MMA Fighting - UFC Vegas 97 Post-Fight Show | Reaction To Sean Brady Outworking Gilbert Burns, And The Welterweight Title Picture

Episode Date: September 8, 2024

Sean Brady picked up the biggest win of his career on Saturday, outworking Gilbert Burns for a unanimous decision victory at UFC Vegas 97. Where does this put Brady in the welterweight title picture, and where does Burns go from here? Following Saturday's Fight Night event, MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew is joined by E. Casey Leydon to break down all the biggest storylines following UFC Vegas 97. Topics discussed include the welterweight title picture, Natalia Silva's breakout win over Jessica Andrade, Matt Schnell's unexpected retirement, some early evening referee controversy, and much more. 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

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Yeah, I forgot that I'm hosting. The victory horns, you hear them. Ladies and gentlemen, you hear those victory horns and follow the UFC Vegas 97. They sound to Mr. Sean Brady. I don't know what to say about it. Other than that he won the fight,

and we're here to talk about it because this is the UFC Vegas 97 host show. How are y'all doing tonight? Hi, guys. I'm Jedmishu and Mayfiting.com. Great website. And normally this is Mike Heck, but Mike Heck is currently being just God's greatest soldier.

And he is falling on the Bellator grenade right now because Bellator is currently taking place. When we originally conceived of this, we thought maybe we would be doing a post show for both of them. But Bellator pacing, I mean, Belter started much later anyway, but they're slogging through their event. And so we decided not to keep y'all waiting.

You'll see Vegas 97 just finished moments ago. You know, the press conference is going to be going on. And so we said, Yola, let's do it. Let's talk about the two very important things that happened and then a couple of other interesting and important things. And so joining me this evening, aside from you find folks at home, the wonderful E, Casey Lottin. Hi.

I'm sorry. This is supposed to be Jedmishu, but it's me. Jim is using the other frame. But yeah, now I'm here and I'm here to talk about prize fighting in a small warehouse in Las Vegas. It's a small gymnasium. I think we didn't call it a gymnasium. It's got equipment in there. It's fine.

Is there a basketball hoop? Surely there is. I've never been to the apex, but surely there is one. That is one of the really fun things when they do when PFL comes to Atlanta. They do it in a basketball. gymnasium basically and so there hoops all around it's quite fun uh but we're not here to talk about pfl despite the shirt um we're actually here to talk about uc vagus 97 and at this point you guys if you're new here welcome hope you have fun but mostly we're going to assume you've been here

before and so you know the deal we're going to talk about what just happened me and case you're going to break it down and then we're going to throw it to you so pop your chats in we'll get to them at the end this probably won't go that long you know this the big event is next week. Next weekend is a monster weekend. A whole lot of stuff going on. This weekend, arguably the best thing happening is the Bellator main event, which hasn't even happened yet. But, Casey, let's talk about what has because though it was the betting favorite outcome, it was the most likely thing to happen this weekend, maybe it didn't go down exactly the way some anticipated. Sean Brady walks away with a unanimous decision victory, 50, 45 on two judges,

scorecards 49 46 on one of the other judges scorecards round four round four i i have no idea um so i haven't seen the scorecards yet okay when we're talking through stuff i'll try and pull it up that's just what was announced in cage when i my official scorecard and where i want to start here casey is kind of ask you how you scored it because i i did have it 4946 mhmie fighting's official scorecard is 4946 we gave uh burns the third round though I don't think it's wrong to give Brady all of them. I just thought that the third round, Burns,

I thought Burns hurt him with one of those exchanges, but pretty clearly a strong Brady win. But Casey, let's start there. How did you score this fight? 49, 46, 50, 45. After the first three rounds, kind of in my head, I was like, okay, this is Brady's fight now to lose.

So I didn't really score the last two rounds. I don't know if I was easy to score, but I didn't really score round four or two close. I was just kind of more just watching Brady. but yeah, 50, 5045, 49, 46, I think both are fair scores. But more importantly, the judges got it right, the right guy won. And yeah, Sean Brady is, I don't know, what do we, it's legit, a contender now? What do we call this?

What word do we use now? That's the thing, Casey. It is one of those where this is clearly a meaningful win, right? Like, I'm not here to take anything away from Sean Brady. This is a significant win for his career. But it is not, it's a step up. It's not a big step up. It's the best win of his career.

It's the biggest name, the kind of most significant victory he's had. But, you know, where he's at, where Walter Wade is at, the fact that Ballal is now the champion and Ballal definitively beat him, this is not elevates him immediately into the title picture. And frankly, may not even elevate him into a one fight, like his name. next fight is a title eliminator. It could, you know, if he gets the right opportunity, something happens. But this is just one of those wins that it's great for the resume. It's a great win. And you kind of got to focus on that and less about the where does this take him?

Because Sean Brady's always been a contender. Like since he kind of came in, you know, losing to blow all doesn't not make you a contender. It just kind of defers your dreams for a bit. And now he's not there. My question for you, Casey, in watching this. I picked Sean Brady to win. I thought I didn't think it would look quite like this, but I didn't think it looked fairly similar.

I thought he'd have a little more success with the grappling than he ended up having. My question for you, though, does kind of tie into where you were going, Casey. And it's, to me, the biggest question coming out of this fight is, outside of what this win means, what does this performance give you for Sean Brady? Is this the kind of performance that makes you say, Sean Brady is a legitimate title threat? or is this just a, hey, that's a good meaningful win,

but I don't think any differently about him than I did before the start of this day. Because I'm not quite sure. I'm going to go up the latter. I'm going to say, I think he is a legitimate title threat. Yeah, actually, I was very impressive, Sean Brady. He is a well-rounded mixed martial artist, obviously, of a specialty in jiu-jitsu. His wrestling looked good. his striking looked good.

Defensively, he was sound. He's tough. The cardio was there. The cardio was there, five rounds. That's actually probably the most important thing. The last two rounds, there wasn't a big drop-off and output or anything. And yeah, it was just, this is, and actually credit to the UFC matchmakers. This is just great placement on great booking in these guys' careers where they are,

what their value is to the UFC and putting it. Unfortunately, it wasn't in front of the UFC. of a crowd. I kind of wonder what this fight would have been like in front of, you know, 10,000 people and somewhere in the Northeast. But, yeah, I was actually very impressed with John Brady. Coming into the fight, I just wasn't sure. Honestly, I just, I knew he was good.

I knew he's clearly a top 15 fighter. But when I saw it tonight is someone who's basically in his prime, he's healthy. And am I saying this is next GSP? No. but he is to me a legit title contender and on the right day on the right night he can win a title but he still has to kind of get anything nothing is like I'm not going like oh this guy's you know next habib you know he's just going to we're just waiting for him to get the belt but I think he is very good and the hype around him was true and he showed up tonight and

I'm going to take that belaw beating he took as just um that was bala's night and he had an off night and tonight he showed up and um credit to him he um he he seemed to learn from his loss and um yeah he's um he's good i like it i'm very impressed by him actually plus you know ball is currently the best well's rate on planet head so yeah yeah you know that's a loss that's aged well yeah exactly yeah um yeah so i'm i'm not quite there in that i agree that you know on the right night he can get the win because he can i think that this is just shown me that Sean Brady continues to develop. I'm not wowed by it. It is not, oh, he got hands now, the division's in trouble. But you're just seeing a fighter steadily improve over the course of his

career. And if you do that long enough and you catch the right breaks, maybe you end up champion. I think this win, you know, very definitively kind of just puts him, hey, you're there. You're in the mix, but you're going to have to do something to stand out. Because particularly right now, Walterweight, has a crop of guys ascending in the Shavcott, Jack Delamette, Madelena, Ima Chado Gary, et cetera. And so that kind of takes me, Casey, just sort of the next thing to talk about here before we get to the Gilbert Burn side of this. Afterwards, Sean Brady, you know, he's very excited about the win, shouts out Philly, obviously. To your point, I would like to see him get a fight in front of Philly as opposed to the apex, but I'm not certain that's going to happen given how he tends to fight. the UFC may be less enthused about doing that.

And I'm also not sure the UFC will be enthused about his callout. Just because afterwards he said he wanted a top five guy, but if that can't happen, he has the same management as Ian Machado Gary. Let's run that. On paper, I actually liked the matchup a lot, Casey. But given sort of Machado Gary getting the push from the UFC that he has in general,

do you think that somewhere they might go? No. No. Man, I kind of don't think. I think that fight makes a confidence. I don't mind the call out. I also don't think they go there. Yeah, I just don't think the UFC wants that fight.

If they don't do that fight, I'm not, I got any, I don't have a roster in front of me. But I'm trying to think who is next for Sean Brady? Because I don't think he'll get the Gary fight. My best guess is that, because I don't think it will be Gary. If it does, great and call your shot. Again, I know that, you know, people have different opinions on this. I am of the opinion that you should have a name and you should be forceful with it because that's your one opportunity to really dictate your own fate as best you can.

I would have liked him to just be a little more assertive about that than he ultimately was because maybe that helps a little bit. But I think we're probably going to go for him next is I kind of feels like they're going to give him Jack Della. Jack Della's kind of been sitting out. I know he's been sort of dealing with some injuries. but Jack Della was on a rocket ship to the moon and then had the very difficult fight with Burns and he ultimately pulled out.

I think assuming Shavkat is getting the crack at Ballal, it feels like the UFC's not inclined to give Brady a Leon Usman former champion route and so maybe they just say, hey, you two dudes got to fight it out for who is the other up-and-comer we get behind. So my best guess is that's where we go, but I would like to see the Machado Gary fight

if that ends up happening. The other side of this though, Casey, is Gilbert Burns. And outside of where Gilbert Burns goes, what you do want to talk about, just how do you rate Gilbert Burns' performance? One of the big narratives coming in here, he's getting older, 38 years old,

been in the UFC since I think a decade now as I think he signed in 2014. Obviously, he competed in multiple weight classes, had that great run, however five wins in a row or whatever, get to a title fight, sort of fallen off a little bit since then, and now he's lost three in a row. Well, very competitive in this fight. So Casey, kind of, do you think Gilbert Burns still has it?

Like, where do you think Gilbert Burns kind of is in his career right now? He's a top 10 gatekeeper. No. I think you're going to. I'm sorry? I think you're right. Yeah. And we talk, we kind of talked about this a lot in the sense that there's no shame.

in being one of the top 10 170 pound fighters in the world. No shame at all. It's just that's how it's quite an accomplishment to be one of the 10 people in the world at your job. Yeah. He's just, yeah, he's 38. And I don't want to say Gilbert looked old tonight, but he looked older than what we kind of seen him at his prime. Like the guy that fought Schofcott, not Schofcott, sorry, the guy that fought Hamzot, you know, to one of the fights of the year.

The guy that all must be Jack Della just a few months ago. Very close to it. Very close to it. And yeah, yeah, he's just, he's, and this is, and this is the life, you know, the, what do you call it? The life cycle of, you know, top level prize fighters, especially in the UFC. You work your way up to that title shot, you lose your title shot, and now you are kind of used. says that, you know, stepping stone for other fighters. And being plus 35, now he's 38.

Yeah. And which is, I mean, now it's just up to Gilbert. What does he, how does he want to handle the rest of his career? Because I don't know if it was you talked about it, but we talked about who has more to lose tonight. And I think we were very heavy on what Gilbert's got more, the most to lose tonight. If he loses its main event and he lost the main event, lost it rather dominantly. and so no he's not going to get cut or anything but he will be used as you know those first or second

you know fights on paper views to build up the next waltrowweight stars at the ufc have that that was hosey and i actually disagreed but because i was watching that i was listening to the show this morning i was working out and i was like i actually disagree but we could talk about it when the time comes and ultimately i think why disagreed is kind of what's manifested he So I don't think this really changed much for Burns, this loss. It's a third loss in a row. You never want that. But even coming into this fight, Burns was like pretty open about the, I'm a long way from a title shot.

So, and he would never say this, obviously. He was never getting a title fight again. So there's not much to lose here other than brain cells and a fight. And I think that kind of puts him in the same place where I think he is right now. I think heading into this fight, he was the gatekeeper to the top five. I think with this loss, he probably is closer to the gatekeeper to the top 10 now. And for me, this is, I always hate when I feel this way watching a fight. But while I thought Sean Brady looked improved and I was impressed, certainly,

my bigger takeaway was Gilbert Burns has passed it now. And it's been teetering on that for a little bit, but Sean Brady was much quicker in there than Burns. And that has always been one of the great strengths Gilbert Burns had up at Welterweight is he was very fast. And he almost knocked out Kamar Ushman because he was so, so quick and explosive. And he just wasn't fast there.

And the telltale sign of any fighter getting old, I say this a lot, when the ability to pull the trigger? Because that's the first thing, if the chin doesn't go, and Gilbert's chin is still obviously there, if the chin doesn't go, the first thing that goes is just the ability to do it,

to get offense going consistently. You start hesitating, little more. The windows get small, feel smaller, where previously you would just react and punch now you're waiting more and certainly in big stretches of this fight, Gilbert was just kind of waiting. Good defense, but defense doesn't win.

So I, one of my big takeaways here is Gilbert Burns is pretty clearly past it, but that's okay. He's still obviously very competitive, you know, one of the top 10 best fighters this weight class, but he is sort of in that interesting spot now where who does he fight?

I think him versus Leon Edwards maybe makes a little bit of sense next, though I'm not sure that's where you go with Leon. I think you do a lot with Leon, obviously, coming off a title loss. But I personally, like, I would kind of just like to see just for the effort's sake of Gilbert versus RDA, just two dudes kind of in that same space of their career. I think there's no wrong way to eat this Reese's and just kind of whatever Gilbert chooses to do as he continues competing. But Casey, does any name jump out of you for where Gilbert goes here? I would rather have him fight.

I just can't think of a name right now. But someone kind of outside that top 10, someone that we went, oh, man, that guy is going to be a title contender soon, you know, and just not there yet just hasn't had the opponent to kind of prove it to us. Someone like that, if you throw a name out. But around that 12 to 20 range, someone like on a two-to-three-fight win streak and the UFC. I think there's plenty of names available But I love

Do you know we're Buckley trains We're Buckley trains? We're Buckley trains? Yeah, like what gym is Joaquin Buckley at? Not sure, not sure. Because Buckley's got the Wonderboy fight If he beats Wonderboy, that would be kind of an elevation up If there's not a conflict there that I don't think there is

Michael Morales obviously just burst into the rankings Maybe we do something there. Yeah, and someone like, I see someone like that. Someone like kind of under 25, kind of looking great, you know, Michael Marados. It would be a great example to me. Maybe we just do Colby Covington if Colby's fighting again.

I don't know. I don't mean a waste time saying Colby. I just don't mean a waste time, you know. But yeah, Colby. Here. John comes up by my admon. I'm just looking at the rankings right now and he's still ranked. It's unbelievable to me.

But other things happen outside of this main event, Casey, the biggest one being the co-main event. Oh, but real quick before we move. One thing I think about Gilbert too, even less about being old, it's just there's lots of tape on them and lots of fights that these Sean Brady has to watch on him. And Gilbert only has so many weapons, so many things he can pull out of the bag. And we kind of saw it all tonight, the big overhand, you know, just his style. And when there's that much tape on you, guys like Sean Brady, smart fighters, smart camps. they're going to prepare very well for you.

So in top of, like, you're not going to surprise Sean Brady with anything. I mean, unlike, because like when Gilbert got to had that run, it was like, oh, my God, he can hit. Because, you know, the former lightweight can come at the watch where he can hit. But now people know that. Now people know that big overhands coming, you know. They know his, his jiu-jitsu style. So, and that's one of the toughest part of being a high-level vet like that is like, there's lots of tape on you, just lots and lots of tape on you.

and Sean Brady and just credit Sean Brady and his team for looking extremely prepared in this fight. So that's all they were super prepared. Cardio was super on point. I mean, never. They put a real pace together. This was not going to win fight of the night. But it wasn't a terrible scrap, but it was, there was a lot of activity. And credit to both men, they both held it well, you know, like Brady kept putting the pressure down.

Burns, thought he maybe faded a little more down the stretch. not in a major way, just in the way of he was engaged in a very tough fight for 25 minutes and nobody's body can do that and be the exact same unless you're Mara Abdul's Philly. So very honestly, a good performance, solid from both dudes, nothing to complain about. But Casey, the fight of the night, the fight that stole the show, it was your co-mate event. Natalia Silva, known around here as Natty Ice, defeats Jessica and Dr. Raj, 3027s across the board in a fight that was far more competitive than the 3027s kind of show. I don't see bonuses given up yet, but I will be fairly surprised if this does not win

your fight the night. It was a very, very fun scrap. Tell me, let's start on the Natty Ice side of things because she's going to be the big story. It gets a big win over a long time veteran in the UFC rankings. I'm actually not 100% sure where they have Androge ranked. Androge is number six at Flyweight. So this will move Natty Ice up to number six for the USC Flyweight rankings, I assume. What's your big takeaway from this fight from Natty Ice?

I'm jumping on the hype train. I'm there. I wasn't on like Mike Hecker. I mean, I love watching Natty Ice. But I was like, okay, she's exciting. And she's going to be a top 15, top 10 player. But I was thoroughly impressed by her performance tonight. Her just her athleticism, her quickness, the sidekicks, the ax kicks, just the cardio.

Just, I was just kind of, I don't, I was blown away just because I picked on D'raj to win this fight. I wouldn't know. She's the vet. I just don't think Nadi Isis is ready, but I was wrong. I love being wrong on fights like this. And Nadi Ice looked legit. And the whole package, honestly. They got great on the mic, just exciting fighting style,

and held her own for three rounds against Jessica Androge. And Jessica Androge just credit to her, like, she just ate shots, and just kept coming forward. And it's one of those rare fights, too, where Natia Issa is basically moving backwards, kind of the whole fight fighting off the cage and still won the fight, you know, because we always can't win a fight going backwards. But Natia Silva did it. And Jessica Andradez, to me, like,

Like, I'm not, I didn't get that Gilbert Burns type of feeling where like, oh, she's just like, you know, it's just, you know, just lost a step. I just think Androge, almost like Gilbert Burns, there's just so much, we know what we're getting with Androge. And I think tonight, just her being slightly too small for 125 at this level, really hurt her. So I hope to see Androge go back to 15 and still be a player at 15. but tonight was Silva's night and she she looked great. She showed up and looked amazing. Yeah, I mean, this was the breakout performance for her. A few people have been very high on her, obviously,

Mike Heck being chief among the 90-I supporters and paid off tonight. Like, she looked extremely good. Again, in a fight really competitive. I also picked Jessica Androge. That was more of a heart over head pick. Not that I have anything against Natia Silva, but Jessica Androge is just one of the coolest fighters. But I think you nailed it.

She was simply too small in there. She kept getting inside, playing the roughhouse game, laying at some big shots. And I kind of thought that that might be the difference is I thought that Androge would get her shots off and that ultimately when Jessica Indrage hits you, people just fall over. It kind of doesn't matter the weight class. But Silva battled through it. and she played in fire at some points in time that I thought would burn her,

but it was equal to it. I think that that could have been 29, 28. I don't think there's a real good argument that Androge won, but also that I wasn't even paying that much attention because they were just chucking them. It was a great scrap. Silver showed a lot of creativity, a lot of different aspects in there. And I, like you, I'm now totally sold in her being not just a player,

but a legitimate title threat at 125, particularly as Valentina Shepchenko is probably on her way out. She's been around for 20-some-odd years at this point. And no, she's still relatively young, but it seems like she's probably near the end of her run. Alexa Grasso, Menonfior, Aaron Blanchfield, maybe Rosamma Yunis now. Like, this is kind of the crop. And I think Natalia Silva has a good quality chance against any of them with sort of the ability she showed tonight. And like you, it's super fun to have just.

Jessica and Drogh do this, and we're talking about a woman who did challenge for a belt at this weight class. But I think it's time for her to kind of abandon the BMF weight jumping. I, you know, frankly, she looked a little soft to start in there. Like she was not carved out of wood as you normally see her because she doesn't have to be as disciplined to make 125. and she, you know, it's harder. I mean, some disrespect, not meant, but understand that's happening. These aren't the Caitlin Cermanars of the world anymore at 125. The talent is elevated and she can't do the things that she could do when she was a younger woman

and still compete in the same level here. So really good fight. Let me see if we have got... We got... We got bonuses. Unsurprisingly, your bonuses. Fight of the Night, Natalia Silva, Jessica Androge, I would have been absolutely stunned if that was not.

Your performances of the night, Steve Garcia and Cody Durdin. Well, let's talk about the rest of the fights before we kind of pop into the fan cues here. Very quickly running through a couple of things. The feature fight of the evening was Steve Garcia taking on Kyle Nelson. Kyle Nelson, I believe, missed weight by a couple pounds,

like 148 and a half, I think. and opened up had a very good start immediately gets to back after Steve Garcia kind of slip up. Garcia works through, gets a finish. Saw a little bit of controversy on the interwebs about back of the head shots, but there's no real controversy to this performance. Kyle Nelson just got bludgeoned after he gave up position, and Steve Garcia gets a bonus for that. I am not certain that's a great bonus, but it's not an awful bonus. Cody Durden could say Ninja Choke finish over Matt Schnell

He is the other guy you got a bonus And this one is absolutely deserved This fight was super fun Casey I do want to talk about this one very briefly I know we talked a little off air Did you see this one in its entirety Or were you still not quite around yet? Yeah I watch I watch Otto Garcia's fight

I watch Aududdin's fight yeah Yeah it was super fun Durdon took this fight on 4th four days notice after Alessandro Costa pulled out, which made this a ranked fight. These were two ranked fly weights coming in here. One of them doing on four days notice. Gives right in Mashnell's face,

get tagged a couple of times, very competitive first round. And then the second round, Chanel takes a wild shot from outside. Durden locks up the Ninja choke. Really, really nasty, like dug in there like a tick on that bad boy. Chanel's rolling all around and then does the like, eight slap panic tap of all over Durden's back because I don't know,

that sucks when you're trapped in something like that. And that's the end of it. Durden gets out as a, you know, animated post-fight speech and stuff. And then the thing to talk about on this fight, match now hangs up the gloves. Doesn't give a speech. Brendan Fitzgerald, the announcer, kind of lets everyone know, hey if you were paying attention

while the fight was being announced to match now had his gloves in his hand and then they cut to video of snow just laying him in the center didn't try to speak to Biss being walked out of the cage and it appears at least in all probability that match now has retired from the sport

and so just kind of want to get your reaction that matchnell is only 34 still a ranked dude competitive first round against a fellow ranked guy in short notice an interesting way interesting timing for him to sort of hang things up. Hey, man.

It's hard to make a living being a prize fighter, especially, you know, when you get half your paycheck gone and they sent a three fight losing streak. Lost with, no, two, was Durden's top 15 in the UFC? Burden's top 15, yeah. Yeah, so. Three ranked dudes. He lost a three ranked dudes. Got him.

You know, for a division that, you know, people like to say is boring or whatever, you know, what is it, whatever. He is a get or got, get or got, got dude. And he's, he's always an exciting fighter. And unfortunately, you know, he got got three times in a row. I get it. You know, you got to move on in life. And, yeah, so what was he probably making 20 and 20, 25, 25, you know?

Yeah, you just got to, whatever. He's just got to move on in life. So I, clearly he can fight at this level. If he fights Corey Durdon 10 times, he might win four of them. I don't know. But I get it. you got to move on it's just it's a tough living it's a tough living and um yeah three fights in a row three finishes in a row too it's one of those retirements that i'm a little sadden by because he

match now is just always a really fun watch he is yeah coming in there get or get got let's do this thing and so you love fighters like that but i kind of have always been on the corner of i would rather see fighters retire early than late. And it never, ever happens. But like, I don't give Ben asking a ton of credit for much. I think his retirement was exceptional. It was like, yeah, it's perfect. Like, you, you're not going to be a champion.

You could hang around and be a top 10 fighter, but you can do other. There are other ways to make money that don't involve sacrificing your health and long-term well-being, especially if you are not in the upper tax. bracket of the UFC. If you're not making Andrei Rolofsky money, then you can just, you can do something else with your life, man. There's plenty of money to be made out there that you will still have all your faculties about you when you are, you know, with your family in your older years.

So if this is it, if it's the last time we saw him, is damn fun fighter. And I'll be a little sad, but happy trails to match now. Great win for Cody Darden. Let's run through just a couple of other results here. hop to the questions because none of the rest of these results are massively important in the long-term scheme of thing obviously very important to all the fighters not here to say that you know ashmoos defeats Trevor peak in the opening main card fight fun a little upset win for ashmoos nothing nothing to like right home about though something to write home about casey and

i get why you're not doing so like it kind of makes sense why this doesn't get a performance bonus but it also sort of should because as cool as Steve Garcia made a comeback and that's fun and it was very animated in his post-white speech and we all love Steve Garcia because he's a get-or-gid-cock guy. Chris Padilla

rearranged wrongs-dew's face. I mean, full elephant man, I don't know the last time I've seen an eye get blown up that bad. A perfectly time-standing elbow right into the interior, like right here of the eye socket immediately ballooned up.

When I say ballooned up, I mean that in every sense of the word ballooned. Just a grotesque. Instantly, yeah. Instant grotesque thing to the point that because it blew up and he couldn't see Rongzu, like immediately protested an eye poke. Because he was clearly not aware, but his eye was clearly screwed. It was like what? and Padilla, as they are fighting, is like no and points to his own elbow,

and then moments later the fight kind of gets stopped. Dr. Check, Wrongzu, protests, wants to keep fighting. Absolutely no world in which that fight should have been allowed to continue. A really gnarly little highlight, you know, TKO doctor stoppage victory for Padilla. If I had been guessing, that would have, I would have said Cody Durden and Padilla are the ones who are going to get bonuses. Not how it worked out. Isaac Dolgarian, one of the biggest favorites in UFC history, looked every bit of that against Brendan Marot.

A second round arm triangle submission, fight was not remotely competitive at all. Andre Limo, one of my... Very Bellator prelim-esque type matchmaking. Extremely Belator prelim-esque matchmaking. Credit to Marot who hung on because the villain, Sheen al-Shadi has Isaac Dolgarian in our fantasy draft, and Marot by hanging on to the second round,

denied Shaheen some potentially much. needed points. So a huge fan of that. One of my guys, F you, that's right. One of my guys, Andre Lima picks up a unanimous decision winner of Felipe Dos Santos. Just a very well-rounded, good performance from a

very, very talented flyweight prospect. For the people who think flyweight isn't that fun, fair, you know, however you want to view that, there are a ton of unbelievably talented flyweight's coming up in the next like four years. Flyweight is going to be

as good of a weight class as Bannon weight and featherweight and lightweight. Like, there's a ton of good ones. Andre Lima is one of them. Gabriel Santos, DeVietz, Yijah, unanimous decision. I won't even pretend like I watched more than a handful of seconds of this fight. There was a really dope front kick in it that the UFC cut and put on their socials that did not result in the finish, but that's mainly because of the toughness of Yajah. Jacqueline Amarim gets a probably the only other real thing to talk about here on this car.

Jacqueline Amarine defeats Vanessa Demopolis, arm bar submission. Casey, I don't think you saw this, did you? No, I was listening to it, but I didn't actually see the replay. So a little bit of controversy in Demopolis during the fight is loudly protesting to the referee, who I do not remember who was refereeing this fight, that Amram has grabbed inside of her glove, and very clearly Amram was grabbing inside of her glove. her glove during some transitions in there. Ultimately, actually may well have contributed to it, but what contributed more to the ultimate

finishes, Demopoulos stopped defending to complain about the thing that has happened, and then Amram, who's a very, very talented grappler, finished the arm bar. I suspect we're going to hear that Demopoulos is appealing this. There were clips from showing Herb Dean and commission people kind of looking at replays and talking through how this unfolded. Best guess, nothing ultimately happens. But, you know, Demopoulos has a real case, even if it's maybe not one that is likely to succeed. But as of now, Jacqueline Amram gets a first round submission win.

Also, big pickup. That was an AK fighter for his fantasy draft team. So big, big day. Did you listen to the announcers, Bisbane and Cruz? They had a terrible. Well, for this fight in particular, Demop. Yes. Okay.

Yeah. basically they went like, eh, it's fighting. They kind of did that. It's fighting. So to some extent, I actually do agree.

And I agree in principle with kind of where, what Cruz was saying at various points, which is, I mean, sure, but like you can't stop fighting to complain to the ref, which is 100% accurate. Like,

particularly because just you've been in the sport long enough to know that cheating doesn't really count. Like you're allowed to cheat in MMA functionally. So you really got to make sure that you just complain. You don't stop. the play to complain to the ref you finish the play and then go complain to the rep between rounds or whatever so there's that but there was there's a sound clip out there that you go and cut it was deeply funny of you can you can hear

demopoulos still screaming after this fight she was in my glove this like she was cheating in my glove and there's just a little clip like as there's a clip of her saying that immediately followed by dominant crew's been like beautiful technique it's just the funniest thing in the world to me of like just not not nobody came to demopolis's defense at all there's like yeah that just sucks for you and it feels like you've been broadcasting long enough at least one person should be like hey but maybe she has a case like just you know to not be unanimous in that sucks to be you girl but it is my take was it wasn't illegal it was borderline but she was basically to me just using the glove as more of a wedge,

not really her fingers inside. So it's very fine line. I think that it's illegal. I don't care is my actual answer to it. Like, I don't much care about that illegality. Like, I get why it is illegal and should be,

but as long as you aren't like using it as a full handle to move a human being around for protracted periods, I don't care enough. It's, it is where it is. It's just, this fight does not mean enough for me to be upset about it, frankly. Totally means enough to Demopoulos. I get her point. However they want to handle it, that's on them.

Last two fights, and then we'll pop to the fan cues. Andre Petroski beats Dylan Budka, unanimous decision. Terrific performance from Budka here because she now shot he has Andre Petarski in his draft team. and so he gets the minimum amount of points for the win because Buck fought hard and stayed alive. And then our opening bout of the evening, Nathan Fletcher, DeVits Zygmantus, Ramoska, and arm triangle choke.

Had a couple of those this evening, kicked things off. I won't pretend like I watched this at all happened as I was managing some other stuff for us. So, Casey, that's the big things happening. Anything else you kind of want to shout out before we head to the peeps? Just a shout out to my very biased take,

but my teammate, Taco Padilla, two and O in the UFC, two finishes coming in as a big underdog in each fight, and he wins. And, um, is he a big underdog to Romshu? Really?

Yeah, he was a big underdog. That can't be the case. Surely not. He's not bad, but he's not good. Let's see. I've got to pull this up now. Well, I mean, he was a big underdog, yeah. Yeah.

And he was a bigger underdog in his first fight against, uh, I forget the, gentleman's name but plus 200 like a sizable underdog and yeah uh james lawntop he was like a big underdog too you came in a real short notice but um i'd just say this about taco uh just uh he was actually oh interesting on my one mama fight uh he was actually on the card with me he i was the uh really i was the last amy fight he fought two fights after me and i i remember i remember seeing warm up and stuff like say you know just and like i didn't know him

at the time. But Taco's one of those guys where, like, he, like, where are we? Like, experience pays off. If you watched that first round, he didn't know, he didn't, that first round was up for grabs. I don't know who won or really lost it. I think I gave it to his opponent. But Taco's one guy, he just remains calm. He just remains calm.

He's just, I never see him kind of blow up big, but he's just a guy. He just knows when to inflict violence. He's one of those guys. He just like, I just know how to hurt people. And you saw it tonight. He doesn't, you know, he's not the best striker in the gym. He's not the best grappler. He's not the best athlete.

But in terms of just fighting, there is, there is a category where, like, you are just the best fighter. And it's a weird thing. And you got to have to get your hands on someone to really understand that. But he knows how to inflict violence. And when it mattered, he hurt his opponent and hurt him good. So congratulations, Taco. Too bad.

didn't get the 50k that's BS hope hope that Anderson's you a little bit but um yeah I'm excited for taco good for him yeah there there's a big difference between being a gym a gym class hero and you know elevating when the bullets are real like live fire like they're just if you've ever been around it you know it's just a different things are different in that regard and he appears to be that way because uh two excellent finishes and two fights since you've see kacey think where you could be If you could have found anyone stupid enough to keep fighting. Yeah, I know. Where you could have been on USC Vegas 97, like under the bright lights of the apex.

I mean, what? Eric Jackman left, Shaheen left. What, you want me to leave to? Yes. I want to drive all of you away. Then it will just be me. The MA Fighting Network will be me. my own personal YouTube.

All right, let's go to the peeps, guys. Questions of fair game. You know the rules by now. Super chats give priority. Try and get a couple of non-super chats in there. I certainly saw a few super chats, but, you know, I want to be a man of the people now that we're no longer burdened

by the masters of Eric Jackman and Jehina al-Shadi, forcing us to only do super chats. like to mix it in. We'll mix it in. But first, super chats. But first, super chats. Stephen, DJ Goat, I'm drunk, but I'm going to get involved. GSP and John Jones' last couple of fights were questionable, question mark.

DJ lost a questionable decision to Henry. Was it nine bonuses, Casey? The goat, DJ, never slowed down. So earlier today, if you haven't listened to it, make sure you go back and listen to it at some point or watch it also up on the youtube me and mike heck did a reaction video to demetre johnson's retirement a mighty mouse if you are super unaware mighty mouse retired last night at whatever the one fight guard was like one 632 i don't even know at this point um you know said farewell came a couple of weeks after he went on a rampage jackson's podcast and said that he's not retiring

but he's not really focused on m m mary right now he's doing other things that he's doing other things things apparently something between then and now changed because he hung up the gloves last night got a little emotional um but case he didn't get your thought my thoughts are pretty clearly cataloged in that pod so go check them out you know when you have time but casey i didn't i haven't even talked to you really about the dj exit uh kind of wax poetic for a minute or two on demetrius johnson one of the greatest of all time well before before we do that i because me and uh heck talked about this on the fan q and i I heard you threw me under the bus a bit on your little reaction.

No, I did, but then I apologize and corrected the record on the same pod because I was incorrect, hand up. I was conflating my memory of the situation. You were actually on the right side of history with me, and in my head you were the one who was adamantly against me as opposed to the two of us standing in opposition to morons, which is what we were, and history has proven us right. So I corrected it on the pod. You're 100% right, though. I was incorrect. Okay. I'm actually probably, I've maybe throughout DJ's career, maybe oversold him.

He's my goat personally above Habibu of John Jones, above GSP. I personally think DJ is the goat for his, mostly for the longevity and dominance he had at 125. and essentially creating the 125 division, at least in the United States. I just, I don't know, I just, his run, what was the 11 title defense? I can't remember. What is it? Nine. Do you know the number?

DJ had 11 title defenses. That is insane to think about. It is officially the most title defenses, unofficially and in real terms. It is tied with Anderson Silva. Anderson has 10, but the looter fight does not count since looter missed weight, which is obviously a bit silly. Yeah, silly. But officially, he has the most of 11. Yeah.

And I'm a big proponent of smaller weight classes or just higher-skilled fighters. And I just, I know I want to talk more poetically about DJ, but all I can't really say is just like he was just a dude. And I totally get, he is not the greatest prize fighter ever. No flyweight, at least in the United States, will ever be the greatest prize fighter. But in terms of just mixed martial arts and mixing the martial arts in particular, man, like, he's just an incredible, incredible fighter to look up to and to just, you know, to dream to even be that good and consistently that good at the highest level of the game. and he did that 11 times in a row. I thought he, and I thought he won when he beat, when he went in this final fight against the Hudo,

even with one leg. I thought he won that fight and the losses he had, he came, the one loss he had in the knockout, he came back and had an even more incredible knockout to get that back. And I don't know. I'm just happy he left before the sport beat him, beat it out of him.

I think he left at a good time. And I just hope the UFC next Hall of Fame was that run the International Fight Week next year. I hope there's just he better be the marquee fighter. And I want to see a 10-minute standing ovation for him when he does his UFC Hall of Fame speech. Because he is one of the greatest ever. So I'm just excited to watch DJ. I was excited every time he fought. and man it's just

it's just a record that's never going to be broken just a record that would never be broken in the UFC I will be shocked shocked shocked shocked if anyone comes close to that

especially of all the double championship stuff now but man freaking DJ I can't I can't really say enough about how good of an all-around fighter he was and not only that

just showed up just did not have off nights or at least it didn't appear he had off nights maybe internally maybe he hated his performance, but to us watching on the outside, like, dude, that guy is so good. Like, he, he's so good. Like, he makes guys, like, we kind of make fun of guys like Joseph Benavitas' career.

Like, he's like the Buffalo Bills, you know, he was like, he was just, like, Joseph Benevita should be without a doubt. You see a Hall of Famer. But he was, he came at the same time to Demetius Johnson. And it's just, now he's just a footnote to Demetio Johnson's records. So, uh, yeah, pretty much. Yeah, like I said, I gave my extended thoughts on DJ, but very shortly here. I don't believe his record will ever be broken because of how the modern New York City works. I have anyone who listens to our pod network watches our shows, has done so, knows that the thing I value more than anything else in this sport is title defenses because it's so hard to fend off the wolves at the gate time after time after time.

and every champion ever says that when they're champion islamakshav the current best pound fighter in the world said it his last fight which was his second or third title defense was like it was really hard to get prepared to fight dust and porre because it's not fun like i'm i'm no longer hunting i'm just holding my own i want the challenge back like it's it's so hard so i have nothing but respect for what dj did the simplest way i can put demetre's johnson's career into context is the tweet I sent out when he retired, and it is, I believe there are six fighters who have credible claims to being the goat. I believe there are only six male fighters who have this, and anyone else, there are very obvious reasons that they are disqualified

from this conversation. Those six are Demetius Johnson, John Jones, Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo, Fado, Fador Emilienenko, and what weight class am I missing of these? where I went heavyweight, light, heavyweight, middle way. Oh, George St. Pierre, obviously six. I think those are the only six who reasonably are in that. And so they are in a pantheon of their own. Everybody else falls short of that. There is not a bigger Habib suborder in this world.

His time at the top was not long enough. It's a tragedy that it wasn't, but it's simply what he did not get there to achieve that. And so that's the cream of the crop. And of that group, very few of them can say that they did it with the class and dignity that Demetrius Johnson did. Never had any real controversies was just a good dude in and outside of the cage. And to your point, Casey, never had a bad night. Like, if I am picking my goat, DJ is probably not it. Though, again, any of those six all in the conversation, I have no issue with you pick.

any of those people. But, you know, what was DJ's worst title fight? DJ never had a Jake Shields, you know, GSP. I'm on the stool and Greg Jackson's having to convince me to fight because I've torn my groin and I don't want to do this or I got kicked upside the head by Carlos Condit and now I got to battle through it. DJ just always had his A game when it mattered every time and it's very, very difficult. So, end of his career, I'm a little bit sad for we missed out for what could have been the final act,

but I'm happy for him to go away, happy, healthy, and in a good spot. And I hope the UFC does the right thing and inducts him to the Hall of Fame, though I'm not holding my breath on that. Oh, my God. I had this, I had that thought on the fan Q&A. Like, burn the UFC Hall of Fame down if Demetre Johnson isn't whatever, whatever first battle. it is i don't know you know there's no rule set to be in you know like but if he is not in the ufc hall of fame next next summer burn that place down is absolutely zero legitimacy if he is not zero so i agree in principle i just don't think it's going to happen i hope i'm wrong i really

do um it wouldn't be totally stunning but you know DJ's had some choice words the uc he's been not been like super anti them in the way other people have but He is not, you know, they didn't end on the best terms ever, and DJ has his thoughts and voices them. And it just wouldn't shock me if they passed him by at least for a little while. But I hope that's wrong. I hope he headlines next year because there is literally not a fighter more deserving. There are five fighters, or I guess eight, seven fighters, if you want to add women involved, that are equally as deserving. But there's not a fighter more deserving Demetrius Johnson.

So I strongly hope we see him in there next year. It would be a great moment. Thank you, thank you much. Thank you, Stephen. I love to talk about DJ. Yeah, love it. AG 45, Sean Brady is like Kyle Boralio. They're really good, but need one or two more fights to get the title.

Honestly, I'd like to see him retire Cole. I mean, I wouldn't mind seeing that, Casey. Like, I don't think that, I just said, why would Colby ever take that fight? like Colby is pretty clearly not going to fight anybody unless it's like super good for him. It's a super obvious fight he wants to take for decided reasons. And I got to tell you, I don't think the Sean Brady fights a great matchup for him. And it's like the exact awful matchup of you want to fight a guy who's very tough

and not going to get you over in a big way. I don't think that fight will happen. But I do think Sean Brady is two wins away from a title shot. I do not believe his next one's a big way. a title Eliminator. But this, Cal Barolio and Sean Brady, I know they're different fighters, but are they kind of, yeah, but would you agree to kind of, they're kind of the same point, like kind of these guys, there were prospects, and they're like, all right, then they had the big wins, main events,

and the apex, and you go, oh, crap, they're good. They, no, they beat former title contenders very handily. So, yeah, I get, I can't, but also. It's not a bad comparison. But they still need, but they still need, but they still need that one win. and it's hard to get that one big win in the apex. It really is. It is that.

I mean, the apex really kind of does mute that. I think there is a major difference between them, though this is not a bad comparison broadly. The biggest difference, and it's a little bit silly, Brady lost. Brady got a crack at the top and lost,

and Barrio is still undefeated in the UFC. And that's, like I said, it's a little bit silly, but it's also really substantive because Carl Barrio, like, may well fight,

Israel Dissuio next. And if he beats Izzy, then that's not two fights away. He's right on, he gets a title fight if he beats Izzy. And that is in part because he is not lost. Like that is there's something more attractive for Izzy to want to take that fight. There's more impetus for the UFC where Sean Brady is not going to get to fight Kamar Usman in all likelihood. Because he lost to Bilal Muhammad not that long ago. And the margin of the sport are really narrow, man.

Like things like that can really set you back might not be the most fair. But I think that there is a that that's enough of a difference to to delineate the two. But broadly speaking, I think the comparison is fairly apt. Yeah. Particularly with their styles, frankly. Yeah. Kind of guys would think of just grapplers and they go, oh, they can, they actually won a fight. You do a little striking.

Yeah. Certainly Barallo was very impressive against Jared Kennedy with it. But yeah. Real quick, what do you think of Sean Brady versus Langellors? Leon Edwards. Is that a possibility? I think that that is a possibility. The question is entirely what does Leon Edwards want to do? I think if I'm in Leon Edwards' camp and they, I would be pretty pro that fight. Yeah, I think it's a good fight for Leon.

Honestly, but Leon especially. It's obviously a wonderful opportunity for Brady. I think the matchup's pretty tough for him. But I think that's the exact kind of win where. it kind of doesn't matter who Leon beats he's Leon now he's former champion Leon and unless there's like a monster name which there aren't that many of just a win is a win and it's good enough and this is a good style matchup and maybe Ballal loses maybe Shavcott gets the fight beats Ballal and suddenly Leon if he gets one win you just bump him right back in there if Leon is more interested in doing I'm going to try and chase a bigger name

Maybe I'll fight way back for the MVP fight, which makes sense, certainly to some extent. I think there's just a lot of places Leon can go. So it's kind of up to Leon to say I would like that. But I would personally support it if I were in his camp. I think that would be a very smart fight for him to take. Yeah. All right. Thank you.

Thank you, AG 45. Whoa, one more from AG 35. Let's just say he's throwing out his next fights. Burns versus winner of Renat versus Ruzabayev at UFC 307. That's too far back. I don't, I think if Burns is fighting, I suspect Burns will likely just be fighting backwards and not get like some random legend-vety-legged fight. But the winner of that is going, like the winner of Farkar Dinov for Ruzabov or whatever

is an awesome fight, like an awesome fighter who's like top 20 and one of those dudes who you don't want to fight but does not get the recognition they deserve. All right. A couple more super chats before we hit their other questions. Alexander Hurst. Odd fence grab by hand, foot. Thoughts on using plastic wall rather than a cage. Also potential Mosswood all return versus Leon,

Jed, heck, and sleeveless respect. So let's start with the not using a fence thing first. The idea of like a plexiglass cage has been bandied about for a while. and it's just ultimately not like that good. Maybe it could work. You just kind of have to tinker with it enough to get there. But it's the cage is fine. You just got to enforce the rules.

Like I have become so so red-pilled on this of like actually the only problem in MMA is enforcing the rules in the scoring system we have. The 10-9 scoring system is fine. the judges just don't enforce it properly, and so it's stupid. The rules are fine. They're like, they could be better. I think, you know, needs to head of the ground opponent's very dumb and should be legal. But I also think soccer kicks should be legal.

Mostly, I just think the rules should be enforced. And it should not be that difficult, but there is a broad consensus among referees that they do not want to do that. They absolutely enforcing the rules is a last case resort for their only. the most blatant of cheaters. Otherwise, they are in there to pull a person from off of another person when they're about to beat them to death. And that's their only purpose. Yeah.

I don't get a lot of love on this, but like I'm big on half point deductions. I think the main reason refs don't, they know the rule is broken, but the penalty is just so extreme. It's like, I don't know, it would be the equivalent to like for a holding call in football, like a 50-yard penalty or something. That's essentially what a point deduction is, like a 50-yard penalty, I guess, for football. I don't know.

I'm trying to think of some kind of comparison. It's not really an exact comparison. But I always think that's the issue. If they did half-point deductions on the first time they did it or whatever, I think that would have solved a lot of problems. But then I get people, though, where judges can't even, no, add 10 and 9 together. How are we going to do, no, add a decimal on there?

I get that, I mean, sure. But I just think the... I don't... I don't mind. half-point deductions in general. I just don't, I don't think they're necessary, frankly, because I think that it will just balance out very quickly because, one, I believe that, I firmly believe

that a vast majority of penalties will no longer exist if you enforce the rules in a hardline fashion, that nobody will commit eyepokes. Because if they, if an ipoke can legitimately cost you fight and not actually just give you a tacit advantage in a fight nobody will do it anymore it will be eradicated within months like i'm so certain of that other ones like i think i think there's a pretty obvious answer to okay every fence grab is not a point deduction you just give the position up it's very easy to do there definitely definitely pause in the action definitely yeah pausing the action

option to the offended fighter you have position what would you rather this be standing or would you rather you have top position in full guard. Make your choice. We'll reset center of the cage from that. It is so easy to do that for fence grabs in particular, that not doing that is insane to me. I don't think that there is fair retribution for an eye poker or going shot. And so I frankly just think that a point is merited.

Like those can be hugely impactful blows and are worth the point. Don't do them. Or we can solve it like Gilbert Burns did because no one's going to talk about it. Burns would probably deny it. I'm so, so certain that in the main event, after Sean Brady landed a low shot on Gilbert Burns, he came out and immediately landed a low shot. And I would bet my bottom dollar that was intentional.

It wasn't vicious. It wasn't like I'm going to football punt you right in the nads there. But like, go watch that replay. He just kind of raises his legs straight up the middle and taps Brady there as a get back. And so like if we're not going to do that, which I don't think you can legislate legally, I'm totally fine taking a point. Yeah. I definitely agree. Yeah.

I definitely agree with the fence grab and there should be more options to the, uh, the non-finscracking fighter that they can choose the position. There needs definitely more of that. Um, I, I, I think we have trained enough. I have trained enough that I have I poked enough people in training. I have been, I poked myself. I have been kicked into balls. I have kicked other people on the balls with zero purpose for intention. And I just think that I wish, I, I know what you're saying.

Like, but I just believe like those are, those are truly accidents like 90% of the time. That's the thing. I agree though, Casey. I firmly agree. But I just don't think. I just don't think if you eye poke someone fights automatically over. Or not, if say if you gave just an extreme penalty or something, there will still be eye pokes because. It's just the nature of the game, unfortunately.

Same with growing shots. But I think it would be so much lessened because people like if tomorrow you went into the gym and the blanket rule was every I poke is a point. You're just going to train differently. Like you are, that is now going to be a real thing that you have to factor in to your considerations. You won't do it. And one of the things that I bring up about Habib all the time that other people, it kind of

flies under the radar and as a testament to his greatness. I've watched every UFC fight he's ever had. I believe he was worn one time against, who was it against? I don't remember who I'm trying to think who it was. I believe he got warned one time about grabbing shorts, but he never once had a penalty happen. It was never a low blow or groin strily like nut eye poke. Because it doesn't have to be part of it.

It is just because it's not, there's no. reason to be concerned about it. Like, poke your eyes, like, poke your hands out. It doesn't matter if it's not penalized. And so I just think it is meaningful. And so they should suffer a consequence for it. And I'm fine with a half point if that's how you want to do it, honestly. That's not an issue for me.

I just want them to enforce the rules. Yeah. I think we're kind of saying the same thing a bit. Yeah, but, yeah. But thank you much. And to the other point of Alexander's question. thing. Mosswald Leon I picked it after Leon lost

and now that it does appear Hoi Maswell is returning. 100% that's the fight you actually should make. If you're Leon 100% you should take that fight. So yeah. I don't know if that is where they will go but I don't know what other juice you have to squeeze with Mosswell at this point

and it didn't make sense when Leon had the belt. Now it makes all the sense in the world. You know, if Leon wants to fight into you can do that as the feature fight or the co-main event in December to whatever that pay-per-view is going to be and that is A-OK. So, yeah, Hersch, that's 100% the correct answer for Leon. All right. Right now in Bellator, we have Jeffrey versus Lima going on the first round.

And some people are saying that Jed Mishu, you look like a, well, actually, is his name, Andrew, Jeffrey? What's his name? Jeffrey was his first name? Are you talking about the current Bellator fight? Yeah, Aaron Jeffrey. Yeah. People are saying, you look like a fight ready, Aaron Jeffrey. Really?

That's interesting. Let me pull up a photo of Aaron Jeffrey. You know, not opposed to it. If I look like any pro fighter, that'd be cool. Sure. I'm really bad at who I look like things, but sure. Take that. I have the long hair right now, as several of these photos have of him,

rocking some real, real powerful hockey hair. So he's also kind of sticking it to Lima at this juncture, it would appear. Yeah, 85 Lima, yeah. So, yeah, leaving his comeback. So, yeah, having a tough time right now. So we'll see. All right, a couple more super chats before we hit the other questions. Thrill house.

Jed, don't you dare leave Vox? I need pessimism. I, I'll never leave. I mean, I don't feel like I'm that pessimistic. I'm definitely really pessimistic about certain things, but mostly I try to bring some level of positivity. But there are just some things that I'm a broken cynical man on, like expecting good out of the UFC ever.

So, and I got to tell you, I might be wrong occasionally. I'm right way more often than I'm wrong when it comes to expecting. like I got into this conversation this week about 306. I have no expectations that No-Chay is going to be cool. Maybe it is, and I hope it is. Like I genuinely hope I'm wrong. Talking about the presentation? Yeah, like this is going to be the greatest live sporting event of all time.

It's so cool. There does seem to be a growing energy that this will be cool, certainly from people on the ground and stuff. And I'm just like, I'll believe when I see it because they told me Fight Island was going to be cool. and they did Apex Abu Dhabi. So, like, I hope I'm wrong. I truly hope I'm wrong. But never, never expect too much from the UFC

and you'll never be disappointed as my kind of go-to position. Other than that, though, I think I'm largely not that pessimistic. Maybe I'm wrong. Okay. But thank you, Thrill House. Thank you, throughout. I'm not going anywhere. I'm taking you over in the hour.

Yeah. And our last super chat. J. Ray B.O.2. Casey, I need you to leave MMA fighting to have a one-night round Robin Turney with T. Ferg and J. Ellis and Saitama. Jed and B.C. can commentate Yamasaki refs. I could not be more in. If whoever funds this, in. You don't have to pay me anything.

Just fly me to Saitama. In. Oh. I would take an ass beating for me. T.Ferg to be able to have a fight week in Saitama and Tokyo. Dude, I'll take an ass beating from Tferg that fight week in Saitama. I don't give a shit. I've had my ass beat for free.

I will get my ass beat in Saitama for fun. That'd be cool as hell. Yeah. I've said it a million times. If you're an MMA fan, you're a true MMA fan, save up a couple thousand bucks and make it out to a big Risen show in Tokyo. So, Japan, the currency, the U.S. currency is doing really well in Japan right now. It's wrong right now.

Yeah, so make it flight, people. There are two, I've done everything I really want to as an MMA fan. I never got to sit cage side for Habib fight, which I got pretty sad about when Habib retired because I was trying to make that work because I knew it wasn't that long. But outside of that, the only two like real bucket list things I have at this point in time, are a Saitama, like a Sittama Japan event, New Year's Eve, which is the holy grail of them. And I guess three, because I will, but I will go to a fight circus, if not be in a fight circus at some point in time. Like, I've talked with them enough about doing that.

So that just is an eventuality. The other one, though, is I have to attend the KSW event. Like I, if KSW does the right thing and puts on PUDs versus Eddie Hall, I have already like berated our leadership that I will be attending that and they will be financing it. So I got to see a KSW and God willing it's that one. Yeah. I know KSW because I've never been to Eastern Europe and Poland in particular. So I would love to go visit there one day and definitely see a big KSF show.

Yeah. That seems so sick. I was listening to a bit of one of our competitor MMA sites, Luke Thomas's channel. And he was talking about how all the pageantry has been taken away from MMA in America and just fans just have kind of forgotten about it. So watch KSW, watch Risen right now because they're obviously the big organization right now in Japan that still does big shows like that. So I do I do miss the pageantry. Yeah, it's so fun. That is the most fun part about doing damn they were good is just getting to go back in the archives and watch like big cool things happen.

Doesn't it kind of, you get kind of like, you're like, oh, this is awesome, but also you're kind of sad, too. A little bit. Yeah, that's how nostalgia works. Yeah, I guess. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, you're like, oh, this isn't, it's not like that anymore. It is a rueful happiness. Yeah.

Now it's about content. Thank you, Jay, Jay, Ray, B.O.2. All right. And one, oh, got one more. Underrated world. Jed, you sounder remind me of U.S. Jonah Hill. thanks i don't know that's a compliment or not um but cool i i've never i've never heard that one

i've heard a number of other people i've never gotten joan hill but uh i mean jonahill's in a lot of good movies so i support that i'm sure johnny hill's got a few million dollars sent in his wallet so yeah he's good i used to get elijah wood a lot growing up i got eliza wood a ton growing up And then Jesse Eisenberg for like all through college and law school. I just got, I just think the affect was very Eisenbergy. Never gotten Jonah Hill though, but I mean. What era of Jonah Hill?

We're talking about modern Jonah Hill? We're talking super bad Jonah Hill. That's honestly a great point. Comedic Jonah Hill or serious actor? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we were talking about. There's a lot of options. Moneyball Jonah Hill. A worst person like Eric would be like super chat back in and tell me,

but you don't have to. Underrated world, just pop it in the comments. I'll look out for it. I'm not trying to bilk y'all out of money. I don't see a dime of that dollar anyway, so it's fun. Yeah. It all goes to Mike Heck and his coffees. All right, Casey, throw a couple of other ones.

We are a podcast of the people before we get out of here as we continue to watch Bellator slowly creep to a finish line. Oh, another super chat, though, from Alexander Hurst. In chat before Ariel went AWOL, I asked. New York, Rick, if Jed would ever appear on MMA hour for hot takes with Ariel. Rick said they don't really have that type of guests. After that show ended just saying, I mean, you're not wrong. I'm just saying you're not wrong. And so we're clear, I will never appear on their program at the site that shall not be named.

I wish nothing but the worst for my former podcast co-host Connor Birx and Eric Jackman, as they embark on their new show at the demon website. You know, I have a professional amount of respect for Ariel Hawani, but I wish nothing but the worst for all of my enemies. And they're all my enemies now. So, you know, ipso facto, I would like you to never watch a thing they do and live with us forever. All right. After them.

All right, a couple of comments from you commoners now. Ah, the plebs. Love the plebs. Jed looking like an NFL offensive tackle. I am not nearly the athlete that those men are. But thank you. I also super need to shave. Guys, I didn't think I was hosting today.

And then some things happened and I am. So you're not getting my best look right now. Hence the hat. My hair is not ideal. Joey Boza is the next time we see Natty Ice, she and title eliminator. So this is an interesting question, Casey, which we actually didn't really talk about, is where do we go with Natty Ice from here? Because the flyweight title picture is pretty clogged right now.

We've got next weekend, obviously, Grasso Shepchenko 3, God willing, knock on wood, we get resolution. Nothing wonky happens, and we don't have to do a fourth one of those bastards. And so the winner of that ostensibly is going to face Menon Fior, who is scheduled to be the backup fighter for it, will be sitting cage side. She clearly has up next for the winner of next week's co-main event. And then, if I was a betting man, I would say that the, I think in October, I don't remember the exact date, maybe the 12th, Aaron Blanchfield is taking on Rosamma Yunus. I think that's still a five-round fight, though it's now a co-main event for wherever it's happening. I would have guessed, certainly of Rose wins.

Rose is going to be next after Manon. If Aaron Blanchfield wins, maybe they make Blanchfield take another one since she lost not that long ago. But where does Natty Ice go? Because I think the answer is either she gets lucky and gets the winner of Blanchefield Nama Yunus or Nami Yunus wins and she just has to fight Macy Barber maybe in a title eliminator. She might still well be two fights away, though. I'm still not 100% sure. I mean, I know we have this talk on Slack, but like everyone seemed pretty confident. Minon.

Manon. Manon. Manon. Mano. Mano. Mano. Mano. Mano.

Mano is getting the next title shot. Are we 100% sure in that? I'm like 97% sure. I'm not, you'd never be 100 because certainly if she gets hurt or something. but I will be really surprised if she does not. Something catastrophic will kind of have to happen. She's only had decision victory. I know she's undefeated in the UFC, but it's all been decisions, correct?

She got like a TK on one of her first ones. But this little run she's been on where she beat Blanchefield Nami Unis for decisions. Yeah, her first two fights were TKs. Oh, they were. Okay. Victoria Leonardo, professional get killed person. And Tabitha Ritchie, who's a very quality fighter. Then she beats Maribuines.

Silva. Yeah. Myr Buenos Silva, Jennifer Maya, Caitlin Serminara, Rostama. I mean, legitimately a very, very rock solid run here of Yeah. And Tavreici, MBS Jennifer Maya. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm just running down the list.

Tabitha Ritchie, MBS, Jennifer Maya, Kailenna, Ceynara, Nate Chukagian, Rosamu, Eunice, Aaron Blanchfield. That's an unbelievable run of women's flyweights. Man, I, from Buenos Silva up, I, did she, as she truly like lost a round?

She lost one, probably one round of Rose. The Rose fight was competitive, but I think they were not pretty clearly won. One was a competitive fight. But she like whipped Aaron Blanchfield's ass. That was a shocker. That was still the, that was this year, yeah. Yeah, it was beginning of this year. Yeah.

Yeah, I guess, yeah, maybe, maybe it's a, I just kind of forgot about her, to be honest. I kind of forgot about the flyweight division at the highest at the championship level, which is because, I mean, even though they did a whole season of tough about it, apparently, that's what people tell me. I don't believe them. People say that, but there's no proof of it. There's literally no evidence that they did a season of tough about them. There's absolutely none.

Yeah, flyweight's been really weird because it's the best women's division right now, but it's spent the last almost two years tied up in this rivalry. And so despite the fact that the thing, like, I, Manon's run should be cooler because it should have been like, hey, she's fighting for a belt next. It was like, hey, she's fighting for a belt next, but that's going to be in like a year because we still don't even have the Shevchenko Grasso fight booked.

And so it just is kind of stilted momentum at every turn for where this division could be. So I really hope we just get closure next Saturday. So you need it to be able to breathe and for there to be that kind of momentum. And it's been a bit, Every time you get a trilogy, it clogs divisions up in really awkward ways like this. So Manon does kind of slip through the cracks because she's not boister.

She's not loud. She's popular in France. But, you know, it is where it is. But I'll be astonished at this point outside of an injury if she does not get the next title fight. Fair enough. Fair enough. So what's next for Natty Ice, then? I think it's probably just going to be Macy Barber.

I originally thought it would be the winner of Blanchefield Nami Yunus, and that's still in play. But Barber is not doing anything. And I think Barber's in the same position on a great win streak, but also still kind of two fights away from a title shot somehow because of how the division is. So that just seems to make sense. And then the Blanchfield Nami Yunus winner just gets to be next in line for a title fight. How about the possibility of facing the loser of Grasso, Chivchenko? That would also be cool. I have no idea what Shukchenko's going to do.

Depending on injuries, you know, but yeah. Yeah. If Shavchenko loses, I don't know what she's going to do. If I'm Shavchanko's corner and she loses, I say you go to 135 instantaneously. Just immediately you just go back up. There's no reason to keep doing the 125 thing. Try and get a second belt at the end of your career. Pray to all gods there are that Kayla Harrison can't make weight or somehow loses and you get to fight

freaking like God respect Rocky Pennington Valentina Shibchenko should be really trying to fight Raquel Pennington or Juliana Pena for the Bannonweight title

so if she loses I think there's a huge opportunity for that to happen frankly if she wins I still think there's a decent opportunity for Shivchenko to be like and I'm out like I'm going up to 135

now so that would be actually she can have that any fuck me fights left. Yeah. She's 36 and been fighting for over 20 years. Like there's just not much tread left for her. Yeah.

Yeah. I would definitely, I, I hope this is her last fight at 25 and I hope she just kind of. I hope go to 35 and like fight once a month. I don't care. Just put her in the first card of every main card, first fight every main card and just give her as many fights at 35 as possible because she probably is outside of, um, outside of, um, Caleb making weight at 35, but she probably is the best 35er in the UFC. Dude, I didn't want to fight Grosso because I wanted them to do the Nunes trilogy.

And then I was like, okay, well, Nunez will retire and she'll just go up after that. And that'll be fine. She just has to beat Grosso and then she'll just go up and get the belt and it'll be fine. And then obviously that did not work out. But, yeah, like I even argued after she lost to Grosso's like, you just have to be fine. just leave, who cares? Like, I get it. Like, I get it.

You want to get the win back. Like, I understand that. But, like, I don't think fighters just bail on, like, I have nothing but respect for Aljo being like, I'm out. And they were obviously extenuating circumstances. He, you know, his friend and teammate is in line to fight for the belt. He wasn't going to get an immediate rematch. I'm sure if he would have gotten one, he wouldn't have done it. But, like, look at how successful this was for Aljo.

And, you know, for Davis and Figurators, be like, I lost, I'm done. I don't have that much left in my career. I'm going to try and make a run. I'm going to bump up. I would have liked Shevchenko to do that. Either way, I sincerely hope that next Saturday is her final flyweight fight. And if that's the case, maybe Natty Ice is closer than we think. Like, Grasso fights for the vacant belt against thing.

Maybe Natty Ice gets to get a title eliminator. But she's right. She's one or two. I would say two, but it's one or two. Yeah. And the UFC loves former champions that move up. And they can get definitely fast tracked to a title shot without a doubt. So, yeah.

If not even B's Blanchfield, she is getting a title fight. So like, yes. And if Shevchenko just moves up, maybe they make her fight once because Harrison is around. But like if Kayla hadn't come over, I'm not even sure they would have made her fight once. They might run it. not a champion. Yep. Yeah,

I just like run it. Who cares? All right. We've been talking for an hour and 20 minutes. So let me fly through these questions I got right here. Yeah, as far as a few out and then get out of here.

90 minutes is more than enough for this program. Oh, yeah, this guy was posting a lot. I'm not going to dignify this by reading it. I'm sorry you feel that way, but there's a great answer to it. And it's just to listen to something else.

Yeah, creative, creative, though. But yeah, you just, no one is forcing you to watch this. I promise you that. We love that you are here, though. We love your support. We don't really love your, it's not even constructive criticism, whatever that is.

But, you know, do what makes you happy. It's what I always say. There you go. Unless you're John Jones and what makes you happy is Duck Tom Aspinall. David Sandy, Jed versus Bain and Fight Circus Pillow Lethway. I would 100% accept those terms. And I like Ben a ton. Ben and I are friends,

but I think he'd accept those terms. I don't know what pillow Lethway is, but I can imagine. And I mean, fight a Lethway fight. It would suck, but I'd do it. Okay. Do it for the story.

Yeah, do it for the story. Let me be clear. If I am ever competing in Lethway against like bin or somebody equally is unprepared for this my strategy is entirely torpedo headbuts so the only thing i'm doing is launching myself like i am shot out of a cannon with my head um oh i like this i like this term beef wellington helwanamese ooh that's a really well done beef wellington Yes. I'm not sure Ariel cares enough about me personally to consider me a Hulamie,

but their whole ilk. Eric and Connor, they know the deal. I told them as we had our goodbyes. Like, I hate you forever. And they were like, I understand. And so that's it. We're enemies. Two more?

I don't know what this means. I have no idea what this is. I get LA Beast vibe. from Jed, have a good day. I'm not with, I in my head, I would assume that that was a pro wrestler, but if you don't know what this means, then he must not be a pro wrestler. First of all, I was a pro wrestler, but no, it's L.A. night. It's not L.A. Beast.

I'm not sure what that is, but I'll Google it later. I'll investigate that later to determine if this was an insult or not. And our last question, our last comment from you commoners who didn't decide to pay for this question. Jerks, but I still throw it up because I like you. Which we love. Simple question. Simple question.

What's the excitement level for Noce U.S.C. next week? Casey, this is actually a really good question. I like this question a fair bit. So let me pull up the card. And in case you can't remember off the top of your head, I'm sure you remember the big ones. But let me run it down for you, Casey. Because one of the big things for me here,

this is a 10-fight card. God and myself love a 10-fight card. That is Chef's Kissed stuff. right there, particularly on a weekend where we've got a ton of other stuff going on. We're not going to have to deal with 14 fights and kind of have to be juggling that. Our next week's going to be hard anyway. But evening opens up Raul Roses Jr. versus Arici Lang. Then it's Edgar Chiraz, Josh Van, Yasmin Yasmine Yarraguyen versus Ketland-Souza,

Ignacio Bahamundez, Manuel Torres, Irene Aldana, Norma Dumas. And then our main card kicks with Rinaldo Rodriguez, Ode Osborne, Daniel Zell, Huber, Esteban Riebevich, Brian Ordez, Diego Lopez, should that fight happen? I love it. And in your comment event, the title fight we talked a lot about, Alexa Grasso, Valentina Shippchenko, and the main event,

Sean O'Malley, Marab Walshvili. Ten fights, Casey. It is promised to be the greatest live sporting event, not fight night, live sporting event. World Cup final, get the hell out of here. Super Bowl, nonsense. Olympic Games, Joker.

Noce UFC presented by Riyadh season or whatever the hell they've branded it as will be the greatest live sporting event of all time. All time. You're giving that, Casey. What is your excitement level? Well, if I take away all the just ridiculous statements that the UFC are putting out there about the show, I guess we have two excitement levels, the fight itself and also the presentation. The presentation?

pretty low. I have low expectations for UFC creativity. I'm sure in the arena, it will be a cool experience, a unique experience. I do not know how it will come off on TV. To me, it's like trying to sell,

it's trying to sell VR through a flat screen. You just, you can only understand how cool VR is if you put the dang thing on and it kind of live it, which is what the fans are essentially going to be doing, being there. On TV,

I have zero, I have zero, uh, I have low expectations for how it will look on just a regular broadcast. And so if some, if they're going to be, I don't know if they're going to be grappling against a cage for four minutes. I don't know. It goes, man, this is so cool because it's in a spear.

I just don't know. But for the card itself, especially, I'm just talking about the pay-per-view portion of the card, the part, the portion that we pay good money for. I like the card. It's fun, not the greatest pay-per-view, but is a worthy pay-per-view and two worthy title fights and um diego lopes dego lopez and brian tegaa should be a banger and you know the other two fights should be good so um i recommend it if you're a fan uh as far as the actual fights as far as presentation low expectations i agree most of your presentation comments and stuff like i

i don't know how well this will again my expectations are low i also like you i have no idea if this is going to translate to my viewing experience. It seems really hard for that to be the same. I will be super fascinated to hear from Jose and boots on the ground to be like, who, like, how, how was it there? Was it as cool? Because Jose's been to some stuff in the sphere and it does seem to be cool. We did a karate combat there. What happened there? And he was like, it was pretty dope or whatever. So maybe, maybe it's awesome. I'm not sure we'll get that experience. As just a pay-per-view, I will be honest. You guys, obviously, we're all friends here,

Circle of Trust. There's a bit of a tumultuous time for us here at MMA fighting. A lot of changes have been happened. And as a result, it's going to be, like the next couple of weeks are going to be pretty hard just from a, we're juggling a lot of things now that previously we weren't.

And so part of my reticence about next weekend is entirely that. Like, shout out. If you didn't know, I'm doing the watch party with Mike Heck next week. that's a new thing and it's also while juggling everything else so it's going to be really fun

like I'm very excited to be an actual part of the watch party and do that but you know the prep and all the stuff we're doing around that is a lot different so just personally this is going to be a difficult event but outside of all of that I love this fight card I love that it's 10 fights top to bottom

look it is the Mexican Independence Day card there are some matchups here that are not what you would expect in a pay-per-view. I mean, for God's sakes, though disrespect for another Rodriguez and Norea Osborne, that's not a main card fight in a pay-per-view anywhere. But the top is so strong that one-two-punch of title fights is exceptional and very, very keyed up for them. And then if we get Ortega Lopez, obviously great.

Hopefully this one, it goes through. And then the rest of the fights, you know, even the ones that are less interested in are well-made, fun matchups. the crowd's going to be vibing. I assume the energy and the place will still be high. And so look, it's going to be a damn good night. Like I'm pretty excited. I would not say this.

It's also hard this year we've had two unbelievable events in 299 and 300. But, you know, this is a very, very good fight card. And so it's a two-star fight card, arguably a three-star fight card just because if it does live up to the billing, you'll wish you've made a special trip to Sphere. paid the whatever it is like $10,000 to get a ticket to the greatest live sporting event of all time. Um, Casey, as we exit, somebody is saying people pay 10 bucks, but not even an acknowledgement. Did we miss anything anywhere? From who, who said that?

We're going to make sure we didn't miss any, a man called Lamonis 420. Should we make sure we didn't miss any super chats? Is, wait. Did he pay? I don't know. I just saw, I want to make sure we didn't miss any before we get. because I'm a man of the people. I'm not here trying to price gouge you

like the villain New York Rick was. But since we didn't miss me, thank you guys for sticking with us. You want to be on the screen? Here we go. There you go. For free. Fire new people.

We love you, Looney's. We love all of you for being with us. This is your UC Vegas 97 post show. All the same stuff's coming. There's an ot no on to the next one coming tomorrow. And then it's on to Noche. We are heading to Noce. by Riyadh season, U.C. 306.

It's going to be a fun one. It's going to be real weird for us personally, Casey, but I'm excited about the opportunities this week provides. Thank you all for sticking with us. Casey, thank you for jumping in short notice. And guys, the night's not over. Lorenz Larkin is fighting right now on my television in Bellator. We still got more stuff to come.

Stick with us in Mayfine.com. Love y'all. Bye. We're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. It was the night before the gathering and all through the house. The host wrapped a cozy cashmere throw from Home Sense for their spouse. Kids toys for $6.99 under the tree. And crystal glasses for just $14.99 for their brother Lee.

A baking dish made in Portugal for Tom and Sue. And a nice $5.99 candle. Perfectly priced just for you. Happy holidays to all. And to all a good price. Home sense. Endless presents perfectly precious. Christ.