MMA Fighting - UFC Tampa Post-Fight Show: Reaction to Joaquin Buckley's Incredible Performance Against Colby Covington

Episode Date: December 15, 2024

Joaquin Buckley may not have ended 2024 with a bang, but he did close the show with a sensational performance. On Saturday, Buckley earned a third-round TKO victory over Colby Covington in the main event of UFC Tampa after battering “Chaos” en route to a doctor’s stoppage due to a nasty cut on Covington’s right eye. Following Saturday’s event, the final UFC card of the year, MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and E. Casey Leydon react to Buckley’s big win, his unique callout of Kamaru Usman, where Covington goes from here, Cub Swanson’s possible swan song, Manel Kape’s case for a flyweight title shot, and the rest of the night filled with incredible knockouts and finishes. Follow Jed Meshew: @JedKMeshew Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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which had been stuck there after the walkouts for the UFC Tampa main event. And in that main event, those victory horns they sound. For Joaquin Buckley, who takes a third round TKO Doctor Stopping. win over Colby Covington after a nasty cut over Covington's right island. Hey guys, I am Jedmishuismavid.com. You probably already know that and if you don't, glad to meet you. And this is the UFC Tampa Post Show. We do this every time.

It is the last time we're doing it for a UFC event in the great year 2024 because the UFC is all wrapped up and it ends kind of weirdly. Not bad. Most people don't have issue or call it. controversy, especially because Buck who's whipping that ass. But ending on a cut stoppage is, you know, it's a bit of going out with the whimper. But here to talk about all of that with me on your post show, you know, it's the man with the plan, no slees, no mercy, Mr. 3024 himself, baddest producer, baddest stash in the game.

E. Casey Latton. I am excited to be here. What a wonderful night of fights. Oh, I just can't wait to talk about it. Oh, let's get straight to it. Let's get straight to it. Nothing weird about the main event. It was a great main event.

Great main event. Look, I mean, I don't think anyone should take away from the victory for Joaquin Buckley because he was just beaten the soul out of Kobe Covington in there. But this, you know, circumstances are a little awkward. He was denied getting that sort of highlight real finish. Like, you know, you got in the co-main event, which we will talk about with one Cubs Swanson, not too distant future. But let's start right here, Casey.

I think we don't really need to talk about the event as a whole. I actually think both of us are pretty open. We like the event going in. It was a very fun night of fights. Certainly the main card things kicked off and we had some great results there. So let's dive into the main event. And let's start with the man. The dude who got it done for no in the year, 2024.

Joaquin Buckley. Casey, the first question, have. Was this the best we have ever seen Joaquin Buckley look inside the cage? It was a combination of the best we've seen Buckley and the worst we've seen Colby. I don't think

I think this is even a worst version that we saw even if I fought Leon. I know what's, I know I'm kind of me jumping ahead, but my big concern about this fight was is the conference because I think both of us, we both predicted Buckley third round TKOs and we got it.

We nailed it. We nailed it. We know it. Go us. So smart. But I was kind of worried, like, how will we come out of it? Is it going to be, whoa, Buckley looks great or Colby looks completely washed? And I kind of think we got both. Definitely a little bit of both. And we did talk about that in the preview show and some BTL of like, will Buckley get credit if Colby looks bad? And maybe there's some of that.

I don't know. It feels like the tenor of how this all went down. Absolutely. Colby is close to washed. I've been saying that all week. I thought he was close to washed against Mosphidal. I go back and rewatch the Mossfadol fight, and he wins, but we know Mossfadol is washed,

and he had a lot of moments against Colby. And then the Leon fight was just full-blown. Man is in the deep rent cycle of washed. So coming out a year later without competing, I mean, I guess if you bought into the high altitude issues, the broken foot stuff, maybe, but almost immediately, Buckley started putting the wood to him. He stuffs a very quick and early takedown the first round.

And from that moment on, at least from my eyes, I thought Buckley looked incredibly confident, felt I was feeling himself for most of the fight, and Covington never looked comfortable, basically from the moment the first takedown got stuffed with not just ease with authority. Like Covington didn't get close in the takedown He ultimately does get takedowns later But it was not a hey You're gonna have success at doing the oh I missed the takedown But I get you to the fence

He stopped him from initiating any chaining And I think that moment was really when I felt good going in as soon as that first one happened Casey I was like walking Buckley is winning this just fight Yeah I think we all felt that yeah Did we stuffed it and the fact that Kobe That Kobe couldn't chain it You know we got stuffed on the double

or something. I couldn't remember exactly. And just, Buckley just had his underhooks, sprawled hard. And that was it. And they were back standing again. And we all kind of, I think, watching it felt, ooh, Colby's cooked.

Colby is. I felt, I felt Kobe was cooked. And honestly, I want to go back a moment during the walkout. The walkout, the whole Cogan walkout. We could talk a lot about the walkout. I do. I would like to get this on the record, on film for us. I called that shit

I called that right here on this preview show we were talking about I was like here's what's going to happen and the only thing I got wrong is I thought it would be cool and it actually was super not because I felt Kobe like that wasn't a guy

that walked out there thinking I'm gonna beat that man Buckley across the cage I'm gonna beat him easily that looked like a man going like I'm like I'm getting in a very tough tough fight and like

there was a fight There was no sell. There was no like, yeah, I ripped his shirt. It was no, like, you know, nothing. I was like, come on, you got Holkogen there. No, Theatrix. You go walk out Holokin. You don't, you're not going to sell it.

And to me, that's just like, that's Colby being extremely nervous and, like, realizing what he got himself into. And, yeah, and Buckley looked, man, you know, okay, the more I'm thinking about it. Yeah, I do, I do need to give Buckley more credit. He looked great, obviously. but I think, yeah, he looked, yeah, this is, no, if I doubt, this is the best Buckley we've seen. And the fact that when he did get taken down, as far as I can remember, no submission, no submission attempts and no serious, I don't think one serious shot he really landed on the ground from Colby. UC stats doesn't really track this. So it's not an easy way for me to pull up.

I am not certain that he landed a strike. when Colby finally got to take down in the second round and had top control for like a minute or so I honestly don't think he landed a strike in the third round when he did get on top he then started landing stuff none of it was like majorly significant but when he was just stuck in Buckley's guard for a while he was doing the normal guard work you do to stay busy

not get stood up eventually Buckley stood up the fight gets stopped referee or doctor comes in and immediate like there was no hesitation there was no think about it. Dan Murgliata even was like, do you want me to clean this out? And then maybe you think about it again. And I quote, because this stuck out at me, no, he's going to lose that eyelid if this goes on much longer, which is the gnarly shit you've ever heard. And like, she she wouldn't have it.

She's like, nope, we're done here. And Dan's like, okay, you're sure. Yep, all right. Fight's done. That wasn't blood leaking it. That was like plasma. that was leaking out of Colby's brain on those,

and I think that toward the end of the third round those chunks of dark red liquid on the mat it was like, oh, you knew as soon as they stood up, like it pretty much the fight was done. But credit to Dan, he gave Colby a chance.

He let Colby work on the ground. He tried to give Kobe a lot of chances. He didn't quite. I knew the fight was done. I mean, so like I said, I knew it was done at the sprawl. I was like,

this is only going to end one way at this point. But really, I still don't entirely know what cut him. They showed a replay of an upper cut that may have been the result, but I wasn't really sure if that was it. Whatever it was, at the end of the first round, when they go back to the corner, and you see that Colby is bleeding,

but you're not really sure. It didn't look as bad as it became, because he started pouring buckets of blood as the fight went on. Right before round two, when they did the zoom in, and you see just the cuts, just, it is in the bad place. It is in the exact worst place to get it. I was like, this is round one. Like this fight is not, there is a time limit on this fight.

And Colby is not exactly the kind of fighter who can survive something like that with a guillotine over his head. He does not have that sort of offensive game to, I'll end the fight quickly to save myself. And so ultimately he didn't. And then a whole bunch of things happened. Primarily, Casey, the biggest thing that happened. Buckley, best performance of his U.S. he career, gets his best win. Michael Bisping comes in.

Joaquin Buckley is a man that we have mocked on this very program. On post shows this year, this year, Casey, me and Mike went apoplectic, almost caused a heart attack for myself in my fury and anger at him calling out Connor McGregor as the dumbest callout that could ever be made in a huge, wasted his time. This man has turned his career around in less than 12 months. Comeback Fighter of the Year, I don't know if you can give it to somebody who is coming

back from being an idiot, but if you can, this man deserves it because he gets in here. And he looks at Michael Bisping when Bisping's like, hey, man, first he apologizes to the crowd. Shout out to him's like, hey, I know y'all came for a knockout. I'm sorry that I beat this guy's ass by they didn't get a knockout. I should have knocked him out earlier. A plus work. And then he's like, oh, you want me to pick somebody? No, the fans are going to pick.

And he does the old school applause meter. Hey, guys, I'm going to throw three names out there. Y'all, y'all tell me. He says Leon the crowd booze, which was deeply funny. Tomorrow Usman and Belaw Mohamed get roughly the same amount. And this is the part that Buckley's not going to get the credit for that he deserves. Honestly, I think he actually got more applause for Belaw Muhammad than he did for Kamah Usman. But Buckley wisely was like, no, I think the answer is Kamar Usman, the crowds, because he knows that that is the correct fight for him.

He's not going to get the ball fight. This man, Casey, what happened that this dude has turned the franchise around like this? Clearly, he watched our YouTube streams. He clicked a subscribe button. He said like. He superchatted us. Mash that like button. Mash that like button.

He's smart. He, he, he, he's a man that's online in the good way. I think he listened. I think he listened. That's all. He listened to us. And I want to say, that's a high, doing a call and response to a crowd that was cheering, openly very much cheering for your opponent, although they did switch halfway through.

I was saying, they switched because I couldn't figure out where the crowd was. And I was like, and then immediately when they did the Colby, like, let's go Colby, I was like, oh, now I got it. There are Colby crowd. And then three minutes later, it was Colby Sucks. Okay. I don't know what's going on now. But just, but if I did doing call in response to a crowd, it's very risky.

I've been at Open Workouts. I was at the Jessica I won't when she asked the crowd to do the Wolf Wolf, and I was at the Tyron Woody one when Tired did some, I don't know, it was bad. But he committed to it. It worked out. And, yeah, great. outside of a big knockout and that dang doctor

worried about fighter safety he was gonna get the big knockout too he was going for yeah he was going for it yeah so um fighter safety ruins it again but uh just yeah great night for buckley

just great night and it was one of those fights too and I think if you when it came out and just knocked Colby out like in 30 seconds we actually I think I look higher on his performance because he did stuff to take down before Colby was hurt, before Colby was, you know, drain of all his energy before his eyeball was falling out. So he did all the tough stuff he had to do to beat Colby already. And Colby's legit.

He is an elite Walterweight. I'm sorry. Joaquin. I was walking. No, I was walking. Yeah. Right now yeah. Working.

Yeah. Because coming into this, we're like, well, he did lose a couple. He did lose the first round to Wonderboy. Wonderboy is old and stuff. that you know we were kind of you know poking holes and his kind of 170 run but um i mean and we will poke holes in this right now this is a watch colby you know this isn't prime colby but what he did um i don't know if answered questions about buckley but it just kind of maybe just reassured us that um no buckley deserves to be where he's at and um the ozma fight makes

complete sense and if he wins the ozman fight booh i think reassured is the exact right word. Like, it is very possible that this is more, you know, Colby looks worse. Colby is more washed than this was Buckley is, is a transcendent fighter or whatever. But his performance, there, there's nothing to pick holes in Buckley's performance, right? Like, the only hole is, well, Colby's washed. It's not he did bad. Like, he was beating the crap out of him. And so, like, I, I, I would have love just a straight Kamala Usman call out. I think that would have been on the nose absolutely accurate and correct for him. To do it that way, it was absolutely risky.

When he first started, I was like, I don't know if this crowd's going to play along because he even prefaced it by saying it's a shame. Some of y'all are leaving because the crowd's exiting the events over. And I was like, I don't know that's going to work, but he committed enough. It worked well enough. I'm a bit surprised we haven't really seen any of a fighter do this before, like in the UFC. and so like it's a 10 out of 10 post fight i don't know how ozman doesn't say yes to the fight with him at this point in time right like i think he is going to get the call out he has set himself up to

you know if you and if you want to be cynical about it frankly which is not how i want to approach this because i am absolutely here to give walking buckley's flowers if you want to be cynical well buckley has done is craft a welterweight title run by beating 3 40 year olds which is sick like he gets to beat Stephen Wonderboy Thompson, he gets to beat washed Kobe Covington, and he gets to be fairly washed Kamala Usman, should he end up beating Usman that fight comes to pass. So this was just like a plus work from him all around. And if you went back to what was, I'm trying to remember which was the one he called out.

It was almost certainly after the Nurse Sultan Ruzabaya fight that he called out Connor McGregor. because I think I remember that being like you took a UD over under Sultan Ruzabayev and now you're calling out Connor Ubozo. That is insane. If you told me back in May or whatever, April, whatever that was, I'm like, hey, Colby Covington, not only is Colby Covington going to completely turn this around, Kobe Covington may be in your top five fighters of the year this year, which he may be in the top five fighters of the year this year. after this like an incredible not 12 months an incredible six months from colby or not from from walking luckily to do what he has done in this regard so and even and even the win versus luke which we're like we're coming inside we're kind of poking holes like oh luke is really

watched but then luke has a great performance against was it who did luca just beat um my luke just uh luke beat um um timbo garumbo garumbo i couldn't think of sir's name but what i'm saying is like the the hit i don't know i'm just sorry i'm just i'm really impressed about buckley yeah i think everything you said like the the turnaround his career the public perception of him man this this sport can change very fast as as how we look at fighters i mean we see this all the time actually guys like rachad people now everyone loves rachad we remember when he was booed relentlessly anderson sylva used to be booed relentlessly now he's you know freaking anderson silva so things change fast in the sport and just yeah you get a couple wins stop saying stupid crap and then

say the right thing take risk and yeah here we go and he did and credit to buckley because he had a it was a big part of why they changed fast for him he did the i'm going to go into the presser and say hey let me get on that salt lake card uh not salt lake st louis card that's where i'm from i want to let me be the main event he didn't get the main event but he gets on that card he did he you know, he had some big fumbles this year. The beef with Cub Swanson was obviously insane and stupid. We're about to talk about Cubby in just one second. But really, really impressive turnaround to him.

I am genuinely looking forward to Joaquin Buckley versus Kamau Usman sometime in 2025. And so full marks, Joaquin Buckley. I'm very, very impressed by what you've accomplished in the last six months. Let's go to the other side of the ball real quick, Casey. the loser of the main event, Colby Coventon. We've kind of touched on him not looking his best, et cetera.

Was this the best outcome he could have hoped for outside of a win, obviously? Because he does lose. And while most people who viewed it, et cetera, I think we're all on board with, yet he lost in a way that's explicable, but also that just sort of saved him

from the knockout that was coming. He can do the, hey, man, like I want, I wanted to keep fighting. The doctor stopped it. I had him right where I wanted him. I was starting to get the takedowns. This fight was about to turn my way.

We knew he'd be strong early, but the championship rounds were I was going to shine, and my eye was totally fine. So was this the best Colby? Colby can kind of hope for getting that sort of Nate Diaz loss, but with a built-in excuse. No. I mean, it wasn't the absolute,

I mean, it wasn't the absolutely worst loss he could have, but of the 10 worst losses. It's like, I don't know, number six. I mean, yeah, he got submitted in the second round. He got knocked out in the first round. But he was going to go into that fourth round down 3027. And no matter what, the cut or no cut, he was down 30, 27. He lost the first three rounds.

And he had done no significant damage to Buckley. So he can say whatever he wants. We're going to hear it. And he will. We're going to hear it. But no, did the elevation sickness? Did that really work? Where we're like, yeah, I guess, you know, elevation sickness, you know, what happens, you know, you know.

No. Colby, I guess my question as far as Colby is like, is he, is, how do we treat him now? How the, how the fans going to look at him now? Is he now Colby sucks? Because is he Colby sucks now? is all the weird, I don't know, I don't say fan good one. I don't mean, I don't mean, I'm, I don't understand Kobe's fandom, so I'm kind of confused, to be honest. I think this saved him from the fan base turning on him.

The turn is coming because very, very plainly, even if you are a Colby Covington fan, like, you're not a Colby Covington fan because of the way he fights because he has left you with these indelible moments in the cage. you're a fan of him for other reasons, which is fine. I'm not telling you not to be a fan of him because he shares an ideology. You like the same things. Like that's a perfectly good reason to be a fan of somebody. But that is not the way to really connect with a fan base long term. I'm pretty certain of this based on history.

And so when you start, I wrote about this like two years ago. It was like that gimmick only works so long. And it really only works if you're successful. When you stop being successful, there's nothing to attach to you because you are attached to an ideology and that ideology wants winners. They don't really want to be associated with losers. And so if you are a loser, you're not necessary part of it anymore. And so the turn will come if he can't find a way to continue having some success because he's not somebody like Cubbs Swanson who has Hall of Fame fights and moments and excitement. His fighting style has just never been that fun to watch.

So I think this saved him from people immediately turning on him because he does get sort of a built-in excuse, even if maybe I don't really buy it. There's also maybe there's some truth to it. Maybe he would have won the last two rounds and it would have been more competitive. He was getting takedowns more successfully, certainly. So there's perhaps a kernel of truth, even if I don't really believe it. But we'll never know because the doctor did their job. So I am very interested in where he goes from here. I suspect Kobe will take some time off again.

He has been very good about that over the last couple of years of just the sport moves quickly and people forget things as the cycle goes on. And if you can just stay out of the news for a little bit, you come back. People have missed you what you bring to the table. Who he comes back against is a very big question that I have no idea about though. So he'll be 37 when he if he returns when he returns 37 so um I just don't even know where he goes is the thing like there's maybe you can do wonder boy like some old dudes fighting each other like Colby what does that mean now he's just doing

legends fight he's on the legend's tour he just I mean that's really if he gets to be on the Legends tour, that's positive because he could be on the, hey, Walter Waite's got some hitters coming up and you are now the dude we're building off of. So if he gets the Wonderboy fight, I think that would be a boon to him because that is a winnable fight as opposed to, hey, you get to greet Carlos Prattis to the cage the next time he fights. Good luck. So I don't know. I think we're going to see Colby kind of just sit out for a little while way as operas. Maybe he tries to fight Horimossidol again because it's a fight he can win. Big name.

I don't know. Honestly, I'm very interested to see where he goes, even if I'm, you know, not personally that interested in seeing the fights because I've never really liked watching Colby fight. Like, I don't really like Marab. That style is just not to my taste, even if I do think it's good and effective. So, Casey, let's move on from the main event because I'm sure we'll get some questions at the end to kind of keep diving into it. And mainly because I know that you're about to digitally slap me if we spend one or second,

not talking about the co-main event. Cubby Swanson gets the damn thing done. Beautiful, brutal, devastating knockout of Billy Quarantillo in the third round. A fight that was well on its way to being one of the better fights of the year. Easily would have been in contention for fight of the night. We have not seen, I haven't seen bonuses yet. So I guess it could have even won fight of the night and get it got a bonus roll Cubby. I think they probably will just do multiple bonuses instead of fight of the night.

But Casey, how freaking good is Cup Swanson? I have a crush on Cap Swanson. I basically, it's just like he just, oh, hit the long. Buddy, I'm very aware of that. Some of the stuff you were saying in Slack. I was like, okay. I stand by it, I stand by it, homie. I stand by it.

I stand by it all. Just, I don't know. I've known Cup for a long time. Actually, just when I first started working in this industry almost 20 years ago, I mean, maybe 19 years ago or so, one of the first interviews I edited was actually a Cub Swanson interview when he was training under Eric Paulson down at CSW. And I was just like, oh, that guy's got palm trees tattooed on him. That's weird.

But man, just the longevity of his crew. career. Just always exciting. Always just, I don't know if he, I've met a lot of fighters in this, in this, in this game, and Cubs is one of the real dudes. And, um, yeah, I was just happy he got this tonight, got this one tonight. And I love Billy Q. And I hope Billy Q takes a good rest because he is getting hit in the head a lot. I'm really, actually, actually, I'm, I'm kind of worried about Billy Q, how many shots he was taking. Because, um, this is not a forgiving sport. But, um, Cubby Swanson, man. I believe he should be a UFC future Hall of Famer. And I believe, I think of him has like kind of one of those great list of fighters who kind of never fought for a title. They were always

like right there. They're always top five, top ten guys. But, you know, he just never, you know, he ran to Frankie Agrily. He ran to Josie Otto. It happens. But just, I mean, he saw it, man. just like the guy's amazing and 41 years old man it's just the guy can hit and like this he's kind of he i don't know he he represents what i love about the sport so much like cub swanson is the dude that i created damn they were good just to be about it's just dudes like that like guys you never get to fight for a title i do not believe cubs watson will make it into the uc hall of fame individually he is obviously in for his fight with dual jolly yeah i mean individually yeah Of course.

Yeah. I do not think you will make it individually because the sport doesn't tend to honor fighters like him in that way. But like he is a dude that if you have been watching MMA for the past 20 years, he's just been awesome. Kaposa tweeted this earlier tonight and I can't believe like I just forgotten that this was the case. It was just like, how did we never get Cub versus Korean zombie?

Like just like how? How did that not happen for us? That would have been the best. But instead, Cubs 41 and still doing this. And credit to Billy Q. This fight was insanely fun for two rounds and two minutes or whatever it was. Cubs started off very hot. Billy Que sort of surged back in the second round.

Both guys got hurt at various points. And then Cubs in a knockout that many people online likened stylistically, visually to Kamau Usman's knockout of Hori Masrall because it is basically the exact same thing. I believe you called it a T-Mu version of that, and that is exactly correct. It's the exact same sort of right-hand just nuking him. And it was incredibly, incredibly cool.

In the end, Michael Bisping sets Cub up to retire in the cage, says, hey, is this going to be it for you? It's an emphatic, incredible victory. and Cove does not commit to it. Says he's got to talk to the wife. You know, he knows he doesn't have much left, but he doesn't want to make any commitments in the cage, which I think is fine if he had not prepared to retire beforehand.

You know, don't be forced into it by the circumstances. Make the decision best for you. But Casey, would you like to see Cubs end his career in this way, a way that I'm certain is going to get him a bonus, if not two bonuses? and, you know, going out in a really, really emphatic way for your career. Like, not many people in their careers in this sport in a better way than Cub would if he hung it up tonight. Hmm. Interesting hat.

Oh, real quick correction. It was, you're confusing the great knockouts. Cubb had a great knockout, but the knockout you're thinking of was Jacoby over. Oh, I was thinking that. No, Brian, no, Brian. Simple mistake. You're correct. We saw a lot of... Billy did die, though.

He did die, yes. Credit to Billy. I tweeted this earlier. You guys, this is one of my bits that is not a bit. I just mean with my full chest. Dying well is a great skill to have. And Billy Q dies well. When he dies, he dies cinematically.

And he just did the full bluish. Yeah, we need to make a list of fighters who die well. That guys like Johnny Walker. It's a fighter. It's honestly the list that I was born to make. I should absolutely make that at some point. Because, like, yes, Johnny Walker may be like the apex dies well guy. Who is us?

I think Corey Anderson on that list, good fighters that die well. When they lose, they do. Dying well is great. And Billy Q died so well. So well. What was the question? I'm sorry. Do you want to see Cubs hanging up after this one?

Like, is, you know, would you be comfortable with him coming back and fighting again? because he still looked like, he obviously still has trade on the tires. He still got gas in the tank. Yeah. This would have been the fight. Maybe if he went to came into it thinking that, but I get it.

I mean, he just beat a quality featherweight. I mean, yeah, I think he knows, you know, yeah, no title shot. I'm not a top 15 featherweight anymore or even a top top 10 or whatever. But I kind of like, yeah, I would like for him to leave one fight too soon than too late.

And so tonight would have been a great night. But who knows, he still may choose that path. But tonight would have been a good night to call it today. Co-main event sold out, record-breaking gate. So, yeah, but maybe he wants, maybe, I don't know, maybe they can throw them on that LA card. That's too soon. That's too soon.

That's way too soon. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, if it was like a quick knockout. just too soon but uh he took a beating yeah yeah you're you're right you're right you're right but um no i think tonight would have been a good night and um so now now my fingers are just i'm just gonna be scared every time every time cub fights now because you know this like we said this sport and how it treats you on the way out it's not good it does i i struggle to think of a better end his career at this point like i just don't know what you can sculpt it was it was a classic

like Cub fight. It felt like it's just it felt like we're you know, it felt like the Superboy fight again. It was just that kind of fun. Honestly, like watching, I was like, I mean, damn, if this is his last fight, like, this isn't going to go into the Hall of Fame, but like, this is one of the better scraps of the year right now. Like, this is exact what we thought it would be. So I, if he wants to keep fighting after this performance, who can blame him, but it would have been a very nice capstone to the career. But if not, then we can delay his damn they were good for at least a little while longer. How many WEC guys are left?

Not many. I know Dom, Dominic Cruz technically. Aldo Dom technically, Cubby. Maybe Honayaya. I'm not sure if he's still in the roster anymore. I don't think Honey Yaya is on the roster anymore. I think I released once Victor Henry finished him. I might be it.

I'm really trying to rack my brother. brain. Yeah, if you can throw something in the comments. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, if you can think of any, I'm trying to think of any bantoms. Honestly, that might actually just be it. So, uh, WEC never die, except for it's very, very close to the end of it's run. Uh, but I mean, honestly, if you wanted to do, and I know that they don't compete

in the same way class anymore, uh, if you wanted to do Cub Aldo two, I'm in. I'm in. That would be sick. David, there we go. Yeah. Otto doesn't seem to be in like, he doesn't seem to be into those type of fights, but I wish.

No, he's still like trying to make a title run, which is weird. Stop it. Stop it. Dude, we don't care. We just like, you should have gotten one, but we just want to see you retire Dom Cruz

and like fight Patricio Pitbull when he comes over. Like we don't really give a shit about you, doing this band going against Jonathan Martinez. Yeah. Or like I don't care to see these fights. Yeah. I don't care.

Like stop wasting the I want to see you fight Cubby again. Except that you're old. Like accept that you are old and fight old people. Come on. Even though you're still one of the 10 best band. Just stop doing that part of it and do stuff we want to see. Yeah. Yeah.

That would be a great fight at Featherweight. Yeah. Auto Cup. That would be. That would be the one to make it. If I am McMainer, Sean Shelby, I am making that fight. I'm offering them whatever it takes to get out of to say yes. And it's the main event of a show that's not in the freaking apex.

And we're bringing back the WEC cage and the WC gloves. And we're just making it a celebration of WEC like we did 306 and Noche in the Sphere. It's a celebration of the greatest freaking MMA org that ever existed. And you know where you have that fight at? Tachi Palace. I was going to say, you owe Tachi one. You owe Tachi. You owe Tachi.

Boom. That's make it happen. Dana White, there you go. That's free. Take it. Clip this. Tag Dana,

tag Mick, tag Sean, tag Hunter, tag all of them. Let them know we are shitting gold right now. And they can take it for free. Again, shout out to Billy Que for dying well and for scrapping.

Last individual. Wait, wait. They gave up. bonuses, did they... I haven't seen bonuses. Let me look at them. Oh, we did get a fight in the night, Casey.

It was Cubbs Swanson and Billy Q got fight of the night. Performances went to Dustin, Jacoby, and Michael Johnson. So, I mean, the Jacoby one seems very, very obviously he would get one. Michael Johnson, also pretty, pretty freaking cool bonus there. I would say a bit unfortunate for my boy, Joel Alvarez, who... both knockout and submitted a dude. I put that on a knockout of the year list. That was, I haven't, I've never seen a knockout like that.

Knocked him out, put it. I'm jumping down, jumping down the card, but put him in a guillotine, punched him in the head while he's unconscious and choked him out. It was amazing. Amazing. It was a very weird, cool finish that Joel Alvarez got no love for. I really thought we were just going to get four performances and Billy Q was going to be just kind of left out, which would have sucked.

But not what they did. Selah V. Casey, we do have one other big fight to talk about before we kind of just quickly run through and maybe give shout out to another. And it is, of course, the feature bout of the evening arguably should have been the co-main, but for we knew the co-man was going to be pretty sick. And this guy has been up and down, but he went up or down tonight. He was all the way up. Manel Cop gets a second round knockout, third round. Sorry, it was the third round.

Knockout from just beating the hell out of Bruno Silva functionally. A fight marred by a number of fouls. The rare double foul early on with the simultaneous eye poke and groin kick. Multiple groin kicks through the fight. Finally a point is taken after like the third one. And doesn't matter because Minnell cop that this Casey, this is the Minnell cop we expected coming out of Verizon. Right. Like this is the guy we were all hyped on.

Yeah. This is the guy I've been screaming from the rooftops about forever. Yeah, he showed up. The double I poke, I mean, not double I poke, the double I poke, the double I poke coin shot. It was amazing, amazing. It was absolutely terrific. Highly innovative. I mean, I know we don't deduct points ever, but I'll be okay with actually giving him an extra point for the creativity.

For innovating. Innovating. It's a rarely seen double foul. Truly respect. I respect the much worse growing kick in the thing it was the second round where he does it almost like, and I know Michael Bisbon's like, I don't think he meant to do him like, Ms. Bing, he just punted him in the nards when he was getting rocked. Like even if he didn't mean to do it, he kind of meant to do it.

Like this was like, that was a hail. Mary up the middle and just like very, very bad. So it was wild, but Manel cop looked amazing. Casey, he looks so amazing. When he gets on the mic afterwards, he says a bunch of stuff. He said a lot in a very little space of time. Some of it was great. He called himself terrific, which is, I'm terrific.

I love that you caught that as well. Because it's like, that's adorable. It's like, I'm terrific. I'm terrific. I'm terrific. It's like, you are terrific, man. It's the best. No lies.

The big takeaway is that he called for a fight against Flyway Champion Alejandro Petosha, said that he's going to be the new guy to take over the division, be the pay-per-view star, etc. He wants that fight. We were talking in the preview show in BTL and all week. Monell Cop possibly fighting for a title shot here. Wouldn't maybe make the most sense he did lose to Mohamed Mekyev in his previous fight, though I actually scored that fight for Monell Cop, as many did. and no cop does not believe he lost for whatever that is worth.

But a performance like that, he jumps the cage, he's talking to Dana White, saying Dana, Dana's like, dude, go enjoy your moment, we'll talk backstage. Do we think that he is going to get the Alejandro Pantosia fight next? I hope so. I mean, what else? I hope so. I just hope so. That's all.

Pantosia was cops first. Is that right? Yeah, his first opponent, when he came to the UFC, he fought Pantosia. And I thought he legitimately lost Pantosia. His other losses, I thought he beat Nicolao, and I thought he beat Mikhailov. I know he lost it. I know the judge isn't think so, but I thought he won. And regardless, but Patoja was a legit loss.

He lost that fight. And I think it's time. Yes, he did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm the biggest, but no cop fan. I was like, all right, you lost. But timing's perfect. You can sell the fight.

There's a rivalry. You have footage. You know, you have the great promo. Cop kind of did the thing Brazil, baby. Oh, and there you go, right there. Yeah, I love that fight. I don't, am I forgetting a name?

Is it just Royval? I mean, who would else would it be? So, who am I forgetting? Royval is like the guy who deserves it, quote, unquote. The other option is Kai Karo France, who also has one win. But he's also a new opponent, which is why people have kind of behind him a little bit. just Pintoja hasn't beaten him, you know, in the same way that he's beaten Roy Vall and Marino a billion times. He has, but he hasn't done it five times or whatever that he's done with the rest of him.

So that's kind of the new spice, the new flavor. I think it was long ago. It doesn't even feel like it feels fresh. It was a billion years ago. And so like he's different circumstances, tough, et cetera. I get it. But coming off one win, this is also coming off one win. Honestly, maybe it is homerism.

Maybe it's just being, being ridiculous. I was sold. I was sold by the performance and the call. I was like, dude, just do it. Why not? Let's have some fun. Let's make this happen. They did air suck.

Why not? They did Kai Kaasakure because why not? Let's do cop because why not? Flyway to the division of whatever we do, whatever we do. We do it, whatever we want. Let's put Minot Cop in there. We wanted this fight for a very long time. we finally got it.

Even if maybe it's a little bit by hook and by crook, good enough for me. Let's get Manil Cop a title shot coming off of this. Run down of the other results, and then Casey, I'll ask you to pick, let's go with two shoutouts. We'll draft them, same as we did in the preview show. Dustin Jacoby pulls off an incredible third-round knockout of Ito-Pretino.

I'm pretty sure Jacoby was about to lose, but he obliterates Petrino, sends him to the land of wins and ghosts and gets a bonus for his trouble. Daniel Marcos ekes out a split decision win over Adrian Yanyes. I actually scored the fight for Eugene and Janyes. Don't have an issue with you scoring it for Marcos. Very, very close. Marcos gets to dub.

My boy, Navajo Sterling. It was fighting the night before the co-main event. It was fighting the night before the co-main event. But although I would say they're on different tiers of quality. Oh, yeah, yeah. But it was probably, it was the best fight of the evening. Navajo Sterling beats Tucco in a fight that look like a dude who has five professional fights and has some talent against the guy who isn't very good,

but at least is durable enough and has experience. Michael Johnson, nasty knockout punching and Tominized Azitar and gets himself a bonus as well. And a win streak, first win streak for Michael Johnson in many years, I believe. Joel Alvarez, my true boy, he has been my boy forever and ever El Phenomino. flying knee and submission when we talked about over Dracard close Sean Woodson wins the Battle of Gigantic Featherweights with a first round knockout of Fernando Padilla,

Felipe Lima, UD over Miles Johns, Miranda Maverick UD over Jamie Lynn Horth, Davy Grant picks up a UD over Vermont Tavares, and Pierre Rodriguez opens the night, fairly big underdog, pulls off a unanimous decision in a 3027 clean sweep of Yosefine Knudsen. So Casey, let's draft our favorite at non-main,

co-main and Manel-Cop performances. We'll each get two, and I'll let you pick first. Ooh. I'm going to go with Sean Woodson and Joel Averis. Just,

Sean, it's, is Pidio good? I don't remember his fights. He's fine. He's fine. Okay, just, but he's still a little young.

He's like 26. He doesn't have that much work done. Okay. He's like, okay. Okay. I like Sean Woodson, I like his hands. I like his just weird, gangly body.

He's just fun to watch. Just, just, are you, he's all those things? A unique looking human. I mean that in a good way. And so very impressed. I want to see what's next from him. And, uh, but Joel Alvarez, man, George Car Close is a tough, lightweight to beat.

And the way he beat him was incredibly impressive. And the man brings violence. And I don't know. I just, I'm not even sure what the ceiling is. I mean, I'm not saying he's the next Habib or anything crazy, but Joel Alvarez looks like, you know, he is going to be a kind of perennial top 10 fighter. And I don't know, him versus BSD.

I don't know. There's so many fights. Most BSD would be sick. Yeah. BSD should not take that fight. No, you should not. You should not. You're right.

Yeah. BSD could win it, but like he's on a two-fight losing skid and he should be looking for a soft and touch than that. So whatever is next year, Joe Alvarez, I am very excited to see him because I feel like we saw him at his full potential tonight. And charismatic, good on the mic, exciting fighter. Yeah, awesome. Spanish, Spain's the market they're trying to get into. I've loved Joel Alvarez since he whipped up on Yosef Duffy.

That was like back when Duffy was at the end of being like a credible dude. And I've just loved this dude forever. Like his losses, lost to Demiris Magulov and he lost Arm and Sarukin. Okay. That's fine. And everybody else, he has finished. I love me, someone who does not use judges and this man does not use judges. He will settle this business his own damn self.

He doesn't seem to really forced to fight either. No. That's what I mean. He's not, I'm just going to go crazy. It's just who he is. And like, I know exactly me. And yeah, he's. And I liked him before.

but you really sold me on it. And you maybe, I kind of paid extra special attention to that fight because of how, how high you were on him. So I was like, all right, all right. And, um, no, you're right. That meant, uh, he is a, he is a very good talent that the UFC has. He is a predatory offensive fighter. Like, if you are hurt, it is curtains like that.

He is just going to end you if he senses blood in the water. Which is what he did to joccar basically was like, oh, oh, we're done. We're done. It was. Is he kind of who you thought Jalen Turner may have been? Or I still think Jalen, I want to be clear. I'm still in on Jalen Turner. But they are similar fighters except for, I mean, realistically, I think Alvarez is a more fun fighter.

I think Jalen Turner should be a better fighter. But they are very similar. I think Jalen Turner has better tools. But no, like they're just giant dudes who have incredible. offense and that's all like fuck a defense i don't need a defense just be cool is all i need and they are cowards defenses for cowards i've been saying exactly it's after adrian yaneas adrian you should maybe invest in like some defense because you could be really cool too but yeah no he is he's been my boy forever i'm very glad that he's getting the shine seems like he's probably going to get a

crack at somebody in the top 15 next up uh i mean he knocked out and submitted a dude You don't do that all that often, and especially a good dude in Jokar Close who I think is a very good dude. I can't believe. I can't believe it. I mean, it's a real shame. I'm just going to shout out Dustin Jacoby because he was pretty close to losing that fight.

I think he was going to lose that on the judge's scorecards. That was a bad. That was a pretty bad 12 minutes of fighting. It was an awful fight to watch. Yeah. And but he comes out smelling like roses because he got an unbelievable knockout 50K for his trouble. The only other thing I will shout out before we pop to the peeps, Casey, is I just have a special message for Adrian Yanias. Just get with Cub Swanson.

Like pretty clearly you just want, like you have the same style as Cub, but you're just not as good at it. So just like, go train with him. Learn how to do it better because you did a lot of blocking punches with your face tonight. And that is probably why you ended up losing a very, very close split decision. So otherwise, this was a really fun night of fights, Casey. There were some low moments. You know, the Patrino Jacoby fight dragged for 10 minutes, certainly. And some of the early prelims, nobody is going to go rewatch the Miranda Maverick fight.

Like, their slow moments, but. Miranda Maverick, she didn't get over like we were ready for it. Yeah, before in our Q&A, we talked about who has the most to lose. on this card outside of the main event. And we kind of both said Yanna is a Maverick. And Yonnas kind of did. Yeah. It's weird.

They both had weird nights. Yeah. Miranda Maverick had a win, but she's staying on the early prelamps, unfortunately, probably for a little bit until something changes. She is. Yeah. She is. She, Marina Maverick is going to go right back to the apex, where they're not bringing

Miranda Maverick out to the apex. the road shows anymore. She's going back to the apex. I mean, the woman's clearly a hauss and very talented, but as far as, you know, excitement, yeah, I don't know. I'm not sure what's missing, but yeah, she's not, not, not ready yet. I'm with you. I don't know exactly what is missing, like, other than a very broad sense of, like,

she should finish people at some point in her life. Just maybe a little more meanness, but she's clearly got tools. Yeah. And probably will be like a top 15 fighter for some time because she has tools. But she is really becoming a not stylistically similar, but like she's really chikagianing her way through this weight class, which isn't where you want to be to be in the UFC's good graces. So. I think, yeah. I think, yeah, I'm just kind of waiting for her to turn that corner, that one fight.

Oh, there she is. Yeah. But hasn't happened yet. Oh, does she? She's 27. So she's still got some time to turn. corner still plenty of time to make it work uh shot at davy grant getting the dub underdog old dude still showing he's got some life and pierre rodriguez didn't uh commit any fouls so way to go

big upset and she didn't headbut anybody terrific so casey let's go to the peeps we've been going for close to an hour we can answer some questions you all know what it is by now you got questions we got answers pop them in we'll answer the best ones and super chats as always get priority, we'll go for 15 minutes or so, or until the good questions leave us, whichever comes first. Stephen Dawson, does this version of Buckley beat Ian? I think he probably would have won if it had been. Has he shown enough that he can win and hold the belt two to five times?

It's a really good question, Casey. So originally, this fight was supposed to be Buckley versus Ian Machado Gary. Obviously, Gary gets pulled, goes to fight Chavcott overperforms. If that fight doesn't change and instead I, Imichato Gary stays in this card instead of Covington, I think I have to be really interested to see the fight. I think I E. Machado Gary is a substantially better defensive fighter than Colby Covington is in the striking, certainly. But also stylistically, Buckley is going to be attempting far more takedowns than he was against Covington. I was really not part of the game plan at all for him.

So it is a wholly different fight. it's a fight I'm really interested to see. I think we will get it at some point in time, frankly. But I don't, it's hard for me to say I think so just because Ian fought Shavcott really tough. And I think the world of Shavcott. So hard for me to say that I would favor Ian, but I could be wrong here. Casey, what say you? I don't know.

I don't know. Both me, because they both, I mean, we're kind of compared to what we just saw. Buckley's performance. for Colby and Ian's over Shafcott. I, man, both look. It's a good question. Both look good.

Okay, let me ask you this, maybe. The original booking, original booking, who were you, who were you going to predict in the original booking, assuming the shop, I was going to favor, him, I was going to favor, Gary. I think Ian Chowder Gary is a very good fighter,

and I've thought that for a very long time. I know that he is, I don't think that, like, he, I think he lacks the same ceiling as maybe some other people because he is not a predatory offensive fighter, which is perhaps also just a wrong, I just favor fighters like that in my life, like the people I am more drawn to. But I think that he is obviously an extremely good fighter and he gets underestimated because people do not like him personally. Yeah, I think there's a little bit of the outside of the cage stuff of Gary. and Buckley a little bit too.

But obviously not to the same in stupidness that Gary gets. But actually it's weird. Like off Gary's loss, I look higher on Gary and off Buckley's win, I look higher on Buckley. I don't really change my opinion and how that fight wouldn't have gone. I just think both them are actually better

than what I kind of thought they were coming into it. I think it would be a really good fight. I think we will get to see it. Buckley will use takedowns more, see how that would change, see if that affects his cardio, etc. But I think we'll get it at some point. As far as the other question here, do you think he has enough he can win and hold the belt two to five times? I would be pretty surprised if walking Buckley held the belt, you know, two or five times.

You know, we can't discount that entirely, I suppose. But in general, if you just bet against any fighter, hold. the belt two to five times, you're going to be right far more often than you're going to be wrong. And I do think Buckley has some deficiencies that boutique game plans against a variety of opponents probably expose a little bit better than maybe he can. Because again, I am not taking anything away from his performances. He has looked unbelievable since dropping to Walterweight. I do just want to roll off the list of people he's looked unbelievable against Andre Fialho. okay Alex Morono

okay Ficente Luque Nerslton Uzabayev Steven Thompson Colby Covington three of those six wins are dudes who are very clearly past their prime right now

so got to factor that in I think that you know if he is instead of facing guys past their prime he is facing dudes at the very top of their game Ian Machado Gary into Shavkat Rakhanov into Jack Della or Sean Brady

I think the road gets a lot tougher and so I would say it's unlikely. I think it's unlikely he wins the belt in general. If he did win the belt, probably unlikely he retains it for a number of defenses. But the fact that we are honestly, and like talking about Buckley and title shots, like he's one win away from a legitimate title shot.

Yeah. And what brilliant. Or one injury to Shavkat away from a legitimate title shot. That is insane. And he would do it by beating. another fighter past their prime and i'm not discreding buckley at all i'm actually saying that is brilliant management by walking buckley in his career path so um if he can manage a career shot i mean it's a uh a career manage a title shot off beating pastor prime wonder boy way past your prime

colby and pastor prime usman just an incredible career i want to say resurgence because it's not like he was gone but i just didn't expect him ever to be this high on the Walter weight rankings. And he legitimately is. When he dropped to Walter, I was like, oh, cool. He'll probably make the top 15. He will probably get ranked at Walterweight.

Not, oh, he will be like making a deep, a real serious deep run to it. So it's great. Like, I was very certain that his career was going to be defined as the ninja kick dude. And it still may be like the first thing in his obituary when he died. at 50 years from now or whatever. But it also could be former UFC title challenge.

Like that is absolutely a world we're living in right now. So again, full credit to him, man. Really, really impressive year. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Dawson. Some more super chats coming in. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Dawson.

Everett Price. Cop was hot dogging to draw fouls next level. I love this idea. Manel Cop was not hot dogging to draw fouls. Menel cop likes to put on a show in the cage a little bit, particularly when he's feeling himself. And Casey, that was my point earlier. Like, we have not seen a lot of this Manel cop in there.

He has been a little tentative, a little reserved in his UFC run. Like, he has just not been the rising fighter who is just dogwalking people and letting know about it. And then for whatever reason, it came out against Bruno Silva. I don't know if it's just because he felt very confident in the match. and he feels less confident against guys at Mikhailov and Pantoja, but like this, I want to see Minel Kopp showboden in there hot dogging as,

as this is quote unquote said, because that's when you're getting the best Minnell cop. Yeah, you said it. That's the Menel Kopp that I knew in Washington Horizon, and we got to see it tonight. And this is the guy even like just going, wait until he starts fighting at his potential. He's so good.

And we got to see you tonight. You were deeply in on him the moment he came over here. And it's finally getting paid off. Finally, finally. And one day for you, Jake Matthews will fight for his title. I abandoned that one. I haven't sold my stock in Jalen Turner, but Jake Matthews weird. We ditch that.

That's a sink of shit. But, no, cop's awesome. And I think he'll get next title shot. And I'm glad. I'm glad to, you know, actually, how many of those fights were at the, okay, the Mekiah fight, let's just ignore that. That was just a bad fight. Just, I think he'll, he just, I think he'll own that one. That fight just suck.

Even though he thought he won, I thought he won, but it was just a bad fight. But he fought at the Apex a lot. And I feel he's just, he's a guy that needs a fighting pump for crowd. And I think it really helped him tonight. Let me see how many of these fights were at the old Apex since coming to the UFC. because he came up during the one two three four four apex fights of like eight in the UFC

so about 50 50 and you know I look at a topology page and there's so many grays and that's what's hurt him so much so many just canceled fights a lot of canceled fights lot of fights fell through short notice right on his end or his opponent's end so just a lot of bad luck so but stars are lining up and I think we might get to see a pantos and Mano Cop too. And if not, we probably get Mano Cop versus

Caicot-Carrantz for a title of Eliminator, which is also fine. I would rather not, but totally fine if that's what they do. I'd see what they do. Because Pantosia might take some time off too. Who knows, he might use them. Yeah, he's been pretty busy too. All right.

Thank you. Thank you, Ever. I know there's super chat. Let me. Here we go. Nick VCC, there's not much in this sport that's better than watching an old fighter. seem to be at peace with themselves

enjoying the closing chapters. I mean, I think there are better things, but it is really nice to see fighters like Cub Swanson who even like the whole fight week, you know, Cub goes to media day. And Cove is honest and transparent about like where he's at in his career that fighting is not the main thing anymore.

He is also focused on management and development and working with fighters and their growth and how he can give back to the sport and his family. and that this is, he still does this for the love of the game, basically. And there's something that is very, very endearing about fighters like that. Fighters like Jim Miller, who know that their title run is not happening, but they are still here to have fun.

Basically, this is not to discredit him, Michael Johnson post-fight speech being like, I am making a return to the top. It's like, I don't think we, nope, nope, nobody wants that for you, Mike. you're winning fights again, which is cool. When you were at the top, you were losing a bunch of fights because you were fighting really, really good dudes. What if we don't do that? Cubs Swanson is in a great spot with his career. And if he keeps fighting, I will keep tuning in.

I hope he doesn't fight for that much longer because he took a lot of shots than I as well. But I do agree with you, Nick, and that it is a very nice piece when a fighter does sort of have that self-awareness to kind of reckon with this part of his career. Thank you, Nick. Thank you, Nick. Thank you, Nick. Dane McClendon. Navarro was a little too blonde diamond-y for me. Blood, blood.

Oh, well, I was just thinking blonde. You can call him blonde diamond. Take that one. There you go. I mean, I think he's a very talented fighter that is deeply raw and needs to develop. And that is what that fight looked like he probably shouldn't be in the UFC at this point of his career frankly But five and oh and he won 3027 correct 3027 I think I think maybe one judge might have no 37's cross the board okay cross the board okay

Yeah he looked like a really high level prospect but prospect and Keep him keep him very low on cards and keep guys and the UFC needs to keep fighters like who is his opponent's name Tuko Tococos Tucco should not be in the UFC but he should be in the UFC because that's how you Enhanced talent. Enhanced talent.

Yeah. No, I didn't get blood diamond he feels. I just got so I have a no. It's just chill. That does the thing. He could have, if he had a little bit better fight, you, which again, he doesn't have because he is very, very young. He would have won that fight pretty early.

Every time basically he touched Tokos to the body, Tokos like winced and covered up. And he just never went back to it because he's had five fights and he doesn't, he just started trying to hit him in the head a bunch. Like he, give him some more time, give him some more development. I'm not saying it'll be a champion. I don't actually think he will. But Light Heavyweight is a wasteland.

And he is somewhat talented. So that'll get you really, really, really, far in quite possibly the worst division in the entire sport. Thank you, Dane. But thank you, Dane. Achilles, he back. Petrino getting subbed by Smith and caoed by Jacoby, a sign for his future. He's still pretty young, but me, happy New Year's Felice Navidad.

I'm assuming that it's supposed to be Navidad, not Lavidad, unless Lavidad is a word. I don't know what it means. Yeah, this is the day I got off the Vitor Petrino train. I was never like big on the train. But again, he's 27. Looks amazing getting off the bus. I mean, dude is just a stack of cobblestones walking into the cage. And he had been mostly beating people up.

Tyson Pedro beats him up. Modestis Pekoskis kills him. I was willing to write off the Anthony Smith thing as he shot a double, got guillotine sometimes it happens crafty loss i am this fight was bad he did not perform particularly well he did not fight smart and ultimately he got uh left as a grease spot in the middle of the cage so i'm off the patrino doing anything trained yeah looks good coming off the bus but yeah that's yeah these are tough back-to-back losses for him so again jacoboby has won like one fight in his last like seven or something dumb yeah now is petrino okay speaking

to guys like tucco is petrino a step too too far for uh uh Navajo probably Navajo just shouldn't be in the UFC at this point is really it like you just got to be really careful of guys like yeah because you bad knockouts you know a loss is whatever but you know obviously you're five and two or now he's six and oh six and two two bad knockouts and your kind of career is over at 20 whatever 27 yes because like patrino's next fight is probably make a break for his entire career which is just very very tough you don't want to be that when you're 28 years old or whatever yeah uh but thank you a kiddies jing oh thank you follow up from achilles oh god i'm on my work computer you're going to do it now yeah let me open up my

open up a little side window i should open up the tongue window Well, when I Google that, it does not bring me anything but Felice Navidad. So the Google machine is working hard to prevent thing. The only thing I can assume is that has something to do with lavatories and tis tis, shame on you if that's the case, Achilles. But Google won't let me find out. So, ha, do no evil. That's the motto.

Mike Conlin, 5-0 does seem too early for the UFC. I mean, it almost always is. Like, again, Bo Nickel do like, we're like, okay, Bo's probably like the best prospect in a generation, one of them. And he still just hasn't looked amazing in the UFC because he has six fights. Like basically no fighter is good, six fights in their career. Go back and look, Daniel Cormier is always the guy I use as an example. Because if you watch Cormier's like pre-strike force, like early, early stuff,

He looks horrible. He looks so bad. Like he is winning because he is an athlete and he's just overmatched opposition. But he is not figured out how to fight. And then at whatever it is, it's different for every fighter. You get 10 fights or whatever.

You get enough experience, enough time in. And the switch flips. And you just suddenly you can put it all together in a way that is effective at all points in time that make you very dangerous. And so I think 5 and 0 should just never be in the UFC in general because the UFC won't give you the schedule you should have. If you are a 5 and 0 fighter, you should try and fight six times a year. You should try and be fighting a bunch to just learn how to fight because that's how you learn how to fight primarily.

Yeah, go through one year. Go through six fight camps, go through six weight cuts, go through six, you know, weigh ends, do that process over and over. So I will say this about Navajo, though, even though he didn't like blow us away tonight, this I think was vitally important to his full career because he got to fight 15 minutes. He got to, I don't want to say face adversity, but it wasn't a walk in the park. He had to earn it. And he had to go to the weight cut. He had lots of hype on him. He was a giant favorite.

So these are things that are going to be new to him as a fighter and just as a person. So I think in the end for I'm sure from his coach's point of view I think this is going to be very good for him From a fan's point of view you're like okay you know But I think I think as a fighter this is important Just like Daniel Cormay's earning fights We don't need to rewatch him Unless you just want to know just watch everything with Daniel Cormer

But they are it's very interesting how The fighters kind of just eventually turn that corner Which I keep kind of saying by random Maverick is like Oh I can't wait to do She kind of just does it as it happened yet. But I think being five, yeah. I said one day, and it's not just like it is the same, but just about any job, like really. Yeah.

And just about any job is just like, okay, there's a day when suddenly it all is, it works better. Like you just everything comes together and your mind and body figure it out. And like I pulled up Habib specifically because I remember like here are the first few years. years of Habib's career, just so you can understand, like, what I mean by prospect development. He fought four times in 2008. He fought four times in 2009. He fought two times in 2010. And then he fought seven times in 2011.

Like, that was how he got his resume. And the 2011 was partially, we're going to stack wins to get into the UFC. But it's also, he's just going to fight every other month because we just, like, he just needs to fight a bunch of people because that's how you get better. Like, that's how you learn what you're good at. And fighting in a real fight is not the same as fighting in training or sparring or whatever. And so my big thing on why fighters shouldn't go to the UFC at 50 is the regional circuit is far better set for them to get multiple fights in the year than the UFC is. Like, if you get four fights a year like Joaquin Buckley, you are extremely lucky.

Most people get two. And it's also kind of a different time in the sport where I feel like a guy like, Navajo Sterling would have been signed by like say a Bellator or Strike Force back in the day at 1 and 0, 2 and O. And they would have built them up, you know, with the right opponents. But this is the UFC. It's a different. The business is way different now. But he is at 205 and this is maybe the one weight division you can get away of it, to be honest.

If you don't see any 135ers, you don't see any 45ers. You can't do it. You can't do it. You don't see any lightweights coming in and be real. threats. Chase Hooper did it. It was bad. It was bad for him.

It took him a long time to get to where he needed to be. Sage Northcutt was one of those guys. He just brought him super early. It's bad. It's very, it really worked out for anyone, like kind of a three and no, two and no fighter under 55 pounds. I can't think of anybody who comes in that raw and gets, gets through it. Yeah.

I'm sure that there's somebody because like, just law of large numbers. It's going to work for one. person but like that's the thing like the john jones path to success is a really bad path like it's just not one that you should do because that's not how you're going to accumulate the most talent as a result so uh i'm still i still think now that's sterling's going to be successful because his weight class is trash and like even tonight you saw a lot of tools there you saw a lot of poise for a guy with five fights even if he doesn't quite know how to fight yet like he's got a lot a lot of ability. He's just got to make it work. And he's with a team with a team in a camp that

I think will make it work. We have seen the development of Carlos Oldberg. Like, we have seen guys at that camp consistently. Orbro got knocked out his first UFC fight and now he might be one fight away from fighting for a title. Yeah. We have seen city kickboxing very clearly develop fighters over a long period of time. I think that Sterling is in a good place to succeed. maybe not throw it. Like I said, I don't think he's going to win the belt. I wouldn't write it off because like heavyweight sucks, but he's got opportunity.

Yes. And our last question, comment. Dave Sandine, did Colby retire? Unless something happened to the post fight, which I have frankly not been keeping up with. I haven't seen any, no one said anything. I don't think he's, he didn't do any. I say, I don't think he got a post presser.

the only thing I am seeing is that Dana 100% guarantees that John Jones versus Tom Aspinall happens in 2025, which means it's not going to happen. Yeah. And we're saying Connor McGregor in the second quarter of 2025. I think I think Connor returning is far more likely than John versus Tom. Hope I am wrong, but I don't think I am. So I bring this question up. No, Colby did not retire. but should he retire could he retire I mean I think he should retire in the fact that I think he is

washed but I was very clear in the preview show I thought he was washed against mospital I thought he was I felt I was willing to say maybe the moscadal fight was training partners and you know it's tough to fight training partners guys who know you very well they know your tricks and your secrets maybe I was willing and then the leon fight happened And I was like, no, he is just washed. I feel even, I am dead certain there is no doubt in my mind that he just doesn't have it anymore. And so he should look to retire sooner rather than later because it's not going to get better for him. But if he wants to go out on a win, if he wants to try and cherry pick a convenient matchup,

maybe if they do go to Miami and Mossvedoll doesn't fight Leon Edwards, maybe he can sneak his way into a Mazurall rematch or something. but I it's going to be hard to craft a good exit for him because I don't think he has it anymore yeah I'm really interested how the UFC books Colby or how Colby books himself he seems to book himself he doesn't so um it's interesting if you're trying to book him for a win it just has to be some dude who can't wrestle like that's it and so like maybe Wonderboy maybe he can beat Wonder Boy. I wouldn't bet my life that he could beat Wonder Boy, but I would say he probably can beat Wonder Boy. But like, that's it. Like the way to get hit, the way for him to end his career is just fighting a dude who can't wrestle at all. And there aren't that many of those dudes hanging

around 170 right now. I can't. I'm like, I mean, would he be like, would he be like, would he fight to someone we never, never heard of, but like someone that's not even like been in the top 25? I don't know who, probably not because he is, he believes he's a star and he is a star. He's got to fight somebody that has at least some level of a name. But like, dude, who, like he, there's no world in which he should fight Ian Machado Gary after this. Should absolutely not do that. Like, where would you, where would you rank Kobe right now? I will not have him ranked.

I don't think. If we did a top 40, would he be top 40? top 30? Oh, it'd be top 40. Yeah, he'd be top 40. We'd probably be top. Like, because maybe he could have a good day, he'd still probably be, like, he'd be top 30,

maybe even top 25, but that would be generous. But like, I was just going to pick most young, talented fighters over him. I think he is washed, washed. Yeah. He is regressing as a striker or at least looked to have regressed tonight. Maybe he was just terrified that Buckley hits real hard. And he just doesn't have the physicality. is not there anymore.

He can still push a pace and he's still very durable. And that can get you wins, but like, athleticism ties a lot of what he did together and his athleticism has dropped off. Yeah. It's almost suggesting Colby versus MVP, but I think MVP nukes Colby. Plus MVP is matched up, kid.

Yeah. He's fighting Shaw or Bullet at whatever, Saudi. Does it the Saudi card? Yeah. Oh, yeah. You're right, you're right, 85. He's going to 85. Colby versus Duke.

Lucke? He can win that fight. He can lose that fight too, but he can win that fight. That might not be a bad matchup if you're just trying to get Colby a win. I could see that. I honestly think he is going to try and play for a Mossadol rematch. That makes the most sense. We settled in the streets, but we last time, whatever, just do that sort of thing.

Yeah, if I, he knows he can win that fight. And I don't know there are that many others that he can feel that confident about in there. You know what, Colby sits out. He sits out. He takes big break. So they book Leon versus Mazvedal. Leon gets his win. Then they book Kobe versus Masvidal.

Honestly, it would be the only thing that makes sense really from Oswald at that point either. It's just like you'll lose, but who else are you going to fight? So sure, just do it. That could easily be what happens third quarter, fourth quarter, next year. Yeah. Yeah, I don't see, I don't think we don't see Kobe for at least nine months. Yeah. I think that is extremely likely.

He's very good at knowing when to take a step back from his career for a little while. And I think this is one of those times for old chaos. All right. And I think that's it. We've been going for more than enough time at this point. Ladies and gentlemen, UFC Tampa is in the books. UFC in 2024 is in the books. But we are not done.

There's an on to the next one coming tomorrow. There is big boxing event coming next week as well. Plus, of course, year-end rewards and a whole bunch of silly stuff that I am individually working on to supplement this. So, keep a lot in a minute. And, and me and my wonderful wife, the goat, Esther Lin, will be in Japan in Tokyo at Saitama Arena for Risen for the big New Year's Eve card. and Ryan Garcia in his exhibition boxing match, we will be there, so we will be having some coverage there too. We won't be doing these big shows or anything,

but we will have coverage, though. Terrifically exciting. So keep it locked and May fighting for the rest of this lovely month. Tune in to all our shows, do all the stuff. You know us, we love you for being around with us. And until next weekend for Fury Ussick 2, love y'all. Bye. The rematch of the greatest heavyweight in years feels kind of like a dud, but we're excited nonetheless.

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