MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 17 | Calvin Kattar, Brandon Moreno, Alex Perez & Modestas Bukauskas

Episode Date: July 23, 2020

Check out episode 17 of What the Heck on MMA Fighting as Mike Heck chats with Calvin Kattar (3:48) to discuss his UFC on ESPN 13 main event win over Dan Ige, Alexander Volkanovski's win over Max Holloway, how he matches up with both of those guys, and more. Top UFC flyweight contenders Alex Perez (22:29) and Brandon Moreno (48:26) state their cases for Deiveson Figueiredo's first title defense following the new champion's first round finish of Joseph Benavidez at UFC Fight Island 2. Finally, Modestas Bukauskas (1:10:27) recaps his first-round TKO win over Andreas Michailidis at UFC on ESPN 13, the controversy that seemed to surround it, and what he wants next.  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? Hello there, everybody. Welcome to a brand new edition of What the Heck on MMAfighting.com. I am Mike Heck. Hope everyone's having a great week.

And since we are all fans of this crazy sport, there's a lot going on this week in our little bubble. Lots of events to watch. Titan FC is back tonight. on UFC Fight Pass. Belator is finally back tomorrow night. LFA has an event tomorrow night. And the UFC is back on Saturday with a 15 fight card, a seven-fight main card, headlined by Robert Whitaker taken on Darren Till. So we are sort of inching our way back to MMA normalcy, at least from an at home viewership perspective. So there's a lot to be excited about this week if you are an MMA fan. And a lot happened in the sport last weekend as well,

as we have a brand new UFC flyweight champion in Davis and Figito. He defeated Joseph Benavides this past Saturday night. It was a completely dominant performance. He finished Benavides in the first round. And the question always is after these fights, who is next to keep this division moving along? Well, two of the possibilities for that title shot are going to join us this week on the program. Plus, we're going to give some love to last Wednesday night's event on Fight Island as well,

because I feel like with some of these Wednesday night cards, it almost gets like lost in the shuffle in the aftermath. Like we are excited about it, that we get like three events in eight days, and it's always great to consume that much content. But once the Wednesday night events over, you have like six hours to celebrate it, and then it's already on to the next one.

So it's almost like it gets sort of lost in everything else going on. But we're going to celebrate that a little bit this week on the program. So let's get right into this thing. I'm not going to really talk that much at all. except to the fighter, so let's run down the lineup. Wrapping up this week is Modestis Bukascus. He is back on the program following his first round TKO win over Andreas Mikhailitis. Last Wednesday night in Abu Dhabi.

It's kind of a wild ending to that fight with the elbows and the caged orb. We're going to talk to one of the bonus winners and one of the nicest guys in the sport coming off that big win at UFC on ESPN 13 later on in the program. Speaking of the Flyweight Division, Brandon Moreno, the Assassin Baby, is going to join us. He was watching the Figato v. Benavita's title fight very closely. He thinks he is next. I personally think he is not next or don't think he is next. That's more proper English.

But I do tell him that in the conversation. How is he going to react to that? You'll find out. This is actually a lot of fun. That is coming your way a little bit later on. Before that, we're going to speak to the man that I actually think should get the shot. And listen, between Moreno, Asker, Ascarov, and. The guest joining us a little bit later on in about 20 minutes or so, Alex Perez.

All three of these guys have an argument to fight for the belt. But I'll sort of lay out my formula throughout the episode. Alex Perez is going to join us from Abu Dhabi. He's actually cornering Carla Esparsa on Saturday night against Marina Rodriguez. Alex is going to state his case for the flyway title in around 20 minutes or so. But kicking us off this week, the man who took a victory in the main event of last Wednesday night's event in Abu Dhabi. Calvin Cater, he defeated Dan E. And honestly, I am fascinated to see what is next for him in this loaded up,

yet somewhat log-jammed, 145-pound division. So let's get to it right now. My chat with the Boston finisher, Calvin Cater. All right, we have Calvin Cater back in the show. He took a trip to Fight Island, competed in a main event against Dan Igay, and he comes back to Massachusetts with a victory intact. Calvin, good to see you, man. Congratulations.

How are you? Yeah, thanks, my doing good. Doing good, thanks. How you doing? I'm doing great, man. And I'm curious because you've been preaching the Patriots way for as long as I've been talking to you, Calvin. And even before you got into the UFC, you've been preaching the Patriots way for a long time. And even after the Patriots win, even when they win like 49 to nothing, Bill Belichick goes up to the podium and is a very harsh grader when it comes to performances and what his team does.

So I'm curious about how you graded your performance overall against Dan. How would you grade it? I mean, I would say, like, C plus to a B minus, B minus, B minus. Not bad. I mean, because you got the win, man. Anytime you can learn off the win, it's great. Just things that I could have done made it a lot easier on myself. Didn't really happen.

But then again, there's this good takeaways, bad takeaways. I was happy with the defense on the takedowns. And then, but busted up my hands a little bit kind of mid-fight. and how to adjust a little bit with some elbows and knees later in the round. But we'd have a little more volume. But overall, like I said, you've got the job done. Yeah, I mean, a win is the most important thing. And hindsight's a fickle beach.

You can go back and watch the fight and be like, oh, I should have done this or should have done this. But what would you have done differently if you had the chance? Well, just like you said to, I mentioned, you know, hey, just another maybe half inch or an inch on that elbow against Jeremy Stevens out of the way. Maybe I don't break my nose. And then Rob's like, yeah, maybe you don't hit the chin. It's like, you know, so you either go here or there with it.

I'm happy I'm not to win against a tough kid who's on a six-fight win streak, you know, positive takeaways. And then any time you get the windside money while learning a valuable lesson for the next one. And I still feel like my best fight, which is good. So, you know, taking on this next caliber guys in the top five, I'll just need to perform on my best. And knowing that I've yet to do that is good, considering I'm getting the job. and catch him wins. Yeah, I thought you won four of the five rounds, and I know Dan is not the easiest guy to fight,

as you got to kind of see for yourself. He's very game, he moves a lot. He seems to be almost annoying to compete in the cage with based on his style and based on your style. Was there anything that Dan did that surprised you at all or kept you on your toes throughout the fight that you didn't expect in the buildup? I just wasn't expecting to kind of jack up my handsman fight,

but he did a good job, man. I thought he mixed it up pretty well. well, early he did a good job. And then towards the end, I was kind of getting the range down pretty well. But he's two to the body, three up top, caught me in the nose in the second round, which was kind of clean. And I knew we started the blood clock at that point. And I would have liked it had been later in the fight.

But since that point, I didn't really get tagged up there too much. And then, like you said, we were able to get the job done pretty decisively. So take it. How are the hands now? Yeah, there are. It's kind of like the nose. They flare up every now. But aside from that, I feel great.

Anytime we get the win, all the physical pain is over in the matter of time. It's just a couple days, week, whatever. But that win lasts forever, man, feels good. So no breaks or anything like that? No, thank you. I'm going to get checked tomorrow. But nothing that I felt in the past that would lead me to believe it's a break. That's good.

That's how I gauge it. I kind of gauge it how, like, I've been like this. before, it's been swelled up worse, and it wasn't broke then, so it can't be broke now. Well, there you go. There's a positive. Yeah, exactly. That's my professional opinion. Dr. Calvin Cater.

I love it, man. So I need to get rid of that suspension. I'm good now. There you go. What did you make of the whole fight island experience? Like, I know, you and Rob and Tyson and your team, you guys took advantage of the racetrack and some of the cooler things on the island after you guys were quarantined and that that got, I know, I talked to Rob Flon while he was quarantined.

He was like, oh, I can't wait to get out of here, man. What was that all like for you once you got to get out of the hotel room for a little bit? It was a lot of just getting there, just traveling with about 150 people, staff, fighters, things like that. Anytime we travel, the group is kind of, you know, a lot of slow over process. It doesn't matter if you're the first guy in the line to last. We were kind of waiting for everybody in total anyway. So a lot of waiting, hurry up to wait, which is similar to, you know, fight week feels. But it was good, man.

And they did all the safety precautions that they could do. I think we got tested about five times. So as far as the safety, that was good. We got quarantined, 48 hours. That sucked. But at the end of the day, safety was paramount there. And I think they did a lot better job than when they had their first event that I competed for, May 9th, than Jacksonville. So all those things considered it was good.

And then we were able to go F1 racing, like you mentioned, in the two-mile radius. And then we hit a little bit of jet skis, which was nice. But tough to know the red zone's out there on the water. It's not too clear. know. Right. We were hitting, we hit some, we caused some good trouble in the first 15, 20 minutes of that thing and then called it a day. They didn't want to get too exhausted. I knew I still had a flight coming up within the week. It probably felt good getting that water to splash in your face a little bit though, because I heard it brutal out there. Yeah, but even the water was hot.

So you think it'd be more refreshing. But yeah, it was just kind of just getting on the jet ski, switching it up. And like you said, the journey is the destination. So you've got to find points throughout the fight weeks when you can enjoy yourself a little bit. And then when we started the new week, which is fight week, that Sunday, Monday, we kind of dialed back. And then it was all fight week business, though. People kept talking about, and I know you were asked about it a lot, the pressure and the risk of taking a fight like that when you were ranked so much higher in the division. And, you know, I remember we were asking you about that. And you said you love the pressure, you love being a guy to help move this division along

since some of the other top guys hadn't been fighting at all. Do you feel like you accomplished that mission that you gave the rest of the division a little bit of a warning? You better get in there and fight or I'm going to start leapfrogging you guys. Well, that's the plan all along is to just be active and let the result speak for himself. So I find out, yeah, right now

I'm kind of one of the only guys out there along with Dan competing. Look it, we got reward for that. We had a main event opportunity. And you've got to take those risks, man, in order to taste that greatness, you know. And you got to fight guys at six-fight win streaks in order to get a main position spot. So in order to have these big moment opportunities, you've got to take some risks.

And it was a calculated one on our end. We turned it up. It didn't really get, didn't really stop after the Jeremy Stevens fight. And parlayed that right into a big win against Igay. It was weird. It was the 15th back home and the 16th in Dubai. I mean, you know what I mean? It was like I was living in the future out there.

I know your focus was on the fight and on Danny Gay, and I did ask you about this last time you were on to give your thoughts on Volkovsky v. Holloway, and you said he didn't care. You didn't even know if you're going to watch it, which, let's be honest, I didn't really believe you, Calvin, but did you watch the fight? What did you think of it?

I didn't watch it. I really don't give a shit about watching anybody's fight. Like, I'm trying to be more involved in watching it and things, but especially if you're on a card, like, I'd never really focus. It'd just be like, shit, I've got to get ready for my fight, and then you never really know who's on the card, except now they're pretty big fights and you're kind of a fan at that point. But, you know, I'll throw my career, just you focus on a date, you have a date in mind.

You don't really know anything else other than you and your opponent. And that's like the main focus. But as far as you were saying with what on the back end? I'm sorry. Oh, what did you think of the fight between Volcanovokovsky and all that. So it's weird. I think that max, you know, he controlled the cage the whole fight. I think if you judged it one round, you might have to give it a max.

He dropped in the first and the second round, controlled the cage the entire fight. And that third round is real close. I have to rewatch it. But I think if you scored the fight as one big round, you might give it a max. And the way it was, you know, worked out going to a Volvo now. So you got to give him credit being down two rounds, the first two rounds and coming back winning the next three. No matter how close it was, that's championship medal right there, you know? Yeah.

I got, I don't know how it is on your social media game. I don't see you being trashed a lot on social media. but I've never experienced anything like the reaction I got from saying simply that the fight wasn't a robbery, that Volkanowski winning wasn't a robbery. I've seen worse. I've seen worse. I'll say that. But, I mean, that's not really saying much either. If it's a broken system, maybe the long play is that they might work on the way they judge things or, you know, just relook at it.

It's not perfect as it is at the moment. So it would be nice if they revisit that a little bit instead of just talking everything. post-fight. I like it there's more transparency too leading into the fight every round. They should just show the total of what they have. Like, why have it so secret until the last, it just seems weird. Transparency

is the thing nowadays, right? I know our producer Casey, who is listening to this conversation right now, is probably clapping and dancing. He's a big proponent of open scoring. Why not? Seems like you are as well. Yeah, why not? It's not going to hurt. Oh, I agree. Maybe we get that in combat zone, once you

guys get that up and run, introduce open scoring. what, that's a good idea. Just implement it, right? Be the change you want to see. I like that. There you go. I'd like to see a good idea. Yeah, maybe we could 100%. That's a good way of doing it. There we go. The reason I really asked you about the last fight

and it's kind of crazy how things changed so suddenly for you, Calvin, because now you kind of have to look at these fights a little bit closer because you're getting up there. So it was a big fight for your future as well because you're knocking on that door right now. Where does the win over Dan place you in this division overall?

Like, are you there for Volkanowski now, or do you think you need another one, another two? Like, what do you think? I think I can make it a bad day for him today, tomorrow, you know, a couple months. Whenever we step in there, man, I feel like I can level up to any opportunity to present it to myself. But the longer they wait, the worst it's going to get because I'm only getting better. This is just one man's opinion. But actually, there's a lot of people who agree with me. And let me just say, Calvin, if they offered you a title shot, it would be amazing.

But if they go in a different direction, I feel like the fight to make is you and Max. Like, I think it makes all the sense of the world. Like, who wouldn't want to see the potential striking battle that would ensue between the two of you guys? But I'm not the matchmaker. I know you're like a line him up, knock him down kind of a guy. But I feel like, what's that? That'd be another me doing all these other contenders, right?

I'd be doing all another fame for fighting. Another guy that none of these guys want to fight. And I'm cool with everybody. I'll fight any one of these guys, man. It's just, it's funny how, you know, put me with any one of them. And you know we're getting a good fight. But these guys all want to, nobody want to fight Danny Gay, you know, six-five weeks. You know what we want to fight is a beat.

Stevens is a dangerous fight for a lot of guys. And some people aren't looking for, you know, there's not a ton of upside with the risk on that one. But, yeah, sign them all up, man. I don't care. Like I said, I wouldn't mind beating all these guys on the way to the boat. So this way, when I get the belt, they can't give me anybody new. They already fought them all. It doesn't matter to me.

It's all the same shit. On the back end of everybody is that win side, that win money. And that's what I want in order to change my life and to do the things for the people that I want to do them for. So whoever's in the middle of me and that show money, that win money, sign them up. They're all getting the same treatment. I just want what's on the back end of win over all these guys. And that's just, you know, better lifestyle for me and everybody I do this shit for them. So sign them up.

Sign me all up. Anybody that makes the most sense, most money, let's do it. Yeah, I think you and Max would be great. And I think you've also done the UFC a lot of favors along the way with the Zabid situation. You know, the Stevens fight is a tough fight. The Ege fight taking that fight. I mean, they reward you through a new contract and they give you a man of an event spot. But still, you know, take it.

I don't need nothing from nobody, man. Sign up. I have no favors. I don't want nothing. Go ahead. Give me the fight that nobody wants. Give me more chips, man. I don't care.

Whatever. Sign me up. Cool. It just shows it, you know, mentality-wise. I feel like I'm different than some of these guys. I think they all want to talk about it. But I think a lot of them, when it comes down to that mentality, I think that for us, I don't know,

unless these guys are busy competing during the pandemic. I don't see much of them doing anything right now than talking about it, you know? Since this sport is a what have you done for me lately sport, true or false? You're the number one contender in this division right now. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, it is what it is. So what have you done for me lately?

It's exactly how I see it. But if we're going by rankings and this and that and what's fair, I mean, it might as well be talking about the ruling system and the judging system all over. Don't we want to talk about rankings now? Man, that's why I don't get lost in all this shit. It's like, I'm trying not to even talk about it because it's all a bunch of bullshit, right? And all I, what am I going to do, get lost in the bullshit? Or am I just going to focus on the training?

The only thing that pays dividends, you know, worry about the next meal, get in the right sleep. because when these guys get cold feet to pull out of the fight or do something, you know, then someone, someone's going to step in

and I'm that guy. I'm that guy that's, you know, it is what it is. I'm always ready and, and this shit's got to be like that. It's got to be a lifestyle.

And that's what pays the biggest dividends and always being ready to go. And, yeah, so my next opportunity is going to be just probably whatever opportunity presents itself next. That makes the most sense. sometimes saying no.

Yeah, we're in the middle of pandemic too, so that kind of makes things a little awkward and interesting in its own right. But at the end of the day, man, what else is it to do, right? That's true. The hell is it a day to do. I mean, I'm not going to keep beating the dead horse, but, you know, it could just be talking about it all day, or we can go out there and compete and earn our shit, earn our spots.

And I feel like, yeah, I'm one of the only guys in the division doing that, but should the UFC want to go another way and reward someone who's just sitting back on their morals, you know, that's on them. I'll run in all these guys eventually. That's true. When do you think you'll be ready to come back? Like, you want to be active in the way things are trending. Another trip to Abu Dhabi could be in your future for your next fight too.

But I know you just fought a week ago, but, you know, when are you sort of looking at the old calendar? Any certain month or date circled up for you right now? In the short term, I think I'm going to be able to find out tomorrow with all the X-rays and things, you know, check off that once that's all set tomorrow. I'd like to just be ready for something. Ideally, I'd like to jump in on the car with my teammate Rob Ball. I know he's coming back from being injured.

That would be ideal if it was on my timetable, but if something pops up beforehand and we're ready to go, I'm always down for another, you know, whatever we've got to do, man. I don't know how to keep it minimum money. man, is this, where's this going? Are we swearing? I don't know, man. You can say whatever you want. You've already broken that rule a few times. You're good. I forget. I forget. This is the internet, man. We're good.

Because I'm down for another fucking opportunity, too, man. Whatever presents itself. Now that you're back home, I know you're going to get checked out tomorrow and see where that goes from here on the short term. But, you know, what are you going to do? Like Boston Sports are coming back pretty soon. I heard you like to hit the golf courses from time to time. I know there's a lot of courses in the Boston area. Played two of them over the last two weekends.

So what are these next couple weeks going to be like for you back home? I'm excited to get to hit the golf course in Abu Dhabi. Too hot, man. Yeah, number one golf course in the Middle East. So I was like right there. Anyway, back here, I'm looking to get a golf club in my hand as soon as I can hold one. Should be soon. Probably a couple of days.

But get on the links and stay in the gym. That's it. Stay in the gym and get on the links and be ready for another opportunity. Like I said, I can't do anything crazy physical, but there's always something we could do and just trying to stay moving because you've got a lot of good eating and do lined up around here. And I can't get that scale going the other way too far. You know, we've got to keep momentum. You have goals as a fighter. And I will say this, one of my goals as somebody in the media, one of my ideas is to a golf and talk interview with a fighter.

So that, you know, play some golf and talk. Like, I want to do that one of these days. So now I'm putting on the spot. Ross. Yeah, we'll do a cartel interview on the link. So I have to set that up. I'm writing it in the contract that Tyson has to wear his hat backwards or I'm not doing it. Muffin. Muffin. He's going to be so pissed. He busted balls, man, so much. Me here, Rob. Man, that's a riot. Whoever that was, that was hysterical.

Yeah, that was, that's just too funny. But congratulations, man. Great win. Great performance. Big, big fights coming your way, it looks like. looking forward to seeing what that is. Thank you. All the best to you. And enjoy time back in good old Massachusetts, man. Thanks, Mike. Appreciate it, man. I'll talk to you soon. There he is. Calvin Cade, everybody. I would love to see him versus Max Holloway next. Plus, we're going to try to get this golf and talk thing rolling soon. We'd love to make that happen. But Cater versus Holloway, I think that's the fight to make. It just makes all the sense in the world. You get those four other contenders rumored to be lined up against each other.

and I say that's the direction they go, and Volcanovsky should just hang out and wait and see what happens with this division. He's beat Max Holloway twice. We get four of the contenders. That leaves only two guys, Cater and Holloway. I think that's the fight to make, and we could see who sort of separates themselves

from the pack to fight for the title next. But speaking of the pack and getting towards a title shot, let's talk to our next guest. A definite fighter in the conversation to challenge Davis and Figurato for the Flyway. title now that we have a champion. Alex Perez, we spoke with him around a month and a half ago. He finished Jucia Formiga with a leg kick TKO in his most recent fight at UFC 250. So let's head to Abu Dhabi and check in with one of the top contenders at 125 pounds, Mr. Alex Perez.

All right, we have Alex Perez back on the show, joining us from Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. And this past Saturday, a big fight. At 125 pound division went down that had a lot of significance to this man is Davis and Figurato is now the brand new UFC Flyway champion so I wanted to check in with Mr. Perez and see how we felt about all of that. Alex how are you? So, man, how are you doing? I'm doing great. How is Abu Dhabi right now? I hear it's not cool there. It's hot, man. I actually just got back to the hotel because our hotel is like right next to the racetrack. Like the racetrack passes by my room so we got to actually go try it and man I did. I did it. We did three laps and I was sweating just being in the helmet.

It's like, oh my God. I can only imagine being out there all day. Yeah, and it's, it's what, 10 o'clock at night there right now? Something like that. I can't even remember. I'm trying to stay on California time, man. Oh, there you go. So it's like, dude.

So it's like noon in your own mind. It's crazy because I'm going to sleep like at noon here and it's super sunny. I'm waking up like 6 p.m. 7 p.m. I'm like, oh, my God. Like I'm going kind of. crazy. I'm used to be, I like seeing the daylight and stuff, but it's, it's, uh, it's definitely a trip. First time traveling this far with this big of a difference and, uh, it's different.

How long have you been there? Uh, been, so I've been here, and I got here at like three day, four days ago, I believe. It's kind of hard to tell. Like, all the days kind of blur together. You're, you go to Vegas, stuck in quarantine, right? Then you literally fly out and then you come straight here and you're in quarantine for 48 hours. The only time you leave is to go do the second test. It's 24 hours. Then they can do a second test. Then you're stuck for another 24 hours. And then you get it like I think we got out like a 4 a.m. Like our time was like, holy shit, man. I've never been in a room. Been so happy to walk away, you know, walk around, walk around the lobby. I've been walking around

the lobby every day for like at least 10, 15 minutes. So how long did it take, would you say you guys are like acclimated to the time change yet or you just probably won't and you know once you get home you have to kind of go back to where you came from as i get size essentially it's because so i'm trying to stay at california time because we fight like she's on the main car so she might around four four to five p.m. our time california time but that's like four a.m. here so it's kind of hard like so it's kind of like weird like if you try to adjust to your time you're going to sleep at a certain time you're going to fight in the morning. We fight Sunday morning. We don't fight Saturday night. It's just because we're adjusted to the time in the U.S. So it's kind of just weird.

So I'm trying to stay California time because we're used to turning around that time anyway. So we're up and about. So yeah, it's just different. So you're out there with Carla Esparsa. She's going to fight Marina Rodriguez this Saturday at UFC on ESPN 14. And this day to the fight got switched around a little bit as we're getting closer and closer. but now that she's there and she's days away from this big fight, how has she been doing getting ready for a tough test in Marina Rodriguez? She looks good, man. I mean, her weight's good, always on point.

Striking looking good, a ground game looking good. Her wrestling is looking good. I mean, you know, we're like, it's like it's like we had to wait next year, you know, a couple, what, extra week and a half to fight. But it kind of benefited us a little bit too, you know, taking that, anybody's taking these fights. someone I short notice with like a month camp, just gave us more time to work,

and I think it paid off. So let's talk about you, Alex, because Saturday night we saw Davidson Figato become the new champion and defeats Joseph Benavitas in the first round. It was a dominant performance from Davidson. I'm sure you were watching with bated breath with your eyes wide open.

What was going through your mind is this fight was all going down? I mean, the fight result was what I thought that Devon was going to win. And I felt like Joe, the only way he can win is to drag it out five rounds and win by points. But it's a hard task to do with someone has knockout power like that, you know. And I was just, you know, I personally wanted Joe to win. Everybody thinks I don't like Joe. I really don't care for the guy.

I mean, I don't know him personally. Fighting wise, I fucking hate the guy. You know, he beat me. If you don't hate the guy you lost to or don't, you know, like that's the way I felt. But I wanted Joe to win because I wanted to fight him for the title. beat him and win the title from him. That has been the best revenge for me. But, I mean, I figured that Devston was going to win, just had that knockout power.

And like I said, Joe is going to have to drag it out to five rounds unless he got him with the sub. Being in there with Joe myself, I don't feel that Joe, you know, like hits extremely, like, card, like, not like, you know, he didn't WEC, you know. Not like he ain't, he hasn't really knocked anybody out, one punch or anything. where Devincent is doing that right now. So it was just going to be a tall task to ask to go five rounds with that guy and not get caught by one shot.

You know, this guy has one shot. He's super accurate. It's kind of a hard thing to do. But yeah, man, I'm glad that finally we have a champion. Now, you know, I answered a lot of questions, but now there's more questions coming up, you know, about obviously who's finding him next and stuff. And I was just excited to get a champion in and, you know, gives me confidence that I just beat the guy, stopped the guy that he went three rounds with and he lost two.

Yeah, because, you know, you and I have been talking, I think this is probably like the fourth, fifth time we talked in the last year or so. And, you know, the narrative has been pretty similar. Your goal was to get up to that spot. If Benavitas was the champion, you wanted to fight him and win the belt back, that was the revenge, it's been the same thing you've been saying for a while. But was it a little bittersweet for you watching that fight on Saturday night? I mean, you're happy that now we have a champion.

We can move this division forward, but it was a little bittersweet that Joe didn't win, so you don't get that fight right away? Nah, you know what I mean? Like, I want to fight the best guys in the world whether it's Joe, and Joe technically has a win over me, you know what I mean? So not technically, he does have a win over me. So Joe has a win over me.

I'm a competitor at heart, man. I want to fight the guys that beat me, the guy's the next guy in line on, fight the next big thing. You know, that's my goal. I come into the sport to compete. You know, I'm not here to talk smack about people or anything. Like, I'm probably one of the people

laugh because I'll come up to you and tell you exactly how I feel about you. If I like you or not, I'll tell you exactly what I think of you and that's the way it is. And I'm not a person that talks smack, you know. So I want to fight the best guys in the world. Kind of suck that. That wasn't Joe, but the same time, too, is like, okay, he's not the best guy in the world. I want to challenge yourself against the best, you know, he's one of the best, but I want to challenge against the number one spot. Everybody's goal in the sport should be to be a USC champion or a champion and whatever organization they're in.

So Davidson is the main guy right now, and that's what I'm looking for. As soon as I was over, my attention was right on him. I was watching videos and stuff like that already. I'm already doing studying on those guys, you know, and I'm excited. So you probably look at things a little differently because, you know, you're you and you're in this position, but I think most people are looking at this division right now is there's a three-horse race here for the next title shot. You would be one of those guys.

Brandon Moreno would be another. and then Asker-askaroff is there after his win over Pantosia on Saturday night, the unanimous decision win. He looked great in that fight. But why do you feel like you should be the guy to get that next shot over those other fine contenders in this division? So, you know, I have to look at all their resumes. Moreno's fought Kai and just her both decisions. I'm not saying they won an exciting fights.

So he went to the decision twice with two ranked guys. I fought two ranked guys. It doesn't matter what they're ranked. I mean, I was ranked, you know, it was weird because I was ranked at 25s, and I bumped up to be 35s because it cut the division. I came back and I wasn't ranked. It was just a whole bunch of weird. So I started from the bottom and filled myself up.

So, you know, I fought guys that were ranked. I'd be, you know, I'd be technically about beat three guys that are ranked at 25s. A beat Mark, right? And then I'd be Espinoza that was ranked above me, and I, and I finished Espinosa. and then I beat Chassar that's ranked above me. I finished Cheserrath. He beat, he had a draw with Moreno. Then he fought Elliot, beat Elliott, which was ranked,

and now he beat Pantojo's rank. Hasn't finished anybody in the last three fights. Last three fights, St. Deere and Moreno. I'm not saying they didn't put exciting fights on. I'm saying I'm the one out there going finishing guys. So I'm not saying like they don't deserve it or not, but I feel like if you go by the last two to three fights, you go like we all had decisions in the first one then I had to finish the other guys had decisions

and I had it to finish it in my last fight and those are guys that are ranked higher above me guys are ranked above me and I just feel like I'm finishing guys at 25s and that's what people want to see I'm just going to lay my cards on the table here Alex and I'm going to be talking to brandon a little bit later on I'm going to tell them exactly the same thing I would give it to you honestly I think ask her ups in a good run he'll have his chance soon enough you and brandon defeated the same in your most recent fights. Like you said, he won by decision. You won by finish.

A rare kind of a finish at that with the leg kicks. Not to mention, Brandon and Ascar already have a story that isn't finished yet. They fought to a draw and they fought not too long ago. I think the easiest and the fairest way to do it would be you fight for the belt. Let Brandon and Ascar fight. Let them turn the page in their story. The winner fights either you or Davidson. This makes the most sense to me, honestly.

I think that's the best way to do it. I mean, that's how I feel. I see people throwing out different names as well. I see them pulling out Kai. And like I've seen like, I think below the bell was putting out like Kai on there. And I've seen a couple other guys like, oh, a couple of other people saying Cody Garbrand said that he would want to drop down 25. Just like, look, man, first like Cody's not 25. He said he's going to drop down, but has he dropped down?

No. So like people are like, first of all, you can't talk about it if he's never made the weight. I don't care what you do at home. It doesn't matter. I've seen people make weight at home and go in overweight somewhere. You know what I mean? Like, you have to step on the official scout and make weight and fight, I believe. Like, Aldo did it, and everybody thought Alder won.

It gets more memorized, right? Like, you know what I mean? So they get on the tab of shot. Cody does not drop down. So, like, I don't know why people are even bringing up that name. Kai, I mean, he lost a fight to Brandon, beat Tyson. And we were scheduled to fight. and he don't want to travel, which I understood, you know, it's COVID.

Like, the whole thing that's at the beginning, the whole COVID thing was going on. But he hasn't fought anybody ranked in the top 10. The one guy he did fight was Brandon in the top 10, and he lost to Brandon. So I don't know where they're getting Kai's name from. So, I mean, like I said, I feel like I feel my resume is probably the best one. I'm 6'1, 5 or 6'1 in the UFC. My only lost was to Benavides. Yes, I did.

did get finished by Benavides, I also did get headbutt. You know what I mean? The only difference is between me and Benadvibis is I didn't bitch about being head-budded and complain about, you know, going to fight. I understand why he did it. This might have been his last shot to get a fight, you know, but if you go back and look at all his fights,

he's not doing it on purpose. It's just the way he strikes. He leads with his head. It happens, you know, I mean, we're in a contact sport. I'm not expecting not to get hit. So, you know, I kind of just shut my mouth and just kept working. eventually like I'm not going to call the guy out every time. You know, I wanted him to win so I can

find him. It didn't happen. So I feel like I'm the next guy in line for the devison, devison fight. I don't see him all the way. Have you been given any indication that you're next? Has there been any discussions about that? Like I know the fight just happened on Saturday, but it was a quick one. I would assume the UFC is going to want to turn him around pretty quickly to defend this title. I feel like the division's got a little more juice behind it after watching a finish like that in a title fight. So has there been any indication that you're going to get that fight or that that's the direction they may be heading here?

No, I haven't got anything yet. Like, for me, I feel like Devesant's going to take a little break. I mean, he went through a lot, like the COVID thing and all this stuff. You know, he had to make the weight, the weight cut, the travel. So I don't know what they're going to do with him and how long they're going to wait to fight. But I'm down to fight whenever. Like I tell people, like, I've made weight in three weeks.

to make 25 sucks, but I've made it. You know, and it's a little bit easier now that California is kind of reshept down, the Korean barbecue, you know, so it's a little bit easier to make the weight. But, like, I'm ready whenever, man, I stay ready. I'm in the Fly Island. I'm training still running, hitting pads. You know, we have Matt Massalinas, one of our jiu-jitsu coaches here, and I'm rolling with Tam.

I'm hitting pads with coach, and I'm running. So I'm staying ready. You never know when the call is going to come. It can be the, you know, last minute. So I'm not taking this for granted. 2020's been a great year for me, you know, in my athletic career and stuff, and I have big stuff coming up, you know, in my personal life. So it's going to be big.

Davidson, obviously, very powerful guy. You got to see it in the fight. It seemed like every time he touched Joe in that fight, he heard him. It was just pretty crazy and pretty surreal to watch. How do you feel you match up with Davidson from like an X's and O stylistic perspective? I feel good I mean I go forward

he comes forward so there's gonna be whoever backs up I mean power wise I feel like he has a one punch knockout

I throw a lot of numbers size wise I mean I feel like we're about the same size you know I'm a big flyweight I think he's a big flyweight you know

so I feel like we match up well on the ground I feel like we're I mean I think I might have the edge in the wrestling but his jiu jiu jizs

is no slouts man you watch that first fight with Joe The arm bar he hit wasn't like just a regular basic arm bar. He hit that on the fly and almost tap Joe. So, I mean, I feel like it's a good matchup. I feel like if we were to fight, it would be fight of the night for sure because just our styles makes it that way. Like just our pressure, our power, our speed, our strength, you know, our conditioning.

Like it's just like there's no way it can't be fight of the night. I know that if the call comes and they say, Alex, we're going to, to book this fight in three weeks, you'll be ready. It's on a big deal for you. But realistically, like, if you had to circle sort of a month or a day on the calendar, what do you think? Like September, October, might be a good lineup for that. You think it might happen a little bit later down the road? I'm thinking maybe like the end of October, just because, like I said, I don't know what, like, I mean, with this whole COVID thing, it's kind of just messing everything up, you know? So, like, I don't know how it is in Brazil. Like, I know he's from Brazil. I don't

know how his living situation is, things like that. I don't know what they're going through over there. So I don't know what, like, you know, he had, he, he, I think he came out and said that he had, he had tested positive for COVID, like, a month before the fight or something, something crazy like that. Yeah. So he tested positive for it. So not knowing what's going to happen, you know, where he's at, like, we don't know what's going to happen. And then knowing that, you know, knowing that stuff, I would say like late October, the weight cut, the travel, stuff like that, I'm pretty sure he wants to spend time with his family, things like that. So, I mean, he deserves he's a champion.

I would say like October. Like I said, I'm ready whenever. The U.C. calls me. I'm ready. I think one thing that's, I think technically in watching the fights from a viewership perspective, the flywites are so fun to watch.

Like, you can never go wrong. I think your division and Carla's division are like the two, when you see them, you can't go wrong. There's never a boring fight. It always works out. But for some reason, this division just isn't catching on,

like overall. Like the fights are great. But I think, and I think one of the problems is, and this is not to like call out the UFC or anything, I feel like your stories aren't getting told enough, like on the broadcast or in the buildup to the fight. Like, there's things that I've learned about Dave's and Figurato in the last like 48 hours that I never knew about. Like, I had no idea that he was like a hairstylist.

I had no idea that he had like all these other things that he does behind the scenes. But I just, they just didn't tell that story. So I think that's one thing they could do better to help build this division is, you know, not just have the great fights that we know we're going to see, but at least get to know you guys and what you guys do outside of the Octagon as well. Because I feel like of all divisions, this one isn't getting that love like some of the other ones. You know what I mean?

Yeah, I just feel like a lot of us in our division, I think all of us in our division. We're not this, we don't go out there and talk smack. We're not going out there saying, hey, you suck, hey, this. You know, we're not talking about people's religions, a team, what you've done, you know, who you're hanging out. Like, we don't, when do you see any flyway do that, really? You know what I mean? There's no one in our division.

And it's not, I mean, business-wise, it might be a bad thing, but I feel like we're doing what we're supposed to do. We're a martial artist, you know, we respect each other, respect everybody. Second, I think people think bigger is better. Like, you know, like in America, people think bigger is better. People like watching heavy weights fight. I mean, no, there's shit back to heavyweights, but after the first round, I'm like, gosh, this is horrible, man.

Like, a guy can't make it. You know, they're not all heavy weights, some. You know what I mean? Like, come on, Francis Gano, Derek Lewis. Come on now. They threw four punches. I threw four punches in the first 20 seconds of a fight. You know what I mean?

So it's not, it's just that we, people just don't, some people don't understand the sport. Some people don't understand, like the scrambles, things like they feel like to think, oh, they don't know what they're doing. You can't lock anybody out. I was like, yeah. But I feel like the lighter weight guys from 45s, 55s,

45s, 45s, 35s, you know, even the lighter lighter guys in Japan and stuff, or probably some of the most technical guys you ever see compete in the sport. Just because, yeah, we might not have to have the knockout power, but we have to do things the right way. It's not if we're going to be able to explode and use our strength against everybody. It's a good way to look at it. I just think they could do a better job of, like, telling your stories. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that too.

I just feel like it's just, you know what I mean? It's because none of us talk. None of us really, like, talk. So I feel like, I feel like, I mean, they want to push what sells. You know what I mean? It's a business. I don't understand that, you know. So they're just trying to be like, oh, you're selling like, oh, okay, this guy's talking smack about this guy.

Let's hype this up, you know? And that's cool. It's business. You want people to watch. You want people. That's how they make money and that's how they pay us. So, I mean, it sucks, but at the same time, too, it's better for me. I hate media.

No offense. It's no offense. It's funny because you're wearing a contender series t-shirt right now. And the UFC obviously has a big part of the contender series. And we don't know any of these fighters until the night of the fight. Like we see they'll post the card on the broadcast. But until the actual fight night, we don't really know anything, unless you're a hardcore fan like myself.

Like I've been following a lot of you guys on the way up. But the stories they tell before you fight, like it makes people. care right away. It's just simple things, two or three minutes. You're just like, holy crap, like this guy went through all that to get here. What a difference that makes, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. It's just, I think it's just easier when it's, I mean, you got the Contented Series is what, five fights or 10 fighters on a card. It's 12, 5, 24 fighters. Plus the TV time. I mean, they're on Fight Pass. So they get a little bit more control of what they're doing. When they're on ESPN, like, hey, cut it, cut it. Let's go. I remember, I remember being out there,

like, oh, man, like the one thing I love about the UFC, if there's no disrespect to any lower promotions, that they're on time. Hey, you're walking out in five minutes. Hey, you're walking out in two minutes. Hey, you're walking out. Like, oh, you know, other promotions, like, when you're doing venues, you're kind of like,

all right, let's go. Okay, you might be here. You might be here. You might be this. You might, you know, I know, I know there's swing bouts sometimes. Hey, you're going to be the fifth bite of the card. Oh, wait. You're going to be at the very end.

Oh, wait, you might be here, you know, just so different. So I feel like just the timing of a show is kind of what kills, kills a lot of the storytelling where like fight pass you got you know as much time as you want you own the fight pass so you can do whatever you want on there yeah yeah i think they're on espn plus now but still it's still like a streaming platform yeah but you have an answer for everything don't you alex it's unbelievable i don't hate i don't like media yeah uh chances are like if you are next and they booked this fight in like late october chances are it's probably going to happen in abadhab like just the trends of everything, you know, I don't think anybody from Brazil could travel to the

U.S. as we speak right now. So chances are it's going to happen there. I'm sure it doesn't matter to you, but are you excited for the chance to head back to good old Abu Dhabi and do this all over again for yourself this time? Yeah, man. I mean, we'll see how it works because I bring out my nutritionist, you know, we'll see, because they cook for us here. They have everything served. So I bring out perfected athletes, you know, people like, well, they can't. I was like, hey, man, she got to be here. You know what I mean? Like, that's my secret weapon, perfect an athlete, stay to get my weight down, you know.

And just excited. It would be exciting to fight here. You know, I would like to come early. I mean, the one thing that sucks about being here is that we can't leave, man. I want to ride a camel, do stuff like that. I heard they have a good water park, that barry world. All shut down due to COVID. I mean, I understand.

But, yeah, man, I'm excited to fight. It's cool that I get to come out here early. Like for Carlos fight, you get to come out here. and check it out and kind of see what we're dealing with. So it's kind of cool, you know, so when it's my turn, I know exactly what's going to happen, exactly what we're going to do. I mean, kind of same thing. Before I found the UFC, I went to help people like Joe and Carla and them.

So I got to see them sign the posters from the walkout to all the interviews and stuff. And I was like, when I got there, it felt like, oh, man, like, okay, I already know what to do. I've been here 100 times, you know. So it's kind of cool. just excited to get back in there honestly I bet man I think this is the fight to make and I hear Figurato

saying he wants to fight to Hudo and do all this stuff like no no no no no no we don't need to do that let's just this division needs to shape up here come on you you fighting you go ahead yeah I mean don't be wrong and like actually he's coming back

coming back and he like says like hey he's gonna stay at 25s and okay I can see that you know like he's a champion He was a champion, he vacated it. But if not, then just, I mean, honestly, when I seen him tweet, I'm like, dude, just shut the fuck up, right, man. Like, get out of here. You're retired, man.

Like, cool. Like, enjoy retirement. Like, we get it. You were the best at one point in time. You were the best. So you're not the best anymore because you're not the champion. Like, you let that go when you decide to vacate the titles, you got new champions. So, I mean, kind of one of those things.

But I'm down for whatever, man. Title fight. If I had to fight one more, if I had to fight 10 times more, it is a lot. what it is. I'll get my title either way. If you don't get the title fight, you and Joe B, because it says got one more left in them, perhaps. So what do you think?

I mean, don't, hey, I would love that fight too. Like I said, whatever the U.S.C. wants, I'm a company guy, man. I don't say no to fights. I'm down for whatever. See? She's giving you options, Alex. That's all. I know you don't like media, but you know, we're trying to give you some options here.

But before I let you go, man, What's sort of the message for everybody? What's the message for for Davidson, the fans, people watching right now, the UFC? I know you're not the kind of guys to be like, please give me a title shot because you don't strike me that way at all. But what's the message for everybody? Ah, man, just that I'm coming.

Eventually I mentioned I'm going to be champion, whether it's the next fight, the fight after that, fight after that. I'm coming for that title, man. I've worked hard. I worked my butt off to get here. You know, everybody has a story. Everybody has sacrifices. I'm not saying I've sacrificed more than anybody else, but I know my work ethic.

know the team I have around me. And just look by my fights, man. I've gotten better and better every time we've gotten out there. I don't think any one of my fights have ever been the same. They've been, I've had decisions. I've had finishes, submissions, knockouts, late kicks, TKOs. You know, I'm all over. I'm only getting better.

You know, I'm coming to win this title. It's my future is my goal. I have it on my board. Every day I wake up. I see it, you know, title shot champion 2020. So whether or not, if people don't like it, I'm coming for it. Appreciate the time very much, Alex. All the best of Carla and the rest of the team out there.

Safe travels back to the States. And best of luck in getting that title shot, man. You know where I stand. I think you're the guy. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Thank you. Could Alex Perez be next?

Certainly as the resume for it. And considering the rest of this conversation, as you'll hear, and you probably just heard as well, I think it makes the most sense to have Alex fight for the belt, and then you match up the other two guys in the discussion, one of which is going to join us on the program right now, and that is Brandon Moreno, who might not be thrilled with me when I tell him the same thing I just told Alex

and just told all of you. But always enjoy chatting with the assassin baby. Let's get to that right now on what the heck. All right, Brandon Moreno is here, as you can see, the number three ranked flyweight contender in the world, and now there is a champion in the division to contend again. again, Brandon. Good to see it, man. How are you? Man, thank you so much. Thank you so much for the time, for the space. Nice to talk with you again.

Absolutely. First off, before we get into any fight stuff, how are you doing? How is everybody doing during this crazy time in the world, the pandemic? How has everyone been doing during all of this? My family and I was still in Quentin's time, you know? I go just to the gym to train, just me. And then I come back to the house. and stay here all day. So it's a hard time for us, but we are fine. So you've been quarantined this whole time outside of just you going out and training every day? It's because even if we want to go to some place, the place is closed.

Here in Tijuana, the restaurants and different places start to open the place, but now it starts to close again. So it is what it is. What's crazy is before the UFC went to Jacksonville and then the Apex and now they're in Abu Dhabi on Fight Island, you were on the very first card with no fans at that Brazilian event and you got the win over Juicier Formiga. I know he spoke not long after that event, but is it kind of crazy to think about that it all started with that event? Your last fight, right? I think in that moment for me was good because I went to Brazil. I think every people in the arena start to scream like,

hey, who am I'm a hey, and all that stuff. And for me, that time was very, very good. I think about that moment was just for Miga and me, and that's it, just the corners. Even here, Michael Bispen started to talk about the fight. So what's crazy, but it was a nice experience. It's funny because once the Jacksonville events, started, we were hearing that the fighters could actually hear all the commentators and

some were getting advice and hearing from hearing Daniel Cormier like do the broadcast. It's like, oh, that's a great idea. Let me do that. So you could actually hear the commentators as you were as you were fighting as well? Not very clear. But you know, some words, some conversation between the broadcast was crazy. I mean, nothing important, I think, to be honest. But what's nice, like, start to hear Michael Bispin,

and I don't remember who more was in that moment there. But, yeah, it was nice. So let's talk about it, Brandon. Saturday night, Davis and Figato officially became the UFC Flyweight champion. It was an incredible performance over Joseph Bedavides, finished him in the first round. What did you think to yourself as you're watching it all unfold on Saturday night? What's going through your mind?

No, I mean, I mean, what's sad for me? Because to be really honest, I love Joe. I mean, for me, Joe is my coach. I was my coach. Actually, when I talk with him, I was my coach. I say Joe or something like that. Hey, coach, how you been or something like that? So what's sad for me?

What's sad for me? Watch all this moment, the post-fight interview. you know, because I want to watch Joe. I want to watch the success. But at the same time, I mean, Figuero, I don't have any relation with Figuero, and I can fight against him really easy. I mean, tomorrow, the next week, if it isn't necessary.

So, I mean, it was hard because Davis and Figuero was very dominant in that fight with his right hand. He has a lot of power with his right hand. He looks very strong. He lives powerful. And I mean, it is what it is. Davidson looks great. But I mean, I think I deserve the next fight for the title.

And to be honest, I'm not scared at all. So it's kind of like a bittersweet thing for you watching Davidson because it's probably better for your career and better for you to see Davidson when, you know, you can just focus on a fight with a guy that you don't really have a relationship with. But at the same time, you didn't want to see Joseph lose, especially in the way that he did. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's like 50-50 the moment, you know. Sad for Joe because I love Joe. I want to watch Joe the success. But at the same time, just say, I don't have any relation with the guy.

So I can stay focused in the fight to get the fight against Figuerrelle. Is that how you expected the fight to play out? Did you think Davidson would win? you favor Joe to win? To be honest, I thought about the fight, and I think Joe can be more in the fight, you know, like different game plan. I don't know, but it was weird because the right hand he connects in this fight

was the same right hand than the first fight, you know? So maybe Joe can't make any change in this training camp for Figuerreiro. So that was weird. I mean, I know Figireo looks impressive, very dominant. Obviously, I don't see, I don't saw a fight like that. Once the fight ended, are you just immediately thinking, all right, this is my next opponent. I'm fighting this guy for the title in my next fight. And right now I have a campaign in social media,

more in Instagram because I don't like too much Twitter, for example, because Twitter is a lot of hate, a lot of bad feelings there in that social media. But I love Instagram, and I know a lot of people go to that social media, and I put, you know, my post in my Instagram. A lot of people start to post and comment my post. and I love that actually in the social media

from UFC in Spanish they put something like hey who deserves the next fight for the title against Figereo and it's like option A, random or Ascarov or Alex Perez or

or Henry Sejuro and all the people start to tag me so I feel amazing in that moment actually I put some screenshots in my history, Instagram histories

and I feel I feel very happy for all the people, for all the support, for all the love. So the campaign is still going. I can talk with you and make some a good post. So that's it. There you go. So like you said, it's kind of a three-man race right now seemingly on who's going to fight for the bell next.

It's you, your old buddy, Asker, Asker Off, and then Alex Perez. And I actually spoke with Alex Perez a little while ago. obviously he is he's never going to say oh give it to brandon give it to brandon he thinks he's the guy he believes his resume is better than your resume it's better than askar's resume so let me ask you you you have a lot of fan support here but why are you the guy to fight davison for the belt next over those two other guys because for example i i think a stronger name here is askaroff but I beat Ascarb in Mexico City last year. Every people watched that fight and saw the same result.

Actually, the JNC talked with me after the fight and they say something like, hey, no problem. And we know you won that fight, so you relax, don't problem with us. So the next one, Pantoja, he lost against Ascarb. So he's out to the conversation right now. I experienced him for a against Formiga

and beat him really good amazing fight obviously but I think I have a better names in my career

in the UFC you know I experienced for against Mike de la Rosa and I don't remember other names and it's fine

but I mean I beat Dustin Ortiz I beat Luis Smolka in the best time in his career I beat Vermiga so I think I have

better names and say who is his retirement man, I respect the hood of because, you know, two times champion in flywood, in Bantonweight. But he, I think he's retired now. So he's out to the conversation automatically. I'm going to be, I'm going to be an open book, Brandon. All right.

I'm going to be honest with you because I've said it a few times already. But if I were, if I were the matchmaker, as it looks right now, I've given the shot to Perez. and I'm okay I think you've I think he's earned it I think you've all earned you all have an argument for it but he's got the recent he's got the recent performance against four mega who you beat as well but Alex did finish him in the first round winning streaks are pretty much the same plus for me personally I thought you won the ask or out fight but okay I want to see it happen again so we could close the book on it you know what I mean because when you see draw it's just even though I think you won, it's still not enough for me. So I didn't want to say like

one thing to Alex and then like have you come on and not say the same thing to you. Full transparency, Brandon. Am I a horrible person? Am I a terrible human being for saying this to you? Bye. Bye. No, man, no, I understand. I understand. And it's obvious. Every single people in the division has his own arguments to like Harris Perez, like Ascarov, maybe. and those just still have some argument. But, you know, it's weird because against Formiga, I go to the decision with Formiga, but I have all the fight with me.

You know, I won the rounds. I put all the pressure. I connect the best punches. So my fight was, I had more experience in that fight than Paris because I know it was dominant and put pressure and beat for me in the first round for his left leg, I think so. I remember.

I don't remember. I don't know. I think it's in my side, brother. Sorry. Listen, no, but I will also say that I have said multiple times that by this time next year, you will be the champion. So whether it happens, whether you get the next shot in a month or you get the next shot at the end of the year, early next year, by the time this next year comes the same

date, you're going to be the champion. I've said that. But luckily, when it comes to the matchmaking, it does not matter what I think, Brandon. It means nothing. It matters with the UFC things. And it doesn't hurt to have the champion on your side, which it looks like he might be, because you did tag him in a post on Instagram. You got the response

you're looking for. He said, be prepared to fight me in November. What did you think of that? What's so funny, because the guy tried to attack Mick Fender and put Mickey Gold. Oh, man. Man, that moment was so funny. But hey, I have the answer from the champion.

We have a deal for November, so maybe. I mean, I need to leave my manager and the matchmaker start to tackle between them. And I hope in November we have some good fight and some good news for us. I assume you're okay waiting four more months to fight for the belt. Like you don't care if you took another fight in between there?

Yes, just because before this moment, I fall like four times in one year. So I think it's good for my body, you know, to rest a little bit, skip the training going. But, you know, the training for a fight and the training just to learn something more is different. So I think it's good for me. What if they offered you a different fight with Perez or the return match or the Ask? And they said, listen, Brandon, one more fight. You win this one.

Your next fights for the belt no matter what. Would you consider either of those fights? Or are you going to wait until the title, until it's a title shot? I said before, I know it's a possibility to fight against, I don't know, the rematch against Ascarov or the fight against Paris. Because I respect all these guys. They are amazing. They're amazing.

Obviously for me, it's better to put, for the fight for the title, you know? Right. I need to watch all my ways, my possibilities, and let's see. It's crazy to think about because of this time last year, you're not even in the UFC. Like, you had just fought for LFA. You got to finish over there, and then you had your comeback fight in September. Like, what a crazy year this has been for you.

Is it really? Like, from not being in the UFC to knocking on the door of a title shot in less than a year is pretty wild. Man, it's part of the journey. You know, when I lost against Pettys and when I lost again against Pantogia, man, that movie was so sad for me. I was very disappointed of my performance

in both fights, but I talked with my man, with me, and with myself, and it's just tried to learn. and it's part of the journey. Right now, I'm a different fighter. You saw my last performance against Formiga, against Carter Friends, against Ascarov,

and you can see a different level fighter than the last performance. For example, I don't know, Pantoja or Pettis, or even against Ortiz. I beat Ortiz, but it was a hard fight. So it is what it is. This is part of the journey. And I'm very happy right now to be part again to the best organization of mixed muscle arts.

So let's see what's happening in the future. But I love to get some lessons to the life in the life. Yeah, I remember the last time I talked to you. And I think you told the same thing to my colleague, Alex K. Lee, that, you know, before you were just Brandon Moreno fighting. But now you've tapped into this assassin baby character. They're like, once you get into the cage, it's like a totally different person. Like, did that happen, like, right before the LFA fight? And then just that's, you're able to flip that switch from now on.

Yes. And everything was because I don't want to go again to the, to that kind of holes, you know? Like, go out to the JFC. I start to money problems with family problems. Man, that makes me so angry in that moment. And some guy inside me. start to fight. And I say the same.

Right now, it's not Brandon Moreno fighting. You know, Elbebeyesisino. It's the assassin baby is fighting right now. Well, I'm glad you didn't go all assassin baby on me when I said Alex Perez should get the title shot. I appreciate that very much. But what's the message for everybody in the division right? For Davidson, the fans, the UFC brass,

what's the message for all these folks? now that there's a champion, and then now this division can move forward officially once again. What's the message for everybody? Man, damn. Be careful with me. Be careful with me because I'm so hungry. I feel on fire right now. All the moment is in my side.

So, man, thanks to all the people for the support in social media with all the people in the streets, you know. So let's see. I know this year was crazy with all this with the COVID-19, but I'm ready. I'm ready to make history the first Mexican to the first 100% Mexican to get a title shot. So it's really important for me, but for my country, it's very, very important. I know, for example, in the United States, do have a lot of guys, man, a lot of guys in the UFC. And so if some guy go for the title, it's like, oh, nice, it's fine.

But for Mexico, it's another thing. It's crazy, the situation. So it's important for me. It's important for my family and for my country. So be ready for me. You're selling me almost, Alex. I'm almost, I'm just close to change in my mind. You love Alex Perez, bro.

You love Alex Perez. It's fine. He's a nice guy. He's a nice guy. Nice guy. I don't know. A couple of things we let you go, because I know I know you do some work for the UFC, you do some analysts and stuff.

So I want to ask you about a couple of the big fights coming up and get your opinion on that if you don't mind. Okay. Nice. Okay. Main event on Saturday, Whitaker versus Till. What do you think? What do you think?

I am an excellent analyst in Spanish, but in English, it's hard for me. but it's a good fight in the in the middleweight division you know barantile looks good again uh kelvin gastolum in his last fight but i need to watch a little bit more for him in the middleweight division it's different it's different power start to talk about uh i don't know about romero and a lot of different guys you know borraginia is amazing and he's stronger but But Robert Whitaker has, you know, he's a former champ. It's a good fight for Darren Thiel because I think it's not in his best moment.

So I think it's a huge opportunity to Darren Thiel to get the win. And then last one, before we let you go, heavyweight title coming up in a few weeks time at UFC 252. Daniel Kormier, final fight of his career. He's going to challenge Stipe Mietchich for the heavyweight title. I got goosebumps just thinking about that. Daniel Cormier's last fight. Could be Stipe's last fight too. Heavyweight title on the line.

This is what the sport's all about, man. Man, I am a huge fan to Donnell Cormier. So when he fought against Miojin and he lost, was very sad for me. I think the first round was amazing for Cormier because he took Miochi down. I think it's the key. to this fight for Daniel Kormier.

I'm with Kormier. I love Stipe. I love his boxing. He's amazing. But I'm with Kormier at this time. It'll be fun in the smaller cage, too. That's just going to make things really interesting. Yep.

Yeah, buddy. But it's great job analyzed. See, you can do this, too. Thank you. Let's get this guy some more work. Come on. Before he fights with the fellow. Well, it's coming, Brandon.

Big things are coming your way. I'm convinced to that. Thank you for the time. I appreciate it, man. Thank you for your time again. And thank you for your time again. Absolutely. All the best to you and getting that title shot, Brandon. Maybe it's because Brandon Moreno is just such a happy go lucky guy

or maybe just because it was later in the evening than I'm accustomed to doing these interviews. But I laughed a lot. There's a lot of laughter in that conversation with Brandon Moreno. And he makes some very good points. And again, like I said at the top of the show, if they give it to Moreno, If they give it to Alex Perez, if they gave the title shot to Ask Grazgeroff, I'd be all right with that. Now, if they give it to somebody else, if they give it to Cody Garbrandt, I mean, that's a bigger fight, honestly, because Cody's a bigger name. But if we're going to try to make this division happen and develop it and try to move it back up to where we want it to be, you can't just keep bringing guys up and down.

Let's just make, give these guys in the division title shots. We have three legitimate contenders right now in this division. So I hope one of those three gets it. I do favor Perez because I want to see sort of an ending to the chapter between Moreno and Ascaroff. They fought to a draw. I think everybody in their mothers and fathers all thought Moreno won that fight. But when you look at the records and in the book, it says it's a draw. So from a storyline perspective, and I think Perez has done enough with his most recent win over Formiga,

especially with Moreno, who also be for me. He got a decision win. It was a pretty dominant one. But Perez finished him in the first round. I think Perez gets the shot. You match up the other guys. Winner that fight, fights the winner of Figurato versus Perez. So there's a lot to think about here.

A lot of pieces of this formula as we move ahead to our next guest. One of the $50,000 bonus winners from this past Wednesday night's event in Abu Dhabi. UFC on ESPN 13, defeated Andreas Mikolaitis. Let's check in with just one of the nicest guys. you will find in the sport of mixed martial arts, Modestis Bukascusis. All right, we have one of the big winners from last Wednesdays, UFC on ESPN 13,

I've been back on the show. Modestis Bacoscus picked up a first round, TK, a win over Andreas Mikolaitis, seven wins in a row, seven finishes in a row for this man. Congratulations to Modestis, how are you? Yeah, thank you so much, mate. Yeah, yeah, doing real well.

It was nice to get out there on Fire Island and pick up a big win. So, yeah, that's it. now, to be honest, I just can't wait until the next one. Yeah, that was some performance, man. You've been visualizing that first UFC walk, that first UFC fight for a long time now. Did it live up to the expectations? Yeah, no, 100%.

I mean, listen, it probably surpassed it by quite a long mark. You know, I was always, you know, sort of visualizing, like I say, the walk into the octagon, like, you know, as it started releasing more photos and stuff like that side, like, imagining what it would be like. And it was, like I say, it just completely blew me away. Like the way that the USC treated all the fighters and, you know, how they carried out the whole event was absolutely amazing. So, yeah, I couldn't really have asked for anything better.

So, yeah, like, and it was crazy, like I say, when you're thinking about it in your head and then it actually happens in reality, like everything that you've just been dreaming about for all these years finally comes true. And, yeah, it was amazing to finally go and live it out. And like I said, I just can't wait to keep living out even more. It was crazy because when we do this show, we pre-taped the interviews, and we did an interview right before the fight, and we talked about you fighting Venetius Marrera, and then it was like maybe a day, maybe two later that we found out that he was out of the fight and that the UFC was looking

for a new opponent. When were you made aware that Venetius was out and that we're going to have to find a replacement for you? Literally, I've got a text, like I say, probably like a day or two later, and they they told me that Venetia had pulled out, but they didn't say why just yet. And then I saw, again, it was probably a couple hours after I found out,

well, like the next day, they said that he, you know, he tested positive for COVID and stuff. And then, yeah, like, at that point, I didn't know what opponent I would get or anything like that.

They didn't give me any options or anything like that. My manager, again, just sort of just came up with a name. We said, yeah, and that was pretty much it. So everything was quite smooth, though. As soon as I found out that I didn't have an opponent,

already within a couple of hours leading into my next day in terms of American time. Yeah, everything was already sorted. So, yeah, like I said, the UFC handled it very well and got everything sorted really with quite a lot of haste, really. Did you know much about Andreas at all heading in? Did you have to change a lot? I mean, I knew you didn't have a lot of time to make a ton of changes, but did you have to make some sort of adjustments on your game plan of what you were going to do?

Not necessarily. All we knew was that he was a much more all-rounded opponent. Like, you know, he strikes a lot better than Vennius would. On the ground, they're probably, you know, I'm not sure exactly how good Andreas was on the floor. I knew that he was a black boy. I knew he was good and stuff like that. And I knew he had, you know, decent wrestling as well.

So really, we just knew that we had to prepare for more all-rounded opponent. But as I say, you know, all the skills are sort of picked up during quarantine and stuff like that, just preparing for any opponent. it just sort of just played, played into the fight really well. Like I said, I'm always trying to improve every area. I think the fact that we worked so much on takedown defense and jihitsu defense really paid dividends for me in the fight. What was the fight island experience like for you as a whole?

Because it seemed like when you were talking with John Anick after the win, you were quite impressed with the whole thing. What did you make of it? What were some of the things that stuck out to you once you got off the plane and got out of quarantine and got to check out the island a little bit? It was absolutely amazing. Like I said, I didn't have it too bad in quarantine. My dad was in the room with me and we pretty much got to train like, you know, our sessions every day anyways.

And, you know, like I said, having my best friend in my room with me, it was all right. But yeah, like once we managed to get out and everything and, you know, like sort of stretch our legs and stuff and, you know, got to see like all the stuff. Like I said, the UFC just takes care of fires on a whole other level. I mean, Cage Warriors done, you know, done well to take care of fires. but this is like a complete, like on a whole different planet in terms of how well they, they sort you out, they had all the nutrition sorted, they had physios looking after you all the time

and, you know, they really want to make sure that their athletes can perform at the highest level. And not only that, I mean, just the scenery and stuff like that, I mean, but listen, I was only able to really go out and walk for like one day because I don't know what it was, but like literally out of that 40 degree heat, I don't know how humid it was. We thought, oh, yeah, it's only a mile to the beach,

you know, we're take a nice little stroll, we'll get there in no time. It was like literally like probably the, there's one of the dumbest things that we could have done was actually walking at that heat. Like I was literally, I was sweating my butt off like literally within the first like five minutes. And then it was like really getting to me.

And then, you know, then that's when we're like, all right, listen, we're taking the coach on the way back. There's no way we're walking. Introducing. Yeah,

but like, you know, like I say, everything was like absolutely spectacular. Like, like I say, just the scenery and stuff like that and all the, all the different place that they had out there.

even just the hotel room in itself was like an experience. Do you know, having that five-star treatment, you know, people come into your room and stuff like that. I've never had that before. So even just calling up room service was an experience for me in itself. Obviously, I feel like I probably could have enjoyed things a little bit more or done maybe some more excursions and stuff like that. Had it not been for, you know, my knee, I felt like it was, you know, I think at one point that, like I started not feeling so good like in terms. health-wise, like, you know, I started getting like, you know, shivers and stuff of that, but then after two days, it sort of went away. So I was quite lucky in that sense. But like I said,

had I not felt that way, like obviously I thought, well, maybe it's better for me just to chill in my room. So had I not done that, maybe I could have been able to experience something else. But in terms of the actual whole experience, like even like, you know, going into the arena and stuff like how everything was handled, it was absolutely amazing. How's the knee feeling right now? It's getting much better now. Thank you. I just got on a course of antibiotics. So it seems like the swelling's going down quite a lot. Much more so than it was when I was literally just icing it for like the two weeks before the fight.

So it's taking shape now. Like now it's the pain's going away and stuff like that. And you can see the mark where it may have been infected is going down. So it's all going in the right direction. I reckon hopefully maybe like another week and a bit, I'll be back into normal training. everything will go on as normal. It was really interesting watching your post-fight interview with Anick because John, I've known John for a while and the quarantine has made him a little more popular

because he's rocking the John Anick mustache, which has become just a huge trend. And you're rocking the facial hair yourself, which is a little weird to see Modestis because we've done a lot of these interviews. And every time we've talked, clean shaving, you get the baby face thing going on. What's up with the facial hair? Well, do you know what? I remember I actually shaved it all off because, like, mainly it was an influence from like my girlfriend and like, you know, I asked my mom as well,

like, what do you think of it and this and that? And they said that it looked a bit better when it was like a little bit shorter. So what I'll do, I have like a little trick. Like every time I had like a couple days leading up to something or leaning up to seeing or doing whatever, I'll shave it all off. So I'll be like a baby face for like maybe three days or whatever. But now, you know, obviously I'm putting that miracle grow on my face and now it's starting to come up a lot quicker. and yeah so within like three days I started getting the stubble and then that's when it like sort of looks the best

and yeah so I was going to have that same sort of tactic going into my fight week so I kind of like let it grow out a bit longer but then I just couldn't be bothered to shave it man I was just literally at the point where I'm just like like do you what I mean like everything through the fight week

and this and that I just literally just couldn't be bothered so then it only really came to when I came back home everyone was like do you know what I think the facial hair kind of suits you. And then, you know, I started taking it all in and I'm thinking, do you know what? And then I started looking at myself and obviously with all the photos that they're done in the UFC, I'm like, do you know what? They might be onto something here.

I think I might try and go for a new style. So then my girlfriend got like the one clippers and just started like giving it a little trim. And I think to be honest, now this is how I'm going to be rocking out the little facial hair. Like I say, I think I think the baby face times are now I'm going to have to go past me at this point. So we're not going to go full on Mountain Man beer. We're just going to, you know, a little five o'clock shadow, but keep it, keep it looking straight. That's it. That's it. That's it. We're going to go for the little, little shadow. Just give them a nice little bit of a little bit of a tease of what it looked like.

You know, do you know what I mean? Just give them a little bit of something. Don't give them too much. You know, you don't want to put it all out there in one go. So, yeah. Well played, sir. Let's talk about the fight a little bit because Andreas, you know, he's moving up away class. He's a guy that comes out very, very hard, especially in that first round, always looking to finish the fight with every strike he throws. And you were very light on your feet. You were moving around pretty well. You guys are trading a lot of leg kicks.

And then he goes for the takedown against the fence. And it was like deja vu from your last fight with Cage Warriors. Like you started raining down those elbows and you had them badly, badly hurt as the horn sounded. Did you think after that horn sounded after you landed those elbows that the fight was just going to be over seeing how he reacted to it? No, I didn't think so I mean listen I knew I landed some quite hard strikes I mean like you know there was like one or two where I literally felt

probably mainly the first one was when I felt that like the proper connection and I saw him go down but I thought okay he's a little bit dazed this is why my dad came in with a stool as the door open he was just ready okay we're going to the next round I've got to be ready to go I was ready to turn it up in the second round because I felt like you know I was just sort of feeling my

I wasn't feeling the range so well because he actually moved really quite well in the fight as well. So second round I was getting ready to really put it on him. And then I saw that he just wasn't getting up. And, you know, the referee asked for him to stand up about, you know, four or five times. And he wasn't just very non-responsive.

Even when they took a chair in for him to sit down once they called it off, like he found it hard to sit down on the store as well. So yeah, like I said, I was just ready to and prepared to go on to the second round. I had no thought that, you know, it was going to be, it was going to end there and there. That's why, you know, I had a bit of a bit of a, a bit of a scream, a little sigh of relief because, you know, that it finished, because I genuinely did not think that they were going to stop it right there and then. Did you happen to see the incident with the,

with the cage door, because after the round ends, he's leaning against it, the door opens, and he kind of falls over. And the broadcasters thought that that's the reason why the fight was stopped anyways. But it looked like even, even after the fact, he was, he was out of it. And it didn't look like he was going to continue. He didn't really argue with the fact that the fight was stopped. Did you notice that while you were sitting on the stool at all? I, again, I didn't notice it then, but then when I watched it, watched it back and everything, I heard the commentary. Honest to God, mate, I felt like they put a little bit too much emphasis on this whole door opening situation. It had nothing to do with them stopping the fight.

And the guy was completely dazed. Like I said, I didn't know that how badly hurt he was until I saw him after. I went to like obviously, you know, send my well wishes and stuff after the fight, you know, going to shake his hand. And he was still out of it. Like he was sort of like looking around and like he was stumbling to get to, when I saw on the video after he, he stumbling to get to the seat.

He was not fit to continue to the next round. That is what causes him not, not to go. When a referee asks you to stand up four times and you don't stand up, is that a sign that you're ready to fight? I don't think so. So, you know, the fact that like I said, there was this whole fiasco about, oh, this door being.

opened. I have to admit, like, you know, in my opinion, like, you know, throwing shade on, on the victory with this whole door opening situation for me, I was like, well, you know, like if the guy's not standing up, like, if it was me and I was okay and I'm good to fight, the referee asked me to stand up, okay, I might take like one or two seconds or whatever, like he might ask me twice, but then I'll stand back up and then I'll at least walk to my corner and sit down, not literally on, on the floor there and then. So, yeah, man, I, I, the fact that he was unfit to get up afterwards, it's just an indication to how hurt he was

and that, you know, obviously one minute would not be enough to recover from that. Do you feel like in a way that it sort of took away from the win itself, just talking about the door and all of that? Yeah, I mean, listen, obviously they had a couple of things saying that it was the back of the head and this and that.

You know, he's can imagine I've been bombarded with messages from the other teams saying that, you know, and like, you know, people saying, on social media about, you know, about hitting the back of the head and this and that. But, like, you know, I know where the targeting points are that I need to hit in order to finish the fight. I'm not going to go purposely. And they were saying 12 to 6, there was no 12 to 6 elbows.

It didn't hit the back of the head. They're trying to find these little, you know, screenshots of me. But even then you see in a screenshot, they all think it's the back of head. But it's not the back of the head. They told us where the back of the head was like. Finn strip on the back of it. Anything up here. and even saw, actually, because I don't know if it was the TV or something,

I saw afterwards, there was bruising on the guy's head, all in the spot that is the legal lines for it, for it to be in that, in the area where it needs to be. It was all red in that area. There's no red on the back of the head or anything like that. So this is why, yeah, there was a lot of shade being thrown on those sort of things. And then, like I said, just a bit, like a lot of emphasis on this door opening and, and stuff like that.

but at the end of the day, look, it created something to talk about. It created some sort of, you know, controversy, I guess you could say, or whatever. But, like, you know, at the end of the day, the referee had to go in and step in and do his job. And he did his job. Like, you know, everything that the referee did was 100% what he had to do. He was watching those shots as well. Listen, if I was hitting the back of the head directly, he would say something as well. He was watching right there.

He was literally right next to us when that whole incident happened. And listen, when he was shot in for that takedown at the end of the fight, I got the underhook. I could have stopped the takedown. I could have chose just to stop the takedown and go into the second round. But I didn't know how long was left in the round at that point anyways. But I'm like, my dad shouts to me, elbows, elbows, elbows. Of course, I'm going to try and finish it there and then.

Do you what I mean? There was a choice of to go into the second round or to try and finish the fight there and then. And I obviously took the route of I wanted to finish the fight. But there's no way that I'm going to try and use illegal shots. I'm trying to hit to the correct spot. And even if, like, one catches in the back of the head because the guy is turning his head to get away from it, again, I can't stop that as I'm throwing and you turn.

So, you know, there was a couple of things. But again, do you know what I mean? Like, you know, I talked to my team and everything like that as well. I don't let it get to me at the end of the day. I mean, listen, they wouldn't give me a 50 grand bonus if I wasn't doing it in the right spots anyway. So, you know, like I say, there's all these talks and these things and stuff of that. But I think as time goes on and things clear, I mean, look, let them talk.

People are talking about me at the end of the day. And listen, good or bad or whatever is publicity. And I'll take that because it's going to make people more interested to see me fight in my next fight. I thought the production team on the broadcast did a great job kind of showing everything because it was probably the most confusing end to a round that I've ever seen because no one knew what had happened. He was down. There were talks about the back of the head. They were saying, you know, maybe you hit him after the horn.

And then they went in and showed the replays and it showed that none of that was the fact. And then they showed an even better angle of the elbows landing. And it didn't seem like any of them landed on the back of the head. So I think they did a great job showing that. But at the end of the day, like you said, and I'm using your at the end of the day here, pretty good list of accomplishments for your first night at the office. It was a short night. You got to finish.

And you got a bonus. Can't get better than that, right? Oh, yeah, 100%. It's crazy. And I got add to that point, obviously, yeah, the broadcasting team did a very good job, especially like, you know, sort of analyzing things afterwards. And, yeah, like, showing that everything was all good and stuff like that. But, yeah, you know, when I had the, my whiteboard written at home, you know,

saying that I was going to win, you know, I had written that I was going to win the second. But again, everything I've been writing down on this board, this magical board that I have out here, we're going to call it the mystic board now, do you what I mean? And everything that I wrote on. there has come true and I've had two things that are yet to come true but I know that in the future that will happen so you know to win the 50 grand bonus and I said it I said this whole time I told people I said bet on me I'm going to win the bonus I'm going to win the bonus I'm going to do and I told my dad as well because it's my it's my stepmom's birthday coming up and my dad's birthday I told them like

listen I'm going to win you guys a 50 grand bonus and that for me that was a big thing to be able to give that to my parents because they've been doing so much for me and you know helping me in the lead up I want to be able to give back. I want to be able to make things easier for them. So, you know, like that made the win even more sweet. Do you know what I mean? Like the fact that you go in there, you go over the finish, you get the 50 grand bonus. Everything comes to fruition and you're also able to help your loved ones at the end of the day.

So, yeah, like you said, it couldn't have gone any better. That's fantastic, man. What are the other two things on the board, if you don't mind me asking? So one of them was to have three fights by the end of the year. and the second thing was to win all three. So, I mean, listen, those points could very well happen. And like I say, I mean, after this week, I'll be back into training. I'll be back ready to go and, you know, waiting on a court from my manager to let me know my next fight,

hopefully on the next fight island. So I know they've got a lot of guys on their roster and stuff like that. But like I say, I'm ready to bring some more excitement and entertainment to the table because, you know, even going into this fight, I seem to have some sort of, you know, routine of getting myself injured close to the fight. But, you know, I had Bocytus, which then got, you know, in my left knee and my knee was blown up massively,

like literally two weeks before the fight. And then it got infected whilst I was out there. And then it slowly calmed down and we had to, like, physio it. So all that was like sort of playing in the back of my mind at the same time. Like, you know, it made, you know, like I say, I feel like I've still got more to show I've still got more to show but I'm happy that I haven't shown it yet

because I know 100% every fight I'm just going to keep getting better I felt it how it is underneath those big lights felt how it is being in the UFC and stuff of that wearing the gloves doing everything and now I'm ready to just go and do more now that I've had the experience and even the nerves I felt like

you know like when we're not as like high as they normally are even but now I feel that I can control it and use that fire even more now especially if I'll go into a fight with full health and full capability. And like I said, I just can't wait for that. Thinking, but what, September, October-ish in that time frame? Yeah, roughly.

Yeah, if I can get something September, October and then, like I say, maybe hopefully finish something in December if they have anything going on, mate, I'm ready to fight. I'm a fight. I'm training all the time. I'm always in shape. And as long as I have no injuries, I'm ready to keep fighting. It's been a good little stretch for not just you, but the division as a whole,

because people say when they think about 205, we need new stars, we need new contenders, we got to shake things up a little bit. And you don't strike me as the call out type, Modestis, but this is a division in the UFC that is looking for guys to jump up the ladder. We saw you, saw guys like Yuri Pajasca have a great performance. Roman DeLidezai had a great performance on Saturday. What makes sense for you moving forward? Does it matter to you?

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. I mean, I could fight whoever they want to give me. like I say I would I would like to still face Venetius obviously that fight hasn't been played out so you know I hope he rests and recovers and he's okay I mean listen as well I mean I saw these other guys I mean you know Prahaska he's quite high up in the rankings now he fought a very tough opponent in Ozimir and he came out on top so he's going to be looking at fighting guys within that you know sort of top five sort bracket and stuff like that so that's not a fight that I think would happen anytime soon

but obviously it's something that I would want to look forward to in the future but you know like a fight would delete who had like a really good, a really good debut also. I think that would be an interesting matchup. You know what I mean? So there's plenty of like really good interesting matchups at like heavyweight now. There's so, there's so

like, you know, a wealth of talent, guys coming up, you know, guys that have just thought that they could put together and stuff like that. So, you know, like I'm just working to fight every single fight, go up the ladder and try and get myself into that top 15, top 10 sort of ranking. Keep gaining confidence. Keep gaining experience.

And yeah, just worked towards getting that UFC belt, which is, you know, the dream of every fighter in this division. So I host a co-host matchmaker podcast for the site that we just launched earlier this week. And it's myself and my colleague Alex K. Lee. And we make these wild card picks for each card. And his wild card pick, I wanted to throw this suggestion at you, when he's ready to come back, we have a strikers delight matchup between you and go Kansaki. That would check up all the boxes for you.

What do you think of that? Yeah, yeah, no, 100%. mate like look at the end of the day I'm all open to options man I'm all open to options I want to face the best athletes uh in the world I want to face all the top competition and like I say whatever my manager feels is the best um sort of you know avenue for me to go down uh you know it's a business at the end of the day so yeah whatever sort of comes up obviously that's a very interesting matchup like you said um it'll be I'm just very interested to fight all different styles and to fight all different matchups and stuff like that and retest myself and put myself you know

you know, really get myself to be that best fighter in the division. And like I say, the more I fight all different styles and body shapes and types, you know, the better I can work up the way up my ladder and, you know, solidify myself within those top rankings. So yeah, man, like I say, that's a great suggestion. And yeah, I'm sure my manager will hear about it as well. And then, yeah, we'll see what is the next, you know, best move for me, you know, whenever that conversation comes about.

Well, it's quite an introduction, Modestis, to the UFC fans. Congratulations on the win. We definitely look forward to seeing what's next for you. And the good juju here continues, Modestis. I feel like ever since these conversations started, it's just been off to the races, you know? Oh, yeah, definitely, man. I always enjoy speaking to you, brother. We always have a good time.

And, yeah, like I said, there's going to be plenty more interviews and plenty more good times to go ahead. Looking forward to it, man. Thank you again. Nice one. Thank you so much, bro. A lot of promising things in the career of Modestis Bacoscus and the 205 Pond Division. This fight island thing, the cool thing about it, I mean, it's been cool across the board. We talked a lot about it on between the lengths, but we're starting to see some new stars,

at least the potential of new stars, emerge a little bit. We're starting to see some names come out of the woodwork that fighters and fans want to see more of. And I think this is great. So if we find any sort of under the radar storyline, and we've had some big storylines, but I think the emergence of some of these newcomers, some of these people that fans, especially in America, are seeing for the first time, it's been a very successful part of this trip to Abu Dhabi for the UFC as we put a bow on another episode of What the Heck. Thank you to everyone who joined me this week. Thank you to all of you guys watching and listening wherever you're watching or listening. so make sure you subscribe wherever you're doing so and that's it.

We got some exciting things like we talked about at the top of the program. Lots of mixed martial arts action. Titan FC tonight. We got LFA and Bella, the return of Bellator tomorrow, and then the UFC which is the longest event of all time. 15 fights, seven fight main card,

going down Saturday. I am excited for that one. There's a lot of really good matchups headlined by Robert Whitaker taking on Darren Till. Big thank you to Casey Lydden on the production. Esther Lynn on the graphics. we're out of here the ranting is done i am mike heck and as always ladies and gentlemen have a heck of a week everybody network