MMA Fighting - We Got Next | Ben 'Big Tuna' Parrish & Jasmine Jasudavicius

Episode Date: January 13, 2022

If the Paul brothers really want to make the move to MMA, "Big Tuna" would be happy to welcome either one of them. Ben Parrish (12:33) returns to We Got Next to preview his light heavyweight matchup with Sullivan Cauley at Bellator 273 on Jan. 29, discusses making his second promotional appearance at the reaction from MMA fans following his memorable Bellator debut in September, feeling like win, lose, or draw, Bellator will sign him to an exclusive deal, how he sees the fight playing out, his thoughts on Jake Paul's KO win over Tyron Woodley and why he believes there may be some tomfoolery involved, being very much open to fights with the undefeated boxer, or his brother Logan Paul in MMA or boxing, and more. Finally, UFC flyweight Jasmine Jasudavicius (32:07) discusses her upcoming octagon debut against Kay Hansen at UFC 270 next Saturday in Anaheim, being on enemy territory — which is something that is not new to her at all as a professional fighter — thoughts on the matchup with Hansen, horrible advice she received from a fan on social media, getting the chance to train with Brandon Moreno, and why Valentina Shevchenko would be her No. 1 choice to train with. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR 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. And welcome back to a brand new edition of We Got Next. I am Mike Heck. Thank you for having us on this week on the M.A. Fighting Podcasting Network. And it is finally a UFC fight week, my friends. This could not happen at a better time if we're being honest. UFC Vegas 46.

I lose track of these numbers all the time. It goes down this Saturday at the apex. first event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship of 2022, and a big one at 145 pounds. We'll cap things off in the main event as Calvin Cater looks to bounce back, and at the same time attempt to halt the incredible momentum of one Giga Chikaze. What a great main event that is going to be, although at the time of this reporting, things might be different again by the time this drops in the wee morning hours of Thursday,

we have had a slew of changes to this card already. Mowgli Benitez, he tests positive for COVID-19. Charles Rosa steps in for T.J. Brown, super short notice for a fight at 155, and he gets a new contract to boot. So good for Mr. Boston Strong. That should be one hell of a fight at 155. Saeed Yucab, Hachramanov, which, truth be told,

he was supposed to be one of our interviews this week on the program. He is out of his fight with Brian Kelleher. Boom stays on the card at 145 pounds. He will take on Kevin Krum. That came together very quickly on Wednesday. Vanessa Demopoulos versus Sylvania Gomez-Horez. That is off the card as well. That is moving to UFC 270.

And there might be more. As far as I know, and this is 7.23 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday night. That's what we're looking at right now. Things might change by the time I wake up. We'll see what happens. But, yeah, the Demopoulos horace fight moving to UFC 270. And who the hell knows what else could go down at this point? But speaking at UFC 270, we are going to speak to Jasmine Jazz DeVizius,

who will make her UFC debut on that card in Anaheim next Saturday, UFC's first pay-per-view of the year, against Kay Hansen, in a little bit of enemy territory. This is not a far, trek from home for Kay Hanson. There'll be a lot of Kay Hansen fans in the building. And that's not new to Jasmine Jazz DeVizius at all. So we'll talk to her about that and much more.

But before that, we will speak to our friend Big Tuna. Yes. Always enjoy chatting with Ben Parrish. He is back in the Bellator cage. January 29th, Bellator 273 in Phoenix, Arizona against Sullivan Colley. And he's looking to secure himself in a carl. exclusive deal with Bellator, which by the way, how they have not signed this guy already is just beyond me. But that's another conversation for another time. Those fun chats are coming up

a little bit later on because that's what this show is all about, right? It's about the fighters. It's about shining the light on some of these amazing athletes who are changing things up, making a switch, some of these athletes that are on the come-up, and we get to know them a little bit more. and that is why the show is here. But, before we get to that, I do want to address sort of the elephant in the room because it all began on this program last week as a matter of fact. Now, let me preface this by saying

that this will be the first and absolute only time that I address this ever. So if we're doing some sort of a live show or a Q&A or BTL post-fight show, whatever, and this gets brought up, I will not talk about it. I will make it a point that it doesn't get brought up at all. So this is the one and only time that I will ever talk about this. And I think you all know where I'm going. This is the interview with Cheyenne Velismis that is taken a twist that has made me kind of sick to my stomach. if we're being honest.

So, first off, for those who have commented, have taken the time out of your very busy schedules to take shots at me as a person saying that I'm this TMZ reporter, I'm a MMA gossip columnist or whatever

very intelligent things you've had to say, that is 100% not the case. Now, if you had some certain issues with things, fine. But the interview itself before the video, before the article came out, I'll be honest. It made me, and a lot of people who listened to that conversation before any of that other stuff came out, a bit uneasy.

There was a lot that was brought up and at the same time, not a lot said. So it was just a weird interview and a conversation that when it was over, and I'm not alone on this because I had a lot of people reach out to me about this. I had a slew of mixed emotions about it. I talked about it on the show last week in between the interview happening, like before the actual interview aired or played on the podcast, and even afterwards, because I didn't know what was happening. I asked follow-up questions when I could.

I was uneasy about a lot of it, as were, like I said earlier, a lot of other people that listened to it. I didn't know what to think, honestly. I didn't know what to think. I was like, what the hell is going on here. It was a combination of a lot of motivating stuff from her. But at the same time, it was kind of terrifying because of some of the things that she said.

And be that as I may, that's what it was. So the article in the video comes out on Sunday, and that added to a lot of the uneasy feelings. And then on Monday, we all saw what happened with J.P. Bays. He comments on it the way that he chose to comment on it. And after that, and after having some other conversations behind the scenes, I felt it was fair to get his side of the story. And we made the decision to do a video interview as well because we had done the same with the first interview. We gave it the video treatment as well. So it was only fair to do that.

And JP gives his side of the article of the interview itself. and this is important to note because nothing about his accusations, nothing about any of the quote-unquote salacious stuff that you're saying, the gossip, if you will. None of that made it to print. None of that made it to the final video version of the interview. None of it. I asked him about the divorce right off the bat because it was a fair question.

It was a qualifying question. And J.P. didn't have to do this. I reached out to him. He could have told me to F myself. He could have just, he could have said whatever he wanted because the interview is a bit vague and it left him in kind of a tough spot. So JP gave his side and in the end he said he's going through some really difficult stuff. Cheyenne at the same time, she is going through some very difficult stuff as well. And that's it.

There's no sides being chosen here or anything like that. They are both going through. a very tough thing right now and I feel for both of them. And in the end, I think we can all agree on this. Only two people know the full story. And in my mind, especially after all this has come out, that's the way it should be, especially moving forward. And I'd be lying to you if I, if I didn't say that that's the way I wish it was right now. I really wish that was the case right now. when it's all said and done, I wish the best for both of them. I certainly didn't draw it up this way.

I certainly didn't plan on things going this way when I initially asked for the interview with Cheyenne, but it did. And I wish that it didn't. And if you feel a certain way about this, I apologize. And I wish we were talking about the fights this weekend. I wish we were talking about Calvin Cater and Giga-Chiccada. that fight is friggin awesome.

It's a great fight. And there's some great fights on this card, too. Don't sleep on it. I wish we were talking about the two title fights in April that just got announced between Alexander Volcanovsky and the Korean zombie. The rematch between Al Jermaine Sterling and Peodor Yan for the Bannamway title. That's a huge fight. That fight needs to happen.

I wish we were talking about Colby Covington versus Jorge Mazel and March headlining that pay-per-view. that rivalry finally settling that score that's incredible i wish we were talking about the two title fights next weekend at ufc 270 francis and gano versus cyril ghan what a fight that's going to be brandon morano versus davis and figurado the trilogy fight that's an amazing fight that's what i want to be talking about instead this became a story and i have to say this for those thinking that i'm dancing around thrilled about all of this you could not be more wrong in fact it is the exact opposite. And you can ask anybody close to me. This sucked. The whole thing sucks. And it is my

wish that both of them get through this all. They find happiness. They keep the rivalry off of social media. They take care of what they need to take care of. They get back in the cage competing. They're training. They're making a living. And they're doing what they love to do. And that's it. And it is my wish that that's what does happen. But I can assure you, it is my hope that my involvement with stories like this doesn't happen ever again. I don't want to be a part of these kinds of stories. And for those of you think I do, you're absolutely wrong. Like I said, ask anybody that I'm close with, ask anybody that I work with.

It's been, it sucks. But here I am. So I will learn from it. I will grow from it. And I'm moving on from it. Again, I wish nothing but the best to both of them going forward. And that's that. I'm not going to discuss it again.

But if you felt like I let you down, I'm sorry about that. I apologize. I really do mean that. And I'll do better to keep things as positive as possible moving forward. And I know that not all stories in MMA are positive. There are some negative stuff. And yeah, will I write about negative things that come up? Sure.

But those who have followed me the last several years, the last couple of years since I've been with MMA fighting, that's not me. That's not, these aren't the kinds of stories that I like to be involved with. But when it happens, you got to do it right. If we're talking about one subject and another subject, that's part of the the story has something to say about it, it is only fair to get their side of the story. And that's it. That's it. And again, if you felt like I let you down, I apologize. And I'll also say this. If you're a new follower of mine and you're like, wow, I got to follow this Mike Heck guy, because these are the types of stories we're going to get from him. You should probably go ahead

and unfollow me because that is not happening. All right. So I've said what I have to say. I'm not talking about it again. That's it. All right. So it's time to move on to what we all want to be talking about. And that's the fighters. And that's what we'll do next with Big Tuna. Big Tuna joining us next on We Got Next. Welcome back, The Man, the Myth, the Legends. Big Tuna, Ben Parrish, who returns to the Bellator cage at the end of the month,

Bellator 273, January 29th in Phoenix, Arizona, taking on Sullivan Cowley. Ben, good to see you, man. Happy New Year, my brother. How are you guys? doing great uh here we are it's a new year you have your second bellator fight on the books after a massive moment in september we sort of we talked about the short term effects of that win over christian edwards a few months back but what has life been like over the last four or so months because people were very excited when you were revealed to be on this card at the end of the

month. Bro. I didn't expect to be fighting this guy in January. I figured that they would wait like a little bit closer to March. I think that's when my current contract is up. But that's fine with me, man. I knew when I came back home. I couldn't take any time off because they could call me any day.

So right on time. Yeah. Because Scott, Scott Koko was asked about you multiple times. He was on the NMA hour a couple months back. and me and a couple of colleagues on the M.A fighting team were hitting Ariel up on our Slack channel. We're like, ask Scott about tuna. I was actually watching that at work live. I was watching it live at work.

And I cut it on like I'll cut the MMA hour on. Sometimes I cut on morning combat. I used to never listen to those until I won the fight. And then all my friends started telling me to listen to him. but I cut it on and and he's aerial's like we got one what we really want to know is where big tuna is dude almost almost spit my water across the room I was drinking bottle of water like I was like did he really he just asked that out of nowhere they kept finding questions for Coker and he was like uh that was nice man made my day yeah I mean obviously he has

been seeing the reactions you've been getting, a lot of the higher reps have been seeing the reactions you were getting. And they said that they were trying to get you back in at the end of 2021, but they said you weren't able to get any time off from work. So I'm curious if that's actually true. I mean, it's only been four months. It's not like you've been out for a year and a half or anything, but I was a little surprised that we actually didn't see you sooner after a quick knockout because that was your only fight in 2021. Yeah, well, I feel like if they would have asked, I would have made it happen. They just didn't. They just kind of naturally assumed. But you know my i had my manager tell them like well you know what you got and i guess they went with

this but it's been it's been a wild ride you just waiting to see who are they going to give me and then i got something the same boat i was in fighting up and coming prospect that's super dangerous yeah have you have you felt the shift in regards to the fans as well but the trolls even because, you know, I'll never forget this quote you gave me the last time we spoke, because people doubted you big time before you fought Christian Edwards. People are hitting you up on Instagram and social media. And you said you were willing to forgive those people heading into that fight, but you were offering up like one more chance to essentially get on board or they have to

vanquish their big tuna train riding privileges. Has there been a shift from the people since that win? Have you noticed like less trolls and more tuna supporters? There's been a lot, lot less trolls. But I did have a guy message me the other day and said, yeah, you're getting your ass beat in this one, buddy. Did you respond? I did. What did you say?

I said, bro, you're 18 years old. You have a bathroom mirror selfie. Don't make me message your parents. And you responded, Big Tuna, please don't do it. I'm sorry. That was it. I've had a few come in and out. But for the most part, everybody's been on my side now.

I think they're finally on my side. I think they're coming around. I think they're coming around for you. You know, it's hard to explain to people who can't fight that, you know, you don't have to look like Ronnie Coleman to be able to fight. But for whatever reason, they think that's right. So there's a video of my phone somewhere, my daughter, when they let her grandmother,

let her watch my fight live on tedious first time she's ever done she just turned seven yesterday and uh he's like daddy i didn't think you were going to win and i was like wow she said because that guy was big and had muscles and you're you're big but you don't have any muscles and i was just even kids are conditioned to think this way but it's okay now you feel you know what i feel yes but now but now i feel like you could be the face of that in a way like It doesn't have to be that way. You could still go in there and train and bust your ass and do all that stuff. You don't have to look like an Instagram influencer or a model or anything like that.

As long you can go in there and throw them hands, have some power and have some technique. You can be successful. So you could be like the face of this next generation of fighter. I intend on it, man. I'm leading the charge for all the people that they said they couldn't do it. Hicking the door. After the win in September, you called for some pretty big names. You mentioned Rampage Jackson.

You said you were down to fight Phil Davis. You were down to fight Yole Romero and others. You were willing to fight anybody from any part of the world. I know you mentioned that Sullivan's another up-and-coming dangerous prospects. But were you happy with that? Like, I mean, he's looked damn good in his two Bellator fights, but those are the only two fights of his pro career. Yeah, well, you don't think there's a reason behind that?

What do you think the reason is? It's because they know what they got. They know he's tough. Somebody told me he walked on to Arizona State. what does that tell you he's got that walk-on mentality he ain't no quitter so me and him are probably going to engage in bellator's most violent fight of 2002 this is a good matchup for you you like you like the idea of this matchup uh yeah in a way it at the same like he presents a lot of problems so he's really fast he's really powerful he's got great wrestling but like you said

Who knows what the other parts of his game are like. Well, let's find out. So I got 15 minutes to take care of business and so to see. And I don't plan on seeing the end of that. So you're on, from what I understand, an option deal right now, right? Like you're not exclusively a Bellator fight right now. It's sort of like a two-fight option. You had the first fight.

They can opt to have you for the second fight. And this is obviously the second fight. Is that accurate? And it would go off at a certain time? And it cuts off. I signed at March 30th last year, so I'm pretty sure that's when it would expire this year. After this fight,

no more of this. Like, you're hoping before you can go back and talk to the media, Scott Coker has a pen and a contract ready for you before you even go back and do your scrum. I would love nothing more than that. I would love for Scott Coker to retire me from the workforce. And, you know,

let me really ride this dragon and take this castle over, see what he's got playing for me. but first I'm telling you this right now Mike they're signing me win-lose-or-draw because of what I'm bringing on the 29th so you think regardless you're you're getting signed after this fight yeah let's see to it I like it man do you did you know much about Sullivan at all when you got the fight I watched I actually watched his last fight um and like I was like oh this guys are light heavy weights and then I seen that he He was only two and oh after he won. I was like,

nah, they wouldn't have me fight that guy. He's pretty big, though. And I just, you know, forgot all about it. A few months went by,

now I'm fighting them. Yeah. But, you know, my manager likes to think that, that they're, you know, it's a good fight for us

and that they might even, like, be trying to let me showcase a little bit before they give me a big fight, which could be also true. But, like, it's a win,

win for them. If he wins, they win. If I win, they win. You know what I'm saying? Either way, they're getting, they're getting their end to the deal out of it. That's why I said, when lose or draw, I'm going to the league, baby. I got to. So you feel like your days in the work?

Because you have a very busy day. You work, what, seven to three? And then you train. And then when you have camp, you go like two or three times a day. You have a seven-year-old daughter, as you said. So. And driving and cooking and washing clothes from the gym. You know, just all that shit.

I'm not married. So, like, it's just a, it's a constant work battle. And I haven't stopped since I got back. I probably took a week, maybe two weeks off. I trained on Christmas, Christmas Day, like, New Year's. I was in bed before 10 o'clock, New Year's Eve. I've been taking it really serious. I'm like, you know, somebody going to come in there with my ass and take it away from me

is going to be hard. Like, they're going to have it to do. So if he wants to beat me, he better come on his games. Get the head into enemy territory to try to get this one. Do you relish that opportunity to play spoiler? Love it. They just better be nice to me, is all I know. But they're probably not going to be.

They might be nice to you after. I don't know many Arizonans, but if they don't want me to turn into the Texas rattlesnake, Steve Austin, they better be on the best behavior. You start stunning people? I can turn into the Eastern Diamondback real quick and start striking everybody. And everybody knows anyway, Mississippi boys run Arizona anyway. Shout out to Devin Booker. How do we, how do you envision getting this thing done on the 29th?

Bink tuna. Knocking him the fuck out, Mike. I'm going to knock him the fuck out. And if I don't knock him out, I'm going to submit him. A few last things, man. I know you probably get a slew of these. Bryce Mitchell, your guy putting out a damn mixtape. That was both equally unexpected and surprising, but really good stuff, man.

Like, what did you think of the mixtape? I loved it, man. I told him to reach out to me if you ever wanted to put out any disc tracks on anybody. I could just come on board for that. You would help him write it? I actually talked to Bryce the other day. What's that? I actually talked to Bryce the other day.

I think I'm going to go up there and train in a week or two. Yeah, he's got a big fight lined up as well. when are we getting the um the thug nasty big tuna collab track i think that's what uh that was like my first question when this whole thing came about like we get we get to get you guys together dropping whether it's a dance or just just just just dropping them rhymes man man he i'll get up there and go to see or see him i guess see what his studios talking about like i said i told him to hit me up on disc tracks it's really a little more of my specialty but i can i can do some some little rhymes and stuff to uh i would probably just go by big tuna and he could just i guess he's going by thug nasty

it makes sense that's a good way to look at it um if if if price came to you right now and said hey man like i want you to bring you in to do like a bonus distract who would you target uh uh gregg jackson and mike winkle john why because they wouldn't shake hands after with me after i beat christian edwards was just really yeah I didn't know that. Yeah. In the MMA community, it would probably be Greg Jackson, might at Winkle John. I don't even know that Winkle John was there, so probably just Greg.

Wow, that's kind of surprising. He's such a nice guy. I can't do it. But yeah, they straight up wouldn't shake our hands. And I hope I'm wrong. So, Greg, if you see this, you better write your wrongs or you won't be able to get on the boat either. Last thing, I have to know this. And I would probably kick myself if I didn't ask you this.

Can I ask your thoughts on this? crazy trend in the combat sports world because even Scott Koker has said a few times that if Jake Paul wanted to come over to MMA, he would sign both of those guys. And Jake's obviously made this big name in the boxing world in the short period of time, just Dr. Tyron Woodley. And this whole thing is just crazy. I can't believe in 2021. And you're rolling your eyes like a lot of other people are. What is your thing? It's Jake Paul versus MMA. I mean, he's making us, he's making a thing out of this. What do you think about it? I would tell you this, Mike.

I just partnered up with a new foundation against bullion. It's just like a charity, okay? And Jake Paul's got a charity for anti-bullion, but I know what if he won't do, and that's come do a winner takes off purse live on Showtime in Bellatory MMA versus a million winner, you know, Winners Foundation gets the money. I bet you he won't game up to nothing like that because I'm in size

and I don't do steroids. So, you know, I'm all for it. I'm boxing more fighting than MMA. I don't care. But all for charity. It's sad that, you know, guys, I don't want to sound like a hater either. You know, I kind of got props for them guys in a way

because, like, I watched their first little streamer boxer event. You know, I play some online video games. So, like, we looked at it, like, looking at all these pencil-knit geeks are going to fight each other. So I watched it And now look where we're at That was in like 2017 or 16 or 8 I don't remember

But I watched that KSI Logan Paul boxing and it was terrible And then now look where we're at Now he's done fall He's fought Floyd Mayweather And the other one's Beating up Woodley and welterweight So when he's 200 pounds

You know And people are just eating it up And I actually get people Bring that up to me all the time They're like man I won't see you fight Jake Paul. I want to fight Logan Paul.

Like, yeah, I want to fight him too because that'd be the easiest and the most money I ever made, probably ever. You kidding me? Like, I don't know how Woodley got even hit with it. You know, I don't want to get pissed off and start accusing of the fight being fixed. But heck, just hear me out. Go watch the fight. All right. I'm going to show you this live.

All right. If I hit, if you hit me and I turn with it, it goes with it, right? If I turn towards it, it creates more resistance. So if you go watch that knockout, Jake Paul and Tyrone Woodley, he hits him with the backside of his glove where the pad is like a corkscrew hook, but nobody throws corkscrew rear hand hook.

That's not hurt. I've never seen it done. I've been watching fighting for 20-something years. He throws it like this. Woodley looks with it. As soon as he hits the ground, the ref stops the fight and puts his hand flat on Tyrone's back to keep him from rolling over or getting up. How many times in boxing do you see guys go down to where they don't at least wait to watch them roll or try to get back up?

I mean, he literally hit the ground, didn't bounce at all either. He just like stuck. The dude pins him to the mat. How often you see him push guys down onto the mat to keep them from getting up by their lower back and shit after they just got knocked out? That's not heard of, man. I call me a hater, man. I think it was kind of fate, kind of shoddy. So while there was all that clenching, you know, he blacked his eye.

But, I mean, look, I got a spar with Jalil Willis last weekend. I get hit one time with him and make gloves on. It's going to black my eyes just because this is how it is. You know, yeah, shout out to Jalil. He's fighting on the same card. That'll be a banger. That'll be a banger. Oh, yeah.

Would you think of Hannah Guy's bare knuckle debut? That was crazy. I thought she did really good. I thought she won the first two rounds, and then she started trying to box the girl, and she kept trying to make it get dirty. And I've seen her since then. She came and trained a few times since then.

So, I mean, we've taught and stuff. I'm super proud over there. I don't know what's next for her. She's got all kind of stuff in the works. We'd love to see her make her way back to the Bellator. or UFC. Yeah, I think she's got a lot of options right now. She can stick with BKFC.

She could do boxing. I know she wanted to take boxing fights to improve her striking, and that's half the reason why she took her split again. Yeah, she just fought the star of their sport and met her head on. And God bless her heart, though. She, after fighting, she went and did something. She didn't ice her face or anything. So the next day, her eyes were, like, really swollen up.

bless her heart. Yeah, she's good people, man. Ice and ibuprofen. She'll make it back, though, man. She's been working on her stand-up non-stop since she fought Valerie because she knows that's the only real gap she has. I mean, it's showing, like, I told her just watching her train one day. I could tell it was better, and I can, you know, I'm not a bullshitter.

I'm not going to tell somebody. I'm not one of those people that get people in the gym and say, you look great, bro. Like, if they're terrible or they're out of shape, I'm going to tell them, because I don't want anybody to get. hurt. If, you know, I'm going to tell them what they need to hear first and foremost over trying to pump you up, make you feel good. And fate confidence is not, it's not real.

That's not going to help you win. Like, real confidence is built by being good and being in good shape. The one thing you can control in fights is your conditioning, right? You know, that's the only thing you have control over when you go in there. Like, who's to say that Sullivan and Collie will sprint at me like Verduan. and throw a flying sidekick on the bell rings. You can't ever tell. But hey, I'm feeling crazy on this one.

Don't think I won't come out with a little jumping spinning shit la Nick Diaz to start this fight off because I will. I think a lot of people would be very excited to see that happen, just like they're excited to see you back in there. January 29th in Phoenix against Sullivan Colley. Ben Big Tuna Parrish back on the show, and we appreciate it very much, my man. Any final words before we say goodbye, sir?

I'm getting that contract, win, lose, draw to the death. Like BJP, when he fought George St. Pierre the third time, to death, George. That's how we're doing it, brother. You know, I'm pulling up and I'm just scrapping Mike. I hope you're there, man. Like I said, fight of the year candidate, fight of the year candidate, 2022, calling it right now.

We will be, we will have, I believe, two gentlemen out there covering the car. I will not be there, but I will be watching, my man. Away from the comfort of your home, brother. That's right. Thank you for the time, my friend. Have a good one. See, Mike. Happy New Year, my gosh.

All right, so let us say hello to Jasmine Jazz DeVizius, who is set to make her UFC debut against Kay Hanson, January 22nd, excuse me, UFC 270, Anaheim, California. It should be a fun one at 125 pounds. Great to have Jasmine, Jazz DeVizius, back on the show. How are you? I'm doing well, yeah, in camp, so I'm exhausted. but, you know, it's a home stretch.

Yes, as we record this, or around a week and a half away from this fight, and it's on a big card, you get a big crowd, pay-per-view events, first pay-per-view of the year for the UFC. This is exciting stuff. How are you feeling about it?

I feel good, you know. I'm so happy to be on this card. It's nuts. It's two title fights on the card, and it's actually, like my, so originally I was on the 15th at the apex, and then they moved it. to this one. So it's like the big arena and everything. So, you know, it's just, it, it, it, it excites me more to have,

to have all the fans instead of just at the, at the, at the, I mean, obviously, you know, being in the UFC, I would be happy fighting at the apex 100%, but, uh, but the fact that it's, that it's at the Honda Center and with all the fans, you know, it just like gets me that much more jacked up. Yeah, because odds are, especially with the amount of events the UFC puts on, debuts typically will happen at the apex. Like in your case, that was the original plan. But Kay was telling me that she actually spoke to Dana White herself and said, let's just push it a week because I live like 20 minutes from the arena.

Let's just do it then. And he said, all right. So if you're wondering how that happened, you have Kay Hansen to thank. Oh, well, that's sick. Yeah, I actually had no idea. I just got the message saying it's moved. I'm like, perfect. So I'll let it.

think or after I beat her. So September is when you got the contract. Did the time frame line up nicely for you? Like I know COVID and everything's been going on. It's still going on and we'll probably dive into that a little bit more as we as we speak. But did the timeframe line up nicely? Or were you hoping to debut a little bit sooner than this? You know, I was happy other way. Like I wanted to fight. Like I said, two weeks. I was still in Vegas for two weeks after, after getting the contract. So I mean, if I got a short notice, I would have been happy with that. But, you know, I'm just fighting for the UFC, it's like, I'll take whatever. And, you know, it's my very first fight. So I, I didn't care when, when it was. And it works

out, you know, I got a full camp this time. So you go. And speaking of the camp, did you have to do, because of the pandemic, most of the camp in Canada at Niagara Top team, were able to cross train in Vegas or wherever? How did that all work for you? So for my last camp, it was way more strict regulations here. So that's why I went to Vegas. But for this camp, I stayed in Canada for majority. I leave actually tomorrow to go to Vegas for the last little bit and then over to Anaheim for Fight Week.

But yeah, the restrictions, I mean, now they're tightening as of a couple days ago. go, they're tightening up again. But for my entire camp, they had loosened. So, you know, I have great training here. I got great partners. So I was able to do camp here this time. You remember when was the last time you were able to do a full camp at home? I guess two years ago before all this stupid shit. So this is much better, right? Yeah. You know, it's nice getting away, but it's, it's, I like being at home. I like doing camps at home for sure. So you get Kay Hansen and it's going to be a bit of a hometown fight for her. Like we talked about enemy territory, if you will, in Anaheim. And I know this will probably get brought up a bunch in your interviews because that's MMA. It's either the hero's welcome or, you know, the visiting fighter heading into enemy territory. What people probably don't understand about you, Jasmine is. And we've been talking for a long.

time, most of your fights are already on enemy territory. It's not like you took charge on the Canadian regional scene because there weren't a lot of opportunities for you. And the only opportunities you could really find were you had to go to Pittsburgh or you went to Plymouth, Massachusetts, or you went to Philadelphia and you fought in other regions out of your country, oftentimes against hometown fighters. So this whole enemy territory narrative, this is par for the course. It's not like you're a pro at this at this point. Yeah, obviously, I I love it. You know, I fought at home and I fought away, and I mostly have fought the hometown girls away. So, yeah, you know, it's business as usual. I like it.

When the crowds yelling, if they're yelling booze, they sound like booze to me, so I don't really care. There's going to be a lot of people yelling this time. I mean, it's cool fighting CFFC at some good crowds. I know Cage Titans always packs the place, but this is obviously a little bit different, but that stuff doesn't bother you anyway. No, I love a crowd. You know, the more the merrier. I love fighting with the crowd. You know, you feel the energy and it's going to be good. I can't wait. And you get to share the car, like you said, two title fights. You got Francis and Gano and Cyril Gond. Also, Brandon Moreno makes his first title defense against Davis and Figurato. And I saw, because you stuck around in Vegas a couple weeks, you got to train with Brandon Moreno. Is that what I saw? Yeah, I did. We, so when I was there, we would go over, I was training at syndicate, but like after training stuff, we would go over to the PI. So that him and his team were training there and like, I would always just like look over, watch, you know. Yeah, I'm interested in it.

And then I started talking to it in the sauna, the one guy, the one guy on their team, we're all just like sitting there shooting the shit. And then they're like, yeah, if you ever want to come for a session, like that, these. are the times we do it. And obviously I'm going to take advantage of that opportunity. And yeah, he was he was the one like running the session and coaching. And it was awesome. I, I love their little crew that they have that got a good team there. And just like to see what they're doing. It was like very interesting. It was a great opportunity. I look forward to it like in the future being able to do that again potentially. Isn't he delightful though?

Like isn't he just so happy and just like it's like a little 10 year old kid running around but he's a man and a grown man and he's a world champion. So like it's hard to find that combination these days. Seriously. It's like you know how custom auto says like a person's character like that's what what makes him a champion and like that's what makes him win fights and stuff. And I truly believe that for him. It's his character that is why he's a champion.

Now that we're talking about this, is there a certain fighter, like a dream fighter that you want to train with sometime? I don't know if you're going to get the same delightfulness out of this fighter as you would with the Brandon Moreno. But still, especially with the PI, if you spend extra time in Vegas, you never know who's going to be roaming through the PI. So is there anyone in particular just like, I ever get the chance, I got to train with this dude. Well, obviously, Chefchenko, you know, I want to be. want to feel, feel what she's got. Once you get your hands on somebody or, you know, you're kind of square up with them. Like, you get a lot of reads just from like a little, a tiny little session with them. So, you know, that would be a great opportunity if I ever came about.

Smart move right there. Get out ahead. Try to plant those seeds a little bit. That's very smart on your part. Very smart. You've actually competed twice since the last time Kay Hansen fought. It's going to be a first fight in over a year coming off her first UFC loss. But despite being 22 years of age, she has been battle tested. She has been very active in her pro fighting career. And even before that, a lot of pro boxing experience, a lot of boxing fights. She's been fighting for quite some time. How do you like this matchup from a stylistic perspective?

I think it's good. I think it's a good matchup. She's a young, talented girl well-rounded. And I think it's going to be a good fight. fight she's gritty on granny like let let's go the tears balls are bigger you know oh there you go that that quote was not on my bingo card for 2022 but from you but but but here we are it's it's interesting because k's been out for a while but the biggest reason why is because she's trying to get healthy it's probably the healthy she's ever been and i think i spoke with her right after the

fight was announced and it was one of those like eye opening interviews because She was very open about some issues she was having, having problems in eating disorder. She was overcoming that after years of it being just this massive hindrance for her and some really awful things that she's had to deal with. Did you see anything about that at all? And if so, what were your thoughts,

if you don't mind me asking? I didn't see anything. Like, I've heard a bit about it. Like people like message me on Instagram, like stupid shit. Like, oh, we went and talk about her eating just. I'm like, dude, who the fuck cares? You know what I mean?

mean, but yeah, stupid. They were tagging you in that stuff and like trashing her? That's, that's no, no, not. No, like some like some random dude messaged me and say, hey, I watched the interview that she had an eating disorder. You should bring it. You should bring it up at way and. Oh my God, dude.

Yeah. Man, there's some of the messages you get sometimes are are so dumb. Like you just read it and you're like, oh, like grow up, you know? Oh, like, it's like somebody who's clearly never done any, like, martial arts kind of thing. But, I mean, whatever. You know, it's good that she's healthy. And, like, I'm preparing against somebody that's coming in healthy. And, you know, I know that.

And it's going to be good. I feel like you're coming into this division at the perfect time, because we're starting to see this next generation of 25. come up. We saw the type of year Casey O'Neill had last year, Manon Fioro, Aaron Blanchfield's been on a tear. We're seeing this sort of next wave of 25ers coming up. And obviously, if you jump in there and beat a K. Hansen on a big car like this, that throws you right into the mix. Like, how exciting is this for you seeing this division? Because for a while I was like, oh, it Chupchenko and everybody else. But now we're kind of turning the page.

Be like two, three years, we got all these very interesting challenges for Valentina. Yeah, for sure. There's like a ton of, ton of open comers right now. And I'm looking forward to like throwing myself into the midst, kind of like showing what I got. I think my contender series fight, I didn't, I didn't show like enough of what I have. Obviously enough to get the contract. But I think I'm a lot better fighter than what I showed in Contender Series. So it'll be good to display that. That like a little bit of a chip on your shoulder that you carry, you want to be able to prove, like you said, you're not a big trash talker, but sometimes you've got to find the chips wherever you can find them. And proving things to yourself is a very admirable and very massive chip. So do you feel like you're carrying that with you being like, I didn't get to show these people exactly what it is.

This is a big goal for myself is to show these people what I can do on January 22nd. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. There we go. So how do we get this thing done? I already know what you're going to say, but you're not going to say she's going to beat you. But I'm curious how your mind is working when it comes to this fight. I'm going to take whatever opportunity presents itself.

Like, you know, I'm going to, I, you know, I'm always looking for that finish. The Canadian way. Yeah. So what's your sort of prediction for the wave of Canadian MMA? because I feel like we're on the cusp of it sort of volcanically erupting again. Like not to ever since GSP retired, Max Holloways, like we said, we talked about before being the honorary Canadian, but I feel like we're seeing some prospects start to make a move.

We're seeing UFSI fighters. We're seeing contender series fighters get contracts from Canada like yourself and some others. I feel like this next wave of not just 25ers, but this next wave of Canadian prospects, we're on the cusp here. Do you feel the same way? No, I 100% agree. Like, we, I think we have a ton of really good talent within Canada. And, like, we're finally getting the opportunity to show it.

Like, Mike Malat, he just, you know, he's been training with us recently. He's from, from, like, just around here. And, yeah, like, he got that fight with what, Mickey Gall, right? And he's going to be doing very. things like I'm sure Don's going to be in the era air Jeffries we call him Don but he's going to be in the in the UFC soon like with there's a bunch of Canadians that are just like rising look at Lupita right we're I think we're we're we're putting Canada on the map but all the Canadians like you know everyone's like rooting for each other

that's great the camaraderie is a great thing and we are excited to see you finally make your debut after all these conversations and all these years. It's finally here, Jasmine, next Saturday, as we record against Kay Hansen at UFC 270. So I appreciate the time. Thank you very much. Try to relax as much as you can. I know it's winding down here. So safe travels to Anaheim, well, to Vegas, then to Anaheim, and all the best of you during fight week and in the Octagon on the 22nd. Thank you so much. Always great chatting. Great stuff right there from Jasmine, Jazz DeVizius. been covering her since she was 1 and 0 as a professional fighter. Here she is in the UFC.

It's always crazy when that happens because I always tell you they reach out and people reach out and talk about advice and things I would recommend. They might do if they want to get into this space and I always tell people interview everybody. Interview regional fighters if some manager or some promoter, especially early in your career, reaches out to you and says, hey, we have this fighter. They're fighting next week. Do you want to talk to them? Say yes.

Get to know them because at some point, maybe they'll get cooking and end up on the UFC roster or Thelotaur. And they will remember these conversations from the days where they were cutting their teeth, so to speak. So great stuff from her. Great stuff from Big Tuna as well. And I appreciate them very much for coming on the show. Really enjoyed the program this week.

Those are two great conversations. and all the best to both of those competitors next Saturday and January 29th, respectively. That said, and you probably hear my family in the background, who know I'm recording right now, but still are just yelling on screen. But with that said, we're done with We Got Next This Week. Next week's show, we're going to talk to Mike Perry next week for the first time on the program.

He's getting set for his BKFC debut against Julian Lane. We all saw what happened at the BKFC Tampa event between those two guys. maybe one more chat as well. Not completely done yet. But if it happens, it will air on this program. But make sure you follow along on on M.A. fighting the rest of the week as there's going to be a lot going on. It's a fight week after all. We'll have a BTL roundtable with Jedmishu dropping on Thursday. A lot to discuss, obviously. We'll have our UFC Vegas 46 preview show on Friday. Maybe the return of the people's pre-fight show on Saturday, post-fight show on Saturday night. and then AK and I are back on Sunday with the first matchmaking edition of On to the Next one for the Year of Our Lord 2022.

With that said, I am Mike Heck. Peace out, everybody. We'll see you back here next week on We Got Next. The Vox Media Podcast Network.