MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Bonus Edition | Jon Anik, Drakkar Klose, Cody Stamann & Dustin Jacoby

Episode Date: April 29, 2021

On a special bonus edition of What the Heck, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck is joined by Jon Anik (4:09) to recap UFC 261, the three title fights, Chris Weidman's injury, Daniel Cormier and Jake Paul's face-to-face, and more. Drakkar Klose (31:10) gives his first interview since the infamous Jeremy Stephens shoving incident to discuss the injuries he suffered, what happened on that stage prior to UFC Vegas 24, the reaction of the fans and Dana White, and wanting revenge on Stephens. Cody Stamann (44:52) previews his matchup with Merab Dvalishvili this Saturday at UFC Vegas 25, talks the long road to get to the fight, Cory Sandhagen being the scariest guy in the division, believing TJ Dillashaw has been using PEDs for a lot longer than people think, and more. Finally, Dustin Jacoby (1:14:46) discusses his short notice UFC Vegas 25 matchup with Ion Cutelaba, as well as teammate Anthony Smith's UFC 261 win over Jimmy Crute. 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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Now here is your host, Mike Heck. What the heck? Well, hello there, everybody, and welcome to a bonus episode of What the Heck, a little treat for everybody on this. Thursday morning, April 29, 2021. I am Mike Heck from Mammat Fighting.com. Thank you for checking us out. wherever you find your favorite podcast.

And look, it's been a busy week. We are still sort of in recovery mode from this past weekend, UFC 261. And we have four more interviews for you right now as we prepare to put that very memorable event, more in the rear view, and look ahead to this Saturday's UFC Vegas 25 event at the UFC Apex. So let me just get this out of the way. This is going to be a very short introduction. And then it's all about the interviews. It's all about the fighters the rest of the way.

So outside of me asking fighters questions and conversing with them, that's all you're going to hear from me the rest of the way. So let's run down the lineup, let you know where you're going to hear in the special bonus episode of the program. Later on in the show, we're going to speak with Dustin Jacoby. He is stepping in on short notice this Saturday at the aforementioned UFC Vegas 25 event. And he's finding Iwan Kutalaba. And that is a banger.

That's a super fun fight on the main card. We'll check in with Dustin Jacoby to wrap things up to talk about how this fight came together on short notice. When he got the call, Anthony Smith, his teammates' performance at UFC 261, and much more. Speaking of UFC Vegas 25, Cody Stamen will also be on the card, also on the main card. He's taken on Marab de Wallis Willie, and it has been quite a road and honestly quite a stretch of bad luck for him over the last several months, but he'll finally get back in the Octagon this weekend. And I get to tell you, I've been talking to Cody Stamen for a number of years right now, even before he got into the UFC. This was some conversation, some really honest stuff from Cody Stamen on a number of different

topics, not just the fight, but just the last year. What happened with Ascar? Ascar, some mistakes he admits he made along the way. Who he thinks is the scariest fight. at 135 pounds. His thoughts on T.J. Dillishaw's return. Some pretty memorable stuff here from Cody Stamon. You'll hear that coming up a little bit later on. We're also going to be joined by UFC lightweight Dracar Close. And you may have seen the video interview already on our YouTube page.

If you haven't, this was his first interview since the infamous shoving incident after the UFC Vegas 24 way-ins a couple of weeks ago. If you didn't see it, I don't know how you missed it at this point, but Stevens in close got face to face for the stare down. Stevens two-handed shoved close in the chest with authority. Close had his hands behind his back and this is quite the shove. I mean, it built anticipation for the fight, but it was enough for Dracar close to suffer a concussion,

a cervical sprain of the neck, more injuries and it's actually led to further injury since that shove took place and you're going to hear all about it in around 25 minutes or so. But first, we're going to kick things off with the legendary play-by-play voice of the UFC. He was on the desk with the headset on this past Saturday, UFC 21. A lot to discuss coming out of that event. The whole night, the three title fights, fans back in the arena.

What did he think of Daniel Cormier getting up from the broadcast booth to confront Jake Paul? I mean, he was right there. We'll find out right now. But once again, thank you for listening. Enjoy the interviews. That's it for me. Have a heck of a week, everybody. Enjoy my chat with the great John Anick. All right, with everyone still buzzing from UFC 261 on Saturday, let us welcome back, Mr. John Anick, who was on the call for the whole damn thing. And somehow he still has a voice after that craziness. John, how are you, man? I'm doing well. And if still buzzing, you mean feel like I have a buzz? Yes, I feel like I am using recreational drugs right now. So it is great to be with you. Absolutely. So you were looking forward to calling this one. We spoke about a month prior. And, you know, not just because of the fights themselves, but, you know, it was the return of the fans in a normal capacity. Over 15,000 people in the building. And the people who were there from start to finish were on fire from the opening fight. I would assume having the fans back and being there far exceeded your expectations.

No doubt about it. Can you imagine what Houston is going to be like if this is any indicator? Certainly over the years. years as someone who's been to Brazil north of 25 times. When we go to Australia, there are a lot of places that have such an appetite for this stuff, that not only are they there for all 13 fights over eight hours or so, but they watch the entire post-fight press conference for every single live event. And in the United States of America, that is not always the case. This was very much an early arriving crowd. It was a special ticket. There were a lot of people who were non-Floridians from Ohio and other places who made their way to Jacksonville because they didn't want to miss this first event. And I don't have to tell you guys that the fans are the lifeblood of our sport. They add to

our live event as much as any fans add to any live event atmosphere. We don't pipe in sound like the Minnesota Vikings all due respect. So this was a special night from the moment I got to walk out and sort of embrace these fans and was trying to fire them up. You know, Buffer and I were sort of joking that we became cheerleaders. Like we became the fans. Like I was literally walking over to sections being like, let's go, Tom Brady's God. You know. One of the most memorable, if not the most memorable live event that I've ever been a part of. And that is not recency bias. I think the combination of factors made this the most memorable live event that I've ever called.

Yeah, I mean, there's just so much to discuss from this card. Let's start with the main event because Kamar Usman knocks out Jorge Mazdaal in the second round. The first round is pretty much what a lot of people expected. Like Usman was getting Mazadol's attention with his punches. Mazadol was landing his leg kicks. Usman got a takedown. Mazadol got back up. And it seems like after round one, we're in for one hell of a fight.

But then Uzman landed that right hand and it was a wrap. And, you know, most people saw Usman winning the fight. If you looked at the odds, the odds are clearly in Usman's favor. But to see it end like that, John, I mean, wow, did that surprise you? Yeah, I think a little bit the nature of it. But I'm not surprised that Kamar Uswin was able to put him away after what we saw him do against Gilbert Burns 71 days ago. And in theory, putting a training camp on top of that one and getting right. back in another training camp with Trevor Whitman.

And I've talked a lot about Henry Hooft and the value of all those years for Camaro, but the alignment with Trevor Whitman has taken his game to the next level. And I don't know that there's any other way to put it. He was going to go see Trevor, Mike, as you probably know, whether he fought Gilbert Burns or not. So again, the appetite for overall well-roundedness, overall improvement as a striker. Most telling thing from our fighter meeting was when Kamar Ustman said, not unlike Floyd Mayweather. He injected Floyd Mayweather's name and said,

I know how to let a striking fight build. And I'm like, oh, man, if this dude's saying stuff like this, you know, and he's going to be that dangerous in that realm, you know, look out to the rest of this division. And that's why to me the Stephen Warner Boy Thompson matchup is so compelling, you know, to see that stylistic clash. But near perfect performance from Kamar,

certainly the calf kicks of horror. Hey, Mossfidahl were starting to rear their head a little bit. And again, you don't want to take too many of those. you take one on the wrong tissue and, you know, it could be real trouble, but a tremendous right hand, just a tremendous fighter. And I think when Dana White suggests that Kamar Usman appears to be on a trajectory to become the greatest mixed martial arts athlete at all time, he's not wrong. I mean, it looks to me like we're looking at a guy who is destined for undisputed goat-type

greatness. Yeah, we were talking about this after the fight. I think most people, as of right now, are pointing to the Corey Sanhagen. knockout of Frankie Edgar as the front runner for knockout of the air. I know it's only April. We're approaching May, at least until Saturday. I mean, a flying knee is always memorable, but the aesthetics of this right hand that Usman landed, like the way Mazadol went down, the water and the sweat flying off of his whole face. I mean, when we're doing year-end awards, this knockout has to be right up there. And if it isn't, then we are in for ridiculous eight months, John,

Annick. Yeah, no, it's a good point. And you've got to think that over the next eight months, there's going to be something, maybe not on a Joaquin Buckley level, but some crazy spinning back fist-type knockout that's going to get consideration. But I am with you. You know, with respect to Corey Sanhagen, you know, this one, I think, because of the championship stakes probably trumps that one. But it just depends. You know, beauty's in the eye of the beholder.

You know, D.C. and I were going back and forth on this later last year when he preferred Kevin Holland's jocque de Soza knockout in a year that I thought Joaquin Buckley had turned in the most unanimous type knockout of the year that had ever existed. But you're right. This was a special strike, a special combination for a special athlete. And I'm really excited to see what he can do next because when you talk about Anderson Silva's record for 16 consecutive wins, for Kumar Usman to get to 17, what are those next few fights, right? The Covington rematch in theory, maybe a Stephen Wonderboy Thompson fight, which is a fresh matchup if he gets by Gilbert Burns.

And then maybe a Leon Edwards rematch as well. If he gets through three of those and is 17 and O'Noh in the UFC, he can have whatever distinction he wants with respect to my man, Johnny Bones. Right. So the world is Kumar Ousman's oyster right now. And I think he deserves a lot of credit for being a workhorse, you know, carrying the torch for two paper views inside of 80 days. And excited to see this Covington rematch, hopefully in three or four months.

Yeah. I mean, when we talk about, you know, greatest of all time, the goat talk and even like the pound for pound list. I mean, it's all subjective in a way. But I agree with Usman at this moment. Like, I feel like right now, because of the activity, the performances, he is the best fighter in the world right now, especially now that Habib Nirmagha Maddof is a fishery retired. Like, it has to be at this very moment, Kamara Usman at the top of that list, right? Well, why did Habib finally get that distinction over John Jones? Certainly the style points of his win, but it also had to do with activity, which was the word that you led with. And that's what has sort of pushed John Jones,

not out of the conversation, but back a little bit. You know, all John Jones needs in theory is one win over Francis Ngano and he becomes the best pound for pound fighter in the world. And I will come on your show. And it's not revisionist history. If he goes and finishes Francis and Gano, how do you not give Johnny Bones that distinction? But right now, all I could think to say on the broadcast before he said it was you seem to be looking at the best pound for pound fighter in the world. I didn't know what else to say in that moment. And yes, I think given the way Kamar Usman has sort of attacked this COVID-19 climate, again, you know, the July 2020 went over Mosfidal wasn't that long ago. So Kamar Usman's on top of the game right now. And I think all things

considered is the number one pound for pound fighter in the world. Yeah, I mean, 170 is really interesting. Like you said, like you said, we got Leon fighting May 15th, less than three weeks from right now against Nate Diaz, Gilbert Burns, Stephen Thompson, July 10th. You know, Dana White it all week. Colby's the rematch. That's the fight to make. I spoke with Colby yesterday. As expected, he certainly wants that fight. So we'll definitely see what happens at 170. I think the rematch makes a lot of sense. Let the rest of this division sort of play itself out. And then just start lining up new and fresh matchups for Usman. But another classic thug rose call, John was in store for the masses on Saturday night. She knocks out Zhang Wei Lee with a beautiful

head kick. She set it up perfectly looking low, going high. And Rose Namibunas is once again the UFC Straway champion. What a story this is, John. I mean, you called the knockout win over Yanni and Jacek to win her first title. You talked about how memorable of a moment that was for you. How does this one compare to that? I don't even know what to say, right? I really don't even know what to say other than the fact that Pat Berry texted me

that she executed perfectly, which I think is no surprise to anybody who has followed her and her career. She's just remarkable, right? And that says nothing of the flying arm bars and the grappling that for a time was her calling card, right? Strictly talking about Rosamma Yunus, the layered striker, the head movement, the footwork. You know, Amanda Nunes' coaches oftentimes talk about forcing a mistake or just looking for a mistake, not necessarily forcing a mistake, but looking for that mistake and capitalizing. And the elite athletes, the champions, you make a mistake, you will pay the ultimate price. And that's essentially what it is.

You know, I mean, Zhang Wei Li way too linear and perfect execution by Thug Rose Nami Yunus. Her knack for producing these type of moments in these huge pressure spots is just crazy. Because, you know, sometimes you think she's a reluctant champion or a reluctant fighter and maybe would rather just be gardening, you know? And certainly when I interviewed her in Brazil after she relinquished the title to Jessica Andrage, she was liberated in that moment. She was happy to no longer be champion. And now she's really happy to be champion.

and I think it's hard when you're the best to not have the title, right? It had to be hard for Francis Ngano for it to take him 13 UFC fights with all of his physical gifts to break through and become the champion. I think for Rose Nama Yunus, when you know in training that you're the best

if you perform your best and then you lose to Andrage the way she did, you know, it's not a feeling that you enjoy. And Rose obviously wanted to write that wrong. And hey, one judge goes the other way on that rematch with Andrage and we're not even having this conversation. I could go on and on, but I just love this whole team.

You know, I love these people. They're just really good people. Whitman and Gaichi and Nami Yunus and Usman and Greg Nelson and everybody else. And when good things happen to good people, you can't help but be happy for them. So Thug Rose, baby. You know, she's giving us a lot to work with Mike Heck, that's for sure. It's so, I was thinking about this on Saturday because my mind likes to race in like random directions, but it's just really interesting watching Rose's mentality because, like, it's like, it's

like watching golf when you play it. And you see guys like Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson and all these great players and they're, you know, they're winning tournaments and they're shooting 65s. But once in a while, they hit a ball in the water. They get an 11 on a hole. And you're like, damn, like these guys are human after all. And with Rose, like, like you sort of like you alluded to, we see her deal with like these everyday struggles, the issues with the confidence, the issues with herself belief. Things people struggle with every day. And when you see her come through like that and having to talk herself into saying, I'm the best, I'm the best, I'm the best. Like, it's just special, man.

It's just hard to explain. Like, what is it like watching her go through all these motions and then leading to these spectacular moments? Because it's really fascinating to watch. See, when she can channel Thug Rose, which is a byproduct of everything that has brought her to this point in her life, the hardship, you know, as a Lithuanian American, that story is well documented. when she leans into all of that.

You know, when I punched Thug Rose at the way in and the intensity that sort of came off of her, when she channels that version showing up in her overalls, like, fuck all you guys. When that is the attitude that she channels, best of luck, best of luck to you. But she's not always seemingly able to channel it because I think it flies in the face of just how decent and nice and kind a person she is. She's fascinating, man. I mean, she's absolutely fascinating. And, you know, I think in terms of her flow as a striker, Chico Caymus is a guy who she always talks about being just such a great athlete

and her most key training partner in a lot of respects because he just gets her in this flow. And when she's able to take that from training room to Octagon, scary proposition for the rest of the strawweight division. I'm fascinated to see what they do now because, you know, I think you have good options, obviously. It's the deepest women's division. But as someone who thought Yowana actually beat Zhang Wei Lee, I wouldn't mind a third meeting between Yowna and Rose, even though one and two I thought were pretty decisive. Lost in the shuffle of all of this.

And it was unfortunate was Valentina Shvchenko's performance because, I mean, everyone's talking about Ouzman and Rose. But I thought, I mean, she pitched a near perfect game against Jessica Androge. I mean, that was some performance. Another title defense in the books, Dana White told the media after the event that he thought Valentina was pissed off. that she had a chip on her shoulder for sure, that people were doubting her after losing a round to Jennifer Maya. I feel like in a weird way, she's sort of an afterthought in the night with everything that happened

when she probably had the best overall performance of the night, John. Yes. And just because she doesn't have the $50,000 bonus doesn't mean that she won't get something discretionarily. And by the way, it was a big financial evening for the UFC Flyway champion, Valentina Shevchenko. But you're right. She was the one facing a former champion.

I don't think any of us expected other than, of course, Shevshanko and Pavel Fedatav, the strength discrepancy to be quite so pronounced, seven for seven on her takedowns. And I think you have the best analogy in the Major League Baseball one of a perfect game. It was a perfect performance against a fighter to Dana's point who a lot of people thought was going to bring out the best in Valentina. You know, there were paths to victory or so we thought for Jessica Andrage. Man, did she chew all that up and spit it out. And I'll tell you guys, when we sat down with her on Thursday, she didn't look good.

You know, she looked sort of like she didn't have her coloring. She looked like she was carrying extra weight in her face. She just didn't look right. And thankfully, we didn't lean into that because she certainly looked good at the way in on Friday. And later that day, even at the press conference on Thursday, and look like an absolute mauler on Saturday night. So we'll see what happens with Lauren Murphy and Jojo Calderwood. I mean, there's a longer conversation, obviously, in terms of the Nunes trilogy fight for Jeffchenko. But, you know, Valentina is defending the belt on big pay-per-views,

Mosfid all headline paper views, making money. And again, she's not a natural ban on weight. But I do believe that for a lot of us, as mixed martial arts fans, we want the closure of a third fight between those two. And hopefully we get it. Yeah. And, you know, you mentioned the June 12th fight between Murphy and Calderwood. We also got Viviani Arousho fighting Caitlin Chukagin on May 15th. And I know Chiquin just lost, so she's probably not quite in the equation unless she does something absolutely, spectacular, but Viviani a Rourou is an interesting piece to this puzzle. If she goes out there and has a great performance against Caitlin Chugay again, I spoke with Lauren Murphy about this last week.

Lauren's like, I could see her jump in the queue if she goes out there and has a great performance. So Valentina's got options. Obviously, Rose's options because we got Jan Janan, Carlos Sparza. They could do the rematch. McKenzie Dern is a winner two away. Yohan is there. I mean, both these divisions are so interesting right now. No doubt. No, and 115 pounds with Jan Shaunan and Carla Esparza. I do think there's a good chance that a top contender emerges out of that. I mean, Zhang Wei Lee with her 21 fight winning streak, I think, can lay claim to a rematch, you know. And you're right that the cupboard is not bare at flyweight, but I do wonder what the inner monologue is, not when they're talking to you per se, but for Lauren Murphy and Jojo Calderwood, right?

Because Valentina Shevchenko and her post-fight interview sort of intimating, like keep looking for weaknesses or stop looking for weaknesses because there are none. And I really wonder how you approach that challenge, right? Like if I was a fighter, how would I approach Valentina? I'd probably do something super reckless and I'd get finished in 30 seconds. But I would probably try to do something out of the ordinary, right? And I do wonder how those women approach this particular challenge. Because, you know, if you thought this was one-sided, at least in terms of the betting number,

I mean, she's going to be minus seven, minus 800 against whoever. emerges out of that fight, she was minus 400 here. So, uh, you know, it's not a problem. Dominant champions are never a bad thing for sport, whether it's George St. Pierre or the New England Patriots, but at Flyweight, uh, she is getting close to cleaning out the division. Of course, I'd be remiss if we didn't discuss what happened before the title fights. Chris Wyman, Uriah Hall began their rematch, Wyman throws the kick. It was checked and everybody knows what happened by now. And man, that sound, just watching it on the broadcast, is there something I will never forget and you were sitting just a few feet away from it. It's just so

unfortunate to see. It's unfortunate that it takes an injury like this, John, to put into context for a lot of these fans the risks involved in competing in a sport like this one. So what went through your mind when that all went down on Saturday? Oh my gosh, man. I'm losing my mind. You know, I'm getting emotional. You just bringing it up again. I'm just supremely close to to Chris Wyman, and obviously Ray Longo is one of my best friends. He's been on my podcast since episode one, and that's six years. So I spent a lot of time with them during Fight Week. I just love Chris so much, and I just hate to see anybody go through this.

And it's just hard knowing that he's in that hospital in Jacksonville right now, and he is going to be able to go home today. And because he's in South Carolina, he'll be able to go by motor vehicle and not airplane, which is a good thing. But I just feel so bad for the guy. And, you know, the surgery went well. and I think the fact that one of the bones aligned sort of on its own is a good indicator that maybe he might get back to competition even sooner than people would expect.

There's no doubt in my mind that this dude competes again, none whatsoever, right? I really do believe that's the safest bet right now, that he walks at Madison Square Garden with much fanfare, and it's one of the most special moments in UFC history. And if you've seen any of the content that Chris has been pushing out since this happened, He said when it happened, he's writhing in pain. He's immediately trying to lean into the positive thinking about how can I document my recovery or he's literally trying, leading into his faith, trying to take his mind to a positive place. I just have so much respect for him.

But in the moment, I was off my game. I missed a promo cue. I try not to let that happen. I mean, I was totally off. And the only thing that could have saved the night from there was actually what happened, that we saw some of the greatest finishes in UFC championship history. because we were all in a very bad place for Chris. And, you know, for Uriah, they'll move him forward. He has a four-fight winning streak.

And just, man, you're right, man. This sport is just insane. And I do think if you didn't have all the respect you needed to have for these athletes, something like this happens, and then you have it. Yeah. And obviously, the well-wishes to Chris Wyman and the fam, it's just crazy. And you feel for Uriah, too, man. Like, I spoke with him before the first fight got postponed.

and he wanted, he wanted this one so bad. Like, it was the first loss of his pro career, and to have it in like that, like I thought he handled himself like a, like a champion in the aftermath. And you just feel for both guys, Chris saying he's going to be back in the gym in six to 12 months is not surprising to me.

Right. If was anybody else saying that, I'd probably be like, eh, I don't really buy it. But Chris Wyven saying it, I believe him. I'm telling you, as an athlete, I've never heard coaches speak about a fighter quite like this. Certainly when people would talk about Joe,

Zay Aldo and there are some others. But when Matt Sarah and Ray Longo talk about this guy and when you look at as an American, his jiu-jitsu credentials and everything that sort of got him to become the undisputed UFC midway champion, quick learner doesn't even begin to describe it. It's like you tell the guy one thing and immediately it becomes part of his game. You hear Anthony Smith talking this week being like, dude, I train with the guy for 10 days. I got nothing done. Like barely landed anything. Couldn't outgraple the guy. He's a total phenom. And his training in South Carolina got him to such a good place that he was ready to sort of resume his assent and maybe even, you know, get back into title contention, believe it or not entering this fight as number 11 in the world.

So I just feel bad for Carolina Chris. But if anybody can lean into their faith and lean into the positive, it's him and his family. And these are going to be some tough days. But I wish I could get a betting line on him fighting, you know, in 2023 because that shit's happening. Yeah, I would agree with you on that. And also tip the proverbial cap to Anthony Smith and Jimmy Crute for their main card. opener. That was a fun scrap for those five minutes. Great win for Anthony. Jimmy Crute,

no real update on his condition right now. But the fact that we have no real update on his condition right now is probably a good thing. I know he's back in Sydney and we're supposed to get an MRI later on this week. So hopefully that's good. But a lot of great memories on Saturday in Jacksonville. The stars are out in full force. Tom Brady and company in the building. But nobody got more attention on Saturday night than Jake Paul, John. And in fact, he got in he got D.C.'s attention, your broadcast partner in crime, they had their little face-to-face, that's gotten a ton of buzz. Like, what did you think of this whole thing as it was happening? The F. Jake Paul Chance, DC, getting up and getting in his grill. Like, what was going through your mind as this is happening?

So, memory serves our producer, Zach Candido gave DC 120 seconds to settle his business. And Daniel Cormier is a fighter. And as I've texted DC, I like when his Louisiana comes out, you know. But it's an interesting thing because I respect Jake Paul, the professional boxer. I would like to see him boxing boxers and not the worst strikers in MMA history per se, right, to actually do something competitive. But I'm not surprised that Daniel Cormier wants to stand his ground. And you're not just going to inject DC's name into the mix without consequences. And I think he felt at peace after his conversation because he came back to the broadcast booth.

And not a beat of sweat on his forehead, man. And I think he set his piece and felt like he needed to do that to just sort of clear the air. And I can understand why some of these mixed martial arts athletes, you know, feel the way they do about the way some things are happening in combat sports these days, right? But again, I'm in the business where we have a lot of developing fighters in the UFC who come in 3 and 03 and 1. And I respect those fighters that are maybe number 650 on the roster that arguably shouldn't be here right now, but it's getting a short notice operas. opportunity. And for Jake Paul, power to you, man, make your money. You know, if you don't like his attitude, you know, I can understand why he's maybe not your cup of tea. I'm just asking for him to not pluck the worst strikers in UFC history, you know? I mean, Hoyce Gracie and Damien

Maya are going to be next? You know what I mean? It's like, go fight a striker, you know? And if you want to fight a mixed martial artist, then just fight a striker, you know? So I don't know. I, I am interested in Jake Paul in so far as him fighting somebody that actually is focused on the discipline that he is focused on. He ain't fighting D.C. He ain't fighting Tyron Woodland. That's for damn shit. Can you believe the attention he's getting these days, though?

I mean, it's pretty wild. Like, Lehmmer or hate him, he's getting a lot of buzz and a lot of attention. And I know, like, we don't like to throw out clicks and stuff like that. But when Jake Paul ends up on our website, people, people click it. It's insane to me. Yeah. Well, and obviously you're asking me about it, and I got people sliding up into my DMs telling me I'm not giving him a fair shake, saying that not only is he working as hard as the developing fighters that I

just referenced, but that he's also putting in the right work and beating guys that, you know, maybe he isn't supposed to beat in sparring. So we'll see what happens. I think sometimes with certain athletes, you can't get past the facade. You know, Colby Covington is an outstanding human being, right? Like people have no idea how good a dude there is underneath whatever. ever facade it is. And by the way, Covington is also one of the pound-for-pound greatest mixed martial arts athletes that I've ever seen. But people can't get past that. And with Jake Paul, people don't want to lean into anything positive. I'm not afraid to do that. Just don't fight Ben Askeran, and we're good. Nick Diaz is also in the building. Looking shredded, John. It seems

like he's ready to get back in there. Do you think we see him in 2021? Do you have a good feeling? If there was a betting line that you could, you know, play the ponies with, do you think we see him fight this year? You know, I don't know if it'll be this year, but hopefully inside of, you know, 10 or 12 months. I love these guys so much that I have a 209 tattoo. So I don't know where you want me to go with this. But I was so excited to fist bump Nick Diaz and the sport, as I've said, is much better with those dudes in it, in whatever capacity. So I think we see him fight.

I think what's most interesting is what is the challenge that he's back for? Is it specific? Or is it just, you know what? I'm in the best shape of my life. And it's time to go put the screws to somebody. I don't really know. But if he's back for a singular challenge, you know, whether it's Mosfedol or Chi Maev or somebody else, sign me up. Favorite moment of Saturday overall?

Like little thing, big thing. What moment sticks out to you that like you'll always have with you like from a positive perspective? So Friday, I got to tell you, go in fist bump Nick Diaz and then right up on stage to emcee the way into that crowd was a very special moment. But as far as Saturday is concerned, you know, it's hard for me to not focus on Rose and Camaro. Maybe just Bruce Buffer walking out and getting into the octagon like the cheerleader that he is. There were a lot of memorable moments. It's too hard to focus on one. But I guess lock in eyes with Joe Rogan romantically right after Rose knocked out,

Jong Wei Lee was probably the moment for me. And, you know, as hard as it is, this job. And it really is. You know, my Fridays are 19-hour Fridays and eight hours on a headset. Sometimes it's hard to focus on being so happy and excited when I sit down in that seat because there's just so much on my plate over the ensuing eight hours. But it's nights like this that make me do lean into and realize that I have the greatest job in the world and just very thankful for this seat that I'm going to try to go earn here again on May 8th.

There you go. John, you are the man. I appreciate the time. I always say, like, yeah, give me 50. 15 minutes, and then we go for 28, and you're so gracious with the time, man. I appreciate it very much. All the best to you. Enjoy May 8th.

Enjoy the trip to Houston, and I'm sure we'll talk soon. It's only because I like your Boston accent. I just like hearing that Massachusetts accent. As much as you try to cloak it, I can understand that it's always there. I had a hard time saying Tristan Connolly without drop. I couldn't do it. You know, even on the pre-voice stuff, you know, coming up next, Tristan Connolly couldn't do it without the Boston accent.

But thank you, boys. Always good to catch up with you. We'll talk soon. All right, let us welcome Draccar close to the program right now. As you probably know, he was set to face Jeremy Stevens and the co-made event of UFC Vegas 24. And at the postway and face-offs, he was shoved hard by Jeremy Stevens. People were talking about it, getting more excited for the fight,

and then we found out at the start of the broadcast that the fight was off, that injuries were suffered, including a concussion, a cervical sprain of the neck in more, actually. but I wanted to get Dracar on the program to talk about it, and I truly appreciate that. Dr. Carr, how are you, man? I'm doing a lot better, a lot better. Yeah, I mean, it's, first of all, it's great catching up with you again because you and I have been having these chats for many years now.

And, you know, I wish we were talking about a breakthrough performance against a longtime veteran in Jeremy Stevens. Unfortunately, that is not the case. You said you're doing better. I mean, it's been around 10 days since all of this happened. You know, when did you start to kind of like turn the corner and start feeling better? my headaches stopped like Thursday

leading into the weekend that was my biggest concern is my headaches they were pretty bad and then I had got an MRI in my neck and I guess I have a herniated disc so I'm just dealing with that now so man so like the headaches so you dealt with those headaches

from basically like Friday on it's almost like six full days you had to deal with the headaches yeah I didn't even have headaches after I got knocked out by Benil, you know what I mean? I think doing the weight cut, you know, I only had like maybe 10 ounces of water in me before we did a stair down. And, you know, I was, I was still dehydrated. And it's just, it's crazy how that whiplash can do that to you. I mean, how would you, outside of like the headaches and just feeling crappy, I'm sure, like, how would you describe these

last 10 days, like from the shove, the aftermath, the injury, the fight just being canceled? Like, what has life been like since the shove happened? You know, a lot of hate, a lot of hate, but a lot, you know, a lot of people have been telling me their situations and their, you know, problem, neck injuries and stuff like that. And I'm just glad I didn't step in that cage that night, you know, one punch, you know, it could, it could have changed my life. Something dealing with your brain, man, you only get one brain. And you have to be smart.

And I'm just glad, you know, I had the right people around me. and I didn't fight. I know Jeremy is a bit of a wild man in these situations. Like we've seen all the angles from the face off. You were wearing a mask. He was not wearing a mask. It didn't seem like much was said, but it was really hard to tell, honestly, Dracar.

Like, was there anything said prior to the shove? No, I didn't say anything to him. Maybe he listened to the interviews leading up to the fight, and, you know, he got mad about that. But other than that, like, when we faced off, you know, I was just quiet. You know, I was just in there ready just to, you know, do these face-offs and get ready to fight the next day. I mean, is there anything that maybe you said in those interviews? Because, I mean, listen, I've interviewed before and, like, it's a fight.

Like, you say things about a fight. Like, you're not going to say, like, oh, I'm going to lose to this guy. You're going to – You know, be honest. I think he thought it was a nobelator competes on Friday. I think wrong promotion. I think he thought he was in Bellatory. I'm sure you were crushed to find out that you wouldn't be able to compete.

Turns out it was actually a blessing in disguise. What was going through your mind when you basically had to throw in the towel on fight day and that it was completely out of your control? Like you said you're relieved now, hindsight being what it is, but were you relieved on Saturday as well, that you knew that you weren't in a position to fight, that your team had your back and the right decision was made? I was pissed off, really, man.

you know, that was a big opportunity going there and beat them up, a co-man event. And for people to think that I really wasn't injured, that kind of pisses me off. And, like, I kind of want to get street justice on them. If I see him, I will. I swear, I'm going to get them. It's, yeah, I think that was, that's been a pretty awful thing,

was the reaction to this from fans, and even some members of the media, that I saw. It's just pretty awful, pretty unfair, people saying that you were faking it, you were scared. It got to the point where, like, members of your team had to send, like, medical reports to the journalist. Like, I know Courtney Casey, who you're with, like, had to screenshot symptoms, like, like, all this unnecessary stuff that none of us, like, should have to do in a situation like this. Like, how rough was it seeing that kind of reaction from everybody?

Man, it sucks. You know, I don't want to get, like, into, like, the, back and forth with the UFC, but, you know, I'll just leave it as it is. It just, it just sucks because, you know, I came, I was professional, and I got injured on the job in. And all I know is, like, any other, any other sport, they do something like that. They either fine, suspend it. So, it just sets a bad example for everyone else. So do you feel like there should have been some repercussions in this situation for Jeremy, or do you feel like, listen, we're in the fight game. Like I would, like you said, the street justice thing, I'd rather make him pay inside the octagon.

You have to be, you know, I signed the contract to fight that Saturday, not Friday. You know what I mean? I was at my, my weakest point, you know, cutting weight. And that was a cheap shot. I had my hands behind my back. Dude, that's something you, when you're afraid, that's what people do. They do cheap shots, and that's what I believe he did. Another tough part about watching this journey, and you sort of mentioned, I know you don't want to get into complete specifics, but it did take some time, but the UFC did agree to pay your show money.

You also got your promotional compliance pay from the Venom deal I was told, no win money. You were able to get some money that you were hoping to get, but, I mean, all in all, you don't have to get into complete specifics about the discussions, but were you ultimately disappointed with the way this was handled by the UFC? You know, according to Dana White, that's a savage move he did. I've seen some interview and he was talking about Jamie is a savage. No, that's a bitch move. And, you know, I should have got, I believe I should have got paid both. You know what I mean? I came.

I was being professional. I did everything possible. And he fucked it up, not me. He also blamed Sean Shelby. He said John Shelby dropped the ball. And it was him not being in the right position and not being prepared for it. And again, like Jeremy's a wild. man, but it turned out to be the onus was put on Sean and not on Jeremy. How did you react to that?

Like, I like Sean. It wasn't his fault. You know what I mean? We signed the contract. We're professionals. Act professional. It seems the plan, at least as of the fight being canceled, that the plan was to rebook this fight with Jeremy. Is that what you're hearing as well? Like, I know you're dealing with, you know, the sort of the back end of everything going on. You're dealing with the disc injury now. Like, is that what you want? Like, at some point, like, the next time you fight? I would love to fight him. I'm not sure how long it's going to take me from my neck to get injured.

You know, I'm still, you know, having, like, try to do anything to get my heart rate up yet. So I'm not sure how my heads are going to respond to that. But I want to get in there and fight him. Did they give you? Go ahead. I'm sorry. Because he knows he was going to get his ass who up that night. Dude, and that's why he did that.

And I can't wait to get in there and just beat him up. Has he reached out to you at all? Like on social media, DM anything saying, like, dude, like, I didn't mean for that to happen, like, anything from his end? No, but when I see him, it's on. I swear, every time I see him, I'm going to fight him. So let me ask you this because we've had many of these chats over the years. You signed with the UFC. I think we spoke right before that happened for the first time.

And you've had seven fights in the UFC. You're five and two. You had one of the craziest fights we've seen in a long time last year with Benile Daryush. In my opinion, like, I feel like you are one of the more underappreciated guys in the lightweight division. Are you happy right now when it comes to your fighting career? Like, when you sign with the UFC, has this lived up to the expectations that you may have set for yourself? Um, no, I'm happy fighting for the UFC, but I can tell things have changed since ESPNs came along. it's more of a, it's more mainstream.

You know what I mean? So they're always in and out. They'll, you know, if I say too much, you're going to see I'll get cut tomorrow. So I'm just not going to say any more on that. Fair enough. How many fights do you have left on your current deal if you don't mind me asking?

I think three. Three? Okay. So you still got, you still got time. And yeah, I mean, this division's so interesting. And this fight was like, was a big deal for you. Like getting a guy like, Jeremy Stevens, especially, like, with everything that this year has brought to you since

the Darius fight, like this is a big deal. And just to have it go away like this kind of sucks, especially with the situation that you're in right now. So perfect world, your neck is okay. We get back and we rebook this fight as soon as possible. Yeah, I'm not sure when they're going to come to, I think they're going to come to Phoenix. I'm not sure when. Hopefully it's in end of July, maybe August, you know, I should be good around there. But yeah, I do, I want to get in there. Hopefully the USC books this again because I swear I'm going to put some pain out of them. I'm going to make that ref pull me off.

I'm still going to hit him. Like, I don't know. I'm just pissed about the whole situation. It sucks, you know. And he's praised for it. I don't like that. It's 20. It's, do you feel like the sport is kind of going to continue to head in

that direction, not just the UFC, just the sport in general. Yeah, you see Jake Paul and all these people there, you know what I mean? It's crazy. You just do a little talking and you get paid, you know what I mean? It shouldn't be like that. It should be the best, fighting the best. But again, it's a business and you've got to sell them tickets. How is, I mean, how has Courtney been dealing with all of this?

Is she angry than you? Because I mean, listen, I know what it's like. to have a significant other who's got your back. And if it was me in that situation, my wife would probably be on a flame to Jeremy Stevens's house right now. Yeah. You know, she's taking it pretty well, you know,

just coming off her loss that should have been a win and then this right here, you know what I mean? It's just we're kind of banking on, you know, making this money so we can invest and do things with it. But now we just have to sit back and take it. slow one day at a time and hopefully i get in there and get my hands hi jeremy is there any silver

linings you find in the situation like is there any blessing in the skies and all this man my health is my number one priority you know um just as long as i'm healthy you know what i mean uh having those concussions people retired from that stuff uh you know that could have took two or three fights off my career. Just trying to stay healthy, get back in there, and just keep fighting. Has this at least made you take that part of it more seriously than maybe you would have had this not happened? Yeah, definitely, man.

You know, that's my first time ever getting a headache. Even after Benil, I didn't, the next day, I was able to train on Monday, no headaches, nothing like that. And, you know, that kind of took a little something from me. and, you know, I got to get it back from him. So, well, listen, Jekar, I know there are a million other things you'd rather be talking about right now. I can't believe you brought up Jake Paul. I made a promise to myself, like, don't bring up Jake Paul in this interview.

I'm sick of talking about him. And there you are bringing him up. So I might as well ask you, like, what have you made of this whole thing? Like, he's getting in D.C.'s face. He's all over the place. Just every time he does anything, people want to know about it. It's so bizarre, man. I mean, you can't hate him.

He's making money. I kind of like that little post he made, he's made more money than any other UFC fighter besides Khabib and Connor. That's crazy. That's crazy. What did you think about that post? Like the one guy who's been like the antithesis against MMA for the last like several months, he's the guy like coming forward and like trying to support fighter rights for for the UFC and MMA fighters. Like I thought that was, I thought that was a pretty cool move on his end if we're being honest. I didn't think I'd be talking about him in such a positive light.

But to see that, I was like, this is pretty cool. Yeah. You know, he can do that because he's his own boss. You know what I mean? That's true. That's a great way to look at it. But Dracar, thank you for the time, man. Like, this is a pretty awful situation.

My best goes out to you, obviously, to get back on track. I know you want this fight with Jeremy and hopefully we could see that. Maybe sometime this summer or at least sometime in 2021, man. Thank you for the time. And thank you for being as open as you possibly could be about all. of this. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it, man. All right. One of the big fights people have their eye on this coming weekend is in the Bannibway Division, and I'm happy to be joined by one of the participants in that contest. He's going to take on Maraub de Wallis-Willis-Willi. Finally,

it goes down on Saturday at UFC Vegas 25. Cody Stamen joins us once again. How are you, man? I'm great, dude. I'm great. Finally, uh, six months in the making we're finally going to do it this weekend. Yeah, man, it has been some road to get here. And we were talking about a little bit off air before we hit record because, you know, this fight with Mara was supposed to happen in December. You had the injury. You could have done it a couple weeks later. Then you were supposed to fight in February and you had two different opponents. It didn't end up happening. You're supposed to fight Askar, he wasn't clear to compete right before the fight was about to start. Like, what have these last couple of months been like for you?

Because I know how badly you wanted to get in there and fight in February, no matter who was in there with you. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I said yes to three different people in February. I literally told my manager, I was like, I don't care who it is. I'm saying yes. I want to fight on that date. It doesn't matter. Like, just don't even bother sending me the contract. Like, I'm going to say yes.

And it's just because at that point, you know, I had gotten ready for a fight in December. I hurt my back. I asked for it to be pushed back two weeks, like you said. And, you know, it wasn't a possibility. And then Marab doesn't fight either. It's like, well, in hindsight, maybe we should have pushed it back two weeks. we could have fought then. So I did one training camp and then I did another training camp and then nothing happens.

And honestly, like initially it was really hard to stay motivated because I had just done back-to-back training camps. And they asked me to fight the same guy again. I'm like, I don't want to do this. Like, you know, give me somebody else. Like I need some variety. You know, I've been eating the same dish for four months. I want to fight somebody else. And Marab starts showing up in the gym and starts kind of training with a bunch of my friends.

my training partners and everybody kind of talked me into doing it. They're like, listen, you should take this fight. Here's why. And I kind of just said, all right, screw it. I mean, I've already signed two contracts to fight the guy. It's not like I, you know, it's a fight that I won't do. So why not a third? So here we are.

I got to fight the little nasty mirab this weekend. And I'm just happy to be fighting, you know what I mean? Like even if it's a little nasty critter like, him, like, at this point, it doesn't even matter. He's put me in the cage. Like, I've been hitching to go for a long time. So, yeah, I just, at this point, if something happens to Marab this week and they offer me a gorilla to fight this weekend, I'm going to do it.

I don't care if he's 285 pounds. I'm going to, I'm going to take the fight. So going back to February, we spoke right before you were supposed to fight, Ascar, Ascar. I think it was like the day after it was made official. And, I mean, you were just fired up to get in there. You were like, thank you for the opportunity, Ascar. Thank you for stepping up and signing the contract. But I'm going to hurt you, son.

Like, I'm going to put you in a bad place. I'm going to make you pay for it. But still, thank you very much. To find out he wasn't cleared to fight and then you lost the fight so close to it. Like, how did you react to that? I mean, not well, not well. You know, I knew it was a risk taking a fight against somebody that was a debut guy. You know what I mean?

and, you know, maybe in hindsight I should have waited and just tried to fight Andre UO and as soon as he was cleared for COVID, but, you know, one in the hands were two in the bush. I was looking at it like, they want this guy in the UFC, they're going to get everything done. They do this all the time. Everything would be fine. And then to have the plug cold and realize that I maybe made the wrong decision was just a nightmare for me. And so I'm going back and I'm thinking, wow, you know, I shouldn't have just fine. thought I should have fought the tougher guy.

I should have done this. I should have done that. And then you start, you know what I mean? All these things are spinning in your head. And then you don't get the opportunity and you don't get paid. And all the hard work seems like it's for nothing. But, you know, I just did what I always do. And I just went back to the gym.

You know, I have that blue collar mentality. It doesn't really matter what's going on in my life. I'm going to work. And thank God for it because, you know, there's no way I'd be sitting here having this conversation with you or be in the UFC or anything if, you know, every single time something, some kind of road bump came along in my career that set me off course. You know, there's been, you know, like most guys, fought a lot of university to be here.

And, you know, I've battled numerous injuries. This isn't the first time I've had opponents switch up last minute. This isn't anything new to me. And the only thing I really know to be true is that, you know, when all these crazy things are happening, I just got to go back to the gym at work. And, you know, if I just continue to do that, you know, I can see everything that I've manifested, all the goals that I have as an athlete coming to fruition. And, you know, this is no different.

You know, I've had, you know, 2020 was a really tough year for me, you know, losing a fight, losing a family member. I mean, there's no adversity that you're going to, that I'm going to see in the cage, in life, that I have not seen, you know what I mean? And knock on wood, I mean, I've dealt with some heavy shit and I'm not scared of, you know, any other heavy shit that's coming on my way. You know what I mean?

Because I know that, you know, when my back's against the wall and when shit hits the fan and things aren't going the way they're supposed to, I'll figure it out. When we last spoke, you talked about how taking the fight with Jimmy Rivera was a mistake in hindsight. Like you regretted that decision. You felt like you've made a lot of good ones along the way, but this one was, even though the opportunity was a good one,

you felt like just kind of jumping in there wasn't a good idea. And then you talked about losing a family member and all that stuff. As awful as those things are, do you think sort of dealing with those things in 2020 helped you kind of cope with losing the Askar-Askar fight, like in a better way? Like you said, you're a blue-collar guy. You got right back in there.

But you dealt with those things. questioned yourself enough in 2020 to have that happen. Was just, did you just treat it as just like a, just another small bump in the road to get where you need to go? Yeah, I mean, I think I absolutely hit rock bottom after the gym and verify.

Not only, you know, was I dealing with a ton of personal stuff. And then I went out and competed like an asshole. And like I was at a bad, bad place. And, you know, the thing about, there's two things that happen when you,

when you kind of drop the ball and you're sitting in that, position one you grow up in a ball and a lot of people i mean people that i know that are strong people that are good people you know something in their life and never really there's always like this looming darkness around them um and i just refused to be one of those people i was going to be one of the people that you know let uh let life beat me down and honestly i just came back and kind of like bullproof my mind and got to a point where you know i will maybe sit and feel sorry for myself for a day, a few hours, and then I was right back to work.

And, you know, you're absolutely right. All the bad things that happened kind of formulated me and the man I am today. And the reason, you know, I'll be successful in the future. You know, I guess I didn't know really how much I had to give until I lost everything. And then everything changed. My mindset changed. You know what I mean? Like it's not really like I see everything as an opportunity.

Now, you know, all the good things I see him as opportunities instead of like, you know, like you sign a fight. It's against a really tough guy. And you're like, well, why do I got to fight this guy? Why can't I get the Sean O'Malley train and fight a bunch of guys that are on their way out? And, you know, I just looked at everything like an opportunity now. Like, why do I have to fight Marab to abolish abilities, you know, easily, you know, what people would say is the bus restaurants in the band of the division. Like, why can't I get somebody else? And I'm just like, dude, they gave me Marab.

I'm just going to figure out a way to beat him. Like that's my mindset. Now I'm like, it's not like I'm fighting Marab. Maram has to fight me. And I'm going to be a nightmare for him. That gave me way too much time prepared for this fight. Yeah. And that was kind of like another thing that stuck off from our last conversation between, you know,

dealing with 2020 and then finding out you were fighting Marab, you got into like insane physical condition. Like you ramp things up to a whole other level. So after losing the Ascar fight, when you found out that you were sketched, to fight Marab again, did you, like, ramp things up even more? Or was this just like, okay, we've done this before. Let's just fine-tune some things. Yeah, honestly, so in, in February, I was, like, convinced, like, this is the best condition I have ever been in. I cannot get in

better shape than this. This is the best version of myself I could ever be. And I was confident in that. I knew that. And, you know, I do a ton of stuff to P.I. And they track all your your heart rate, you know, what your heart rate is when you're doing this. And so I have like all this data. And I know exactly like I know for a fact that this is the best shape I've ever been in, you know, in comparison to other fights. And like I said, after the Rivera fight, it's like a fight that I didn't have any gas. I'm like, I'm never going to feel that again.

You know what I mean? Because going into a fight, wanting to win, not having the gas to do it, it's a terrible, terrible, terrible feeling because you're basically a punching bag in there. You're not, you can't, you know what you have to do, but you cannot do it. And it is a horrible feeling, especially against a dude that throws bombs like Jimmy Rivera. It was not a friendly feeling in there, knowing that, you know, I didn't have what it took to go out and push and win that fight. Just physically, my muscles just were not doing it. So I was like, I'm never going to be in that position again as an athlete. And so I, I murdered myself. And I was,

I was ready in December. I was ready in February. February is like where I really peaked where I was like, wow, this is it. This is, this is me at my best. And, you know, after that fight didn't happen, I took a couple weeks. Still trained a little bit, but wasn't real serious about it. Get to Marab fight. And I'm like, okay, we got to do all this all over again.

Let's see, you know, let's see kind of where I'm at. and you know my numbers weren't as good you know a month into the training camp now a month into this training camp I'm I'm blowing the numbers that I did in February away and like I was 1,000% convinced that February was the best I could be and the fact that you know I went up from there you know having a little bit of rest and you know jumping back into a training camp like I've surprised myself I mean I'm running sub five minute miles like I've never ran under a six-months. minute mile. I'm not a runner. I don't know. I'm not made to run like a short stubby legs. Like I'm not not made to do in endurance and endurance competition. But right now I mean I could. I could literally, you know what I mean? Jump on a track and race maybe against high school or set around the mile.

But I mean, not against like collegiate level athletes. But I mean, I'm in crazy good shape for you know my body type and what I normally bring to the table and it makes me wonder. It's like, dude, why have you not not been doing this? Why have you not been getting? given this your entire career and what's the upside you know that's that's what i'm sitting here asking myself constantly uh you know coming into this fight like what's the upside you know i know that i know that i know that you know if marab and i get into an absolute barn burner which i predict we will uh can i can i can i gas marab up you know what i mean a guy that's known for kind of wearing on people you know sloppy he's coming at

like a dog with rabies. Like, can I in Marab Marat? I honestly think I can. I really, really believe it. Like, do I think I can run takedowns up on the guy? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, froze wild shit. Nobody really tries to wrestle them.

I've seen a couple guys shoot on them ever, and I don't think they're the Calver wrestler that I am. I honestly believe that if I want to, I can go out there in Marab. Damn, I think I could get 10 takedowns on them. I think I could hold him down. I think I can push a pace. I think I can wear him out.

And I want to do that. I want to do that. That's something I enjoy doing against every opponent. You know, I like taking those guys into places that they are maybe should be good. And just seeing who's better. I did it against the guy, like one of my first fights. I fought this wrestler. And everyone told me, don't wrestle the guy.

I don't wrestle with that. Don't wrestle the guy. I went out and started shooting double legs and got in a wrestling match with him, five-minute wrestling match, and just burnt the guy, and then knock him out in the second round. So I'm going to go out,

I'm going to wrestle him wrap, and I'm going to see what he has. And after that, you know, I'm going to put the dude away. Yeah, that's a really interesting way of looking at it because, you know, a lot of people don't want to wrestle with him for the reasons that you just mentioned, but we haven't really seen him off of his back very much

in his UFC career. So you getting in there and getting a takedown on him. I think that, I mean, who knows if you're going to watch us, but that would probably surprise him. And, you know, maybe you can wear on him a little bit with him being off his back and trying to get him off of you, get you off of him. Yeah, exactly. I think a lot of people kind of try to play this like outside game.

They don't really let them close. But, I mean, we're fighting a small cage. We're two guys that, you know, we're not big dudes. We're going to be on top of each other. What am I going to do? am I going to dance around and try a bullet to take down for 15 minutes? Like, no, Marat's shooting on me. He's going to shoot 20 plus times.

I know that. I think in this division. And so that's not really something that I'm concerned with. You know, even if the guy does get a take down, like, I won't be there for more than a couple seconds. So it's not like it'll really matter. You know, Marat's not like a B. A guy that takes you down. And you never get back to your feet.

I don't necessarily worry so much about his wrestling. I worry more about his craft that he throws on his seat. You know, I have to be sharp. I have to be focused. And I have to be ready for a guy that literally is kind of off balance and weird, the whole fight. But stylistically, I couldn't really think of a guy that's better. You know, I think of him just like Brian Carraway, you know,

kind of ugly on his feet, shoots a lot. and I fought Brian Carraway with a torn ACL and two broken ribs and beat him. So I'm confident going to the smash up this weekend. Are you training at all the same places that you trained for for the Ascar fight or for the February fight? Or did you have to maybe change some things around at all? No, I mean, because Ascar was originally supposed to be MRAB, I mean, I did the exact same thing. I mean, the only thing I really changed about my training at all. all was I just added a couple of wrestling practices a week, straight wrestling practice where I just

did a really, really hard grinding wrestling matches. And probably the most I've ever wrestled. The past six months is the most I've wrestled my entire MMA career. Like, I really don't wrestle that much, you know, even though I go out and I win a lot of fights by wrestling, I really just kind of relied on the high school wrestling, you know, that, you know, I did 10 years ago. I don't really, like, try to sharpen my wrestling game, but I really focused a lot on the, on the wrestling, obviously, coming into a fight against Marab, and, and, like I said, I'm just, just curious, I'm curious of what I have in there, you know what I mean, what I mean, what's different, I mean, I know I'm a better wrestler than I've ever been, I know I'm in better shade, and I'm

kind of just jumping at the bit because I want to see what I can do on Saturday night. Of course. I mean, there's there's a lot going on in this division right now. Al Jemaine Sterling is the Banway champion after the DQ went over Piotrion. And I'm sure you've talked about this in other interviews. But I'm curious to get your take on the whole thing because it's been quite the story. And you know, I know Eric Nixick was in his corner and everything. I talked to him about it. So, you know, what was your thoughts? sort of like the aftermath of that whole thing. So, I mean, in another interview, I said that I thought that Al Jermaine could have got, I still believe that to be sure. He got all pissed at me and sent me at something on Twitter because, I mean, we're kind of friends on a personal level. But, I mean, I stand by that.

I do believe that he could have continued. Do I think it was the right choice? I think it was the right thing to do continue after that? It's like, no, I mean, I think that he made the right choice for him by staying down and, you know, winning the championship, I think that was a huge money move. And I think it was the smartest thing that he could have done. I've been in that situation, song and down, need me in the head and scrambled my eggs a little bit. And I was just pissed off, not thinking. And I got back to my feet, just mad, and I just wanted to keep fighting. And then I, you know, get a majority

draw and hindsight could have just stayed down. You know, maybe it would have been better for your health and better for your career if you had just stayed down. So it's hard to say what the right decision is, you know, but the optics of it all don't look good. You know, he could have done things a lot differently. I mean, obviously that he shouldn't have had the belt on that night. He shouldn't have had a drink in his hand.

they shouldn't have been celebrating and if they did it should have never made it to the internet I mean the optics looked at and that's not the people that are around them the people that are close to them uh posting shit like that and I think more I think more than uh more than more than I care about Al Jemaine's decision uh to get up to get down um doesn't directly affect me right now so I don't really care uh but maybe you should look at his friend's circle and look at like you know what I mean that the cloud chasers and the people that he's got around him and start questioning that because, I mean, people really did make him look bad and like, I don't know if it's him or who's telling him

to do this stuff that he's doing now, but I mean, it just doesn't look good. You know, I like the guy on a person level, like I said, but I think he's making some big mistakes, you know, representing himself right now. That rematch will be massive when it happens. I know he's recovering from some surgery right now. He thinks he'll be back in October and that would be cool if that did happen. I'm really excited for that. And on top of that, we got some big main events in the division coming up this month, Dillishaw versus Sanhagen's next weekend, Font versus Garbrandt, a couple weeks after that. A lot going on right now. So in your eyes, how important is it for you to sort of set the tone ahead of these big fights and sort of put yourself

in these conversations with some of these guys at the top? Yeah. I mean, that's, you know, something that I've always kind of seen myself being one of those guys, being one of the top guys in the band-o-lead division. You know, regardless of where anyone else sees me, I do believe that there's only a few people on the planet that can be me and I'm in MMA at this point in my career. And I think that number gets smaller and smaller every day, every day that I'm in the gym working hard. So it's interesting that the fights that are happening, you know,

I think Sanhagen Dillishaw fight is this fight that I'm most excited to watch because I really want San Hagan to knock T.J. Dillashaw out. I want Dillshaw out of the equation. The whole taint and supplement thing, I mean, and I know a lot of people that personally know T.J. Like, this isn't the first time that T.J. took steroids. You know, it's like you get a DUI. Is that the first time you were drinking and driving? Like, let's be honest. Probably not. Probably did it every weekend. and you just finally got caught. It's funny that regardless of all that stuff, there's so many people that are still like on the T.J. Dillowel Shaw bandwagon. It's like we really don't even put that much weight into, you know, what EPO and what HGH and all the things I know TJ does into account. Like the guy is recovering faster.

He's got more of a gas tank. He's winning all these big fights in the face. round because, you know, like he's dope to the bone and, you know, I'm sure that he's still going to find a way to cheat. I just don't think that he knows anything else. And he knows that Yusada didn't catch him last time. So, I mean, why would he change? He knows that it's an athletic commission that caught him. And it was, it was a, it was a, it was a weird thing. You know, I mean, TJ's coach is in contact with Yusada all the time to know what the, what the tests are, to know, you know what's going on why why would he need to know that the only reason he would need to know that

is because you know he's trying to beat the test and uh i don't think i don't think tj just deserves anything like about that he's getting you know because it would be really easy for me to to at this point be like hey well you know tj didn't get in a lot of trouble maybe i should do the EPO maybe i should get on hg and i should be you know what i mean like the same that you know what i mean the same because I know that it's going to be really hard for him to catch me. I should try to cheat. I mean, but at the end of the day, you got to look yourself in the mirror and be like, you know, did I get this? Do I have all these things because of my hard work and my dedication or do I have all these things because I found a shortcut and a loophole in the system? And I'd like to walk away from

the sport with some integrity or, you know, whatever you can have as an athlete in the MMA community. And I'd like to know that I did it the right way. And I don't think he ever can. And I wish more people scowling him for it and didn't give a shit to watch him fight. So you'll be, you'll be on Team Sanhagen on May 8th. I'm on team. I'm on team Sanhagen. Honestly, Corey Sanhagen is the dude in the band of my division that that scares the absolute shit out of me.

If there's one guy that like when the contract comes across the table, if it says Corey Sanhagen, I'm going to shit my pants. but anybody else I'd be like, okay, let's do it. Corey St. Hank him, be like, give me a couple of days. I need to think about it. Because, I mean, that guy's scary. He really is scary. In my eyes, he's the scariest dude in the division.

I think he could easily be the champ. I think he could easily be the best guy in the world. And, you know, nobody in this division scares me like Corey St. hanging does. That's a good fight. Yeah, Fond and Garbrandt. I know you and Fon aren't the best of friends, so that'll be interesting as well. I assume you watched UFC 261 on that.

I'm on Garbrand. What's that? Yeah, I watched the fights. I watched the fights. And I got a lot of comments from fans and stuff. And they were like, man, did you see that? That was crazy. His leg just snapped.

First it was like, man, you got to throw that calf kick more. And then it was like, oh, my God, be careful throwing leg kick. And I'm like, dude, this is MMA and this shit ain't new. Like, this stuff's been happening. And it's a crazy sport. And I think it takes someone like absolutely snapping their life for people to realize, like, absolutely how dangerous it is, you know, what we're doing. And then you go to the title fights and you got Rose.

I thought Rose would win. I really, really believe that she was better than Wainley. And I think, you know, she is the best girl in the world. and I'm happy that she won. The one that really surprised me, though, was Usman. Like, Kamar Usman, absolutely throwing a bomb and knocking out Jorge Masfadol. I thought it was going to be more of the same.

I thought it was going to be the same fight. And I think that Usman can win that fight 10 times out of 10 against Jorge Mazvedal where he's just grinding him and he goes five rounds and he beats him because he's just levels above. Jorge Mansfordal and the grappling exchanges. But the fact that he went out there and decided he didn't really want to grapple

and he goes and knocks the dude out, man, hats off to Kamar Uesman. like, that's a bad dude. And I think he deserves to be the number one guy pound for pound in the UFC right now because no one's doing what he's doing. Let's be honest, that's a tough division. He's dust and everybody. So big Lewisman fan. Yeah, hard to argue with everything you just said there.

Is it kind of a bummer that this card is happening a week after that? Because, I mean, you obviously heard the fans in Jacksonville. It's like a whole different experience, you know, 13 months later, fans back in there, they're rowdy. Obviously provides a different atmosphere. You're a little bums like this is happening a week later and you're back of the apex with no fans? No, I mean, I'm just happy to be in Vegas. You know what I mean? I live here now.

Logistically, it's so much easier to fight at home. Uh, you know, so, so, uh, I would sacrifice not having fans to fight here. You know, I think it's, it's just, it's so much easier, you know, do I want to deal with all the bullshit COVID protocols? Like, absolutely not. Like, I would like to just stay at my house, make weight, you know, sleep in my own bed and then go to the venue on, on fight day. You know, the quarantine, I understand why we have to do it. Uh, you know, but listen, there's other places that are saying, F you to COVID. I can't wait until Nevada does because I'm over this bullshit. Like, I don't want to wear a mask. I don't want to pretend like I'm going to die from a virus that I've literally seen

100 of my friends survive, you know, in 48 hours. I mean, I'm over, I'm over COVID. I don't believe it is as bad as they say. I mean, people die the flu, people die in car accidents. You know, I could literally drop dead from a can't. seniorism, you know, right now. Like, let's not live in fear. Let's just move on. And then, you know, regardless, you'll, you'll be in the Octagon with Marab de Wallis Willie on Saturday. The time has finally come. You're prepared to go out there and make a statement,

send a message to everybody, 135, maybe a message to the odds makers that have you as a two to one underdog in this fight, Cody. How do we send that message on Saturday night? How do we get this thing done? I got to beat the dog shit out of him. I really do. This isn't the first time I've been an underdog, though. This is a kind of a reoccurring theme in my career. And I'm not really sure what it is. I'm not really sure what it is. I mean, I've been an underdog in all but two of my UFC fights, I think.

So, I mean, the underdog thing isn't really something that is foreign to me. I guess a lot of my friends have made a lot of money betting on me. So I guess they can keep making me an underdog. Shit, I'll bet on myself. You know, if that's even that's legal to do, I'll put whatever amount of money on myself going in this fight. If I can double my money,

I should I put my fight purse on it. I mean, that's how confident I am going into this fight this weekend. So you know, Marab's a good dude. The Jordan fans suck and I can't wait to just put an end to all this shit. I want to, you know, I want to

knock Marab out and then I want to start looking at the bigger names than the family division. Yeah, so if if you want to know what Cody's talking about going as Instagram and he sort of explained that. But Marab, you know, kind of told him the calm down a little bit, which is up, okay? He's a nice guy. He's a nice guy.

And, uh, it's, oh, man, these guys are just making it real personal and making it real nasty. And it's like, if I wasn't motivated to train for him before, after I read those messages, I was like, I'm going to murder. Everyone. Everyone. Like, I was absolutely insane. So I think it had kind of a, uh, a wrong effect. I don't think they would have been better off

just leaving me the hell along because now I'm very motivated and I've been sitting on the shelf for too long and ready to fill somebody. He's got the locker room material now. Well, sir, it has been a crazy year for you. I know you've been waiting to get 2021 started as soon as possible and it finally does

on Saturday at the apex. So Cody, appreciate the time as always. Really looking forward to this fight on Saturday and all the best to you, my friend. Thank you, man. All right, let us welcome back to the program Dustin Jacoby. He is back at action this Saturday against Iwan Kutalaba. This should be a banger for sure. Dustin, how are you, man? Great, Mike. Thanks for having me on the show. I'm excited to catch up with you and talk some fight business.

Absolutely. It's great to have you back, sir. First off, this fight came together pretty quickly. Devin Clark was originally supposed to have this fight on Saturday, but you are in. How do we get to this point? How did you enter the fray, so to speak? Yeah, I just got a call for my management team. And last Sunday, I guess it was, and told me that there was an opportunity to fight Kutalaba. And I talked to my coach, he loved the matchup. And I love the matchup myself. So here we are, man, fighting this Saturday night at the apex and right where I feel comfortable and feel at home. So I'm excited to get it popping. Yeah.

I mean, it's funny you say that because, I mean, you have had quite a year, man, from the contender series, two wins in the UFC since August, all in Las Vegas. I mean, how would you describe these last eight months or so, man? It's been like a whirlwind for you? Not really a whirlwind, man. I've been doing this profession for 10 years now. So it just kind of seems like another day at the office, to be honest. Obviously, it's great to be back with the UFC.

I had my opportunity on the contender series. I made the most of it. And I was fortunate enough to be given a contract by Dana. And went out there and made the most of my next two opportunities. and I got rewarded by getting a new contract to the UFC for this fight. And, you know, like I said, the biggest thing is just getting comfortable at the apex. I feel very comfortable there. You know, this would be my fourth time competing there.

And fourth time competing with no crowd, which is a major bummer. And I can't wait until I can get back out there and fight with the crowd like this past weekend. Man, that place was going, was electric. And I can't wait for that, man. I'm super pumped for that opportunity. I was just going to say, it's like a week removed from the crowd. and then back to the apex, and I know you're comfortable there, but there's got to be a party that's a little bit bummed after seeing how ruckus that place was

this past Saturday. Oh, dude, there's a whole, every, every ounce of me is bummed that there's not going to be a crowd Saturday. But you know what? As I told my wife, I said that to her, I was like, man, look at this crowd. Like, that's what people want to see. The people are there. That crowd was kind of like a big, you know, tossing the bird up to everybody. Like, we're here, man.

We want to be back. We want to be back to normal. We want to be back to watch it. live sports. And I told my wife, man, I wish I had that. And she's like, hey, relax, you're going to have that. You just can't see him. So she's right, man. There'll be a lot of family and friends and people tune it in. I just won't be able to see him. And, you know, I mean, it is what it is. Hopefully we get them back soon. Yeah, that's a good, that's actually a really good way to look at it. And of course, your guy, Anthony Smith, looked tremendous in that

fight. It was a lot of fun with Jimmy Crute and did kind of unfortunately with the injury. but great for ground. It was very enjoyable to watch. What did you think of Anthony going out there and continuing to prove the daughters wrong? Oh, dude, I was so happy for Anthony. I knew Jim and hats off to Jimmy Crute, man. That guy is an animal, extremely tough. He's hungry up and comer.

And you never know, man. I may be dancing with him here in the near future sometime. But I could tell, right, you know, I was nervous for Anthony just because of the competition, man. I knew Crute was young and hungry. and coming for Anthony's spot. When I saw Anthony start that walkout and start embracing with the crowd and how well the crowd loved him,

I immediately was like, I looked over to everybody. I was there. I was like, man, Anthony's going to win this. Like, there was zero doubt in my mind.

He looked awesome. He was just relishing in the moment. And he went out there and delivered, man. It was an awesome fight. Super unfortunate that it ended the way it did. But then again, I mean,

that's Anthony going out there and delivering a fight ending blow. You know, that's what we're paid to do. And that's what we're, We signed the contract to do it to go out there and do whatever it takes to get your opponent out there. And he did that. So I was super excited for him.

And glad I was in the training room getting him ready. So it made me comfortable to take this call and accept the challenge for next Saturday. Yeah. You know, I felt the same way. You heard Return of the Mac blast over the speakers. He's walking out and having a good time. And right there and then I'm like, oh, boy, this is going to be a scrap. Oh, yeah.

Here's a good spirit. Yeah, no doubt, man. Yeah, he was in great spirit. And so was crew, man. I had some to both guys. It was just phenomenal matchup. And, of course, you know, I'm happy my teammate and friend got it done. Your most recent appearance, you fought Maxim Grishin.

It was a fun fight. It was super close, good little scrap. And both of you guys showed your toughness in that fight. What did you take away from those 15 minutes after getting a quick knockout in your first fight? Yeah, man, Max Grishin is extremely durable, extremely tough. He's a gritty, crafty veteran. I knew he was going to be in. I come away from that fight with so much confidence.

And so I was just so proud to get that victory and happy with myself because, you know, Grishin is not an easy out for anybody. I honestly don't think there's many people in the light heavyweight division that beat that guy. And then on the other side of that, dude, he's probably the biggest light heavyweight that I'm going to face. So, you know, I'm happy to get that out of the way. I'm happy to go against a veteran like that, somebody that really pushed me to the core. you know, there was no doubt that he won round one. And then I thought I did a good job of winning rounds two and three.

And that's exactly how the judges saw. You know, I ended up winning by unanimous decision. And, you know, they saw it the way I saw it. They saw it the way that I felt it in there. And, you know, again, to be able to go toe to toe to, at the end of the day, people can say what they say, but I'm the one that get in there and I do this. And I'm the one that stood toe to toe with him for 15 minutes. And it gives me just the utmost confidence to just keep going forward.

and, you know, now I got another tough fight and I in Kuntalaba, but he's not a monster like Grishen is. I feel so much more relaxed and comfortable going into this fight, to be completely honest. Yeah, I would agree. Were you getting flak for the, for the Grishen fight? Were people saying, like, he was robbed or anything like that? Like, what was the feedback you got?

No, I got pretty positive feedback. I mean, listen, we all know it was a very close fight. You know, I've had those fights in my career where I've been on the losing side, and it's like, yeah, I look in the mirror, like, I didn't lose that fight. The judge just said it. I lost the fight, but I don't feel like I lost the fight, you know. So you just got to keep going, you know. And when you, when you win or when you lose like that, it's tough. But no, I didn't get much flag. I think a lot of people saw it the same way. I think they saw that he won round one. And I think they saw that one round one. And after we watched it. That's exactly how I saw it as well. So, yeah, man, it's, it is what it is. And I was just happy to get that victory. How's the golf game these days? I assume you've had to get off the course a little bit because you've got a fight to prepare for. But how, uh, I've been swinging the sticks here. Yeah, I've been playing really well this year, to be honest.

I've yet to get around in the 70s. I had right after that Grisham fight, I had my guys golf trip out in Vegas, and I was out there for a week. And I've made a goal of not getting north of 90, not posting a 90 or more score, like the past few years. And early on, I always have that round out in Vegas in March, golf, you know, when you're not in your prime, in your prime shape and golfing season, I always kind of go north of 90. Well, this year, I had an 88 and I shot an 86 and then 2.81's out

in Vegas. So I'm pretty confident I'm not going to go north of 90 this year. I played Saturday and Sunday this weekend, and I really locked back-to-back 80s, which is a little disappointing because I missed so many four. I miss so many short puts, man, that should have put me at like a 76, 77. But yeah, man, golf game's good. I play. And as a matter of fact, I'm supposed to be playing in a scramble right now. My wife's playing with another one of my buddies. I just, I couldn't do it. I had training this morning.

And I didn't want it. With it being fight week, I didn't want to, uh, I wanted to kind of suffer a little bit. I didn't want to be out having fun. I want to be inside. I, you know, I've got trained this morning. I was training this afternoon. I just wanted to be, like I said, a little bit of suffering before I go into this fight. There you go.

So, I mean, I'm sure you are well aware that he is, uh, he's quite the personality. he's a bit of a wild man to say the least in that octagon. So, you know, like you said, you fought Maxim Grishen, who's a big, powerful guy, you know, huge in stature. This matchup, I would guess, is stylistically your cup of tea to say the least. Oh, 100% man. And look, Ion to, or Eon is a great opponent. He's a great competitor. I've been watching this guy for the past couple of years. Like you said, he's a guy that sticks out. You know, a lot of the fans know who he is. I think he fights with a lot of emotion from the time, the way in start, he's a pretty emotional guy. And I think that drains a lot of his energy. And that's something

that's definitely going to be playing in my favor. I think the hardest part of the fight is going to be the first two or three minutes. And once I weather that storm from him, I think I'm just going to completely take over, man. I love the matchup. And I fought, you know, he's not, he's not a heavy wrestler. He's not a heavy grinder, grappler. He's not going to try to take me down a whole hold me down. So I'm not worried about that. And, uh, and, and, and, and, and, and I've fought, you know, the best strikers in the world in the glory, under the glory kickboxing promotion and guys that, you know, this, this fight right here, I'm not overlooking it. I know it's going to be a tough fight and I'm excited for the challenge, but I tell you what, man, I have zero fear. I have

zero doubt that I'm going to come out victorious. He's been a little bit of a rough patches of late. I mean, he had the two fights with, with Ankola. He got a win in between, but he had the submission loss to Glover. He's fought tough guys. I mean, he does have a couple of stoppage wins over the last few years. But I mean, how do you sort of view this one? Like, do you think he's going to come out maybe a little more cautious knowing he's likely in a situation where he pretty much has to win this fight or, you know, could be the last? But or do you think he's going to like turn that wildman side of him up a couple of notches? I think to be honest, I think he might be a little more reserved. But with that being said, I fully expect him coming out hard. And I, I,

want him to come out hard. I think that's who he is. I think I don't think he can get away from that. Even as much as he tries to maybe come out reserved, I think, you know, it's just his fighting spirit, man. It's who he is. He's a warrior and he's a madman. You know, he wants to go balls to the wall. And, you know, I'm looking forward to that, man. I'm embracing that. Like I said, I think that that's a little bit of a weakness of his, that he lets his emotions get the better of them. And, you know, I'm just excited, man. I know I know he's going to be throwing bombs. And I know he can catch me. He can knock out anybody. I know he's very capable of knocking me out. I just got to make sure I keep my distance. I'm a cleaner striker. You know, you use, we have a couple of tools that

we've been sharpening and working on. And I got a couple of tricks up my sleeve that I think you're going to work perfect for this matchup. Of course, later on the card, another big one in your division in the main event between Dominic Reyes and Yuri Perashka. Fun fight. How do you sort of see that one playing out? Yeah, that's a really fun fight, man. And this Yuri, guy. I'm a big fan of him. I remember the first time I was watching five. I was like, man, I like this guy. And then he went out there and had a walk off knockout. And, you know, I'm going to be watching closely. You know, I'm going to get this victory. And after this victory, you know, I'm wanting a top 15 opponent. You know, I want to get close to that top 10. And maybe by the end of this year,

have a number next to my name. So those are two guys that I very well see myself competing with in the future. And, you know, I'm a big fan of both guys. I think both guys are great athletes. I think both guys are great warriors. I think Dominic's a little bit better of an athlete, but I think Uri is a little more, he's a little more unorthodox. He's a little more unconventional. He throws some crazy stuff, and he's really long.

So both are scary individuals. I think Uri has the power and the unorthodox and just the different style to maybe catch Dominic, but we'll see, man. I'll keep my eyes on both of them. In terms of your fight, how do you see this one going out? Like, you know, you're confident that you're going to emerge victorious, but this is a fight. A lot of people have circled on their fight cards ahead of Saturday night.

How do we get this thing done? Man, I think I catch him. I really do. I think that, you know, my precision and my striking is going to be better than his. And, you know, I just got to watch out for them wild hooks. I'm going to stay, keep it simple, man. Straight one, two is right down the center. You know, look for those teeps and then maybe switch them into something else.

And I think I catch him. I really do, man. I think that my power is there. And I've got something to prove, too. Three of my last four MMA fights have went to a decision. And, you know, and so I look at myself as a finisher. So I need to go out there and make a statement and finish this guy and prove that I'm ready for the top echelon of that light heavyweight division.

Yeah. So let's get through this one, you know, get a stoppage. And then let's get you on that July 10th card because that kind of checks off two boxes. You're very comfortable in Vegas. And you get to fight in front of fans. So I think that is that something you're kind of thinking about? Like, let's get in there. and then let's get on that July 10th card

and fight in front of the peeps. Bingo, man. That's exactly what I'm thinking. I'm going to go out there and put this guy away. And, you know, I'm going to try to get on that July 10th card, the Porreier-McGregor card with the first fight back in Vegas with fans. That's exactly my mindset. That's my goal.

So that's what I'm shooting for, man. Well, there you go. I'm very happy for you, man. This is a great scrap. You have certainly been, in my opinion, one of the great stories in the sport over the last eight months or so. And that story continues this Saturday. see Vegas 25 and I'm I'm psyched for this fight, Dustin. Enjoy fight week, my man. All the best to you on

Saturday and hopefully when this is done and get right back on the golf course and shoot somewhere in the 70s. Hey, I appreciate you, man. Yeah, I've got, I've already got a tea time lined up for the Saturday after my fight. So I'm looking forward to it, man. But, you know, like I said, this week's business is usually. I got a job to do. And then I'll enjoy that week that follows fight week. So I'm pumped. All right. Thanks, man. I appreciate the time as always. Thanks, bro. And then we'll catch up and we'll talk about this picture again. And hopefully we can meet each other on a golf course one of these days.

See, now you're speaking my language. One of my goals in the next year or so is to do like an interview playing golf. Like that's what I want to do with somebody. So maybe you can be the guinea pig when I'm out there. Make sure I'm the guinea pig. Make sure I'm that first guy. I would love to, man. I would love that as well.

Thank you, Dustin. Thanks, Mike. Have a good day. You too, man. listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.