MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 23 | Marc Goddard, Ovince Saint Preux, Andrea Lee, Sean Brady, Mallory Martin & Khama Worthy

Episode Date: September 3, 2020

Check out episode 23 of What the Heck as MMA Fighting's Mike Heck speaks with referee Marc Goddard (6:03) to reflect on being the third man in Daniel Cormier's final fight. Mallory Martin (37:04) recaps her second-round submission win over Hannah Cifers at UFC Vegas 8 and the difficult road to get to the fight. Khama Worthy (1:01:15) previews his lightweight bout with Ottman Azaitar on Sept. 12 and explains why he's frustrated the fight got pushed back an extra week. Sean Brady (1:21:45) recaps his first UFC finish over Christian Aguilera at UFC Vegas 8 and who he has in mind to face next in a well deserved step up in competition. Ovince Saint Preux (1:47:57) discusses his UFC Vegas 9 co-main event fight with Alonzo Menifield this Saturday and talks the positive COVID-19 test that caused the postponement of the 205-pound bout. Finally, Andrea Lee (2:05:19) previews her flyweight bout with Roxanne Modafferi at the UFC's Sept. 12 event.  Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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What the heck? Hey, everybody. Welcome to a brand new edition of What the Heck on MMAfighting.com. I am Mike Heck. We have a loaded show this week for all of you. And there's just so much going on in the sport right now. It's just crazy and full disclosure. not feeling so hot today, a little bit under the weather.

It's the seasonal change that happens around this time of year in Massachusetts. It's just like rips me to shreds for like four or five days. It's pretty much an annual thing. So it'll come, it'll go, and that's that. But I'll keep this open short. But to sort of guide you into where to find discussion points on some of the big stories, we discussed the fallout of UFC Vegas 8 on between the links and onto the the next one, which you can find on the podcast network between the links was an audio-only edition

this week. That was just a one-time thing that all changed back on Tuesday. But, you know, we're going to talk about that event on this show as well, as we did in addition to those two other shows. We talked about Brock Lesnar on Between the Links. That news that he's reportedly a free agent. Couldn't come to terms of WWE. Let me just get this out there. I fully expect him back in WWE, but who knows? Stranger things have happened, but we'll certainly be talking about Usman versus Burns, Mazadol versus DS2, those targeted boats on between the links next week. Of course, the UFC is back at it again this Saturday, and they're going to be running events till at least December 12th. I'm sure it's going to go beyond that, but they are back in the apex on

Saturday, headlined by Alistair Overeuxa Sakai. We talked to about this on Tuesday, not the greatest card in the world. We're just being honest. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but it's just not the best card. Like, there are some intriguing matchups. There's definitely some fighters to watch. But listen, I'm a positive guy. And usually these kinds of events on paper that are not looked at with high

anticipation factors, they deliver way above expectation. So in looking at this lineup, that is definitely possible for this card. So listen, stay positive and good things will happen, bud. Let's run down the lineup and get to our first guest. This is an eclectic, really solid group, if I'm being honest here, if I do say so myself. Rounding us out this week, we have Andrea KGB Lee. She gets ready to face Roxanne Mata Ferry next weekend in one of the main card boats. It looks like it may have been the co-main event, but,

The poster came out on Wednesday for that event. Looks like the co-main event will be Michelle Waterson versus Angela Hill, the main event of that card. Gloverita Chera versus Tiago Santos. But Andrea Lee versus Roxanne Madaferri is a very interesting fight. And Andrea's going to join us in sort of unfamiliar territory, entering a fight for the first time in her career on back-to-back losses. That has never happened.

She's never had a losing streak in her MMA career. She's in the midst of one right now. She tried to turn that around next weekend. and she will join us in the program to talk all about that and much more. One half of the co-main event for this Saturday night's event. Oven St. Peru is going to join us. As you guys probably know by now, it has been a crazy few weeks for OSP. His fight with Alonzo Menefiel was supposed to have it a couple weeks ago.

You know why it got pushed back to this weekend at this point, but we're going to get OSP side of all that. We'll talk John Jones vacating the Light Heavyweight title and much more. We have both performed. of the night winners from this past weekend's event on the program this week. That includes Sean Brady, who got his first UFC finish against Christian Aguilera. Second round submission. Brady looks awesome in that fight.

He's going to join us for the first time later on in the program. Comma Worthy was supposed to fight this weekend. That is no longer the case. His fight with Otman Azatar is now next weekend in Las Vegas. The Death Star is going to explain why. Talk about the 155 pound matchup. One thing, a little bit of a spoiler. Commonwealth is not overly thrilled that this fight got pushed back another week,

and he'll tell you all about that later on. The other performance of the night winner from this past Saturday night was Mallory Martin, who got her first UFC finish, she got her first UFC bonus, her first UFC victory overall since getting an opportunity off the Contender Series. She didn't get a contract on the Contender Series, but she had a great performance that night. She's now in the UFC. She was coming off a loss to Verna Janderoba.

now she's in the windcoms getting extra 50 Gs and she's in a pretty rough play setting into this fight. She talked about it a little bit during the events post-fight press conference after the victory. We'll talk a little bit more about that. It was a crazy fight with Hannah Cypers. We'll check it with Mallory Martin in around 25 minutes or so. But first, I'm pretty, I got to be honest, this took a while to get done, but I'm really glad that we got it done. And in a strange way, I'm glad it took so long because the timing ended up being perfect.

Daniel Cormier officially announced his retirement on Monday on his program on ESPN. And he had the loss of Stipei Michich. So those two guys did the darn thing for 25 minutes. But there was a third man in the Octagon that night. There was a third man in the octagon the first time those two guys fought when DC became the double champ. I had the chance to speak with that, man. Let's kick off the show. with my conversation with referee Mark Goddard right now on what the heck.

All right, with Daniel Cormier officially announcing his retirement on Monday afternoon, the timing for this conversation was pretty perfect as you're being joined by one of the absolute best referees in combat sports. He also was the third man in the Octagon for the first and last fight of the trilogy between D.C. and Stipe A. Mietich happy to be speaking with Mark Goddard for the first time. Mark, how are you, sir? I'm good, thanks. How you doing?

I'm doing great. So UFC 252 went down a couple of weeks ago. Like we talked about, it was headline by Steep A versus DC3, the end of that pretty epic three-fight series. But it was also billed as the very last fight of Daniel Cormier's career. As a referee, obviously, you can't get lost in the glitz and glamour of certain fights. But when you found out that you were going to be the third man in the Octagon for that particular fight, how did you react to that?

Yeah, look, I mean, It's always an honor, you know, without sounding cliched and stuff. You know, when you're officiating the biggest prizes in this sport, it's something that's never taken lightly. You know, complacency doesn't creep in. And for a fight of that magnitude to be selected again was, you know, it's very comforting, it's very humbling, and it's something that I hold dear every time.

You're obviously a professional when you're in this. and that's how you've built this reputation that you've been able to build over the years. And, you know, looking through the history of Cormier's career, those two fights that you were in the octagon with DC and Steepa, those are the only two fights of Daniel's career that you were a part of memory serves me correctly. Is there a part of you deep down

that looks at certain fighters and thinks, you know, I hope I get to be a part of about featuring this guy or this woman at some point in my career? Yeah, absolutely. you know um obviously being you know i've been with the in my 13th year with it with the ufc so many multiple memorable occasions many more multiple memorable world championship fights and of course the two the two fighters that it is you know male and female there's just so many now and uh like i said of it without going down the cliche route again it is it's it's it's a privilege you know

that's the best word I can use to describe it as, you know, it's when you devote a huge or significant part of your life to something, when you get the recognition like that and you get to stand in the middle for, you know, for these, the elite of the elite, you know, and like we said, the world championships, that the highest prizes of the sport, it's obviously sticks in the memory first and foremost, and it's something that I'll keep with me forever. Daniel's one of those fighters that as years went on, people began to appreciate him more and more. Like when he was going through everything with John Jones, it was just strange to watch from the outside, seeing DC getting booed all the time.

He was like the heel in that rivalry, despite being such a good guy, a family man, et cetera. And I feel like now that he's seemingly shut the door on his career, he's going to be even more appreciated now that he's no longer competing. Do you feel the same way? Yeah, 100%. You know, I mean, D.C. is, there's not many superlatives you can leave out to describe him, you know, in a positive fashion. You know, the guy's had an exemplary career, both through his wrestling pedigree, you know, his Olympic wrestling pedigree, being the high school teacher, etc., the personal things he's had. And then obviously, such a storied MMA career, you know, being a two-way and two-division champion, champion in strike force.

champion in the UFC. What isn't there or what more could you say about a guy like that with that kind of track record? Yeah, it was a great fight. Steepie got the win, but very competitive. I think that was honestly just watching it. I think it was the first time outside of maybe the first fight or two on that Brasilia card in March that I truly noticed that the fans were missing and that it just felt not empty, but it just

felt different. And I know the fighters get asked about competing in the empty arena setting all the time, But I'm curious about your thoughts on not having the fans from a referee's perspective. Does it make your life any easier not having 15,000 people going bananas in the arena? No, it actually makes it harder for enough. But like you said, look, you used it. The perfect word there was different. And that's exactly what it is because, you know, I've stood in arenas.

20 years ago, you stood there with 200 people. And then I've stood in stadiums with 60,000 people. and then of studying studios with nobody where you can hear a pin drop and sometimes it's like eerily silent you can literally hear every single thing it's just a very different environment obviously when you have the crowd

and obviously you know especially when it comes to like a world championship contest and obviously you know that heavyweight title and stuff it's the biggest thing in the sport having the added having the adage energy and that of the crowd. Of course, nobody in the right mind is going to say that they don't miss it because we do.

Everybody misses it. But it's almost now that we're doing it behind closed doors from an official's perspective, everything seems more super concentrated because you don't, I mean, when I referee before, you go into our headspace in your mind. Obviously, you're fully aware of what's going on and where you are. but the kind of the crowd is it's blacked out you know it's it's put in a separate box in your mind or you're just dealing with what's in front of you but to not have that sometimes yeah it's it kind of it heightens everything from for want of a better description and it can be uh quite the

experience what was it like like the first one that you did did it take time for you to get used to that whole thing no because i've been used to doing it with you know we've done studio shows before the ultimate fighter things like that So I've been used to doing it from, you know, the very first time I'd done it for the Ultimate Fighter many, many years ago. That was like a shock to the system. But it's kind of when you already done something and you kind of know where you're going back to, you know, you're kind of pre-prepared in your mind. So it doesn't really phase me. But it's definitely different.

And look, the good thing is, is that the sport's still rolling. It's still moving. And that's, you know, taking, you know, no sport with you. fans over actually having the sport with no fans, then I'm going to pick that all day. And I think everybody else would too. Were you surprised that the UFC was able to get back up and running as quickly as they did, especially since, you know, a lot of the other sports got shut down. Some of them are still shut down.

Some are like just getting back. But the UFC, you know, they missed a few events, but they got right back on the horse. Were you surprised they were able to do it so quickly? Look, obviously it could be easy to say now and say, no, I wasn't surprised because, you know, that's the UFC and that's Dana. And obviously the fact that, you know, obviously this completely and utterly, no one's been anywhere close to this kind of predicament before.

So it's not like anybody's pre-planned it. But the fact of obviously, with it being obviously an individual sport in terms of, you know, it's not a team sport, does that make things easier? I'm not saying it does because you've got all the logistics behind it. But I was, yeah, I wasn't surprised, you know, when you people talk this you know when people talk about Dana and stuff like that you know like I said I've been with the UFC for 13 years I could count maybe I can't less than two hands

the amount of interactions I've had with Dana you know he he does this thing as a promoter he doesn't he doesn't mix with the officials etc but in fairness what I will say is that every time I have interacted with him it's been an entirely positive affair you know thankfully for for myself and there was actually a moment in, but not many people will understand and know about it. There was actually a moment in, in Fight Island, where he actually personally addressed the officials too, which he didn't have to do. You know, he doesn't have to do. And don't believe everything you read.

That's all I'm going to say. It's all positive from my end. What was that interaction, like, as he was addressing the officials? What did he say? You don't have to, like, tell me word for word, but, you know, what kinds of things were said? it was just basically a positive it was a positive reaffirmation if you like it was just it was something that that he did you know there was a couple of

circumstances I won't go in I won't go into details didn't involve me personally but with one or two of the officials and the fact that he stepped up and stepped in personally you know to to address as a group that will stick with me for a long time and like I said even even prior to that you know, the small amount of times because you know, like people,

the fans and everything think that everybody gets together and that day there's nowhere to be seen, you know, even around the fighters. He's in a different place. He will come and do his thing. But it was just, like I said, going back to the interactions I've had with him before over the years. The ball was for me, thankfully, been entirely positive.

You know, it's been a thanking occasion, if you like. And then, like I said, what he did in Fight Island to address everybody is. a group. Like I said, we'll leave it here, but trust me, it was, it was a very welcomed and very positive affair, and I have a lot of respect for it. Fair enough. Kind of going back to the fight at UFC 252, one of the big talking points in that fight, obviously, was the eye poke in the third round. Steepa pokes DC was nasty, and it's crazy because in real time, you don't notice it. Like, when you watch on television, you don't notice it, you just see DC's reaction, and then

you see the replay in between rounds, and it's like, oh, my God, I can't believe that happened. and how did he miss that? But we all forget that like 30 seconds ago, we couldn't catch it in real time. And it's not like you can just say, hold on a second, let me see the replay, let's stop the fight, and let's see if DC is telling the truth here.

It's a split second reaction and things happen. People make mistakes. You did come out after the fact and you made a statement apologizing for missing it, which quite frankly, Mark, you didn't have to do. But why did you feel compelled to make that statement? Because you don't see it very often. And it's honestly, it was quite refreshing to say.

see. Yeah, I mean, quite a bit to unpack there. I think what is, yeah, look, for me, you know, speaking publicly as an official, obviously, look, there's an old adage and it's kind of an antiquated idea. And I'm sure yourself, you know, all the media will probably know that it's frowned upon if the officials talk, you know, even maybe like we're doing now. There is certain people in certain places and certain positions that do not like officials talking to the media in any description. I've never supported that train of thought because, well, for several reasons, and the first and foremost being that if I'm ever going to talk about this sport and I'm ever going to talk about it publicly, nobody has to tell me how to uphold the integrity of the sport. Nobody has to tell me how to be a professional and nobody has to tell me to say the right thing

because I think I've demonstrated that, you know, time in, time out over many years. And, you know, when it came to the actual thing with D.C., it's just part of me as a person, you know. I just acceptance and acknowledgement are big things for me. I've always been the same. I've always been the same. Look, you can Google my name and Google, you know,

know, like I said, there's a handful of instances where I've actually spoke out and said, you know, on any given day, maybe it'd have done it differently. But on something like that, you know, such a pivotal fight, it was, obviously on the replay, it was clear as day what happened. And I just felt compelled to, it's part of my, it's part of my acceptance, it's part of my, this is a very personal thing to me. And obviously speaking out publicly the way I did, it just, it just means, a lot to me personally, you know, just to be able to, you know, the acceptance and acknowledgement

of the fact that, hey, I made a mistake here. And I'm not scared of using the words wrong, mistake, you know, different, sorry, whatever it may be. That's just me as a person and it's just, you know, who I am. Not everyone's the same. And like I said, it gets me in trouble sometimes with certain people, but, you know, it's, I won't stop doing that because I just think as a personal point of view from, from an ethical and a values point of view, it means the most to me. Referring and judging are by far the most thankless jobs in combat sports. Like, occasionally the referee will get some shine for a good stoppage or, you know, like Chris Tione on Saturday night, he let them Mallory Martin, Hannah Seifers fight go on after.

the first round and it turned out to be the right call. So he got a little bit of shine for that. It's not often that that happens. And judges get like no thanks for anything. People don't stand up and applaud and say, wow, great 10-9 score. It just doesn't happen that way. You got to be a certain kind of a person to do a job like that where it is so thankless. Is it a little frustrating at times doing what you do?

And if so, like how do you handle that to not let it overwhelm you? Because I'm sure at times that's probably been something you've had to deal with. Is that accurate? Oh yes. Certainly, you know, to take the phrase certainly deal with, yeah. And look, it is what it is, you know. Look, I grew up with this sport, you know. When I first started refereeing, nobody had a clue where it was going to go.

I certainly didn't have, I was refereeing by accident, you know, I've been a lifelong competitor. And the whole referee thing for me just kind of took its own. and path and just grew and grew and grew from there. And, you know, looking, it kind of goes back to the fact of what we were saying then about, I think we might have said it off camera so I can repeat it again, is that, you know, you know, you'll know yourself just how long this conversation between you and me is taken to get together because the contrary to some belief, I'm not going to say popular belief, is that, like I said, for various reasons, sometimes we get chastised, it's frowned,

upon that we don't talk to the media, but sometimes I think it's important. In fact, a lot of the time I think it's important from an explanatory point of view and from an educational point of view. But then sometimes I think that, you know, that I can't win because everybody wants media and fans and people want officials to be accountable and acknowledge when maybe something has gone wrong. Then said official may do. that and you're still going to get trashed anyway, you know, I'll get in trouble from superiors for talking and you still get trashed. You know, you come out and you hold your hands up and you stand tall and you say, you

know, I made a mistake there. And I don't know of any other sport or any other official at this level. You can't go any higher, you know, and when you're dealing with World Championship contest for the, you know, for the UFC, it's it's the World Cup of MMA, right? You know, it's the, it's the, you know, the World Series of MMA. It is what it is. And you can't, you know, like I said, I don't know of any other examples of many officials from other sports that would actually do that, you know, show that accountability and show that honesty. And then sometimes it does get hard to deal with because outside influences from other fighters and whatnot and other personalities, shall we say.

And then, like I said, you know, sometimes I do think. but you're kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't, because you'll be criticised and maligned for not sharing or not being accessible. And then sometimes when you are accessible, people will accuse you of wanting camera time and then trash you anyway. So I'm kind of thinking, going back to the thinking of maybe my superiors, some of my superiors were right. Maybe it is just best that we don't talk.

I'm not sure what people want, you know. I don't know. It's tough. I think there's like maybe one example in American sports than I can think of. It was in Major League Baseball. There was a young man who was throwing a perfect game. And on the very last batter, there was a ground ball to the first baseman. And he went to cover the bag.

And clearly the runner was out. And the Ump called him safe and ruined the perfect game for him. And the Ump like got crushed for that. And all he had to do was apologize. And then like the pitcher was forgave him. And they took pictures together, did like, like a little media tour together. And then it was like all forgotten.

It became like a really positive story. It's not like that at MMA. It's, it's got to be a little frustrating. This, this sport is just between the fans and, and some of the media members as well. It's as fickle as any other sport in the world.

It is. You know, like, I'd like to say that I understand the analogy you're talking about. I was going to say, I was like, I'm like,

yeah, okay, I see what you mean. I see what you mean. But, um, yeah, look,

like a. said, you know, it's not, you know, what do we do here? Because, you know, as I painted the picture, as officials, you know, generally a lot of people don't want us to talk. Some people don't bind us talking. And then, like I said, is when, when you do talk sometimes, it can adversely affect you too because people are still going to, A, they're still going to criticize you and B, they're going to accuse you on wanting camera time. Like I said to you on the phone, my friend, you know, when we're talking about how long this is taken to get together, go and ask Ariel Hawaiian how many times I've said, no, I don't want to talk.

Go and ask Luke Thomas how many times I've said, no, I don't want to talk. You can tell how many emails we've had back and forth trying to get this together. I don't always want to do it, but it's kind of like, you know, you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't. What do you want? But what I will say is I still believe in the good and all this, because for a, as hard as it can be sometimes with a fan interaction. And hey, look, I'll give you a perfect example.

Whenever this video segment goes out, and I'm trying to be honest, I'm trying to be forthright. Just go and have a look at the comments section, and you'll see exactly what I mean. You know what I mean? That's what makes you kind of want to tucktail and then run back and do it again. But what I will say is that, like everything at every sport,

we've got some wonderful people in this sport, and I get as much as the deluge of horrible men, messages and stuff you get, you develop a thick skin, but also get some pretty damn, you know, great messages and supportive messages from many different people and many different places. And just know that it's appreciated and I'm thankful for it too. Yeah, people are hilarious. Like, I could do the best interview in the world and people be like, where's this man's shoulders? It's just hilarious how people react to different things.

Of course, you know, we're in the middle of the pandemic. So that enhances the craziness, like, And, you know, you've been a part of some pretty bizarre and memorable moments in your career. I think the Connor one really sticks out. But I would say from maybe December with the Usman versus Covington fight, Fight Island, the Roman Bogotov thing with the countless illegal strikes that just kept going and going, going. That was the first fight my father ever watched live, by the way. So you can only imagine how that played out in his mind.

But, you know, and then the whole steep ADC fight, obviously Abu Dhabi at the end of July, like you've just been part of so many crazy moments. Has this been like the craziest stretch of your career over the last eight, nine, ten months? Yes. I resounding you. You know, it's funny because obviously like a lot of my friends and a lot of my, um, a lot of colleagues, like, I won't name them.

They, it's almost like, it's almost like the world saves up the crazy shit for when I referee. Like a perfect example is, is sometimes I think they're out there to get me, you know, A perfect example is the Wormon and Bogotov fight. That was my first fight back in the saddle for, because I came home from, obviously, you know, traveling with all the shows and obviously the UFC. I worked many shows globally.

But we came back from New Zealand when we done the hooker and Paul Fowler and hooker fight. Then I came back and then obviously were locked for a few months. So to go back in there with such. you know, all the eyes of the world were on Fight Island, and that was my first fight. And my, you know, you couldn't make it up, could you? And obviously, people were talking about this Bogota fight and whatnot,

because it was just bizarre. And then obviously, you know, like I said, when it comes to fouls, I do get the way I handle fouls sometimes, you know, a lot of people will like it. Some people will dislike it, but some people will dislike the way I comb my hair or the way of time of shoelace. But I know what I'm doing.

And obviously, with the bar, When that illegal knee happened, at that point, I didn't want Leo to get back up. When I called the doctor in, I'm thinking to myself, I'm almost wanting the doctor to say, because then the fight would be over. I could disqualify him and we put it to bed. But when the doctor come in, he said, no, he's okay. And Leo stood up and went, I want a fight. I was like, I was like, I almost wanted to look at him and go, are you sure, you know?

But as I can't do that. Then I have to follow the procedure. That's why he was deducted two points for a blatantly intentional foul with injury. But you look back on these things now and it just, it all rolls into one. It's part of one of the memoirs for the book. But yeah, what a ride. It was just, I think what made that moment, it was such a rough thing to watch, but I think what made the moment like a little, like kind of even things out a little bit

is just the way you interacted with Roman. You were just like, what is the matter with you? What is the matter? So what are you doing? What are you doing? It was like, it was just like a collective laugh. Like it made it better. Yeah, it did.

And like, you know, I could see, I could almost hear my officials in the background laughing. Because I'm like here like a super serious at the moment. And, you know, that's a good example. You know, because people say that about, you know, oh, is too strict. Is this, that and the other? And I'm like, hello? I'm a, I'm a referee. I'm a ref, I'm an official there to do a job.

And like I said before, you know, it's just crazy. Like what do people want? If I go in there to referee a fight and nothing happens, you, you ain't going to hear nothing from me. But if something goes in there and something happens, then, you know, I've got to do my job. It's just you could go crazy with this game. You know, you just, you cannot please everybody and you shouldn't die trying either. Yeah, that's well said. I do want to ask you about something.

I was speaking to Colby Covington a few weeks ago before he put pen to paper for the Tyron Woodley fight. And at the time, the fight was verbally agreed upon, but we hadn't signed anything yet. But Colby said that there were some pieces of the contract that he wanted to see happen and put in print before he signed. One of which he said was that you would not be the referee for the fight. He wanted that in his contract because, you know, you've heard it all before at this point. He's felt a certain way about how the Uspin fight played out. A, can he do that, to your knowledge? I mean, it is Colby.

He says a lot of things. That's just who he is. And B, does that bother you at all? That fighters are just like, this guy, I do not want this guy ref in my fights. Does not bother me in the slightest, you know. Good luck, Colby. Good luck, Tyrone. You know, made the best memory.

So what's next for you? I mean, it's not official, but all signs are pointing to, the UFC heading back to Abu Dhabi at the end of the month for UFC 253. The Nevada State Athletic Commission is about to meet. There's no cards for October that's on the slate. So that just kind of pretty much signifies that this is what we're doing. In terms of your UFC work, is that next for you? Is what next for me?

Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, UFC 253 through 254. I'll be back in Vegas before that. Oh, okay. Yeah, I'll be back in Vegas for the, the Tiago Santos. card. So it's the week after a week Saturday. Obviously, I will not be there for Tchaquivocon's card. I'll have left by then. But yeah, I will be there for the, for the Santos card. And then after that, you know, I think, I think everybody knows where the fights are headed after that. Yes, well said. Last thing before we let you go, and I appreciate

you giving me so much time, Mark. One thing that I've noticed about this pandemic is, you know, in sports being shut down for a while, as we talked about, I think we've seen at least a lot of new eyeballs on the sport that weren't there probably a year ago because the UFC was like the only game in town. And for those newer fans, what's like one piece of advice you'd like to pass on to them

when it comes to the sport, you know, the role of an official, et cetera, that they probably don't understand that I guess can alleviate some stress and hostility amongst the viewers. Jesus. How's that for a loaded question? How open?

is that question. I'm not, I'd like to say, I'm trying to process that in my mind and think, Jesus, quite, you know, what could I say to that? Yeah, look, like you said, with, with it being, you know, a lot of new eyes on this sport, and look, I think that's fate, you know, you look at MMA and just how far we have come in a short space of time. That's what many people forget. We're a young sport, you know, for one of a better description, we're 20, you know,

description, we're 26 years old. Yes, everybody, watch the comments section blow up again because we know Valli Tudor in Brazil. We know pancreas in Japan have been around, and Shuto, etc., been around in various guises. But for one of the better description, you know, the acronym, you know, UFC, it's the brand that's what people know. Obviously, people within the sport, they'll know Bellator, et cetera, et cetera, and other promotions, but for the big, wide world out there, and obviously Bellator had stopped. So the UFC was literally one of, if not the only live sport that was still happening. So there was an incredible amount of interests, you know, watching eyes, people around the world,

media, et cetera, et cetera. And good and bad comes with that. But I'm going to say, you know, at the end of the day, it all boils down to good because what's not to love about potentially turning on a whole host of new fans to our sport. But to give them one, I don't honestly, I really don't. to give them one takeaway to, you know, maybe don't become a ref. There's an idea. It's not honest.

But, you know, just everything is not always what it seems, you know. That's what I'm saying. Look, it's unrealistic. It's the same in any sport. When we go and watch football or you're telling me that 50,000 people in a stadium watching a game of a baseball or a game of American football, does every person know the rules inside and out? No, do they have to? No. But there seems to be this, you know, intense, all-knowing thing about

MMA that everybody's a judge and everybody's a ref and everybody should know everything. When in reality, you know, we shouldn't. You're always going to get, you know, fan interaction. And obviously what people, a lot of people don't understand, what a lot of people may not take into account is that people are betting money, this huge sums of money being bet on, especially when Fight Island came around and the shows in Florida, it was one of the only live sports you could bet on. And generally, when I get most of my crazy messages they get from people who have lost bets through no fault of mine, it's the fact that the fighter lost, but if I've lost 20, 30, 50, 100 bucks, they need somebody to blame, and generally that's the officials. So I guess there's one part in

shut is don't always blame the officials and the fact that your bet didn't come in, you know, don't do that. Don't blame the referee and don't become a referee. There you go, kids. Now you know, but there you go. Mark, I appreciate the time, man. Thank you so much. I'm glad we're able to finally make this happen.

You're obviously, and I said it before, you're one of the very best to don the referee polo, and I truly appreciate the insight. All the best to you, Mark, and look forward to seeing you in the Octagon on September 12th. I appreciate that. Thanks a lot. Really enjoyed that chat. Just it's incredible insight from a guy like Mark Goddard. And he's one of those guys with this, there's no real gray air.

I have a lot of respect for Mark. Refereeing just sucks. Like, the job just sucks. Like, who, who wakes up and says, like, I want to be a referee? And Mark said he fell into it by accident and just seemed to be his thing. And he's one of the very best in the world. But I'm not being a referee. He could take all that pressure and that criticism.

and stuff like that, but I really enjoyed that conversation. Looks like he will not be the referee for the Colby Covington versus Tired Woodley fight on September 19, that I'm sure he is just fine with that. He will be in Vegas the weekend before, and he'll be on Fight Island as well, even though that still hasn't been officially announced, but let's face it at this point,

that is happening starting September 26th. It was a huge night on Saturday night for Mallory Martin at the UFC Apex. Let's check in with her. She recaps her first UFC win, her first UFC finish, first UFC bonus. and just a crazy fight with Hannah Seifers. Let's talk to Mallory Martin right now. All right, we have one of the big winners from Saturday nights, UFC Vegas 8 event on the show right now.

She kicked off the card in just a crazy way. Picked up her first UFC win, first UFC finish, and her first UFC bonus with a second round submission win over Hannah Seifers. Mallory Martin joins us right now. Mallory, how are you? I'm doing great. How are you? I'm doing great. Geez, Louise, that was some fight.

I mean, you overcame a ton of adversity in that first round. Hannah dropped you and had you in some big trouble, but you were able to weather that storm. I know it's hard to put these things in perspective when you're actually like in the moment, but if we could put ourselves in your place for a moment, what was going through your mind as she was trying to take you out of there? I was just basically like, man, this ain't happening to me.

You know, like not my second fight in the UFC. Like I'm not going down like this. This is not how my story is, you know? like that's all I could keep thinking about like her hitting me I was like this is not how I'm going down you know like I'm about to turn it around like swear I'm up to turn it around Chris Tione the referee that guy's had a very interesting run over the last couple of weeks because we've seen him yeah I didn't know that was that ref those last two fights last weekend I think were he refs like one getting like knocked down and he refs like one getting like knocked down and then coming back and knocking out his opponent and then another one was like the same thing. I don't know. Like, I'm thankful for him that he was my ref

because he didn't stop it. He knew I was like still fighting back. So that's cool, you know? I respect him for that. But yeah, what a beast. I know, because, I mean, he got a lot of criticism for both of those too. I tell him. Until like 10 minutes ago,

I was like someone told me that he was getting criticized for it which it sucks but he's a ref he knows he he he knows like he's in there seeing there and he he'll know if if the fighter is actually out or it needs to be stopped you know so it's like you can't really hate on him he's doing his job yeah I think it was the like the second fight that we were talking about was that crazy war between Dwight Grant and Daniel Rodriguez and Dwight had Daniel really hurt. Daniel survived and knocked him out later in the round. But it was the first fight in particular that got a lot of criticism. Yours was actually a perfect stoppage overall because she let you go. You were still like shooting for takedowns. You were shooting and you were defending yourself. Defend myself and fight to the best of my abilities, you know, with someone attacking me.

Yeah. So I don't like, I don't feel like people should look at him or like hate on him for that because I was doing just enough. spirit to not get stopped. You know, if I went limp and covered up and wasn't moving or responding, then of course, you know, stop the fight, but I was still fighting back to the best of my abilities, you know? I was watching the fight on the ESPN Plus stream, so it went to commercial in between the first and second round,

so I wasn't able to hear the advice of your coaches and your corners. What was said to you in that moment because things obviously changed very quickly for you? Yeah, I haven't heard. I can't remember what they said, but, well, I think I can't remember what I said. I remember I sat down and was like, oh, man, did I get dropped? I was like, did it look bad, you know? And they were like, right, this is a second round. You got to go in there.

He was basically like, get her ass against the cage, take her down and, like, finish her. Like, stop messing around. And so I was like, okay. And I'm really good at just leaving stuff behind, in the past, you know. like for fighting wise like rounds or sparring rounds or whatever so fresh start you know i was there i was ready you know fresh start second round i was i was going to go get the job done you know you did exactly what your team told you to do you took her down you beat her up and she gave her your back and you finished you finished the fight and you locked in that choke and after she tapped i mean you let out

these like primal screams you could like if you closed your eyes and just like pictured you in that moment envision all this weight just flying off of your shoulders. That was the loudest sigh of relief I have ever heard in my entire life, Mallory. What was going through your mind during that moment? Oh, just like, I don't know. I feel like people are hating on me for screaming, which, like, I honestly don't care because I've been through so much this year and for me to come out on the other side of it and get the win and get the win how the fight went. Like, I was going to let out my emotion no matter what, you know. And if that meant me screaming or crying, whatever, I was going to do it because I was in there and I fought and I came out the other side through adversity.

And it just meant a lot to me. You were also very grateful for Hannah because she took that fight. And, you know, this year's been tough on a lot of us, that's for sure. I mean, global pandemic. I mean, no one saw this coming. but, you know, you talked about in the post-fight scrum, you got a little bit emotional. You were able to talk about some of the things

you were dealing with heading into that fight because, I mean, you seemed like you were in a pretty dark spot heading in based on what you were saying. Are you able to talk about what happened? I really want to talk about what happened just because it's nothing to do with, like, fighting. It's just something that happened in my personal life. And it was even before camp, you know,

it was in the beginning of the year that I went through, went through something and it basically completely changed me as a person and uh i just had to like i went through this camp you know um needing something to help me you know and uh fighting has always been like my passion and my outlet so it was good for me to get a fight and start a camp and halfway through camp i was just like i i need to get help you know i can't keep living like this and uh I was just struggling with anxiety and all that. And I decided to like get held from like a therapist and, you know,

talk to my coaches and whatnot. And I completely, not completely, but I turned around my like just the way I was going down, you know. So by the time I got to the fight, you know, I was, my mental was there. I was ready. I was back to myself, you know. but the beginning of the camp was a struggle. Is this something you've dealt with in the past with the anxiety and things like that?

Or is this something that you've had to deal with for the first time? Well, my dad passed away when I was 17, he was my only parent. And I dealt with like depression back then, but I never really dealt with like this type of anxiety where like I couldn't eat this camp. Um, I was, I didn't have to lose any weight because, uh, my weight was so low already starting the camp that I, it was basically about keeping the weight on and being big enough, uh, and strong enough to be able to fight, you know. So it was a different type of camp instead of like having a cut weight or lose weight, uh, that I would typically have to do. Um, so I was just struggling with that. And I've never really had to deal with. that kind of that like type of anxiety before um so yeah it was it was new to me and i seeked out help and started to do things that would help with exigone and uh it slowly started

to windle down yeah because it's hard it's probably the more the harder part of the whole thing is just admitting that you need to to get that help and yeah i'd like a little heart to with myself and I was like, you know, I was in a spot where I was like, man, I just need to talk to my dad. You know, like my dad's going to tell me what I'm going to do, you know, but my dad's gone, you know. So I was just like very lost and didn't know what to do or didn't know how to help myself. And I basically was like, you know, nobody's coming to save you, Mallory. Like if you want to live a different life or if you want to get better and you don't want to live like this or of this kind of pain and anxiety, you're going to have to get help. And, you know, I talked to, like, my coaches and they helped me. And I started seeing a therapist and it helped me tons, you know.

Because you said in the post-fight press conference when you were speaking with the media that your coaches may not even have known, like, how bad it actually was for you. Like, how bad did it actually get? I don't think they knew that it was this bad. Or I don't even think that they knew it was that I was struggling, like, this much outside of my, in my personal life. it was just to a point where I just couldn't like I didn't not saying that I didn't want to live like I would never take that I would never do that but I was just at a point where I was like I can't keep living with this pain that I have you know and I it was just every day was a struggle um and I just like I said I had like a heart to heart with myself and was like nobody is going to save you and if you want to get better you have to seek help and um ask for help you know. getting a win like that the finish the bonus that had to have helped quite a bit right i mean like what did that mean to you to get that bonus on top of everything because you know there are other finishes on the card right after yours and i thought personally would have been a giant injustice

if you didn't get a bonus but you know getting word that you got the bonus after everything you've been through that had to have meant the world to you did it not yeah i mean getting the bonus that's life changing like that this is going to change my life um and i i i i knew like I had this feeling um before I thought that something was going to happen like something big was going to happen and it was just going to change my life you know and I expect it not expected but I was opened for whatever the universe was going to give me I was open to it you know so um I think it's really cool and I'm very happy about it and uh yeah it's definitely life changing it's interesting because there were like two different tales coming out of that fight there's your

your side where it's like, holy crap, what a comeback, good for Mallory. On the other side, there's Hannah who's now 0 and 4 in 2020. She missed wait for the fight. And clearly, you know, there's something there with her, but you can't help but feel bad for her because she was so close to snapping that skid and you were able to weather that storm and battle through it. It was just the wrong time for her to fight you in such a weird universal way. Of course, you're happy to get back on track and overcome what you did and have the success that you had, but you can't help but kind feel for Hannah here as well, right? No, yeah, 100%.

I think she's a good person and she's tough, you know, and she showed it. But I knew, I knew in my heart that I wasn't going to leave that cage without my hand being raised, you know, no matter who I stood across, you know. I had a few other opponents before Hannah. So I knew that no matter what I was going in there and I wasn't going to leave until my hand got raised no matter what, you know.

So that's the mentality that I. had going into the fight. So, and it didn't matter who I stood across. But, yeah, I feel bad for her. I think, I think it sucks because she's fought very tough girls, you know. She's fought Angela Hill. She fought McKinsey Dern. She fought a weight class up, you know, and maybe that those are fights,

maybe that she shouldn't have took, you know. You have to be smart. especially at this, this level. You know, if you're not ready, you shouldn't just take a dive or you shouldn't accept these fights that, like, a fight at 125 when you're pretty not that big of a straw weight, that's a fight you probably shouldn't take, you know? You have to be smart with your career and if it's about the money, then okay, take the fight, but you have to think about your career and your longevity in the sport. I don't, yeah, I don't think taking a fight at 125 was that smart for her. But she's, yeah, she's fought tough girl, so you can't take that away from her either. Sure.

You're at elevation fight team now, and we saw what that move has done for, you know, obviously you and Shana Dobson because she had that huge win the week before. And I get it. It's weird from, from like my perspective because, you know, I'm not a fighter. and the narrative surrounding her is that, you know, maybe a change of scenery would do her well. But it just seems like it would do wonders for her. She could polish up some of the things that she needs to work on. Plus, you know, there's a lot to be said to just getting out of your comfort zone

and getting a fresh perspective on the sport. You think that if Hannah decided, like if Hannah reached out to you and said, hey, what do you think about me joining the team over there? Do you think that would be a good fit for her? 100%. 100%. I think it's really cool. Like this whole camp, it was me, Shawna and Montana in Montana Della Rose in camp.

Montana fights on Saturday. So, you know, we've all, us three, we're in camp together and we are pushing each other every single day. You know, Shauna helps me in Montana with her stand up, like our standup. Montana is a sick wrestler, so she helps me and Shauna with her wrestling. And I'm more grappling-based. So I help both of them with the grappling aspect of it. So it was really cool, just a really cool dynamic to have us three going through camp together and just growing and getting better. And at elevation, we have so many really great coaches.

And the female team is, it's stacked. You know, we have a ton of really good girls out there. And at least at every single training, there's at least 10 to 11 girls, you know. So we have a ton of a ton of talent and a ton of bodies, you know. So I think if she decided to make a move, I think it would be a smart decision for her career. Sean Madden might be one of the best follows on social media because if you needed like a little bit of a shot of the arm, a little bit of positivity, you just go and check out his Twitter and he provides that for you. How pivotal has it been for Sean and just having those other coaches have your back and give you a boost when it's needed? Oh, it's been amazing.

like Sean he showed me this book to read it's called chop chop wood carry water and just I read the book in like I don't know like four days and everything in the book like I've experienced and it just opened my eyes a little bit how to like overcome things or deal with these challenges and stuff like that and he's very good with the mental side of the fight game, you know? He had us like visualizing after our training sessions. Like he would talk, like we would lay down, close our eyes. And he would literally talk us through from going to weigh-ins,

stepping on the scale, facing our opponent. Then now we're walking into the arena. We're checking in. We're getting our hands wrapped. We're warming up. You know, he would take us through all this stuff. And then he would take us through the fight, you know? Like, oh, you're sitting down now.

We're giving you advice. You're coming back the second round. You're doing everything we've told you. You know, like he uses the visualization really good, you know, and that's a huge part of my game. And I think that having that aspect helped me a lot. Have you always been sort of a visual fighter, or is that something that you picked up along the way? No, I've literally always been. I read a lot of books.

And one book that I like a lot, it's called Mind Jim. But it just talks about having your own like mental highlight real. And I don't know if you've watched any of my fights. Like I scream at, sometimes I scream out my opponents, like tell them like, no one can save you or happy Halloween. And these are all things that I visualized in my head. And then when I'm in the fight, I'm like, well, now I'm living in the moment. I'm living in this, this thing that I've been. visualizing for the past eight weeks or whatever and now I'm here you know and so I just kind of let

it out even like the scream after I won and I kind of screamed and went a little crazy that's all things that I visualized so it's cool to like be able to visualize it and then actually do it when it's at the highest level what's the craziest thing you've said to somebody in the middle of a fight that you visualize ahead of time um I think the one that The big one is I was telling her, like, no one can save you. Like, your mom can't save you. The ref can't save you. Like, no one's going to save you.

And then, like, the ref ended up pulling me off of her. But that's what I'm, like, known for. And it, like, went viral or whatever. But, yeah, people will hate on it, but they don't, like, they don't get in the cage. They don't fight. They don't know this passion that I have or whatever. And I mean, no disrespect yelling at them. it's just the it's i'm just expressing my like myself and my passion and the way i i am i guess i don't know

so you're living in momentum city right now you have that crazy fight crazy win how are you feeling physically i mean you can see some remnants on your face in regards to the fight but fallen yeah how are you feeling right now good you know i i expected it to be like that i knew that something big was coming and I'm not really surprised with it. I expected it. But yeah, I'm excited. I'm happy and, you know, winning the bonus. That's life-changing, you know, so it's cool. What about, you know, from the mental side? Because, you know, you've obviously had to carry a lot with you since the fight was booked. Do you feel in a much better spot now? Because, you know, I've talked to fighters over the years who are, a lot of them are young in their career, that feeling of having a fight to prepare for,

a fight to look forward to, it can solve a lot of short-term problems, but once the fight is over and that adrenaline starts to wear, they just want it right back and it's not there because it just happened. How are you doing from that aspect? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. You know, it's, it's, I think the biggest thing that I've learned to do is just living in the moment. You know, I'm not thinking about the past. I'm not thinking about the future. I'm literally just living in the moment and taking things day by day. And I think that's huge to do because you don't want to be like living in the past and living on that hype and that excitement.

And then a few weeks go by and you're like, oh, man, you know, like it's not, I don't feel it anymore, you know. So I think just living in the moment is the best way for me. I know you're living in the moment, but have you thought about when you like to get back in there and do it again? Like you think you'll maybe get one more for the years over? Yeah, I want to at least try to get two more. I think that would be ideal for me.

I think in November is what we're looking at. And then if everything goes well and I'm healthy with that fight, and November, maybe a quick turnaround in December would be awesome. This is like a cliche in MMA when it comes to getting your first win, the word elusive gets attached to it because it changes everything. It like knocks down a proverbial wall. once you get that first one under your belt. It's almost, I've had some fighters tell me, like,

now I feel like I'm actually a UFC fighter because I went in there and got a win. What does that feel like for you? It was like a freeing feeling now that you have that win under your belt? Yeah, I didn't even think of that. Yeah, I just, I mean, I didn't really feel any pressure going into the fight to be able to win or anything like that. I don't look at it like, oh, I have to win or I'm not scared to lose either, you know?

I think it's just more of like effort and performing to the best of your abilities. But, yeah, I think that's cool. And to be able to get the win and get a finish in the UFC, I think is huge because that's, it's the best in the organization. And for you to go out there and finish someone, I think it's more important to me, you know?

115 is just so fun right now. It's a division that never lets it, never lets you down. It's always an exciting fight. Is there anybody that sticks out to you, like anyone that you want to tear it up with for the next one? I'm pretty sure I'm going to fight Pollyanna. Really? Yeah.

Yeah, we're matched up in May. And then, you know, the coronavirus hit and the fights got canceled. So that fight fell through. And then she ended up having rescheduling with Emily. So, I mean, she, yeah, she called me out after the fight and I already anticipated on fighting her. So, yeah, I'm going to scrap with her. That makes all the sense in the world. Some people like frown upon like booking fighters who won on the same card, but why?

It's just so easy that way. That's the best matchmaking, right? You know? It's just perfect. Last thing for you let you go, because I definitely appreciate the time. In this crazy year with like so much happening, I mean, it's easy for people to just get into a funk and, you know, get into that dark place that you've experienced. And there could be somebody watching right now that may be falling into that themselves. what advice would you give to anybody watching or listening right now that that may be experiencing

some of the things that you've had to deal with over the last several months and you know how you're able to at least take steps to get towards the other side of it? I would say just don't give up and take every every day day by day because it does get better and I would say 100% seek help. If you're in a spot that you feel like you can't get out of, you know, I would definitely seek help, whether it's a family member or somebody that you don't even know, like a therapist, I think would do you really good if you're struggling. Just really good on Mallory Martin. I appreciate her opening up the way that she did.

Great win for her on Saturday. It looks like a fight with Pollyanna Viana is in her future later on this year, according to Mallory at least. But that's a good matchup. And I like when things happen. When you have fights like right near each other on the card in the same division, like why not just line them up, especially when they have quick performances.

I know Pollyanna didn't have the crazy war that Mallory Martin had, but listen, they both got quick finishes. They both seem to want to fight each other. This is just easy. I think the matchmaker should be pretty ecstatic right now. But one of the fighters that I have brought on this show that continuously gets compliments every time he appears is comma worthy. Now, Kammer Worthy's got a fight coming up with Atman Azatar.

That was supposed to happen this weekend in Las Vegas, but it got pushed back a week. I looked at it and I was like, oh, September 12th, yeah, that's right. And then I realized that it was supposed to be September 5th. I had no idea why it got moved. And I don't think Kamah really knows either, but he's got his suspicions. Let's hear those suspicions and his thoughts on the fight itself right now on what the heck. All right, happy to welcome back a fan favorite on what the heck. Every time he comes on, people are truly enjoying his appearances.

And since he has a fight coming up on September 12th, let's do it again, shall we, takes on Otman Azatar next weekend, the Death Star, Kamaworthy, back on the program. How are you, sir? Good, man, good. Ready to get this fight. This is like the third date we've had for this fight. So I'm going to let's fucking go.

I mean, isn't it nice when things play out the way you want them to? Because you wanted this fight rebooked. You got it. It's a beautiful thing. The entire C career has just been planned out perfectly. Like, there's no sporadic anything anywhere. Just all nice and planned for like the A-team. And I love when things go as they're supposed to go.

It never really happens for us. But it does happen here. So this fight was supposed to be happening this weekend. And I'm just going to be real with you, Kama. I kind of wish it was happening this weekend because this card is, it's not tremendous on paper this weekend. Those normally show up for good fights, though. So I like people, I'm like, I want to be stuck to the TV to see how these bikes are now

because, like, there's a lot of, a lot of fires I look, I'm looking at on that card and stuff. So it's, I think it'll be an interesting part. Even though it's a lot of known names on there, I think it's still going to be a good card. I mean, look at two weeks ago. Two weeks ago was crazy. Yeah. That was like the craziest card ever. Yeah, exactly.

You're like, oh, I didn't know anything was happening. So it's, it always depends. What happened if you don't mind me ask? that led to it being pushed back. Do you know? Oh, I don't know. My manager said he said something like he was injured or something, he needed a little more time or whatever. So I was like, and they were like,

do you still want the fight? And I was like, yeah. So they said they want to push it back and it was supposed to be more time, but they just gave him a week, whatever. So I just think he was on his time in a month. And his period came. And he was like, oh, man, I can't fight bloated or whatever. So he needs to know. I don't fucking up.

It pissed me off because I was supposed to be home and join Labor Day with my family. I was going to be off and the gym would be closed and I'd be able to take my family and go do some stuff

because they're all getting ready to go back to school and shit now that's all fucked up because this asshole wants to so I'm kind of pissed off so I'm just gonna I'm gonna bring a box of tampons next time and be like here you go

and keep yourself protected and safe fucking I don't know sorry I mean it's pissed off it's ridiculous like what fuck Well, on top of like the family time, you know, you're getting ready to round out the camp.

Like, you were on the tail end of it and now it gets pushed back. Did you have to change a lot of things up? Yeah, I was dropping my weight and everything. I finished my last hard training sessions and then I had to go around and add four more hard training sessions and all kinds of shit. So it's like, what it is what it is. Like, you know, he's already looking for ways out or ex-ways to get an edge up. Like, that's not good. You're looking for an edge of a fight hasn't even started yet.

bad position. Well, one thing that has to get you excited is that you get to return to the activity that you've grown so accustomed to over the years, because it was 10 months between the Devante fight to get to the lowest paying you in, and now it's less than three months before you're back on the horse. This is much more the common-worthy style of fighting, is it not? Yeah. It's crazy because like, like, I just had my one-year anniversary for the USC, and I'm like, oh, so this will be about three fights in the year. I'm like, that's really all you really want to do, even on the local scene. I really did more than three fights in a year-long period, like a year, uh, uh, actual year, because that's rough on your body. So like, it just, because it just took so long from the

Devante fight, like it seemed like it was a little bit drawn out. But yeah, I like to stay a little bit busy. If I'm not fighting me, when am I doing wasting time? Like we talking, this is, the last time you're right, this is the fight you wanted, not because of a personal grudge or anything like that, although it may be a little more personal not because it got pushed back. But I don't have a personal. I don't have to, it takes energy to hold personal grudges to give people. I talk about all the time.

It takes a lot of energy to hold. I want to fuck them up. Nah, I'll forget that he made me miss Labor Day after I leave and stuff. Like, not going to be in my brain. It takes too much energy to maintain that. So, yeah, I know. I mean, yeah, I mean, I just wanted this fight, but it was a fun fight.

I think it would be a good fight for the fans. who'll jump me up, jump me up, um, and stardom and everything like that. And it's risky. It's a dangerous fight. So it's a good fight for me to figure out and good win. Yeah, it's, I just like the way you look at fighting because you want to fight him because he's dangerous because you're a finisher and you want to test yourself against a guy who has only finished guys throughout his career.

I mean, you have the very unique view of the sport in your career much more than others have. Like, why, why is that? What about you seeks these kinds of fun? against fighters that other people in your division aren't going to be necessarily enthused and excited about taking? Because it's like when I'm gone, I'm done fighting, you're going to get a highlight reel.

And what's going to be on my highlight? Like what's, like you only, like, unfortunately for athletes, once you hit a certain age, you no longer exist, right? Unless you gave them, let's you gave people something to remember. Like, you have to give them, like, something that they'll never forget, like Ollie and Frazier. Like it doesn't matter who won those fights because everyone remembers those freaking fights

were freaking insane. Everyone remembers that stuff. If you're not willing to give that, if you don't seek out that type of stuff, then you'll, like, once you're an athlete, unlike, it sucks for us. Like it's cool with Mike Tyson's doing now, like the legend's only thing

where he's getting old athletes to come back and do stuff, like basketball players, football player. Because once old athletes get old, they cease to exist because new younger athletes come in. but unlike musicians or actors they can do their shit

to their fucking old as hell and like like you know MC Hammer can still make a concert and people be like oh that's my shit MC Hammer put a song out in 20 fucking years but if Patrick Ewan came and like said he wanted to play bad they get your old ass off the court

you know what I mean like it's just different for athletes so for me my thing is I'm like if you want to kind of like live forever like musical artists can or like you have to be that athlete that like sticks out and you have to be able to put yourself in those into those situations that make you stick out like that and unfortunately for fighting it means you have to be willing to get hurt like that's just that's that's just the way it is you have to be willing to be like okay

take a risk at losing like i say this all the time i think a lot of fighters in the ufc fight to not lose they fight they're trying not to lose that's all they're trying not to lose or not actually trying to win or not, they're just trying to make sure they don't lose. Because unfortunately, our big part of our careers are based off of our losses and stuff. At least for most people,

I don't do a fuck about my losses. I'm like, I'm not a DJs, I don't do a fuck about records. So if you're all you're holding on is your record and shit, I'm like, that's cool. Like, yeah, someone like Khab, his record's super cool or John Jones, they've been fighting like top guys and stuff,

But if you haven't been doing that and you're like, oh, I'm going to do it. I'm sorry, I'm like cleaning up the gym right now. But, no, I'm like, no, if you haven't been fighting serious competition like that, then your record really doesn't mean, doesn't really mean anything. You know what I mean? It's like, oh, you have this record and it's this, this, this. But it's like, but does it really mean anything unless you actually face the proper competition to say why your record's undefeater or why you're like that or so on.

because you're going to have to, you're going to have to get tested. And if it doesn't work out for you, then we all know why, basically. You mentioned Mike Tyson, and he's about to fight Roy Jones Jr. And I guess we're calling it an exhibition fight, but I don't know what the hell to expect there. Are you in on this? I can't get enough of it. I'm excited for November 28th. I think it's going to be just two older guys doing an exhibition.

Everyone thinks they're going to kill each other. I'm like, no, they're not going to kill it. So they're probably going to have like a good, a good one or two rounds or go get some extent. They don't know. They're still playing touching dope. No one, just trying to get knocked out.

These guys aren't like Mike Tyson isn't dumb. Roy Jones isn't dumb. They're not going to try to kill each other. It's going to be fun, though. Again, it's going to bring up nostalgia. That's all it's doing. All it's doing is recreating. All it's doing is, like, creating nostalgia for,

for their fans and stuff. Like, love to have them around. And, like, it's just, oh, I turned the lights off. and it's going to just create a nostalgia and stuff for the fans and it's keep people interested and they'll just go on from there and I think they'll be able to do more stuff they'll be able to do more stuff like that do you think Tyson can fight like an exhibition style though yeah you think so I'm like yeah I dude Tyson again he's smart he's like like I think like he puts on the persona if he's like

the madman but Tyson's calculating smart. He's going to go in there and have some fun. They'll beat each other up a little bit, but I don't think no one would be like broken jaw or anything like that, no. It's not going to be like Mayweather when he had the exhibition fight for Ryzen when he just annihilated that tune. Those guys were like two,

they were still fighting. You know what I mean? Like they were still, they're in college. Just that guy's still fighting now. Like Mayweather, I keep saying he's going to fight or do something. So those were still two present fires. So there is no, I don't do exhibition matches. You can't get me to do no fucking exhibition.

Hey, come on, do an exhibition match for charity. Maybe if I fight someone who's not a fighter, but if I go against someone to fight, we're going to end up fighting because that's what fighters do. So that's just how it's going to work and stuff. True or false, you and Otman next week is the most exciting fight on the card. Yes, true. That's probably one of the most exciting fights of the year, easily.

But I think just the way that Ottoman fights, if he fights the way he's supposed to fight, because Balin Bob Ross said he's going to meet me to the center and shit, and then he got a taste of that, and it's like, yeah, fuck all that. How do you grab on this shit? So, I'm like, yeah, you know, everyone says, I'm meeting the fucking center. I got to give it up to my boy, Devon, because he's the only motherfucker to say,

let's meet the center. we did. I mean, Bob, about it, because as I said, he wanted to do it. He did it for a little bit. The first round, he was shooting, you can hear my cornerman screaming. He's already shooting. I'm like, yeah, man. His fans keep coming to my fucking, and I'm like,

go see videos, and I'm like, working my wrestling or whatever. And they're like, Alamon's not going to wrestle you. I'm like, you keep saying that shit until I hit that motherfucker in the chest. Well, I mean, with the Louise fight, this sport moves so quickly. Like, the Devante knockouts,

sort of lasts a little bit longer because it happened like the second half of the year. So by the time like it sort of maybe fizzled out in normal times, we were talking about like the year end awards and it got brought right back up. With the Luis one, I mean, you were like the bell of the ball for a few days and then it sort of fades to the next story because there's cards every weekend. But for some reason, I feel like the momentum has continued to move forward for you since this last fight.

I feel like your following has gotten a little bit bigger that it continues to grow since then. Do you feel that's true as well? Oh, yeah. I mean, like, I think people are starting to kind of, I don't really, quite frankly, I don't fuck about followings, but you do get better sponsors from following and stuff. So, like, you know, I'm doing, like, getting, like, better videos and shit like that and, like, getting, like, professionals to come in and do stuff like that. But, yeah, I mean, like, I like being a dark horse.

That's cool with me. I like a lot of people paying attention. And, you know, like, oh, yeah, I'll take that fight. Oh, shit, who the fuck is this guy? That's cool. I'm like, it's just going to make me more money. So, but yeah, I mean, I know the fighters are taking notice. There's no way they're not.

You're not, you can't be stupid. Like, there's no way you're just like, oh, no, I'm not paying attention to that. Like, I've beat two, like, like, up-and-coming guys that, like, people had a lot of, like, Devonte was supposed to be, like, start to get, was supposed to be ranked after he beat me. And then Luis Pino was supposed to be, like, a big up-and-comer, big coming from two big gyms and stuff. So I know. they're paying attention. They don't want to say they are, but I know they are.

What about the gym? That's even better. I'm paying attention to them. What about the gym? Like, have you seen an influx of interest in the academy? Because you've been talking about it a lot. Like, you talked about it after the fight. You talked about it in the post-fight scrum.

You talked about it in the interview with me. Have you seen, you know, more of an influx with the gym? People paying more attention to it? Oh, yeah, definitely. Like, the guys that want to come train and, I mean, that takes its time as well. like we still have our regular people that are people that we've been doing shit with that forever like freaking out my man John D.Suse

he just won his fight for Bell Tour Nick Brown won his fight so I mean like we got all of our guys that we always train with one of my main training partners Chris Dempsey he just went down on like five-day notice and went down to Florida and did like this King of the Matt tournament and seven black bells 18 men won the fucking tournament he's one of my main training partners

and stuff. So we're still being active and we're still doing, we're supposed to do, but people are slowly, but surely I think the world will start to, like, you'll start to get guys that come and try to do and do camps in Pittsburgh. I think about two, I think about two more fights from me, and then we'll

get people with like, okay, I want to go do my camp with, come on, his coaches and his training partners. I want to go out to the academy. I want to go out and jump around to the map factory and, like, get guys from All-America and stuff like that. So, and like, that's, That's just what we're trying to set up and make this be a plug for fighters and stuff.

We can get, like, the good wrestlers from out of here and, like, get them and sponsor them and bring them into the gym and, like, get them two years and get them fights. You know what I mean? Kind of like AKA would. That's what that's what AKA would do. I mean, you remember their TV show, they would get those wrestlers and they gang them in and they sponsor them. They take care. So if we get to a point where we can do that, it would be good. And I think we have a lot of people we can pull from all over and stuff.

it's just taking a little time and I've got to just keep killing people which I intend to do your brother was supposed to fight for Belator not too long ago right against Mike Kimball that would have been a damn good opportunity for him he was supposed to fight on the same on the same car as John

and a dude backed out or he said he was injured or whatever so no we're all but they're all he's staying active everybody's staying active we're just waiting if any type of opportunity He jumps off the hands and something like,

because right now, like, there's opportunities just popping up every fucking weird. Like, they're everywhere. So if you're willing, if you're in shape and you're ready to go, we always, like John, John fought a week ago. He was back in sparring last night because you never know an opportunity is going to pop up

so we're just, we stay in shape. Don't get fat. We don't get out of shape. This is basically what we do. And like, like I said, Nick Brown was in, was in on Monday giving me work. He just fought me. I'm like, everyone, like, takes a little time off,

and then they get right back to work and stuff. So it's a good feeling. I see, we got my man, Don Mazzata. I think his fight got postponed a little bit, but he'll be trained. He's been training, too. So it's a good feeling. We're all back on course.

How do you see this all going down with, with Otman next weekend? I love this fight. Has fireworks written all over it? How do we get this thing done? Finished. He gets finished. There's like a million of things.

That's the cool. part of MMA, there's a million ways to get finishes. Unless he runs from me, which I've had people do before in fights, I mean, literally just disengaged from action. Then I'll just sit there, maybe make some goofy faces, do some ignorance shit, flick off his corner. I don't know, whatever's trying to piss him off.

But if he, if he doesn't engage, then I'll just wait on a decision or something, you know, kind of make it embarrassing as possible. And then if he comes to fights, then I'm going to finish him. That's what I do. Can I ask a favor of you, Kamah? Yes.

I need you to do more of these movie fight scene breakdowns as often as possible. You're like the best person to tell me that. It's so awesome. I watched it today. It was amazing. I'm getting all. I got a new one I'm going to do. It's for a movie Kiss of the Dragon with Jet Lee.

That's part of my favorite movies. And there's a fight scene where he fights this guy. And his guy has really wide kicks. So he moves the guy into like the. office where the office tables were and he couldn't kick his wire the guy kept jamming his leg so i'm to like break down that whole fight and why he did it and everything so that's the next one i was got to find that clip and break it down to show to people you're you're like you're serious like the 15 person but yo that shit was hilarious it was so awesome i was just sitting there and i started doing it

and i was like oh i should probably record this because like this is hilarious he needs to really understand when to grapple and whatnot to grab him so it was funny oh so there you go Ice Cube lens right hand. Oh, now he's grappling again. Oh, now he's grappling again. Oh, now he's in a rare naked choke. He doesn't even know how to put it on the rear naked joke. He was like to start grappling.

The guy is like 120 pounds everywhere. I'm like, why, what are you doing, dude? And then he doesn't know how to defend the rear naked joke. He's just... Put the wrong arm. Oh, that's amazing. So, yeah, if you guys haven't seen a comment... Exactly.

And Devo, Devo wasn't even choking. Kama. Kama breaks down the fight. the fight between Craig and Debo from Friday, who's played by Ice Cube and Tiny Lister, a.k.a. Zeus from No Holds Bard. It was hilarious, but you got to keep doing this, like once a week, if you can pull it off. Yes, yes, yeah. I think I'm going to do those.

Keep going more of those, keep people interested in, do all kinds. I might even do some anime ones, like break it down on the cartoons, some Batman ones, make fun of certain things. Like, there's all kinds. There's also another scene from the bat, Dark Night Rises, this scene where Batman, where Bain tries to jack up Batman, and he like slips and dips and bane comes crazy. So there's a couple of different scenes I got in mind.

I watched them. And in my brain, I'm like, yo, if you had done this, this, this, I would have been better. And now I'm going to like, actually just say it out loud over the video. And I think it'll be funny and say how people like it. Yeah, it's brilliant. It's one of those things that, like, I can't believe I didn't think of doing, but you've done it. And now it's your thing.

So it's like the dude from bar still eating pizza. I'm like, man, you just go, like, I can't get enough of those videos. She just goes to places, takes like three bites of pizza, and he grades it, and it's brilliant. So simple. Yeah, it is. It's basic stuff sometimes. Seriously, if you want to get a good little chuckle, check out Commonwealth's commentary for the Craig versus Debo fight from the movie Friday on his Instagram. It's absolutely outstanding.

Go check that out. It's great. And hopefully he continues to do more of that. I think he's got something there, but best luck to him next weekend against a very dangerous 155 pound or a fellow dangerous 55er. Sean Brady is continuing to make a name for himself in the UFC. This guy's stock continues to rise. He's 13 and 0 overall. He's 3 and 0 in the UFC.

And now he's got his first UFC finish under his belt. He's got a bonus extra 50 Gs. And now he gets to be on what the heck for the very first time. I mean, this is just a banner, 72 hours. I mean, this is just a banner week for Sean Brady. How about that? Check out that chat with Philly's own, Sean Brady right now. Here it is.

All right, let's check in with another big winner from this past Saturday night's UFC Vegas 8 event. We already spoke to one of the performance of the night winners. Let's check in with the other performance of the night winner. Sean Brady joins the show for the first time following his second round submission win over Christian Aguilera over the weekend. Sean, how are you, man? I'm good, man. I'm home, happy to be home, out of quarantine, relaxing, just enjoying life a little bit. So I'm just sitting here with my dog.

I can eat and drink and relax. So life is good, man. Life is perfect right now. There you go. You got your first Octagon finish officially under your belt. You're now three to know in the UFC. How does it all feel a few days later? It feels great, man.

I've been chasing that. Well, I've had three UFC fights, but I've been dreaming about getting a finish in the UFC my entire career, you know, I, I've always known I had those finishing capabilities. And in the UFC, I had two decisions, which there's nothing wrong with that. But I knew eventually I need to start getting some finishes. And I just had to believe in myself. And I got around his neck. And I was like, all right, this is it. And I got it. So I'm just super happy to have that, have that being right. And I need to focus on getting more finishes and just winning more fights. I was able to cover your UFC debut in Boston when we were able to actually go cover it when there were crowds and all that.

Yeah, hanging out with people. Hanging out with people, yeah. You got a really big win over Court McGee, a longtime veteran was on the ultimate fighter. What would you say it was like a bigger moment for you, getting the first UFC win or getting the first UFC finish? I'd say the UFC win just because there's just so much buildup, getting to the UFC. There's no clear path to get to the UFC. It's not like college sports. Like you go through high school.

If you're good, you play for a certain team, you play D1, whatever it is. There's no clear-cut way to get to the UFC. So I never even knew when I was going to get to the UFC. And I was finally there. And to have that win was huge. But this finish is definitely up there for me because that's one thing people try to criticize me about is about finishing people. And I have almost half my wins came by finish.

So it's not like I'm not finishing guys. So just to get that and prove. the people. I can finish people. And the way I did finish him and then put him in sleep and everything like that just made it a lot better for me. So I'm, I couldn't be more happy with it. Yeah, Christian's a very skilled, very dangerous guy with a lot of experience. He had a super fast knockout in his UFC debut. After, you know, after beating a guy like court and then beating a guy like Ismail Nardiev in February, were you surprised that Christian was the other name on the contract? I mean, I thought the fight when I saw was was pretty exciting on paper.

but I got to be honest, I was a little surprised with the matchmaking here. 100%, and I wasn't surprised because of Christian's skill level. I was just surprised with, he kind of had a name like me. Like if you're going, well, before, if you went on my social media, like didn't even have 10,000 followers, you know? Like, we weren't like both relatively known guys. So I was, like, I had two wins. Maybe they're going to give me a bigger name or someone with a little, just a bigger following. And they said him and I was like, I was like, I mean, it's kind of, it was kind of like, not a lose, lose, but it's like,

if I somehow lose to this guy, it's like, damn, I lost to a guy with no name, and he's a really tough fight. So it's like, I had to go out there and perform very well because I knew if I lost, it's like, damn, you lost to a guy who no one even really knows and not saying his skills aren't there. He's an amazing fighter. He's got a bunch of knockouts. But, like, so it was just for me. I was like, all right, I really got to put it on this guy and make sure I get a good win because I thought I was going to get a big name. You know, I beat court and I beat Ismaul, where a lot of people had me, they thought I was going to lose that fight. That kid was 19 and 3, knocking everybody out.

And I beat both of them. I'm like, all right, I'm going to get a big name, and it didn't come. But hopefully soon. So we'll see. We'll see what happens. The fight spent a good amount of time on the feet in the first round, which I think surprised some people. But, you know, a lot of leg kicks from both sides. You were starting to land more and more.

You were busting them up a little bit. And, you know, then Christian started to get a little loose, started to land some accommodations. And you were like, you know what? You know, I've done well on the feet. But let's go to the bread and butter here. What did you make of, you know, Christian's power and striking ability when he was actually able to get into range with you? Everybody at above 155 pounds hits hard.

We all hit hard, you know? Like, there's no, like, guy, like, you look at it. You're like, he fights at 170. He's not going to hit hard. We all hit hard, you know? Anyone can get knocked out with one punch. So whether I'm playing Christian or whoever, I know I've got to go in there and protect myself and be smart and move.

I think he hit me with one good overhand, which I actually got a black eye. besides that, like, it's a fight, you know, he hit me a couple of times. I think I was landing, I think I outstruck him even on the feet from looking at the stats and hit me with some good leg kicks. But besides that, I felt fine on the feet. But my plan was if it's ever close on the feet, if I scored a take down, I'm going to win that round. So I knew I won the first. And once I took him down, it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. So I knew going into the second, if I could take him down and have a lot more time to work, I could finish him. I only had a minute.

And my coaches were like, they were trying to, like, give me to go and do more ground-and-pound. I was like, I only got a minute. I'm not going to try to blow my load. Like, I was watching Grant, Dwight Grant, or they fought the other weekend, and he dropped the guy and he blew his load trying to finish him. Then he wanted him getting finished. So I was like, let me take my time. I relaxed. And then going into the second, he threw that kick, I caught it.

And I knew it was, it was going to be a wrap from there. So I should have to switch it up a little bit. Yes. Not only did you know it was a rap, but Paul Felder knew it was a rap as well. Your teammate, your confidant, so to speak. Have you gone back and watched the fight with Paul's commentary? Yeah, I watched it two times. And it's just so cool to hear Paul calling my fights, one.

And then hearing, like, because he knew, I get that. That's, I literally, every single in jitia practice, MMA practice, I tap out most of the guys I'm going with with that choke. So once I get that, I'm around the neck, Paul knows, all my training partners, know my coaches knew and and uh yeah it was it was a good finish so i'm stoked a lot of people on twitter gave paul some grief because you know you're his teammate but that's going to be a tough spot especially because you don't know like who's going to be fighting on these cards when you're like assigned to them yeah i don't think he was bought and i listened to it and i don't

think he was christian hit me with a couple of strikes it's not like he was like like sean's just beating his ass you know like he was like giving christian his props and doing a good job so it's i mean It's got to be a weird spot for Paul to commentate, and you've got to do your job and try to not be biased. But Twitter is going to be Twitter, man. You got Twitter and Instagram. I luckily haven't got that much hate after this fight, so hopefully it stays like that. Did you get, have you gotten hate after the first two fights at all? No, I never like, I've had people talk about, like, most people comment about my tattoos and say they love them.

But I'll have, like, some, like, some people, like, just say, like, my back tattoos, like, horrible or something like that. But, and then I actually someone commented on the UFC's page and was like, his tattoos are horrible and a bunch of people went on there and were killing the dude. So it was pretty cool to see a lot of people defending me. I was, uh, I was enjoying it.

So it's good, man. It's all, it's all good. I spoke with Paul in June before the Fight Island trip happened and all the chaos kind of ensued in his life. And, you know, he said at that point, like he wasn't sure that that he would come back, he was still kind of on the fence about everything. He did say if the right fight came along, he'd take it seriously.

But one name that he kept saying a lot when it came to training and stuff was, was you. He mentioned training with you and that you keep him sharp. Yeah. I don't want to put words in Paul's mouth, but, you know, you're in the room with the man. What's your gut telling you? Do you think he comes back and fights again? Yeah. So we took a plane home back to Philly on Sunday, and we were sitting next to each other.

and I want to be on a card with Paul, and I know Paul wants to be on a card with me. So if we can make that happen before he retired, he's coming back. Paul loves the train. He loves it. He was out when he was out in Vegas who was hitting pads before my fight. And he was training and running out. I'm like, bro, I text him, like, you're coming back.

I was like, you're going to fight again. And he just wrote back, like, laugh and faces. I know Paul. And even when that fight happened with Hooker, which not even being biased, I honestly thought he won that fight. I knew when he said he retired I was like he's going to fight again you know only thing I think that kills Paul

is the weight cut to 155 like it's just such a big cut for him and I know dude it's hard it's miserable I cut 20 pounds in a week and then it's miserable Paul starts from the 90s and cuts to 155 I can't even imagine how miserable that is so I'd like to see him move up and wait after it just it's hard because he's already ranked

at 155 so I like to see him do what he can do at 155 and if things don't go's away, he can move under 170. Paul's a big guy. So he's got options. He's going to fight again. And I'm just hoping I get the chance to be on a card with him before he does retire. He needs to fight Michael Chandler. That's the fight.

Signed Chandler, him versus Felder, that's the fight. 100%. And it will be a dog fight because Paul, like you're not knocking Paul out. You're not like Paul's not going to be scared of you. You can beat. I've been in the room hitting Paul I'll hit Paul with good shots and I'm bigger than Paul

and Paul will keep walking forward he does that grunting noise he does and he just keeps coming like a truck so that would be an amazing fight if they signed him that'd be great that would be a barn burner for sure so hopefully

hopefully they can get them we'll see how weird was this fight week for you because one thing that I've noticed over the years covering the sport is you tri-state area of fighters. You don't roll into these fights alone, not by any stretch. Like, you usually run super deep with a whole crew. Was this like a really strange time not having that? That's the only thing that kind of, it didn't bother me. It kind of bothered me because like my girlfriend's usually there. My parents are usually there. Like they were in Vegas, but I mean like

my girlfriend stays in their room with me all week long. I have like my best friends come. They stay in the room. Like we have rooms like in the hotel. I'll have a couple hundred people in Boston, I had a couple hundred people there. In Virginia, I had a couple hundred people there. When I fight in AC, there'd be three to 400 people in there, like back in the day. So I'm always used to having a bunch of people. My manager, Rob Haydak, would be there. So many, all my training partners, and just not having that was weird.

But I still had Daniel, I had my coach John and John Mouet, my three coaches. And with those guys, I feel comfortable fighting anybody in the world. It's just not being able to see my girlfriend and my parents before the fight. That's the Sto and Dan kind of stuff. My brothers were back home in Philly because it's a lot of money just to come out to Vegas and watch it at a bar. That's where my whole, my mom and my dad and Kristen, they all watch it at a bar. They couldn't even be there. So it's a lot of money for people to travel if they can't even watch it, you know?

If they were allowed to be in there, I would have had a couple hundred people in Vegas. But if it opens back up, that would be another story. But yeah, it was weird. The quarantine was weird. but I knew what I was getting myself into, and I knew I went to fight during it. So they told us, they're like, listen, you guys don't want to fight during this.

You don't have to, but I want to fight. I want to get paid. I want to move my name up. I'm only getting older. I'm 27. I'm still young, but I want to keep things rolling. So, yeah, man, it is what it is. How long have you been with your girlfriend for?

Almost seven years. I've been with her since my last amateur fight in 2014. team. So I've been with her. It's been a long time. Now we have a house together. We have a dog. And, yeah, she's, she's been there since the beginning. So I'm lucky. And she's a nurse. So she's dealing with all, her and my mom are both nurses at the same hospital. So they've been dealing with all this craziness since the beginning. And then I added a training camp on top of it. And yeah, so, like, we were sleeping in different beds at some point. Like, she comes home and

doesn't even, she gets changed at the hospital will come to home. Her overclosure and a bad. And washes them right away. It doesn't even come in the house in her work clothes because she was just trying to keep me safe because she knew if I got COVID and I tested positive I wasn't going to be able to fight. So she did a great job protecting me and yeah I'm lucky to have the people I have around me. So that is not easy to find in this sport. No, it's somebody who gets it, you know? No, it's not. And it's and even at this stage man, it's all it's a lot to kick trying to explain, especially to the way I am like I literally trained and

sleep and everything I do is revolved around fighting. Like there's no anything else I really even like to do, you know. So for her, like she deals with it 24-7. I'm training in the morning. I'm training the afternoon. I'm training that night. And she supports it, man. So I'm a lucky guy because a lot of other guys, they definitely don't have that.

And it's just hard to understand. Fighting's a, it's a crazy thing if you really sit there and think about it. So I'm lucky. One thing Paul said before you guys had your post-Vevalued. victory, Chad, is that, you know, this guy deserves a step up in competition, which I agreed with as well. And, you know, he was like, hopefully he's got a name locked and loaded, but, you know, you agreed that you needed a big fight, but you didn't have a specific name in mind. Are you just, are you not like a callout kind of a guy or was there just too much going on? You didn't have a name

specifically? I'm not much of a callout guy, but I'll tell you what I would like. I would like, I feel like, I'll, like, a legend fight, you know, like, I feel like everyone at in their, like, Like where I'm 13 and no, like I feel like everyone has that like that legend fight where it kind of can take them to the next step. I want to, I want a big name, you know, whether whoever it is, I would even, I'll love to fight someone in the top 15. But the top 15 is so weird. There's Anthony Pettis is in there. I think Connor McGregor's still in there. Like Nate Diaz is in there.

It's so strange. So I just want a big name, man. I just want a big, my goal for 2020 was to get into the top 15. I don't know if that's going to happen, but that's what I'm working towards. I just want someone with a big name that's going to, and a tough fight. Everyone in the UFC is tough. So whatever they got, I just hope it's big. Yeah, because, I mean, you've probably seen it at this point.

You seem to have your finger on the pulse of what's going on. There were a lot of names thrown out there from media and fans. I suggested Elizu Zaleski. I think he's probably like a top 25 guy. People get excited when they hear his name. That would be a fight that gets a lot of people excited. you know, Rodriguez has been a name thrown out there a bunch. He just beat Dwight Grant.

Yeah. I've seen Mike Perry. I've seen Robbie Loller. What do you think of those suggestions, you know, out of any of them? I would love to fight Robbie Loller. That would like, that would be, that's the fight for me because he's technically, I think he's thrown in the top 15 and it's, it's Robin Loller, you know, like. And not like trying to call him, not calling him out or anything.

I would just, I wouldn't test myself against guys, like, guys that came up watching fighting, like Robbie Loller's demands. So that would be, if they sent that name, that would be perfect. But who knows, you know, we'll see. But that'd be perfect. Are you enjoying everybody talking about you right now? Because it was funny about when I text you yesterday to set this up, you said that you watched our post-fight show, which is greatly appreciated.

But you said you were listening to John McCarthy and Josh Thompson talking about you. A, yeah, a lot of people are talking about you right now. A, what do you think of the analysis? And B, how does it feel to get some buzz here? And another one was Karen Bryant did a show, she does a show with Alan Jovan. And they said my name. It's so, it's cool. It's, I feel like I'm finally getting a little of recognition, you know.

Like Dana White posted that thing on Thursday of like, if you don't know, now you know. And because, well, two weeks ago, I seen, I was the first fight on the card. And I was like, damn, I'm the first fight. I was like, it's a UFC and it's great. But I was like, I'm 12 and 0. like I should have a little respect of my name, you know, and then when people seen that as the first fight,

they couldn't believe it either, so I was like, whatever. Like, they kind of lit a fire in my butt. I was like, I'm just going to go out there and show everybody I deserve to be high on the card. And then he posted that thing that they were making, that he put me on his Instagram, and my Instagram sort of blowing up from that. And then obviously after the fight,

they actually posted me on their actual Instagram. I gained like 9,000 new followers in like the last like two days on Instagram. So, and then, and all the, like, your guy's show and the other shows hearing people talk about me. And no one who really said anything bad, so it's cool. I've been getting a lot of good love,

so I'm enjoying it. I'm soaking it in. I think the biggest name that I saw for you, maybe more than any other fighter, was Hamzat Shemayev. Like, that guy made a big statement on Fight Island with the two wins in 10 days. My hesitation with that fight is, you know, early on, I understand why you have to do prospect versus prospect.

I get it. But at some point, you have to, have to save these fights for down the road, especially at the UFC, which I think they do, I think they believe both of you guys are future title contenders, but Shamaev seems to be unanimously the most popular choice for you. I'm not a huge fan of it. What do you think of that whole thing? I'm not a huge fan of it. Just like you said, like we're both, we're both going like this. Why, why let us hit now when eventually we keep building, building, building, and we're in the top 10, we're in the top 15, we can fight, fight then, you know, right now

we can kind of just let us keep, let us keep growing. I want to still test myself against other guys. Like I said, like Robbie, I mean, and there's Anthony Pettis. I think he's ranked number 15. Like, I'd fight any of those guys. I would literally fight anybody that they give me, that's going to give me a, that's going to boost me up because that's what I think I need right now. I need a big name and someone that's going to, it's going to get me there. So, but yeah, I mean, I'm not too crazy about that but hey, I don't make a decision so we'll just have to wait and see.

Are you on a four-fight deal with the UFC? Would your next fight be the last? This is my last fight. Well, my next fight would be my last fight on my contract. Are you hoping we can just renegotiate this thing and lock this thing down before we even get there? That's the plan. Me and my manager were talking right after the fight.

We'll probably go out to the PI at some point, hopefully sit down with Sean and whoever we have to sit down with and lock it down. I love the UFC. I see a lot of people complain. And usually not I'm fighters. It's people from the outside. They've done nothing but treat me well.

I'm making good money. It's my dream, man, to be in the UFC, be a UFC champion. And they did great with the whole COVID fight week thing. Like, we had our own cars going everywhere. Like, they really do. They were going to extra mile to make sure we all get to our fights. And there's guys who aren't getting paid. You know, if you want to go fight, you're going to get paid.

So they're doing a good job, and I'm stoked. And I want to be with the UFC for a long time. So I just want to keep it going. I thought, I've been thinking probably for the last four or five years, that Jonovan Webb is one of the most underrated minds in our sport. But now, dad, Jonathan Webb might be even, like, this is a whole different guy. This is like Jonathan Webb from four years ago, like multiplied times three. Yeah.

How important is he to your, to your training, your preparation, all that, because he's a brilliant guy and nobody talks about him. Dude, when I first started training with Jonathan, Jonathan used to walk my butt. He was like, he was like 4 and 0 or 5. He was maybe 3 in O. And also an amateur. And he was like, Jonathan was the guy.

Like he was fighting for CFFC. He was subbing everybody. His striking was getting really good. And training with him and Paul, I just kept getting better and better. And Jonathan's one of my best friends. He's my coach. and he's my training partner.

So he's just so smart and his jiu-jitsu is so well-rounded and his striking's really good. So him, like, he's been a huge part of my camps forever now. You know, I wouldn't, he's, he's my guy. Like him, my coach, John Marquez, my striking coach, and Daniel Gracia, those are my three guys, and they'll be my guys forever. So Jonathan definitely doesn't get the credit he deserves. But in our gyms, like, everyone knows.

He has his own gym. So he runs practices. He does a lot. And now that he's not. fighting. He has two kids, and I would still like to see him come back and fight because I think he's got a lot of fight left in him. But Dad John is a good coach, and he's doing a good job. So we're actually, we're going down to CFFC, and they're doing in Mississippi. They have two cards. We have like five or six guys fighting. So we're road tripping down there

in about two weeks, going to corner all of our guys, and then come back because he was supposed to have his wedding when all this COVID stuff was going on in Vegas. We had a can't cancel our trip. So they're having a party right after work. So we're going down there, corner and fight, and coming back for his wedding party. So we're going to have a busy couple days ahead of us. But Johnman's great. I was going to ask you about Jeremiah Wells. Like, when is he getting into the UFC? He has to be close, right? Yeah. I mean, he has to. He was supposed to fight on about two weeks ago for CFFC. Something happened with medicals. But I'm sure if he goes out here and he starches this dude, but he's more than capable of doing. He's, he was supposed to fight

of doing he'll get signed because i see they're signing everybody right now so if he goes out there cleans this dude's clock he'll definitely get signed he's another one he deserves to be in the ufc we have so many good guy pat sabatlinis on our team 145 or he's amazing he should have been in the ufc so he's one fight away so we got some we got some guys knocking on the door what other guys should we have our have our eye on right now that are that are just coming up through the ranks coming up through the ranks we got a lot of guys who are like one two and know, but Pat Sabatini and Jeremiah, obviously, they have really good records. We got a guy Eddie Torres who's going to be on the card.

He's a 145, or he actually helped me get ready for this fight a lot because Christian's not the biggest 170 or so. He likes to move a lot, and that's how the 45-pounders are. So I was training a lot with him. So we got some good guys. I can't think of any names off the top of my head, but we got we got a roomful killers. My dog is Bange. He's chewing on his tour.

been for it's going to it's going to be fun i love don't we just i cornered a guy two weeks ago and he won his pro debut knocked the guy he got dropped got back up dropped the guy and finished him with ground and pound so it's awesome to see all these guys coming up man i love it and it fighting's my life so i'm i'm always surrounded by it what do we uh what do we plan for the extra 50 gs here any uh any plans to the extra coin i'm so i got really big in the mountain biking and uh i bought a nice uh specialized stump jumper mountain bike right before this fight. And I'll probably just get another bike. But I got to be smart, man.

I got to save my money. I got to talk to my man Eddie Alvarez about invest in some of this in stocks. He's always posting screenshots of like 10 grand, 20 grand. I'm like, I need to get in on what he's doing. So I'm going to, he's my guy too. So I'm going to hit him up and get some tips from him. Smart move, man. That's what we like to see.

If I had that insight at 27 years old, I'd be in a much different place right now. Yeah, Eddie and Eddie played a huge part in this camp, too. He came in and was the best version of Christian Aguilera I could have, and he's like, he's been hitting me up. We've been together for the last couple months getting ready for this fight, and he's a great guy just outside of fighting to just like stock stuff, just stuff on life and fighting and trying to get the most out of this career I can.

He's been super helpful. So between him, Paul, Jonathan, I'm surrounded by some. some great, some great minds. Been high on Sean Brady for a very long time now. Bright, bright, bright, bright future for him. And a great performance against Christian Aguilera. He definitely deserves a step up. He wants Robbie Loller.

Listen, that's a great name on the resume. I just don't know how competitive that fight would actually be. Like, I want to see Robbie in these fun matchups with, and I think we're all in agreement with this. So we want to see, like, fights with the Anderson Silvas, the Carlos Conditz, the Matt Browns, the Diego Sanchez's, guys like that. You know, even if you want to do like Damie Meyer or something. Like, I'm okay with that. It's an interesting matchup.

You know, it may not showcase what we love about Robbie Lawler, but it's an interesting fight. I kind of want to, I would want to see what that looks like as well. But I don't know how competitive a fight with Sean Brady would be for Robbie Lawler. I mean, it would be great for Sean. Probably not a good thing for Robbie Lawler. and I'm not trying to kick him while he's down. That's just the way that it is. Like, we have to be honest with ourselves.

But I do think Brady versus Eliza Zaleski is an absolutely perfect fight, in my opinion. Either way, the man deserves to step up in competition. Hopefully he can get his wish and share a card with Paul Felder. I'm sure that would be a really cool thing for him. Ovin St. Prue will compete in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 9 this Saturday night. This is also the plan, a little over two. weeks ago until a positive COVID-19 test just changed everything up. But I was happy to get a text message from OSP's manager, the great Orrin Hodak. He said, you want to talk to OSP? I said, sure,

let's do it. Let's make it happen. So let's check in. Let's head to Las Vegas right now and check in with the former interim title challenger at 205 pounds. A man who fought a heavyweight in his last fight heading into this. He's going to take on Alonzo Menefield, the great OSP. All right. So this came together pretty quickly, but we're being joined by one half of Saturday night's co-made event in Las Vegas taking on Alonzo Meadowfield. Happy to be joined by Ovent St. Peru. He joins us from

the fight capital of the world. How are you OSB? I'm doing pretty good as yourself. I'm doing great. It's Wednesday as we record. We're three days away from this fight. How's the fight week preparation compared to the last time you were in this spot a couple weeks ago?

It's a little more calm. It's a little more calm right now, but you know, it's good. It's good. My weight is actually about two or three pounds better than it was. But the last weight cut was a good weight cut. This weight cut is a better wake-up. There you go.

It's always good when you could say this was the better weight cut than the last one, I'm sure. I mean, who am I? Not at being a fighter, right? What happened the last time, if you don't mind me, ask you? Because you weighed in, you guys faced off, all that stuff before you were eventually pulled from the event from what was reported. a positive COVID test. What happened and when were you made aware that you weren't going to be fighting? Probably three hours before the main car started.

That was when I found out that I was in a fight. But when it comes to the COVID test, you really don't know. You know, sometimes in people where you can quarantine 10, 14 days after 10, 14 days you're good. But, you know, that doesn't mean nothing. That means you're not transmitted anymore. So what usually happens is that, you know, you'll still test positive. So I test the negative, then I tested positive, and I tested negative again, and then I tested positive and then I tested positive and positive.

So the real test that counts is the one out that's on Friday. And, you know, Friday when they test me, I test is positive. They're like the Nevada State Commission told me you can't fight. So, they wanted to push it back to the following week, and I was like, look, I just carb-loaded, had all this sodium back in me. But there's no way I'm going to try to cut all that out when technically this week was being my water load week. But, you know, we got to figure out. I've got to push it back two more weeks and everything right now working out that's far. That's good.

I mean, definitely a bummer, I'm sure, for you. But you were able to sort of get what you wanted to get a pushback in an extra week. but you know you want to get in there compete and make that money and and that that's what this thing's all about were you at least were you compensated at least for the last one like i know they turned you around quick but and i know just sort of precedent that was that has been set that they'll give you like a little something something but then give you a fight like not far after that were you at least are you happy with how that part played out at least i mean given the fight was two weeks later The only thing I was upset, I wasn't compensated, but, you know, given the fight, it was two weeks later.

That's the only thing I was, I was happy about. So, um, without upset a little bit, yeah, but I mean, it's one of them things where I had to fight two weeks later. But I think about it as like, if it happens this week again, I was like, yeah, I definitely want to be compensated. So it, it's crazy because nobody really don't know. know anything about this COVID thing. And, you know, everybody's trying to wrap their head around it. You know, fighters, trainers are going through the same thing I'm going through. And I'm kind of like, I was just fortunate enough to get back and, you know,

my results came back negative. So I've been busting my ass. Even this last, even when I went home, I was supposed to leave on Wednesday. I left again on Sunday and turned around and was training on, you know, Monday trying to get my butt. Like, not back in shape, but just like make sure I'm maintaining really good. But, you know, hopefully everything goes smoothly this week. Right now, I don't, I mean, it's crazy. I try not to think about it because me thinking about it, me trying to have

sometimes I perform control over it. So my, uh, my mentality has been that of like, he's like effort. Yeah, I mean, that's the best way to do it. There's nothing you could do. It's, it's, it's nothing like you plan for or anything like that. It's not like you injured yourself or anything like that. It's kind of just like a weird thing that we all have to deal with right now. And the mystery is, you know,

sort of outweighs everything else, you know what I mean? Yeah, it's it was pretty difficult, stressful, because that fighters, like, you just can't tell a fighter like, okay, you got to fight to get prepared for and you got to stay quarantined at the same time. Like, a fighter's going to look at you and be like, uh, no, that's not happening. You're going to need to push yourself. You're going to need to actually do your strength and condition and do your training, whether it is, you know, you're just so whatnot.

You're going to need partners for that. but people don't understand sometimes like with fighters having that six feet distance is then they're impossible it's then they're impossible I mean it's just like and when you have a fight to get them ready for all you can do is just like well

I'm going to bust my ass during the training camp but I hope I don't catch this though you know just a fortunate situation it's just one of the situations I caught minds I to be honest the way it was going over the summer I was like man like two months ago I was like man I wish I I can catch COVID and just get it out the way.

And, you know, it was, mine was just two months too late. Did you, I mean, did you feel any effects of it at all? Like, were you feverish? Did you have any, you know, things that people are talking about everyone's COVID case is different. And I feel like everyone feels like they've had it at some point. Yeah. Yeah, everyone is different.

I didn't, I didn't feel it at all. It was crazy because, you know, my trainer's wife, she was traveling with her. family and she was like yeah I'm gonna go get COVID tested and I was like okay cool I haven't went since my fight and I was like oh you know what I'm gonna go um she went her skin that negative my skin that positive and I was like wait hold up I have no symptoms at all I had no symptoms like I think I had a fever of like one-on-one for like I think it was like one o'clock in the morning I checked my fever it was like one-on-one I woke up at I woke up at like eight in the morning

and it went from 101 to like 97. And later on that day, I went on a, I went like on an hour and a half mountain bike ride and then ran 4 plus mouth that night. So that could have been the symptom,

but other than that, I didn't have anything. No loss of taste, smell, nothing. That's crazy, man. You know what's, what else is crazy is the last time we saw you fight, it was at heavyweight against Ben Roswell. and when you hit the scales and the guy from the commission's like 240 pounds, I'll be honest. I was like,

this is going to be your home for a while. He's going to be a heavyweight for the near future. But here we are. Right back to 205. You're saying this weight cut is better than the last one from a couple weeks ago. Was that always the plan to go back to 205? Or, you know, once you got on the scale and you didn't have to cut all that weight, you heard that 240 number.

Was there a possibility you might stay up there? I mean, like I said, if an opportunity to present, And it's up that fight is right. I'll definitely, you know, make that jump up to every way. But as the right now, it's just like the past, I think, month now, I've been walking around under 225. So, you know, I came in, I came in yesterday, and I was around 220. I woke up this morning.

I got like 10 more pounds to cut. So 10 more pounds of two days is nothing. I'm usually, I usually come in heavier. But when I come in lighter during fight, during fight week, especially a lot of I've been coming in, the two weeks and this week is, to be honest, has potential bonus written all over it.

Were you surprised that you hit the 240 mark? Did you know that was going to be the number? Or when you heard it, where you're like, oh, my God, this is crazy. I mean, I was legit probably about 237, 238, but I've been heavier than 240 before. I've been, you know, this time when I completely let myself go, I've been topped off.

One time I think I topped off at like 254. And I was like, you need to go. get yourself back in check and, you know, started, you know, cutting back on my late-night rendezvous. I think we've all had that conversation with ourselves at some point. Oh, yeah. I like this fight with Alonzo. He's a guy that's coming off the first loss of his career to Devin Clark at UFC 250's a young,

very powerful guy, but I feel like that fight with Devin was something he truly needed at this point in his career, you know, because all he had done before was just knock guys out super fast. Now he was tested that dog was kind of brought out of him a little bit. Did you take anything away from Devin's performance to sort of prepare you for this one? Did you not even really pay attention too much to it? No, not necessarily. I mean, to be honest, you know, he just grinded it out. He's just one of those guys that, you know, Alonzo thought he was just kind of phoned and put away. And, you know, Devin was like, he got rocked in the first round pretty hard. And, you know, Devin was just like, okay, I'm just going to keep on fighting.

Most guys with a foe. But, you know, it's neither here or no there. But I think thus far that, it's probably as tough as fight, you know, even an experience goes a long way. Devin fought a lot of, you know, good experienced guys, too. But Menafield, he's still young in the game. I think he's still got a lot to learn. So, you know, it's different.

And I'll say it'll be different with me too, just because, like, you know, pretty much were around it everywhere. My wrestling is pretty decent. My jihis is pretty good. You know, my striking is actually pretty good too. And, you know, I have power too, you know, and I can do with my hands and I can do with my feet. You know, I think one of the first times I fought Shogun, people with like, well, Shogun had more power than I did and kind of figured that out pretty quickly. The narrative surrounding this fight, I'm sure you've heard it already, is that, you know, this probably isn't going to go the distance. You know, if it stays standing, it's his fight if you get to the ground, it's your fight. And anything can happen in a fight. Like, once

that cage door locks, it's just, it's a shoot. Whatever happens, whatever openings are there, that's what happens. But is that a fair, I guess, general assessment of this fight? I mean, what's funny about that is, like, people will be like, hey, if you stay standing, it's going to be, it'll be a hits fight, a long as well fight, if it goes to the ground, it be my fight. I mean, when I first got into the UFC, like everybody was, saying, oh, shoot, Vince is a striker. We got to get him down to the ground. And he's just like, I was, because I was putting my hands on people.

Now it's just like, oh, you know, oh, his striking is not that good. People don't, people forget, like, I've knocked people out. My last fight, Ben Rothwell at the Heavyweight Division has never been knocked down. I knocked them on twice, and I'm coming up from a weight class. So, I mean, if I touch you, I can put you down. And if I touch Alonzo, I know I can put them down. It's just a fact, man. You know, he's, Alonzo is, I'm not, I'm not taking nothing away from Alonzo or whatnot, but, you know, some of the guys that he ended up knocking out, I can do probably a better knockout than that.

So how do you get this done? I mean, you've done this so many times at this point. Do you even sort of envision that point of these fights anymore? Or you just, we're not, we're past the prediction stage at this point in our careers. Past the prediction stage. I mean, to be honest, like, so much of an error is running through my mind and whatnot. is just like, if I tell you how I want the fight to get done, I'll do it somewhere completely different.

So to be honest, I'm just going to go in there fight my fight. The way I've been feeling lately, the way my striking been feeling lately, my transitions and everything, you know, I'm not, I'm not, you know, I'm not, what's the word I'm looking for? I'm not pushing and pulling as much as I used to. I'm not forcing nothing. Now it's just like I'm just going to let it happen. So whatever he gives me is going to, it's going to be,

it's going to be there. He throws a jab, I'll flip a jab. He throws the overhand, you know, I'm going to be out of the way. And if he leaves it out, if the overhand comes too slow, you know, you might get a nasty kick to the body. But other than that, it's just like, I'm going to use all my tools. Like, I'm going to hit them from everywhere, from the head to the body, so legs.

So things have changed a little bit in this division over the last couple of weeks. John Jones, no longer the champion. You got to actually share the cage of the man for 20, minutes. You fought him for a world title in 2016, and there's a lot of guys that are coming up in this division that are just, they're probably never going to get the chance to fight John. No matter how many times they win fights and get finishes, they're probably never going to have the opportunity to share the octagon with John Jones. You were able to do that. What did you make of him vacating the title? You know, how do you like his chances moving up to

the heavyweight division? I mean, with his system of fighting and whatnot, it works out good for him because, you know, John is always one of those fighters that he, you know, during the earlier rounds, during the earlier rounds, he actually does enough to win. But, you know, when it gets to the late round, late in the third, fourth and fifth round, he just takes it to run away. But it's style just like he can, I mean, a stand-up game is pretty much, he can hit you from anywhere, you know, and he switched stats, leg kicks, step to the bodies. He's like he just wrote for talking all that.

So I think with the heavyweight class, it's going to, it should be good. I mean, I can't tell just because a lot of times when you're when you're lighter, when you're lighter a lot faster, when you're lighter, you're a lot faster. But when you actually getting that heavyweight division, then guys can take hits. Like, I mean, like I said, when I fought then, those two shots that I would have gave him, there's two shots that I gave him. He was like, I think the last one he said he slipped. If I had hit any other two or five like that, he would have been asleep. But it should be interesting seeing what he can do in the heavyweight division. But as for the way class right now, everything is, it's just, I think for the 205 division,

we'll find out something by the end of this year. Like what's going to end up happening. Obviously, the dud is on the line with Blackwich and the, uh, the, um, the, um, black witch and, uh, Dominic Gray is. So we shall see probably, and by the end of the year, you're going to see a lot of change within the 205 division. I mean, it's got to be someone like yourself who's already fought, John, this has to make things a much more compelling looking for you. Because if you go on a run, you win two, three, four in a row here. I mean, you're right back in the mix there with John out of there. Do you feel that way? Like with John vacating, you're like, all right, this is my

opportunity. Like, the door's opening a little bit more here. Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, Even for the first time I fought them, too, he's just like, you know, that fight was like on a two-weeks notice. And, yeah, I was two-weeks notice, broke my arm in the third round. And, you know, I still was able to finish the fight in a good fashion. But, you know, now is just the way I've been feeling, the way I've just, I haven't let myself go. You know, when I let myself go and actually try to cut my weight down,

that's when I'm getting trouble. But this time around, it's just like everything just pretty much been on point. So, like I said, usually when I'm like that, is potential bonus written all over the fight. There we go. That can make up for the last time because you can get a bonus. And all will be well. Who do you think wins?

I mean, you fought Reyes. You haven't fought Blahovic yet, but who do you think wins that fight at the end of the month? You know, Reyes is a softball. It's a counterfighter. And, you know, probably Reyes. He kind of sticks and moves a lot. He kind of sticks to move a lot.

It's just, it's going to be over five-round fights. And, I mean, he looked good. And he don't care too. Like, you can check his kicks. He's still going to kick. Like, he's still going to kick. So I think probably we're at seeing that fight. I like this fight between OSP and Alonzo Mena Field a lot.

Very interesting matchup in a lot of different ways, stylistically, you know, where these guys are at in their career, the experience levels, just a number of factors into why I think this is a really interesting fight. So we're going to see it the second. Hopefully everything's cool and everyone passed their tests and we can finally see this thing go down before that main event between Alistair Overeem and Augusto Sakai. As we head to our final guest of the show in a rematch from 2014 under the Invicta Banner, Roxanne Mataferri is going to try to make a 2-0 in her series against my guest at this time. Andrea KGB Lee, KGB trying to avenge a loss and try to get back. to her winning ways. She's lost her last two fights,

very close fights, especially her last one. A lot of people thought she beat Lauren Murphy, but let's check it with KGB League right now on what the heck. All right, we have Andrea Lee joining us. She returns to action next Saturday night, September 12th,

taking on Roxanne Mada Ferry. Andrea, how are you? Good to see you. Doing good. Really good. How are you? I'm doing great. We were just talking about seasonal changes

and allergies and lots stuff and it's driving me crazy, but you are, You're entering this fight in some unfamiliar territory, Andrea. You get to negate a loss for the first time of your career, so that's good. This is going to be your first fight in this COVID-19 era that we're a part of right now. How excited are you to compete in this new world that we've grown accustomed to seeing over the last four months or so? Man, this new world.

I'm not really, you know, I'm ready for this world, this era at the end. You know what I mean? I'm ready to get back normal. but I'm looking forward to it. I heard that, you know, there's a lot of quarantining that we have to undergo before the fight. And, you know, a couple of, we had to take, like, three or four, like, COVID tests also before the fight. Shouldn't be too big of a deal. The only thing is just not being able to have, like, your friends and your family and, you know, fans there.

But I heard it still, it's kind of nice, you know. It's, it's been, I guess, less pressure for some of the fighters, you know, I've heard. So, you know, maybe I like it. Who knows? This is also the first time in your career that you're entering a fight on a losing streak. This has never happened before. But, you know, let's be clear, everybody. These were close split decision losses.

A lot of people thought you on the Lauren Murphy fight, but it is what it is. Yeah. Does it feel any different this time around, knowing that you're in this sort of weird spot in your career? that you haven't been in before? I feel like I feel like those two losses make me more dangerous. You know what I mean?

Because when you go on like a win streak and, you know, it's, I don't, I don't, what was it like five fight one streak or more? I'm not sure. But you just forget what it feels like to lose, you know, sometimes, you know, after you know, after you've been winning

for so many times, you know, and you kind of start to forget what it's like to lose until you lose and not lose once but lose twice and it really sucks. So now it's like I feel like I'm backed into a corner you know and like I need to get this win. So hopefully I'm planning on going out there and just

giving it my all which will hopefully like win us some bonuses because I'm wanting to go out there and just be exciting. You know, I love Roxy and her and I are both friends and you know, but it's just business. So when I'm going in there, I'm not fighting Roxy. You know, I'm just, I'm fighting an opponent and, you know, I've got to do what I've got to do. And we both are going in there to, like, be each other's facing.

You know, I know, she wants to, she's been talking about her Muay that she's been working, you know, and she wants to use her elbows. And, you know, I welcome that. You know, that makes for an exciting fight. So, you know, she wants to use her elbows. I want to use my elbows. You know, we're going to go in there happily beating each other's faces in, so. It's got to be an elbow party.

Saturday. Maybe. Maybe. The last time we spoke, it was right after the fight with Lord at UFC 247, and you felt you should have got the nod. A lot of people also felt the same way. And you told me that you were actually planning on potentially appealing that loss, not because you thought it would get overturned or anything, but more for educational purposes

to ensure that judging might improve in our sport. Did anything ever come on that? Did you end up filing an appeal? Well, we did send out emails and stuff to the commission, but the thing is just, you know, it wasn't going to go anywhere because the, you know, the commission, you know, they had the back of the judges. And I feel like there was quite a few other fighters that were trying to appeal the decision as well, and nothing ever came of that either. So it was just kind of like, you know, a dead end road. So it's just kind of like, you know, you take it and just move on. And that's what I did.

I mean, you know, these things happen, you know, in fights. It's just, you know, you want the judging to be a lot more fair. You don't want it to seem like it's just really biased, you know, when you go into someone's hometown and fight them and then it feels like even though you know that they lost the fight, they get the win because that, you know, they're the hometown, you know, favorite. But, you know, I still feel like, you know, I took away, you know, I learned a lot from that fight and you know there's really just not a whole lot that you can do in situations like that it

seems you know i mean it's very rare that you can get anything overturned but like you said i i wasn't trying to get it overturned i was just trying to make a point you know and and hope that you know maybe in the future you know judging would be more fair yeah texas the texas commission took a beating that night between yeah there's at least three fights that that were very questionable in terms of the decision but you know this This is going to be your first fight fighting, first time fighting in this COVID-empty arena era. But, you know, we've all been experiencing this very strange time in our lives with the world essentially being shut down and then slowly reopening. And, you know, you're a mom.

So having to play that all-important, all-encompassing role of parent during this crazy time, that's a little difficult as well. How has this time been for you over these last six or seven months? Well, it's really weird. Like, I feel like I'm in my own little world. I'm in my own little bubble. You know, all the people that I hang out with, you know, or, you know, we're all in the gym. You know, we train all the time. And I'm not used to when I'm with them, like, we're not like wearing face masks when we train.

You know, I mean, that's absolutely ridiculous. I mean, we're sweating all over each other, blah, blah, whatever, you know, we're punching each other in my face. We're not wearing masks when we train. So it's like when I go to the gym and I'm at home, like, I'm not. wearing a mask, but when I go out into the public to, like, go to the grocery store or whether it's gas station, you know, it's like, that's when it hits me, you know, that like we're in this pandemic, you know what I mean? And everybody's wearing face masks. And that's when I'm kind of reminded, like, man, things are just crazy right now. And then whenever I have to fly, like go to the airport,

you know, and forced to have to wear a mask. And when you go to other like cities and states, you know, everybody's rules and laws are much more different, you know. And I feel like here in Louisiana, it's a little more relaxed. But, you know, when you go up north and things are a lot more strict. So I think I've been handling it well, though. Like I said, when I'm – I feel like I'm in my own little bubble and, you know, things are normal. And only, you know, I have to, like, venture out into the craziness every once in a while. Is your daughter back in school yet?

she is yeah see that's what i'm saying like louisiana our schools are open well i mean some of them some of them are doing homeschool some some of the schools are are in session and uh you know they have particular rules you know that you have to follow new guidelines um for the time being but um you know it's working out it's it's you know everything's going smoothly yeah my kid starts school in two weeks and he's in every day. Like half of his school is at home. He's in every single day because he's in first grade. So it's got to be interesting. I've heard, yeah, I heard some schools are doing that where it's kind of like, you know, you go these two, these couple of days and then you're out of school, which I mean, as kids, I'm sure that they're like, they love that. He can't wait

to go to school. He's never felt this way before, but he's been stuck at home like watching me work all summer. It just feels so bad for him. It stinks. Yeah. They want to see their friends, you know? want to play. Yeah, he wants to run around. And, like, I can only run. I mean, I'm getting up there in age. I can't run around, keep up with the seven-year-old for them. I mean, I can do it for like a little while, but not as much as he can do it.

But, uh, oh, no. The good old days of parenthood. How has your training been like? I mean, you mentioned getting on planes. You've, you've been bouncing around a little bit more over these last few camps, getting some different looks, you know, where have you gone? Where have you been training? Who you've been working with to get ready for this one?

Uh, same places. You know, I go to Lafayette and I've been working with Tim Crater out there at Gladiator Academy. And then for three weeks, I spent my time in California with MMA Gold with Jim West. Aspen Ladd, unfortunately, she's, you know, underwent a knee surgery. So she's just been recovering. But I got to stay with her and her new home up in the mountains. And it was amazing, you know, because she's just surrounded by nature. And the weather felt great up there.

It was beautiful. and it's just really relaxing. And I really enjoyed it, you know, going up there and having everything planned out for me, you know, getting all the one-on-one attention and everything was just like just specifically planned out for me. And, you know, I think that's really beneficial, you know, it helps a lot, you know, to have that focus. Yeah, it's definitely change of scenery is always a good thing, especially when you're in a place like that. I'm sure people saw the photos on Instagram. So now you're getting ready to fight Roxy again.

the Wiley veteran, an OG of women's MMA, you ladies threw down in December of 2014 under the Invictive banner, and she won a close split decision. I know it was almost six years ago, and you're both completely different fighters now, but does that night still stick out in your mind? Are there certain things you remember about that first fight? Yeah, there are. And then I've recently watched the fight, and I'm like, man, it was actually a really good fight, you know, when I go back and I watch it, because I thought that, you know, because I had suffered like an eardrum, like a ruptured my eardrum like two days before the fight. And, you know, there was a lot of issues going into it because of that.

But I just remember everything being hazy and I wasn't really like, I didn't, I didn't feel like my mind was there when I fought her that night. But when I watched the fight, it actually wasn't really that bad. I mean, there was some incidences where, you know, I'm like kicking myself. and, you know, I'm like getting taken down against the cage, like super easy, like way easier than, you know, I should have been. And then there was a moment where I had her in mouth and I was throwing elbows. And then it's like she bridges and I fall over and end up trying to go for an arm bar and

end up on my back. And I'm like, just silly mistakes, you know, that I have figured out, you know, how to, you know, how to, you know, like, overcome that stuff. You know, I mean, I've gotten better since then on my ground game. And also my cage work is much better too since then. It's come a long ways. But, you know, I feel like she's definitely grown a lot too since that fight. So I think that it's, you know, don't expect to see the same fight as, you know, as like you saw a few years or, well, six years ago.

I guess it only a few years ago. Doesn't seem like it was that long ago. It's crazy to think about. But yeah, I expect it's going to be different. You know, there's going to be similarities. I mean, you know, she's good at what she's great at what she's great at, you know, and people know me for striking. But I don't think it's going to be the exact same fight.

It's going to be, hopefully it's going to be even more exciting. And I think that was exciting. That was a good fight back in the day. It's crazy going back and like look at these things from six years ago and be like, holy cow. Like, it's just, the sports has just evolved so much. much. Fighters that I've talked to over the, they look at the, like, the avenging a loss thing

in different ways. Like, some are just absolutely fired up about it. Like, I can't wait to get this one back. I need to avenge this loss. And others just don't really care that much. It's just another fight. What side of the fence are you on? It's not, really, it's not about avenging anything for me.

It's just going out there and getting a win, getting back on the win column. And, you know, just, it's just about, like, like you said, the next fight, you know, I'm not a vengeful person anyway, so I'm not really, I don't, I'm not sore about it. You know what I mean? I'm not really sore about my loss against Lauren Murphy. I'm not really sore about any of my losses. I hate to lose, you know, and I look forward to rematching, you know, but it's not ever about really just getting that win back and proving myself or redeeming myself, you know.

I don't feel like I need to redeem myself. All those fights were good and they were close, you know, and it is what it is. you know you know you i lost because of someone else's opinion you know i remember a specific interview we did earlier this year it was the afternoon of ufc 246 it was just hours before roxy fought macy barber and you were on the program that i was doing back then and you predicted that roxy would beat her and then like as the fight was playing out you shoot me a text and you tell me roxy told you so and we were kind of joking about her being so nice in that moment, that whole like, I'm sorry, I respect you, Macy, boom, elbow to the head.

But one thing that really stuck out to me is you're like, I would have done things differently. What you have done differently in that spot? Well, I mean, I feel like, and, you know, and it's nothing, nothing towards, you know, Roxy or Macy. I mean, it's just, like I said, it's just another opponent when you're in there,

and you're facing them. But to me, you know, I feel like I would have taken more advantage of the fact that she was injured, which I feel like a lot of other fighters probably would. Roxy took it down to the ground, I feel like, because it kind of leveled the playing field in a way, maybe, because you could tell that Macy was kind of struggling on her feet. And if Roxy had been, like, throwing some leg kicks, I mean, I think the fight would have been a lot sooner, you know, I really, I really think the rough probably would have stopped the fight just from some leg kicks alone because she couldn't stand on her, she couldn't stand on her two feet.

You know, she kept like kind of like falling over because her knee was jacked up. So I'm saying, I feel like I would have taken more advantage of that. Just like when a fighter splits you open, like if they see blood, you know, and they see your split open right there, they're going to keep attacking that area because they want the ref to stop the fight. They want to cut you open. They want to make it worse, you know, so you can't see out of that eye and the ref will stop the fight because the cut gets worse and you know you just can't continue on so it's just that's just

what i mean i feel like roxy was nice to macy and you know she she let her finish the fight that was obviously a huge win for her she was like one of the biggest underdogs that you could possibly imagine i thought the lines were just so wildly off on that fight i kind of wish that you know i wasn't covering the sport i would have threw a few shekels on roxy and you know i would have won a couple of bucks. But, you know, her popularity sort of leaked in this whole new level after the fight, and then she runs into Lauren Murphy, and she got beat via decision. No controversy there. I thought Laura won the fight pretty handily. Did you watch that fight? What did you think of it? And did you learn anything from Lauren's performance?

I have watched the fight. And, you know, I feel like just she just did a much better job of keeping it standing, you know? I mean, she didn't allow Roxy to take her down. you know and she even got takedowns of her own um and i i feel like you know she just she played a smart game plan she kept it standing and you know and that's that's that's that's the way i think that's the best way to go about beating being roxy you know what i mean so you know that's kind of i guess what i took away from that fight but i mean i kind of already knew that anyways right you know yeah every fight is big you know they're all important there's there's pressure all the time and fighters look at it in different ways.

But losing two straight, do you feel like, I mean, you feel like your backs against the wall, but do you feel like this is the definition of a must-win fight? Like, they're all must-win. I know that, but does this feel like I have to win this fight or things might change from here? Most definitely. And I don't feel like I'm going to get cut if I, if, you know, I don't win, but it's not going to look good, you know, and my marketing value, everything just continues to go down, you know, the more losses that you have.

And so I'm trying to go out there and get this win, you know, like everything depends on it. And really everything does depend on it. And I mean, I need this. I need this payday. You know, I need this win. I need a performance bonus. So, I mean, I'm going out there, you know, to give it my all this time. And, you know, in my last fight, we kept up a pretty good pace.

And I'm hoping to keep an even faster pace this time. You know, I want to start strong and, you know, I don't want to let off the gas. So I've been working on my cardio, my endurance. I hope that it plays a big factor, you know. I'm hoping, you know, going there and just, you know, keep on that gas pedal and no slowing down. You know, I don't want to, like, be waiting, be out there waiting and you go, I go type of thing, you know. Yeah, it's interesting. Going for the kill.

Yeah, you've, yeah, I was going to say it because, you know, it's no secret. you've dealt with a lot over the last couple of years. We're not going to get into specifics, but I mean, you've admitted that some of those things have affected performances in different ways. Like, even the Calderwood fight, it became more about the title and more than the fight itself. Like, every question was,

oh, do you feel like you're going to fight for the title next? And that's hard to ignore if you're a fighter or a professional athlete. But do you feel like in a way, like when you're in there, that something has been holding you back that's made you a little gun-shy? Because, you know, maybe not as aggressive as you'd like to be. Like, you're putting on these high-pain. but maybe just to think the outside looking in and I'm not a fighter at all so who the hell am I but

is that a fair question it is you know and it's like I don't know sometimes I well I think about that and I'm like man I don't know what what it is and I don't know what it is I think I don't know if it's because I'm in the UFC you know and like I'm I'm being I'm being more careful because I don't want to lose but at the same time that's not like the best way to go about it you know um or maybe I just had more anger, you know, in those other fights, you know, and I was just able to, like, let it out in there. And now it's like I don't have that anger. So, you know, I don't know.

You can't really tell. I mean, you never really know. The mind's an incredible thing, you know. I just know I want to get that back. I want to get back to that. I don't want to have a reason to, you know, I don't want to, I feel like I need to have anger inside of me, you know, to be able to let that out in the cage, you know, I just want to be that fighter who flips a switch and is just out there, you know, to get the finish, you know,

get the kill, get the win. And I don't really want to hold back anymore. And I feel like that's definitely what I've been doing. And whatever, whatever, you know, reason it is, I'm not really short but I've been working on that mentally and been trying to like talk myself you know into just getting back to that and thinking I'm going to go in there and I'm going to be my old self nothing's going to hold me back you know I almost feel like this is the perfect fight for you to do that because you know it's not someone that you dislike I mean it's not like you dislike everybody you fight but you know the sports built on animosity at a lot of different ways yeah this time you're friends with Roxy and she wants to go in there and punch you in the face and you want to have you

want to have fun, like, elbowing each other in the face. Like, I feel like this might be the perfect fight. It's weird. It's not weird, but I mean, like, it's, it is weird when you look at it that way. You're both friends and you want to go in there and elbow each other in the face. So, you know, it's just, it's funny. But you're right. And then not only that, that is also, fighting heart also kind of reminds me of that era, you know.

So, I mean, maybe it will help, you know. maybe it'll help in a sense. There you go. It's a little bit of a throwback fight. So it's crazy that you haven't had a finish in the UFC yet. Like I thought you had one and I went and looked back at it today and I was like, oh my God, she still hasn't had it. Like, and you've tried like hell, it just hasn't happened yet.

Like, and if you finish Roxanne, like, this would be the first time anybody's finished Roxanne since like before you guys fought the first time. Like she was on the ultimate fighter in 2013 and that finished didn't even count on her record. That was the last time she's been finished. Is this the time where both of those streaks come to an end? I hope so. I mean, man, it's kind of hard to say that, you know, you're going to go out there and finish someone who's never been finished. It's still really hard.

But she did get rocked in her fight with Warren Murphy, and I remember that. I can't remember who's the first or the second round, but she did kind of wobble her. And I don't know, maybe I'm hoping maybe I can go out there and do that. You know, I mean, Lauren Murphy and I, we traded from start to finish, you know. neither one of us rock each other I don't or maybe I don't know I don't like that though you know so I'm hoping to go out there

and maybe that'll happen I mean I want to get the finish no matter what I'm fighting for a finish and I'm going to fight and you know not to I don't want to accidentally like get like hasty and then put myself in a bad situation you know because that sometimes can happen but I do want to go out there and I want to fight for a finish

and you know impress you know the people that matter and get a bonus. There you go. Do you know where this fight, like when this fights at? Like, I know it's happening next weekend, but the cards, because of this COVID era, sometimes they take forever to actually, like, put them all together. Like, we know what the main event is.

But as it looks right now, it looks like you and Roxy at the co-main event. Like, is that the case? Do you know if you're the co-man event or has that not been decided yet? I'm not really sure. I saw that too. I think I was like, I think it was like, what, the co-co-main event, like the co-main before the actual main event? or the coat and the main i'm not i'm not i'm not 100% on that i think that's pretty awesome you know

um but as far as as as far as um you know being definite and certain about that i don't really know i feel like everything that always changes you know i always see myself like higher up on a fart and then it's like when i get there it's changed and you know i'm not exactly where i thought i would be um but i do know that we're fighting in vegas i mean i i know i know that we're fighting in vegas i mean I know that for sure. At least it's not an Adubadi. Yes. Yeah, that was a year ago.

Wow. Yeah. Thinking about that, that's crazy. No, everybody wants to fight overseas in Abu Dhabi. Not me. Wait till, yeah, you've been there and done that. That whole thing was nuts, just watching the fight island thing play out. It's just weird, not seeing the crowd.

I don't really notice it that much, not having a crowd. I think when the one time I really noticed it was when Steep A and D.C. fought a couple of weeks ago. Then I noticed that there was no crowd. It just felt like something was missing the entire time, you know? Oh, yeah, yeah. I like the, I like, I kind of like it though in a sense because it's like, you don't have the crowd persuading the fighters in any kind of way.

You don't hear them screaming or booing or whatever, you know, and it's like, it really, honestly, it's kind of like what you would feel like if you were fighting in Japan. Because when you're in Japan, it doesn't ever feel like there's a crowd there, you know, because they're all so quiet and respectful. None of them boo. None of them, they hardly even clap, you know. If they applaud, it's like, you know, silent applaud, you know. And then afterwards, they agree both fighters, you know, and they take pictures with them, you know, and they're great, you know, they're just grateful, you know, that the fighters are there forming for them, you know. And it's just a lot of respect. And I feel like that's kind of like what it's, what it feels like, or not that, not for me, but I mean just from watching it on TV because it's so quiet and you can hear everything.

Because I've been to Japan, I cornered my friend Andy and I've seen her fight a couple of times over there. And it's just insane how quiet everything is. You know, you can hear a pin drop. It's like you don't want to be too loud when you're cornering and you don't want to say a cuss word because everyone can hear it. And even though you want to get like excited and you're like anxious and you're wanting to yell to your to, to, to the fighter, it's like, it's almost too loud. Your voice carries, you know, when it's that quiet. I don't know.

I think I'll like it. I think I'll like it. If I go into it thinking about, like, the way it is over in Japan, maybe, maybe it won't be like, you know, maybe I won't feel like lonely without the crowd. I do like the crowd. I like to walk out and shake everyone's hands, you know, and, you know, feel the energy. But, you know, that's not going to be there. I'm not, I don't miss the wooing at all.

I'm glad I don't have to hear that every single fight, every five seconds. I know, woo, woo, woo, come on now. I mean, we have another beer, relax. Or boo, yeah, man, I know. I know, I'm, you know, and then I really think that it's probably helped the fighters, you know. I mean, the fights have been really exciting. Yeah. They have been a lot more exciting.

I don't know why. I mean, I don't know. Yeah, I mean, like, I mean, they're exciting sometimes, you know, but it's like every fight has been exciting. I feel like, you know, they really haven't been that boring. What's interesting, too, is that most of these fights come together like last second. So these guys are, especially earlier on, they were getting, they were getting off the couch, they weren't in camps, they had like 10 days to get ready, and then they just let out

whatever energy they had in those moments. So these fights are ending quickly, your fight, I mean, this fight with Roxy's been in the works for a while. So it's a little bit of a different scenario. And plus, there's a smaller octagon in the air. apex as well. So it's kind of a throwback to that as well. It is. And speaking of that, I mean, my boyfriend just fought, you know, his UFC debut on four days notice against Kaak Makkah on the DC card. And he was the first fight of the night and they ended up winning fight of the night bonus.

He's your boyfriend? He's your boyfriend? He's your boyfriend? I had no idea. I know Tony Kelly. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good for him. That play was awesome. He's booked again, isn't he? Yeah, he's booked again. And the thing, like you said, coming off the couch, like he came off the couch. It was so funny. It was like playing quality duty. And then he gets the fight off her.

And then he's like, okay, he's like, I got to cram some cardio. I got to get some people to work with me. And he, like, he did some tabadas, you know, preparing. You know, I was really impressed. I was more impressed, honestly. I was so shocked because he was able to go out there and, like, push through. You know, three, three, five minute rounds, it's so hard, especially when you haven't been in a fight camp. And you've only had, like, maybe a week really to, like, push yourself and get ready.

And, you know, I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that. But that's why they earned five of the night. Hell yeah. You know, and it's inspiring. I mean, I want to get fight of the night again, you know? You know, he won five of the night on his debut, and I won five of the night on my debut. See, it's, it's, it's, it's Kismet.

Everything's lining up here. That fight was awesome. That was a great fight. Andrea KGB Lee, ladies gentlemen, and she puts a bow on another edition of What the heck. I'm pretty excited about that. Like I said, at the top, I'm just not feeling that great. It's just, I don't think it's the Rona.

I can see the comments now. You got the Rona? No, I don't think it's the Rona. This happens, like, every year around this time. It's just the Massachusetts seasons, like, especially if you don't live in New England and you don't, like, experience seasons, it's cool. But, man, it can beat the hell out of you. It does that to me for like three or four days in a row, like right around this time every single year.

But I'm done with the complaining and the wine in here. But big thank you to all of you for checking out the show as always. Really appreciate it. The UFC train is not stopping anytime soon. We've talked about that. They're going straight through to this December every weekend. Next weekend is next week in general is just going to be crazy in this sport because we got Contender Series on Tuesday. We got the UFC on Saturday.

We have two Bellator events next week on the 11th and the 12th. I mean, just tons of MMA action. So if you're an MMA fan, it's been a rough year, but things are just not slowing down at all. And it's a beautiful thing. So buckle up and get ready for that. But that's it. The ranting is over.

Big shout out to the returning E. Casey Liden and Esther Lynn. And a thank you for the help with the production and the graphics. Big thank you to the guests. And of course, all of you guys and gals who check out the show on YouTube or on the site or via the podcast network means a lot. I appreciate it very much. But as always, friends, remember to have a heck of a week, everybody. Listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.