MMA Fighting - We Got Next | Ricky Simon Explains Sean O'Malley Callout, Responds To Michael Bisping

Episode Date: December 30, 2021

This week on We Got Next, Ricky Simon to recap his KO victory over Raphael Assuncao at UFC Vegas 45, having Ed Herman call him a “veteran” in the gym recently, if he felt weight lifted off of his shoulders after the finish with memories of his loss to Urijah Faber in the back of people’s minds, his awkward exchange with Michael Bisping and the former middleweight champion’s claims that Simon tried to make him look silly, why he changed course and called out O’Malley, his response to O'Malley being ranked higher than him, the likelihood of that fight happening, his thoughts on the future rematch for the bantamweight title between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan, and more. 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

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So join the more than 400,000 Canadian entrepreneurs who already count on us. And contact Desjardin today. We'd love to talk. Business. The Vox Media. podcast network. Welcome to a brand new edition of We Got Next here on MMAfighting.com. I am Mike Heck. We are back. We took a week off last week. I took a few days off after covering the Jake Paul versus Tyron Woodley fight in Tampa. What a scene. And I've said this a few times. I felt like I was 487 years old

being out there covering that events because I just don't. When I was growing up 80s, 90s, even like in the 2000s, the word celebrity wasn't a very loose term. Like, you were either famous or you weren't famous. And it was pretty easy to spot who the famous people were. And if you saw famous people and you saw people lining up to take pictures with these famous people, you thought, I know who this person is. But in this day and age, covering an event like that and seeing all the people that were headlines to take selfies with, I didn't recognize any of them. I may recognize like one out of 50 or 60. It was just a wild scene. for the first time in my combat sports journalism career,

that was the first time I was like, man, am I too old to cover the sport? And then I realized this is just kind of a freak show thing with Jake Paul and how long is this going to last. But it was definitely a week I will never forget for good or for bad. And happy to be back on the show, talking some MMA, talking to some of the stars of the sport who are on their way up or We're looking to do some big things. And we got one guest this week. I haven't done an interview in a while since Tampa, but it's nice to be back home sitting in the chair and command center 3.0.

And having these conversations. And I had a conversation with Ricky Simone, who had a big win on the final UFC event of the year. UFC Vegas 45 a couple of weeks ago. He knocks out Haffiela Sunsau just in vicious fashion. What a stamp he put on his 20. 21. 3 and 0 for the year, two finishes. Of course, he had the win over Brian Kelleher as well, but this was a tremendous performance. A lot of people were asking questions because they remember

Simone's fight against Eriah Faber, how that all played out. So people had questions. What if he gets another veteran test with an established name? Can he get over the hump? And he did that with flying colors. And of course, he got on the microphone afterwards. He called out Sean O'Malley, but even before that, his post-fight interview with Michael Bisbing was a little, a little awkward. Things got a little awkward. Bisbing talked about it. And I, of course, want to get Ricky Simone's take on that whole conversation as well.

So always great to catch up with Ricky Simone, the 29-year-old. And we're going to do that right now. So thank you all for listening. We appreciate it very much. Right now, we're going to leave you with my conversation with right now the number 13 ranked UFC Banimate in the world, Ricky Simone. Let us say hello once again to Ricky Simone, who on the final event of 2021 for the UFC,

he picks up the biggest win of his career. He knocks out Hapiello Sonsail on the second round at UFC Vegas 45, four straight victories for the man with the returning mullet. Ricky Simone, who is kind enough to join us. Ricky, how are you? I'm doing great, man. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Man, that was some performance.

It was dominant. The finish was brutal and nasty. You're a guy that moves ahead pretty quickly. You don't like to savor the flavor for too long, but it's been a little over a week now. Are you able to kind of smell the rose of this one, considering you beat a guy with an established name in this division for quite some time? Yeah. Well, of course, yeah, I'm super happy with the win. I feel like I was so well prepared going into that one. My coach is kind of really just broke down everything he was going to do.

And I felt I felt really comfortable in there. And I think that was kind of the theme of the week was just being relaxed and comfortable. but I'm ready to move on though. I'm ready. I was excited to see what's next. I'm excited to see who they throw at me. I feel like there's a lot of possibilities right now, especially in our weight class.

And there's some guys who need some fights who are ranked above me. So I'm excited to see who they come at me with. And you compare the comfort you felt this fight week to like any other fight week you've had, whether it's in the UFC or any other promotion on the way up? No, I mean, I've been comfortable before, but that was like the month. I think that was just the most relaxed I've been.

I think because I kind of have been here before, you know, two years ago, I kind of like started my UFC career at 3 and O in the UFC and I just beat, I beat Ronnie Yaya who was ranked at the time. So I kind of felt like I built myself back up to that moment and I just like kept how I was up so relaxed because, you know, I do this every, every day in the gym. And I've already put my 10,000 hours in and I just feel so comfortable. Like I have a good amount of fights now. So I'm just like, all right, let's just stay comfortable.

and go do what we do. It's kind of weird, like, having this conversation with you now, because I remember talking to you back, but well before the UFC. Like, yeah, I think it was, I don't remember how long you were a Titan FC, but I remember we spoke before that. And it just seemed like you were just getting started then. And now all these years later, like, you're a UFC veteran, you're winning all these fights.

You're in the top 15 again. Like, you're, it's just, it's kind of strange to think back on, like, some of the early interviews I've done in my career and just see where some of these guys are now. And you're one of those guys that's probably at the top of the list. Is it kind of surreal to look back on those early days and think about where you're at now? Do you think about those days at all? Yeah, I mean, shoot, it feels like it was just yesterday.

I don't know. I felt like it's been flying by. You know, I'm 29. I'm 29. Now I have, I'm 19 and 3 as a professional. No one's called me young buck in a while. I feel like everyone used to always call me the young buck. Ed Herman in the gym called me a veteran the other day.

I'm like, shit, Ed Herman's called me a veteran. What was that like to hear from a guy like that? Oh, it was just, you know, he's like, you know, one of the teammates, one of the captains, one of the coaches at the gym, you know, so it's awesome getting to be around him. And, you know, he's been in the game forever, like since Ultimate Fighter, what, three? So, I mean, it's awesome to get to learn from him.

And he's definitely helped me a lot. But to hear him saying, like, I'll be a veteran, I'm like, oh, man, that was pretty cool. I was thinking back, like, when these fights happen, weird things kind of pop in my head, like from movies and different references. And when I, when I saw your finish, I was thinking back at like the movie Rounders after you won. And Matt Damon had this great line when he was talking about poker. And I feel like it relates to fighting and mostly how the fans view fighting. It's something to the effect of like few players recall big pots that they've won as strange as that seems. But every player can remember with remarkable accuracy, the young.

outstanding tough beats of his career. And I feel like, Rick, you could win 800 fights in a row, but until you got up to fighting somebody in the top 15, more notably, a veteran guy with that name and resume, there was always that question, right? Well, remember what happened with the Uriah Fabra fight? Is he able to get over that hump? And I know you don't care about that stuff too, too much, but was there a little bit of weight lifted off of your shoulders after you landed that upper cut and the referee stepped in and stopped the fight? Um, a bit of a bit of, to be like I know what I'm capable of so like there wasn't like I don't know but there was a little bit a little part of me that was like damn I can't lose to another old guy you know like everyone's

going to know my crimson night if you're over if you're over 10 years older than me you know it's not going to go good yeah it just in this sport it's like you remember those things but once you get once you get that one win it's like it's like the other one didn't happen like I think people still remember the for more for favor but less for you now you know what I mean Yeah, yeah, I mean, I feel like, and I'm just used to that question all the time anyways. You know, like this is why I love the sport is MMA. Anything can happen, you know, and I know what I sign up for. And that's what kind of gets, that's what gets me out of bed.

That's why I'm so excited to go compete because I don't know what's going to happen out there. I can have the best game plan ever, but, you know, you get hit with those four ounce of gloves or kicked upside the head and it's going to change your night real quick. So a lot to discuss in the aftermath of this all. Of course, I got to bring this up. I know you talked about it on Twitter a little bit, but I got to hear from the horse's mouth. The post-fight interview with Michael Bisbing seems to have garnered more attention than the actual fight itself, which sometimes happens in this crazy sport of ours, and it's unfortunate. I watched the post-fight interview again this morning, in all respect to Michael Bisbing,

he's a legend, former champion. It did not seem malicious to me. Yeah, you corrected him, but you smiled. You didn't say, hey, butthead, you're wrong. Get your facts straight. But he felt like you tried to make him look silly out there. That's not the vibe. I got multiple times watching that post-fin interview.

What did you make of those comments from Michael Bisme? It seemed kind of out of left field to me. Yeah, I mean, that could be exactly what. Maybe he didn't want to be corrected or maybe, I don't know, like, is there a rule that I'm not allowed to correct them, you know, on air or something. Maybe, maybe I don't know if there is. Maybe I should have said something after, but I don't know. I mean, I have, you know, this is my life. This is what I put everything, everything that I do is to wake up in the morning and get better at this.

this specific sport. And, you know, I have the receipts. I, you know, I fought ring, I fought a ranked guy before. I, you know, I beat a ring guy. I was ranked before. So, you know, I just, I just thought I'd clear that up. Yeah. I mean, you know how sometimes you you leave a conversation with somebody, even, you think you find it more so like when you're texting somebody. And it comes across like, and you, you kind of feel you're like, maybe that didn't come off the way I, like, that I meant it to. And you kind of have that feeling in your stomach, but then you don't get a response. Like, all right, maybe they didn't take it that way. Did you have, like, any inkling when you walked to the back that maybe you, like,

made him upset in any way? Like, did you even think about that until he actually made those comments? Well, I mean, I felt it was a little awkward in the cage. I felt that moment was a little awkward, but like you said, like I was laughing about it, I wasn't doing him maliciously or I wasn't trying to make him look stupid. I was just, I was just correct. I mean, I was just correcting with the facts. And so I mean, even if I did feel that way going in the back, like I did feel like, oh, it was awkward. I didn't feel in the wrong for it, honestly. Of course, my ears rang, Ricky. When you got to the point of who you wanted to call out and he dropped Sean O'Malley's name, which if you recall, the last time you and I spoke, I was going to ask you about that idea and you stopped me short and you said something to the effect of, come on, dude.

Like, he doesn't want that fight. He'll never say yes to that fight. you said you'd love that fight, but you're not going to call him up because you didn't think he would ever take that fight. Now you're calling him out. What has changed, Ricky? What has changed for you?

I have to know. Well, I thought maybe a finish over a ring guy like that would maybe get him excited or get the UFC excited to maybe make that happen. I think, you know, when I went in decisions or even with someone, like I even got, I mean, I got two finish out of my three fights this year. So I don't understand what people say I'm boring. I don't want to make that matchup. but yeah i got a good finish and i i mean if i if i can't call someone out in front of me

you know then i think that that if i is exciting for the fans i get tagged and stuff all the time i get asked about omalley all the time so and people want to see him tested against a wrestler and uh i mean i could strike too so i think i think i'm a tough test for him and people want to see him get tested now he's ranked above you one spot i think you're 13 now and he's 12 i mean it makes perfect sense now. Like logistically, it couldn't be a better, a better time, right? And what do you think if it'd be ranked above you? I feel like your resume is a little bit is a little bit better. Yeah, I mean, my, I try to, I don't know what I was just, my reaction there wasn't the best, but yeah, I mean, I beat the number 12 rank guy in the world and they moved him to 12.

I was cracking up the next week when the Reagan's got released. I was a little surprised. I mean, I know, I know, like, there's a lot that kind of goes into it, but it just seemed, it's just, It just seemed like someone was messing me at that point. Yeah. I mean, do you think on a scale one to 10, what do you think the chances are that fight happens? Like, not, I mean, it probably happens someday, but like next. Like one to 10, the chances you fight Sean O'Malley in your next fight.

Hmm. Man. I, I think, I don't think there's a very good chance. I honestly, I still, from the last time we talked, I don't think he wants to fight. You see, you see, I had, I had, I mean, I, said his name after the interview, said everything, and then he goes and tweets to Yannis, right? So, I mean, I think that was the answer already.

So I'm moving on. Maybe, you know, maybe they want to push me to someone in the top 10, those plenty of guys who need fights. I got some guys that could be fun rematches too down the line. You know, I got a close fight, a close loss to number five, and a win, whether it be controversial or not over number six. I mean, I feel like there's some fun fights to be made, and I'm excited to see what the UFC comes at me with.

But I doubt O'Malley wants that fight, I doubt he'll take it. The way you started to answer that question, I was like, wait a minute. Was there something cooking here? But I guess, I guess there's not. I guess it's not going to happen. Who knows? I stay hopeful. I stay hopeful.

I mean, yeah. I mean, just think. So we have a matchmaking show that we do on, on, on May fighting. It drops Sundays. like right after these events. Pedro Munoz is my choice for you. I think he's ranked number 10 right now. He's still a really good fighter. He's had the tough loss with Cruz. The fight with Joseo was super fun despite the loss. I feel like that's a good fight for both of you guys. You're looking to get another established veteran name on your resume. Pedro's looking to get back

on track. There's really no way he can avoid a fight with a guy like you who's on a four-fight winning streak after losing his last couple. I feel like that one makes all the sense in the world. But again, you just have so many fun options right now. What are your thoughts? Like if there's, is there one name that sticks out about the others for you? Um, not, I mean, not really. I just because I think it's been, that band of my division has been pretty active. And I feel like it's always hard for me to like, find so new, you know,

would time, the time you would match up along with the rankings. And, but right now, I feel like eight, nine, ten are all, all lost in need a fight. Thank you guys. Um, Pedro, Frankie and Marlon Mara, Maris. Um, so I mean, uh, any of those, none of those names like one sounds better than the other. I mean, uh, I mean, they're all like great fights. They're all, they're all tough fights.

So, uh, any, any of those. And because I mean, I mean, they're all ranked above me as well. So if, uh, if I can't, if I can't beat up O'Malley, then one of those guys would be great. I feel, you mentioned Tommy. I feel like the timing of this knockout was perfect because the top of the division is still a mess. It's super fun, but it's still a mess because we still got away for that rematch to happen for the title between Sterling and Jan. Then we have Dillishaw and Aldo. We don't know what's going to happen with those two guys.

I think Fott and Sandhagen, they should just match those two guys up. But I feel like by the time you fight again, that title picture is either going to be like about to be cleared up or will be cleared up. So I feel like everything is this win happened at the exact perfect time. Do you feel the same way? Like if this happened six months ago, I don't know if it would have the same impact that it's having right now. Yeah, yeah, I think. Yeah, you're definitely right about that. Cause it like, it's always hard to like, like, like we said for like, when the,

when this happens, we got new guys are coming in and old guys are kind of like coming out of the rankings and stuff like that. But it just feels like things are open, but like, you know, there's still matchups like in the top in the top five that that can really. clear some things up and yeah I mean I think just with a couple couple more wins at the end of 2022 I could be I could be up there the top five or a contender fight you know so that's what I'm looking forward to this next year let's talking to uh to your cousin after his big win he had a sensational finish as well and he said that you guys had this sort of relationship where you he gets the finish and he kind of just looks at you and just kind of like swagger's at you seeing like top that dude do you feel like you topped it or do you feel like you were a step behind

Um, shoot. I mean, they were both, I mean, if you, they're both right here, they're both right here. Maybe I was caught, caught me a little, him a little bit, but, uh, but I mean, come on, Vince, mine was over the top, a top 15 guy in the world and the legend in the sunsow. I mean, I mean, I'm just saying that, I mean, just, if we're comparing, pull it out. Just kidding. Just kidding. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, we're super competitive. Like, like, like, like. that we're always like pushing each other but it's for it's always I mean it's it's the best I mean I have a cousin who's in the UFC in my same weight class you know it makes we're uh awesome training we we've been we've been getting down over there in Vegas having cross-raring with him over at syndicate and stuff and we've been making that work over over the last like you know maybe a year and a half or so since this whole COVID stuff's been going on so it's been

cool but yeah we're definitely uh competitive what's it been like for you to watch him mature as a fighter because feel like the skills are always there. It's just a matter of getting that confidence and just getting that maturization in the sport to all just kind of come together. And I feel like with him, it's starting to come together. And you've got to see it closer than really any of us. We just get to see the in cage product. You see it behind the scenes.

What has that been like for you to sort of watch him sort of live up to the potential that a lot of people have had for him? It's inspiring, man. It has been it. You know, at the end, he's still like my older cousin, my big cousin. So you know, to see where him. bounce back from so much adversity, especially with, you know, with that tough fight, broken orbital, torn Achilles, you know, then coming back and, you know, I see him win some fights and then, you know, buy a home and stuff like that, you know, I just, yeah, just it pumps me up for sure. You go. Who do you think wins the rematch when they finally book it? Who's going to be the champion come like the springtime? Is it going to be Jan getting it back or Alger retaining?

I mean, I don't know. I picked Aljo in the first fight. I thought he'd be able to wrestle him up some more. But, I mean, we didn't see a lot of that first fight. I mean, just how it was going. And what we've seen as of late, maybe I have to go yon this time. But, but I mean, I'm not sure. I still feel like Alja is a strong band of weight. And he can definitely test yon some areas. But I mean, I don't know. I'm definitely excited to get home. over that home though I'm ready to see who it is. I can't stand the whole champ, interim champ, you know, waiting to fight. Yeah, what was that like watching Jan and Sanhagen? Because those are two guys that you probably get your eyes on. And those two put on one of the best fights of the year. It was just tremendous to watch. And you're, you know, you're getting ready to fight Haffiel Sunsau. So to watch those two get in there and just have a fight like that, what was that like for you to watch? Yeah, I mean, they were awesome. They're, you know, it was an exciting fight. I usually love watching any Bannon Way fight.

I feel like we're like a perfect combination of, you know, athleticism and technique. You know, you can't lack in any areas of MMA, I feel like, or are you going to be exposed? So anytime out, those bannamways have to fight, I mean, it's always fun. It's always fun, especially those two. I feel like some of the combinations, those guys throw them.

It's like, dang, I've been watching The Matrix and everything. So those guys are living in it. Is Banymed weight the best division in the sport? I mean, I know you're kind of biased, but like looking at it from an outside perspective. I think Bannonweight, you cannot argue it is the deepest division in the sport, no doubt about it. But is it the best? Has it officially overtaken 155 is the best division in MMA right now? Yeah, I mean, obviously my completely unbiased opinion, yes, not even close.

Not even close. Oh, man. So are you a resolution guy? I mean, we're knocking on the door of flipping that calendar. What are we looking at in terms of, it doesn't even have to be a fighting resolution? just like a life resolution. Maybe look at the setup. We can have the Ricky Simone live video podcast with this setup.

This is amazing stuff. What do we got on the goal sheet? I'm going to work out every day. My diet is going to be better. I'm going to stop drinking. No, I'm like, yeah, none of that. Yeah, maybe something like that. I mean, I started doing something like streaming with Twitch.

But like I travel so much. I'm either going to Vegas. or going to Pimo Yama's in California, I swear I can never like get something going regularly. I think that's the key to is to stay on top of it consistently. And I'm not consistent in anything but MMA. I feel like I'm everywhere. I'm not, you know, it's hard what I'm training all the time.

But that's what I would like to do is just be able to jump on some streams more and interact with the fans through gaming and maybe some like a podcast. Vince and I have actually talked about doing one together. Oh, because we game together. So maybe, you know, game together. and also like talk a little bit throughout. I don't know. Oh, dude, that would be amazing.

That'd be amazing. And you guys, because you guys are so competitive. You guys are just like talk trash to each other the whole time, but still like talk to the fans. You're like, sorry, pause, pause. All right, let's answer this fan question. And then you guys go back to like talking shit to each other and playing video games.

That'd be a, I'd watch. I would absolutely watch that. Yeah, my man. My man. Yeah, we might have, yeah, we've been talking about it for the early year. So we should probably get that going. It's my resolution. You heard it here, Vince.

Yeah. Yeah, so you got a, he's got a nice little studio set up in his new house. I think you guys got something coming here. So, so we look forward to that. We look forward to seeing what, what 20, 22 has in store for you, Ricky. Congratulations on a great win, cap it off a big year. And I think 2022, like I said, timing matching up. This could be a very interesting year for you and the Bannamweight Division.

So congrats, happy new year. Enjoy the rest of the holidays, man. And we'll talk soon. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for always having me on. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. You know,

Thank you.