MMA Fighting - UFC Vegas 6 Post-Fight Show

Episode Date: August 9, 2020

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Jose Youngs, Alex K. Lee and E. Casey Leydon break down the top storylines from Saturday night’s UFC Vegas 6 event at the UFC APEX, including Derrick Lewis’ second-round finish of Alexey Oleinik in the heavyweight main event. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow José Youngs: @JoseYoungs 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

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Welcome to the UFC Fight Night post show live stream. And now your host, Mr. Mike Heck. All right, we are live. The UFC 252 go home event delivered in a lot of ways, and it was finished off by Derek Lewis, putting away Alexiolinick in round number two. What's going on, everybody?

Welcome to the live UFC Vegas 6 post-fight show right here on the M.A. Fighting YouTube channel. If you're watching now, welcome. If you're watching, you're listening after the fact. Thanks for joining us after the facts. But I'm being joined by Jose Young's Alex K. Lee and E. Casey Liden, for those who are joining us live, this is your show. It's the People's Post Fight Show. We want to hear from you as we'll be live for probably around 45 minutes or so. So let's get those comments and questions in. But, uh, A.K., I want to begin with you because you had very high expectations for this card. And if you watch like the Barstool Sports Pizza Review.

views, if Dave Portnoy eats a Neapolitan pizza, it starts with like a 6.8 score out of 10, and it just goes from there. You gave this event based on the lineup alone before one punch was thrown, a nine and a half. Would you say it lived up to your expectations at the apex tonight? I think he and I are using a little bit different scoring system because I mean, I can go as high as 9.5, but it doesn't start at anything. It starts at zero, really. So I thought it was pretty I don't think it hit 9.5. 9.5 would be like an all-time, like, great fight night. But I guess it's a solid 8.5 still.

I think it delivered in a lot of accounts. There was a couple of bummer fights, but some which were still entertaining. Like, even the co-main event, I know, look, we won't be wanting to rewatch that one anytime soon. But there was a certain level of intrigue and drama to it just because, you know, Chris Wybman was involved. But it wasn't a great fight, which is why you kind of ding a few marks off the potential score there. But otherwise, yeah, 8.5, I think really solid. It was funny because like after the prelims were over, I was like, oh, this is this is right on track for a nine and a half. Didn't quite get there.

We slowed down a little bit, but that is to be expected on some of these cards. They can't all be barn burners. They can't all be bangers like we saw in the prelims. But Jose, what did you think of the card overall tonight? It was a fight night. It wasn't the best of the fight nights since the apex cards. I had serious fomo not being there. It feels weird watching a fight card happen at the apex of me not being backstage.

But it wasn't the best of all the fight night. cards, not kind of pay-per-views of all the fights of the last few months, but it wasn't the worst. I put it right in the middle in terms of action. Some of the fight cards that even of the past had that weren't as action-packed still had really important fights. And outside of the top two of this one and the co-main event had no title application, it's just important maybe for one fighter's career, maybe one for breaking into the top 10.

And outside of the main event, that weren't really overly super important fights in terms a future title content. So I'd give it like right in the middle of all of them. So maybe a six and a half or seven. And I'm, I'm, I'm just trying to be honest right there. Six and a half or seven for Jose,

eight and a half for A.K. Casey, where do you sit? I give us a solid nine. It was in the small cage. I didn't pay a dime for it. It's still, it's just barely dark. What time is it?

It's only 840 my time. And, in the beautiful Pacific time zone. So yeah, it was good. I had a good time tonight. had a good time oh i'll give it like a a 7.8 so like kind of in the middle of hose and a k it's like gymnastics it's like figure skating scores right there we're talking about barstool sports and figure skating on a mma post fight show what's going on me what's

die your hair or pink bro geez i don't have it yeah i don't know i'm gonna go green next pink's going why why green because i like frank ocean and oh and i already had green before and is he already stole pink. I thought about going jade for a long time, but they, I'm going to go back to green. All right. I can't wait to see that. People have already seen me with the green hair. I'm pretty sure I was at UFC 202 of green hair. Wow. I didn't, I don't know if I was there or not. I'm not sure, but let's talk about this main event. Derek Lewis gets it done. That first round was like everything we hoped this fight would be. Lewis was doing well. Then he put himself in some uncomfortable situations as he normally does in his fights. He got put in this.

scarf hold headlock type situation, which just looked really uncomfortable to watch, but he survived it all, came out in the second round, guns blazing, and finished the fight. Jose, what did you think of the Black Beast performance tonight? I thought it was pretty darn fantastic. It was exactly how Derek Lewis wins fights, like you said. He gets himself into these precarious situations. We pretty much talked about this. We laid out exactly how he was going to win on the preview show.

Lexillinick is going to probably get at some point either take his back or get on top or have some sort of domic control on the canvas. And it's going to be one of those things where people watching the fight are going to be like, well, why doesn't he just give up? Why doesn't he just stand up, this and that? And Alexi Olinic has one of the hardest squeezes I've ever seen a human being put out. And he was just torquing Derek Lewis's head. I'm pretty sure if there was a watermelon there that was going to pop.

And he not only withstood it, he wasn't, he was trying to get out, but he wasn't advancing. So he just took the pain for what seems like not. 90 seconds, survives the round, and then just crushes Alexiel winning the flying knee into ground a pound. So all in all, classic Derek Lewis win, and it pretty much laid out exactly as all three of us said it would on the preview show. A.K., I thought Derek Lewis had some interesting things to say after the fight. You know, he said he had to go to the bathroom before he said hello to Paul Felder, which is classic Derek Lewis. But he also said, and physically he looks great. Like, he still has to cut weight to get to 265, but he looks great.

Like even when he, when him in Olenic went face to face before the fight, you looked at Derek Lewis's midsection. And it like wasn't a big bulger anything. It was like, he looks good. He looks in really good shape. The face is skinny. He's looking great. But he said he's not going to take another fight until he drops another 15 or 20 pounds. He wants to be around 245, 250 before he gets back in there.

Targets December. We talked about this a little bit before we went live that Derek Lewis has said things in the past. And then like a month later he takes another fight. Do you believe Derek Lewis when he says that he's going to cut. 15 to 20 pounds before he fights again, and we won't see him again until December. Yeah, I kind of do. I don't know. It's, I see no reason not to believe me.

I think you're right. You know, we have heard this kind of a song and dance before. Derek Luz does a lot of interviews, all right? And he doesn't love doing them. So he does strike me as the kind of guy who sometimes he'll just say stuff, I think, just to give a different answer and just to spice things up. But this seems like well thought out. And also, like you mentioned, you could see it.

You could see a physical difference. I think even at the wayans yesterday, I know a lot of people were remarking, like, man, like Derek looks pretty slim. He came at 265, but he just looked a little different. So the weight isn't where he wants to be, but it does look like his body is changing. So it would be really cool to see if in his next flight he came in at like 250 or even 245. It'd be very, you know, it's a difficult thing to do, especially as you get older. But if he's dedicated to it, he certainly can. He's always saying stuff like, oh, this is the first time I did this, the first time I did that.

So maybe this is the first time we see him do. like a really intense diet, you know, who knows. So if that's the case, I do believe it. Regarding the usual post-bite shenanigans, the post-bite poopie talk, I saw some, whoa, whoa, guys, this is the internet. Pardon my, I'm sorry. It's okay. It's Dr. Dirk. I saw some people saying online, like, oh, it's becoming kind of cliche, like he's just kind of doing it. It's like, it's becoming a little say the line bart, you know, from Simpson's, a little say the line Barty, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I think it's funny. Look, he has a bit. He has a bit now. My, my hands are ready.

on Twitter to transcribe whatever hilarious joke he was going to make. Is it super spontaneous now? I don't know, maybe not. But I feel like it's pretty funny. I think it's good to have a character that better than nothing at all. AK believes Derek Lewis, Jose. Something tells me you may not believe him. You don't believe he has to poop?

All that, bud. Oh, so what are we talking about? It's 2020. Are people still pooping? Come on, Casey. We're going to do the Q&A later, guys. Q and A later. Don't ruin that.

Come on, Casey. Anywho, no, I don't believe Derek Lewis. I think Derek Lewis will fight again before he cuts all that way or lose all that way. Like he says, I'm pretty sure he retired after the Marcon fight. That wasn't true. And then after he beat Alexander Volkov by epic knockout, he's like, oh, I need to take time off and get my cardio and my grappling ready. And then a month and a half later, he's fighting, not even a month and a half, like a month later, he's fighting Daniel Corme, the main event of Mass Corps Guard. Yes, yes, it was a title fight, this and that.

I think Derek Lewis will fight again before losing all that way. because like we said, he's in good shape. He just is a heavy dude and he wants to lose weight. I think he's going to fight again. He's already in fighting shape. He's healthy now. His back is good. So he's not lumbering around in there like he did against the Marconnes,

against the France and Ghanas of the world. Yes, he beat France and Gano. But did anyone actually win that fight besides Derek Lewis? No. So I think he'll fight again when. I have no idea. But I imagine they're going to want to try and book him against someone like Curtis Blades or maybe the winner of a,

over him and Sakai, but that's still like a month away. But no, yeah, Derek Lewis will fight again before losing all this way. Yeah, I think Curtis Blades made matchmaker's lives a little bit easier. You called dibs on Derek Lewis. I think that's the fight to make Casey. Do you see anything else? I mean, Derek Lewis gets put in these wild, wacky fights more often than not, but I think that this is an appropriate step for both guys. Yeah, I think that will most likely be the fight to make, most because they haven't fought. Yeah, and Derek Lewis has fought, I mean, at the, top 10 fighters, he's fought at least, what, seven of them? Or, I mean, it's fought a significant amount.

So, yeah, it makes sense. And it's one of those fights where if Curtis Blades beats Derek Lewis by just, you know, wrestling him for three rounds, it doesn't really hurt Derek Lewis's stock, to be honest. So, yeah, it's run it. Yeah, because you would think that in Ghana is going to get the next title shot after next Saturday, it's probably going to be against steep a win or lose. And then, you know, you have Blades. and Lewis fight and then the winner can fight the winner of that fight.

So here we go. I just hope it's five rounds. I just want every, I want, I want, I want, I just want to be a main event, maybe a fight night card. Oh, yeah, I have to be a fight night card. But, yeah, five rounds. Because I want, is Derek Lewis, a healthy Derek, Derek Lewis, who wants to fight, a more mature Derek Lewis, you know.

Yeah, if he has to start, every fight starts on their feet and he is so dangerous. So, yeah. What if, what if Steepa retires, like he, Some people saying that this might be Stipe's last fight, too. What if they both retire and Derek Lewis fights Curtis Blades for the vacant title? Oh, you can't leave in Ghana. How dare you? Just forget it, Garner.

Just forget. You tell him that. I ain't telling him that. No, Derek Lewis and Gano. I'm just, I know all the jokes are going to be. Oh, Derek Lewis and Gano, but that first fight was so bad. I would just choose not see that. I know.

Multiple asterisks is a joke. Multiple asterisks. Casey, it's a joke. Of course, Francis and Gano is going to fight for the title. next regardless. So Lewis and Gano too can be for the vacant title of both of them retire. And then Curtis Blades has to wait for the winner. He'd be so mad if

he got skipped over for that title shot. Man. Whatever. Yeah. UFC, he's not in the best graces with the UFC right now. So if anyone is going to get skipped over, it's going to be Curtis Blitz. If Augusto Sakai beats Overim, which I don't think he will. If Augustus Sky beats Overim, they can

fight. I don't think he's going to fight over him because their main training partners at this point. And Overim, he basically is over and wrestling coach and sparring partner. So I don't think those two will fight. So Sakai beats Blades, then maybe. Or Sakai beats Overeem than maybe. But yeah, heavyweight division.

Well, we got to get past next before we can matchmake. Absolutely. How about Chris Widman? Had a nice first round in the co-main event, got pieced up in the second. Looks like he might have been in some trouble heading into the third round. But he thrived on that pressure with, in my opinion, a 10-8 third round. Two judges agreed to me on that. And if there was anybody on this roster who needed a win, it was Chris.

Wiedman. What did you think, AK? That was some show of grit in that third round, was it not? You know, any fight that you can walk away from, Mike, is a good fight, right? It's a win. Look, I know he was critical himself after. There was a lot of people as the fight was going on, tweeting like, oh, this is boring. And he's washed. Even though, even if he wins, he's washed, I myself wasn't super thrilled with the fight. Like, I think I tweeted right before the beginning of the third, I tweeted, first takedown is going to win this round and win the fight. And this exactly what happened. You know, Wyden was smart. He got in first. I was a little more disappointed in Ak-Madoff than anything for all the criticism that Wydenman's getting. But, man, I did not like

that he called immediately after it was like, I'm ready, I'm ready to get back on that top tier. It makes sense for him. Don't you're wrong. He still has a name. There's no reason mentally why he would want to take a step back or continue fighting in that sort of 15 to 25 range. But I hope people talk to him and, you know, the matchmakers can kind of get through to him that if he's ever going to get back to the top, it's not now. It's just not now. I don't know what it's going to take. You know, you only get older and you only get more worn down in this game usually. But I'd like to see him, you know, fight another act made of level guy, as unexciting as it is. And it doesn't have to be a co-main event. That's the other thing I stopped people criticizing is why is this the

co-main. And yeah, maybe maybe those days are over for now, too. Maybe he needs to be bumped just a little bit down the card, get another good style matchup, and we'll see where it goes from there. But he needs to stop thinking about, oh, I'm this many fights away from, at this many fights away from fighting another top five guy. It's just, he just can't worry about that right now. Here's what I'm excited about, because me and AK, we get to save our actual official matchmaking picks till Monday for on to the next one. But I know Jose had his thoughts for Wydman and Casey had his thoughts for Wyden. So, Jose, state your case for what's next for Chris Wyden and why. I want to see, and you know who else is on my team, the only one that matters in this whole scenario, and that is the beautiful, you know, Arme-Cruz. He is one percent on Team Jose in this argument. And I want to see Chris Wydenman versus Anderson-Silva three. We're talking about not giving him top 15 guys. They're going to fight for the title any time soon. Anderson-Silva is not even ranked, but he's still one of the most famous men on the UFC roster. He has a whole country behind him. I was at both of the first one, fair and square. He won the second one, Ferren-Square.

Anderson Silva snapped his leg in half on a checked, which was Wydenman, which Wyden did check and snapped Anderson's leg. He won Fair and Square, but the naysayers will say, oh, Anderson just got hurt, this and that. Let him fight a third time. The neither of them going to fight for the title any time soon. They're both clearly past their primes. I don't want to see Wydenman fight someone like Heinish or Vittori or any of these other up-and-coming prospects or Shabazzing, which I saw someone talk about on Twitter.

I don't want to see him fight a prospect, and he can knock him off and then still be nowhere near. me or close to the title. Andrew Silverman's not fighting for the title any time soon. I don't want to see him fight another guy like Jared Cannoneer or Izzy and just see him get styled on and lose some of his mystique and legacy. Anderson Silva versus Chris Wydenman. I know what Casey's going to say his choice would be my second choice, but one of the fighters isn't even fighting at the moment.

So I'm not even going to entertain that fight right now. So Anderson Silva, Chris Wydenman 3, or Chris Wydenman, Anderson Silver 3, whatever you want to say, I think is the fight to make. Casey? Where is Luke Rockhold? Come on, Le Crocko, get out. And don't do this 185 crap. Let's go, do it 205.

We know your two middle weights. Don't cut the weight. Don't have to worry about that. Just stay healthy and make the fight. Let's just run it back. We still have to hole, you know, if he didn't throw the spinning kick, you know, he would have won. You know, so let's end that controversy. Let's put it as a, I don't know, it can be like a featured fight on a pay-per-view.

You know, I don't want a five rounds. We want a solid three-round fight. And just run it back. At 205. There's no. Yeah. Rockhold. Rockhold,

Wyman 2 at 205. But go back to AK, though. What is this Silva's, Wydenmans washed? What, didn't he just beat a, what was, what was Akmeida of ranked?

What was he ranked? 11. Oh, 11, yeah. He just, he just beat the 11th best 185 pounder in the UFC. That is a giant accomplishment. What is washed to you?

Well, it wasn't me that was saying. And I said, I saw those comments on there, and I'm like, I thought it was a bit, and the fight wasn't even over. This was like, I think in the middle, this is like in the middle of the second or middle of the third that people were just, and while he was winning, that people were like, whatever happens, he'd watch. No, but I'll say, I understand what those comments are coming from. He looked slow. He looked really slow. And so did Akmeadov, in fairness. And I didn't hear anyone saying Akmeada was washed. But, yeah, it was just, it just wasn't, I think compared to his prime.

I think people are just trying to say, like, man, you know, the UFC is, oh, is just keeps pushing Wyman's as his. big name and keeps kind of promoting him as, you know, this former champion who's, who knows how many fights away from another big fight. And I think the criticisms are coming from, like, directly into that viewpoint and saying that he's just not that and he isn't that. And that's where the pushback is. Well, it's the wrong if he's not that. He can't be, he can't be that forever, but I still think he's a legitimate middleweight threat, you know. I don't think he's going to win the title. But he still is like, if he fought Shabazi, if he fought Derek Brunson, he fought any of those guys who were ranked above him, I still think he's going to

think it's a competitive fight. He may lose, but I still think it's going to be a competitive fight with him walk into that cage. This is MMA, Casey. You're the first, you're the first or your last. Yeah. Hashtag otterbox. Yeah. Just like hashtag Otterpops. Derek Brunson did throw Chris Weidman's name out there in a recent interview last week. Should he have won tonight? And he did. I mean, I don't know how I feel about that idea because Chris Wyman is just a big name at this point. Like he's not anywhere near a title. Like he's a big name and beating him. Like, if you're just looking at rankings, like technically Kelvin Gasolam is still ranked higher than Wyman. Derek Brunson could beat Kelvin who's on a big losing streak or Wydenman who's lost like,

what, five of seven and Wyman's still going to be the bigger name. Kelvin might be ranked higher. Wyman's still the bigger name at this point. Derek Brunson just wants the big fight. So yeah, I don't blame him for calling out a guy that he would probably be favorite. It's one of those fights where he would be favored over probably will win and it's a big name. So don't blame Derek Brunson one bit for calling him out. Twitter account MMA roasted Adam Hunter, who I'm a big fan of comedian,

tweeted out after the fight. I'm really happy for Chris Wyman. He was one loss away from a Bellator title shot. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Well, he almost signed a Belator before he'd sign of the UFC all those moons ago. Yeah. He could have been stuck in an Eddie Alvers situation back in the Bjorn Rebney days. Listen, I've gritty third round for Wyman.

I give him credit. It was nice to see him get a win. some news. We have our bonuses for the night. There is no fight of the night. We have four performance bonuses. Andrew Sanchez, Darren Stewart, Gavin Tucker, and Kevin Holland. I'll get 50 Gs tonight.

Say the first two again? Sanchez, Stuart, Tucker, Holland. Yeah, sounds about right. There's nobody else. I mean, Darius got to finish and he wasn't going to get a policy. No, no, it shouldn't have gotten to Holtzman, but whatever. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. If I know who didn't see, he had a great. speech afterwards where he said, well, he missed weight and he said, I messed up. And if there's good, if my finish was going to get a bonus, give that bonus money to, you know, give to my opponent, Scott's Hulsmann, who I just knocked out. But we all know the UFC wasn't going to do something weird like that. So it was a nice gesture, but I feel a little bit bad for Tim Means. I'm not even, there was some great fights. So maybe he wasn't even the fight of

the night. I should look at the card again. But he did have a great, great fight. And I tweeted from our account, Tim Means has somehow never won a fight of the night award. So I thought maybe this could have been his knife, but Storopoli wasn't going to get a bonus because he also missed weight. So, yeah, I guess not a big problem with the bonuses. Did Lewis get one? I'm sorry. Oh, Lewis didn't get a bonus.

Interesting. Derek Lewis didn't get one. What? I don't get it. I mean, Derek Lewis probably got, I mean, he was the main advantage. He probably got some good money that wouldn't give it to some of the other guys. I don't have a problem with either of those. If you rank all the stoppages, I would still like put, I would make Derek Lewis's fifth

of those of the five stoppages. So I'm not overly concerned. So it doesn't concern me. You didn't get a bonus tonight. Yeah, six, six if you add Daryush to the mix, because that was a, that was a K-O-of-the-year candidate right there.

It's not going to win, but it was up there. I would have liked to have seen Means get the $100,000, you know, double fight of the night bonus for his opponent missing away, and then I would have passed on Darren Stewart and my fellow Canadian,

I apologize, but Gavin Tucker. You're an anti-submission guy. I would have passed on Kevin. I would have passed on Kevin Holland, though. Oh, I would have passed on. on Holland because Darren Stewart's was awesome Sanchez was violent

Tucker's was late I always like third round submission is always going to have a soft spot I have a soft spot in my heart for that because it's just a grueling fight and then you just tap them at the end and yeah I'd probably put Holland forth of those four softages and the only reason Holland I wasn't a big

fan of Holland getting the 50K is because late notice guy first time fighting so he was probably the biggest favor on the card right okay now you just was a was the biggest favorite. Oh, where he was, yeah. But that's why he's not getting any money. I would have definitely got a bonus had Peter Barron not been as tough as he was.

Yeah. Yeah. If we got knocked down that first spinning kick, yeah. It was so close. It was beautiful. I will say the other thing I like about the Tucker getting a bonus is I feel like he's being rewarded, not just for the finish, but like his performance overall was really great.

I know we're going to talk about some other stuff, but I will say like, I think he had like almost, I think you could have given him a 10-8 in the second. He was so dominant on the feet and then he finished by some mission. So I do like that it's a performance bonus almost not just for the finish, but for everything he did in that fight. So definitely fair, fair bonus. Yeah, he looked great. And Jane's dropped him in the first, almost finished the fight. Yeah, come back.

And to come back like that. It was a lot of weathering of the storm tonight, which I always- And his pants came off. And his pants came off. I know we were going to talk about that later on between the links. But no, sorry, I don't want to spoil it. I don't think that was going to be the final question. That'll throw some people off.

Spoiler. But it was a fun night overall. I mean, just so I can have my memory. So nice win for Yana Kuntatskaya. I mean, she did what she had to do. That was probably wasn't the most satisfying fight of all time. And then Darius was incredible. Mean Storoply was great.

Holland with a nice win. Hackperast is a, and Munoz is such a tough guy. Sanchez is the nasty knockout. And then Tucker, Yusuf Salal just keeps getting better and better. He's the first fighter in the UFC to get three wins in 2020. and then Erwin Rivera gets his first UFC wins So there you go

Pretty good night The freedoms are amazing All the first fight was awesome They were all really good And then until we got to the To the Coutinzada I wish like this fight To me was it's like

Mashed in all these like really good cards And I really like Wasn't Cyril Gaines supposed to be on this card He was falling out That would have been an awesome To see him throw down again And wasn't Kellen Vietta Didn't she get bunt once

And she's supposed Yeah she was in this card Delia Renko. Stereo. So the, no, the dud of a fight was a late-notice fighter. So, you know. And wasn't, um, was it, uh, Niko Montanio supposed to rematch Julia Eel on this card too? Yeah, I got pushed back to September 5th or something like that.

It's early, it's one of the first cards in September. Who was Cyril Gaines supposed to play originally? Pavlovich. Sergei Pavlovich. Oh my God. See, all those fights are so good. Like, it was still a fun card, like you said. But, like, imagine if all those.

fights are still on there. Miranda Granger was supposed to fight Nadia Kassem on that card too. And then Peter Barrett's original opponent was Steve Garcia. And then Yusuf Salal stepped in on two weeks notice once again and got a nice win. So there you go. Should we go to the peeps? Ready to go to the peeps? Okay. I'm here to talk about everything UFC EA sports UFC 4. I've been playing the demo. Yes. If any video game questions, send them to Jose. I've been playing the beta all day. He is in there. Who's the Bo Jackson? Like, you just can't stop.

Not Bo Jackson. But Bro Jackson and Techno Bowl when you just, you just, you just unstoppable. Oh, well, I've only been playing lightweight right now, and I tell you, man, Habib is so hard. His, like, because normally when you hit, like, when you're fighting someone, you obviously start standing and, like, you kind of, you keep at a distance. Nope, Habib is, like, right there in your face at the very beginning. And then you're just like, I have, I can't do anything. Every punch I throw, he just takes me down. So Habib is unreal in this game.

Is he like Mike Tyson and punchout? Probably. Yeah, I've only played lightweight. I played a little like the demo. When I played, I was Izzy, and I played against Whitaker, and I just didn't know the controls at all. And Rob Whitaker just pieced me up. But once I figured the controls out, I pretty much have been everyone.

But Habib is so hard. He can, and once he gets on top of you, I know how to get out of things. Like, I just can't. He just suffocates me. I can't beat him. It's real life. maybe just because I'm playing on hard difficulty, but I have knocked out every single opponent

except for Habib. All right, Nick Bergen, what's next for Benile Darius, Jose, Yonge? Alexander Hernandez, too. Run it back. Alexander Hernandez just lost to Drew Dover. Benile Darius missed weight. Can't afford to say no to fight.

I know you like Alexander Hernandez and you interview them all the time, Mike Heck. I think Benile Darius, Alis Darius, too, plays out totally differently. Alexander Hernandez, my win. The question is out there whether about the glove tap and this and that. Don't, I have no problem with that fight whatsoever. I can't even think of like, I know Kevin Lee just blew his knee out.

Does Mockachev have a fight? I can't even think Greg Gillespie's there. I think we answered it. A.K. you got it in a different opinion? Absolutely not. That's terrible. I think this guy has a fight. I might just try to have Alexander.

No. No. If Alexander Hernandez was ranked in the top 10, I would agree with you. But he's not ranked in the top 10. But Dale Darius deserves a guy that's ranked. in the top 10. I think, has he fought Diego Faheta yet? I was just about to say.

I don't think someone that misses weight and then knock someone out that's not in the top 15 deserves a top 10 fighter. Just my. All right. First time ever missing weight, though.

It is a pandemic. Let Yehu is without sin. My goodness. What is he ranked right now? 14. And who is Holsman wasn't ranked? So I don't think they're moving up in the rankings whatsoever.

however. But how can he move up then? Fight someone like... Alexander Hernandez. I like Alexander Hernandez. I like Drew Dover. If you want to give him Drew Dover, because he just beat Alexander Hernandez. I have no problem with that. I'm not even counted Donald Seroni in this division. And then Greg Olesby doesn't...

What is Greg Gillespie 12 and Machetev 11 or vice versa? If you want to give him any of those, I personally want to see the Hernandez fight run back. I want to see Faheda because Fah the rankings, Faheda, and Dary should be a sick fight. That's all I. That's what I want to say. I don't care of these freaking rankings, whatever. Mike, you're a storyline guy. You're a storyline guy.

You love storylines. Darius, Hernandez. Dude, that knockout that Hernandez had a Darius made, that just changed their careers. Dary Hush was on that kind of, you were thinking of him as a title contender. Then he was knocked out by this random kid. And all of a sudden,

it took years for Darius to get back to where he was from that one Hernandez knockout. And now we're kind of back at the same spot. Hernandez is. is kind of now the guy. He's going to be the big underdog again. And now Dariena Yus is a favorite, you know. So he's one and he's one and two in his last three fights.

I just think that's a, I know. I need to. That's a tough fight for Darryor to take. Yeah, I think it's a step up for Darius. A step back for Hernandez. Hernandez used to fight, you know, the, the physives of the world. I mean, that's a tough fight too. But those are the kinds of guys.

Those are the kinds of guys should be fighting according to like where they're ranked or where they're at in their careers. Storyline. That's just by. opinion. What about Derrush? Did Derrush and Dober fight before? I don't have a problem with that.

Yes, yes, they have. See, and that's ranked, that's at least a top 15 guys, ranked below Daryush. Dober's on our nice runs. He's in the top 15. Give him a ranked opponent. I'm down for that. Run it back. The only reason I would want to see that fight, I think you could stick that on the Habib

Gaju card because Dober is Gaju's main training partner, Derrush and Habib, obviously both managed by Ali so is Gaichi as a matter of fact. So if they want to run that, I don't have a problem with that. But I personally want to see the Hernandez fight run back again. I wouldn't hate it. I wouldn't hate it. I just think there's better options.

I'm just saying Alexander Hernandez has won 11 of his last 14 fights. Yeah, come on. But I think he needs to step back. He's had some tough company, Derriush in his first fight, which he won. And then Cowboy Soroni, Trinaldo. He's been fighting guys with like, well, Dober was more about his experience level. But he definitely, Stroni Trinnelli.

He's definitely like for Dinaldo too. Okay. Well, I mean, there you go. I would agree with that.

Yeah, I think he just needs, I'd like to seem to go just a little bit of a step back, like not too far down, but I'd like the Fiziev, who again is,

is tough, but I think rankings-wise is, you know, not up there yet. So I like that suggestion. Yeah, for Hernandez's sake, I think he needs to just take

a little bit of a step back. What about? A really tough accomplishment. I don't know how has per out against Hernandez. Yeah, yeah, that'd be great. Dober beat both of them.

Yeah, that'd be great. I'm down for that. All right, what else we got? Some good, you know, some options for derriers. It's a good thing. It's lightweight. Literally anyone in the top of the top of them fight each other. It could be another option coming in.

I've been playing here. Here we go. This is why I want. Oh, sorry. Rear mode, I got 15 knockouts in a row and I still don't have a title shot. That's as accurate a game as you can get. They're like, I'm 14 to know of 14 knockouts, and they're like, you're going to fight number three ranks.

Kevin Lee now. I was like, no. How many Instagram followers you got in the game? I got a lot of Twitter followers, though. Edson Barbosa and me were talking all kinds of greasiness. Speaking to Alexander Hernandez is my first fight in the UFC, he's like, this guy's a scrub from the WFA, and I cooked him alive. So Michael Chandlerly goes to the, we talked about this. I'm going to read the question because we talked about this on the 8th side of length.

If Michael Chandlerley goes to the UFC, who should be his first fight? Casey, Guillermo and I all agree Charles Oliver. Charles Oliver needs a top five guy. He has no, but like the top five and lightweight, Hooker, what is it? Hooker McGregor, Ferguson, Poria, Gaecchi, Habib, like those are the top. Two of them are going to fight. Two of them should fight. Connor is an anomaly.

I think Hooker's going to take some time off. Plus, he's all the way on the other side of the world. If they want to do Hooker, Chandler, I love it. But Charles Oliver is six. I think Chandler, Olivera needs the top five guy. I think I consider Chandler a top five lightweight at this point. I like that fight though. I like Paul Felder.

I'm gonna. I don't have, I don't have an issue with Felby either. But this is to say it's lightweight. He can fight anyone. Vanil Darius. Yeah, exactly. I don't want to see it,

but like, oh, I'll see that. Yeah, sure. I mean, I think Feldon would be a more exciting fight, but I think at this point, I'm more thinking of Charles Oliver. Like, who do you give Charles Oliver? Because he can't find anyone in the top five.

Like, he already lost. to Felder. And Felder's, quote, unquote, retired. He keeps on retiring and retiring all the time. I'm thinking like Charles Oliver deserves a fight like Michael Chandler. He can't fight Dan Hooker? He could. I actually like the Hooker fight more. I do. I'm just saying like, I don't have, it's those three. One of those three can fight and the other one. I don't really care. I personally want to see. Because remember when Chandler

won the title in Hawaii, he's like, I'm the guy that could beat Habib. I can beat Habib. Give him a good grappler right out of the gate then to prove his point. So like when Gaichi came in, he fought Michael Johnson right off the bat. Yeah. Who would be like would they give him someone like a Michael, I mean, you wouldn't fight Michael Johnson because Michael Johnson is like way down there now. But is there someone like like a Michael Johnson like at 55 right now that you could test him with that's like, that's like really good and it would be a good stiff test for him? I mean, honestly.

It's totally over a felder. Well, no. If you're going outside the top 10, but stay in top of the team, Some of we were just talking about, Daryush, would be that would be like a Michael Johnson equivalent. I don't hate, I don't want to see that. But you're at like, you made me think about like, yeah, who would be the Michael Johnson right now of lightweight for a new guy like Chandler to come in? Someone who's respected with a name, but not not in the top 10. I'm like, what about I like he?

Yeah. That would be really good. That'd be fun. I'm thinking I like all I'll see Chandler fighting everyone, but I'm, I view it as I'm matchmaking this fight for Oliver. Because he deserves a big name at this point. Like what else? He has the most submission wins. He's like 28, if that.

Like, who's he going to find that? He deserves top five. So hooker or Chandler, I don't care. And the other one would fight Feld. How much would it suck for Olivera if Chandler took his spot, though? That would suck if it would, yeah, it would suck if he lost. That would be real bad. It would be lost anyone.

But to have the Belltor guy come over and lose that way, man. That would be rough for him. Unless they just want to do a count. Cowboy Alvar is part two and just give Cowboy Chandler right out of the gate. I wouldn't hate that either. Yeah, I think the key word of this question is if, because he's got a lot of options right now. He could, I have a feeling Bellator is going to throw a lot of money at him. And then, you know, maybe the UFC matches.

Depends what do you weighs more? Is it money? Is it a competition? You know, one's probably going to throw some money at him to try to book that third fight with Eddie Alvarez. So, I mean, there's lots of options for Michael Chandler right now. I don't know. Think about that. why we're getting lots of chander questions i got to kind of i figured this is coming yeah a lot yeah a lot of chander questions a lot of a lot of questions by derrick lewis's bowel movements

think of what if um what if anthony pettis drops back down a lightweight he's like at this point he's a michael johnson like a huge that's yeah that's yeah they would love that really good like i'm pretty sure they were champ simil at the same points at one point they were both champions at the same time i really like that fight a lot i actually think that's like the favorite out of all him if he does drop to 55. And he said he does want to drop back down. So I might be the favorite. Just beat Cowboy, I like Pettus Chandler a lot because at this point they're both in

that age group where they're not in their prime yet, but still going to put on great fight. So I like Chandler Pettus. You know, we're talking about guys going back down to 155. Nate Diaz, let's go. Nate Diaz, yep, I threw it out there. I did it. It's out there.

It's out there. I just did it. My Sentee Luca already called him out. He's got to fight with Sendi Luka first. No, that's not going to happen. We all know that's not going to happen. The Chandler against anybody is fun, but Petis, I like the Peiess idea. I think that's perfect, actually.

Yeah, that will be good. We answered this before, but I just go over one more time quickly. Would you like to see a trilogy bout between Widman and Silva? Yeah, sign me up. I'm in. Five rounds. It just makes so much sense for both guys, honestly, at this stage of their careers. I think somewhat unjustly has sort of worn this weird fluke talk over his first two wins.

You know, the first flight, oh, Anderson Seville was playing around too much, which he does it, which he did in every fight, by the way, he ever won as a champion. And then no one said anything then. And then the second flight, oh, he broke his leg as if, again, it wasn't because as if it wasn't because of Wyman's, like, perfectly timed, like, checked kick that had to do with that. So, so Wyman rightfully won both fights. But, you know, obviously a lot of huge Anderson's Hillel fans out there. know they don't want to accept that. But yeah, at this point, they're both a little bit older. Both have had mixed results to put it kindly over the last like five years.

So, yeah, I mean, I'm all in on that. Let's have these, you know, not quite legends fights, but these special attraction fights. Just go for it. And Brazil hates Chris Wyman after beating, after running through Belfort, Machita, Anderson twice. So like, just let's let him do it. Stack that, stack a fight island car with a bunch of Brazilians versus a bunch of, like, fill in the blanks, and then Wydenman Anderson

will be the co-main event. I don't hate it. Yeah, I like that idea. I like the Rockhold idea as well. I just don't want to see like Wydenman versus like a Marvin Vittori or something like that. Yeah, I don't want to knock off like an up-and-common contender.

Unless the only one. Who's the only one? Like in the top 15, the only one, if Wydenman insists on finding someone on the top 15, who's the only one? Like Brad to Mars? Brad to Barre's, yeah. Like, what's he ranks? 12 or 13, something like that.

Is he still ranked? 12. I got to take a look. He'd be the only one, I think, because he's not, he's, him and Wyman are pretty much in that same category right there. Maybe in Heinish, I don't know. But yeah, I think, I think you do Silva, you do Rockhold, you just give him fights with guys with names and, and sell it for what it is.

I think both those are good ideas. And Antonio Carlos Jr., shoeface? No. No. I don't want to see shoeface. Too much for him? No belief in Wyman. Wow.

After a win, Casey, he won tonight. He won. I just want to see the end of the silver fight. I think Shoeface is a great fighter. I just literally want to see the Anderson Silva fight. Yeah. But why do you want to see Wydena Fight Silva 3? What do you want to see in that fight other than it gives a nice paycheck for both guys?

Because it's a fun fight. And I think both of them deserve fun fights that make them a lot of money and get a lot of eyeballs on them. Just really, okay. I think it benefits both guys. if Chris Wyman goes out there and fights Marvin Vittory, that does nothing for Chris Wydenman outside of beating someone that's going to be ranked below him and getting another paycheck. If Marvin Vittory beats,

and that's a big thing for Marvin Vittory. If Chris Wyman beats Anderson Silva, that's a win over a bigger name, probably more money on a bigger stage. I think that's the fight that makes the most sense for Wydenman. And then Anderson Silva needs a guy, and they're not going to give him anyone in the top 15, especially up-and-coming contenders.

The only one in the top of 15 I would want to see Anderson-Silva fight outside of Wyman would probably be gas for them because they were booked already in that China card before Anderson's still pulled out and Bisbing filled in. I remember one and that was like two weeks after Bisbing lost to GSP. That would be the only other fighter in the top 10 of top 15. I would want to see Anderson fight next. But Anderson is insistent on fighting again. I think Wyman's a good fight.

You want to fight Anthony Pettis, which is a kind of crazy. We're just still like the most of all of them, actually. I still like, that's just a freak show fight. I actually like. Why not? I don't want to see Wyden versus Darren Till or anything like that. Like, Matt, what if? I didn't even think about that.

I didn't even think about that. I'd watch that. So would I, but Darren Till is like blue as neon. It's going to be out for like 11 months. Fair point. Casey, why don't, what if they booked Anderson Silva versus Luke Rockhold? I wouldn't hate that fight either. Like, they never fought.

They were both champions and simultaneously at one point in their careers. So make that fight. And then you could give Wydenman someone in the top 15 if if Rockl comes out of her time. Do you want me to be? Do you want me to be the buzzkill here and tell you? Mike, I may have to spoil on, or should I save for onto the next one? I want to be the buzzkill here. You're still going to listen.

Here's, you're right. Here's a sex. And I'll elaborate more on this if I go with this pick. Here's a sexy pick for you. Chris Wyden, Christoph Jotko. Choke on that. Choke on it. You know, you just sold a million paper reviews of that one.

I'm saying I want him to take a step back. So if he doesn't get a cool fight like Andrew Silva and they're like, Let's match him up with someone close to him in the rankings. And it's like, I've, Christoph Jocko. I also don't hate if, if your eye haul loses to Romero, if they do a rematch between Wyden and Hall, because they fought on the regional scene up in New York. I wouldn't hate that fight either, now that they're both in the UFC.

That's true, he beat him. It's true. He beat your eye. I was like, Villaino is a rematch. And that still makes sense. So I like seeing rematches in the UFC that happened on a regional fight. I really like those kind of those matchups a lot. So I wouldn't hate that either.

but as Jose Young's the M.M.A. fan wants to see the rubber match. But you widened an answer Silver. Is it really a rubber match, though? It's a third fight. It's not a rubber match. It's a fight. Well, we put the fights in order. No, it's not a rubber match, but if

Anderson Silva wins, and you imagine that was the second fight, yeah, it's a, you know. All right, we can try to will it in do exist. That's the number one one in MMA, Mike. Don't make sense. Don't make sense. don't make sense you know but if i was a guy like jaco or or marvictory i would be like renting a plane

and putting banners in the sky going fight me wideman because who's beat widenman the guys who beat white men are elite elite guys so best of the best best the jacqueray's romero's you know those guys who beat white men the musassies so yeah if i'm a jaco vittori type uh eun he heinish yeah you you go to you go to south carolina you find out where his new home is and you challenge him because that's the only way that's the only way the UFC will get behind you you got to beat that name so yeah I mean he's got more options than maybe we thought yeah what that now we're like look what we're doing it's the white Chris Wyman post fight show it's great all right what else we got uh sorry my rumors and Wyatman is perfect I wouldn't I mean I'd watch it

I want to see that. I want to see the Chinese fight Marvin Vittory. They're like what? 14. They're both actual contenders. Yeah, that kind of stuff makes more sense. I don't want to see Chris Wyven to fight Marvin Vittory. But you know how the UFC works.

If one guy outside of the rankings beats the number 11 guy, guess who's the number 11 guy. We just jump right up there. So, Wyden becomes a top 11 guy more than likely, come Tuesday morning. Do you want to take some questions? Future fights? Why not?

All right. We got 252 coming up on Saturday. We got like 15 minutes. Oh. Predictions on Garbrand and Figito. I'm hoping it's not another T.J. Henry situation, but it's hard not to think that because Cody's chin hasn't held up in the past, let alone cutting another 10 pounds. This is kind of a tough one for me to answer because November is a long way away.

And I just, it's one of those fights where I'm like, yeah, I see it announced. Yeah, you know, it's reported. And Dana White's told Barackamoto. stuff, but until we get there, until it's like Halloween and both of these guys are still healthy and ready to go, I'm just not sold or bought into it yet. But let's just say for the sake of the question, AK, what do you think? Garbrand, Figuerre, both guys are healthy. Garbrant can make 125, no problem.

All things are well. How do you see this thing playing out? Sorry, Sandefam. I think it absolutely is another T.J. Henry's situation because the thing I remember about Dillashah Sehudo is, Sehudo didn't really have the reputation of of being kind of like this quick strike knockout artist, but he certainly was rapidly improving and had had power that people didn't know about.

Figurato is a quick strike knockout artist. Everyone knows how deadly this guy's hands are. He's insanely powerful for a 125er. So I don't think it takes much for him to catch Cody's chin and put him down. So obviously, I'm leaning towards the champ here. I'm not saying it's not a reasonable matchup on paper, but I do think it would end

in a first or second round knockout And I think Figurato, I think he's been a champion for a while. He's really, really good. And I think he's exactly the kind of guy that, honestly, I would keep Garberant away from if I was trying to preserve it, that chin. But they want the name value. They want to save the flyweight division again. So I guess that's how it's going to go.

But I would go Figurato by knockout. I'm Lane Davidson as well. But that's just where I am on August 8th, we're still three months away from this thing. Jose, what do you think? I can't even look past like. two weeks because like you talk about that's all the way in november this and that it's all the way in november in 2020 in the middle of a pandemic remember when gilbert burns is supposed to fight kamar ozman remember when that fight happened i don't because one of them got covid so yeah i'm not

even gonna i'm not even gonna think about a fight in november with especially with two fighters one fighter's not even fought in that way class one fighter has missed weight before a million times and they're in a pandemic ask me on Halloween and i'll give you an answer All right, fair enough. Look, that fight is going to happen. Korean zombie is going to fight Brian Ortega. Habibna Mabamaamaatov will someday fight Tony Ferguson. These things will...

And forgot that Johnny Walker and Akita Kralov was going to end in a knockout. Yeah, Johnny Walker and Kira Lerlau is going to knockout. Derek Lewis, Francis Nagano, too, will be a classic fighting for the vacant heavyweight title. I have decreed all these things will happen, and so it shall be. Thoughts on Corey Anderson signing? Is Belator's light heavyweight division better than the UFC's light heavyweight division? No. Better strong, but getting closer.

John Jones is still in, I mean, John Jones is still the UFC light heavyweight champion. So until that is no longer, Belator's light heavyweight division cannot be better. I think the addition, if you're looking at the two most recent additions to the divisions, I still would put the addition of Jerry Prohaska a notch above Corey Anderson. so if we're just going off of that, those were the two big names that changed promotions. I think Yuri would beat Corey Anderson, but, again,

Corey Anderson is one of those weird fights that can beat everyone or just gets knocked out dead at this point. I think who's the top, what is it, Jones, Reyes, Santos, Blahovich. Glover. Glover. A lot of younger talent, like rackick, you know,

probably a lot of these, like, Ryan Bader might be the second best best lay heavyweight in the world. We don't know. not as like like i think i don't think he beats jones but like he i could easily see ryan bader beat dominic raise i could easily see him beat santo yon glott like he was winning that fighting again i know that fight against glova was quick but he looked awesome until he just got clipped uh so yeah i i would still say jones i'm jones it is jones division i would still

say the ufcs is better but i like cori anderson should fight the winner of uh who's bader fighting nempcov that's it um com that's it he should fight the winner, but he'll probably get like Carvalho or something like that. Like something maybe. He'll fight the winner. He should. He should. He should. But like I thought Sergio Pettis probably could have got a band-in-way title shot right out of the gate. Well, I guess Pidtall's kind of no Pettles. He's 35. He's 35.

Yeah. There's no champion right now. Yeah. Sergio Pettis could fought for the title right away, but they're giving him a few. Well, they got Archilada and Mix. Those two guys are the two top guys. God, Mick's Pettis would be so fun. I want to see that. I think for the signing alone, I think it's perfect for everybody. I think it's a perfect signing for Bellator. Perfect for Corey Anderson.

It's perfect for the UFC. I think everybody wins in the situation. And Cory Anderson's in a position where, especially if Ryan Bader wins. I mean, Bellator is going to sell the crap out of that thing. Bader versus Cory Anderson. We got him on our roster now, baby. Mike Goldberg will go bananas because he loves taking those little dibs, those little shots at the UFC during these broadcasts.

So I like the signing. And then it's going to be a Phil Davis, Ryan Bader, three. I just want to like categorically look at the top five. So the top five lead heavy weights in Belator would probably be, of course, Bader, Nemcov, now Corey Anderson, Phil Davis, and Liam McGee, I suppose. I know Carvallo is still technically a middleweight, but he fought it. Sure. I have it a few times.

Sure. Okay. So you get them in there. But it's a big job off. And Musasi, he'll go to two of five, too. You can throw a guy guard up there too, yeah. program of Misceida. And Machina.

Well, until Musassi goes up there, I don't know if we can do it. But Machita, sure. Machina's fighting Davis, right? September 11th? Yes, the rematch. That's right. And then UFC, like we mentioned, Jones Reyes, to Sheriff Smith. I have Tiago Santos.

And then after that, it's not quite as big a drop off because then you have for Haska, Uzdemir, Rockich, Blahovich, Nikita Krollow, Johnny Walker. There's a lot of, like, so just the depth for even, I think the top five is a little better, especially with Jones, and then the depth is just way better in the UFC. So, but it's a great, great addition to Bell Tor's Light Heavyweight Division for sure. So Bader gets to defend against Nemcoff, and he has to, he'll probably have to defend the heavyweight title against Timothy Johnson after that one last night. They'll probably book him against Congo just because their last fight was all goofy.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, you're right. Can I pull a question, truck? Can I pull a question? Yeah, where, do you have screenshots in me? Where do you got? No, I don't. I just read it off.

From Waxomis 1, Larita versus Chichenko dance off. Let me tell. I just want. Okay, okay, hey, look, look what I had queued up. Look what I had cute up. Okay, okay, okay. Wow, look at that. I was ready.

I was ready. I was ready. Enigma on the same page as us. Look, that La Rada, by the way, I think I tweeted, I forgot about Shepchenko's post-flight dances. Shepchiko's post-flight dances are freaking amazing. And the other, my other favorite ones, I think, were the Ryan Jimo Robot, R-I-P-R-R-I-P-R-R-R-R-Jon.

Jimo. And then that time, I don't know if anyone remembers this, Sergio Mareis, Soginio, he was doing this trendy, I think, Brazilian dance that was viral in Brazil all the time. I think Guillermo had to explain to me where, like, he just, he went up, he like, balanced on his, like, neck and then did like, he, like, stuck his ass in the air and was just, like, shaking it around back. I don't know how there was not a gift of this. But anyway, so that was, like, the third best dance. I think Lareda was the new number one. Like, that was, like, the best post-flight dance I've seen. And I know, they're like, oh, because, you know, Lareda's an attractive woman.

And he was like, no, no, no. Technically speaking, I've seen a lot of people try and dance afterwards. Shout out, Betch Cahia, God bless her. Lareda's dance was like really sharp and on point. It was so on point that it felt out of place in an M.A. case. Like, it was that was some, that was some solid, solid dancing. So I really just wanted to see us to talk about Lerita's dance. And like, and by the way, came after an awesome knockout. So you do an awesome knockout. And then you get a sick dance. Well, you are the, you're the star of the weekend. How was Jordan Levitt not in this question? Because he had a great dance on Tuesday night, too. I was talking about best dances or best dances of the week. Pre-flight. Pre-fight.

Pre-fight, easy. I listen, yeah, there's no question. Yeah, he did the Shaku Shaku in Madison Square Garden. I don't know how anything tops that. Pre-fight before the Whitaker fight? Oh. All right. We're talking to Raida versus Shepchenko.

Sheffach? I still think it's Valentina. I still think Valentina takes it because that's like her heritage, like, in there. I'd still put it. Like, Valerie Lareda is great. I think she's awesome. I'd still put Valentina. above her in every category, including dance.

Both of those dances between the two of them, they came from two totally different places. Valentina, when she danced, it was like happy go lucky, the world is great, La Radea's dance, that was like full on anger and an effed you to everybody that doubted her. It was aggressive. It was an aggressive booty shake. That made me like, that made me like, that was shaking with intent.

Yeah, that was, that was, she had that look in her face like, ha, I see y'all judging me, judge me now. I just knocked this girl out. She's becoming like, and even in the post-fight scrum, she's got a little bit of that Mazadol in her right now. She's starting to say, you know, super necessary and things like that. Extremely necessary. She's kind of flubbed.

See, she bumped it up a little bit. See? She's coming from a different place right now. I think that was, I think that's exactly where Valerie Loretta needed. She needed to go out there, have her performance, do something devastating, talk a little smack afterwards. She's in a really good spot. She's probably one of the, in terms of like stocks rising, hers, Rose pretty good this weekend.

You know, if we're talking about like everybody's stock overall, I'd say Lareda's stock, probably like top five of the weekend, in my opinion. Yeah, yeah. I think got a lot of new supporters, a lot of new haters. And you know what? When you're a fighter, it's almost the same. It's all good, right? So, yeah, I think that was huge.

That performance was really big. And I saw some people on Twitter saying, like, when's already going to fight somebody like with a, well, with a legit record? She's three and oh. Like she's just getting started. These are the, like, this is what Bellator does very well. Okay. Now, when she gets like 7 and 0, 8, no, and she gets to that MVP territory when she's finished like eight people in a row, I think they do it.

I think Bellator has proven that I think they do it a little too long. Yeah. Like, I don't think MVP, I think MVP should be fighting the top of the top, every fight. Like, yeah, he needs showcase fights. I get it. And I like them and they're great. And he gets all his finding knockouts. But like, I want to see Lima.

MVP. I want to see Larkin MVP. I want to see, go ahead. Go ahead. But I thought they did. I mean, they had the tournament. They had the tournament. Yeah, and then he lost it went back to the fighting note, like people that had bad records again. Like, they're still, like, Hamasi versus

MVP, I'll watch that. Like, I want to see all those fights. I don't want to see MVP. Like, once Loretta gets like 7-0, 8-0, give her a huge bump. Don't just keep doing. Like, Gallagher should be fighting Pettis. Like, those are fights I want to see. Like, has a legit record. Pedis has a legit record.

They both have big names. Like, Derek Brunson said it best. If you're good enough, you're going to fight. Stop building these guys up. Because the bill, like, MVP loses. That fall was massive. That fall was massive in the eyes of the fans because of how much he looked great and then crashed after he fought Lima.

But like, we all saw the fight. MVP looked amazing. We know he can stay in there with Lima. So I don't, and I agree with you, Mike. Bellator does it. Belador does one of two things. They build them up for too long or then all of a sudden you're air. Pico and you're fighting like legit guys at like two and oh and get starts and also on a

three fight two fight losing streak and everyone thinks you're terrible so find a happy medium his first fight was against Zach Freeman I know it's rational deep in Madison's core card it like come on the main card like give him the value lorated treatment so MVP went from Paul Daly that fight which like everybody was so excited about and like it's not remember that fight yeah it happened a lea fight and he went to richard Keely, which props to Richard Keely, he sold that fight pretty well. He made people want to watch it, even though he knew

it was going to happen. That he was supposed to fight Derek Anderson, but Anderson got hurt, so he fought Gianni Malillio, and then he fought in Japan against Shenzhou Enzai at Bellator 237, and that was just a destruction for five minutes and 20 seconds. He got the showcase fights, now give him

like give him Hamasi. Give him a lot of someone. And that makes sense. I like Lareda, give her a few more and then a big bump up. Yeah. Like at least two or three more. In Belator right now. I mean, there's a lot of,

there's a lot of fun fights for her. Like, once she gets over that hump, you know, with the Alejandro Lars of the world. And, you know, if they get Paige,

that's a big one that you can book down the road, even though they're managed by the same team. But, you know, just build her up slowly. She's still very green, but she's still fun to watch at the same time. Oh my God.

Page versus Lareda. Oh. You guys are weird. Yeah. Well, I'm just saying, just from, okay, for the clicks. You know what you're saying, Casey? I'm still going to say you're weird. Yeah, yeah, right, right.

You know, we're supposed to stop at 45 minutes. We're almost at an hour. So, uh, we'll do one more. We'll do one more. One more. I was looking at the clock. I was like, we got like seven minutes. Pallier versus Page, that's it.

Not yet. Don't do it yet. Scott Coker salivating right now at the thought of that. Like, oh, my gosh. Do you think we'll see Paige Van Zan announced for Bellator before they leave Mohegan? I don't even know how that works. No idea. With, like, her contract and stuff.

That's a good question. Do you guys think she'll sign? Well, for one, I think she'll continue fighting. Do you guys think she'll sign with a long-term contract with the promotion by the end of the year? Yes. Yeah? I think it'll be Bellator. I know there's talks.

I know people are throwing out bare knuckle and stuff. I know for a fact that Bear knuckles has approached her and they're probably going to throw some good money at her. I just have a hard time believing she doesn't go to Belator.

Like, Coker's going to roll out the red car. It makes much. Her husband fights there. And you can do so much with page. You can put her at the desk. You could put her in the broadcast booth. You could do so many different things with her besides just fighting.

She can do a lot more and make a lot more money with Bellator. Final question. Last one. would you be satisfied if we get a double retirement next week? Satisfied is not the right word. I wouldn't be happy. I mean, I would be happy for them if they both want to call it a career.

They both have, they're the two greatest heavyweights ever in the UFC, I think, or a top five at least. I don't think the satisfied is the correct word I would use. Yeah. Steve A spoke with the great James. James Lynch last week and he said that he's definitely not retiring after this fight no matter what happens. But again, these are words in an interview. We don't know what's going to happen on Saturday night. Like, DC goes out there and just starches Stipe in the first two minutes, you know, maybe he rethinks things.

But Stepey looks pretty good right now. He's got that like thin face going on. He looks in pretty good shape. I think he's going to be ready for this fight. I'm really excited for this one. And he needs to keep his hair. Oh, my God. He's one of those guys.

He has that Dustin Porre syndrome where once he grows his hair, I'm like, why did you ever? cut your hair short like that. And why does he not have a mustache? Remember when he had the mustache? The man was beautiful. He was a beautiful man. Stebe, hair out, mustache. I would definitely not be satisfied by a double retirement.

Kormier, for sure. He's been talking about it forever. You know, happy trails to you. You've put in a lot of work at light, heavyweight, heavyweight, his wrestling career. It's time for him to lay down the gloves, win or lose. Miochich, no, man, that would suck. That would suck if Miotich. And by the way, what I suck, I mean for us as fans, for fighters, of course.

You know, anytime they feel comfortable walking away, if they can afford to do it, I'm all for it. I absolutely encourage it. But as a fan, no, it would suck. I think there's still good matches for Miyo-Jitch. Again, even should he lose, I think he can easily fight his way back to another title shot. It's heavyweight. It's not super deep. But yeah, you know, it's, and because it's not deep, that's why to lose a talent like him right now when he's still, I think very much in his heavyweight prime would be really

unfortunately. I think there's a lot of good fights for him and UFC would hate that. So no, it would not be satisfied. I'd be upset. I'd be genuinely upset if Steve Miotich retire. I'd be a little upset if he did a next Saturday, if we're being honest. It's like, say like I go to a wedding and like this beautiful couple is getting married and then I propose to the girl I went with a wedding with at their wedding. Like I'm stealing the thunder from them. Like DC is retiring win or draw on next Saturday. Like I, he said it a million times. This is his last hurrah. This is it. If he does it, like, right after DC does it and, like, kind of steals that shine from him. Like, if you're going to do it, like, wait a day. Go on, you know, come on what the heck and do it.

And I mean, that would be great ratings for all of us. But, yeah, don't do it next Saturday. And I don't think he will. So I think he's getting a title. I think he will fight Francis and Gano for the title, whether he wins or loses next Saturday night. So I don't think he retires. But I'll be kind of upset if he does, you know, just at that moment with this whole buildup, It's D.C.'s last fight. Like, this is what it's all about. It's like, this isn't Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 3. Like, D.C.'s done.

He ain't coming back. He's not coming back. He'll be back in the broadcast booth. He's not coming back to fight again. Casey, you look like you don't buy it. You think he comes back? You think they roll out the Brinks truck and get him back in there one more time?

If D.C., if the trilogy goes like the first fight, D.C. is going to take one more fight. John Jones. Mm-hmm. Just saying. Just saying. There's too much money. There's too much money in there.

And we're in a pandemic. Those guys need to know. John Jones doesn't seem to have any interest in fighting right now. Is that going to get him out of bed? I mean, unless they pay him like an exuberant amount of money. Oh, for John Jones, it does not make a lot of sense. No, no, no. Yeah, he has to get paid because in his mind he's beaten Corme twice.

I, yeah, it's not. I want to see John Jones and gone versus a third fight against D.C. yes now we're talking now we're looking towards now we're marching towards the future Jose the way we should all right corby you got to wait another year you got to wait another year for the situation situation to sort of self up daniel karn can only fight in the months of july in all yeah that's right and then you fight and then you fight another jones or nangano for your last fight then then you are done then no more dc could do so much right now like he's had he's he's going to go down as one of the greatest of all time no matter what happens like

Saturday. Top five ever. I mean, what else can he do? He could host a morning talk show easily, nationally syndicated show. He would be a phenomenal WW commentator. It's not like they're traveling all over the place. There you go. See? But right now, you're saying DC is going, it can be one of the best ever. If he wins next Saturday, he is only one fight away from being the best ever. Yeah, but see, now you're on the slippery slope here. Here's this. Exactly. Exactly, because if he beats John... We all know he lost to John Jones in the rematch, but like... No, no, no, no.

I look on a Fight finder. I'm looking on FightFinder. It says big, no contest. Mike, we need to get an interrupt on it for Casey for next time. I understand it's on no contest. So if he beats John Jones, he's one, one, and one, then they're going to have to fight a fourth time. And I don't want to see that either. Yeah, that's it.

Just let them retire for God's sake. Go spend time with your kids. Go coach wrestling. that is much more important than fist fighting in an empty arena. Yes. Is that the money single? I was a story you were doing. I thought you were going to get all Sopranos on us the way we were.

I wasn't sure. And with that, he just ends it. Yeah. That's it. All right. I think we're done. So we have any more like unbelievable questions here? Which they all are, I'm sure.

I just want to say, I just want to say, because I feel like we didn't talk about this enough either on the preview show or tonight. Kevin Holland, Joaquin Buckley, was a wildly entertaining fight. Buckley, God bless him, did exactly what I think newcomers should do. He came in with the reputation of being a knockout artist.

He just rushed at Holland and was just throwing like a hundred punch. And he's like a big guy who, like, he used a lot of energy. And I thought there's no way he'd keep this pace. He actually kind of did through at least the first 10 minutes. And he was just facing a, I think, a better prepared. a better fighter in Holland tonight. But man, I can't wait to see Buckley fight again.

And by the way, this is not to say he looked better than Holland. Holland looked fantastic. And his two knockdowns came off just off these pinpoint, just like almost Andrews and Silver like bops, just straight, quick straight rights. Did it again, Alex? Did that again? I was like, look, this is that people put on your 3D glasses because, bop, right action. It's like when you go to the movies and the 3D movie and there's like a branch in the way. It's like, oh, it's 3D.

But Holland looked great, but Buckley looked like so much fun. And I don't know what the future is for him, but boy, he could be a great action fighter. Those hands are just are just insane. So anyone who saw him in LFA, saw some of his knockouts, and saw tonight, like, Holland was on point to avoid those shots because he was slipping, slipping those shots beautifully. But Buckley was fun. That was a really, really fun. Was there a flying hammer fist in that fight? Probably.

There was a lot of everything in that fight. I think at the end of the round, like it was amazing. Like you did this look like a flying knee, but he came down with a hammer fist. I was like, I like this gentleman. It was like a double axe handle. Yeah. Fun card. Flying double axe handle.

It was a wild fight. Holland's starting to become one of those like breakout guys in 2020 so far. I'm excited to see what's next for him. I think honestly, what the UFC should probably take a look at, you have Kevin Holland who wants to come right back. You have Darren Stewart who wants to come right back. There you go. Match those two guys up. Or if you want to make some headlines and see some really good trash talk in the

and build up to a fight, give Kevin Holland a bump, him versus Marvin Vittori, make that fight happen. Oh, yeah. Because they don't like each other. He does not like him. They even throwing verbal greasingness at each other ever since they were both in Jacksonville. Yeah. And it continues. Makes sense.

Kevin Holland on what the heck, F. Marvin Vittory, F. Derek Brunson, and I'll poop on Mike Perry. Yeah, that's what stuck out from that conversation. So we started with poop and we ended with poop on the post-vite show. So I think we're all done. Wrap it up. So thank you all for tuning in. You guys are warriors or savages. But UFC 252.

It's coming up. In a week, I cannot wait for Stepe A versus DC3. I'm very excited for this. The return of the Sugar Show versus Marlon, Cheeto Vera. Very good main card. I'm very excited for this main card. Of course, capped off by DC's final fight. We are out of here for Jose, Alex, E. Casey Liden.

I am Mike Keck. See ya. Have a good night, everybody. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.