MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 12 | Petr Yan, Cynthia Calvillo, Frankie Edgar, Calvin Kattar & More

Episode Date: June 18, 2020

Check out a loaded episode 12 of What the Heck with Mike Heck on MMA Fighting. This week, Mike chats with Petr Yan (4:57) to discuss his upcoming bantamweight title fight against Jose Aldo, talks Henry Cejudo retiring, training with Aldo several years ago, and the state of the division.  Cynthia Calvillo (19:30) recaps her win over Jessica Eye in the main event of UFC on ESPN 10 this past weekend, talks why she’s over her opponent missing weight, and what’s next.  Khama Worthy (35:29) previews his upcoming fight with Luis Pena at UFC on ESPN 12 June 27, gives his thoughts on what’s going on in the U.S. in the fight against racial injustice, and being inspired by watching the fight between Andre Fili and Charles Jourdain.  Pena (57:59) also joins the show to give his take on the matchup, the recent move to American Top Team, why the last couple of years—and meeting his biological father and brother—have put him at ease, as well as training with the likes of Jorge Masvidal and Dustin Poirier--who headlines the event.  Mickey Gall (1:19:03) discusses his UFC on ESPN 12 co-main event fight with Mike Perry, his opponent’s pre-fight trash talk, the possibility of Perry having his girlfriend in his corner solely, how he sees the fight playing out, and explains why The Last Dance is a must-watch docuseries.  Frankie Edgar (1:34:36) returns to the show to preview his bantamweight debut against Pedro Munhoz in the co-main event of the UFC’s July 15 event, returning to the place where he became UFC champion 10 years ago, Cody Garbrandt’s UFC 250 win, and more.  Finally, Calvin Kattar (1:46:26) chats about his July 15 main event bout with Dan Ige, the reaction to the booking, signing a new deal with the UFC and why he’s not focused on the UFC 251 featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. What the Heck with Mike Heck on MMAfighting.com. Now here is your host, Mike Heck. What the heck? Everybody, welcome to an all new episode of what the heck on MMAfighting.com. My name is Mike Heck. Always appreciate everybody watching and listening to the show each and every week, every Thursday, 10 a.m. Right here on M.A. Funning, that's 10 a.m. Eastern time.

For those of you working from home, excuse me, have a bit of a commute, need something to watch or listen to for a while. Boy, do we get you covered this week. A record seven guests on tap for what the heck this week. And I said this on Twitter the other day. We've had some big names, some big guests on this program over the first 11 episodes. But I have to say that pound for pounds, start to finish, top to bottom. This might be the most loaded lineup we have ever had.

on the program and we get a lot to get to and discuss that is for sure. First off, UFC on ESPN Ted is in the books. The card was not looked at in a super positive light. And if you skipped it, all right. But if you didn't, you got a fun one. First three fights all ended inside of a minute, tying a UFC record for the most sub-minute finishes on a card in promotional history, had some great performances.

We had a great fight between Andre Feeley and Charles Jordane. And at the end of the night, a new face emerged in the women's 100. 25 pound title discussion with Cynthia Calvio defeating Jessica I. Now, the UFC is back with another fun one in Las Vegas this weekend, headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blades and Alexander Volkov. We've got a great co-mate event between Josh Emmett and Shane Burgos. He's got Liming Good versus Belal Mohammed, Jim Miller versus Roosevelt Roberts.

We've got the return to Brianna Van Buren. A lot of people are very excited about her career, her future in the sport. She's going to fight Tisha Torres. You got Roxanne Motifery versus Lauren Murphy. That's a big fight. It's a pretty damn good card that I am looking forward to very much. Plus, which makes me just as happy, if not happier, we get an earlier start time this week.

5 p.m. Eastern time. The prelims kick off on ESPN and ESPN Plus, and then 8 Eastern for the main card. This makes me very, very happy, especially the night before Father's Day. And there's just too much to get to. I already feel like I'm rambling, so I'm going to stop. It's time to hear from the fighters themselves.

So let's run down this crazy lineup for this week's episode of what the heck. So rounding us off this week, we have the return to the program of Calvin Cater. We found out earlier this week that he's going to take on Dan Egey in the main event of the UFC's July 15th event on Fight Island or Yaz Island, which the UFC's been to a couple of times already, but we'll get the Boston finishers thoughts on that fight at the end of the show. Before that, like it shall be on July 15th, Frankie Edgar is back on the show. He is still fighting Pedro Munoz. It's just not happening at UFC 251 on July 11th anymore.

They moved that fight four days down the road to the co-main event of July 15th card on Yaz Island. Excited to catch up with the answer later on in the show. Speaking of co-made events, Mickey Gall returns to the show to preview his co-made event fight with Mike Perry next weekend. June 27th in Las Vegas is the fight he's wanted for a while now. and he'll be on to talk about that fight and much more this week. Another fun fight coming up this weekend at 155 pounds. Luis Pena is fighting Kamilworthy. And it's been around a year or so since we saw Kamalworthy,

finished Devante Smith this past August. It was one of, if not the biggest upset of the year last year. Get the Death Star versus Violent Bob Ross. That is a great piece of business right there. We're going to hear from both of those guys on the show back to back. comma worthy first who had some amazing insight not just on the fight but everything going on in the country right now and then we'll check in with louis pania we mentioned her earlier cynthia calvio joins us once again she's going to recap her big win over jessica i over the weekend i thought

she performed great during the fight and after during the post fight press conference she's now ranked number two in the division we'll chat with her see what may be next but kicking us off let's talk UFC 251 coming up on July 11th. We have three title fights, one of which is for the vacant UFC Bannamweight title. That's going to see Piotr-Yan taking on the former featherweight champion, Jose Aldo. It seems like Piero Yon was always Dana White's first choice for that shot once Henry Sehudo retired after defeating Dominicruz at UFC 249 and vacated the belt.

And with that, let's check in with Mr. No Mercy himself. Our first guest this week on what the heck, Mr. Pughey. Piotr Jan. All right. The Bannamweight division in the UFC is on fire right now coming out of UFC 250 and it will be a big night for the division on July 11th at UFC 251. It was officially announced last week that Josealdo will take on my guest at this time, Piotr Yon for the vacant title to christened Fight Island. Piotr is being joined by Sayat for Akhtamov to help translate this conversation which I appreciate very much. Sayat, thank you for doing this. And Pioter, how are you, sir? Hello, I am good, I'm good, thank you. You? How are you?

I am great. This fight is official. We've been hearing that this was the plan for a few weeks at this point. How does it feel now that you've actually signed the contract that you're going to be fighting for a world title in less than a month? Yeah, my feel good. We signed a contract, title fight. I prepare, I wait, I won't fight title. I won't title. I won't give title. That's why you're in the sport, right, to be a champion, right? Yeah, yes.

I will be staying champion. It's my goal. And you have that chance in less than a month's time. And this all really came together because Henry, Suhudo finishes Dominic Cruz at UFC 249 and then retires from the sport. And that one surprised me a little bit because I didn't see that one coming. How did you react to Henry Sehudo retiring after he beat Dominic Cruz? I think, yeah, I thought, I thought maybe, maybe Dominique Cruz, no win, first round, second round.

I thought he was very tight. He's not good prepared. He's, she's a lot of win. No comment. No problem. Now he runs. He no fight. He's no different fight.

I'm all right now. How did you? How did you react to him? How did you react to that he finished career? Right, how I'd react He just to get just to He's just to bejured, he You'll see what

these guys are now What are you guys still He didn't deal with normal new predicament He, he knows, he just scooshoot Yeah, Mike, look at this division right now It's full of dangerous fighters

and contenders And Sehuda, he just ran away He knows It's going to be tough for him That's why he retired Do you believe him? Do you believe that he's retired?

Because now he's saying he would come back for a fight with Alex Volcanovsky for the featherweight title. Do you think we'll see him fight again? Well, you know, why he's going to go to this fight, but if he wins, he's going to be a champion. Yeah, obviously he's trying to go all in. He understands that he may be lose, can lose this fight, but if he wins, he's going to be champion of the three. three divisions and that's why he's campaigning for this fight. I know if he wants it or no.

Speaking of, I mean, talking about this division right now, it is better than ever and you sort of talked about that earlier and with so many good guys when Jose Aldo's name was mentioned in this fight, it wasn't met with a lot of positivity. You being there was met with tons of positivity. Everybody thought you should be there but he's coming

off the loss to tomorrow. Marias doesn't even have a win in the division yet and I'm sure you're thrilled to be in this spot regardless of who you're fighting but How did you react to finding out that you'd be fighting Jose Aldo for the title? You'll say, you'll say, You'll go to me, it's a much more dangerous than Sterling.

I believe many people will agree with me that Aldo is more dangerous than Sterling. I think he won his fight with Morais. Yes, first round was close, but I think closer to the end of the fight, you know, Marais just was, avoiding the fight running away and Aldo was pushing the actions and in my opinion Aldo is more dangerous fighter than Sterling.

Why? Why do you think Aldo is more dangerous than Al Jermaine, right? Like right now? Why do you think Al-Doh is more versatile and Sterling is even now? Well, Aldo, first, he's a lot more versatile. I think Aldo is more versatile and Sterling is kind of, you know, he's have a good jujitsu for sure, but the way he throws strikes, you know, it's not very, not very confident. Like the way he's always shoot from far away, you know, you kind of always can see this coming and you can punish him. I think he has a horse in his game.

And I believe Alda is more dangerous than sterling, like in striking and also on the ground too. My colleague Guillermo Cruz spoke with Eduardo Dantus last week because four years ago, you flew to Brazil and you were training with Jose Aldo at Nova Yuniao. Four years is a long, long time in the sport and things can change very quickly. But what do you remember about that trip and training with Jose four years ago? Yeah. Well, you know, it was almost five years ago, four and a half years. and even in those moments, not Aldo,

not Dantas, with whom I sparringed they were not been beat. Yeah, it was more than four years ago, and you know, even at that time,

like Aldo and Dantas, they were at the prime of their career, and I was just in the beginning of my pro career, it was beginning of my way, of my journey. And even at that time,

I was never beaten by them. It was always competitive with them. So right now, I understand I believe I'm already on another level and it's my time. My time has come. Eduardo sort of disagrees with that, says that it didn't go very well when you and Jose

were training together, but that's kind of besides the point. But he says that he believes that Jose Aldo's technique is going to be the difference in the fight and predicts that Jose is going to knock you out in the second round or if that doesn't happen, you're going to get beat up for the entire fight. It's not going to be a good night for you. How do you respond to that? I understand, to me Al-D knockouted in the second round,

I need to go with upshin'emned with his hands and with his back. I understand that, you know, Dantas is his training partner and he wants to support him. And I respect Alda as an athlete. But for him to knock him out, me in the second round,

I have to tie my hands behind my back. And now I believe that it's my time, I have complete confidence in myself that I'm going to win this fight. One thing that is always discussed when it comes to Joseo Alto is the weight in hitting the scale because he's had trouble in the past

making 1.45 and he made the limit for the fight with Marias, but now he's got to make championship weight. He has to say 135 on the nose. And I know we have to think positively here, Piotr, but is that something you're worried about at all? Are you worried about him in the battle with the scale on July

11th? I don't even for it. I don't I don't really I'm I'm professional, he's He goes to it I'm sorry, but I'm going to That's my time They don't know, I

Can't go get to him, I'm going to I can't even I'm able to enough I'm quite an opportunity and It's my game Every my poedinic, what the time, what the pressure, what pressing, said and controlled

I, and in this poitin' I also will control this point out of this I'll just be I don't believe he's going to miss weight. I think he's a professional and I think he's going to make it. But you have to understand, like, this is going to be my game, this is going to be my rules. I'm going to control the tempo of this fight.

I'm going to control the central. If he's going to control the center, because only I'm going to let him, I will dictate how this fight will go. And I'm just excited about this fight. about this fight. What did you make of the Fight Island announcement with it being on Yaz Island? Did you buy into all the beaches and the palm trees that sort of fantasy? Everyone was picturing in their minds when Dana White made this announcement that that he was going to take fights to to fight Island?

Yeah, of course, when I didn't know where the fight is going to take place, I had some guesses, you know, I wasn't sure where it's going to take place. But when they announced Abu Dhabi, I was pretty happy and glad because we know, like, in Abu Dhabi, everything's going to be a high level, you're going to organize everything well, and it's going to be great. And I'm just honored and excited to be kind of part of the history, event like this during the pandemic in Yass Island, like first event at so-called Fight Island, you know, I'm just, I'm just very happy and excited. Yes, and it is going to be a historic night.

It could be a historic night for you as well, your first shot at a UFC title. I know you're not much of a prediction guy, Piotr, but how do you see this fight all going down on July 11th? I hope I'm going to win. Every time I have only one goal is to win, and I always believe in myself. I never doubt myself. And I hope it's going to be my evening, and I'm glad I'm going to be part of this is such a great card and such a great event. And thank you, thank you for the support. It seems like the winner of this fight, I know we're not looking past July 11.

will already have their next opponent lined up in Al Jermaine Sterling. He finished Corey Sanhagen very quickly at UFC 250. I thought it was a very cool move of you to congratulate Aljo on social media after the win. But what did you make of his performance a couple of weeks back? Yeah, I congratulated him. He did a good job. He went for four the chalk in the beginning when the San Hagen and both of them were dry. maybe if it didn't happen in the beginning of the fight,

maybe a fight could have went differently, but he did great. And of course, if you decided his next contender, it's up to them. You know, I'm not choosing my opponents. What did you make of Cody Garbrand's performance at UFC 250? I know you guys had that moment backstage after you beat your eye of favor, but he had a brutal knockout win over Jafel Asunsa.

What did you think of Cody's return to action and bouncing back? after getting finished in three consecutive fights. As we say, we don't judge the winners, but if I can grade his knockout, it's going to be C. Because, you know, he kind of went all in with his punch, with all power, and it's kind of worked. But for me, I wasn't that impressed with his overall performance. You're a tough grader, Pioter.

And then a couple more things were letting go. One other fighter that made a big splash, that night was Sean O'Malley. He knocked out Eddie Weiland in the first round. I know you guys sort of had a bit of a back and forth on Twitter over the last couple days, but Sean's a guy who's gaining a lot of steam these days. Have you been impressed with what Sean O'Malley has done?

Yeah, I've given. I've always loved everyone. It was, it was beautiful. It's, it's how strong our division, Yeah, yeah, he also did great, you know, all the bent and weight division looked amazing at the last event and I also congratulate him with a win. I think right now for him it's already time to fight the ranked contenders, you know, not just fighting some random guys who's not ranked and just to prove himself more with more high-level guys and you know, I understand. And now I'm fighting for the title. And all these guys, they're going to mention my name just to get an attention.

You know, they're working to promote me. I think of it in that way. It's a good way to look at it. But before we can discuss future fights and fantasy matchmaking, Piotr, you have to take care of business against Josealdo. And I'm a big believer that anybody could be watching at any time. That's just what happens in this business. So before we let you go, what's the message for Joseoaldo ahead of this title fight at UFC I want to be able to get him

I want to take to do you, to make and just be going to be able to all the arms. I'll show you who was four years and what I

in the in principle they've they've had this concurrence and now I can't that will be a

I wish him to stay injury free. I wish him to make weight and I wish him to be prepared. He's going to see the difference that what happened with me in this four years, you know. Even at the time, they already felt the competitiveness and now they're going to know it. Beodor, thank you so much for joining us. Really looking forward to this fight on July 11th on Fight Island and Syed. I truly appreciate all of your work helping to set this up, translating the whole nine. All the best to both of you guys. I appreciate the time.

Great stuff right there from Piotr-Jon, and great to get some English from him for a bit, too. It's coming along very nicely. And a big thank you to Syash for translating the conversation. A new champion, 135 pounds will hopefully be crowned on July 11th at UFC 251. Let's move ahead to our next guest. She picked up a huge win at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas in the main event of UFSIF. on ESPN 10 this past weekend over Jessica I. Let's welcome back to the show, Cynthia Calvio.

All right, back on what the heck with a huge victory intact. We have Cynthia Calvio, who defeated Jessica I via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC on ESPN 10 this past weekend. And now she's the number two ranked 25er in the world. Cynthia, thank you for doing this. How are you? I'm doing great. It's been crazy these last couple of weeks.

and to be able to get that finish this past Saturday. I mean, I don't know. It's crazy. I mean, it's just kind of like a little bit of a fairy tale for me right now. I mean, I know it's just like, you know, a really good first fight, and I still have a lot to prove, but it feels pretty great. How are you feeling physically after 25 minutes of fighting? I actually feel pretty good.

As far as my body goes, I feel great. I had some, you know, some nagging injuries and stuff like that. But other than that, I feel great. I would say my face looks a lot, it looked a lot worse than what my body feels like, which is, I guess, pretty good for having to have a five-round fight. Did it feel like you were in a main event, considering everything going on in the world?

It wasn't sort of a typical fight week. I mean, you had the virtual media day and stuff, but it felt like some of the obligations were, you know, atypical of what a normal main event in a normal, fight week would be like, did it feel like any different? Did it feel like you were in a main event? I mean, it did as far as like, you know, all the interviews I had to do on stuff. Like, I think there was one day during fight week where I was like in my hotel room doing interviews from like, I don't know, 930 in the morning till 3.30 p.m. like nonstop. So it was it was because of,

you know, especially during this time, you know, it's just you don't have any. you know, people are doing more Zoom calls and, you know, audio stuff. So it's, like, different. But, yeah, I was definitely different. And other than that, no, I mean, I try not to put too much pressure on that part. Like, oh, I'm the main event. I have to do this because I'm the main event. And I'm performing because I want to be the best fighter in the world.

It's not, you know, because of the position. It didn't matter if I was the first fight of the night or the main event, you know, I was going to show up. there was quite a bit of drama throughout the week, and not just in your fight, but a lot of different fights in that car. We had short notice replacements coming in the 11th hour. We had fighters falling off the card the day before. And then, of course, I'm sure you knew this was coming, just guy, Mrs. Wade, by 0.25 pounds. And you had quite a bit to say when it came to that, and we'll get into that, I'm sure.

But, you know, this has happened a few times during this pandemic. And every time it's happened, at least to like all the fighters on the opposing end who made weight, and I spoke with them after the fact, they found out about it. when everybody else did. Like after they hit the scale, that's when they knew their opponent missed weight. When were you made aware that she was having a hard time and that she was going to miss? Well, I had already made weight

and we were, you know, obviously waiting for the rest of the athletes to do so. And my manager was messaging me. He was messaging my coach. My phone was on silence. I was in penitension. I was more concerned with rehydrating. Sean Shelby came up to me and told me,

hey, you know, she's just going to miss. And then, you know, after speaking to my manager, too, I mean, they were all saying the same thing. And so, I mean, if why would, you know, be something that we make up? So it's just kind of, it just, it sucks. Honestly, I really don't even want to, like, talk about it too much. I think it's, like, done and over with. I think she's already, you know, receiving a lot of backlash for it. So I don't really like all that stuff, you know, on social media stuff.

but it is what it is. It's just, you know, it's what happened. You know, I'm getting asked about it, so I'm talking about it, but I kind of just want to just leave that alone, honestly. Fair enough. I mean, just to kind of follow up, you were taking the fight no matter what, obviously, as long as she stayed within the guidelines of the commission. Yeah, absolutely.

100%. It didn't matter. But it's just about it. It was just how it played out. The whole story behind it, just kind of crazy, you know. And you get asked about to see you talk about it. you know, yeah, it is what it is what it is. So I am curious about one thing,

and I don't know if you can even answer this question because my producer Casey and I were having this conversation before you came on. And in boxing, you can be out there. You can watch your opponent weigh in if you choose to do so. You have that option. Is that possible in the UFC? Like if you had any doubt, like if you found out,

let's just say like Danny Rubinstein, your manager, sends a text to you and your coaches, and you've already made way. are you allowed to go out there and watch your way in? Yeah, no, we were all there. We're not allowed to leave until everybody weighs in. So we're all just sitting in the area and everybody goes on stage one by one. But we're all sitting there waiting.

It was just kind of weird how the whole thing happened, you know, because we get that information and then 30 minutes later, it's something completely different. And it was just kind of like a, it was weird because remember everybody's weight was being set out loud when we weighed in, you know, for everybody. When she weighed in, it was kind of like muffled. It was just such a weird situation. I don't know.

But, you know, like I said, it is what it is. We'll just, you know, put that behind, you know, number two in the world now. Right. There you go. So let's talk about the fights up because personally, I scored a 50 to 45 for you. I thought you won all five rounds. And it's funny because we were getting ready to go and kick off our live post-fight coverage on the website. And I told our producer, I was like, I guarantee you that some judge is going to come back with a 48-47 scorecard.

And sure enough, 4847 for you. That seemed a little outlandish to me. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't surprise me. It's Vegas. It's not the first time, you know, that they do horrible calls. So, you know, I knew that that was the thing. I knew, I feel like Jessica I's team kind of knew. I mean, Jessica doesn't finish people, you know,

she always like either, it's always decision fights. I don't think that, I don't think that they believe that she, she was going to finish me. So they knew that it was going to be a decision win. They knew how the judges can be swayed. The entire fight, if you hear her corner, they're just yelling ridiculous shit to try to, like, you know, kind of bullshit the judges to make it seem on their favor because, let's be honest, a lot of the judges, some of them aren't even experienced.

They don't even know more in MMA, you know what I mean? So if someone's yelling and making it seem like the fight's actually going different than what it was, you know, which it's unfortunate because they played that game because they also gave their fighter a false sense of confidence because they made her feel like she was winning the fight. So it's like, why would she even push even harder, you know? So it's just kind of, yeah, it's just, it's just, yeah. What kinds of, what are they saying? What kinds of things were they saying? Well, I would just say, you know, when, you know, that was your round. Like, I just took your ass down. I'm obviously won the fight and you're like, that was your round,

Jessica. She don't want to be in there. She don't want to be in there. Like, you know, And it's like, don't say that. Like say, hey, you know, we're losing this fight or, hey, it's a close fight. You better go out there and you better get this finish and kill it. You know, it's just, that's what you need to do. And I don't think they did that. I think that they did that also because they were going to sway the judges because I don't think that they believe that they would get a finish.

So the only way they would do is by win. Jessica, either would spice splits or very close decisions. And if they can sway the judges any kind of way, I think that was their plan. I just needed to work out. One of the interesting things about fighting an empty arena, which you got to do on Saturday, and you went five rounds for the first time in a UFC fight. What did you think of the whole thing?

I thought it was pretty cool. I like the fact that it was a smaller cage because obviously it pushes the action more. You know, you don't get too dense a little bit around. And being able to hear everything, you know, I was able to hear her coaches clearly. I think that a lot of people, what they're going to end up doing,

because I know that they were trying to do as I give like nicknames for certain combinations they're throwing. Luckily for me, some of them, the combinations that they were yelling out, I already knew.

And I think I was kind of like messing with them because like he, I think her coach Eric was like calling for like certain combos. And instead of her throwing them, I would throw them. So I was like, but I mean, that's just like,

you know, it's playing the game. I feel like, man, I like that. I enjoyed that we were able to hear everything, you know? and it was pretty cool because Dana was like right there too.

So it's like pretty just, it's not like a blur. Usually I have to block all of that stuff out. There is just kind of, I don't know. It was kind of, yeah, it was almost like a street fight environment in a way. Yeah, no, I like that. I thought it was cool. The first time I'm doing that and I thought it was great. So you know how it is, Cynthia.

You win. You get to savor the flavor for like 30 minutes before everyone starts asking you what's next. And you're in a very interesting spot because you can go in a lot of different directions right now if you wanted to. Like, you could probably wait for a title fight. It's likely Valentin is going to fight Joanne Calderwood. No one would argue you getting the winner of that fight. We got Caitlin Chacon. She's now the number one ranked fighter in the division ahead of you. She called you out after the win. And it is also a big fight this

weekend with Roxanne Moutifery and Lauren Murphy. The winner of that would make a lot of sense, especially if Roxanne wins. I have other ideas for Lauren if she wins, but that would be a lot of fun too but after me babbling for 30 seconds going through those options what makes sense to you absolutely those are actually exactly what me and my manager and my coach would talk about as far as like the options are so um we're going to see how it plays out we'll see how this fight this weekend goes and um we'll make that decision these last couple of days obviously um we haven't you know all i know is that i want to line a fight up but we haven't decided like you know what way we want to go we're going to see what presents itself once we talk to Mick. I'm going to get back into the gym on Monday.

So once we get that going, then we'll know what the next step. But those are definitely the options that we're looking at right there. It's either going to be Caitlin or the winner of Modifery or Lauren. Or, you know, who knows? It just depends because you never know if anybody has injuries and stuff like that. And if I'm up next for the title, I'm gladly take it right after, you know, Joanne, Calderwood, you know, get to a shot. And AKA is open now, right? No. Ish, they're not? I thought they said it was, they were open.

I mean, I think they are, but like, not all the way, you know? I mean, as far as when I left, it wasn't, but I know everything's changed. And by week, it's been changing. I haven't been home for like a week, but from the last time that I left there, it wasn't open to just anybody. So it's just depending on who they have fights. Of course, the D.C., they're going to have the doors open for the chant, you know what mean. But as far as for everybody else, I'll share the public and stuff like that is, it is not

open yet. Like, even for me, when I got to train for two weeks there, it was just my coach and like two or three training partners, and that's it. Not everybody was allowed. I wanted to ask you this at the virtual media day, and I am very happy to find out what kind of toppings you like on your pizza. That was all fun. But you talked about throughout the week, like what East San Jose means to you, being back home with your parents, close to A.K. And I can't remember if this is you posting this on Instagram or not. So if I'm wrong, I'm going to look absolutely foolish right now. But I'm pretty sure that I thought that you posted a video of your dad in the backyard getting some work in with ropes and the handles, like kind of

that old school training. First off, please tell me that was you who posted that. Yeah, that was me. My dad's so funny. So I, Once I decided to stay there with my parents during this quarantine, I brought in a bunch of like my equipment that I had. And like my dad, he's retired. So he likes to do, you know, his own home projects at home, whatever he can like make up or put together. So, you know, I had a bag set up and all these other things. So he grabbed a couple of my bands and like, you know, attached them to the walls and pulls outside in the backyard. And he just, you know, likes to work out.

he loves it you know he's my dad's also i feel like um pretty athletic i never really watched him play too many sports but i'm pretty sure that he was one of his younger so yeah i was good thank god thank god that was you because then i just waited like three minutes asking you a question that wouldn't have been you but i guess i i guess like the fall up to that is you know being from that area and having that great relationship with your parents like how much of your like fighting spirit comes from them oh a ton of it i mean i feel like it's their hard work and everything that doesn't go and notice you know we can we can tell by you know just the years and years of work that they put in you know you can tell them their voice and just you know how

their knowledge and how wise are so it's like it like I'm the baby so I'm like I would say probably got the best of them but I might have got a little bit of the worst of them too so but I'll be for the most part they're the biggest thing that stuck to me is you know work ethic like you just you got to show up and you got to show up on time and you got to work your ass off and you know that's the mentality that they instilled in me and so I'm extremely grateful like it's weird because it's like I didn't have that type of same type of motivation doing anything else like I would do the bare minimum like I was just not interested I wasn't motivated doing that but when it comes to fighting and training it's just like there's I there's nothing else I'd rather

be doing you know I show up early and do everything I have to do and you know train my ass off It's, yeah, it's pretty crazy. But I'd say they definitely have a big part in that. Well, after your, like, 60th interview in the last week, I will let you go. Congratulations to the win, Cynthia. It was a fantastic performance. Huge jump in the ranking. Just a massive win for you.

Thank you for the time, as always, and we'll talk soon. Of course. Thank you. A lot of options right now for Cynthia Calvio coming out of Saturday night. Another big fight is certainly coming her way. I don't know what to. I mean, the Juket game fight is a lot. of fun. If she wants to wait for the winner of Valenciennes Schofchenko versus

Joey, wouldn't blame her. The winner of Roxanne Mataferri versus Lauren Murphy, sounds like a lot of fun, especially if Roxanne Mottifari wins, if Lauren Murphy wins, and Juskai plans on staying at 125 pounds, and she can make the weight, just guy versus Lauren Murphy's to fight we want to see for a while. And Juska had talked about it on the virtual media day. There's one woman in particular that she would fight for free in a back alleyway. And I believe, uh, She very well could be talking about Lauren Murphy. There's a lot of heat there. So I would look at that if Lauren Murphy wins.

If Roxanne Madaferi wins, you do Roxanne versus Cynthia Calvia. But again, a lot of options there. And you know who may have the answer to that question? Jose Young's or TSN's Aaron Bronstetter, because they joined me between the links this past week. Check it out on YouTube or the podcast network. What a battle it was and the consensus is, as a judge. I stink. I am not good.

And maybe they're right. I don't know. But check it out. The episode is great. Jose was great. Aaron was awesome. It's really fun. So go check that out.

Speaking of great, that's a word to describe this next conversation ahead of next weekend's event in Las Vegas. Combo Worthy makes a second UFC appearance against Luis Pena. I love this matchup.

We're going to hear from both of these guys back to back. First, the Death Star, then Violent Bob Ross. Right now on what the heck. All right, we have Kamaworthy on the show. He returns to action next Saturday, June 27, taking on Luis Pena in Las Vegas.

The Death Star returns to the Octagon, and he makes his what-the-heck debut right now. Kama, good to see you, man. How are you? Hey, man, thanks for you having me. Pretty good. Talk about a road to get to the second UFC fight, Kama. We spoke in, I think, late February,

I believe, ahead of your April 18th fight. You were scheduled to fight Atman Azatar at UFC 249. And then the promotion tried to salvage the event, booked you against Michael Johnson, Atachi Palace, and then the plug gets pulled on that event. And now you're back two months later. How thrilled were you to finally just get a contract to put your pen on after all this time? Yeah, man. I actually took this fight.

It was like three weeks, basically three weeks notice or two and a half weeks notice. But I was just ready to go, really. I just really wanted to take the fight and really wanted to, like, just fight again. It's almost been a year since I fought last. So it's a little bit wrong. The pandemic has obviously affected you as a fighter, but it's affected you in multiple ways, not just because of getting you back in the octagon,

but you're a gym owner. I remember the last time I spoke with you, you were telling me that you were moving your gym to a new location, which I believe you've done at this point. But how would you describe these last three months or so? Hectic. Yeah, I had a plan that I was supposed to fight, and then I was going to move after my fight,

and then all that didn't happen, so you didn't have the money to do anything. Then you had to do everything yourself because people weren't really going out. Like you were no moving companies or anything. So everything was put on hold for a little bit. And I had to do a lot of stuff myself or get some people from the gym to help me out.

But we got there and we've made it through and now it's starting to move forward. After April 18th, fellow, were you offered any other fights? Like even on the new date of UFC 249, had you been approached with anything else or was the first thing? I got off for Jude Dover like two weeks out and I was like I hadn't trained the gym wasn't complete so I had nowhere to actually go and train in so I had to turn that down because I know he was I think he was like helping Gaichi get ready for for Tony Ferguson I was like yeah I'm back excuse me my sinuses are killing me right now how did you seize him Yeah, I guess nervous sinus.

Sinuses season, oh, my God, it's so bad. But I was like, nah, me and my coat sat down. It just wasn't the right fight, so we just had to wait off. And then after that, I didn't know. I was like, oh, I kept asking, like, they were putting fight around. I was like, oh, man, they don't want to skip past me. But this one fell on my lap, so I jumped on it. Do you remember the last time you've gone this long without a fight?

I injured my, my last loss, I injured my thumb. and I took this long off. And then there was one time before that I took this time off. I don't like to take this much time off. Because I turn 34 in October. Like I don't really have a lot of time to be sitting around like with my thumb up my ass. Like, when I fight this is a little bit of a long time for me. Absolutely.

And that's exactly what it was. I think it was like you lost back-to-back fights. I think it was 10 months between those two fights. And then it was 10 months between your last loss. and then the first win on this winning streak. So here we go. Ten months, you know, couldn't mean a good thing for you. Long time.

I mean, a lot can happen in ten months, though. So I like the progress to have me, but I still like to stay that a little bit more active. Well, now you get to keep that activity moving. You get Luis Pena. We get the Death Star versus Violent Bob Ross, and Luis is an exciting guy. There's a lot of hype surrounding him.

Sounds pretty familiar, does it not? Yes. It's a very familiar place for me. So, I mean, like I can say, with me being at my age, that's just what I'm going to run into a lot, like a lot of younger guys and stuff like that. So I just take it for where it is and run the course. The timing of this fight in you having a layoff,

you know, we're in the middle of a very chaotic time in the world, not just because of COVID, but, you know, everything that's going on in the country right now against racial inequality, becoming more prevalent than it has in a long, long time. We're seeing fighters on the roster use their platforms to get their messages across,

which I think is amazing. With that aspect of where the country sort of currently stands on these issues, with the protests and the riots and the timing of this fight, I guess, is this much more important time for you to be fighting than it would have been on April 18th?

Not really. I mean, of course, like you said, like the world is definitely waking up and kind of seeing things for what it is and not just in America but worldwide but in the same sense I think life has to also progress I don't I tell people like I don't want people

to like to forget because like I mean like I've been like the world's waking up I've been fucking known this forever but it's like but I think like you know it's also just you there?

Yep there you go okay sorry no I said I think it's just how it progresses and stuff. So I don't really think it's I think there's no time like the present time. You know what I mean? Like it was just like my journey getting to the UFC. But I don't get me wrong.

I really wanted to be on that car that that that that like basically when like it was supposed to be the end of the world and that car was supposed to be the only thing happened. I think that would have been really important but each to each time that thing get

planned down and get laid out and they happen the way they're supposed to. that's the right time it's supposed to happen. I try not to overthink things like that too much. Have you ever had to, I mean, I'm sure you've dealt with issues like this in the past, but if you had to deal with any sort of issues with law enforcement or anyone of power throughout your life as a black man and as a fighter or, you know, any other parts of your journey that you can think of?

Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm a black guy who grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. That's why, like I said, I'm like, you know, when people, like, I had a couple of my wife friends messes me and, like, apologize for something shit. I'm like, you don't have to apologize. And, like, and they're like, oh, I just never really understood. I'm like, yeah, I mean, like, I get it.

Like, I mean, like, I have a couple, I have a couple of friends or city cops and stuff, and I have friends, but I have people from all different walks of life, but that doesn't, that doesn't exclude me all because, you know, I mean, like, that's like saying if you have money or you're this or that, it excludes you from that. I mean, like, you saw a dude from Saturday Night Live, They just dragged him on the ground

So it doesn't really matter. Like, so Like, it's, it's, unfortunately, it's just part of American history. And it's a part that people don't act like exist. Like, you know what I mean? Like, like, you don't, like,

like, the other day was just the 99th anniversary of the massacre in Tulsa. I mean, and no one acts like it exists. No one's taught that in school. Like, you don't know, people don't really, aren't really known about Black Wall Street, but it still happened,

all because you ignore something doesn't mean it doesn't happen. So, I mean, and it's still relevant. Like, yeah, obviously. I mean, so I mean, what can I do, what can you do about it? Now the good thing is that people are just, like, upset about it.

More than just the minority. Like, it's just like the thing that happened to women, like the Me Too movement, I guess you can say, like, right? You know, it used to be like, till like what? Late 80s, 90s, and if a woman got raped or something, Like, it was like, what was that big a deal?

Like, you know what I mean? Like, you go to police and they'd be like, oh, you like, you know. I mean, shit, still, till this day, they tell girls they can't wear many skirts or you can't wear shirts in school because it might excite a guy or some shit. Like, what the fuck? Like, that's ridiculous. But, you know, that's still part of the culture. I mean, so now I just think this time that we're living in is just going to be broken

down in history is a really important time. A lot of people started to see a lot of messed up stuff that goes around in this country. and a lot of stuff that needs to be addressed and just a mental... And everyone keeps saying like, oh, if you teach them, Brazilian jujitsu, yeah, yeah. I know a whole bunch of assholes

that do Brazilian jujitsu. That doesn't change anything. Like, I know a bunch of butt heads that do bojillion's jihitsu. The thing you have to change is the mentality of what type of behavior is accepted and required to do this job. I mean, like, plain simple,

like, you... And like, a mental evaluation, to be more important like than anything else. I mean, so it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's really a crazy thing because like, like, you know, if you, I just know if you have a gun, you feel more secure. There's no way around it because you know you have a gun and that that's, that's, yeah, that's the like the equalizer for a situation.

And in that, and like, and, and, and, and, and I think with the police officers, like, they just, they're just not properly trained and it's just not a, it's not a different mentality. It's just they have an authority level and they're used to using it. Is that 100% of them? No way, not at all. But it is a mentality. It's you don't, like, you don't tell on other cops, right?

That's just the mentality. Like, you don't tell, like, that's just, that's just how it is in that type of thing. So, I mean, it's, it goes back. There's a lot of situations in America that goes into play. I mean, I always think about the whole Penn State thing. You have to think about that. I know a lot of people

went to Penn State when I would say, fuck Joe Paternal. They were like, oh, no, you didn't do any, I'm like, dude,

if you knew that a guy was raping kids and you saw him every day, Joe Paterno was like, how old was that guy? In his 80s or some shit? Yeah. Then you go home to your wife.

If you're an old guy, you tell your wife how your day goes. So the day that he found that out, he went home, he told his wife, and they probably have, they're probably around other grand,

kids and shit like that. And if you got, you're okay with that. You're a piece of shit, dude. There's no translating that. There's no way around it. And there's no, because you don't want to hurt your program. But mad people still consider him to not be at fault for that. I'm like, fuck. Like, no, that's that whole no snitching mentality. Fuck that. You're a piece of shit. And I know you're a piece of shit. I'm telling everybody you're a piece of shit. And that's that that has to be the mentality that goes into the workplace in general, especially in the police force. If you know that someone is a racist piece of shit

or if you know someone's sexist or if you know someone actually abused their power, you should tell your authorities. And the biggest thing in the police is, I think your authorities have to hold them accountable. That's what I don't think they get held accountable for. Obviously, because the guy that did that to him, he had like a track record up the ass, man.

And they're like, they get, they get pushed down to the table. But it is. I guess it is what it is. And now it's just finally starting to come. the light. So it's a good time. It's a sad time because someone had to die again for it. I mean, like multiple people had to die. And now it's getting pushed their front, but it's also a good time in the same sense. Yeah, I feel like in the end, it won't be like, we won't have this thing fixed. It's going to take a long time to get to where we need to be. But I think I agree with

everything you just said. And I think another important thing, which you sort of touched on is that it's very important to not paint everybody with the same brush. And you sort of allude to that. Like you're friends with cops. I know cops personally who are incredible police officers. They're in the community. They got out of their cars and talk to people. And they're just like incredible people.

But you can't paint them with the same paint brush as you paint, you know, these other guys. You know what I mean? Not like not. It's not. And that's the big. It's sad. I feel bad for them, quite frankly,

because they're kind of stuck between the rock and a hard place. Because if they do report, they probably get, they'll probably get fired. Or you'll probably be considered like a traitor because you're like, you know, you're talking on your butt. Like, dude, what do you mean? Like, that's our job. But again, it's the mentality has been built up. It's like years and years and years and years of this type of mentality has been built up. Like, that's, I mean, because people are like, I see a lot of people who are like,

oh, well, the protests and stuff. you should do like Martin Luther King. I'm like, you do realize that the police arrested Martin Luther King, right? I'm like, you got to think about that. And there weren't any other police officers coming out and being like, yo, you guys should free Martin Luther King. That's bullshit. And that's how that mentality started.

Because if there's someone like Martin Luther King marching for equal rights, like not even elevated, like civil rights, and there's police officers and stuff trying to stop me, you would think that other police officers would be like, well, it's my duty since it's my job as a police officer is. to like stand up for people to stop these other police officers from doing that, but they don't because that's just the mentality. And now it's just gone on into now.

And it's not like that was that long ago. You know what? It wasn't like what, 60-something years ago. It's not that far. It's like past our lifetimes, but in like the grand scheme of things, it seems like it's only yesterday. Like look at MMA compared to other sports. Like MMA's been around for 25, 26, almost 30 years here, especially in this country.

But compared to baseball and football, Jesus Christ. Like we're so far behind everybody. else. Exactly. Exactly, man. So it's, I mean, time, like, when you really think about it, like, oh, wow, it wasn't that long ago. And as, I mean, I sit back and think about my career like all the time, like, oh, wow,

it seems like it's such a long time ago, but it didn't really wasn't, it's really hasn't been going on for, it. It hasn't been that long. Yeah, completely agree. And now you get ready to take your talents back to the Octagon against Luis Pena next next weekend. What have you made of his run thus far in the UFC? Like, he's got a couple of losses.

the fight with Matt Ravola was really, really close, and most people feel like he won that fight? I thought he won that. You thought Luis won that fight? I watched it the night that happened. I thought he won. I still watched it again as I started to prepare for him. I still thought he won that fight.

What do you thoughts on him as an opponent? I thought he won that fight, too. He had a nice win over Steve Garcia, bouncing back from that boat. You know, this is a fun matchup. As soon as it was announced, everyone was like, ooh, this is a good one. What do you think of Luis as an opponent?

I mean, I think he's solid, man. cool dude. He seems like a real layback type of guy. I think he'll be a really interesting fight. And I think he's going to come to fight. It'll be, I'll be, like I said, his name is violent Bob Ross. Like, fuck, yeah, man, we're going to go on there and throw down.

That's a good combination. So I'm really looking forward to it. And then, like, hopefully if everything goes as planned, then I don't walk with any injuries. I want out. Like, I like the fight in July as well. I just get two fights in back to back. You want to go to the island?

You want to win this fight and then Jotified Island? I'm like, yeah, I'm ready to get my King Kong gas to Kong Island and take my throne back. So yeah, I'm going to get the Kong Island as soon as possible. So you go from fighting on a featured prelim on a pay-per-view in front of a packed house to an empty arena and a small cage in the UFC Apex. It's almost like a throwback in a lot of ways because you've been doing this for a long time.

Are you excited for that? And like getting to hear that sound of leather just cracking skin next weekend? Yeah, I mean, like I'm super geek to see like how it, see how it is. Like I know normally when it comes out on the fight time, my brain shuts down anyway and it goes to like a computer mode. So I don't know if I'll be paying attention to the sounds that it makes.

But I know like when you hear the crowd and stuff like that, that all that all. plays into how your brain operates and now I won't be hearing that or doing that or anything. So it'll be interesting to see. So I mean, like, I always talk a little bit of smack when I fight too. So I'd be like you can kind of talk a little bit.

Like the glow it's a share a fight. That was funny. He goes, I'm sorry. He goes, this is a party game. You're like, that was weird. It's just stuff because it's a different, you can hear everything. So it's a different thought process that's going through your head and stuff. So I'll be interesting

to see how it all happens. I'm curious because I know you watch a lot of fights And we've seen so many finishes in the smaller cage It seems like the fights are a little more exciting And I get I get Dana White's perspective From a business aspect But from an entertainment standpoint Like why do you think Dana White isn't a bigger fan

Of the smaller cage? Because like it seems like he just knows cells It every time he's asked about it Yeah, I'm not too sure I mean I don't know what's going on Dana White You know, damn it's Dana White But I mean I don't I don't know

if it's big cage, small cage, whatever. I don't think the cages are pushing the accent. I just think the times are pushing the accident. Like, what's going on right now, how people are reacting, what's going on? Like, the urgency, everything. Like, just the people that are taking the fights and stuff. You know what I mean? Most of these fights are being taken on two weeks notice.

So people, I think people are approaching the fights a lot differently. And I think there's just fighting differently. I mean, like, and I think a lot of people are out of shape too. That's a big thing, too. A lot of people are out of shape, but I'm seeing a lot of fights, and people are just out of shape. They're just, like, oh, fuck, I took this fight.

And, like, they're in there, and they just don't seem like they really want to be there. And then you have some guys, like, like, the Feeley fight, they were going out of it. Good Lord, they were trying to kill each other. And they were just, like, okay, was dying there, and it was brutal.

I hope they got the bonus, because that fight was, I'm watching that fight rubbing my legs from all the leg kicks they were willing on each other. Like, they were beating them. shit I mean, gentlemen's bodies. And sometimes, like, it's just like that.

And I think this fight with me and Penae is going to be the same way. I think it's going to be a grueling, painful, exhausting, bloody, bone-shattering type fight and stuff. So we're ready to do cryotherapy afterwards so I can fight in July. No performance bonus for that fight, by the way, because they didn't give out a fight at the night. They gave out all four performance bonuses. So I thought that fight should have got fight in the night myself. They didn't give, that was such a good fight. That's mind-blowing, man.

It was nuts. Like the type of heat that they were throwing, wow, wow. I guess that's how it is, man. But there were three knockouts under one minute in the first three fights, I guess. They all got bonuses off the top. They didn't. Julia Obelah did not get a bonus. She had the fastest finish of anybody and she didn't get a bonus.

Wow. The next thing that does just be tossed us in hammers and shit, man. Right. Well, you'll be looking for a bonus, I'm sure, next weekend. How do you remind all these fans that may have forgotten about that win over Devante Smith about a year or so ago? How do we remind them next Saturday night, comma?

Yeah, I mean, I'm just going to go out there. Like, that's the sucky part about breaking onto the scene the way that I did. So you're going to kill this guy. I'm going to bet all my money on first round. I'm like, listen, man, I'm going out there. and I'm going to do what I do best and that's when. And it's going to be entertaining just because that's just the type of person I am. I'm like, but how exactly?

I'm not too sure. I can win by submission. I can win by decision. I can win by knockout. I can win by him not coming off the stool. I can win by guerrilla slam. There's all kinds of different ways that I can win. All I know is I'm going out there to get the W.

Before we let you go, one of the reasons I was very excited about this conversation was I went back to our last chat. and you gave one of the greatest breakdowns of a fight that I've ever heard in my entire life. Before it fell out, I asked you to give your thoughts on Habib Namauga-Madav versus Tony Ferguson, and I still cannot get your breakdown out of my head. It was hilarious. It was unbelievable.

But now we have another fight to talk about. Justin Gachi ends up beating Tony Ferguson, becomes the interim champion. So now it appears that Habib is going to fight Justin Gachie maybe in September. I don't know when that's going to happen, but it's going to happen. So although we're thinking,

three, although we're probably like three or so months away from that fight happening, can we get your thoughts on that matchup, Habib versus Gachi? Yeah, I actually think that is the worst matchup for Habib. I think Gage is the worst, just because of the high level. I've heard from people that wrestling with him that he was like, he could have been like an Olympic level wrestler. He was that good of a wrestler. And he's never used it in any fight.

Like he's never, he has zero takedown attempts in his USC career. I mean, like that's a dangerous thing. So I think it's a bad matchup. I do think it's good for Carmen Greger, though, because I think Caron McGregor beats Justin Gagee just because Carmen Greger has like a freaking Gatlin gun on his arm. And Gagher's okay with getting hit. I don't think you can get hit too many times by Carmiger.

So, but yeah, I think I think he beat. Khabib's lead leg up really bad and ends up knocking them out. That's my prediction. There you go. I've been wrong a lot lately. I've been going through my previews or picked. I pick with my emotions when I pick people to win fights and shit. I've been like five out of 12 for the past four USC cars or something shit.

So I need to get better at that. Well, there you go, man. You get your own things to worry about and your own fights to prepare for. You get a pass, man. You get a fast. But always great talk with you, man. This is going to be a great fight next weekend. A lot of people are looking forward to this against Luis Pena.

Hopefully this is the first of many fights for you in 2020. Hopefully all goes well. We get to see you on Fight Island. Always a pleasure chatting with you, Kama. Safe travels and all the best next weekend, ma'am. Awesome, man. Thank you, brother. All right, back in action next weekend at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas

is this man, Luis Pena. He takes on Kamaworthy and a super fun fight at 155 pounds. Violent Bob Ross. joins the program for the first time. Louise, how are you, man? Good to see you. Good to see you again, Mike. How are you doing?

Great. It has been a minute, sir. And I know some things have changed since we have last spoken. You're now in sunny Florida, training with ATT. How's it going in the Sunshine State? Dude, I'm loving it out here.

I've had a really fun time, you know, getting acquainted to my coaches and teammates here at American Top Team. And I'm just having a lot of fun, you know, just enjoying the weather, enjoying the beach and all that stuff. It's been really fun. It's a really great aspect.

Because I got here in December, and I don't think there's been a single week where we haven't been able to go to the beach or I go to the pool, just chill out in the sun, do something. That's good. It's always good to find distractions and some peace outside of the training room, right?

Yeah, most definitely, especially during all this time. We're these crazy times. Yeah, for sure. And we've seen fighters change camps so many times. over the years and it just ends up being a better fit overall and some things just click where they haven't in the past like what do you think's been the biggest difference for you as a fighter and as an athlete since making that move um i'd say the biggest difference for me so uh is just

like the just the amount of of coaches i have um like direct access to pretty much 24-7 you know whether it be a jiu-jitsu coach wrestling coach the countless striking coaches you know what I mean you have someone there all the time and um the one other thing I like is just the the amount of one-on-one attention I get from each different particular coach is really really nice really cool it's been something I've really really appreciated since I made this move we last saw you compete in February again Steve Garcia who took the fight on short notice to replace Alex Munoz. I think it was like the week of the fight, and it was a dominant win for you, but you were not overly thrilled with that performance. After maybe going back and watching it,

did your stance change on that, or did it still leave a sour taste in your mouth? I mean, for the most part, it is one of those things where, like, going back and look at it, I can kind of take a little bit of pride. Like, I got to show some people, some things that, you know, that a lot of people haven't seen for me before, like, going out there and just, like, out wrestling someone for an entire fight. But at the same time, you know, I still just, I kind of wish I would have gotten off and gotten just a little bit more, opened up a little bit more, you know, just allowed the striking to play out a little bit more.

But I feel like this is the perfect fight to let that kind of happen. There's that like old cliche in sports after a game or a fight. You go back to the drawing board, right? Like what specifically did you feel like you needed to tighten up, whether maybe it's physical? And you mentioned maybe not being able to pull the trigger and open up as much as you wanted to. Was it something maybe on the mental side of the game that you had to go back and sort of tweak up a little bit? Yeah, no, I think it was a little bit of physical and mental. You know, when we got back, I went back, I took a little time off and then we came back, got back to the drawing board.

I looked at that fight and I kind of tried to watch for some things. things that I could improve upon. You know, I've, you know, I kind of looked at like my movement and how I was letting him in and why I had to kind of resort to wrestling right off the bat with him. And also kind of like the mental aspect, it was kind of staying in the fire and not just shooting on the legs as soon as I feel any heat, you know. Do you ever fight a guy where you had his back like that? and he was just so active in that position.

Like it was so weird. No, I haven't. And that was one thing that kind of threw me off going with, like, fighting him is like he was so active just with me on his back. But he wasn't really, he was, like, that's the thing. He was content there. Like he wasn't really trying to get me off of him. I wasn't ever trying to escape the back. And that just people, I've gotten, I got a lot of criticism.

criticism for not finishing him, but people don't understand when someone's just like content with you on their back and is, it just wants to survive. It can be really, really hard to score a finish. Yeah, I would agree with that. I think a lot of people were sort of thrown off by that and we weren't even in the cage with you. But still, I mean, you're, when they try to escape, that's when you try to find your openings to finish the fight and they just weren't there. Exactly. Exactly. You know, you got to take what your opponent gives you in this, in these, in the sport. So, So just like I had to take all the opportunities I had. And that was the thing.

You know, he presented really easy setups for takedown. So I just took him. And then when it came to, you know, being like actually being on him and taking his back at everything, he wasn't really presenting a lot of openings. So I had to do what I could just to secure the win. I do remember you getting some criticism after the fight because of the performance and you were very self-critical yourself.

I don't remember a time where you were criticized before. And I find it kind of puzzling because, and I find it puzzling anytime fans critique fighters because they're not fighters. Like that'd be like me telling you how to fight. It makes no sense. And then there's no stock in that. You know what I mean?

It is. Yeah, no. It is what it is. I mean, the nature of sports, you're going to have critics and people telling you what you did wrong, no matter what, you know, you look at guys sitting on the couch telling someone like LeBron James, he needs a better jumper or whatever. And it's like, dog, that's LeBron.

You know what I mean? Like, I'm not even the physical specimen that that guy is. Like, I have no business telling that man, anything about athletics. And you're telling me that, like, some couch potato has the physical acumen or the sports knowledge to be able to tell him or me or, like, any other professional athlete, what they need to do. I think that's, like, 6-7-275. He doesn't need help from anybody right now. Exactly.

This has been a crazy couple of years for you, man, like in and out of the cage, like from meeting your biological father, then you met your brother. Like, how would you describe these last couple of years of your life? Man, whirlwind. There's definitely no other way to describe it. I've enjoyed it, though.

It's been really cool because as much as, like, people are getting to know me and, like, and I'm gaining fans through, through my performances in the cage and everything. People are kind of like getting to see a lot of things outside of the cage, and, like, it's helped me gain a fan base. I don't think I would have been able to tap into without that. It's almost like it's, I wouldn't say it's like,

compared to the last time I talked to you, you just seem much more at ease. Is that accurate? I don't know if it was like the circumstances that, you know, meeting the family members, maybe some of that stuff that's happened over the years and, you know, wondering what would be like to meet them and now that you've finally done it, do you feel like that that's helped maybe put you in this position right now mentally? Most definitely.

I'd say, you know, those revelations, answering those questions, getting to foster those relationships to definitely help take my mind off of things, ease some burdens I've had on my mine and um you know my my girlfriend's actually really really good at help them with that as well so you know just the amount of time we've been able to spend together throughout all the quarantine and everything she's kind of also helped kind of make everything easy for me especially with this camp coming up or with this camp i've had short notice camp that's how you know you with the right one if you can survive a quarantine with them right right it's obviously uh it's it's been an interesting a couple of years for you, but this has been a really interesting year.

And your last fight was one of the very last sporting events that took place in front of a live audience. And we didn't know when things may pick back up again. So like maybe like the beginning of March, mid-March, were you like, thank goodness I got to fight Norfolk, because I don't know when I'm going to fight again. A little bit. So yeah, no, that definitely went through my mind at one point where I was worried about, you know, where I was going to fight, if I was going to fight again this year, because, you know,

after the Norfolk fight, I'd kind of roadmaped what I wanted to do for the remainder of the year. Then everything gets a wrench thrown in it. And then once like I started talking to my managers and once we started figuring out like when the UFC was going to start doing stuff again, that's like when my tensions were ease. And actually I've been looking at this date June 27th since probably early March, mid-March, anyway. So, I mean, I didn't necessarily know what was going to happen, like, if we were still going to have fights or whatever. But I'd kind of been tentatively looking and preparing for June 27th for a couple months now. So when I got the call that it was official, I was ready to go.

You're like Rastodamus over here, just pinpointing dates, and you know they're coming. Well, now you're going to fight next weekend taking on Kamalworthy, and this fight came together pretty quickly, but it seems like you're already ready for that date anyways. How did you react to the matchup and seeing comma worthy on the other side of it? You know, comma's definitely been someone that was on my radar. Obviously, since he knocked out Devante Smith. I mean, Devante has been on my radar. He's a guy that I look at that I might get matched up with.

So when he took out Devante, I looked at that. It was like, all right, that's another guy that's in the mix that could be there. So it wasn't something I was super surprised with. but I was, I don't know, I told my managers I was looking for something a little, not necessarily something more bigger, but someone a little bit more tenured in the UFC. Like this is my seventh walk to the octagon, you know what I mean? And this will only be comma second, not taking anything away from them for that. But it's just, I just wanted, you know, someone a little bit more my, around the same experience level in the U.S.

UFC but uh commas like he's also at the same time he's got some name value and hype behind him had with the the uh the dvante smith knockout so at the same time it was like another person that's like i don't i don't mind having to take you know that step down and experience level whatever because i still see it as like a lucrative matchup for me and i think it's a really good matchup stylistically um i don't know i just i really like the matchup i really like uh our the way our skill sets align. And I think this is just a good, not matchup for me, but just a matchup for the fans. I hope, you know, we can go out there and put on the show that I know everyone expects us to. Plus, you get that veteran experience because although he hasn't been in the UFC

for a while, he's well-traveled. He's got a ton of fights under his belt. He's been super active over the last couple of years. So it's definitely a notch for the belt and a definitely notch in the experience department. Is it not? Oh, without a doubt. You know, you can't take anything away from a guy that fought Paul Felder in his second fight, you know. So you study up on these guys. So you know, like, do you, do you watch a lot of footage on your opponents at all? Do you let your coaches do that and kind of play off of them? We, I mean, so I watched, so I've watched a couple of fights with my coaches, watched a couple of fights with my girlfriend, watched a couple of his fights with a couple of my friends and everything.

I don't do a whole, whole lot of film study. I kind of watched the way they do things, rather than what they do. And I kind of leave it at that. I let my coaches figure out, you know, the game plans as far as, like, watching them and studying them and figuring out what they want me to do and all that. I kind of leave it at that. But I just like to go in there and I like to see, like, how he does things. Like, you know, if he wants, like, what does he want to do?

You know, does he want to take it to the ground? Does he want to stay standing? You know, how is he throwing punches and kicks and stuff like that? what kind of techniques is he throwing out there? Does he like to get, you know, crazy in unorthodox? Or does he stay kind of like ones and twos and three, stuff like that? That's what I look for. But for the most part, I really don't watch a whole lot of video.

I spoke to Kama literally right before I spoke with you. And we were talking about the fight. And I asked him like how he sort of sees it. And he says that after watching last weekend's card, the fight that stuck out in his mind was, Andre Feely versus Charles Jordane, those two guys going back and forth. He expects a very similar fight with you that you guys are just going to go in there and just let it all hang out and have a good technical but violent fight.

Do you sort of see it going the same way? No, without a doubt. That was actually, it's funny that you said he brought that up because watching that fight, I got the same feeling, you know, I feel like we're going to go in there, let it all hang out. It's going to be very technical, very violent, and there's probably not going to be a lot ground where it's going to be a lot of banging on the feet we're going to see how you know who can like I said before we're going to meet in the middle and see who drops first I think there's this

great photo that your teammate Mike Davis posted on Instagram it was him you Mike brown Jorge Mazadol Dustin Porre and in a couple of others and you know you mentioned the importance of working with that coaching staff and getting that individual attention 24-7 but getting to work with like the collective here there's just so much not in one photo. It's mind-blowing. You know, with Mike Brown, it's become one of the best coaches in the sport. He's a former world champion. You got Dustin Poirier, former interim lightweight champion. They got Mazzo, the freaking BMF champion, became a huge star last year.

Pretty tough to top that crew sharing the mats with, is it not? No, without a doubt. It's been this camp, I can't lie. It's been some of the best work I've gotten since I've been here pretty much in my entire career. I can without a doubt say my two main training partners for the entire camp has been Dustin and Jorge you know I've been I trained with Mike Bruce a little bit we've we've gotten some rounds in we've got some good working he's helped me out a lot Marluco Marcus Perez we got a lot of working that's a good one of my good friends Tiago Moises and Hinato Moikano I do

a lot of roles with them. I got some good roles in with Edson Barbosa too. This whole camp has just been a who's who of training partners for me, man. It's been great. I feel very, very confident, very prepared walking in there June 27th. And after sharing that time with Dustin Porre, it's got to be a pretty cool feeling to share this card with him with him at the top of the bill. Yeah, most definitely. Because when this first started, I was pretty much, they were bringing me in to help him work, help him out for Dan Hooker, right? Because, you know, we were very similar body styles. And, you know, I can do a lot of the things. I can emulate Dan very well. So they brought me in and then, like, maybe a week into that, I was like, yo, it's time for me to go. So,

like, now me and Dustin are getting into it together. You know, we're pushing each other. And not only that, but Jorge comes in and is brought into the mix. And he's pushing the of us, you know, bringing up, and the three of us are like bringing each other to a different level. It's been great. I think it's been the atmosphere, the environment, uh, a top team between the three of us has been great. We've been pushing each other really hard and, uh, everybody's kind of at this point all, um, focus on the same goal. You know, we're bringing three guys, myself, Dustin and Felipe Lins, uh, next week. We're bringing out like nine different coaches. ATT's coming strong.

I wasn't sure if you did or not, because I know you just got to ATT in December. Did you train with Colby Covington at all? I know he's no longer part of the team, but do you get a chance to work with him at all? It's funny. You're not the first person that's asked me about this. I doubt you be the last.

But not I have legitimately never seen that man in the gym. I'm not saying he ain't ever been there while I was there, but me and him just never crossed paths we were never even in the like the same area at the same time I've never like saw him you know what I mean so it's like I don't have any experience with the man I've never spoken words to him so I don't know anything you know as far as that and when it comes to like the

behind the scenes drama I kind of stay to myself there at the gym anyway you know I I live there in the dorms and like I come out right before practice get warmed up don't really talk to nobody. I leave right after, go straight up to my dorm. I'm in and out of my, like, I stay in my dorm. I pretty much don't talk to nobody except my girlfriend, and then that's about it, you know? So when it comes to all of that, I don't really know too much. Yeah, I wasn't looking for, you know, the salacious scoop or anything like that. I was just, I was just curious

because, you know, by the time you got there to the time he left, it wasn't a lot of time. And, you know, you hear conflicting reports, it different takes on them. So I was just kind of curious, but more importantly than that, the next chapter of your career is going to be written next Saturday in an empty arena in Las Vegas. You've done the empty arena thing before, the small cage thing before in the ultimate fighter. Do you look at this as, you know, I've done this before. I'm used to it, or is this like a totally different thing altogether? Oh, no, without a doubt. That's something, you know, me, like, I talked with Conan before, you know, doing this. He was like, how do you feel about, about fighting in an empty arena in a small cage? I was like,

you forget I was on Ultimate Fighter, man. Like, this ain't nothing to me. Like, there'll be, there'll probably be less people there at the apex and there was when we fought on the Ultimate Fighter. You know what I mean? Like that, and for me that, I don't know, it's not really anything that I care about. Although I'm not going to lie.

It's going to be cool. It's going to be able to have walkout music this time. Do you have an official prediction here? prediction man I don't know I want to say third round TKO but I could also see us go into a decision comma is very tough it's going to be hard to get him

out of there and I know he's fighting for a lot just as much as I am we are looking forward to this one in a big way it's obviously a tough time in the world tough time in the country and while it doesn't you know fix all of it it provides a nice distraction and you're going to be a big part of that before we let you go louise I appreciate the time very much

anything else you want to to get off your chest? I just want to say thank you to all the fans that have been tuning in to the UFC over these past few weeks in the past couple months. I know we've been like one of the only distractions for everybody and it's just a huge, huge appreciation for everybody that supported us and been able to, that we've been able to provide a little bit of entertainment and saw us for in these hard times. Thank you guys for continuing to support us.

And, you know, hopefully we can continue to entertain. tame. Well said, man. Safe travels to Vegas and all the best to you on June 27, Louise. Good catching up with you. Good catching up with you too, Mike. Have a good day. Really appreciate both of those guys coming on this week.

Kamaworthy, just amazing insight from him, not just about the fight and the matchup, but everything going on in the world and in the country right now. And it was great seeing a very at ease, Luis Pania. That fight's going to be a great one. Should be a lot of fun. And the co-made event of next weekend's event will be Mike Perry taking on our next next guest, and I'll be honest, I thought we're going to see a Mickey Gall that was going to be completely fired up, hurling insults.

I've seen that guy before, talked to that guy many times, but this is a very relaxed man heading into a second UFC co-main event against a guy who's had a lot to say already in the bill up to this fight. We're being joined right now by Mickey Gall. All right, back on the show and back in action on June 27th is Mickey Gall. He's going to take on Mike Perry in the co-made event of UFC Fight Night, Porier versus Hooker in Las Vegas. Mickey, always good to see you, my friend.

How's it going? Great, bro. Doing all right. How about you? Doing great. This is a fight you've wanted for a little while now. And you knew it would come eventually, but you get it next weekend. It's been sort of an interesting road to get here, but you're here now. So how excited are you for the matchup and just a fight again, man? Yeah, I'm pumped.

I'm really excited, you know. It's been a little bit since I was in there. So, you know, I'm super ready. This is not the first fight you accepted along the way. You did agree to take a fight with Phil Roe last month. It didn't end up happening. But it was more time, I guess, if we're looking for silver linings for you to work and sharpen up. Plus, you get a fight you really wanted.

So I assume this worked out far better than you had hoped after the Roe fight didn't come through. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's a bigger fight. So, you know, I'm happy with it. It's always nice, you know, Mike's got some attention. He's got some fans. And so do I. So, you know, it's going to be fun. As expected when this fight was announced, your opponent Mike Perry has had some interesting things to say, saying this is an easy fight compared to the last three years.

He's grateful for this. He says the dream come true. He's going to beat your ass, et cetera. I'm sure this is what you were expecting here, but how have you sort of reacted to the way that he's approaching this fight? Is it surprising to you at all? No, man, nothing he does is really surprising. Nah, I don't know. That's cool with me.

I hope he's expecting that. You know, he'll get run over. I mean, you fought Diego Sanchez already, and we already know he's a different kind of a cad, and Mike is also who he is, and he's going to have a lot to say to you at the stare-downs and throughout the build of this fight. You've been here before.

Do you sort of prefer it this way when someone's talking a lot of trash and trying to make this thing personal? Yeah, kind of. Yeah, I think it makes it fun. And, you know, I don't need any. any other like fires to be lit. I got, you know, I got a burning fire in me.

So, you know, I'm, I'm just excited to get out there and just do what I do. Like, it's like a, you know, when I get in there, it's a release. It's, I get to, you know, tap into my dark side and I get to, I get to go wild. And, you know, I'm excited to do that. I'm trying to remember, maybe you can shed some light on this. I feel like this, I guess, rivalry has been going off and on for a while between you two guys. And I'm not sure if it started before your last fight or after. but do you remember how this all sort of got started between the two of you guys um i think when i was

training with cowboy when he fought cowboy i remember he was like oh f mickey gall like something like that and then i was looking to fight too so i was like all right i was like fuck mike perry let's let's do it let's uh let's fight and that was like last year um so you know he's been on been on my radar but uh yeah now it's happening and you know i'm just i'm just happy it's happening i'm excited i i can't wait have you talked to cowboy at all because i know he had a lot of success against mike perry got the submission win early have you talked to cowboy about this fight at all no not really i you know i was i was there in the in the preparation and uh you know you know uh cowboys submitted him in the first i didn't think there was much you know i just it

What I learned from that, just, you know, like, he took Cowboy down, so I'll be ready for anything. It's the longest stretch of your career without a fight. I didn't realize that until, like, a couple of hours ago, but by the time you step in the octagon, it's going to be almost a year between fights for you. And this, obviously, there's a lot of time to grow and improve in 10 or 11 months, but it's been kind of weird for you not having a fight in almost a year? You know, it's been, yeah, I'd say not really. Like, I didn't realize it was, it's been not long either. but, you know, I've just, I've, I've had so much time, like, because I did have, like, fights in between there where I was expecting to have fights. So, you know, I was ready,

I was mentally ready. Um, and, you know, physically, like, I'm doing all the right things. I've been doing all the right things. Quarantine didn't slow me down at all. Uh, so yeah, you know, I'm, I'm just excited. I'm excited to show all the shit I've been working on, all my hard work, uh, you know, I'm excited to put that on the display. How have you sort of handled the quarantine workouts and stuff like that? I'm not sure what the restrictions were like in your area, but I saw some videos you've been training on golf courses and stuff and trying to get work in however you can. But how have you been able to really sort of deal with the quarantine and the restrictions and all to get ready for this fight or any fight? Well, in the beginning, it was tough because no one was really sure.

You know, some people who were taking it super serious. Some people were like, I don't think it's that big of a deal. But I was, you know, I found some guys that I tried. that I knew, you know, I was only going and seeing my, you know, my people who live with me. They were only seeing the people who live with them. And then we, you know, go and train. And, you know, yeah, we'd be real careful and hand sanitized and do all that crap, you know, shower or whatever. But, you know, I just, I didn't let's stop me.

I was able to, there's always something you can work on. It's a beautiful thing in this sport. So, you know, nothing was stopping me from running. Nothing was stopping me from, you know what I mean? Like that type stuff. Like, so, you know, I just kept pushing and kept getting better every day as well as I could. And, you know, I didn't feel like I was limited, really, by any means. It's interesting with this matchup, too, and kind of the story to get here, because you and I have talked so many times over the years.

And I know that at least early on when we were having our conversations and probably like throughout the first couple of years, Mike Perry is a guy you enjoyed watching. You've been a Mike Perry fan. So is it kind of surreal at the end of the day that? a guy that you've watched and we're a fan of, it's become this and now you guys are going to co-main event next weekend? I say yes and no. I wouldn't say so surreal because, you know, I'm sure, like, he was on my radar.

I was probably on his. So, you know, although, yeah, you know, I have respect and for him and I'm a fan. You know, I've always known, you know, we're going to have to fight. So, you know, I've been ready. and yeah, you know, I'm super ready now. Mike did an interview recently with another website and he said he doesn't need coaches in his corner. He's just going to have his girlfriend and maybe like one of her friends.

And I remember talking to Michael Kiesa after he beat Diego Sanchez, and when he found out that Diego was only going to have the one coach in his corner, it said it kind of affected his approach a little bit closer to the fight. Like it jumped up the pressure because he didn't want to be the guy that lost to a guy that only had the one coach in his corner, especially a coach who is not really well known in the MMA space. Have you heard that interview or seen that interview? And does that play a factor in this fight in preparation for you at all?

No. It doesn't because... I should have dogs to start barking. No, I just, you know, I want to win more than anything anyway. You know what I mean? So that's not going to... That doesn't change anything. You know, nothing really changes.

It's all the same stuff. If that's something he's doing, that's probably a detriment to him. But, you know, I'm going to have all my coaches and, you know, I'm going to be doing my thing. Do you, like, yourself consider this fight personal? Like, does this want to have that personal feel with everything that's been said? Or is this just another fight for you? You mentioned fighting is a release. You get to tap into the dark side.

Is this just another fight for you? Yeah. Yeah. It's just another fight. But it's, you know, at the same time, you know, fighting is personal. And it's the only fight. It's don't, it's, it's, you know, I'm not seeing past the 27. I see the 27.

That's when my, my calendar ends. You know, we go on and figure stuff out after that. So, you know, I'm totally committed, totally prepared, doing everything right. And, you know, the 27 is going to be my day. And of course, when you beat a guy like Perry, we're not looking totally past that. But you have to be thinking about it. It comes opportunity because we've seen what it's done for guys like Ponsonibio and Jeff Neal and Vecente-Luke. the risk-reward factor is a huge part of the fight game,

and this fight checks off all the boxes, is it not? Yeah, absolutely. No, it's, you know, what does Dana say? You eat what you kill? You know, and, you know, big names make bigger trophies. So, you know, I'm looking to get a nice, a nice little notch on my belt. Are you excited for the empty arena aspect of all this? Like, I'm sure there's going to be some chatter between Mike.

I'm sure, I don't know if you're going to be talking back to him. But, you know, it keeps the MMA feel, but I guess it's a more like primal atmosphere with the empty arena because it's just the two of you guys, a referee and your coaches on the outside. It adds some different layers to it. Does that excite you fighting in an empty arena? Yeah, it does. I like it.

I'm excited for that. I am excited for the, I'm excited for that. I think it's, you know, because we train every day without crowds. So I think it's just going to be more like, you know, what I do every day. And I'll just be able to tap, tap into, you know, my best self. How does this thing play out next weekend? Big spot back on the main card, back in the command event slot. How do you see this all going down in a couple weeks? I finished Mike Perry. I finish him. I, uh, you know, I got, I have more ways to win than him.

I can knock him out or submit him. And yeah, one of those are going to happen. A couple more things I want to get your take on to kind of loosen things up a little bit. One, I'm actually pretty embarrassed to say because I haven't had the time to give it the attention that it truly deserves, but where did you think of the last dance? Like, admittedly, I haven't watched a single second of it, and it makes me very upset, Mickey. It really does. Oh, man, it was great. You should get on that. You should totally watch that. It's great. I watched it. I, you know, I didn't miss a second. Anything I thought I missed,

I'd rewound and rewatched. I'd rewatch. It was, it was brilliant. I thought it was awesome. I listened to the 30 for 30 podcast with Jaylon and Jacoby about it. I could not get enough of the last dance. Love it. You should watch it. Is Larry Bird in it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. A lot of Larry.

Not a lot, but there's enough Larry. Well, that's good. Yeah, because I was thrown off by it because when it first started airing, I was told that it was going to be on Netflix like the next day. So I was like, oh, I can't watch it live. I'll just watch it on Netflix. And it turned out that wasn't the case in the United States. It was like Netflix and Canada and everywhere else in the world.

So threw off my whole schedule. It's on the ESPN app. Okay. Watch it right now, right? Yeah. Start that. Start that. Next time we talk, you better have watched that.

Okay. You're going to love it, bro. You're going to love it. You're going to love it. I'm telling you. Also, all right, so I'm definitely getting on that this week. And the next time we talk after you fight, we're going to talk about the last dance, maybe solely. But also, I'm a big wrestling mark from back in the day.

And since we can't get beer shipped to Massachusetts, I saw you got to partake in a few Broken Skull IPAs, the Steve Austin beer. Can we get a Mickey Gall brew review of the Broken Skull IPA? Yeah, I loved it. I thought it was great. I thought it was awesome. It's like some IPAs are a little too like kind of bitter they can be. But this one was like light.

It was like a lighter, lighter IPA, which I thought was like perfect. It's like, you know, it's got that full flavor, but not overwhelming. And who's, you know, Stone Cold is one of my childhood heroes. Who's not a fan of Stone Cold Steve Austin? Everything about that dude. He's, you know, tough, hardworking son of a bitch. And, you know, so I'm happy to support. Absolutely.

So I need to drink some broken skull IPA while I watch the last dance. But there you go, bro. That sounds like you got some fun stuff coming up. So this is why I talk to you because you iron out my schedule from you for like the next week or two. So it's a beautiful thing. Yeah, we'll keep you busy. There we go. How's everything going at the soup kitchen, by the way?

Like we talked a lot about that the last time you were on, but with things slowly starting to come back from COVID and, you know, we still have a ways to go. How have things been going over there since you and your family are very much attached to St. Anne's and Newark? It's good, man. It's good. It's, you know, we've been able to facilitate. meals all through the quarantine all through this whole COVID situation. And I think soon everyone's going to be able to like resume back in the, in like the dining hall in the kitchen.

So it'll be good. But for now, you know, we've still been going to go lunches and stuff. My mom's been hustling, you know, getting people fed, taking care of people. That's great, man. Oh, someone, someone just shot me this link. apparently Darren Till created a website called Mike Perry is a bum.com

and it's like just pictures of him with messed up faces from fights and it says like here's your contributors and it's like five pictures of Darren Till with like substitute faces

on other people's bodies and if you click on it it goes to a YouTube video of Mike Perry getting knocked out in boxing have you seen this yet? No, I have ridiculous. That's funny.

Wow. Darren still the funny guy. He is. He is. He likes the ball guy. So maybe he'll give me some shine one day. But with the soup kitchen thing, man, like I know you don't do it for the props, but I'm going to give it to you anyways. I love that. These are great stories. And good to say, some positivity in this world that really needs it. And I'm really looking forward to this next fight against Mike Perry. Maybe when it's over, you guys can enjoy a broken skull IPA or two after this fight ends. Yeah, after that grade in school. Put the rivalry to rest. There you go. More ways than one.

But, yeah, no, and yeah, I appreciate you giving me props for the soupies and stuff. I always say, man, I'd be like a sadder person if I didn't give back. There'd be like, there's a whole, like, if you feel like, or anyone listening, it feels like you got like, you know, like any type of like sadness, have a whole truck. Go, go give back and you'll, you know, you'll fill that up and you'll, you'll, you'll get filled up with like, humbleness, gratitude, all, all that good stuff. Absolutely. Oh, yeah, your guy, Jim Miller's fighting this weekend against Roosevelt Roberts. What do you think about that?

Yeah, yeah, I got to check out. Roosevelt Roberts. I don't know much about him, but my boy, L.J., who's always helping me out, was helping Jim out this week. So, you know, we expect Jim to do what he always does and, you know, brings a tough fight to anyone. Yeah, looking forward to that. Looking forward to your fight as well. All the best, the rest of training men, safe travels to Vegas, and all the best to you on the 27th. Good to talk to you, as always. Thanks. Mike, always great to talk to you. Looking forward to again soon, brother. Absolutely. We'll talk to the last dance. Yes, sir. It's true. It really is.

is true. I haven't watched one second of the last dance. And listen, I just haven't had any time to watch full episode. And that's, to me, and you can talk about this on the comments if you want, if you watched it. But it's not like a show I could watch like 15 minutes here and go back and watch 15 minutes. Like, it would take me like two years to watch the whole documentary. Like, I want to be able to sit down and watch like one episode at a time and get through it. That's how I want to do it. I just haven't had the time to do so. But I really want to watch it. And big thanks to Mickey Golf for giving me some insight on it and fire me up to do so. Really interesting fight with Mike Perry coming up next week in the co-main event.

Another interesting fight coming up on July 15th. Another co-main event, Fight Island. Pedro Munoz will officially welcome our next guest to the Bannamweight Division, the former UFC lightweight champion of the world, Frankie Edgar. All right. Back of the show is Frankie Edgar, who makes his Bannamweight debut on Fight Island. Now, something has changed in the last couple of hours. supposed to take place July 11th, the UFC 251,

but now it's taking place four days later on July 15th, taking on Pedro Munoz and the co-main event. Good to have the answer back on the show. Without the quarantine beard, I can't believe it. How are you, man? Yeah, I'm doing well, man. The beard had to go. Summertime, too itchy.

We'll grow back in the winter. When did you shave it off? Last Friday. Wow. Okay, so you must be feeling like 10 pounds lighter right now. Yeah, it feels good. It feels good. My daughter said she couldn't look at me.

He said it looked like a teenager. So I was like, all right, I'm down with that. There you go. I'll take that as well. A lot to discuss, sir. First off, pushing this fight back a few days. At the end of the day, it's probably not the biggest deal because you get a few extra days to get the weight down,

get a couple of extra days to sharpen up. But co-made event, you get a nice little spot here. You good with this? Yeah, I'm cool, man. I just want to get back in there. I think Coleman event's a perfect spot. You know, I thought it was going to be on the big Cardi 11th, but the 15th is fine.

And yeah, I'm excited. Excited to get out there. You know, hopefully find out some info and when we're going to get out there real soon. And back to Abu Dhabi, the place where you just celebrated your 10th anniversary of becoming a UFC champion.

It's a pretty interesting spot to host the next chapter of your career. Kind of surreal, right? Yes. I'm excited to go back to Abu Dhabi, you know, brings everything back full circle 10 years ago, won the title there. It's going to bring back some good memories

and, you know, positive, positive vibes to go into this fight. Be honest, Frankie. When you heard about this mystical fight island and the shirts were coming out and it made everyone think it's going to be like old school bododog fights with a cage on a beach and tiki torches

and then it's Abu Dhabi. Was this a letdown for you? I mean, it was bittersweet, I guess. I thought it was going to be in the Caribbean or something a little bit closer to the East Coast. But the fact they get to go back where I won my title is going to be cool. Yeah, that's a good tradeoff.

Before we get into the match, of itself. I want to go back a couple of weeks to UFC 250 because Cody Garbrandt returns in a big way, knocks out Haffiela Sunsau, and he looked fantastic against a guy that many fighters over the years haven't been able to look fantastic against, and he gave you a lot of shine for your help, working with him, being his teammate, along with the rest of your coaches. What a, what a cool moment that must have been for you to watch Cody go out there and perform the way that he did. Yeah, absolutely, man. Cody was here for quite a bit. We trained. We got close over the past couple weeks a month and it was great to see him back to you know in the wind column man he's a he's a very

very talented kid and uh you know obviously he's a champion already so we know we know his ability and um you know i'm excited for the future for him your timing jumping into this division in this division it just couldn't be any better i mean 135 is hotter than it's ever been we got yon and aldo getting ready to fight for the title aljermaine sterling she had a huge win over cori san hagan you got cody's performance still got guys like crews in favor we got guys like sean o'malley climbing the ranks. This division is on fire, Frankie. This is just perfect timing to drop down to 35. Is it not? No, it is. This is definitely a fun division right now. A lot of good young guys. We're a real good old guy in there too now. And, you know, yeah, I always said,

you know, when I went down to 45, I'm like, dude, 35 is going to get tough. All these weight classes are going to get tough over the years. I mean, this is the nature of sport. We're getting deeper and deeper in every weight class. Do you think Henry Sohudo is really done? I don't think he's done, but do you think he's done? I mean, well, he definitely gave up the belt, so do I think he's done forever? No, I don't. I think he's a competitor. Someone that's achieved, you know,

such high, you know, high achievements throughout his whole career. I just don't see how he could walk away at as young as he is, but you never know. Well, let's talk about you, Frankie, in this matchup, because you wanted a big fight, moving down to 35. Munoz is as tough as they come at 1.35, but were you

happy with this one? Like, did seeing Munoz's name on the other side of that bout agreement give you the feels that you're hoping for? Yeah, you know what? Anybody in the top 10, I think, would have done that for me. You know, I'm not very particular on who I want to fight unless they're the champion. You know, he's been calling me out. He's been saying he wants to fight me, you know, respectfully and whatnot.

But, you know, it just made sense. He wants to fight me and get his wish and we'll be able to get down, you know, on the 15th. So he's a tough guy. He's, you know, he beat a lot of good guys. He's a dangerous opponent. And it's exactly what I want to face, you know, I ban on way right now. He's got a knock a win over Cody Garbrand. So sort of being a team guy as you are,

is there a part of you that looks at this as a way to get one back for him as well? You know, I'm not really a revenge guy, you know, but I mean, I guess it would be nice to get it done for him. You know, but I'm just in there to get this W for myself. Right. Stylistically, like you said, like he's good everywhere. He's got power on the feet.

He's good on the ground. He has all the makings of a guy that can fight for a title one day. From like the X's and O standpoint of this fight, How do you like it? Yeah, I like it. You know, we're similar guys. He comes forward. I come forward.

You know, he's got very good, you know, chokes and jih Tjitsu positional stuff. So, you know, I'm going to be aware of that. But, you know, I feel good with this fight. You know, I'm going to have, I may even have the reach. I may even have the reach of my career. How's the, I mean, without the beard, I'm sure the weight has dropped dramatically. But I know we're about around a month or so away from this fight, but how are we looking right now getting down there?

Yeah, I'm right. On my dissim plan, I'm right where I need to be. Everything's been going really good. I mean, no BS. I think I feel better than I have during most of my camps. And I think it has to do to the fact that I'm just constantly putting good stuff in my body. You know, going fighting at 55 and 45, I could have pizza on the weekends and, you know, be a little loose with my diet. And, you know, I definitely notice putting good stuff my body has been helping me. So no cheat days for you these days? No cheat days, man. I'm being very disciplined, man. It's tough with little kids in the house, but I'm doing my best.

You sort of alluded to the fact that you're not 100% sure of how the structure is going to be when you get out there. Like, I know when you fight in Vegas, like the guys that are fighting this weekend, they're going to fly in Tuesday, fight on Saturday, fly home Sunday. Do you have any idea how this is going to work? I don't, man, not at all. I hear we're flying to Hub City and then we're going to take charters. I mean, I get my news from Twitter like most people. so I'm kind of waiting to hear the details. I bet you give you some first class treatment on these flights head and Abu Dada.

That's not a short trip, man. No, definitely not. You know, I don't know, maybe get a hit your ride in Dana's jet. That'd be nice. Oh, there you go. You deserve that at this point. You know, 10 years being a champion, it's your anniversary. Be a nice little gift from the boss.

Hey, I wouldn't turn it down. How do you make your presence felt in your return to Abu Dhabi? You know, good things happen when you fight over there, new weight division, tough and game opponent, co-main event, how do you see this one playing out? Yeah, I see, you know, making my introduction to the band-of-weight division and showing people that I'm here to stay. You know, I know I'm a little longer in a tooth compared to most guys,

but I still feel good. My body's still responding. I'm performing and training, and it's got to put it to the canvas on June, July 15. A couple more things to wrap up. You mentioned, you know, having little kids in the house, and during this quarantine time, I'm sure one of your roles, at least on a part-time basis, I'm sure it was being a teacher,

the homeschool dad in a couple of ways, at least partially. My son is done on Friday. I thought I saw that school in your neck of the woods is done for the year. So from one dad to another, how good is that going to feel on Friday when school is over here for May? We were done last week. So, geez, that was we were waiting. We were counting down the days, all of us as a family. family. I wasn't much of a teacher. I was more of a warded. My wife was the deep. I was a disciplinary.

Oh, there you go. Well, that's one less thing you got to worry about now. I can't wait for his school year to be over. It's so much tough. Like, for me, it's just driving to school. He's got the whole day and I got the whole day to do what I need to do. But, you know, he's sitting right in front of me right now. So he gets bored here and we try to do schoolwork. He doesn't want to do it at all. I wouldn't want to do it either. And then last thing, because I remember you saying it to me the last time you were on, and you're the co-host of a podcast called Champ and the Tramp. And I saw on Instagram, you had Corey Anderson on your most recent show, who's a phenomenal interview, one of the most underrated in the sport. But you said you hosted the show with your good buddy, Roger Matthews.

And I was like, oh, that's pretty cool. He's got a friend named Roger Matthews. But since I don't read much from, like, the publications out there, I didn't realize that it was the dude from Jersey Shore. And I have to say, kind of going through and checking out his Instagram today, like the guy has been through a lot. But he looks like he's in a really great place right now, like very apiece. So he can certainly bring a lot to the table and what you guys are trying to accomplish. But how long have you known him for?

Yeah, I've known Roger for about 15 years now. I think 2007, we started when I first met him. He's originally from Maine and moved down to Jersey a little bit later in his life. and he's an A fan, and we just kind of, we kind of think we crossed past through that. And he used to come to a class I used to teach, and we became good friends over the years. Obviously, I was married to any kind of,

and Jenny, my wife became friends. So, yeah, he's a good guy to have on the podcast. Definitely a good following and a pretty good take on all things. Yeah, and that shows us to be nice to do for you as well, because, you know, you could talk about fighting all day long, and that's a piece of what the show is, but to talk about things going on in the world, family giving back to the community.

Like that has to be sort of a nice escape from fighting and some of the negative things going on in the world and things like that, right? Yeah, absolutely. We try to, you know, keep it uplifting to the most part, you know, and definitely talk about current events. How can you not talk about current events in today's climate? So we address all types of things, but, you know, we're pretty down-to-earth guys

and we don't take ourselves too seriously. So it's all in fun and we try to push a positive message. Let's try to boost some subscribers here. What's the one episode people need to check out? Like if they're hearing about the show for the first time and they want to go check it out, what's that like go-to episode or interview that you guys did that are just going to hook him forever? Well, yeah, we had Frankie Perez, who's a former teammate of mine and also a former, well, he's a teammate of mine, but a former UFC fighter.

He's a real big conspiracy theory. So that was a pretty fun one to talk about all these crazy conspiracies. Whether you believe in them or not, it's still pretty cool and fun to talk about him. So that one was a fun one. Yes, Frankie Perez is a good dude. Also a fellow wedding DJ like myself has been in the past. So we clicked on that end. But man, I'm excited to see this fight, Frankie.

Huge one on Fight Island, July 15th. Main event is Calvin Cater versus Danny Ege. And then we got you versus Pedro Munoz in the co-main event. It's going to be a hell of a card. Always a pleasure, Frankie. Thanks for doing this. And all the best to you on July 15th, ma'am.

You got it, really. Always good talking here, all right? Great having the answer back on the show this week. Frankie Edgar takes on Pedro Munoz in the co-main event on July 15th. Yaz Island, Fight Island, whatever we want to call it these days. But the main event of that card will be in the UFC's featherweight division. I'll admit it. This one surprised me a little bit when I saw it, but it doesn't make me dislike the matchup in any way.

In fact, I like it a lot, especially on paper ahead of his July 15th made event against Dan Ege. Back on the show, Calvin Cater. All right, returning to the program this week is a fellow New Englander. We found out earlier this week he is back in action, July 15th. 15th in the main event against Dan Igay on Fight Island. This one got people excited. And at the same time, it also caught some people off guard. So with that, let's check in with the Boston finisher himself.

Calvin Cater. How are you, sir? I'm good, man. How you doing? I'm doing great. First question I have for you, it's almost like a continuation of our last chat. How's the nose? It's looking pretty good.

I assume things are good to go after 249 if we're getting right back after it, right? Yeah, yeah. Why not, man? I'm ready to go. I couldn't really brief for shit before the fight, like I was saying. saying. So not much change now. I'm pretty much back to normal and big opportunity heading me here with Ege on a six fight win streak. And I'm excited to go

and put a stop to that fight island. Yeah, it's your second main event in the UFC. Getting Danny Gay, it's a great matchup. Like if you go on social media after it was announced, it was praised heavily. But it was a little surprising to a lot of people because you wanted a top five guy. You deserve a top five guy. And I know a lot of those names are being discussed to fight on other cards right now. But tell me how this all came together for you, Calvin, and how you reacted to seeing

Dan Ege's name on the other side of that contract. Yeah, it's irrelevant who's on the other side of the contract to me. I get it. Like, it's always better to fight up. But I'm here to compete. I'm here to show on the best in the world. And you've got to be able to beat guys like Dan Ege if you want that claim, you know? So I'm not going to sit on the sidelines, man, while all my dreams are in front of me.

I get an opportunity to go out, main event. second opportunity. Fight Island, sounds cool to me, man. I thought we were going to fight on the island when we fought in Florida last. You know, it's kind of a little disappointed. I didn't get that opportunity. And now we got one.

Yeah, I was going to say, because I asked Frankie Edgar this question yesterday, because, you'll, I mean, you'll fight anywhere. Like, you fought in far worse places than Abu Dhabi, I'm certain throughout your career. But when you heard that Dana White rented an island to host these international thoughts, flights and you found out it's Abu Dhabi and Yaz Island of all places.

Was it a letdown? And listen, I give Dana White all the credit in the world. He said I'm renting an island and all of our imaginations just went running wild. Yeah, definitely. And I mean, now that it's out that way, it got me thinking it'd be nice to, you know, pop off depending all all the stipulations with travel right now. But it'd be nice to, while I'm out there, man, go, you know, hit Dubai or maybe Lebanon or something like that.

I was excited. but now from what I'm hearing, I don't know if it's right back to Vegas or how the particulars are working out. But yeah, it's pretty cool to have an opportunity to fight on Fight Island and got my imagination going crazy too, man, all the possibilities that that could be. You know, you always want to buy an island and then what better than to throw a cage right in the middle of you think

and just like fights? Like those old bodog fights that like Chale Son and you should be a part of. Dan's been on, like you said, a really nice run as of late, six wins in a row. He's in the rankings. So obviously this is a huge, huge opportunity for him. And in a weird way, I feel like it kind of puts all the pressure on you, Calvin. I think every fight has pressure. They're all important. But in this case, heavy lies the crown, my man, doesn't it? Yeah, man, you're going to want this pressure. You know, I want to be in big moment opportunities. It's going to take a worthy adversary,

like a Dan Iga. It's going to take a big name. And that's what makes a big fight. So you got to be able to take on a guy with a six-fight win, but you've got to be able to take on a guy with a six-fight win, but you've got to put them out, you know, Starzsche, you've got to go to the next guy and break all his side. You've just got to take souls in this game, man, and I have an opportunity to go out and put a stop to his six-fight win streak, give something else for people to be excited about and tune in next time to him. Just keep snowballing this thing, man, and how big we can get it.

We don't have to talk specifics or particulars, but I assume that you're being taken care of pretty well considering the circumstances, spot on the car, travel, etc. Yeah, we renegotiated, so I'm happy with that. And we've got a six-fight deal now, I want to say. So pretty cool opportunity, but, you know, if you look at the guys I've already fought, right, and you factor what I got paid for those ones. It's like, you know, to fight down and, you know, get a step up and pay is nice. But Danny Gay's a hungry guy.

You can see it in the way he fights. and he asked for the big names and now he's got one in front of him so let's see what's up you know so I'm going to put you on the spot man you ask for it these guys asked for it and then when it comes you know

it's like I haven't turned anybody on yet and whoever wants you can get it like I said whether it's on the way up or when I get to the top and they're trying to climb you know either way I'm ready to take on anybody and everybody I'm going to put you on the spot here Cal

A, did you watch Dan's last fight with Edson Barboza? And B, if so, how did you score it? Because there aren't a lot of people who scored it for Dan. Like, if you look at a, I don't know if you're familiar with MMA decisions. It's where, like, media members all go on Twitter and they score the fight and they sort of put it all together. Out of 18 media members, 16 of them scored it for Edson Barbosa. What did you think of that fight? Yeah, yeah.

It was very close. I have to watch it again. I tried pulling it up on my connection with bad. And, but as far as, you know, he's done what he's had to do with the last six guys. You know, it's close. When he got on the mic, called me out. My buddy's had a laugh at that. You know, they think it's a good checkpoint when you start getting called out.

But, you know, at the end of the day, I don't know if there's such a, such a thing. I mean, you can call people out in a respectful way, but still it's like, you know, we're going to fight. We're going to be friends after fight. But as far as I'm concerned right now, if you're on the other side of the Ocadockegon for me, last thing I want to do is show you anything. any respect. The card is shaping up pretty nicely as well. I mean, we got Edgar and Munoz in the co-main event spot, but...

Oh, nice. Yeah, it's pretty solid. They moved them from July 11 to the co-main event of this card to sort of build this thing up a little bit. But after that fight happens, it's you and Dan Eaget at 145 pounds. Patriots mentality, no calling shots, but outside of just getting your hand raised, what's the goal on July 15th? Like you said, going out, I want to win in press. progressively, however many rounds it takes. I had a big moment of opportunity in Russia being the main event,

and felt like we ran out of time. I feel like time won't be an issue of this one. It's more about who can get the job done. So for me, it's another big opportunity to get a win as a main event. That's still a good little checkpoint I want to get to. And Daniege is a perfect opponent to have that opportunity with Yaz Island. Four days before your fight, a very important fight in your division is going to go down. The rematch between Alex Volcanovsky and Max Holloway for the Featherway title.

I'm sure that's a fight you'll be watching very closely. Can Max Holloway get it back? Do you see a way that this fight goes any differently than the first one? Honestly, I mean, who knows? I think it would be a good fight, but I'll tune in. But for right now, it's just all Dan E. Game, man. I don't give a shit about none of these guys above me. You know, he's got my sole attention,

I'm so focused. I'm coming after him, and right after Ege, I'll pay attention to what happened with these guys and who we're going to put our sights on next. But right now, it's all the end Ege. It's like, listen to Bill Belichick right now. It's unbelievable.

And it's the mindset, man, it's the reason. You can't be spending your energy on some dumb shit that doesn't affect you yet. You know, it's like, whatever. Those guys will come, man. Only focus on what you can control. And that's working out every day. I got three weeks before we leave for,

fight island and then from there it's it's game time so do you like you sort of mentioning you're i know you're not 100% sure but if you heard like anything about how that works like i heard charter planes and you guys will head over there and i've heard so many different things about it like some some people have told me you're there for like the whole month some people said that you're there for like a couple of weeks like do you know anything like what's going to happen in terms of when you go home months man i've just been rolling with everything and when they tell me it's time to fight it's time to fight make weight handle the things that are within my control uh like a true professional and to the best of my

capabilities but outside of that man let tyson worry about the particulars and handle that with the ufc just telling me when where and i don't even really got to know until it's time to go so keep it pretty simple and i try not to be a headache for the guys at the talk because like you said and i run the promotion over here in new hampshire and it's tough getting calls up the ass, you know, about little details that they could have maybe found out on their own. It's that I'm always ready to go, man. I try to keep it light and keep them moving. I'm so, like, disappointing myself because I made a vow that I wouldn't bring this up

because I know everybody asked you about it and everybody asked about me too and I'm sort of sick of talking about it, but it's one thing to hear about it. It's another thing to see it with your own eyes. Careful, man. I might be losing connection soon. Tom Brady in the Bucks jersey, dude. like he's got nothing else to prove to either of us Calvin I get that he's he's one of so many titles but seeing the photos that came out this week it's a little weird dude like it's a little

weird yeah you can't talk oh it's cool yeah yeah you know it's gonna be weird fighting with no attendance yeah it's gonna be weird and I'm saying you're in there and it's like oh shit you see it it's kind of weird like yeah tongue Brady's going it's a it's a funny it's all funny games until you see him on those other side of the huddle yeah seeing those photos pop up yeah I think it was yesterday they came up on Twitter. Brady in full jersey making the calls. I'm like, oh, my God. Yeah, I like his mindset, though.

You've got to have that edge. He's got a little edge, a little flared to him this season. I can't wait to watch him play, though. Yeah, he's got some good receivers, too. So interesting division. I think he, uh, we trust, man. And bill we trust. I feel, I, I'm still rather confident about Patriots, Calvin.

People, people are already, they're burying us already. Yeah. I feel good about it. I think we're still going to be okay. Other teams would be sunk. Other teams wouldn't know how to respond, but. I feel like we're very system-based, and, you know, you've seen that over the last two decades, right? And you've become too big.

If you worry too much about the name on the back of the jersey, then the one in the front, then you see you later. So we'll see how that works. You know, we just need a new leader to step up and lead the team from a play at the same point thing. I'm excited. Next man up. That's how it works. But, you know, hopefully you get the Bruins in August, right after you get home from Fight Island,

some playoff hockey. Then we get the Red Sox. Looks like that's going to get all figured out here. But next stop for Boston Sports, Abu Dhabi, July 15th, Calvin Cater versus Dan Eagle. New England Cartel. Always a pleasure, sir. Safe travels to the island. All the best end of the fight, man.

Yeah, thank you. We got one here in New England, man. It's about time. People start recognizing it. Hopefully, fight out and I'll be one step closer, man. Good talking to you. We got it done. Seven up, seven down.

What a show this was. A big shout out to Casey Liden on the production. probably in our Slack channel throughout this week as these guests are all being confirmed, like, really? Another one. That's why he's the absolute best in the business. And it's an honor being able to work with that, man. It's an honor to work with everyone over at MAAfighting.com.

Big thanks to Esther Lynn, another absolute legend for the graphics and just making everything look so cool. And that actually reminds me. Let me just pull this up real quick. Because during this chaotic time in the world and in the country, some of you may be looking for a way to help out some worthy causes and maybe look like an absolute stud in the process. And you could do so by grabbing yourself an all elbows t-shirt. These are really, really cool. I'm actually going to place my order tonight. And for reals, that's happening.

So website is allelbows.com. And it's spelled out exactly how it sounds. So you can grab your shirts there. There's 15 bucks plus shipping, 100% of the proceeds minus the shipping is going to the two different causes, all right? One of which is the national bailout, which is a, from the website itself, black led and black centered collective of abolitionist organizers, lawyers and activists, building a community-based movement to support our folks and end systems a pre-child attention and ultimately mass incarceration. So for those out there protesting, fighting the good fight, if they're wrongly arrested, need help getting bailed out

or getting representation to help them get out, that's what this is all about. So if we want to support that cause, get your shirts, look like a stud. Also, old town music hall in Los Angeles, proceeds will go to them as well. And being here in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, It's there is a really, really cool, nostalgic, old school-looking theater in one of the cities in Berkshire County, Pittsfield. It's called the Colonial Theater.

I've had the honor of taking that stage and introducing a lot of different bands who were up there during my radio career and being able to just be in that theater and be on stage and look out there. It's just super cool. And this place, Old Town Music Hall, reminds me very much of the colonial theater. It's a nonprofit organization. It celebrates classic film and music, offers weekly classic movies and concerts, including many silent films, accompanied live on the pipe organ.

That is old school as it gets. That is nostalgia personified. And obviously, a lot of people are affected by what's going on with COVID-19 and business is being slowed down and shut down. Some of them are starting to reopen. Others aren't not in a position to do so. So you can help them out

by going to allelbows. com. to order your all elbows t-shirt and look like $10 million. Do it. Do it, help out, and look tremendous while you do it. So with that, we are done. The rambling has come to an end. Big thank you to the fighters for joining us.

Big thank you to all of you guys watching and listening. It means the world. And with that, have a heck of a week, everybody.