MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 43 | Michael Chiesa, Alessio Di Chirico & Ike Villanueva

Episode Date: January 26, 2021

This week on What the Heck, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck chats with Michael Chiesa (10:27) to recap his UFC Fight Island 8 main event win over Neil Magny, discuss his callout of Colby Covington, thoughts on Dustin Poirier's win over Conor McGregor at UFC 257, and more. Alessio Di Chirico (38:50) talks his KO win over Joaquin Buckley at UFC Fight Island 7 and why he chose to decline the post-fight interviews. Finally, Ike Villanueva (1:01:41) discusses his highlight-reel KO win over Vinicius Moreira at UFC Fight Island 8 and his thoughts about not getting a performance bonus. 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? Everybody, welcome to a brand new edition of What the Heck here on MMAfighting.com. I am Mike Heck, and an insane stretch on Fight Island has come to an end for the UFC, and we're going to talk all things Fight Island on the show this week, as a matter of fact. of course it all ended with Dustin Porre, knocking out Connor McGregor in the main event of UFC 257 on Saturday. And so much has come out of that event since then. Of course, Michael Chandler had an amazing debut.

And the question since UFC 257 has been, where does Dustin Porier go from here? Where does Michael Chandler go from here? Do they fight each other? But Dustin Porre seems to be sort of the main topic and where his future lies after the biggest win in his career. And that includes the win over Max Hollow. way when he became the interim lightweight champion of the world. But a lot of people like the idea of Dustin Porier fighting Michael Chandler.

Some don't like that idea, as you may have seen at the post-fight press conference, Dustin Porier, not a huge fan of that idea. Charles Olivera is a popular name out there. Most feel he is the most deserving contender. And I saw a lot of people sort of compare resumes and made a big deal out of this whole conversation about why does Michael Chandler deserve a title shot over Charles Olivera? Listen, if you have been watching the sport long enough, then you know this. But if you are a newer fan of this sport, this is a very important lesson you're about to learn.

And it's been like this for five or six years now. The word deserves an MMA? Doesn't matter. You got to get rid of it. Strike that word from your vocabulary. Okay? It's about this. Okay?

It's about what can draw the most money. To me, Chandler is a bigger draw than Charles Olivera. He's not more deserving of a title shot. If we're looking at X's and O's and meritocracy, that is for damn sure. No offense to Michael Chandler, but the street Charles Oliver is on is insane. Just look at the guys he's beaten in this eight-fight stretch. the way he handled Tony Ferguson, the guy deserves the title shot. The problem is, if you go to your local grocery store and you line up 20 random people

and you ask those 20 people who Michael Chandler is, and then you ask those same 20 people who Charles Oliver is, more of those people are going to know who Michael Chandler is. It's just the way that it is. So it does suck for Charles Oliver on that end, and he might be in a position where it's like, how many more fights do I have to win before I get a title shot? I mean, it took Max Holloway forever to get a title shot.

took Tony Ferguson forever to get a title shot. I mean, my goodness, the guy deserves it. But he's probably not going to get it. And I'll tell you why, because Chandler's not the only guy on the table. You got the Connor-Megger trilogy matchup idea, which would drop pretty damn well, I would say, from all indications, this one's looking around 1.4 to 1.6 million. That's what I'm hearing.

Nothing's official. It's hard. You can't really get those numbers because of the streaming platform. and I know a lot of people had a lot of issues with the streaming platform. We'll talk about that in a second. But some McGregor's there. Porier has interest in fighting Nate Diaz. Nate obviously loves that idea as well.

I've been following social media. Really, I wish I had an answer for you. I don't, who the hell knows what's going to happen? What I do know, and I think, and I hope a lot of you will agree with me on this, the first thing the UFC needs to do before they make their next decision, Habibna Maka Madoff has to officially vacate it. the title. And it sounds to me like he wants to vacate the title. Like enough is enough. This guy is not coming back. Okay? I'm not saying he's never coming back, but there was a part of me at the end of

last year who thought maybe the UFC would work with his new promotion in some way. Maybe they partner up and they help Habib if he comes back for one more fight. Maybe they can convince him on that end. It's just not happening. It's just not happening. Habib Naragamayev is not defending that title again. He's just not. Will it ever happen? Maybe, but he is not fighting in 2021. That is for damn sure.

So take the title off of Habib. It's not a disrespect. And the man in October said, I'm done. I promise my mom I would never fight again. Let the guy go. And I know Dana White's argument is, well, who doesn't want to see Habib fight? Of course, the man is in his prime. No one's touching that guy.

No one's beating that guy. I'd love to see all the different challenges that come upon him, but no one's beating him. Just let him retire. Just let the man retire. Just drive me crazy. Like, enough is enough. You've tried everything.

You have tried everything in your power to get this man to come back. He has no interest in coming back. Anna White did this whole segment on ABC, and Habib came out like hours later and said, essentially, I didn't say any of that stuff. I don't want to come back. He doesn't need to. He's got nothing more to prove.

I made a promise. I'm not breaking it. So take the tight off of Abib. He doesn't want to hold up the division. Let's move on. And then once you do that, you take the title. And what I would do is you wrap it immediately around the Louisiana waist of Dustin Porre. Give the man his belt and call him the champion.

He is the champion, in my opinion. Habib is not coming back. Just give Poria the title. Just give him the belt. Look, the UFC is going to do just fine this year. They're going to do great. They did great last year. They're going to do great this year.

They'll do great next year. but man, in my opinion, they left some great matchups, a good amount of money, and an intriguing division that would have been even more intriguing on the table by not doing a freaking tournament.

Like if you did a tournament here, you could have matched Porreier-McGregor up in the first round. I mean, you could blind draw that. You could make these rankings and these seatings however you want. You could have made Poria McGregor like four and five if you wanted to.

Still had him fight. Make it a turn. tournament fight. Still put something on the line. No title on the line. Put something on the line. Big a tournament fight. I digress, though, because we all know a tournament was 100% the way to go, and now we're stuck again with no clear options on what to do at 155, and we have no freaking champion after all of this. I love the event. I love the stories. I'm so happy for Dustin Porre, but the fact that he is not the champion right now kind of irks me. And we have no path to the title at this point. None. None. Because Porre has,

wants big fights. I mean, he wants to be the champion, but this is a prize fighting business. If he fights Connor or Nate, it's going to do better than a title fight with Chandler all there. It just is. So I don't know what's going to happen. Just craziness, but I kind of ranted there. But listen, incredible night. Amazing win for Dustin Porier. Amazing debut for Michael Chandler. Great win for Joey and Calderwood. Nice finish from Makamud Murdof. Marina Rodriguez did the damn thing against the man of he boss. It was a lot of fun for at least those who could actually watch it live. Just so many issues. Like I posted on Twitter on Saturday, I had no issues being in Massachusetts, but there were a lot of people. I mean, like, there's like one out of every four

tweets with somebody having a problem, whether it's a fighter, member of the media, fan, so many issues. ESPN is offering partial refunds to those who had issues. But can get all the info on that on MAAfighting.com. No UFC event this week. They are back February 6. Pretty solid card headline by Alster Rovereem versus Alexander Volkov. Corey Sandhagen versus Frankie Edgar in the co-main event. This is a really good card.

Really fun fight night. Check it out. You'll see what I mean. Manel Cape's going to make his debut. There's a lot of fun fights going on. No doubt about that. All right. Now this week's lineup, like we said, it's about Fight Island.

I called this episode. Remember like the old UFCs? They had like headlines and titles. It was like UFC's 66. Unbreakable. This is like what the heck, 43 unsung heroes of Fight Island. This is the Unsung Heroes of the Trip Edition.

And three guests this week, all of them made moves. We're very significant on Fight Island. And it's going to wrap up with Ikeville and Aueva, one of the best knockouts of the entire week, one of the front riders for knockout of the year in 2021. I know there's only been three events, but he's right up there already.

Got his first UFC win against Venetius Marrera on that Wednesday card, vicious K.O. He did everything perfectly, except to win a performance bonus. But there's not much else the man could have done. A lot of people want to hear from the hard work and blue collar worker from the Houston, Texas area. And that is what you'll get to wrap up the show this week. People have also been asking what my thoughts are on Alessio DeCiro's post-fight stance after he knocked out Joaquin Buckley at UFC Fight Island 7. It was the first card on the trip, the debut on ABC. It was a great night, great card, and an incredible performance from Alessio DiCurico, but he refused to do any

media afterwards. He refused an interview with John Anick, refuses post-fight scrum. He said people, in essence, only want to talk with the winners. They don't want to speak with the losers. And people were talking about that. They were talking about it. He came in and out of the media room in 40 seconds after the win, and it did better than Max Holloway's scrum after he put on that masterclass against Calvin Cater. Well, you're going to get the full story from the man himself. Alessio Manzio Manzer. DeCiroko joins us for his first interview since the highlight real win over Joaquin Buckley. Big underdog in that fight, very disrespected in the betting lines. He gets it done.

He'll be on the show this week. But kicking us off, maybe the man considering the spot he was in on that Wednesday card, he might have been the most underappreciated story of the entire week. Dominant win in a main event over a game opponent headliner. Excellent call it on the microphone after the win. One-sided win. let's welcome back Michael Kiesa

All right, let us say hello to one of the big winners from the UFC's recent trip to Fight Island a lot has happened since his big win in this crazy sport of ours but let us welcome back Michael Kiesza who are in a big win over Neil Magni in the main events of UFC Fight Island 8

this past Wednesday. Michael, good to see you man all equipped in the studio of yours looking swell my man, how are you? I'm good, man. It's good to be back in Spokane and you know the wind's finally soaking in a little bit Yeah, we're in the new, we're in the new studio right now. So I should have some podcasts up and going soon.

But yeah, I'm definitely enjoying the win. Excellent. So we're less than a week removed from this big win. But like I prefaced earlier, it was sort of sandwiched in between the debut on ABC, Max Holloway's incredible performance and UFC 257, which there are so many storylines that came out of that card. You just fought in a main event. You beat a very tough guy.

You had a great call out afterward. But maybe it's just me, Mike. I feel like the win is flying under the radar with the, everything that has happened. Like, how does this sort of post-fight aftermath compare to some of your other wins in the past? You know, I'm not too worried about being sandwiched in between two big fights. You know, I'm, I'm, it doesn't bother me at all. You know what I mean? It's, uh, it just feels good to be in the wind column. It feels good to log four fights in a row. And, uh, it's just, it was an honor to be a part of the whole week experience. I can't expect, even if I had,

like, a knockout performance or like, maybe I had a fight like Max Holloways, it's not going to overshadow the main event that we just had at UFC 257. So I'm a realist. It's all good, you know, but I'm very proud of myself. This is like the first fight in my whole career that I've came back and felt like a really strong sense of pride to like to the, you know, just pushing through the five rounds against the game opponent. I'm proud of myself this time around. So there's a lot to work on, but it was a good experience all and all. So let's kind of talk about the bill to the fight because first off, the face off, the final faceoff between you guys, great. Like you and Neil sort of like mean mugged each other in the friendliest way possible.

And then you guys like broke K-fabe, so to speak, and started laughing. It was all respect. And when we spoke before the fight, you were just, you were just happy to share the Octagon with somebody that you respected so much. And it seemed like that trend continued throughout fight week. Is that sort of fair to say? Yeah, definitely. I mean, Neil's just an all-around good guy. You know, I kind of made a post about it. We did a little jersey swap. And, you know, he's an army veteran. He's a father. He's a fierce competitor. And I have a true. tremendous amount of respect for him. So everything was good all fight week. Like we, we'd run into each other. We'd, we'd get a good laugh or something. But you know, when you get locked in an octagon with Neil Magny, he's, it's not going to be all fun in games. He's there to, he's there to scrap. So, you know, it was all fun before and after the fight. But, you know, once the octagon door closes, like, we got after it. So he's a solid dude, great competitor. And I'm sure he's going to bounce back just fine. You came out with a hot star. You dominated the first two rounds. You had him on his back for most of it. You had the grappling control. You were just weighing on top of him. You were just weighing on top of him. you made him work. He made you work as well. But third round, he came out much more aggressive.

We saw sort of those glimpses of the Neil Magnet, everybody expected to see in the fight. But you seemed very, like, extremely ready for that. What was the beginning of that third round like for you? I, you know, I just assumed at some point that, you know, he was going to get into an advantageous position just because, you know, he's tough. He's durable and he comes on stronger as the fight goes. And I've gone back and watched the fight a couple times. I still don't feel like he won the round. I feel like I pitched darn near a shutout. In the fight, it felt like I lost the fourth. It didn't feel like I lost the third round.

The fourth round was the one I thought that might have got away for me. But, you know, you just got to expect that from a guy like him. He's, he's, look at what he's done against guys like Hector Lombard. You know, he got darn near lost a 10-7 round, you know, and he came back in one. So you got to assume that he's going to take control at some point. And you just can't settle. I knew that if I didn't settle into any bad positions, I knew it wouldn't really be an issue. So, you know, when he took my back, I was able to just kind of maintain posture, get to my feet, use the fence to get up.

But yeah, it didn't. When I go back and watch the fight, I still don't feel like I lost that round. But, you know, it's not a big deal if you lose one round in a five-round fight. I won four. So that's all it matters. Yeah, I thought you won the third round as well. All three judges disagreed with both of us, but it is what it is. There's a, I was looking at numbers early this morning.

There's a lot of staggering numbers in regards to this fight, but one that really stuck out to me. You held Neil Magni to 12 significant strikes through five rounds, 12, man. And for a guy with the pace and the volume he brings, that is an insane number, man. Did you even know that? I did not. You know, I haven't really gone through and sifted through all the, you know, the post-fight articles or the stats and whatnot. But that is pretty crazy. And the thing is, my going into this fight, with it being a five-round fight,

getting a short notice spot for the main event. We didn't really plan on wrestling that soon. You know, we kind of were like, I'm going to feel him out on the feet a little bit. I'm using my striking. And as the fight goes on and progresses, I'll push for more takedowns. And, you know, if there's one thing I'm good at, I'm good at creating collisions. Like people in the broadcast, they're saying, you know, I don't get why he's clenching up with him.

And it's like, I force you to clinch with me that you just, you can't get away from it. I have a niche for being able to form these collisions and get into the, the position. that I like, but getting that first takedown early, I think just I kind of went back into that mode of just like pushing for takedowns. And it is crazy that I held him to only 12 significant strikes. And I got to sprinkle a little bit of my striking there as well. So it felt good, man. It felt good. That that main event, just getting that weight off my shoulders and just accomplishing one of the small goals I have along the way was huge for me. So I always want to finish a guy, but I think that sense of pride I have comes from being able to go five rounds and dominate from

bell to bell post to post. It was a great performance. You mentioned in your post-fight scrum, like how tired you were down the stretch. And Rick Little, your head coach got you all fired up for that fifth round. He just knows you so well to know exactly what to say to you and when to say it. But outside of just that moment, how big was he in between the other rounds and giving you what you needed in those moments to keep you at the level you were competing at? He's huge, man.

I've been with Rick for this will be 13 years this May. I started training mixed martial arts and I started with Rick so he's seen me essentially grow from a you know a young man to a grown man you know what I mean and he just knows

he knows how to get in my head he knows how to say the right things and you know fatigue hit me hard and watching the fight a couple times and read my body language like after the third round I go right to the post and I rest my hands on the round I'm like taking a big breath and you know I started to show the fatigue

but he knows he knows He knows my style. He knows what I needed to do. And from a tactical standpoint and from a psychological standpoint, you know, when he's telling me, like, if you want to be a effing champion, you need to push these next five minutes. Like he just, the types of things that's,

that goes beyond the X's and O's of the sport. Sometimes it's about stuff that involves your, what goes on in here and what's going on in here. And he knows how to get to those places. And I was ready to die in that fifth round. Be honest with me, I mean, I'm not trying to sound dramatic,

but I just felt when he gave me that speech, I got off the stool. I was like, screw it, dude. Just go till you fall. Like, what's there to lose at this point? You know, so I knew if I didn't, you know, I didn't think Neil would finish me, but a 10-8 round, you know, that makes it a dead tie and all that work for nothing. So he knew what to say, and he said it right.

And that's why he's my head coach. That's why he's the man. One of the key things from our conversation heading into this fight was you felt like a new man, And like the surgery at the time, it didn't go completely smooth, like when it actually went down. But you said that this was the healthiest you had maybe ever been heading into a fight. And, you know, especially being on two good legs, which was a little bit different for you. So A, how much did you notice that in the fight? Like, was it something you noticed right away?

And B, how much has that affected, like, the post-fight recovery process? Everything's good, man. Everything's so good. Like, not dragging my leg behind me through camp. And, you know, post-fight, you know, I just, it might the pain in my hip would just get get worse and worse. And I mean, I feel great. Like I my fiancee and Rick, they're keeping me held back from like jumping back into training right now. They're like, dude, give yourself at least a week to just like recover. You know, I'm still, I think I'm a little banged up, you know, like nothing over the top.

But the biggest thing is like everything from the waist down feels great, you know, and it's, that's mainly on the left side of my body. So just to not have that pain in my hip, not have that pain in my knee. It's just a crazy feeling. You know, and I think that that's kind of why I'm in such a rush to get back to training. I'm like, I feel good. Like my legs aren't busted up. Like I don't need. You know, I need to get my shoulder looked at a little bit,

but I don't feel like it's anything major. A couple stitches in my eye. But outside of that, I mean, structurally, I'm still good. And, you know, I'm excited for this year. I'm not going to rush. I'm not going to rush anything. You know, I don't want to fight any earlier than July. There's some big fights that need to play out.

You know, so we'll see what happens. But just as of now, I'll get back to training after Wednesday. But, you know, I'm going to try to keep myself. I'm going to try to chill out. little bit enjoy the enjoy this good feeling was there like a certain point in the fight where you're just like this this feels nice like not having to drag that like this is great it was before the fight honestly it was like during the warm up i'm like gosh i just i just feel good like i i've never so sam cecilia was in my corner as well and after the fight got done i'm like man i just can't

explain to you like how good i felt in there i felt good warming up i just everything felt right i felt happy. I remember what I got when they're greasing me up. I just remember thinking in my head, I'm like, I love this so much. And it, I forgot for a year. You know, this thing was a tough year. And I had a long break from the sport. And he's like, you need to go and write down how I felt to remind yourself down the road, you know, because it was just such a special event for me. Everything felt right. And it was, it was, it was surreal, man. I love this sport so much. It's insane, you know, especially when Neil says things. And I know it's just, you know, the pre-fight jabs, you know, but it's like, I want to make him

want to stick to commentating or whatever it was. It's like, dude, there's nothing I love more in the world than being a competitor. I love competing. I love getting under the bright lights and laying it on the line. This is who I am. This is what I do and this is what I love. So it was a very special experience

for me and I'm glad that I feel good mentally and physically. You get the win. You get the microphone. You call Colby out. It was short and sweet. Flexion's over. Stick is up. Let's go. and you said in your scrum that this thing was it was off the cuff you shot from the hip and you know you've called them up before but was there like a part of you because you always have like a name ready you're not a trash soccer but you always have a name ready was there a part of you that always knew like colby would be the guy because yeah you had done it before but why do you think if it was off the cuff that you got to that point to fire that second shot in that moment I don't know.

I think it just jumped in my head. You know what I mean? My manager had said something to me. He's like, who are you going to call out after the fight? I think you should call for Colby with the election being done. And this was like at the very beginning when I got the fight island. And I was like, no, man, I'm just, I'm not even thinking about that. And I put zero thought into it.

I just wanted to be focused on Neil. He's just a guy like you cannot give him any space. You know what I mean? If I have one lapse in mental focus on him, you know, he might stack that. could snowball into something really big. So I just maintain my focus on him. And maybe it's because it was D.C. Because last time I had the mic with D.C., I did it.

I don't know. It just felt right. You know what I mean? And I know this. It's a tough fight for me. I know, you know, I see what people say. And I know the reality of it is. There's a good chance that man can beat me.

But how am I going to try to become a world champion if I'm not trying to fight the best guys? You know what I mean? Every underdog has to be an underdog. You know what I mean? It's like, how am I? I got to, I'm not going to be a favor in all my fights. I wasn't even a favor in this fight.

Everybody's supposed to beat me. I feel like every time I fight I'm an underdog. So it's like whatever. Like I'd rather fight the best guys laid on the line to get to my goal. So, you know, I aimed big for that one. I thought it was pretty good. You know, short and sweet, very concise. So we'll see what happens, man.

If he gets the Mazadol fight, that's all finding Danny. But like I said, I'm not fighting any earlier than July. Big fights in the division. We'll see how they shake out and, you know, go from there. Yeah, I remember the first time he called them out, people, I mean, people are just like, eh. And there are some people who just like poo-poo every idea anyways, like no matter what it is or how brilliant it is, they find something wrong with it. I feel like this time around a lot of people liked this call out. They liked the idea.

They feel if the UFC can't get this fight with Colby and Mazadol all going, they're down for it. Like, have you noticed a more positive response this time around? Yeah, definitely, definitely a positive response. And, you know, and that's good to, it's positive amongst a. fans and amongst the media. I'm very happy about that. You know what I mean? It's not that everybody is saying positive things like, oh, I'm going to win.

You know, they're just like, wow, I like that match. You know, like that's a fight that makes sense at this point. And I feel like it makes sense, you know, if the Mazadol fight doesn't get done, like who else is there for him to fight? Usman and Burns are booked. Everyone else is booked. And there's me. You know what I mean?

Maybe they do him in Wonderboy. Who knows? I don't know. But all I know is it just, it felt right. And there's like a little storyline in the sense. that he wrestled at Oregon State, and one of his coaches was Kevin Roberts. And when I wrestled in high school, I never went to college first wrestling. I wasn't even that good in high school, but my head coach was Dusty Roberts, Kevin's brother.

So this is kind of like there's like a Northwest connection in a sense. And it would get the wrestling community between Washington and Oregon, very invested. And you know how much, I'm all about the wrestling community, man. I think it would make some waves. You know, see who's, let's find out who the toughest guy in the Northwest. let's find out of the toughest welterweight in the Pacific Northwest is. So we'll see what happens. Yeah.

I mean, people dig that idea. The other popular choices that I've seen, I mean, I host a matchmaking podcast, so people throw ideas at us all the time. So Wonder Boy is a popular one. Damien Maya being his final opponent is a popular one. So, I mean, not as big as Colby, but I mean, is there something to like with both of those options, I guess? With Wonderboy, yes, not with Damien.

I'm not going to be a part of somebody's swan song, man. That's just not how it's going to work. You know what I mean? Not to mention I'm on a four-fight win streak right now. I'm surging. That just doesn't make any sense for me. And I think Damien's a hell of an athlete. He's, you know, that would be like, you know, the passing of the torch, the best grappling in the division.

But I just, it doesn't really, there's no interest there. And that would never happen. If he should fight Diego Sanchez or Cowboy Soroni or one of those guys and have that be his last fight. You know what I mean? Like, you don't want to end your career on a loss. So I would, I would rather he just. you know, he did that's a fight that doesn't make sense for us. It makes, yeah, good answer.

I mean, it's not, I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but it's like I've, I've already fought the guys that are kind of like, you know, the old guard. I've been there. You know what I mean? And I don't need to go back there. I just fought a contender. I fought a guy that's the second all time wins leader at welterweight. It's time for me to go to the top of the heap. It's time for me to get a shot at the top of the mountain.

I earned it. I deserved it. four fights in a row four tough wins like i'm looking at a top five guy and that's it you and wonder boy for the uh the nmf title that sounds like a lot of fun he's such a good guy and he's a hell of a fighter he's uh that would be a fun fight for sure and if the colby fight falls through then may the nicest mother ever win that's there you go we're hang on to this to that quote because i i i feel we might need that one um well i do want to get your your thoughts and a few things, Mike, if you don't mind, sir. I got to talk to you about Dustin

Porreier and that massive win over Connor McGregor. You, I, everyone else looked at this fight in a very similar way. If it ends quick, it's a Connor night. If we play the long game, it's a Porier night. You told me it will be either a KO of the year for Connor or Porier would win the fight of the year. What we got was a KO of the year contender from Dustin Porier in just over seven minutes into the fight. So what did you think of that performance? How did you react to it as you were watching it. Man, I love, Dustin Poy is such a good guy. Such a good man, good ambassador for the sport. And, you know, it's easy to get sold and caught into the hype. I mean, this is Connor McGregor. We're talking about. This guy has done some phenomenal things in the octagon.

He's had some stellar performances. His career has basically been one big highlight real. You know, but the guy, the best, the best prediction that I heard out of anybody was Bilal Muhammad. Balal and Muhammad freaking hit the nail on the head. Like give that guy some crap. That guy nailed it. Like, you know, Pori is more hungry. This guy has been active. He's been fighting the toughest fights.

You know, Connor's last fight before this one, no disrespect to my guy, Cowboy Soroni. But he, you know, he, you know, it's, oh and four in his last few fights. And, you know, it's not, it was more, it was a very favorable matchup for Connor. And I think people for, it's easy to get caught in the hide. You know what I mean? And so I'm very, very happy for Dustin Porre. He deserves it. And, you know, on that note, it's good that, you know, I have a jacket that I had signed that I'm auctioning off with the Good Fight Foundation.

It comes with a Zoom call and a bunch of other cool things. And, you know, I'm not a big money generator like the superstars of the sport. But I want to help any way I can. So, you know, I got a link in my bio on my Instagram. So if anybody wants to throw a bid on that auction this jacket off, help some kids that are in need. That'd be great. take you Dustin Porreier for the opportunity to join the good fight foundation. That's very cool.

I was going to ask you about that. So there you go. Go to Mike Cleese's Instagram page and feel that out. From like an analytics perspective, people are talking about the leg kicks, Porier was landing, and they were ferocious, and they were a huge difference in that second round. I don't know about you. I wanted to get your take on this because you know way more than I do. I thought that takedown in the first round was the biggest point of that fight.

Like I think it made Connor work. And when you have two guys at this last. level, Dean Thomas says it all the time. It's whoever makes the first mistake. And not necessarily that Connor made a mistake here, but that takedown just gave Connor a little something extra to think about. Opened up the leg kick game a little bit more. I thought that take down and making Connor work a little bit extra in that first round was such a difference maker and it opened things up for a more open game plan in the second round with the leg kicks and then the striking to cap off the fight. How big was that takedown in your opinion? Am I putting too much stock into that?

No, you're not putting too much stock into it at all. What does it important? he did very good was got Connor thinking about everything going on from the waist down, the leg kicks, the take down. It opened up his, it made Connor start to focus his hands from here to here. You know, and Connor's on the shell guy, but just a, just as an emphasis, his hands are coming from here, down here. He's starting to try to catch the leg kick. And that's one thing that, that's when you know something starting to work is when they're getting to a point where they can't check it and they're starting to reach for it. And that opens up the head, the head shots a lot more. I think one thing that Dustin did very well was he timed

the lazy, Connor threw a few lazy punches, like through a few lazy jabs. Dustin did a very good job pulling and countering and just firing off of Connor's shots. Like you have to do that against Connor McGregor. Like if he throws a lazy punch at you or he even touches you with one, you have to fire back immediately. Otherwise, that's going to start to, he's going to start to steam roll off of that. So Dustin did a good job timing a few of those lazy jabs, pulling and countering. Landed some good punches.

Landed the late kicks. He just showed he has a full. arsenal of tools that he could use to win a fight, especially against a guy like Connor McGregor. So now there's this debate going around about who Dustin should fight next, because the man has options now. He can fight for the title. Habib is not coming back. At least if he does, it won't be anytime soon. I'd be shocked if that happened. He could fight Michael Chandler, very popular choice after Saturday. And, you know, there's a lot of support around Charles Oliver getting that title shot, even though deserving really means anything in the sport in this day and age,

which is unfortunate. But Porier likes a third. fight with legrger he likes the oliver idea he also likes the nate dyes idea and if you've been following the social media scene over the last 48 hours so nate likes that idea as well so what do you want to see from like a fight fan perspective what do you think we will see here i would like to see nate versus dustin but that doesn't make any sense at all um that would be a slap in the face to some of the guys they're coming off wins uh you know and when it comes to the title picture sometimes that gets overlooked we've seen you well Romero get title shots off losses and things of that sort but um i think you got to keep the ball rolling with the trilogy i think you got to do dustin and connor you don't

you can't risk Connor going out like if it was up to me i'd go nate dyes versus porier and then i would go gaugie versus connor but then that you're not you're always going to have the nate ds trilogy with connor that's going to be there for life you know that fight was a totally separate weight class so it doesn't matter how their careers go you can make that happen at any point but you can't guarantee that Connor beats another contender. You know what I mean? He has great skills, but this is a very tough division. So I think that don't risk, don't, don't risk losing the option for this Dustin,

Porreier, Connor McGregor trilogy. I think you make that one next. And then you do Chandler and Olivera. And then you do hooker and ADS. I think that's, that's what makes the most sense. Or you go Connor McGregor versus Paul Felder. That's just my take. And that there's something there.

You know what I mean? I think there's a lot. There's something there. And, you know, there's, there's been some jabs. There could be some good pre-fight buildup. And it would be funny to hear Bruce Buffer say, Paul, the German dragon feldor, if he actually sucked to that. Oh, my God. Loud of reaction from you on Saturday, Porier's win, Chandler's win, or Giuliana Pena's win?

Juliana Pena, man. Juliana, man, that's my girl. She looked good. She's had a tough role in the UFC, man. She's fought some hitters. She's beat a lot of hitters, you know. And she said it best. Like she's winning these fights.

And she just makes one tactical error. And it's cost her against Valentina. And it cost her against drained her end to mean. But who's left for Amanda? You know what I mean? There really is nobody left. And I think that's just a fight to make. And I might, there might be a bias there.

But even if I wasn't teammates with Giuliana Penny, I'm still looking at the title picture. That's the fight that makes sense. You know what I mean? I think that you give her Amanda Nunes. We'll see what happens with the Megan Anderson fight. And this is a division where, you know, if females don't have to be on a long win streak to get a title shot,

you just need one signature win. I feel like that is a signature win she needed. She just submitted Sarah McMahon, who is a silver medalist in the Olympics. She threw her back in the third round. I mean, like a, like dude had a nice eye rang and stepped across through her really good. You know, I think you ever a title shot. Why not? Why not Julie? I mean, Amanda's cleaned out, you know, she's clean.

cleaned out everyone in the division but her, I feel like. And I feel like she, uh, we wouldn't be having this conversation had she beat her end. I mean, she would have locked herself in as the next contender. So she's got a big one under her belt. Let's go Julie Penna. Yeah, she needed that one. That was a great performance.

Uh, last thing I want to discuss before we let you go, because you have a, from, like, our past conversation, you were a pretty unique perspective on this fight. UFC 258, Kamara Usman versus Gilbert Burns for the wealth away title. And, you know, Usman's looked unbeatable for a long time. Burns has surged up the ranks to earn the shot. You know, first half of 2020, Gilbert Burns is everybody's fighter of the year before everything just sort of halted for him waiting for this fight to happen. And there's a lot of story here.

But from your perspective, what are your thoughts on this fight? Because you have this really tough to beat champion taking on a guy who you feel when it's all said and done in Gilbert Burns, that Gilbert Burns could be your competitive and, like, respectful rival slash arch nemesis when it's all sudden done. Like you feel like you and Gilbert Burns are going to have this, like, respectable history between yourselves. Like you told me this before.

Like you have this feeling that you and Gilbert are going to have this long history together. How do you view this fight? I tell you what? Me and Burns would be a hell of a fight. You know what I mean? That guy, you want to talk about, you know, that guy next to Colby, those are by two toughest matchups, I feel like. You know, Burns, because he's got such good jujitsu, man.

It's insane. You watch his gie jih jih Tutsu matches and it's violent. The guy is violent. Everywhere of fights goes, he is just violent, high pace, hits hard, very well coached. I mean, anybody from Sanford, MMA is, you know, you're in for a tough-ass fight. But when it comes to this matchup with Kamar Ushman versus Gilbert Burns, we will, I feel like you never see these teammates versus teammate fights. I still have this build as that given that Uzsman's on training in Denver

under the two of the two of Trevor Whitman. But, you know, Gilbert's so dynamic. He can knock you out. He can submit you like a true dual threat. You know, he can really do it all. You know, but Burns, he's, he's solid. He can take a shot and he has, he has championship level experience. He's been a very dominant welterweight champion. I feel like this win over Burns could put him over the top as arguably one of the greatest welterweight champions we've ever seen. So, you know, and the one thing that Burns has done and he did that in his last fight with Tyron Woodley is he showed he can keep a pace for five rounds. He showed, you know, in the past and it could have been the cut to 155 pounds. You know, he could keep a good pace, but there was some fights where he did fade. But. That is not the case. Now he's at Welterweight.

I mean, the guy's an animal. He can train hard. He can bring that ferocity, and he can do it from the first minute of the fight to the last second of the fifth round. The guy can push a hard pace. So I think he's going to push Usman to his limit. And it's hard to, it's hard to, it's hard. That's a hard one to pick. So, you know, my bias sways towards Gilbert Burns, you know, and we'll see what happens.

I'll be watching very closely, but, you know, made the best man win. It's going to be a fun fight for us. I agree. You are the mad, Mike. I could talk to you about fist fighting all day long, my man. You know what? I'm just going to do this. You call the Colby.

You shot your shot. Someday, and I'm not just buttering you up. I want to see a world, Mr. Kiesa, where it's the Mike and Mike MMA podcast. Like, forget DC and how funny. Forget those guys over to ESPN. Someday in the future, you and I are going to share a studio together and talk fistfighting for like an hour a week. I just have a feeling. That's one of my career goals, Mike.

I feel like you and I get a little vibe going on here. But listen, thank you for the time as always. Congratulations on the win. Next fight should be a big one for you. And I'm excited to see how this plays out, my man. Awesome, Mike. I agree with you. Mike and Mike's show sounds great.

And thank you for having me on. As always, brother, it was good to talk to you. Great performance from Michael Kiesa. Great insight as well. The guy just, he just gets it. He's such a great analyst, too. Like, I'm so glad the UFC gave him an opportunity to get on the desk and start talking about these fights.

I've been talking about Michael Kiyazza about fights. fights for years. Like a lot of our interviews in the past, pre-M-A fighting, we're just about talking about fights. The guy's so good. And he's just super smart when it comes to the sport. He's in line for a big fight after his win over Neil Magny. And some very interesting thoughts on the lightweight title picture or the lightweight picture in general. He thinks the UFC should just go back and, or that they will go with the Porier-McGregor trilogy fight. And that could very well happen. John Kavanaugh did an interview with ESPN. That's what Connor wants. He wants to fight Dustin Porreier, third fight for the vacant lightweight title.

Very possible that happens. We'll see. But great stuff from Michael Kiesa. Interested to see who they pair him up with next after that win over Neil Magni. Now let's move ahead. First interview since his win on Fight Island against Joaquin Buckley, and I mean, literally, this is his first interview. This includes being in the octagon with John Anick. This includes being in the back with the media after that win in Abu Dhabi.

Let us hear from Alessio to Curico right now, on what the heck. All right, let us welcome one of the big winners from UFC Fight Island 70, knocked out Joaquin Buckley in the first round on the promotions debut on ABC. Happy to have Alessio DeCiroko on the program. Alessio, how are you, sir?

Very good, guys. Hi, everybody. It's great to have you here. So we are about five days removed from the big win. You came in losing your last three fights, snap that streak in a big way. How does it all feel a few days later, after the finish.

Ah, it is finally some quiet. I had finally quiet and peace that I deserve. There you go. Were you not feeling the quiet in peace heading into the fight? I said

in the emotion, you know, I'm not. You're not. Absolutely not. I wasn't in quiet and peace. There was a storm inside my hand. inside my head. But now it's very, it's every single case. So after, so basically, after you finish the fight, you land the kick and the fight has ended, was it like a big weight lifted off of your shoulders?

Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. At the end of the fight, I was like drained, no? All the adrenaline went out. and I feel like lost. You know, you know what I mean? Yeah, it's just, I mean, was there just like a lot of pressure on you? I know you did some interviews. You and I had spoken, you know, somewhat not like this,

but we had had like a sort of a texting conversation on Instagram. Were you feeling a lot of pressure heading into that fight? Absolutely, yes. Was it just the losing streak? Was it the matchup itself or was it, you know, kind of a combination of the two? Yes. It was the losing strength, the fact that Harkin Bukle is absolutely, absolutely a very, a very good fighter.

And in my opinion, is still one of the prospect of the division. And, yeah, it was all together. One of the things we all noticed heading into the fight, Alessio, and we all commented on this heading in, we thought the betting lines heading into this fight were outrageous. Like you had told me heading in that you respected Joaquin, you thought his knockouts were amazing, but you weren't overly impressed to get put in the position that he was put in. Were you noticing that the betting lines

and that you were such a huge underdog heading into the fight? Did you notice sort of the disrespect you were getting from the betting lines? You've said, I've said Offes by the Commess you'd

Ampiamese You'd About that Absolutely I don't feel like this Respect No

You know I don't care about this I don't care about About comment on social media

No I only I only listen In my coach My staff My very good friend so I don't feel like this about that.

Did you, in a way, I mean, it was obviously draining to you being put in such a high pressure position, knowing you had to win the match of itself. In a weird way, do you almost prefer it that way because you performed so well under all of that pressure? My mental coach say that, unless you have to stay on high pressure. to perform at the best. And he also invite me to do how much interview I can, how much social media stories to post because he thinks that I am like a performer. And I want to be humble, but he said this.

And I can, I do my best on the pressure. the head kick was absolutely beautiful it was timed perfectly and just like that the fight was over was that something that you and your team saw in preparation like did you guys know that the opening would be there for that kick remember it my friend i still don't remember it was absolutely instinct you don't remember yeah no you know the best thing i do in the fighting i don't remember it. Have you gone back and watched it? I assume you've watched it, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot? I think that the high kick landed because of the precedent to like kick. How many times have you watched it, two? I remember two. Was it amazing, like watching it back? Yeah. Oh, man.

So how long have you been working? working with the mental coach. You mentioned, obviously, that was a very important aspect heading into this fight, but how long have you been working with this mental coach? It's kind of a year, a year right now, one year. One year. It seemed to have made a, has it made a big difference, you think? Yeah, absolutely. It takes out the best from me. So the win was great. it was memorable, but a lot of people were talking about what happened after the fight because John Anick goes to give you an interview and you essentially said, you know what?

I'm very happy with the win, but then you ultimately declined the interview. And then when you're with the media, probably about 20 minutes later, same thing. You were happy, but you declined to continue on. And the reason was... You didn't listen that I call John Ariel. That was the... You declined. That was the worst stuff error.

Is that, so did you actually think it was, was that just a mistake or did you actually think that was Ariel? Oh, just a mistake. I know, I know that Ariel is not working for them. But, you know, after the way, I almost cried, you know, I was, I was drained and I was fully emotionally going involved. But then after the fight. So, yes, I declined the interview. It was a choice that I made at least two. or two fight before this fight.

No? There's something in my mind there is now like an attitude in this business that if you win you are the best person the best athlete in the world

and if you lose you are you are trash you know what I mean and I think that this is going to change absolutely for us for fighters I know that if a fighter got knocked out he can't interview I know but if the decision go on the points

in the case of a close decision I think a fighter would have the opportunity to speak to be interviewed yeah and I think that was sort of where a lot of people were coming from. And let me just say this. If someone had reached out to me, like right now and said, Hey, Mike, will you interview Joaquin?

I would 100% talk to Joaquin and get his thoughts on it because I feel, but I understand where you're coming from. But, you know, to ask a guy who just got knocked out to do an interview, it's tough and you understand that. So I get what you're saying. Even I actually spoke with your Riah Hall the other day, top 10 guy in your division. He loved what you did. He thought that was like the best thing in the world.

So I'm curious after everything, a few days later, If you could go back and do it over again, would you do it the same way? Absolutely. Yes. You would do it again? So I'm wondering, since we're talking right now, why did you decide to have this conversation? Were you just, you ready to talk now at this point? Because you would decline the other interviews. What sort of made you want to speak today?

No, because I didn't say, I don't want to be, I won't be, I won't be. I won't be cleared, no. I don't want to make things clear. I want to make things clear, no? And I want to explain what I have to say. And also, I have sent my message. That's what I want to do. I liked it.

It got a lot of attention. I think, like, on our YouTube page, I think your 40-second scrum of you sitting with the media did, like, I think, like, five times better than Max Holloway's scrum, if you can believe that. Yeah, yeah, but the performance of Max Hollow was a piece of art, in my opinion. So, yes, I am happy about this, but... But I want to say that I absolutely don't want to disrespect journalists.

Absolutely, I don't want to disrespect your job. I only want to send this message. to try to change seeing for fighters and make it just a little bit better. Yeah, I agree. I actually agree with that stance 100%. And absolutely it didn't was a polemic against UFC. Absolutely. Wait, can you say that one more time?

It didn't was kind of something kind of polemic against the UFC. Okay. Yeah, because Dana White, yeah, Dana White was asked about that at the press conference, and he actually said that he went back to congratulate you for the win, and then he said that you and your team basically like mean mugged him, and you just stared right through him in essence. Like, is that true? Like, what happened there?

As I said, I was full-drained after the fight. I almost did not recognize him. And so I asked him, sorry to him, to Mick Maynard. And, you know, it was a crazy reaction after the win. One of my favorite things about the interview that we did before the fight was when I asked you what your message was to the fans and people out there who were doubting you heading into the fight. Your answer was, they will be new fans of mine on Saturday night. So did that happen?

Like, have you noticed a lot of new people following you on social media? Absolutely, yes. It was. It was. It was. In my social media, how many people have me? Like, like 20,000. 20,000 people here.

That's my son. I'm sorry. That's okay. 20,000 new people? Yes. Wow, that's crazy. Is that, like, shocking to you? Yeah, I didn't expect.

Maybe it was also for ABC. Oh, yeah, that's true as well. So I see your son back there. How much has your son motivated you to help? I mean, you've been drained, and obviously when you become a parent, I'm a parent. I have a seven-year-old son. So I understand how that can change us and motivate us in different ways. So how much has your son motivated you?

Absolutely. is my son, my family, you know, on March will be, will burn my another son. And family is something that I always want in my life and it's the only important thing, the only important stuff to fight, no. And it changed completely my mind as a fighter, you know, at the start you fight for passion because you love it. Now I fight only because it's the best thing I know to do to provide to my family. And it completely changed and make my life so much better.

People are afraid to get us on, no, but I think that athlete life, no, have a diet, training, go sleep early. It's enough to compare with a father life. You understand? No?

Oh, I definitely understand. I mean, I'm not a fighter, but I understand where you're coming from. It's a full-time job, right? It's a full-time job,

but it's a good training to be athlete, to be father, so it did not change my, did not change my, my routine. So as I do

the same stuff, but give me so much motivation, so much reason to fight. That's great. And I understand where you're coming from 100%. Can I ask you about Kevin Holland?

Because when we spoke, you said that you watched the fight with Kevin Holland and Buckley. You said you needed to watch that to learn some tendencies. But you thought, Bucking Buckley, excuse me, was better than that clown known as Kevin Holland. And you fought Kevin as well. Can you talk about why you feel that way about Kevin?

Like, why do you feel he's a clown? Yeah. Because he is, his word are empty. He's an empty. He only do for show, no? Everything he do is only for show. He's all involved in this game created by Conor McGrath. record about

the respect, about hate, about show, not something I don't like I never, I never, I will never like in this business. And I don't want to trash talk with Kevin Holland. I respect him as an athlete.

But I think that Buklea accept his fight like six or seven days short notice. So he wasn't ready to fight him. And I think that Kevin, I don't know, I don't know him because if you know really a person, I think that you always can find something good in a person. But for everything he do in the octagon with me, before the fight in a podcast, after the fight, the fight.

I don't like him. I don't like him. I will be very, very gratu. Grateful. Greatful. Great for fighting. To fight him again. Eat him again.

He's actually, he's about to fight Derek Brunson on March 20th. How do you see that fight playing out? It's confirmed. Okay, perfect. I think I will train and in the case the something got to go wrong I will do the best to take this fight. Okay. This and all the fight of Kevin Holland. So something happens to that fight on March 20th.

You're ready to step in and take a spot here. Yes. Who do you think wins that fight? Do you think Brunson wins or Holland wins? I think that, you know, Kevin has an attitude speaking during the fight that he can influence the judge. He can influence the judge. So it is possible that Kevin take it in the points. As far as you go, of course, you want to be ready for that fight if something were to happen.

but let's just say everything goes the way it's planned to go. When would you like to return? Like you were only in there for a little over two minutes. Do you want to get back in there relatively soon or do you want to take some time because you were so drained after the buildup to this fight? No, no, I am ready for fight again. Now I take a week for vacation

and to don't think about the future. But, man, I have to son. I have to pay the rent. So let's work. Let's get you back in there, right? Yeah. But you want to wait until probably like after, before the birth of your second child or after? Do you want to try to wait until after?

Yeah, I prefer. It's okay also before. I think I can accept also. And no, it is expected to burn in the end on March. So till 20 March, I can, I think I can accept a fight. So, no. Nice. Last thing before we let you go. My babysitter, so I can leave my wife with her, and I'm pretty sure that at 3 a.m.

I can do everything for her. He doesn't charge you any money to babysit, does he? No, no, no, no. Last thing, man. I work for free. I work for free when it's sound. There you go. Find yourself somebody like that in your life and you're good to go. I wanted to end with this because you seemed to be making it a point to support the fighters, to support the sport, and make sure that MMA is presented in a positive way.

So what is the message for everybody following this win on Saturday and about the state of MMA in general? MMA is a sport just this MMA is a sport sometimes it is confused it is confused with show

sometimes with wrestling pro wrestling but it's a sport it's changed my life and every people have to understand this

I hope one day it will go to to the Olympics. That would be great. Do you think it'll ever happen? Do you think we'll get to that point? Difficult.

Yeah, I agree. But I hope. Yeah, that would be something else. But, Ossio, congratulations on the win. Really impressive stuff. Can't wait to see what's next for you. Hopefully we get you on that March 20th card, one way or the other.

But I appreciate the time, man. I respect everything you did on Saturday, in the fight, after the fight, all of that stuff. You stood your ground and I respect that a lot about you. So congratulations. Enjoy it. Enjoy your vacation.

And we'll see you back in there soon, man. Thank you so much, Mike. Also, for this opportunity to explain what I said. And sorry for my English. I'm growing up about it. You did a great job. You did awesome. He don't believe so.

You don't think so? I force him to study English. He has to study his techniques. is jab, it's low kick, it's high kicks, there's more need to study English, you know? But it's a champ on that, too. I will do it on Netflix. It doesn't make sense.

That's a good place to learn, my man. Thank you so much for the time. Big thanks right there to Alessio de Curico for the time. Very interesting insight. He gets it. He gets what everyone was saying in the aftermath. that like he didn't he didn't necessarily mean like media only interviews winners after fights he meant media only interviews winners after fights like in general not like literally after fights like in the octagon

he meant like hey listen you when i win everybody wants to interview me but what about the guy fought takes two to tango and i get it like i know if you watched a show last week i know it's kind of buried with 5 000 scrums and everything going out with ufc 257 and that crazy fight week but I know Uriah Hall is a big fan of what he did, but either way, huge win for DeCurico. We'll see where he ends up going for his next fight after that massive win over Joaquin Buckley, as we put a bow on this week's episode of the show. A little bit shorter than normal, but listen, it's just been a wild week. It's hard to get any of the 257 winners on the show because they're all flying home late last night.

Most of them got home at like 4 o'clock this morning, Eastern Standard Time, so I don't want to bother anybody. We'll try to get some of them on the show next week, but we do have one more interview to get to. before we take it on home, but just want to give a quick shout out to all of you out there watching and listening to the program right now. The numbers for this past week during the Fight Island stuff, the coverage, absolutely ridiculous on the site, the podcast network, YouTube.

Just amazing. We can't thank you all enough. And a big shout out to the whole MMA fighting squad. Most notably Jose Young's, man was a one-man show doing the work of pretty much three people out there. Some sites had multiple people, two, three even. He was out there by himself, absolutely killed it. And we appreciate that very much and Jose very much.

Good dude, fellow New Englander comes with the territory. But you'll be able to get more of his experience on Wednesday with the return of the A-side live chat. So don't miss that. But with that said, thanks for watching. Big thank you to Casey Llein on the production, Jose and Alex Savas on the graphics. And as always, have a heck of a week, everybody. We're to wrap things up with my chat with another big winner in Abu Dhabi. Let us chat with the hurricane himself.

All right, Hurricane Ike is joining us. It landed in Abu Dhabi and is back in the United States. Huge win this past Wednesday. Knox up Venetius Marrera in the second round, main card spot. First UFC win. Life is good in Texas for Ikeville and Oweva. How are you, sir? Great to be back home, especially after that big win.

So it's been around five days as you record from the big finish. And, you know, first Octagon win in three tries. It happens in Abu Dhabi. What does it all feel like less than a week later? Oh man, it's still unbelievable, man, because, you know, that's 13 years of hard work that I put into that night. And, man, I'm still soaking it all in. I mean, everybody still called me, congratulating me. I was just, man, I'm just very thankful.

I had the opportunity to perform out there. And it was a wonderful time. So, quick story. I'm watching the fight on Wednesday. And you're getting introduced. And I noticed immediately that you were an incredible shape, man. Like, I actually sense the great Ed Kappa message. on Facebook and I was like dude I got to get on that Ike villain away of a diet dude looks

unbelievable like you looked like this peak athletic Ike like you looked like a different man like is that accurate did you feel different was did you do something different um yeah just man I trusted the diet man uh thanks thankfully uh trifecta each uh each of each of all they took care of me this whole training camp and I was just real disciplined this camp and it showed and it paid off man. That's tough as a fighter, you know, we tend to cheat a little bit on those little diets, but I stuck to it this time, and, man, they really show this camp. Is that, like, the best you probably, like, looked and felt physically heading into a fight, you think?

Oh, yes, sir, no doubt. Thankfully, you know, going forward, my job, my goal is to keep on, you know, continue with the diet, keep on trying to get better, but, yeah, that was the best I ever looked. I was excited. What was the weight cut like for you? Like how much did you have to cut to get to 205? Oh, I say what? This is probably the easiest cut I had.

I said in the, we actually made a video on my Instagram of, you know, just making fun of the weight cut. It was so easy. It took 30 minutes, like 15-minute sessions. Just cut down in the hot tub. That was it. It was like, man, Abu Dhabi. Thankfully to try to check it just took care of us with the meals.

And so I just stuck to that eating that. I was eating four times a day to try to fict the meals. And then Abu Dhabi, which was amazing. because I was full, but I was still, still cutting the weight. It was amazing. There you go. You're like a spokesperson for trifecta right now.

It really works, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, sir. So in this pandemic era, since the UFC has come back, you have fought in Jacksonville, you fought in Las Vegas at the apex, and now you fought in Abu Dhabi. Pretty short list of fighters who have done all three of those things in this short amount of time.

But a lot was riding on this one. What was the whole experience like for you in Abu Dhabi, especially with so much at stake in this fight? man just the experience i mean the w hotel five-star for reason man that was an amazing hotel too bad we were in like it was a like a prison we're in court the whole time but it was still man the whole staff was amazing the UFC staff was amazing but like you said man this fight it was another game seven my back was against the wall again and you know like i said if it's a game seven you know my back's against the wall i performed the best and i showed that throughout my career

it was do or die and I wasn't ready to go home I'm not done I'm not done I still got a lot of fights left in me and now we can get the ball rolling so I'm excited moving forward so you're across the globe getting ready for the most important fight of your career you're at the hotel and in prison so to speak you can't really go anywhere and then a little less than a week before the fight usada comes out and announces that your opponent had tested positive for a banned substance but luckily he only received a warning and the fight would still go on his schedule did you know about this at all? Like, how did you react to this? I was pissed.

I mean, I was pissed. It was funny because I sat in the USC interview room with the ESPN broadcast team, and I let them know how I felt. Ah, man, they like, man, tell me about your opponent. What do you think about it? I said, I said, F bleep, bleep, bleep, then my damn opponent, man, because they really, man, it bothered me so much because every one of my fights so far as the USC, you sign got involved. Chase Sherman, tested positive. George Gonzalez, tested positive.

And this one, I'll say, oh, my God, really, can we have a fair playing field? Because, you know, you saw it, man, they test me all the time. They'll test me on Sunday nights when I'm relaxing with my family. And to see guys like that get tested and test positive, and all you thought it did was, hey, a little pat on the hand. A little, a little, I'm not going to punish you. shoot, but I'm just going to give you a warning. That was total BS, man. Yeah,

I'm still upset about it, but I'm glad because whatever steroids you take, like I said, on my Twitter, it didn't make his jaw stronger. I mean, it showed. Is there a little more, what's the word I'm looking for? Was there a little more pleasure in that knockout,

all things considered? That's where all the vocalness, all the loudness was coming out after the fight. I was just letting everybody know, You know, $1,000, namesayers, I just took it out of him, and just for him taking all over whatever he took. Yeah, that was for that. So the walk to the Octagon, like, as, I mean,

there's just so much has to be going on in your mind right now. What was that like for you? Like, did you have to work to kind of control the mental aspect and keep yourself calm throughout all of this? Nah, man, when my music started playing, it was my time. I knew my coaches were like, man. You know, let's do or die. We're doing this for Gigi.

Gigi's my new baby. And it was just for her, man. I was just motivated. I was a man on fire walking to that case. Then just to hear the crowd, that was amazing. That was awesome. Finally, we had fans. And when the fans are there, I perform my best.

And I was excited. That was amazing. You were digging to the body pretty early in the fight. Like, he started leaving it wide open for you, and you were just going right to the bread basket. kind of banking those points, so to speak. I mean, you were obviously going for the knocko. You didn't want this fight to last very long,

but you were very patient waiting for it, like was the patient something in your coaches really took a lot of value in heading into this fight? Yes, sir, yeah, because, you know, we had a lot riding on this fight. That was a make a break. So I didn't want to rush it. I knew eventually I would get it.

I would just be impatient. I had to wear the body down. And me going to the body, it took away his shot. He couldn't change levels because I kept hitting the body. We noticed that in film, and that was the main game plan. Where the body down, eventually his hands will drop, and my overhand right will come into play.

And it did, because I was very surprised he didn't shoot. And my game plan worked. It was amazing. What did you call it, the Kiss of Death? Is that what you nicknamed it? Yeah, Mario Helley, Game 7, Kiss of Death. That's a used to legacy right there. So, yeah, that was amazing.

And it's the way it went. When he fell down, it all played out. Like, it was amazing, man. You can't even write a, I was like, man, perfect end to my like a chapter. Just like, man, moving in and kiss a death. Good night. I mean, that was, that's as vicious of a knockout as you'll ever see. Like, do you remember like vividly what it felt like when it landed?

Because I've talked to guys like Michael Chandler, when he knocked out Benson Henderson in his last Bellator fight, he said he didn't remember the shot landing at all. Like, do you remember it? Like, and if so, what did it feel like? Oh, man. It was like, dead body just collapsed. It was like amazing. Like, I felt my hand go through. jaw like I can feel like my my fans going to the back of his head if you look at the pictures

the USC posted you'll see the ripple effects in the back of his head like that skull moves it was a pretty gruesome but yeah I man I still had that in my memory I'm like it was amazing like man but like I said years of hard work into that punch 13 years and I just led it into them so it's like man I can see the confetti flying out just like man it was amazing weight lifted off your shoulders I assume just a big weight yes I should I show the world I belong to the UFC and that's how you prove it. Make a statement. I didn't get the 50,000, but man, just getting that first win was better than the 50,000. I'm just going to say, because I said this after the fight as well, you get the win, you've done the right things in the

fight, you said the right things on the microphone after the fight. You didn't go on and be like, hey, Dana, I want that 50 G's. Like you just said, listen, I'm a blue-collar guy. I'm trying to take care of this family. I love working for the UFC. It's an honor to work for this company. You did everything right. And then they give out the bonuses. Fighting the night, easy. Worley Alvas gets a bonus. And then Umar and Amagamatov gets a bonus.

Who, by the way, not taking anything away from him, spectacular performance. But no bonus for the hurricane. Like, were you surprised you didn't get the bonus? Yeah, I was a little upset, man. I was kind of more heartbroken, my body, man, because you look at Kabe's cousin, he was a seven to one favorite, man. I was like, come on, man.

My life was a little bit even. But, man, it was just, it was a, A little heartbreaking, but, man, I was just glad I got to win. I mean, you can't. It's part of the game, man. I was so close. And me and Jason House, we laughed about it now. We're like, man, we almost had it.

And, but you just hear the guys like D.C. and Paul Felder, they all felt my story. They all, you know, they tell me eventually, I'll get taken care of later down the road. So we'll see what happens. We'll see if they'll send me a little extra something. But we'll see. Did you get a chance to talk to Dan at all after? Did you say anything to you? No, I did talk to the VP.

you know, see, he came and shook my hand. I didn't get to talk to Dana. Big Maynard. I talked to McMader. He was proud of me. And that was about it. I haven't talked to Danny yet, but I'll get my shot soon. So the wind's bigger than the bonus, but I'm sure just getting home.

You mentioned Gigi, getting home to your family, your new baby girl, coming home with the victory, that's got to be worth more than any bonus could ever pay you, right? It was amazing, man. It was amazing to come back home, seeing my family. Everybody was so happy before me. It was amazing, man. It was just, you know, being able to come. back home and like just seeing my kids and seeing my wife it was amazing and just making my

especially my sons making them proud and you know all the years of hall for got sacrificed missing time with them finally paid off and they were and hey i made sports center top 10 yes that was the number of top three that was forget i didn't get the bonus but just being able to have my kids say dad you were on sports center top 10 that was amazing man their friends loved it my family my teammates, it was amazing. That's amazing, man. I thought it was great. You said in your interview with D.C., you were like, listen, this is great, but I'll be back

to work on Monday, and it looks like you get your work shirt on. It's Monday night is to record, back to work. And I know you and I have talked about this before, but so many people have been asking me over the last few days, for those who don't know, what do you do for work outside of fighting? I work for hunting subsea. I'm a CNC machinist, and just something like, I follow my dad's footstep. So I'm great, man.

I'm one of the highest level of being in the machines you can get. And I've been doing it for so long. I refuse to give it up because follow my dad's footsteps. It's my dad. My dad box growing up, that's the time where I follow. I'll continue to follow my dad's footsteps. And what he got, I feel is like I'm just following his legacy. I would never give it up.

And I'll continue to fight. Working and fighting kind of makes me a hungry to fight. And that's why I would never give it up, man. I'm very thankful to have the hunting family support me. The other reason I came back to fight and they gave me the opportunity to do come back. So I would never let them down. I'm very thankful to work for them and being able to provide for my family. They've always been, because you and I have been talking since before you got signed

to the UFC. And we've talked about, like, how supportive this company has been towards you. They put on pep rallies before your fights and they throw parties for you. Like, what was it like going back to work today? Did they big party for you, a big luncheon? Yeah, I had Shipley Donuts waiting for me at my desk. It was awesome. And they were all excited.

You're like, man, you're like, you know, to see a knockout like that on national TV, it's amazing. Usually it's at the small local shows, but seeing a knockout like that was amazing. They're all excited for me. And I'm still getting the phone calls for the big bosses too. Nice. So what's next for you, man? You're back at work now, home with the family. I'm going to smell the rose a little bit.

When do you, perfect world? when do you want to get back in there? Like any matchups in particular that you're looking at that makes sense to you? Oh, man. I'll leave that to Jason House, you know, hire Jason for a reason. He's the best of the game. So we're looking at May or June, you know. That's what I really want.

I want to focus on getting a little bit better. So I need to stay in the gym and stay ready and still develop. I still got a lot of holes in my game I need to fix. So I need to start showing my kicks. I need to start showing my wrestling and the next fight. So we'll see what plays out. But like I said, Mayor June, I'd like to get back in there. Last thing before we let you go for, I know you've talked a little bit on social media about people who have sort of jumped off the bandwagon, doubting you, talking trash, you know, people ready to cash you off, like after the first couple of fights.

Like you go up a weight class, you fight Chase Sherman. The Jordan Wright fight ended unfortunate in an unfortunate way, it's kind of out of your control. What do you want to say to those folks now that you have this first win under your belt? You're on Sports Center. You have this great moment. Like what do you want to say to those people now? Like I said, you've seen them interview. They said, I'll never make it.

Look at me now. Look at what I did. Now I tell him, tweet about that. Tweet about my blue collar mentality. I just had the greatest knockout Wednesday night and the blue collar mentality of me. I come back and I show up to work. You work my shift.

There's no cheating in the game. I had no shortcuts to the USC. Hard work. And that's all I knew is hard work. So all those doubters, you know, tweet about me now. What can you say? The negativity, all that they said before. I read all the tweets.

Tweet about that. And bloody elbow, they talk bad about me. And the other day, they didn't want to spend no time talking about my fight. So as I got to knockout, they sure, there they go tagging away. I get with the vicious knockout. Man, save it. Save it. You go down talking about.

Like I said, I don't need no new, new fans. I love the loyal fans who stuck by me. When I was down, they stayed by me, man. So I'm thinking we're going to have y'all and everybody in my corner, man. Hey, treat about my story now, man. I'm excited, man. It's just another chapter. But like I said, it's that blue-collar mentality I keep.

You're like the Jerry Seinfeld of MMA. You don't need any more friends, any more fans. You're good. Yeah, man. The new ones that want to come on. Come on. But like you said, man, stay by. behind me, man. There you go. Listen, man, I'm super happy for you. Like I said, and people know by

now, you and I, we've been doing this for a little while now since the Fury FC days. Now we're in the UFC getting wins. Very happy for you. Great story. And you made it back to work. You're a man of your word as always. So I appreciate the time. Congratulations on the win. And looking forward to seeing you hopefully in May or June, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you. I appreciate your time. Thank you, man.