switch out the coaches. This is pretty much same old shit for the last decade. I, you know, I wouldn't phrase it that way. But yeah, it has been this way. And again, some people, you know, I think this format is in some ways better than the way it originally used to be. I know there's a lot of people disagree with me because in the earliest days, one, heavy emphasis on getting the fighters drunk off of their asses and seeing what kind of shenanigans they would just get up to on their own. That may happen this year. We know

that they are fully stocked apparently with proper 12 in the house. So I don't know. There too. Love it. I don't know if they're encouraging it again. I think they still want to keep them somewhat moderate. And there also used to be survivor style of reality game shows, which now they do between the coaches and that's it.

They used to be the contestants had to do it. It made no sense. So, yeah, the product of way it is now is kind of the way it's been for the last 10, 11 seasons. Just a little bit more like refined, a little more like you said, kind of classic reality, like, well, let's say, more modern reality TV shows. show. And some people like that. But how did you feel about the drafts, Connor? How did you feel about the picking of teams? Normally, it's a pretty traditional. The coaches and their teams get to look at the fighters ahead of time, kind of work them out, and then pick them. Classic, they flip a coin. This guy gets the number one pick. This coach gets to pick the first fight. This time, they were kind of divided into four subgroups with four lightweight veterans and four lightweight prospects, four bantamweight veterans and four bantanweight prospects. And you kind of had to have to be divided into four subgroups with four subgroups with four lightweight veterans and four bantweight prospects. And you kind of head to pick by group. I thought it was a little confusing at first. I don't know if you just kind of got it right away. Explain to me like is that that's not typically how they do it. They don't do the

subset. Do they normally go fighter by fighter or like weight class? Yeah. Yeah. It's also some seasons only have one weight class. It's just like 60. It'd be like 16 middleweights, for example. But they do tend to like just for it's easier to cast eight of two from two different weight classes. Yeah. And it's normally like, yeah, they're like this. Well, these guys, this guy's the number one pick we want him and uh but this time this was a little weirder because some of the fighters as we know there's that pre-show drama had ties to mcgregor so i don't know how they would have handled the picking there so it looks like and then they want to go with this prospects and veterans thing and we'll talk about the murkiness of that in a second like the the designation of prospect

and veteran but uh but you enjoyed did you enjoy it or would you prefer to see like it's like a letdown the man like when when they brought out the corin and everything and he's like all right it's time for the draft. Whoever wins the coin toss is going to get first pick. And I thought they were going to, you know, go through everyone and there was going to be like some tactics at hand. And like there was going to take some research beforehand to be able to do it. And it was just like, McGregor was just like, yep, I'll take the prospects. And I mean, it was it was over like that. It felt like there was no real skill or excitement or tactic or anything to it. Yeah, it was over really quickly. And we didn't get the drama of, I mean, there was a, there was a previous season. Anyone who

listen to Damn this week, last week, about BJ Penn. BJ Penn had a classic ultimate fighter moment once back in season five where he was like, who wants to be on my team and have nothing to do with the other coaches team? And you couldn't, like the way they laid it out this time, you really couldn't do anything like that. There's also sometimes the drama. Like, I thought it's always fun when you know a coach is affiliated with certain fighters.

In this case, I think Lee Hammond and Brad Cotonar are like Connor McGregor guys. And it's like, how high is he going to use a high pick on them because they're his boys or if he knows that there's better prospects in the show, will he draft them over them? So that's always a fun thing to keep an eye on. And there really was none of that this time around. But we did kind of end up with a good thing. I do like that all the prospects ended up on one side and all the veterans ended up on one side. G.C., I don't know if he would have preferred to see them mixed up. I like that. I like that it's like prospects first veterans. I kind of like that McGregor got the prospects and Michael Chandler got the veterans too. That feels like sort of reflective

of their personalities as well. I think it's like what McGregor wanted to. It feels like he wanted it. Now, did you, how much have you looked into the contestants vis-a-vis their amount of experience and their ages? So like I've looked in a little bit. A lot of the veterans that was named I recognize. And like a few of the prospects I recognize as well, but in terms of like looking at all their ages

and deep diving, no, I've not done that yet. Yeah. Yeah, so the way they, I mean, they essentially said the prospect team is pretty much just all the guys who have not fought in the UFC. And if you're a veteran, it's because you fought in the UFC. The amount of experience somewhat as well, obviously, you've got guys like Jason Knight, Kurt Hollibaugh, Cody Gibson, Valiav. They've had, you know, they have considerably more experience than the prospect guys. But the age thing is a bit funny because you have guys on the prospect team, three of them are age 34 and up, which does not scream. prospect to me and have been fighting for, I think like Nate Jenerman's been fighting for like

10 years or something. So it's a little weird. It's strictly because they haven't fought in the UFC that for the purposes of this show, they're being considered prospects. I mean, we just even saw the fight and we'll get more, talk more about the fight soon. Jenerman and Roberts has a fight for this week. Jenerman's the prospect. He's older than Roberts. So I don't know. Do you think that's, is that little funky? I mean, is that weird? Or once it was explained to me that the veterans had fought in the UFC and the prospects had not. I felt like that was a simple dividing line. One thing I did write down, I took some notes as the episode went on.

Obviously, believe. To more believe, we recognize him. He has fought in the UFC. He had some success in the UFC as well. Like, he was a good solid bantam weight. Like it feels to me just right off rip, it feels like he is going to have a lot of success moving through this show. And yet he was, I believe,

So he ends up on Michael Chandler's team and I believe he's evaluated as the number three I guess I should read this out. So after the teams were divided up the coaches then for the purposes of making the matchups had to rank their fighters one to four like their lightweights one to four and their bandit weights one to four. This is again you guys if you didn't see the episode you can see where this was a little confusing.

So for the team McGregor, the lightweights in order from one to four Lee Hammond who's like a SBG, big SBG guy, I think almost like a protege. Number two, Nate Jenerman, number three, Aaron McKenzie, number four, Landon Quinonez. On the Chandler's side, he went number one, Jason Knight, guys all know him, Austin Hubbard, Brazil Robbers, and then Kurt Hollaba, fourth. And then on the Gregor's side, the Bantamwaits, his number one ranked, Mando Gutierrez, Trevor Wells, second, Carlos Vera, then Rico DeShullo, and then Chandler's Bantamway,

Hunter, Azure, number one, Brad Cotonah, number two, Timor Valley of number three, and Cody Gibson. So, I mean, you're right, Timor's name jumps right out. It was a little surprising. I guess maybe that speaks to the strength of Chandler's Bantamweight veterans. I'm not sure, but I don't know. And the other thing was,

all the matchups are set now. We know Timor at some point is going to fight. Let me see if I got this. Trevor Wells. Oh, that's Trevor Wells. And technically he's the lower-seeded fighter, but G.C. You seem pretty confident that Valleyev could go on a run here.

The seeds, as they said, feels like that was like a strategic thing to try and get the best of cups. Like, it didn't feel like you were just going. going one through four, I mean, Chandler's first pick was Roosevelt Roberts and he had him seated as his three for that way class. Yeah, it is a bit funny. Also, it's like, it's not like going, it's only four fighters. So the seating is, it doesn't feel like, I like, I don't think he's saying like, oh, Jason Knight is so much better than Austin Hubbard or or McGregor, Mando Gutierrez is so much better than Trevor. It's only four fighters. There's not that you're being, you're ranking. It's not a lot of a lot of room for separation. But. Do you like knowing who everyone's fighting ahead of time, or would you prefer it sort of the way they usually do it is kind of a week to week like surprise? I would have preferred a week to week surprise.

I guess at the same time, now we can look forward to it as it goes along. One thing I did have to say that I got kind of a kick out of is that like as they were listing off the matchups, Michael Chandler is like super professional just listing everyone off the dome and like McGregor's just got his phone and he's like, all right, that's number two, and then read his name off. Like, again, it just felt like very reflective of who they are as people. Yeah. Well, let's talk about that. Let's talk about who they are as people.

Again, we'll get to the fight discussion in a second. It was really quick, so I don't know how much there is to say. I was a little disappointed. We kind of touched upon it. There wasn't a lot of emphasis on McGregor Chandler drama. We kind of got an introduction. We got some, like, half-hearted taunting, but almost, It was almost like they were barely in the same room.

I don't know. It didn't land for me that aspect of the show so far. I know they're building up to The Big Shove. But yeah, anything else from, like you said, I know you said you would have wanted more. Is that what we're recording it? We don't know what episode is going to happen, but like the big show,

because I've seen that clip a million times. That kind of took away from it a little bit, that beginning scene where it's just like, the amount of times I've seen that clip at this point where it's just like an in comes, the most iconic mixed martial artist of all time, Colin McGregor, dressed to the ninth. It's like I can almost say it word for word.

I've seen it so many times. And then it's just like, have I told you what way class is at? It's going to be a middleweight. Do what you're told. Like, that would have been great if I had gotten to see it for the first time. I was going to watch the show anyway. I know that they had to bring it an audience and try and prop it up a little bit. I was going to watch it anyway.

I wish I had gotten to see that naturally tonight for the first time, because that was the best dialogue they had the entire episode. Yeah, it's like when you, modern trailers these days. They give away too much. You almost switch some of it could be, like you said, they know we're going to tune in.

I guess you have to do it for LAPS fans like our producer and maybe some other, you know, some other newcomers who aren't like, you know, new hardcores like yourself, G.C. You're all in on this stuff now,

but I guess it's all right. This isn't coming off till August, maybe. Oh, that's gross. You mentioned, you know, listen, you are familiar. I have to ask this question to you specifically because you mentioned kind of the Conner's yeah his new line you'll do as you're told and have you

it's this has become something that's very popular on your show that you do with Jed Mishu no bets barred outstanding MMA gambling podcast the chat gbt bet it's sweeping the nation it's making a lot of people a lot of money I've I've heard does it feel like McGregor's dialogue is being generated by chat GBT at this point like one's a lot last time you really heard him say something and you were like, oh, that's great. Like, I want to, like, I got in your head and just like, I don't know, maybe you like, I don't know, maybe you like that line. I just, it's not landing for me.

Which line specifically are you talking about? I don't, like, the, the, the, the, you'll do is your toll thing. It's okay. I thought there was a decent line. Like, you like, tossed up, like, he was super friendly with him and he's just like, oh, yeah, you know, what, have I told you what weight class is going to be at yet? And like, you know, Chandler is having phone with it. He's like, oh, do 185.

And then he just kind of sat him down. I mean, it's tough, like, to continue to top the amount of great trash talk lines he's had. Like, has he lost a step for sure? But I think he's still got a few miles of good trash talk left in him. Okay. You're more optimistic about that than I am. We've had a lot of internal discussions on Slack about how much, you know, charisma gas, as it were, does Connor McGregor have left? I don't know.

I'm less in on some of them. I think I will say about McGregor is like you don't know which McGregor you're going to get. Like are you going to get the nice, chill, relaxed McGregor that has like this great outlook on life and is really grateful? Are you going to get the crazy McGregor that just like F everybody or are you going to get just like old, you know, classic vintage McGregor? It's just like you're kind of just picking your poison these days on like how he's going to be acting when he gets in front of the camera. Yeah, that's a no, that's a fair point. I want to talk about the fight. I know I keep saying when you get there.

guys, if you watch the episode, it didn't last very long. But what did you think of the pre-tap? So we talked about sort of the reality TV show elements at the top of the show and kind of how refined it is at this point. So these are pretty standard now. They have some footage from the fighters back home, just telling their story. We get to meet their adorable families. How'd that stuff go for you, G.C.

Did you find it compelling? Oh, I love it, dude. I mean, it's just a nice reminder of, like, just how human these fighters are. Like it's sometimes you can get caught up when you're watching the slog of the UFC cards week after week and there's 15 fights. It's hard to really dive deep on these people. But when you get to see stuff like Jenerman beforehand, everything with his family, his daughters, it felt like he was sacrificing a lot to come and try and do this and leave his family, just how much he's putting on the line. And then same thing with Roosevelt Roberts. I mean, when his kids answer the call and everything, you know, it's kind of a touching moment.

It makes you want to cheer for these people. And then, man, I mean, I was to get a. to the result of the fight, I was actually shocked that it ended that quickly. I mean, for it to end in nine seconds, and then for gentlemen to be crying afterward like that, talking about how he's let his family down, you know, it all feels like it's a waste.

I mean, it makes you feel more connected with the fighters. I liked it a lot. Yeah, that's one thing fighters and the show, you know, people who care about the show always say is that this show is still a good vehicle for developing like developing, not

I shouldn't say not developing their skills, but developing their brand power. And I think sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's probably less effective than it used to be. But that is good to hear, though, that these things still mean something. Because I think at some point you feel like you've seen it all in MMA as far as people's stories go. But you know, you're right. When you get a little more closer look at it, a more intimate look, you actually get to see their families and how they interact with their families and their families ruining them on. Who are you?

Whose family? Did you find more? Just be honest, you see. whose family did you find more adorable and who were you rooting for to win the fight? I mean, I mean, Roosevelt Roberts' kids answering the phone. I mean,

that is obviously horrible. But I mean, gentlemen beyond just the baby and everything, the three-legged dog, he called a, he was like, one little tripod. I mean,

that's touching and everything. And I mean, like, the guy's also a UPS driver. He's getting up at 4.30 in the morning to go work and then go train afterward. Like, he's really putting in a crazy work, making a lot of sacrifices.

And to get on the big stage like that, like I really did feel for him. Like I was like, man, that sucks. Like, it's different when you get these backgrounds and like, it's going to be really crazy, though, the deeper we get into the season. There's definitely going to be some characters that I'm really going to start to like and really going to start to root for.

And someone is going to have an ending similar to Nate Jennerman tonight. So, yeah, I'm excited for it. Overall, though, I got off track from the question. question, I'll go, I'll go gentlemen's family, the three-legged dog. Oh, that must have really hurt. So you felt the pain then when this fight went the way it did. He's flying. He's just like, and he's just like, oh, my God. He's like, I think all of this was a waste of time. Like, I never should have left my family. It's like, dude, to be in tears in front of cameras and all those people like that and Connor McGregor back in the locker room and say a statement like that, like, you're really going through it. That's tough stuff right there.

Yeah, and listen, this is stuff like in a regular M.A fight when you see a fighter lose. And and but the difference is like they're usually not expected to do a testimonial right after. They're not necessarily expected, the losing fighter, there's not expected to have to talk to the media after unless it's like a championship fight or something. So for, yeah, when you're just like a Nate Jennerman, just trying to get by, excited about being on the show. You're doing this for your family. He has to stay in the house now. I mean, he has to, he doesn't get to leave. You know, he has to stay in the house now.

One to, of course, help train. And also in case someone else drops out, you know, he's probably relatively unharmed. unless he has a serious concussion, which is certainly possible. But if you're gentlemen, unless you've got to hang around, that sacrifice, maybe it'll still be worth it. We've seen it in the past. We've seen people come back on the show. People get injured all the time. Fingers crossed, that doesn't happen.

But if it does, it'll be good news for gentlemen. But yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. If Nate Jenerman is on an apex card on the prelims, second, third fight of the night, that exact same thing happens. He goes to the back and we just start the next fight. And you just keep on rolling and you never hear any of that. And I probably didn't hear about the family before the fight. And it's just kind of like, well, he lost.

That's a bummer for him. That's unfortunate. And you just kind of keep rolling. Number two, you can clarify this for me because all of his teammates started hyping him up and it was just like, it's just one fight, shake it off. You know, we still got a month to train and everything. Is he done? Like, is he out of the competition?

Yes. Yes, unless someone gets injured. Wow. You're up. That's even more gutting. I mean, honestly, when everybody was back there hyping them up, I was like, oh, he'll get another chance. Like, is that how this works? That makes it even worse.

I feel for nature. Well, again, they always say that because the show has a somewhat frequent injury right now, not like a lot of fighters every season, but usually it's like one, usually one or two guys a season or at least in danger. Because, again, it's a tough, it's a tough hang, you might say, being in the ultimate fighter house with all the training. And again, having to make weight multiple times of short notice. it's not great for the body. And so these injuries happen all the time. So there is a good chance that Nate Jenerman, that we do see him again. So he has to stick around and hopefully that happens for him.

But yes, as we said, we don't know the exact time of the stoppage. Pre-fight, everyone was saying it's pretty much not necessarily grappler versus striker, but in-close kind of striker versus a very lengthy Roosevelt Roberts, one of the taller lightweights out there. And unfortunately, Jenerman can not get in, gets hit with one right hand right off the bat. Clearly hurts him. Goes inside, gets caught with another one behind the temple. He's down.

Hammer fist. Referee Mark Smith has to call it off. I mean, we saw, we saw Gentlemen Gold limb for a second. So pretty eventful. And if you're the UFC, probably happy with how that ended, not necessarily caring who won, but they got an exciting finish in the first episode. There have been seasons where you get finished as few and far between.

So to kick off the season with one, I guess nothing but good news for the show so far. That's tough as it was to watch for, for Jennerman. What else? Anything else jump out from the show for you, G.C., that we didn't get the chance to mention yet. I do have some other questions,

but I'm wondering if there's anything, any other angles that popped out. Because a lot happened this episode. We kind of glossed over a few things. Sure, yeah. I mean, a couple things. One thing was Connor blowing off the way-ins. Like, we didn't really get an explanation

for why that was. Like, that felt like a pretty important thing to miss. I mean, Chandler, I called him out for it. I really wonder what, I mean, obviously it was some sort of other obligation, but that felt like it was pretty big, especially for the fighters. Yeah, Casey and I were, when we were talking about the show earlier today, we were saying like it almost felt like they rushed, because, again, this is the way the show is format. It has a very clear, like quarter one is where we do, you know, coach's introduction.

Quarter two, the team pick, quarter three, learning about both fighters, quarter four is the fight. I know, I know it's divided into more than that. I heard there was a lot of commercials. I don't know how it was broken up on ESPN, but that's essentially how they segment the show and they don't deviate from that. So I would have loved to have seen, yes, a little more diving into the drama of McGregor

not being at the way-ins. Maybe if it happens more than once, that it'll become more of an issue, this kind of happened with, I want to say, when Volcanovsky and Ortega, Ortega had a couple of issues with not showing up and he got called out for it. So maybe it has to happen more than once,

but it does feel like the first time you want to at least bring it up besides like one, literally like one sentence, Connor's not here. So that was all disappointing. And I wish we could have seen more of the evaluations as well. I wish we could have seen why did, yeah, I know you're suggesting it's more about matchups,

but like, you know, why? Why did they necessarily say Hunter Azure number one? Why Mandu Gutierrez? Like it'll probably come up in future episodes. I shouldn't, I should be a little more patient. But I wish they play around with the format a little more and just kind of be like, well, maybe we should show more of their evaluations, show more of why McGregor's not here.

or that discussion, how do his fighters feel about it? That would have been interesting stuff. So hopefully, listen, we got nine more episodes to go. Hopefully we do get some of that. I threw up a poll asking how people graded the episode. So for A, A is leading the way. 40% A. Wow.

Not bad. 33% B. So people are pretty happy with it. D, only 12%. So everyone seemed to think it was a pretty good first episode. I kind of agree. I guess I want to Producer Casey Can I bring you up for a second?

I do just want to bring you up Oh okay Because I know you didn't You didn't love this episode What I mean in the term I'm trying to be positive No I thought it's horrible

I did not like it at all But you voted D He would have voted D yes If he were legally allowed to vote in our polls He would have voted Yeah D Yeah D It was, yeah, I didn't, I didn't like it.

It was bad. It was just, but in terms of reality TV, B, but in terms of, I don't know, as a fight fan, watching anything exciting, either from the dramatic, just drama trash talk to an actual fight or, I don't know, anything. Yeah, I give it a solid D. But then again, I am a laps fan. I'm not, I've never, I haven't been a fan of tough in a long time. And this didn't, this didn't go, oh, they're back.

No. But I was going to chime in and say, how about the no-sell of Ryan Bader being there? No, now I have to. The total no-cell. Now, I will say people in the comments. He's a Betoerre champ. I know they won't say Bellator, but he's a, you know, it's freaking Ryan Bader. I believe he has coached on the show before.

I'm not, sorry, not a head coach. I believe he has been part of someone's team before. I meant to look this up. I applaud. I did not look this up. Hardcore, tough fans, the comments remind me, if I recall correctly, him and Chandler were helped help someone as like an assistant. I could be wrong about Chandler.

I'm almost sure Bader was on the show before as an assistant coach. That's why I wasn't like super shocked about it. I'm just trying to think what season that would have been, in terms of the actual episode, my biggest issue of it was there were coaches there, but we saw zero coaching. This is about two coaches developing fighters to be in the UFC. There was zero coaching in the show.

Zero. I don't know why they made this. I don't know why they did the seedings. The big thing, I don't know why they go this guy versus this guy, why the matchups happened. I just, I didn't understand. When Dana did the whole, I'm going to flip a coin, you guys get, I don't know, first pick and then he gets the second.

I don't know. It felt like it should have been simple, but it wasn't. I was just like, whatever. And I thought it sucked that they made all the matchups ahead of time. I don't know. Oh, you didn't like that. Well, because I don't know who these guys are. So it's like, it's like, okay, cool.

Random name versus a guy I saw lose a few times in the UFC. Random name versus another guy who I think he's pretty good. It sucks. He got cut. Random guy versus, oh, that guy was awesome. He was a bare knuckle fighting. Cool. And that's all that was.

It was just, I don't know, the prospects, I don't know who they are. And I don't know why they're there, you know, other than they haven't been in the UFC. That doesn't tell me very much, you know, to me, it was veterans versus guys who have a fought in UFC. You shouldn't, you shouldn't use the term prospects. That's all. Casey, you have to watch each episode to find out. You're going to get the hook in you. Learn each and every one of these stories, man.

Because Casey, you do like the pre-tapes. You do like the pre-fight pre-tapes, right? You said those, you like those. Yeah, I thought I thought the Roosevelt Roberts one was the best one, especially when he brought his kids on. And just you saw something there. But I mentioned this before. I was a little disturbed when after Roosevelt Roberts talking to his kids in the next segment, Roosevelt Roberts is all like, I'm ready to die in that cage.

I'm like, no, bro, you got two kids. No, don't say that. You have so much to live for, Roosevelt. No. I got it But yeah Yeah listen Listen if we want to we don't want to play routine being

Sorry cliche bingo because the ultimate fighter If there's one thing the ultimate fighter loves It's cliche dialogue from the coaches cliche dialogue from the fighters Dana White my god I don't know how many cliches She's spouted over the past again 30 seasons of the show

I'm speaking cliche Chandler apparently his fighters are dogs And they also have that dog in them Which sounds a bit weird to me But you know again Sometimes you're riffed And these things just get away from you. So I do want to get to the listener questions in a sec.

But before that, let's chat quickly about a bit of a broader topic. Considering like kind, this has been a lot of the discourse over the last couple of days with Connor and Monaco, Chandler doing as usual, posting out, you know, workout footage. A lot of people are wondering, how is this fight? And then, of course, there's the weird USADA drama that's also going off McGregor. So I want to get both good guys's opinions. You see, I'll go to you first. Do you think that we see this fight this year?

Are you getting any vibes that like this is going to get pushed to early 2023 or somewhere in the first quarter of 2023? Or do you think Dana said they're aiming for end of the year? So maybe it fills up that spot on that December pay-per-view. But I don't know. What's the vibe you're getting at Jesus? Yeah, so you're asking if you could get pushed to 2024. So like if there's a chance that it jumps in early next year.

I mean, we saw McGregor get interviewed when he was at the Black Forge in a week and a half ago. He promises that it's going to happen in 2020. am I getting the vibes that it might not? I mean, absolutely. There's certainly a chance. I mean, he is partying in Monaco and we're not sure with what's going on with Usada. So I want to believe, I'm going to say yes.

I think it does happen in 2023. I think it gets into one of those later year pay-per-views either November. I mean, if they did at MSG, that would be unbelievable or that December pay-per-view. But like, am I going to be, like, floored if it doesn't happen until 2024, no. But I will say if I have to choose one, I'm taking it's going to happen this year. Casey, as someone, you're an undefeated fighter. Does it bother you when you don't see Connor gripping and ripping it in the gym, posting those workout videos, showing those gains?

I mean, are you losing confidence that this is going to happen in the next six months? If it happens in the next six months, it may be at 85. Oh, it may be 85. You don't think he's going to, you think he's looking a little big. Yeah. I would be shocked if this fight happens in 2023. I would be shocked. I see Michael Chandler just actually just fighting someone before he actually fights

Connor McGregor. Oh. So, that's a little disappointment to me. Oh, yeah, it will be disappointment. Yeah, incredibly disappointment. But Michael Chandler, I mean, I don't know how much Michael Chandler is in the bank, but he has to fight a little bit more than I would think Connor. Connor doesn't have to fight.

This is just, I don't know what this is for him. It's possible. There was a tough coach curse for a while where a lot of times the fight that was, you know, hyped up throughout the season between the two coaches just didn't happen or didn't happen right away or was heavily delayed. I think they've had good luck with it. I want to say recently the past like seven or eight seasons where it went off without a hitch. But there was a stretch there where a lot of time was spent building up fights.

Have they ever done this before? I have two coaches in there and really have. You don't, we have no idea when the fight will actually happen. Is this, isn't there a general idea when they're like, as soon as the season ends, they're going to fight like a month later after that season ends or after the tough finale or the week after the tough finale. I don't recall something like this or we're going to have the tough finale. I don't know, three months or whatever.

And then maybe in six months, we're like, I or shooting this, whatever for this time. I'm not sure. of the year. Do we even have a date for the tough finale? I don't think so. We don't even know that, right? I don't think that's official. Yeah. So it's usually, they often don't know at the beginning of the season, but there hasn't been this much uncertainty, though it could just be because McGregor that is caught, you know, a little more speculation, a little more concerned. No, it is. Last season, Pena and Nunes, obviously even though they were going to do their rematch, that that was

not scheduled, officially scheduled until I think, like. like the seventh or eighth episode. It was quite a ways in before they finally announced it. But again, it's Nunes and Pena. There wasn't as much controversy as it was here. Do Connor and Chandler even have to fight? Yeah. Yeah.

I don't know. I don't want to. Am I throwing bad at you out there? I mean, first you say the episodes at D. Now you're saying they're never even going to fight. I mean, what are we even doing? Like, I'm doing. This is, this is, I think, listen, I love that I think people have talked.

There's a reason. I'm a laps fan. There was a reason I watched it. And then I was like, all right, I'm out. I've been burned. He's been hurt before. We've asked him to forgive and to come back to the show. And now he feels he's been hurt again.

You see, you are watching with beautiful. Yeah. We're going to get an announcement during the season. As the season goes on, I don't know when. Maybe it's July, maybe late June. We get an announcement of when this fight is going to happen. That is how it's supposed to go. That is how it's supposed to go.

I hope so. I hope you're right, Connor. I honestly do. Yeah, that's all. I hope everything goes perfect. GC, again, I know you haven't had a chance to do a ton of research on these guys, but as our no, and we'll go to the listeners next,

as are no bets barred man. I don't know if you're allowed to bet on the other fighter, I'm actually not sure. I'm sure someone's sewn up odds somewhere. I don't think that's on like draft kings or anything. Can you offer a lightweight pick and a bantamweight pick? I know you said you like Vallette, but I don't know if you meant you'd like him to go all.

the way. You're just like just chances of kind of winning his next fight. Is there any, can you, can you offer a name? I'm taking Valia to go all the way. That just like, Valiav from the Antomweights. Hunter, 100 or is it? Brad Katona either. I mean, man, the bantamweight vets are like, are kind of stacked, but I'm going to stick with my pick of Valiav. Lightweights. I mean, I don't want to say Roosevelt Roberts just because that's like recency bias. He just, he just came.

Let's see. It was Kurt Holobah said that he would finish everyone in the first round. I'm going to ride with him. That's going to be my prediction. I like Team Chandler guys to end up. Oh, Team Chandler going to win the show. Yeah, I like Kurt Hollabaw.

I think he's the oldest or second oldest guy on the show. I believe he's the first fighter who ever followed me back on Twitter. So there's a little weird thing. Wow. I'm kind of rooting for Kurt Hollabon. If I had to take someone from Team McGregor, though, I think it's Mando Gutierrez at 135 that every time they show him, he's rocking the cowboy hat.

You can know the story behind that, that gives me good energy moving forward. So he'll be my pick from Team McGregor. Does it worry you that Mando recently lost a fight to Roe Roses Jr.? No, not at all. I mean, he's on main cards of paper. reviews over here. Okay.

All right. All right. And I will say, Casey, I think before you, I don't think you made you pick, but you expect the veterans to just wash the prospects. You think they're going to adjust like seven and one or eight, no, six and two? Oh, Casey, you're muted. Sorry, thank you. Yeah.

Sorry. There are eight fights, right? There will be eight fights. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Four band and weights fights. Before the tournament starts, I guess. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, seven to one.

seven and one wow someone's going to slip on a banana pill and just you know a random show yeah i'm writing these down writing these down okay yeah he says yeah he says the vets team chanler goes seven and one in the preliminary round i said uh mando voreres uh sick hat and then i went with the leave and uh hollabah okay i'll go with you know what i'll go this is probably an easy pick Jason Knight for the lightweights. I don't know. I just got a good feeling about it. And my fellow Canadian, Brad Katona for the Bantam weights,

tough winner. He's going two-time. Two-time, tough winner. Let's go. Let's go. I'm actually going to go. I don't think Brad Katona gets it done because he won before. He doesn't go two-time. He doesn't go back-to-back. Yeah.

That's my anti-pick. It won't be Brad Ketka-Ton. Oh. It's worth noting Hunter Azure is also on the show. Hunter Azure beat Brad Catona in the UFC already. So I don't know if that makes people feel better about Katona's chances or worse, but certainly, again, something worth mentioning. Hunter Azure, another guy who probably shouldn't have even gotten released in the first place.

Casey, let's go ahead. Just about the vets. Like, I do have to say it was pretty crazy. Like I think it was Roosevelt Roberts. And he was talking with another member of the household just about how crazy it was to get cut and everything they had to go through. So it's interesting to hear their perspective and I think it's going to be incredibly valuable

throughout the show. So I do side with Casey. I think the vets are going to have a lot of success. Yeah, I think, again, I think if there were odds on these things, the bets would be pretty fairly favored in some of these matchups. But all right, Katie, we've been yapping for a while. Let's go to the listeners for a few questions, please. All right.

I'm sorry to keep the viewers waiting. There we go. Oh, we've got some good questions already, I see. Boarding for flight 246 to Toronto is delayed 50 minutes. Ugh, what? Sounds like Ojo time. Play Ojo? Great idea. Feel the fun with all the latest slots in live casino games and with no wagering requirements.

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Unwrap holiday magic at Holt Renfrew with gifts that say I know you. From festive and cozy fashion to Lux Beauty and Fragrant Sets, our special selection has something for every style and price point. Visit our Holtz holiday shop and store or online at Holtrenfrew.com. Yeah, from the last stand, zero, zero one. What do you guys think of the fights still being two rounds? G.C., did you know going in that the fights on Ultimate Fighter were only two rounds? I did not.

I did not. It kind of shocked me. But then we have the sudden death third round if it's one, one after two. Yeah, correct. Yeah. So at that point, I'm cool with it. I mean, I feel like we're going to see a decent amount of finishes. And if we have to go to a third round, I like the sudden death aspect of it.

It makes it feel a little bit more reality TV, which is what I'm here for. Yeah, I'm with that too. I also think, like, theoretically, it's supposed to motivate them to go for a finish, right? To kind of come out faster, you've only got like 10 minutes to make a strong and impression, like you said, if you want to come up fast and win two rounds, that's all you need to win. So, yeah, I like, and I'm also optimistic because there's a few more veterans on the show and they know what they're doing that we will see either better fights or actually see more finishes. So we're saying you win the first round and you just cruise your way and play it.

No, the opposite, the opposite. You have to, you have to fight hard both rounds unless you want to avoid fighting a third round. So that's, and it doesn't, it usually doesn't work out that way. A lot of times fighters just kind of pace themselves like it's a three round fight, knowing that have like a third they can you know but i wish it's not the show's fault i'm here it's not the show's fault it's not the producer's fault the two fights should should be motivated and this is the reason why the i'm sorry this is the reason why these are technically exhibition matches exhibition's correct because of this uh two round thing um i think it's stupid i don't think why why do we need it like just have them i don't know i just it doesn't add extra drama to me but um i get why they do it but it's

I mean, has that been since season one, this whole two-round thing? I'm pretty sure. I don't know about the sudden death thing. I know, but that has been around for a while, the sudden death round. But it must have. It's so weird because you can't even bring up the first season. The first season, the guys didn't even know they were going to fight on the show. They all thought they're like, they all thought like, oh, only one of us is going to make it to the finale.

And only one of it. That was such so weird. I'll have to go back. I don't think, I assume they were just three-round fights on the first season. but now that you mentioned it like yeah the whole exhibition thing but it has been two rounds fights for a long time plus the plus the bonus round

yeah I interrupted you Mr. Berks you were going to say oh yeah GC you had another thought on that we're going to have open scoring on the ultimate fight of this season I'm actually surprised they haven't tried it on the show there's no reason not to try it and I say this is not a fan of it like why not I don't see why you know

that would feel more reality TV show yeah another gimmick gimmickers are good for reality TV I think that was actually the biggest disappointment, though, with the episode is not, it's because nothing changed. I think that was just a big, like no stupid let's, like open scoring or let's, I don't know, just, or let's have the opponents, let's have the teams pick the matchups. I don't know.

I'm just throwing things out there. I was just, I think it was just disappointed. Nothing was different. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. It's a very professional product. Like, it's a very professional, well done product. Like, again, remember, this is the first time the show has been on ESPN, right?

Just the first season actually on ESPN. So they probably thought, let's not mess around with it too much. We know what we do well. Let's play it safe, which I think defines the ESPN era of the O.C. pretty well. So that's not super, right? It's not super surprising that they didn't go crazy with anything. But I was surprised they didn't do more Connor, though. Yeah.

Yeah, that was actually a shock. Just a comment? Alan I or Alan L says, or Alan the first? I don't know. Decent first episode. It'll probably get better. Next episode. first tough episodes are just intro and sneak previews slash hint stuff.

No, that's true. That's true. And I think what Casey is saying, though, is like that that is how it's usually done. Could they not have just tweaked it a little bit? You know you're getting more eyeballs because of McGregor. Could you not have taken a chance here? But I don't know. I don't think it was necessarily the worst thing.

At GC, you were fine with how it was laid out pretty much, right? Well, I'm with Allen. I like the, I like the intros. I like you get to meet the fighters. plus the role at the end, the little sneak preview role. I think I saw Islam in there at one point. Maybe he'll be making an appearance. That'll be interesting, especially if he's around McGregor.

Some ice baths. I saw them all getting into ice, McGregor and Chandler getting into ice baths. At one point, I don't know if it had to do with the infamous push, the shove that we're going to get at some point. Dana running over, and he was like, get out of my way, get out of my way. So I don't know what that's all about, but the little highlight reel that they played at the end got me hyped for the two and a half months.

Oh, yeah, I'm with Allen. G.C., they really real gin. They really real gin with this show. I'm glad to hear it. I'm hyped about them. I'm glad to hear it. Casey, can we get one or two more questions in here? Yeah, kind of what we just talked about real quick.

Brandon QFG, did this show feel as stale for you guys as previous seasons? there were no changes to the format. Yeah, again, Stale is a fair word. I did see a lot of people, I saw a few people, I think, was a great Caposa saying, like, I'm watching the first 10 minutes of this. And if it's not, if everything's just the same, like I'm out of here.

And again, I don't blame people. I don't blame people. It can be a bit of a grind to get through it. The draft, again, was not as compelling as it could have been. That's usually a pretty good, Hick. I'm sorry, I'm thinking about Hick Diaz, Jason Knight. That's usually a pretty good hook. for, you know, new viewers, old viewers,

see where they rank the fighter and stuff, but you didn't even get that. Yeah, I wanted to see them like, you know, roll or something or do something. And then Conner's like, oh, I like that guy, you know, it was, it was nothing. Like, why he chose them? Why?

You mentioned it earlier, A.K., like, I wish we had gotten to see more of what they really liked in each guy and why they made the selections that they did. And, I mean, maybe actual coaching instead of, like, I mean, I did get a kick out of McGregor. like immediately suiting up like throwing on the headgear and the shit. I was going to say that was probably one of the better parts. That was probably one of the better parts.

Yeah. Maybe that's all they had and they had really just stretched it out. But I guess one just issue I have to show right too. I'm just thinking about the coaching part. It's like I don't watch a lot of reality TV. But when I do like I like that show Forged and Fire. You know what I'm talking about? I'm not a fire.

Well, it's a guy. It's a welding show. But I don't. I don't weld. I'm not a blacksmith, but like I feel like I learned something about blacksmithing. Connor, did you feel like you learn anything about fighting or is that even important? I don't know. You know what I'm trying to say? That's fantastic comparison. I'm not going to lie. Like a lot of the F1 documentary on and like you learn a ton about the sport and you get into the sport. Yeah, I mean, honestly, if you just watched this one episode, no, and you didn't learn anything about fighting.

And then you also, the fight at the end lasted nine seconds. So that's all you got in terms of that. That's a good point by you, Casey. Yeah. That was something that was emphasized, again, on probably earlier seasons of the show, when they were trying to grow the MMA audience. And then when they realized, oh, we're getting sort of a new crowd here. Let's have a segment where we have one of the coaches going to like, oh, this is how, you know, how a super effective triangle goes.

I remember the Ronda Rousey season. There was a whole bit about like, oh, how great her arm bars are and people showing off the arm bar. It's definitely become less emphasized in the newer era where they kind of take for granted what they assume, you know, oh, most fans know these things now. We don't need to show fans what a double leg is. We don't need to show fans what a Superman punch is.

But I agree those segments, stuff like that, would be a little refreshing, frankly. Yeah, yeah. I had issues, that's all. Like, I want the show to be better. That's all. Casey, it's all uphill from here. It's all uphill, I'm telling you.

There you go. There you go. It's positive. You got to stay positive. Yeah. I'm seeing some good recommendations. I said, Zach Hep says, just show zero footage of the house. No one gives an F about that.

That's probably true. Well, again, GC, I'll ask you. Did you like that? Did you like getting a little glimpse inside the, the tough house? You're asking me? Oh, hello? Oh, no, GCC. I'm asking you.

Sorry. Oh, you asked me. I'm sorry. I think you guys got to see the bunk beds. The bunk beds are sick. I can't imagine like these killers that are like great fighters having to sleep in bunk beds for however long they did. He was going to be like Chandler running around with them too.

At one point, like he was excited about the sauna or something. Yeah, I mean, I don't need to see them eating breakfast or having their avocados or whatever. But like I'm going to imagine at some point in the season there's going to be a decent amount of drama that takes place at the household. But yeah, I'm kind of with Zach here. I hope you're right, because I will tell you something. There was one season of The Ultimate Fighter. I believe it was, I can look at this up quickly,

a number, season 19, the completely pointless Frankie Edgar BJ Penn season where they, it preceded their third fight, which never should have happened. There was a montage of just people sleeping. I will tell you, there was a time, a time skip. I was like, this show is dead. this show and then it went and then it went on for another like 15 seasons uh but yes we we are hoping there we are hoping that uh there will be some actual jazz there's so much proper 12

just keep playing them with the proper 12 come on yeah there was there was zero coaching but they had time to put in fighters talk about proper 12 let's just you're darn right also can we talk about like not just the proper 12 but the the the forged irish stout i've got it right up there on my oh yes uh i also thought it was i got a pretty good kick out like as soon as the number McGregor team, like became the McGregor team, they all show up the next time at the apex. And 70% of them are wearing the Ford driver stout hats and a lady's teacher. It's like they just got all the McGregor merch. If you're on team, if you're on team Chandler, I mean, you're not touching that stuff in the house, right?

You can't, you can't be seen drinking the proper 12 or the stout, right? You can't. You embarrassed yourself. It's like you did something really dumb, like some viral clip and it's because you got you got hammered off of proper stuff. Oh, gosh, I hope that doesn't happen, but the producers may be hoping it does. Casey, can we get one more in here? All right. Yeah.

Oh, well, G.C. kind of mentioned one. So Beal wants to know what guest coaches do you think will appear. G.C., you said we saw a hint of Islam. I think I actually missed it. Islam Makachev. Unless I was seeing things in that quick highlight real at the end, I thought I saw Islam by the cage. Yeah. I could see Chandler bringing in a lot of guests.

Obviously, he's got those, you know, those Killcliff connections. I would love to see if they brought in, if like, you know, I know he's kind of in just coming up in his career still, but like Ian Machado, Gary to see his interaction. Because he's, you know, he's pals with Chandler. But then there's the whole, oh, Irish connection with McGregor. And they're, you know, they're certainly not enemies at all. They definitely like each other. So that would be a fun thing. I don't think he's going to take time to go on the show.

But I would love to see Ian Machia. of Gary pop-up. Casey, I don't know if you have any coaches. As long as they coach and we get to see it, maybe, yeah. You just want to see coaches in general. Best coaches. You don't hear more from the coaches. Yeah, because that's what the show is supposed to be, right?

Like these very famous, highly regarded coaches with these guys going, all right, let's get into the biggest promotion in the world. Let's make this happen. But I don't know. But was it, what's under one point in the show when some of the coaches said, maybe it was one of the fighters, it said like, I don't know how much is going to change. Yeah. Yeah, the veterans.

The veterans were like, yeah, the best. Like, we're who we are. Yeah, as long as we kind of make weight, this is what it is. I mean, we can game plan a little bit, but they don't know who their opponents are. So. Well, they do now. Yeah, I guess. Yeah, I don't know.

Yeah, that's about it. But other than that, yeah, if you've been in the game for, what, 11, 12 years, I'm not sure how much you can again, but you know, you can always get refined. Some of these guys are coming from, I don't say, not necessarily bad gyms,

but smaller gyms have been training with the same guys for like, you know, almost their entire careers. So it could be, it could be, you know, just that benefit of without having to change teams fully,

getting to learn from a Chandler, from Ryan Bader, getting to learn from McGregor, John Kavanaugh and all those guys. So there's something, there's something to that. There's something to that. I always like to believe that these,

these, they form real bonds with these coaches. It was nice to see, you know, McGregor, I thought he was there for Nate Jenerman. I thought that was kind of nice. So I don't know. We see more of that. But Casey, I think that is it for questions this week.

Yeah, I think that's good. Okay. I will apologize to people, I don't think we'll be able to take questions in the future. Again, the show, Tough Hang will be on every Tuesday immediately after the Ultimate Fighter 31. But thank you guys. Thank you guys for joining us for this first show. Thank you, G. G.C. Popping that

tough premiere cherry, I guess. I'm probably just a better way to say that. But there he is. So proud. And having the prospect colors, those are the team Chandler prospect colors. He has picked two Chandler fighters to win the show. He's all way on my on my own. I'm in a McGregor's jersey right now.

No, no, that's right. That's right. I'm sorry. You're the, McGregor's the prospect side. You're right. So you're going with that. But you're going with the, technically going with the red team, which I guess would be my team somehow.

Michael Chandler. And producer Casey, thank you as well for joining us, for ending your tough celibacy. I really got to find better ways to say these things. And watching the, I don't know why it keeps. Pop this cherry. I'm a celibate. Yeah.

Good job, E.K. Coming back to these things. And thank you again, everyone, for watching everyone who listens on the podcast later. Enjoy the rest of the season, everybody. next week, episode two, Timor Valleyev versus Trevor Wells. Yeah, and then I actually am really looking forward to that fight. And hopefully, hopefully, I don't think we get the shove yet, but hopefully we start to build up some McGregor-Channler drama

that will culminate in a fight in 2023. Fingers crossed, we don't know. But this has been the first episode of Tough Hand. Good night to everyone, and take care yourselves. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.