MMA Fighting - UFC 267 Post-Fight Show | Reaction To Teixeira, Yan Triumphs; Chimaev’s Incredible Return

Episode Date: October 31, 2021

Glover Teixeira and Petr Yan left UFC 267 with championship gold, while Khamzat Chimaev and Islam Makhachev made things look easy. MMA Fighting's Mike Heck, Alexander K. Lee and E. Casey Leydon react to the UFC's memorable return to Abu Dhabi. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow Alexander K. Lee: @AlexanderKLee Follow E. Casey Leydon: @ekc 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 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 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. Listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. What's this stand for? A.K., what's the stand for? Next martial arts. Oh, no.

Oh, just like, ah. Ah. Go ahead. Start again. Start again. Write it back. Right it back. Bear with us.

We'll be back after these words. I'm kidding. Welcome to the UFC 27 post-fight show for the love of God. It has been a day. And gentlemen, we got A.K., we get Casey here. A.K., let me start with you. You are the Prince of Positivity. We are going to begin on to the next one tomorrow.

Talking about Glover Tashira, the brand new, light heavyweight champion of the world. He goes out there, wins the first round against Jan Blahovic. He's winning the second round. Hertz Boehovic gets it back to the ground, submits him in round two in the 42-year-old, or the recently turned 42-year-old from New England is a world champion. Isn't MMA the best, A.K.? Isn't MMA the best? I mean, we were saying this last year when, you know, Jan won the world title.

We were like, man, I can't believe. So it's 37-year-old Jan Blahovic is a UFC champion. And now it's, man, I can't believe 42. year old, Gloria DeShara is a UFC champion. So, yeah, it is amazing. And it feels deserved.

I know, I know a lot of people are kind of, not a lot of to say, our own Jedmishu kind of had this take that was like, oh, man, doesn't it look, isn't it going to look weird

if Glover wins and a 42-year-old guy is sitting at the top of the light heavyweight debate? Who cares? Who cares about his age? He's right now has a claim

to be the best light heavyweight in the world. I'm sure it will be disputed. Just as Yons was, especially early on, when John Jones was still in the picture. I don't think he's maybe not as much of a factor anymore. But given that the top seven or eight of light heavyweight is actually pretty lively again,

you are going to have people who will say, yeah, but how long is he going to hold on to it? And is this, you know, is this just, is he just going to be one and done? And you know what? I think for today, we can say it doesn't matter. It happened. He's in the books forever. I don't believe in the whole, oh, you have to defend it. You're a paper champion.

Once you win that belt, you are officially a U.S.C. champion all through history. Again, contact and not all champions are created equal. But he's in there. He's in the books. And it is a very, very lovely thing to see. What do you think, Casey? I mean, you're a guy that's getting ready to make his amateur MMA debut. You're working hard.

You're waking up early. Pedal to the medal. Getting ready to step in that cage in a couple of months and to see what Glover Tashara has done. Five and five after ten fights, he got absolutely deaded by Carl Roberson at the Barclay Center two years ago. in 2019 the man has come back and now is a world champion this is i mean this is unbelievable it's great um i see nothing negative about this at all this is uh just like it just shows you man like this is just hard work keep doing it keep winning keep i mean he's all glover glover's like this is this sucks like training waking up every morning your body's breaking down you just

got a your whole life is just dedicated to this dedicated to this And he did it the right way, I guess. He didn't have to trash talk. He didn't have to, I don't know, get out of his, he didn't have to not be himself. He was always clever to share. He didn't have to fake it to get that title shot. And, you know, if John Jones doesn't retire from the 205 division, maybe this never happens. I don't know.

But the way things worked out, it's a great story. And I hope people don't try to twist this into a negative thing. You know, it's like, oh, an old guy won a. Is he going to win 10 fights like John Jones? I don't care. If he loses his next fight to Yeri, if he loses his next fight to whoever, I don't care. Levert to Cher came back from a dominant title loss to John Jones a few years back, came back and won the damn belt.

Freaking awesome. What a story. What a story. I love it. Glevichero rules. And every M.M.A fan should be happy. Yeah. What I meant to say was he was almost, it was almost.

most coltid by Carl Roverson. He didn't get Coling, because he came back and won that fight, but he was a bad, he was a big, huge trouble in that fight. But, I mean, to go from there to where he's at right now still, just absolutely incredible.

Apologies for the mess up there. It's just an incredible story. It's an incredible story. And I think maybe it was Nolan King or another, a reporter, no, suggested, is Glover to share kind of the greatest

unlikely 205 champion or one of the greatest UFC, most unlikely champions in the UFC history? Actually, I think it's Yon. I think it's, actually still, I think Yon was still even a more unlikely champion because Glover was always an elite 205er. Yon was kind of on the brink of getting cut, I think, multiple times.

So regardless, there's no use really ranking who's, though, the most unlikely champion. Glever did it. He did it dominantly. I picked Glover to win because clearly I know what I'm talking about because, and yeah, it's just super, man. It's like, I'm just, it just looks like a good dude. in and it's this is this is got it's going to be a big shock when we go to next week because next week's main event is not going to be as far as the buildup would not have the same energy and that this

week had yes i don't think kamar o'sman will be handing colby covington a beer to put in his fridge for after the fight at ufc 268 but that's a conversation for another time things are probably it's probably going to be an ugly build to msg for being honest but they're selling pay-per-views and that's what sells paper views. But, A.K., I want to go back to you because here's what I continue to see on Twitter after the moment. Let's praise Glover Tashira for getting to the top of the mountain. But what he should do is he should take that title on the top of the mountain and just leave it there and crawl back down because I don't want to see him fight Yuri Perashka. I don't want to see him fight some of these young bucks.

I've seen this time and time again since Glover won the title. Just retire. Don't fight Yeri. Yeri will crush you and you won't be the champion anymore. I think he's got a shot against Yeri. Like, Yari is a dangerous, scary dude. But Glover is a seasoned veteran. He did the damn thing tonight against Yombovovich.

Do you, like, were you on the side that I'm on where it's just like, dude, let the fight play out? Or were you kind of hoping that Glover won the title, rode off into the sunset as a world champion, something that a lot of people didn't think he would do in his career? I mean, as a fan selfishly, I want to see him continue fighting. I mean, there's also that part of me that's he's been fighting for a long time. He's taking a lot of day.

I want to see retire to all his faculties and taxes to be able to play with his children and all that. But as a, you know, the fight fan part, I want to see him keep fighting. And I agree with what you're saying, but the Prohashka thing, like, should he like not want to go out that way? First of all, he's the kind of guy he'll want to go out on his shield. You know, it's cool to go out to high. I'm sure if tomorrow he changes his mind and decides, you know what, I don't want to fight again. I'm sure he'll be very fine with that decision. But at the same time, I'm sure the current thinking he has now where he's like, no, I want to fight.

I want to defend this title. I'm the champion now. I'm sure that high, he won't regret it. He won't regret it later no matter what happens in the next fight. And the thing with Yerry is, of course, I bet Yeri, boy, I bet he'll be probably by the time fight night rolls around like maybe a three to one favorite, maybe minus 250 at worst. But if you thought, I'm sure a lot of people would have thought that Blohovic would have been a good challenge for him. I don't think anyone would assume he would have killed Yan. They might have picked him to beat Jan, but I don't think they would have thought as a blowout.

So if you think that, I don't know, matchups matter, but if you think that Jan would have a chance, well, Glover just beat him. So why can't Glover have a chance to beat Yuri Barhajka? So I'm very much looking forward to that fight. I'm sure Glover is too. And again, whatever happens, you know, you can't take away Glover winning the title. You're not taking away Matt Serra winning the title. You're not taking away Forrest Griffin winning the title. It doesn't matter what happened next.

These are great moments in MMA, and they're not soiled about what happens after. Casey, did you see when Glover Tashira was brought up about Yuri Pajasca, they showed Yuri in the crowd, and Glover finally found him. He goes, where is he at? Come down here. And he sees him, and he's like, oh, yes, you and me were going to fight. And Yuri Pashka is like, yeah, let's do it.

And he goes, yes, in May. We'll fight in May. And the drop on his face is around. May, I got to wait seven months to fight this guy. I thought that was brilliant gamesmanship by Glover to share. Yes, I know you want to take some time off, but I think he had this planned. I think that was a 42-year-old move being like, this guy wants to fight. He wants to fight as soon as possible.

I'm going to make him wait over a half a year before he has to fight me again. Now he has a decision to make. Do I want to just, do I want to wait another seven months to fight for a world title? Or do you want to risk it all and fight Jan or? fight Ankleyev or fight rackets or fight racket or fight somebody like that. So I thought brilliant strategy on Glover's part. It's beautiful. What did you think of the whole thing?

When I heard the word May, I was bummed. I was like, oh, no, because it's what's already been about. It's already been over, I think it's been six months or so since the year he fought, right? It feels like it's been May, right? Is it May or March? I'll call that six months. Yeah. It's been a while.

It's been a while. So it's going to be over. it could be up to nine, nine, ten months before Yeri fights again between this last fight and now. But, yeah, I

hope the fight happens. I wanted to be sooner. I hope the UFC can push some more money toward Gleva Tashara and make that fight sooner. I'm hoping sometime, you know, February, you know, maybe the Super Bowl weekend. That'll be cool.

Yeah, I mean, if Yeri wants If Yuri wants to fight again, that's risky. It's really just a financial decision for him, I would think. I hope it's super. I don't want to wait until May. That would suck because just a lot of things can happen. And Glover's going to be older. I mean, he'll be older.

It's just like he's people. There'll be 42 and a half. 42 and a half. I mean, yeah. I don't, I don't, now that Glover is winning all his fights, everything he says seems like a genius move, I guess, one of those things. When you're losing fights, it's just like, oh, you're just talking. Now that he wins, it's like, oh, that's a good move.

That was smart. I think that was planned. I think it was planned a little bit. I think part of it's true anyways, but just the way he presented it in Yuri's face, it was just so picture perfect. How many times have we heard fighters kind of say, oh, I'll fight in six months, but the UFC's like, we want you to fight, you know, two weeks from now. Well, may not champions, but, you know, they want to fight a little sooner.

And I don't know if Glover has to, maybe, I don't know if he has to pull. with the UFC to kind of stretch it out that long. But hopefully we see him sooner. That's all. We'll see what happens. Great win. Jan Belhovic, of course, AK, champions mentality, went to the press conference,

answered all the questions. Ketali didn't really want to be there, but he still went there. He faced the music. It doesn't get much better than that. Where does he go from here? Because I think we're both in agreement. The immediate rematch thing is just not going to happen.

Even after beating Israel out of Sanya, it's just not going to happen. Uri's next. go back to the drawing board. You know, what do we do? What did you make of Jan, his performance? Did he seem a little off? I know that was a big narrative heading out,

but just the way he's handled it all in defeat. Yeah, I mean, I think he was a little off, but I don't know if he's going to pin it on anything specific. We always talk about how fighters have one of the most difficult jobs because they fight three or four times a year max. If it's not your day, it's not your day. and if it's not your day in a big title fight, it's not your day.

This isn't like other pro sports, like baseball. You play 162 times a year. You could have four bad games in a row, and you're like, oh, well, guess what? I have 20 games coming up in the next month. I'll be fine. I can sort it out. MMA, you don't get that chance.

If you're even off a little bit, and this isn't taking away from anything that Glover did. You know, it's, again, every title fight in history, I'm sure the loser could say I wasn't at my best. I wasn't at my best. So the winner can't control that. It's a fine quality win for COVID-Share. He beat the best light heavyweight in the world.

So, yeah, I don't know if anything was off with Yon. Because like he said, he just didn't feel like himself. And who knows what it was? It could be time zone. He's, you know, just, I got the style of opponent. It could be something eight this morning. It could have been something wrong with a weight cut. You don't know.

And it could be all those things combined. And he'll probably never know exactly what it was. You know, there's probably to isolate a few things. He'll never know. Why did I fight so poorly? Why did I go down in the second round? Why did I tap? Why was the choke getting so quick that I had to tell?

within seconds of it being put in. There's just no way to know. But as for what's next for him, kind of to follow up when you guys just said, if I'm him, I'm trying to get in soon. He does sound like he wants to take some time off and he deserves it. I understand that.

Again, he's an older fighter too. But if he wants to really undercut Yuri, if this May thing is true, get back in there. He should fight a rackage or fight an Ankylaev. He gets a big finish or impressive winning against one of those guys. Then he calls for the rematch.

Then if you're Yuri, you're really sweating. Then you're like, oh, crap. Like, I have to fight. That's why I was going to say when you guys were asking, what should Uri do next? He also should fight. It sucks. He was an alternate for this fight. That should earn him an automatic title shot.

But if he can't wait until next May, you probably shouldn't. I don't think the division is going to stop moving. So someone could easily take his spot. And then if someone gets injured, gosh, it delays it even further. So, yeah, everyone's got to stay busy. That's pretty much my take on it. There's no waiting until next May if that's what Glover is planning to do. 205 is interesting.

It's as interesting as it's been in a long time. It is. it's compared to the other divisions it's not that interesting but it's still very as interesting as it's been in a long time case he's rolling his eyes but you know what i mean i know i like 205 has not been interesting in a long long time and now it is and i think i i'm big into belts changing i i'm i know everyone people complain when there's a dominant champion people complain when there's not like when the championship rotates all the time they kind of complain all the time about it um i like the 205 division now

I think it's got old guys and young guys. That's why, like, you know, you got the up-and-comers, you know, the paraskas, the rack-hatches, and you have the oldest dudes with Glover to share at the top. That's awesome. That's a great story. But what is this thing about Jan looking bad? To me, maybe I'm Mr. Positive today. I thought, maybe because I thought Glover was going to win.

I was kind of pretty confident in that. Maybe I thought Glover just looked like himself, and I thought he was always the better fire than Jan. Do you think, do you really think Yon was just had like an off night and, you know, he wins that fight nine out of ten times type of thing? Or is it just, no, I wouldn't say that at all. I just say he didn't look good. He didn't look good. He didn't look good. He didn't look good. And again, that's probably because of Glover. The person across the cage. Yeah. Yeah. That's the Glover's credit. Not not because of just because of whatever, you know, Jan couldn't perform. He didn't look good tonight. But again, like I said, you can make excuses for any fight. And that's not what I'm doing here for for Jan Bluhova. And I don't think he wants to either. He just says he wasn't himself. He didn't say, why. He didn't say, oh, I would have beaten, I would have beaten Glover on any other day.

He didn't say anything like that at the Post-Five Press Conference. Because, again, all that matters, they fought tonight. Glover won. And if they never fight again, that's how it's always going to be. The takedown was huge. Take-down was absolutely massive. In the first round? The first round, take-down.

Yeah, the grueling, yeah, the grueling, grimy, the can openers and the shove-in-the-in-in- Yeah, we had the head open. Yeah, yeah, good stuff. Yeah, I know, you know what? I kind of, I kind of poo-poo sometimes the commentary for the UFC, but I thought tonight, I thought Felder and D.C. And I, Annick, did just a great job the whole night with 15 something. But I, there wasn't one moment tonight while I was going, oh, boy.

I thought tonight they nailed it. And I thought maybe it was D.C. I said, like, when he got that takedown, he was just like, that is big. That is a big deal when he got that takedown within the first, whatever, 30 seconds of the fight or something like that. And I thought those guys did a great job tonight with all those fights. I want to applaud that. Yeah, great job by the commentary team.

I think DC might have a little extra juice with some of the Habib Association. Habib's buddies and teammates. So he was a little more invested for like half the fights on the card. Some people don't like that. Some are like, should he even be commenting on these fights when he's like, he is trained with all these guys, he's friends with a lot of these guys. I didn't mind it tonight. I'm not saying it's not an issue.

Certainly I could see why people wouldn't want a commentator to have that potential bias. But I think, as you said, Casey, tonight, commentary was just really good. Yeah, good analysis. 14 fight card, long fight card. The energy was great. The analysis was great. So, well, well done, Cormey Felder and excellent. Oh, and of course, what's his name?

I'm sorry. Jim, Dean Thomas? No, I'm sorry. He was doing the sideline reporting today. Jim, what's his? John. John. John.

John Gooden. I'm sorry. His name is gay. John Gooden was excellent as well today. Noted. We missed him so much. I forgot his name. By the way, just real quick

for we move on from the commentary. You mentioned DC. He was a little animated for his guys. Did you know that Paul Felder had a teammate on this card? Did you even realize it? Andre Pertrowski. Oh.

And you didn't know it, did you? Because Paul Feldar does such a great job of ignoring it. Like, you had no idea. If I didn't tell you, wouldn't even have known, just the way he called it. It's such a difference

when Felder calls his teammates fights and when D.C. calls his teammates fights. And there's nothing wrong with that. Like, if one of my teammates fought and I'm on color commentary, I don't know how I would be. I'd probably favor them a little bit more. I'm with D.C. in a lot of ways.

But Felder just such a great job of keeping that out. If I was doing commentary on Casey's fight, upcoming fight, I'd be shouting like, I'd be the RIPA D-D guy. Rip his D. Rip off his D. Casey, why aren't you ripping off his T more? Twist.

Trist it. So, and so I, like I said, I applaud them because I would be, I would not be able to contain myself. Because we're not going to really talk about it. Can we talk about, what was the guy's name, Petroski? Petroski, how do you say his name? J. Petrosky's opponent. Yes, who, who Yao Zong? Three and three.

I saw your tweet. Can you, can you kind of break down his UFC notoriety now? I believe. Oh, I should credit this person on Twitter. I'm sorry, there's a Twitter user who I'll credit in a second who reminded me. So one of two fighters, I was asking if he was the first. But there's one of two fighters to start off O and three in the UFC at three different weight classes. He started as a heavyweight, then fought it light heavyweight, and then that was like three years ago and came back, completely changed the middle weight and lost again.

So O and three, the other Jerome Rivera, who fought at Bantamweight, then flyweight, then featherweight. So that was a weird one. So, and he went, he started off O and 3 and actually went Owen 4 before being released. So kind of a weird historical footnote. And, but at least Jerome Rivera had a better record before joining the UFC. Uh, Huia Zong, after that loss, is now three and three as a professional. And I, oh my God. I'm like, I can't believe.

I picked him to win this by it too. He's like, I was like, I don't know, whatever. Man, like, looking at the three guys he beat to get to UFC, O in one, debut, and two and three. Why was this guy in the U.S.C.? I know why, but... I think he was a... I believe he was a product of, yeah, the Shanghai Performance Center,

so they must be thinking... They must have thought that there was really... But I mean, they give him some really... Protrowski's a super tough opponent. If you're trying to build a guy up, I don't know why you'd put him with Andre Petroski. That was a very strange choice. Okay.

I don't know. I don't know, man. Yes. There you go. And Jerome Rivera at least got a win on the contenders here. So, justified. All right. So that was the main event. AK, we got ourselves a classic.

I always call the Banoid Division, the Banoid title, the Intercontinental title, the Intercontinental title. Interim Intercontinental title was on the line, and this fight delivered. Piotr-Yon versus Corey Sanhagan. In the end, 49-46, all three judges scored it for Piotrion. I also scored at 4946, but again, and I tweeted this out, the scorecards are not indicative of how close this fight actually was. Because if you look at the actual stats, some of the rounds favor Corey Sanhagen, but it just, just depends on how you score rounds. Damage is always the number one priority.

That's something we've all had to sort of learn and live with. That's kind of the universal judging at this point. Damage trumps all. And I felt that Peoriae landed the more damaging strikes in rounds two, three, four, and five in Sanhagen won the first. That's how I scored it. How did you score it? And just your thoughts on such a tremendous, tremendous matchup

for the interim Bannamway title. Yes. First, shoutouts to at Russell Jamia on Twitter for the Jerome Rivera tidbit. But that was one of the best fights of the year, indisputably. Again, I'll have to look back at, in my mind, I'm thinking it's the best fight of the year because I just watched it.

It was, we thought it was going to be a spectacular striking battle. It was exactly that Corey Sanhagen, winning the first round only made it more intriguing. I think a lot of us knew that Yon has dropped, you know, the opening round, like one of the opening rounds before. Jose Aldo, there was definitely moments enough fight early on when Aldo was winning. But Jan has that gift of, boy,

once he gets those lasers locked in, you can see his gear is just change. And man, by the third or fourth round, he was countering everything. Every unorthodox movement that Corey Sanhagan tried to make, he would run into a Yon strike. It was unbelievable.

Like, it's just, you'd have to, I think you'd really have to slow it down to appreciate it. But even in real time, I think everyone watching was having so much fun. And that's what made it a great fight. I had it 49, 46 for Yon, but the second round, very close. and even the third round

I would give it comfortable to Jan but it wasn't like he blew San Hagen away in the third round it was competitive so yeah definitely people are going to look at the 49-46 and say oh why didn't the judges give one more round to Corey but three and four were the real runaway

rounds for Jan and then two was close one San Hagan won so it was a good competitive fight the scores don't you know the judges were great the judge did it I think they scored it perfectly and I hope I don't think they should be criticized for we're loving everybody tonight commentary team

judges, every referee on the card. I mean, I don't think we're going to mention any referees in the card who did a bad job. So just top to bottom, good stuff. But yeah, one of the best fights of the year. And we'll talk about it more in the rankings later this week. But boy, if there was any question from Jemokes like me that Peer-Ean was the number one bantamweight in the world, pretty sure he's the number one bannon weight in the world. Yes.

Your thoughts, Casey. I mean, catches catch-can, kind of a 135-pound fight. This is everything we hoped it would be. more for being honest. Jan gets it done. Seems like we're going to get Sterling Jan too for the undisputed title. Just a great fight with your thoughts overall. I think we're all kind of in agreement. It's just a super good fight. Just a level fighters fighting at their best. That's all. Just in the best, and to me, the best weight division in all mixed martial arts. I was super excited about this fight. I was super

excited when it was booked. And the fight absolutely deliver. Oh, got to ban someone on the comment. You are banned. Oh, my goodness. You are gone, sir. Oh, boy. Yeah. Yeah, it was just a great fight, man.

Peter Jan exceeded my expectations tonight. He had, I know he doesn't fight like Anderson Silva, but he has that thing where he will kind of almost give around the way because he is studying and breaking you down and he gets stronger. and he doesn't get stronger throughout the fight, he figures you out. And all your tricks and little moves and strategies you have planned to training camp by, you know, eight minutes into the fight. He's like, all right, I know what you're doing. And then he takes over. And it was, it was just, it's just an exciting fighter, just, and he's so tough,

covers up so well defensively. He just, just incredibly defensively. And, yeah, and when he throws, when he throws, he hits hard and he wants to hurt you. and everything Santa Hagan gave him, he ate it, and then gave it back harder. And yeah, it was just great fight. I was just getting so excited when you have a fight you really want to see between the best fighters in the world and actually lives up to the expectations. Like as great as Glover winning, I wish it was a more competitive fight just because, you know, you want to see that. But we got that in this fight, in the Vantamweight fight, so it was super duper.

But I would like to talk about the score a bit. I'm going to be a bit of a rogue journalist. And if I was in, if this was in pride, no doubt Peter Yon was a better fighter. But if we go round by round, which I hate doing, I think that's stupid. I actually scored it for Corey Sanhagen. And I, yeah, and if we go by statistics, which I will bring up here, where's my little thing? I don't know how well you can guys read that. I did score round one, three, and five.

Was it run around three? Maybe two. Not three and four. Three and four were the most offended. Oh, three and four was. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I think it was two and five. Around one's two and five. Yeah. Um, yeah, I think those could have gone to Corey with the different judges. Uh, statistically he had, he had more, he landed more significant strikes, more total strikes in both those rounds. So if it wouldn't have gone to Corey, I, I, I, I wasn't going to be shocked. Um, but, uh, I just think it's interesting.

Um, um, um, I think even the commentaries did point out when that head kick landed in the fifth round, to me I thought that was the crowd really helped push yon. It made that kick look a lot hard because that kick was all foot. That's why when it landed, it made the big slap sound. And that's why Corey was all like, that was nothing. I was just the top of the foot. For a high-level fighter, that's nothing.

But it did make a lot of noise. The crowd reacted as if it was like a giant head kick. And I get it. That's just, you know, and judges react on that. But I do think Jan was the better fighter, and I have no issue with the decision because I respect the pride scoring system with judges the whole fight. And Jan was the better, he did the more damage as a whole. His rounds, yeah, he won were bigger and more dominant. But even without the pride scoring system, I think in the rounds where Corey landed more,

Jan was still landing the heavier shots. I understand. And that's the first criteria. Significant stats can be very deceptive because significant stats, are not all created equal, right? Like, someone could land two haymakers, like, that just rock their opponent in a round. And let's say the other guy lands, like,

10, like, Peter Paddered leg kicks. It's going to look like, two and they're going to strike at the fight. And part of fighting, and this is what Peter Jan's really good at, is, oh, sorry, part of, you went out for a bit, part of fighting, which Peter Jan is good at, when he does get hit, he doesn't show it. He doesn't, like, he doesn't go,

he doesn't back up or go like, whoa, oh, let me restart. He gets hit hard and just kind of walks right through it. So for the judges, it might be an incredibly damaging strike, but they will never know that. And that's one thing that makes Peter Yon a championship, just a future all-time great bantam weight. It's because when he gets those big shots hit him, he just walks right through them like it was nothing. So, yeah, way to work the judges, which is part of the game. I'd say work the judges like is a bad thing, but that is part of the game is you get hit hard. It doesn't hurt.

You just play it off. And I think even the commentators mentioned that. But one of the unfortunate things for Corey is that since he's so light-skinned, everything that touches him, kind of shows up, it kind of shows up welts and everything. So it's just, unfortunately, it's a bad look for fighters. But that's, you know, you fight with the hand you're dealt with. By the way, because someone is saying you jinxed my boy. Didn't you pick Glover on the, wait, I know you changed. I knew you picked Glover with us.

You pick Glover and on the preview show, right? Yeah, yeah. And on the pre-fight. Okay, you did pick Glover. I haven't picked Glover on week. Yes. I've been picking Glover. That's right.

That's right. That's right. You did the whole, you did the whole I've picked against Jan every time. Yeah. And finally, yeah. Finally, yeah. I broke the curse. Yeah.

That's right. That's right. And just think, just think we have to look forward to at 1.35 right now. We got Rob von Josie Aldo coming up December 4th. That's a big one, especially if Rob Font wins. We got Jan Sterling, too, which I'm hoping happens like in February. I think that if you're going to do Adasania Whitaker two, Sterling Yan to on that car

to be a tremendous co-main event. Then we got T.J. Dilleshaw who will face the winner of that. And then, I mean, it's just the types of matchups that are in store for us. It's just unbelievable. And there's still so many. Like, we got guys like Marab.

We got so many 35ers, like 1 through 30 that are all really good that are climbing the ranks. It's just very exciting time to be a fan of the intercontinental Band and Waite Division. the most fun division in the sport right now. I'm not saying it's like the best, but is the deepest, no doubt about it.

Not in, yeah, worldwide across all promotions. One, Risen, Belator, UFC, obviously. Just so many awesome, awesome 135ers. When did this happen? When did this happen? Like, I swore within the last year and a half, it's like, oh my God, 35 is the division. It just took a little time and it became the, yeah,

the thickest division is awesome. So, so good. So great, great wins there for both those gentlemen, Islam Makachev, great win. He is on to something big. If you throw him into a title fight, I'm not going to complain. I don't think he's going to get a title fight. People are giving me crap about it saying, how dare you dismiss Islam Makachev and just say he's definitely not going to get a title shot?

Crazy things are going to have to happen for Islam to get into a title fight. There's going to have to be an injury. And like, everything's going to have to fall into place perfectly for Islam to fall into a title shot for his next fight. there are a lot of options for him. He just needs one win inside the top five and he's in. One win. You beat Binald Daryush, you beat Gaichi or you beat Chandler or you beat the loser Poyer Olivera.

You beat any one of those guys and it's a guarantee. No one's going to question it. You have done everything possible to get a title shot. And he could very well be the best 155 pounder in the world. If you told me that, I'm not going to argue with you. But, AK, just looking at that performance, Dan Hooker, who just fought, not long ago is a gamer was the biggest underdog on the card

I think he was ranked number six or seven heading into this fight after that performance does Islam just jump everybody else like if you would you just throw him into a title fight at this point no matter what happens in these big 55 fights coming up like has he

has he earned that or does he need one win does he need one top five win because he does not have that right now ideally he should but I think I again I've been saying it all week that I think this and he said again I'm probably just playing off of what what Islam said but he's right if I think if if Chandler wins and Oliverer wins I don't think they run that rematch back right away I don't think that they make him fight Gatheji or Daryush if any not

not only because I don't think he needs to but also same management right I think the management of those guys would rather that to keep them all alive rather than have because if Darius just doesn't fight he's probably still in line for Talishia or can get can get a different opponent somewhere down the road that's not as tough as Islam to keep his title fight hopes alive g even if he loses to chandler he's such a fan favorite he's no more he's never more than one win away from fighting for the title people would love to see him fight charles olivera so again you don't want him fighting Islam so that's two guys who i don't think if if if their shared management is doing the right thing is going to make them face one another i know that sucks i'd love to see all these guys

fight each other but i think we know how the game works i think it's unless it's it is for the title itself they're going to avoid matching matching their aces up so so so it's just i just don't I don't think it's going to happen. So ideally, he, he, the Chandler wins, Olivera wins, and I think Machachev slides right in there. I don't think it's as crazy. And I don't think he needs the perfect circumstances. I just think he needs a couple of the fights to go that way.

That said, if Skateji wins, then, then I think Macachep definitely has to fight someone else. Probably again, probably not Darayush. They probably keep him apart. But yes, one more win. Gatji is getting the tell shot, obviously, if he beats, if he beats, if he beats Chandan. If I'm Islam, I'm getting on that December card. if there's a spot open, get on there, call out Daryush. I think Darius said he wanted to get him before the end of the year after becoming a dad.

Fight that fight. Darius is ranked number three in the division right now. Beat him. It's a no-brainer. No matter what happens in that title fight, you're next in line. And honestly, no matter what happens in Gachie Chandler, like if he goes in there and it just starches Daryush and stops him in the first round, you give him the title fight over Gachie. You just do at that point. there you go he's got why i i would like to see him get a top five win though i would like to see

one top five win and that's a no-brainer because if you look at dariush's resume i mean they're pretty close they beat a lot of the same guys and the the only real outlier between the two is deriush steamrolled tony ferguson who was ranked higher than dan hooker when they fought and then islam beat dan hooker who took the fight on short notice let me ask you this casey if If Islam did this to RDA, would it have more impact? I think it's the same, honestly. I think the dominant, if Islam went ahead, say, a three-round decision victory over Hooker, maybe the impact isn't the same as having a three-round decision victory of RDA.

But the fact that he just, I mean, the way he rolled through Dan Hooker was just, I mean, but Dan Hooker, that just, I mean, but Dan Hooker, that just sucks. I mean, you've got heard his story. Like, you know, he doesn't really know when he's coming back to New Zealand because of the way the quarantine flights work and everything. And he took a big gamble more of his personal life, you know, and spending time being with his family. But, you know, this is a big opportunity. And, you know, unfortunately, it failed miserably. And for Dan Hooker, you know, two big pay-per-view opportunities and high-profile fights failed miserably for him. If he does, but if Hooker, I'm sorry, if Islam does this to RDA, I don't, I think it's the same, honestly.

Honestly. Is RDA? Is he injured, injured, or is he out for a while? I mean, can they still rebook that fight? Is that fight, does he need to beat RDA to get the title fight? Me, rather than Dereush? No, I think he's way beyond RDA. Me too. That's why I don't think the RDA thing really matters, because if you want to say, oh, he beat hooker, okay, he's still got to beat RDA, but I think we're kind of over that. So I feel, yeah, I just feel it's old news now. I can honestly, I forgot, I forgot RDA was the original opponent because Islam's just complete domination. Like, Hooker kind of had, you know, 20 years to prepare for this fight.

What, it wouldn't last maybe 10 seconds longer. I don't know. Of course, Dan Hooker, absolute legend on Twitter posted a gif of Woody Harrelson crying and then taking like $100 bills and drying his tears. Like, just the way you should handle it. This is a very, this, I didn't think it was that risky for him. This is low risk, big reward. He goes in there.

His stock rises no matter what. Him just walking into that octagon tonight to fight this guy on short notice, was a win in everybody's eyes. Dan Hooker's a legend, win or lose. If you got submitted in 12 seconds, it wouldn't have made any difference in the way people view Dan Hooker.

So good stuff from his mom. I mean, I want to be more positive to think that way, but I just don't think that's going to be true a few months from now. I just don't think people will remember the short notice part, the part that you filled in. It's just you lost, you lose the big fights. And I think of that moment when a reporter asked

Dan Hooker, like, are you the new Donald's for Rome? He was kind of like, uh, without being rude, he's like, no, I'm Dan Hooker, you know, I'm not, because Donald Stroney kind of became known as this guy that loses the big fight. And I don't think Hooker, Hooker is not that guy, but I mean, if he loses again in another big, you know, if he works his way back and loses another big fight, you know, that's a spot he doesn't want to be in. And we love Dan Hooker, but like I hope I, you know, I don't want him to kind of be this high-level gatekeeper. And unfortunately, he might be, you know, because there has to be one.

Can we look at some of the killers? So he just fought his love for him. Oh, I know. I know. His resume is insane. Michael Chandler, obviously, Dustin Poirier, Paul Feldar, who he beat, Aliaquinta, who he beat, and Sir Boboza he lost to. Gilbert Burns at lightweight.

Jesus, Murphy. Jim Miller. And then that's not everyone, but that's some of his last, like, eight opponents. And ever since COVID hit, like, if anyone says I'm making excuses, I am 100% making excuses now. I have no idea how Hooker has been doing. all this traveling, being in quarantine, dealing with the New Zealand, you know, to the point where the city kickboxing, the city kickboxing gym is talking about moving out of New Zealand's.

So they've had restrictions of how they're able to train in their own friggin gym. The visa issues he had had, the hack brass fight, which he won, I bet if he himself, he probably hasn't even thought about it. When he looks back on the last like 18 months or ever since COVID started about like his training routine, I'd be surprised if he had one. He is, the Dan Hooker has been facing a, every fighter faces adversity, but Dan Hooker's definitely faced some unique adversity in the last 18 months. It's just completely crazy.

He took the number one lightweight in the world, according to the rankings that matter in the sport, to the limit in one of the best fights of the year last year. In an empty UFC apex, that fight was ridiculous. Dan Hooker took Dustin Porre to the absolute limit. You know, it sucks about that. That was great for us, entertainment-wise. but Dan Hooker is still a human. He still is a body.

And is he that same fighter? Can that same Dan Hooker, can he take Dustin Poet to the limit today? Well, not literally today, but you know, is like, is he still, or like, you know, when we think of like Carlos Conner versus Robbie Lawler, when we see these 25-minute wars, there is a price to pay. And I'm, I hope, I'm being positive, I hope there's, I hope there isn't long-term effects on Dan Hooker, you know, from those insane fights. The Felder fight too.

You know, luckily this fight is, luckily Islam took it down and it wasn't like, it wasn't while I was fearing. It wasn't, you know, 15 minutes of him just, you know, getting little shots and just, no, little concussions for 15 minutes. Luckily, he came out of this fight just with, um, what do you get choked? What was it? No, I was going to say, if it was up to him, he would have had his arm, uh, or his shoulder just located.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I don't think he tapped. I don't think he tapped or verbally tapped. I think the referee saw that he was dead. Yeah, the referee saw he was dead to rights and he was like, yes, I could let him continue torquing your arm another few degrees. But why? Why? So I think Dan Hooker's like maybe mad in the moment. I don't think he's that.

Like he said, oh yeah, was that the whole Dan Hooker being kind of upset. I wasn't sure what that was about. But he wasn't like super upset. I think he also knew like, man, I was screwed. Oh, he was. He was definitely screwed. Like I think he was kind of like, man, I wish like I'd been able to like, you know, given a couple more seconds and like being allowed to tap out or divert really smit. but his hand was caught under his,

his other hand was caught under his body. So he could not tap out. It would have had to have been a verbal submission. And I don't think he's ever going to say I quit. So that arm was just going to snap. So in addition to all the other. I was preparing for the worst thing. Oh,

it was they had a camera angle on it. I was just like, yeah, right now. Tap, tap, tap up. He was like,

behind it. Couldn't see the other hand. I was like, oh, no, please stop this. And luckily the refurb stopped it. I was like, oh,

he's not something. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot, I forgot, damage, uh, hooker has taken to his body. That's horrific.

In these fights. So, um, you know, Mr. Dan Hooker, yeah, wipe the, wipe with the money. Take some time off. Go home, rest. And let's, I, I know it's a fight game, but man, I just want Dan Hooker to fight a couple, fight a couple of gentlemen outside of the top 10, you know, top 15. And, um, I see. I know, it doesn't work the way.

I want to fight the best. Don't be a soy boy. I know. Don't be a soy boy. I thought now that you were a little MMator. Your thoyboy tendencies would have been beaten out of you. And yet here you are. Oh, I want the fighters to be.

Oh, head trauma. I care about your lives outside of the cage. I want them to be properly paid. Oh, the Zelisky-Saint-Denipa should have been stopped. Oh, no. That referee did a terrible job. Come on, man. Come on.

This is M.M.A, man. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Michael. I'm sorry. Guilty. Let's continue on. There's a couple other things I'll talk for if we go to the peeps. I want to run, I do want to shout out all the, all the winners.

Ulaan Beckoff, split decision. That was a fun fight with Alain Nassimento, Andreit Patsky, nice win. Lorone Murphy, great knockout over Makkah on Amir Khani. Mikhail Oleg Jacek, Chuck, beautiful uppercut, finishes, Shamil, Gamsatop, that's the first loss of Gamzatov's career. Elizos Alas Alaski Dos Santos, unanimous decision, ridiculous. I'm not going to, we'll talk about that. I'm sure we'll get questions about it.

Albert Dariyev beats Roman Kapilov. Dariaf got tested a lot. more than a lot of people thought he would. Zubibera Tukov, Ricardo Hamos, good fight, good win for Tukov. Amanda Hebas, you almost forgot. Beets Verna, Jan Dirova. That was a great performance. Magamint, Inkhalyev.

Definitely a title contender. But how about Hamzaa Jamev? How about Hamza at Shamaev? I, like, I'll come on these shows once in a while and I'll make these picks and I'll put a foot in my mouth. I put, like, two feet and two elbows in my mouth, thinking that Lee Jing Liang was going to go in there. to weather that storm and he was going to finish Hamzaat Shamaif in the third round.

I was so confident that pick. Until I saw Hamza Shemayev, body lock Li Jing Liang, carry him across the octagon while talking to Dana White at the same time, just so confident, just slams him down, doing whatever he wants. And at that point, I'm just like, wow, I don't think I've ever been more wrong in my entire career because this was not going to go much better for Li Jingliang. there's no storm to be weathered after that. He completely took him out of that fight mentally. There's nothing you could do once that happens to you.

And Hamza just goes out there three minutes later and just puts Lee Jong to sleep. This dude is the real deal. People don't want to believe it at times, but this guy is the real deal. And if you want to throw him into a title fight right now, go right ahead. I am not going to stop you at this point. This guy, I want to see him fight everybody. I want to see him fight everybody in the top 10 at 70.

I want to see him fight everybody in the top. 10 at 185, AK. I'm so excited to see this guy fight. I am more sold on him now than I ever have been, and it's not even close. Listen, I tweeted this earlier. Usman, once you dispose of Covington, you should be trying to get Shemayev now.

Because I think Shemayev is not as, you know, not at the, like, I think he's going to get even better. I think you get him now, and I think you have a very, I think Usman has a very good chance of beating him. A year from now, I don't know. It could be a different story. And again, maybe, maybe any version of Usman beats him. I don't know, but boy, this guy really captures your imagination with his

performances and makes you feel like he could beat anybody. Save what people want to want to the matchups. Like, oh, he needs, I want to see him face a wrestler. I want to face him, see him face a better grappler. The test he's faced so far, he has passed with the most, you know, flamboyant flying colors that you can possibly imagine. He looks like he's unstoppable. Again, if he fights a great, a great wrestler someday, maybe he won't be. I don't know. But right now, the first four fights, how can you not be excited? How can you not think he's a world caliber welterweight. And if, again, if I'm Usman, I beat Cumberton and I say, give me Shemayev now. Everyone's talking about Hamzaa Shemayev. Give me him now. Hamza will jump right on

it. And then boom, Usman takes out one of the hottest names in 170 and possibly nips that in the bud before Shemaya becomes, I don't know, the next GSP or something. He's he's so talented. It's insane. So to A.K.'s point, because I think I think that you make a lot of sense. Like, if you're to fight this guy, you fight him now. And I know that Dana was asked about at the press conference and other people mentioned on Twitter, like, who's going to be excited to fight this guy? If you're going to fight Hamzat, I agree with AK, you've got to fight him right now. So, Casey, if you are, let's just throw some names out there. If you're Balal Muhammad, if you're Michael Kiesa, if you are anybody at 170, if you're Sean Strickland at 185, if you're Wonderboy,

if you're Gilbert Burns, if you're Nate Diaz, are you just, is everybody calling a Hamza right now? Like if you're going to get him, get him now. Are we all going after this cash cow at this point? Because you know the UFC is going to push this dude to the moon at this point. Do we just go after him now and just try to take about it? It's like Royal Rumble style. Like when Kane comes in, all 10 guys and they want to throw him out of there.

I feel like that's where Hamzat's at right now. If you're going to try to get him, you try to get him now, get that payday before he becomes something else. Because he's only going to get better. Yeah. That's pretty much it. It reminds me a bit when Floyd Mayweather fought Canello. And you can, and Floyd even said, this is Floyd's whole buildup. Floyd is like, oh, this guy's going to be really good.

I'm going to fight him now. And yeah, and he beat Canello. But Canello, now that Canello's at his prime, oh, I think he would whip up on Floyd in his prime. But that's why Floyd was undefeated. He knew how to pick his fights. And yeah, I think you guys are right. Fight him now. Either fight him now or change your phone number.

that's it just like just yeah just don't answer any calls from mcmain or whoever's the matchmaker you know just nope nope never i'm not going to bite him um i think uh shemiyev should i mean he's got he's got he's got be i mean what was lee ranked in our ranking like he was in top 15 right he was not top team but he did get votes he did he did he did get votes okay but regardless to my shamiyev's dominance in those victories i think you could justifiably easy put easily put it easily put him in the top 10 just because of his domination that he had. And yeah, if you're anyone in front of him, man, just you ask, you know, whatever you, whatever you're contracted, you know, price for the UFC, you know, ask for a little extra to pace that guy.

That's all. Because he is going to be a big pain in the butt. Man, but I didn't even think about Sean Strickland. As far as like quick turnaround is going to 85, ooh, that's fun. And two people who want to commit an actual murder. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Tremendous stuff.

It's only 27 years old. Geez, geez, Louise. The future is very bright. Yeah, I mean, I was on the fence. I was on the fence. Yeah, I go. Go ahead, Casey. No, I was on the fence about him.

I mean, I believe the hype that the UFC was given. I wasn't like, I can't believe they're pushing this guy. You know when the UFC pushes Greg Hardy, I'm like, this is stupid. I got why they're pushing Shemaya. That made sense. But, of course, the long layoff, the illnesses and just his. him not facing the top guys. I just wasn't 100% sure.

I mean, I did pick Lee to win by a decision. I thought I was going to be competitive decision. I love being wrong. And I love that we have a new star, you know. So is this super exciting. I got to ask for the rankings. I got to ask this AK real quick because it's on my mind. I just smirked thinking about it.

AK, if you're Leon Edwards, what are you thinking right now? Are you worried? Are you concerned that even if you go out there, if you go out there and you 30. to 27 Jorge Mazadol. Are you feeling good about it? Are you feeling good about it? Like I say, it depends that

Usman does decide to campaign for Hamza. I don't know if he's thinking about that. This is just kind of saying what we would do if we were him. Like we said, do the Mayweather, catch a guy out of his prime thing. Usman might not be thinking about

a matchup with Shama at all. Could be totally off his right. I doubt that's the case. He's pretty savvy. I think he's very aware that Hamzad is coming. He probably is aware of what happened in this fight. So if you're Edwards, I wouldn't be super worried, even if he wins like a just, you know, a competitive decision against Mazvedal. I think at this point he can't be denied unless, unless Usman gets on the mic himself and tries to manipulate sort of the next who his next challenger is.

Then it's all out the door. But otherwise, shouldn't be too worried. But I wanted to make a note about the rankings. We mentioned where would he like, where would, what does Hamzaa go now? You said you would put him top 10 just based on his performances. I think I might too. So going from the bottom of our rankings real quickly, I would put it above, we have two people tied for 15, so I'm going to mention a few names here. I would put him above Jason Jackson in Bellator.

I'd put him above Roy McDonald's. I'd put him above Jeff Neal. I'd put him above PFL champion, Ray Cooper. I'd put it above him above Balele Muhammad. I'd put him above Douglas Lima, which sounds crazy. I think I would put it above Douglas Lima. Style-wise, yeah, I could see that, yeah. And I'd put him above Michael Page.

Then we get to our top ten. There's Neil Magny, Michael Keese. and I could see people are making an argument that that's the next tier of guys he needs to beat. So I haven't done my, you know, we're going to do our rankings, our next set of rankings this week. I haven't decided yet. But I see on my rankings, he's at least jumping up to like the number 11 spot, which sounds insane, but is very possible. And the most insane stat, the fact that four fights against professional mixed martial arts ultimate fighters, he's been hit once. how is that possible

I tie my shoes I go oh I hit myself you know like how does he do I don't that's insane and the hype is real and he's the whole package and he's different too

he's got he talks trash he has kind of the broken English you know he's just like I repeat I smash I smash he picked up his opponent and like he didn't go to his corner no no no I'm going over there to the guy that writes my checks

do too do do do do You know, that's just, like, the guy, the guy sells fights while he's fighting. Unreal. I don't know if this is on purpose, but the video guys should make the, like, the parallel video the next time they do a hype package. I feel like that was an unspoken homage to Dana White's favorite fight ever, Matt Hughes versus Frank Trigg, too, which involved that Hughes. I don't know if it's on purpose, but if it was, that's like the craziest thing,

because then Dana White definitely was kind of just like, I love this guy. Like, I'm going to this guy. If Uzman calls for this guy, that fight is happening. I could see that. I could see that. I could see that. Wow. And if I'm a guy like Daniel Rodriguez right now, who's ready to come back in early 2022, I'm shouting from the rooftops to try to fight this guy too because you're a surgeon guy trying to, you just beat Kevin Lee. I mean, go for it. Like, so many fun options.

That's a, yeah, that's a, for someone like Rodriguez, the guys who should be calling out Shamiya are the guys who are expected to get their ass kicked, I think, by him. Even I think Nate Dia should be calling on Shemaya because I don't think any of, I mean, I love Nate Diaz as a, you know, just as a figure in the sport. But, of course, I'm picking Shamaia to kick Nate Diaz's ass. So, and I think Nick Diaz, I think, I think that's just a great fight. I know people are, well, why would you do the Nate? But that's why I like Nick Diaz. I think he wants crazy fights like this.

He wants to, he wants to be tested. Yeah, he'll probably get his butt kicked, but that's what Nate Diaz is about, you know? And, and, and if Nate Diaz is on his back, you know, let's, you know, let's. Let's really see, you know, should I have a serious threat from the person on the bottom. You know, so there's so many good fights. I didn't even think about Daniel Rodriguez, but that's an awesome fight. So, man, UFC's got a star. Keep them healthy.

Keep them healthy. Line them up. Line them up. Keep them healthy. You could do the Kevin Holland fight. There's some beef there. There is? Oh, okay.

Beef there. There's some stories. All right. Let's go to the peeps. We'll take a few questions. Let's do it. do do do oh old one that always happens what did you think about the Dana White

the whole Fador thing got brought up again it's like jeez again with Dana White and Fadha he held back he held back you know but he's not saying the dang tell me the numbers Dana we gave him a contract well tell me the numbers it's like what are the numbers you gave him man you watch the fight there's no doubt in my mind

that you watched Fader's knockout like the question was about like the reaction to the knockout Yeah. Originally. Yeah. It was just, it was just, it's just. It could have been worse.

Yeah. It could have been worse, yeah. All right. Scott McCrae. I think Peter Yon is going to be everyone he faces for the next three years. In a division that is full of killers, he is triple, triple OG. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, listen, the eyes are real good. I think of the guys right now, he has the best chance of putting together like a three to four fight title defense streak. But I don't know if anyone's sitting at the top of Bantam wait for three years. That's a long time. A lot of stuff can happen. Maybe he gets a wild hair up his butt decides to go to featherweight. Everyone's doing the two-division thing now. So I don't know.

I think, like, yeah, he's going to, I think I'll pick him to beat Sterling now should that happen. And maybe the next challenge you, but after that, we don't know. Like Scott even said himself, so many killers coming up again. Marab Davos really, maybe is his foil. We don't know, right? It could be a style of thing. So I won't go that far. I think at least another year, maybe by the end of 2022, excuse me.

He's still the champion. He didn't really wrestle. I mean, he had a couple takedowns, but he really didn't wrestle at all, which is kind of surprising. And that just makes the performance even more impressive. Because I thought his wrestling down the stretch was going to be the difference and he didn't even really need it.

So Sheila, good to hear from you. Good morning from the Philippines. It's almost 7 a.m. here. It was a challenge, but UFC 267, definitely made it a lot easier to see. stay awake. I thought about this as well, Sheila. Was this the best card so far in 2021, A.K. I have the memory of a goldfish. So yes, you know why? Because I just watched it and I loved it. No, it probably isn't. It probably isn't because, I mean, it's funny, of all the decisions, really,

there was only one, maybe the Volkov-Turbera fight was maybe the only one that was like, wasn't, you know, wasn't particularly enjoyable. Otherwise, you know, people, most of the decisions were pretty good. We're pretty entertaining. They're all good fights. I didn't mind the Bokal fight either. I mean, I liked it. It was a heavyweight fight, so it was definitely intriguing. And again, two elite heavyways.

So that was certainly so. Best card of the year, again, yeah, I mean, because I just watched it. Like, again, if our dear Jose was not putting out fires in Abu Dhabi right now, I'm sure you'd have a much more comprehensive list than I would. But yeah, I can't remember a better show. But I also can't remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday. 14 fights. I never felt the drag.

was the lad the lad um lad um lad um lad um lad um lad um lad um glad um class that one felt long maybe that one felt long this one felt like 14 fights but i wasn't like uh what was that du ms felt long was it last week's felt long too except for the main event yeah okay no it was last week's for card that felt okay you're right i i'm i'm a memory of a goldfish a very tired goldfish but um i don't want to rank this as best fight of the card of the year but it was awesome and And the fact that it was a pay-per-view-worthy card, it was a card that was worth 70 bucks and that for most of us in the USFA got for free or $5 if your subscription or whatever, ESPN Plus costs. What a great deal.

Tonight was a great deal. Tonight was good to be an American MMA fan. Yeah, I mean, it's up there. It's top three to five. It's top three card of the year for sure. I mean, 261 was very memorable. had some rough moments. I mean, 2603 is probably going to be my number one.

Just because everything we're still talking about. The numbers, I forget the numbers already. Who's the main event? Adasania Vittori. Brandon Moreno becoming the flyway champion. Leon Edwards, Nate Diaz, especially just the last 30 seconds of that fight. Blah Muhammad, yeah.

Paul Craig Jamal Hill was crazy. Bradredell Drew Dober was a fight that's not being talked about enough for like fight of the year contender. just some good fights. I mean, that was a good card. Terrence McKinney had that crazy knockout and then jumped off the cage. We thought he broke his leg. I mean, it was just all sorts of crazy storylines that.

Great card on paper and it delivered. That's all. Great card. A lot of high-ranked fighters, fights that mattered. Not just good fights, but fights that are awesome. And they mattered two divisional rankings. And so cool. And it was early in the day.

I dig that. Not for the Philippines, though. Sorry. Good morning. Good morning. Shout out to the Philippines. Good for you guys who stuck in there and woke up, woke up or stayed up to watch that. Alex K. Lee is great now.

I answered. Oh. Can we all agree that the real Prince of Positivity is Glover Tashara? I answered this. Are you ready to give up that crowd, okay? Oh, I don't have to. I don't have to. I answered it in the comments already.

I said, I'm the prince. Glover Tshar is the king. Yeah, there you go. So there you go. That's all I need. He's the king of positivity. I bow down to him. Well played.

Louis, Louis. are we just completely going to abandon Hamzat's best gimmick of fighting in two-way classes? He's fought twice in each 85 and 70. Let's keep this going. Can you think of a more exciting story? I mean, I'm with it. I'm completely with it. Just fight.

If you get at 85, get at 70, cool. Imagine like just going up both weight classes and winning two titles. Like not just like, wow, you did so good at 170. Let's just give you a title fight at 185 with like ever fighting in the division. talking about like just running through two divisions making the climb up both of them yeah and winning two titles like that would be who hit that me never that would never be done again who has done that as ufc even allowed that uh like a fighter to kind of go up the ranks in two divisions not just be a champ and then jump over i don't think so i can't i can't think of one at the same time at the same time

like so yeah like be a contender in two divisions without being the champ i think yeah yeah i can't that's or even a former champ yeah i think um that would be really cool that would be cool we need to see him play strickland yeah and also unless unless strickland's coming down to 170 i mean shimmya's got to go back up go got to go up and get him man that would be awesome that would be cool just keep flip flip flop that would be cool that would be don't oh so many things we can do yeah and and i think that fight would have to go by old uh by navy rules where uh first one to die loses So, and I don't think anyone would object to that.

Just the ultimate murder championships. You know how it goes. Just that one fight. Just that one fight. Both guys, first one to die loses. I think that's more than fair. And you know what? We'll hire that ref.

Vyatislav, I'm sure there's a question there. Vyatislav Kislev, my goodness. I don't know if one of them is a question, runner. That was so awful. We might as well just talk about it. Can we just talk about that? Yeah. It's just talking about it.

Yeah. What the hell was that guy thinking? And his team didn't throw on the towel either. Listen, I know we've talked about this before. I know the Calvin Cater thing gets brought up a lot. Referee didn't stop that one. But although I felt Cater was in a much better spot than what was the young man's name? Benoit Saint-Dunee.

San Deney. Yeah, I mean, this dude, I scored that a 10-7 round. Okay, good. I thought that was a 10-7 round also. he got I mean pull up the UFC stats for that round Casey I'm curious to see what the stats are for that round how many strikes he had that man absorbed

but the referee doesn't stop it Santone is tough as hell good on it if you want to let it go and the coach you want to let him go out for a third round great but like he got lit up immediately in the third round like wobbled almost went down right then you're just like all right dude

you've had enough like get out of there you're too tough for your own good and then and then he takes a point away from Alexis Olesquido Santos for a knee that barely grazed his cup when I first saw the replay I'm like that wasn't even a low knee

he hit him in the belly and then looking at it again you saw it like barely graze the cup and the referee who doesn't stop the fight he's literally standing there watching Eliza Leszzi de Santos hit this dude 175 thousand times in a row just watching it like hmm nope still breathe them. Nope, his eyes are still open. No, he's only lost like two quarts of blood. We're going to let

this thing go. But then he takes a point away. And at that point, I was ready to take my chair and throw it off the balcony. I'm like, are you, are you frigging me right now? What is going on? What are you thinking, AK, watching this whole thing? Because I know everybody was kind of on the same page here, but I was like, come on, man. What, what are you doing? It was uncomfortable, man. It was, it was not. MMA is supposed to be fun, right? That wasn't fun. That wasn't fun. That wasn't fun to watch. And Sondinie is absurdly tough. I call him the French zombie. And I get it. At a glance, you know, he was, at a glance, he was throwing back. He wasn't falling. I assume Mr. Kislev was waiting to see if he would actually, as soon as he dropped, maybe he would wave it off.

Even then, probably not. I felt like he was still going to give him a chance. But he almost, he almost had made up his mind, I'm not going to call standing chaos, which is crazy. because people are going to say, okay, well, he was fighting back. San Deneo was fighting back. And it's like, okay, to R.I, yes, that's what it is. To the referee, the trained referee, whose job it is to oversee the fight

and protect the fighters, they have to be able to distinguish between a fighter intelligently fighting back and not intelligently fighting back, which is what the case was here. San Deneas on autopilot, I guarantee you he does not remember enormous chunks of this fight.

We've seen Tim Mellia talk about how he's, he's gotten, like, rocked in the opening round and gone to distance and does not remember the last two rounds. I'm telling you that is almost definitely the case with Sondini. If not, again, he's even tougher than I imagined. So the referee just did a terrible job. The commentary team wanted to shout at him. They were shouting, and they almost wanted to shout directly at him to tell him to stop the fight. They resist it.

It's not their job. I get it. They didn't want to have a Dan Hardy incident. That's fine. I don't blame them at all. It's not their job. It's the referee's job. Then secondarily, it's his corner.

I think a lot of people failed Benoit Sontini in this fight. I hope he goes on. He's a very talented guy as we saw in this fight. I hope he goes on to rack up wins, have great success, take less damage, and this is just a footnote. But I feel like, much like with young Max Roscoff, this is something that's going to, who, by the way, is winning fights for Cage Warriors right now. But this is the kind of incident, it's going to hang over his head for a while. And the only good news is we probably won't see Kisolev referee a UFC event ever again. 94 significant strikes landed by Elizzo Zelaski dos Santos in the second round, 94.

And I would say he got rocked. He probably rocked Santany with like the fifth or sixth. So we're talking like 80 like follow up big shots after that for the rest of the round. And Santini to his credit was throwing back himself by like at some point you just got to step in there. This referee wasn't even like thinking about stopping it. Wasn't even looking at it. Didn't, didn't faint it. It wasn't like, give me something.

Give me something. It wasn't doing that whole thing. Nothing. I was up to fight. You see that boxing. I watched a lot of boxing. And man, that would not happen in boxing. You see, first of all, the corners would never allow that in boxing.

And MMH just has a different, I don't know, just the culture is different. I'm going to go ahead and put an equal amount of blame on his corner. I mean, I know the ref is supposed to do his job. That's part of the corner's job, too. They're supposed to protect their fighter. And their fighter did not have a chance to win that fight. And you have to stop the fight. I don't know.

That's just, it's pretty, to me, it's pretty simple. The point deduction thing is another stupid story. That's another, just adds more to the stupidness and danger of that fight. And there was iPote. There was iPod. I can't sit. I can't see. I forgot.

He said, he said I can't see. And then he wanted, he gave him a way out. He goes, I can't see. And the refs, that was,

he gave him, he gave him a way out. Oh. And he did not call, not even that. He didn't even call the doctor in. Not calling the doctor to look at it. Just said,

you're, so you can't see, but you can still fight. Okay. Go ahead. Is that you can't see, but you got two eyes, right? I, like,

you're other, I'm jerk. Oh. Oh, I forgot about that. Never again. Never again. And then he took the point after that. I was like, this is just unbelievable.

But going to the point thing real quick, I see a lot of people, media members and fans, and they're very, like, they're very hard on like the whole, you know, I kind of joke about this. I kind of joke how, no, groin shots and eyepokes and fence grabs are completely legal in MMA. I always joke. And they're completely legal. The first one's always legal.

This ref obviously doesn't obey that rule. But a lot of people. people think that every eye poke, every groin shot should be an automatic point deduction. I don't agree to that. Do you think that after the first I poke, do you think, uh, uh, dozanto, how do you say his name, Zelis, Zelis. Zelisky. Yeah, Desontos.

Do you think he shouldn't have got a point, do you think those point deductions were, he should have got a point deduction for the eye poke, too? No. No. I don't think so either. I'm just kind of wondering how you feel about that. The groin shot, to me, it looks like it even hit. I got.

And then he took a point. Yeah, the whole thing, the whole thing was just bizarre. It just seemed like the weirdest time to take a point. Yeah. After the vicious beating, he doled out in the second round. You let the fight go. And then thank God for Jason Herzog in the very next fight. Dariath's going for a takedown.

Kepilov holds on to the cage. Herzog doesn't take the point away. He's like, all right, dude. Like, I'm going to put you right back to this position. And Dariah just takes him right down and beats his ass for the round. and I mean, just, and then they pulled obviously this referee from the rest of the car, which they should have because that dude should never be allowed to referee UFC fight ever again. So, yeah, and take my, that's the UFC's commission, correct?

That's, yeah, so the UFC doesn't necessarily control the commission, but that's their internal commission. I don't know how that works anymore. So it's something to that effect, yes. Yeah, so, but UFC seem to pull them out. They can't pull them out during the fight. so the UFC seem to do the right thing. Yeah, it's not under like a state commission.

It's like an ABC like kind of whatever ABC like universal role they have. But basically they commission themselves and the long and the short of it. All right. We got anything else? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Take like two more maybe? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Joe, suppose is the UFC happy with Yan beating Corey?

will we get that conclusion, Jan and those fans deserve with Sterling versus John too? It's amazing how everyone's just not giving Sterling any chance at all. But yes, I would say yes. The UFC is very happy with Yan beating Corey. Not just because of what it sets up with Sterling. I feel like, and maybe you don't agree with this, A.K., I feel like if Bannamweight, which I keep calling the Intercontinental Division,

because I don't feel like there's going to be any huge breakout stars at 135, I feel like Jan is probably, if it's ever going to happen at this point moving forward, Jan is probably the guy to be that guy that could sort of carry the division and headline events, so forth and so on. So I think the UFC was happy with that for that region as well. Yeah, he's not like an A-tier, you know, McConnell McGregor, Ronda Razzie-level star, but there's the thing to be said about consistency. Having a persona, I think he's someone who is distinct.

I think his style stands out. I think he has a bit of a sense of humor. You know, we've mentioned him kind of horsing around at the, the workouts. So there's something there. He's, again, he's not going to be a consistent drawing 600, 700,000 pay-per-view buys every time. But the UFC doesn't need everyone to be like that. It's like you said, they need, it's like you said, Mike, they need someone to anchor 12 paper views a year. You know what I mean?

So if they have a guy who can be either Maine or co-main, Jan is that guy. He's, I think he is marketable in his own way for sure. Yeah, and I think they're happy with no disrespect to Corey's. Sanhagen. It's just, this makes things a little bit clearer to setting up the Yon Sterling rematch, which was, again, was the plan all along until Sterling had to recover from with his neck injury. So, yeah, I don't know if they're over the moon with it, but definitely makes their jobs easier. Yeah, I think Happy is the wrong word. I think from a promotional standpoint, this is good promotion-wise, but I think if Sannegan won, I don't think they would have been like, gosh, darn it.

You know, it's just that's how, I believe the UFC is at the point, you know, where it's just, whoever wins wins, wins. I do believe Dana when he's said. says that kind of stuff. Yeah. Just before we end this, because we briefly talked about their fight, but, John,

I hope that EKC isn't too upset after getting beat up by Hebas. Amanda Heba's looked awesome. Amanda Heba looked awesome tonight. I thought Verno was going to put some work on her. And Amanda, we talked to me and AK, we're kind of chatting online about this.

But Amanda Heba's her striking, her just overall, presence as a fighter in there was um she looked like she made big improvements from was the last fight marina riegas is that was that her last fight yeah um she looked like she made big improvements and she just looked like a uh a better fighter in there and uh i was very impressed by amanda hebas and um yeah what did you guys think her performance great she looked awesome yeah it was y'all must and forgot kind of fight her striking her striking her was her striking looked just i want to say no she's like, I'm not saying she's, you know,

Yawanna, like this Muay Thai champion now, but it was very competent, very competent, and she looked just controlled in there. She looked like she was comfortable, striking. And she barely got hit. She barely got hit in that fight, especially down the stretch. She barely got touched.

Shout us, shout us to Jandro, won for a good fight. And of course, coming out to Island Boy and making our, making our pal, Aero Hawani, over the moon with half. You have no, like, you guys, you saw him tweeting about it.

He was in our, he's in our Slack channel. He would not shut up. about it. This dude was happy. He was so happy. And as very obviously, Scott McCrae asking, what is up with the Island Boys phenomenon? You guys actually like the music. It's not just about liking it. It's, it's, it's, listen,

this probably isn't, it's a politically correct thing to say. But those two guys who made, they're a couple of freaks, okay? And there's some of the bizarre mesmerizing of a 90-second clip, no beat. It's, there's this cultural appropriation going on. It's just,

it's a whole thing. It's definitely not like unironic, Scott. It's not like, oh, yeah, this is an amazing song. No, no, no. We are enjoying this. We are enjoying this somewhat ironically. And for a UFC fighter to come out to that song was just absurd and so funny.

And she will end up on the MMA hour wall. I don't call the shots around there, but I can tell you, Ariel's a man of his word when it comes to that stuff. You're going to see that picture of Viernan on there a lot. Oh, yeah, they're bringing D.C. down. And it's going to be Vernon. DC, you're done.

Oh, that would be so funny. If he took someone down and it was Corpignet. That would be amazing. That would be amazing. That would be the cold thing ever. Yeah. But super excited about him and Eba's improvements. She looked awesome.

She looked really good. I was super impressed. Shoutouts, I don't know if we're doing any more questions, but shout out to Joe Martinez too. I know we had a question way, way, way, way back. Shout us Joe Martinez did her great job. Everyone, someone was asking, why do we, some of us in the media say we think he's better than Bruce Buffer? Not everybody.

I'm of that camp. I know Damon Martin is. I don't want to speak for you guys. And I'm not saying it's not to say anything bad at Buffer. I think Joe Martinez does a great job with, for me, keeping the emphasis on the fighters. Great pronunciation. I think he's better on average of pronouncing names than Bruce Buffer. Bruce Buffer, his energy, look, amazing, very difficult to match.

He definitely gives things a big fight feel. We're very used to Bruce Buffer. So I don't blame anyone who loves Bruce Buffer. Like, he's Bruce Buffer's there for a reason. And he creates that epic feel to a fight. But I am more of a Joe Martinez guy. I like someone who's a little less distracting, to put it nicely. But, I mean, both guys are great, but I thought Joe Martinez,

superb throughout the night and glad he got that job. And hope Bruce Buffer's feeling well. And you guys will see him at Madison Square Garden next week. There you go. Good stuff. Well said. There's the music. I was just waiting for it.

Yeah. Get some sleep, everybody. I mean, actually, you don't even have to. I mean, if you're on the West Coast. I'm going to watch some baseball now. Watch some baseball. They go out to baseball. Go out to dinner.

Go see a movie. Read a book. Yeah. Read a book. Read a book. Hang out the fam. Do whatever you got to do. Walk the dog.

You got plenty of time for that. But AK and I back tomorrow morning. On to the next one. We matchmake. It's going to be a loaded show because we're matchmaking for a lot of people. Yeah. And then we're on to UFC 268 next week. Jose is going to the airport now to fly from Abu Dhabi to New York to cover UFC 28.

So that dude is a madman. Thank you, Jose. And thank all of you for watching right now. For Casey, for AK, I am Mike Eck. UFC 27 in the books. Oh, by the way, AK, I don't even think I've told you this. VTL tournament kicks off next week. You're in the first matchup against Damon Martin.

Oh, no. scares me stay tuned good night everybody you're listening to the vox media podcast network