MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 60 | Shane Burgos, Danny Sabatello & Hannah Guy
Episode Date: May 25, 2021This week on What the Heck, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck speaks with Shane Burgos (9:50) to discuss his Fight of the Night against Edson Barboza at UFC 262 and how he's doing after the bizarre ending to t...he bout. Hannah Guy (29:12) recaps her unanimous decision win over Valerie Loureda at Bellator 259 and how things have changed since Friday night. Finally, Danny Sabatello (47:38) returns to talk his decision win over Brett Johns at Bellator 259 and send a message to the rest of Bellator's 135-pound division. 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
Transcript
Discussion (0)
You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.
What the Heck with Mike Heck on MMAfighting.com.
Now here is your host, Mike Heck.
What the heck?
Well, hello there, everybody, and welcome to a brand new edition of What the Heck here on
MMAfighting.com.
I am Mike Heck.
Hope you're all having a great week so far as we are in the midst of a rare weekend off
from a lot of the major promotions in mixed martial arts.
We've got no UFC this weekend.
no Bellator this weekend.
We found out last week that the one championship event
that featured that pretty damn cool Adamweight Grand Prix
that has been postponed.
PFL off once again this week.
I know there is a Combache Global Card.
XFC is back later on this week on NBC Sports.
So you will have some MMA to watch if you choose to do so.
But no UFC, no Bellator.
There you go.
But a very busy weekend this past weekend.
in the world of mixed martial arts.
Friday, we had the return of Invicta,
their debut on Access TV.
They crown a new flyway champion
in Karina Rodriguez.
Alicia Zapitella retained her
atomweight title, close fight in the co-made event.
She won via split decision.
We had Bellator back on Friday as well.
Chris Cyborg, what a performance she had.
Retained her featherweight title,
a tremendous showing.
She put away an absolutely toughest nails,
game Leslie Smith,
with less than 10 seconds into the fight.
There's nine seconds left when the referee finally called it off.
But some great performances there at Uniful and Scenic, Mohican Sun Arena,
and Uncassville, Connecticut.
And a couple of those performances, we will highlight on the show this week.
The UFC, they were back on Saturday as well.
Rob Font, put some respect on Rob Font's name, if you haven't done so already.
He picks up a dominant decision win against Cody Garbrand.
It was as one-sided as you can get.
I know the first round.
A couple people thought maybe Cody won it.
I thought Funt won every single round.
The numbers sort of answered.
Kind of have the same story I had.
And it just got better and better as the fight went on for Rob Fon.
He's in an interesting spot right now.
Not sure where they go from here.
But if I'm the UFC right now,
especially at the top of this division when we have no idea
when Al Jermaine Sterling is coming back,
we have no idea when that rematch with Piotrion is happening.
I know Aljo has said October.
Instagrammed out that maybe it'll be November,
but you never know when you're dealing with surgeries and neck injuries and things like that
because we've seen other fighters deal with these injuries.
Some bounce back quick.
Some are out a little bit longer.
I just don't know if I buy that we're going to see this fight in October, November.
Maybe we will.
I hope we do because I really want to see it.
But even if it's still November, even if we don't see that title fight in November,
what happens on July 25th?
Because, by the way, and I'll say this again,
the fight between Corey Sanhagen and T.J. Dilleshaw,
the targeted date is July 24th.
That fight is not done as we record this right now.
Penn has not gone to paper as far as I've been told.
But that is the target.
That is what everybody seems to be leaning towards right now.
What happens on July 25th?
Is Corey Sanhagen or T.J. Dilleshaw going to wait until 2022 to fight again?
Just to get the title shot? I don't know.
So if I'm the UFC and I'm everybody involved,
I think we treated Rob Fon's fight against Cody Garbrand as part of the first round of this quasi little mini tournament
to crown a new number one contender.
I think that's exactly what they do.
Because I don't think it's fair to have Rob Fon fight Frankie Edgar or fight the loser of Joe's
A Aldo versus Pedro Mooney's to the winner of that fight.
I don't think it's fair.
I think Rob Font should fight either the winner of Dillishaw-Sanagan or fight for the belt.
Plain and simple.
So why not just if this fight happens in November?
Let's just say they go back to Madison's Square Garden and you got sand and you, excuse me,
all these band and wait names drive me crazy.
And you get Al Jermaine's Sering versus Piero Yon on that card.
Let's just say November's at MSG.
It's probably going to be a couple other title fights.
you just throw Rob Fott versus the winner of Sanhagen versus Dilleshaw on that same card.
There you go.
One, because you're putting the spotlight on the division, adding another Bannerway fight,
just proving to the world that Bannaway is just awesome.
And two, you got a contingency plan in place.
If something happens before that fight and one of those guys can't go,
you get two other options right there.
I think that's the best way to go about it.
You just have the fights, let them run this little mini tournament.
the winners of those fights in November, then they fight next chance in 2022.
I think that's the way to go.
We'll see what happens there.
Carla Sparza, by the way, she should not be in any other conversation unless she's fighting
Rosnamay Unas for the Strawway title after that performance made a gigantic statement,
stopping Jan Jan Janan.
That was some showing.
She did exactly what she needed to do and then some to earn that title shot.
She could have been a little more fiery on the mic, but that's not really her style.
because if Janjan on won that fight,
there's no doubt on my mind she was fighting Rosnamu Yunus.
There would be no talk about a Zhang Wei Li rematch.
It would have given Jan Janam the shot.
And I understand why.
I'm also not surprised, and I said this after UFC 261,
I would not be surprised if the UFC ran back
Rosnamu Yunas versus Zhang Wei if Carlis-Lah-Lah-Lan.
And that's what happened,
but I don't know if anybody expected Carla to go out there
and just put it on Jan-on-on the way she did.
That was something else.
and we'll see what happens there, but if I'm Carlos Sparza, I ain't fighting again until that title is on the line.
So even if the UFC does go ahead and rebook that rematch and do it again with Rose and Zhang Wei Lee,
Carla Sparza, her next fight will be against the winner.
There's just no other way about it.
Like what else this woman need to do?
She's won five in a row.
That was an exclamation point right there.
So there you go.
A lot to like about all those events this past weekend.
but I'd be lying.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't happy there's no UFC event this weekend.
I'll take the breather, and I was telling AK this on A.K. Lee on onto the next one.
If the UFC took like this past weekend off and then put this card with Fontengarbrand on this Saturday,
I think it would have gone over a lot better.
I enjoyed it, but I think a lot of people kind of experiencing that 262 hangover a little bit
and, you know, just a lot of events in a row.
And I love it.
I love watching the fights.
and covering them and all that.
But, you know, I'll take the breather.
Long holiday weekend here in the U.S.
Doesn't mean we're taking a breather from covering the sport.
It just means no UFC this weekend.
And I'm going to enjoy the three-day weekend.
But that reminds me, slight scheduling change next week on the show.
Instead of this program dropping on Tuesday,
it will actually drop on Wednesday due to the long weekend here in the United States.
And the big reason why is there's a couple of reasons.
One, we're going to be heading to Boston this weekend.
My parents are getting ready to move out of my childhood home in the Boston area.
So we're going to help them load all the stuff into one of those pods
and so they could take it to Florida with them.
And then when we come back here to Western Mass on Monday,
that is Memorial Day here in the U.S.
We're actually going to have a new member of the family joining us.
A brand new adopted dog is supposed to be making its way here to the beautiful Berkshires
to make the heck clan a clan of four.
So I'm very excited for that, but that'll be a day to kind of like hang out with the dog and get them acclimated and all that stuff.
So we will make the show happen on Wednesday next week because of that.
I want to make sure the dog just doesn't lose his mind being in this house with this crazy family.
But let's run down the line of for this week's show.
Three guests joining the program.
Here they are.
Back on the show, Danny Sabatello is going to join us coming off his dominant decision win over Brett Johns at Bellator 259 on Friday.
And look, he came on this program last week.
He said some things that a lot of people sort of chuckled that.
And the guy goes into the Bellator cage.
He did exactly what he said he was going to do.
He dominated Brett Johns.
And he kind of wants to come on here once again and send a message to the rest of the Bellator Bannamweight division.
And he will do so later on to wrap us up.
Speaking of Bellator debuts, there's a damn good one for Mississippi's Hannah Guy who handed Valerie
Loretta her first loss as a professional to kick off the main card.
She had Valerie in trouble multiple times.
She was in trouble herself, Hannah, guys.
She got dropped pretty hard in that first round, but Hannah battled back, almost submitted
her.
Some of those positions she had Valerie in were nasty.
That arm bar seemed like it was in forever.
Valerie's in a, looked like a full arm cast.
She suffered some ligament damage in the fight.
But Hannah guy went in there and did the damn thing.
We'll speak with the hurricane about.
that, her future, and much more. But first, people have been asking me about this gentleman for over a
week now. So I wanted to bring him back on the show for, I believe, I know he's talked about what
happened at UFC 262, but I believe this is his first interview since that event in Houston,
Texas. So I wanted to bring him back. And I really appreciate this. Let us welcome back.
Shane Burgos.
All right, so truth be told, I've been bugging this man for a little over a week now,
and it means a lot that he has agreed to to join me coming off his fight of the night against
Edson Barbosa at UFC 262.
The fight ended in a way that, honestly, I've never really seen before in the third round.
So let us welcome Shane Burgos to the program to talk all about it.
Shane, thank you for doing this, man.
How are you?
I'm good, man.
I mean, I've been better, but yeah, I'm all right.
well i have been a pest i do apologize for that but uh but thank you again first things first
it's it's been a little over a week since the fight has happened how are you feeling right now
that's more important than anything else physically or mentally both uh physically i feel pretty good um
i got a couple bumps and bruises or anything of that uh no headaches or any of that um i feel pretty
damn good i'm i'm just ready to get back to training i want to so fucking bad but uh obviously i'm
taking it safe i have family so i take my health very seriously so i'm taking it
taking easy, but I'm able to ride the bike and stuff like that.
So I've been doing that basically every day riding the bike,
like the aeron bike and the regular spin bike.
I've been doing that a lot.
But other than that, I can't wait to get back to training.
Mentally, how I'm doing mentally?
I'm pissed.
I'm really fucking irked and annoyed.
But it is what it is.
I can't do anything to change it.
So I've accepted it.
And I'm going to grow from it.
I'm going to move past it.
I'm not just going to sit and dwell on it.
But yeah, when you ask how I'm doing, like, the first thing I think of this, I'm just fucking mad, man.
It hurts.
Is it just, is it the loss or is it just like the whole package, like the whole fight, everything around it?
No, I thought it was a fun fight.
I thought it was going good.
It thought it was going my way.
I'm just mad that.
I mean, I guess not mad, but I didn't, like, I threw the punch.
I threw a jab.
And I brought my hand right back to my hand.
head. He just came over the top with it. It wasn't like I threw the jab, brought it back down here, and he called me clean, me being lazy. Like, I threw a straight out, brought it straight back. He came around it. And it wasn't like, so, so, so, so, so, so, the fight week was so smooth. The weight cut was so smooth. I really have no excuses. I just got caught. So I guess that's the frustrating part. And the part that maybe if I had excuses, it would be easier to accept. But not having excuses, it kind of just hurts. It's like, damn, I just, what the fuck, man?
And then on top of that, like, I talked about this on my YouTube channel, actually.
I only have, I have three losses ever.
And all three of those losses came from the third round.
All three of those losses came to top ten guys.
All three of those losses came to a really good opponent and said that just, they just caught me in that third round, which is the ironic part because I always feel so damn good going to the third round.
And training I always feel great.
In the fight, I always feel phenomenal going to that last round.
I'm ready to empty my gas tank completely in that third round.
And to have that happen three fucking times now, it's like, dude, what the fuck?
And each time I feel like I've gotten better, like the first time, I got lazy, I got caught.
Second time, I got recklessness running into Emmett.
And then this time, I just threw the punch, brought it back to my head, and he came around my hand.
My hand was still up.
So it's just super frustrating that I feel like I didn't, I feel like I did, I did the right things.
And I still fucking came up short, so it's super frustrating.
Yeah, a lot to digest from the fight and what you just said there. And I think one thing that everybody
can agree on is that the fight lived up to the hype for sure. I mean, this was the one everybody
had circled on their cards, quote unquote, the people's main event. It was a back and forth battle.
He was firing off those calf kicks early, but you were still sort of putting the pressure on him.
You were landing the jab. You were going to the body early on. How much of those calf kicks
affect you in the early going? I, honest to God, it didn't affect
me at all. I'm not trying to take anything away from a lot of people ask me that, but
man, I'm walking normally already. Like, literally right after the fight, yeah, my leg was
hurting. And I fully expected that. That's not the first time that's happened. So I fully
expected it right after the fight because the adrenaline wears off. But I'm telling you,
I have a super high pain tolerance. And in there, I knew, I was, this is going to look bad if I
just let him kick my leg the whole fucking time. The other side of me is like, I'll eat the
leg kick to throw my punches. But I was like, you know what? Don't give away any of the
fucking leg kicks. Don't be an idiot. I've been in the situation before where I want, when I fought
his teammate actually, Charles Rosa, he kicked my leg even more than Barboza did.
And I just let him keep kicking my leg just so I could throw my hands.
But after the fight, I won that fight, but after the fight, my leg was chewed the fuck up
for a while after that one.
So I was like, I'm not trying to just let this motherfucker kick my leg fucking all he wants.
So I knew I had to start checking those.
I started throwing front kicks on him so he couldn't land him as good.
I think I did better in the second round checking and making a miss a little bit with
the low kicks.
But yeah, honestly God, it really didn't hurt.
me when I was in the fight. I can walk normal. I was fine. I felt like I could bounce my feet
and everything like that. I know it's kind of tough to gauge how the fight's going while you're in
there because you probably, you might see things differently than we see them on the broadcast
that your coaches are seeing. After the first two rounds, like how were you in your corner
feeling the fight was going? Like did you all think it was 1-1? Did you think you were down two
rounds, up two rounds? Like, what was that conversation like? They thought it was 1-1. I thought
it was one one, but I didn't really put too much stock into that.
I just, like I always say this, I would get the fight as three separate fights.
You get the first round is the first fight, the second round is the second fight,
the third round is the third fight.
I look for every round I'm trying to take the guy out.
So going into that third round, I was fully prepared to just pour the gas on it,
to empty my gas tank in that last round.
But yeah, we thought it was one one going into the third.
You came out more aggressive in the third clearly,
and then he landed that right.
hand and it seemed like you were fine.
Like, it seemed like you were good.
And then, like, it seemed like I was watching for 10 seconds before everything happened.
So, I mean, I don't know if you can even sort of recollect, like, how that all went down.
But, like, what, I know you talked about on your YouTube page, too, but like, what were those seconds like from the best of your recollection from when the right hand landed to when the fight was actually waived off?
Yeah, I remember the weirdest part is I remember everything, which everyone's pretty surprised about.
I don't have any loss of memory.
It comes to that.
I'm like, it's weird.
I remember it.
So we were fighting.
I threw the jab.
I bring it back to my head and he threw a fucking fast overhand right.
And I didn't even see it.
I was like, boom, hit me.
And I was like, this is weird.
I remember thinking my,
I felt like my vision was slowly coming into a tunnel vision.
My legs were slowly getting like the power.
My legs were slowly turned off.
It felt like someone was turning the volume down, like the power button kind of,
on my legs where I was like, I was bouncing like this.
and I kept dipping down.
And when I was dipping down,
I was trying to come back up to fully,
and I was slowly just getting lower.
And I was like,
what the fuck is going on?
I remember thinking,
like, I can't stand the fuck up.
I was like, what is going on?
So my mind was all there,
but my body just wasn't there.
And I'm like,
my leg just completely,
it was slowly,
and then it was just off.
And I just went,
I fell back in the cage.
And then that was it.
Had you ever experienced anything
even close to that before?
No.
No,
that was weird.
That was weird.
It's weird.
Because like you said,
I don't even remember it.
When he threw the punch, it was so fast that he hit me with something.
I was like, all right, hit me with something.
And I just remember all of a sudden, it was slowly and then shut off.
Weird.
I mean, I saw some doctor did like a review or something like that.
I didn't even watch it, but I heard they were tripping it to my conditioning and to my cardio
and that, which is, I guess that's a compliment, but it sucks down.
Did you feel like, you mentioned what it happened?
Like it was like the volume got turned down.
So like as time progressed, it.
you feel it starts to slowly move back up to, like, get you back to your feet and, like,
the width started to come back to you.
Do you know how long that took?
Literally, as soon as the fight ended, like, as soon as the referee stopped the fight,
and I definitely went out for a second.
I remember that where I was like, I woke up and I was like, oh, my God, you fight.
I stood up and I looked around, like, you got to be fucking kidding me.
Like, I just knew the fight was over.
I was like, he caught me with something.
And I remember laughing in the moment because I was in complete disbelief where I really
could not, it felt like it was going my way.
And I was like, are you kidding me?
I really just got hit with something, and that's what,
it was just a weirdest, it was a weird feeling.
He really was.
I was just like in complete disbelief.
We saw the moment in the back where you and Edson were talking,
and you guys obviously showed a lot of respect for each other.
He was blown away by how the fight ended as well.
But what did you guys say to each other in the cage
before Bruce Buffer read the decision?
Like, I know you got back to your feet.
You guys had a little moment in there.
Are you able to share where you guys said to each other?
He was giving me props.
I was giving props too.
And then I was at the part where I was laughing was like, dude, what did you hit me with?
He was like, I don't know.
Weird.
And I was like, well, and I was confused.
I was like, what was weird?
And he was like, I don't know what I hit you with.
And then I see the thing.
And I'm like, wait, that was what, because I didn't remember, like, thinking back, I remember.
But in the moment, I didn't remember my leg shutting off like that.
Until backstage when I talked to my coaches, they were like, yeah, you went down like after the punt.
I was like, oh, I do remember that.
fucking got to be kidding me. So in that moment, I was just really confused.
One thing that sort of stood out from our pre-fight chat was you were talking about the
Josh Emmett fight and you admitted that one of the big downfalls was that you probably had too
much fun in there. And one of the things that was kind of on my mind in terms of breaking the
fight down was heading into it was how will the fans getting rowdy and reacting to such a crazy
fight? Like how would that play into it? So I'm curious like if the fans being so loud and
and boisterous.
Did that have any effect at you at all?
Like, were you eating that up?
I definitely was enjoying it, but I wasn't,
I didn't let it consume me where I was reckless.
I felt like, like, again, I got caught 100%.
He caught me.
He did a great job catching me.
But that was more props to him than me being lazy.
Like I said, I threw the jab.
I brought my hand straight back to my face,
and he just came over the top.
So I didn't get caught up in that moment of,
I knew it was a really exciting fight.
I knew it going to the third night.
I feel the energy of the crowd.
I was trying to pump him up in that.
So I understood it, but in the back of my mind was like, don't get caught up in this.
Don't get caught up in this again.
And I feel like I didn't.
And I still fucking came up short.
That's why, again, that's why this one really fucking hurts.
It really does.
Dana White spoke to the media after the event.
He essentially said sort of the same thing he stated after Calvin Cater's lost to Max Holloway.
Like, no talking to anybody.
Like get your ass to the hospital and take care of yourself.
Like, what was that process like, if you don't mind me ask?
Like, how long were you there?
Like, what kinds of tests that they put you through?
before they let you go?
Like, what was that like?
Dana was cool.
He came with me after my fight.
He ran over to me and talked to me a little bit like that.
He's like, don't worry about me to that.
I was sending you right to the hospital.
It was like, that was an amazing fight.
And I was trying to just, in the moment,
I was like, just tell me that was fighting in the night right now.
I was like, I know the rest of the car is not done,
but that was fighting the night, right?
He's like, so far.
I'm like, all right, I'm taking your word for us.
That's fighting the night.
So, yeah, honestly, that, they sent us to,
the only thing that sucked about that was,
I had to go to the hospital right away.
I really felt fine, which is super frustrating.
I was like, this is just annoying.
Go to the hospital.
And one of the nurses tells us,
oh, I don't know why they sent you here.
This is the busiest hospital in the country,
the busiest ER in the country.
And I'm like, what do you mean?
It's like, this is number one rated busiest ER in the entire country.
I was like, not just the state of Texas?
She's like, no, the country.
I'm like, you got to be kidding me.
So I was there for, right after my fight,
and I don't remember what time I got there,
but main car was at 9.
and I probably thought, I probably got there at 945, 940, right?
I didn't end up getting back to the hotel by like 3.15 a.m.
Oh, my God.
Yeah, I was there for a long-ass time.
They did a cat scan of my head and it came back fine,
but it just took forever to get the cat scan.
I was just sitting there Twitter on my thumbs.
We had to eat like the hospital cafeteria food.
And there was a couple other fights.
I was in there with jockey right too.
He was in there for hours.
It was a bunch of us in there, like for a long time.
And within one hour that we were there, four people came in with gunshot wounds.
I was insane.
It was a pretty, that experience was pretty crazy.
I saw a guy getting, like, getting resuscitated on a gurney, like running, running him by my room.
Guys standing on the emergency table.
A guy's pushing it.
While the guy's pushing it, the guy's on his chest, reviving him.
The guy's just lifeless.
I'm like, this is insane.
I was like, get me the fuck out of here.
So you're probably like so relieved to go back to your hotel and.
And then I got back to the hotel, my flight is at 7 a.m.
So I got to leave by 5 a.m.
So by the time I'm done showering, it's four something.
I'm like, I didn't even go to sleep.
Literally didn't even get to change.
I had my cup in fight shorts and blood all over me until 4.
I was like, this is ridiculous.
So that part fucking sucked.
Yeah.
I might have sucked more.
You get home the next day after all of that, man.
And you put out that statement.
You let everybody know that you're good.
You're the, you're the patriarch of this.
growing family that you have. You just welcome to a new baby into the world. So I assume they,
along with the extra $75,000 that you did get for the fight of the night, it kind of softens the
blow a little bit. But I mean, how would you, I guess, describe the last week or so since you got
home? I mean, I just been trying to let go, like I said before, accept it and grow from it
and move past it. I don't want to dwell on it too much. And I can't dwell on it too much because
it wouldn't be fair to my wife and my kids because then I'm not dad anymore.
I mean, like now is the time for me to just be dad, to be a husband again and not to be
consumed with the fight.
Like I'm out of it now.
What happened happened.
I made some good money.
Could have made more money had I won, obviously.
So that sucks.
But I just got to be, I got to be dad.
I got to focus on that.
So that's all I've been doing.
Like we just came back to the zoo, brought my daughter to the zoo.
Just been trying to do things with her just to keep her having fun.
and because nobody really sees a sacrifice and the self-discipline that goes into a fight camp,
especially for me because, I mean, I don't know how anyone else feels,
but everyone knows my big feather weight.
So for me to make $1.45 safely and smoothly the way I do, I'm super meticulous about my diet.
Everything that I eat is weight or size.
I never eat anything.
If we go out to dinner, I'm bringing my own food.
Like everything is super, super strict and super organized, super discipline.
And that takes a toll on me mentally.
bit like you mean you get cranky you get moody and um the only people that are really gonna gonna get the
shitty end of that is my family so i and i don't want to be that i don't want to be so when i when i
don't have a fight anymore i just want to be normal dad i want to be let's go get to my screen let's go
let's go do this and do that and have to have fun and not have to stress about me making 145 you
mean yeah i i asked that a lot i'm like i don't know how this man makes makes 145 but you do it
so easily like it does i mean it just looks easy i mean i know it's not but it looks easy
you know what I mean?
Yep, I appreciate that.
Yeah, the actual cutting weight part isn't that bad.
The dieting down to a safe weight to be able to cut the weight.
That's the part that just, it's just not fun, man.
And 155 is definitely in my future.
I don't know when, but it's definitely in the future for me.
Yeah, that was going to be my next question, bud.
I know you were suspended indefinitely by the Texas Commission.
And I know you've seen doctors as well.
Like, have you been given like next steps timeframe for like when you can get back in the gym and stuff?
I just saw neurologist two days ago, and she cleared me.
She was surprised when I was telling her.
I had no concussion symptoms whatsoever.
I have no nausea, no lightheadedness, no fogginess, no, no growing up or anything like that.
No light sensitivity, no memory loss.
She's just like, all, and no headaches at all.
She was pretty surprised.
And I guess I'm a little bit of surprised, too, because how she's not surprised she was.
but she said that concussion symptoms can come seven to ten days later.
She's like, I have to go a 10-day mark.
Let me know.
And if you're not having any symptoms, then we don't have to worry about it.
But if you are having any symptoms, we'll come back and do an MRI of your brain to be safe.
But right now, I think you just lay low, hang out.
Don't work out too crazy right now.
Wait for the 10 days past, and then we'll go from there.
So that's what I'm going to do.
That's good news.
I have to say one of my favorite moments of Fight Week, and it warmed my heart to see it,
was that video of Michael Chandler saying,
hey, you want to see who my favorite fighter on the roster is?
And then he goes back and there you are.
Because that was amazing because I know how much admiration you have for him.
What was that like for you knowing that the feelings mutual from Michael as well?
And that was cool, man.
That was super humble of him too.
Like the dude is a really humble guy.
I didn't know him personally.
You know what I mean?
Like I've only talked to him a little bit on Instagram and heard like him shot
to me out where I'm like, I don't know this guy.
And this is pretty fucking humble with him because I've been a fan of his forever.
and to hear he's a fan of mine
that's cool to hear
and then they had that clip
shot on the embedded
that was awesome man
I got a lot of props from that
on Instagram and stuff like that
I was a really cool fucking guy
yeah that was such an amazing moment
I know were you able to like watch
the card at the hospital at all like did you see the main
event? Yeah I did I did
he was a couple
seconds a couple punches maybe away from one in the belt
so wild
and then see to see Oliver bounce back like that
was pretty great such a wild fight
Like, were you starting to get worried?
Like, after watching those, like, first round and a half, like, oh, man, I might not get
fighting that anymore.
Yeah, it definitely was.
I was like, fuck, this is definitely me fighting.
Like, at that point, I didn't watch my fight, so I didn't know how.
Because my fight, my fight was at that point, right?
So, I'm me watching that Chandler fight.
Like, this is a great fight.
I was looking at my coaching my teammate, like, you guys, sure, I still got it?
I was like, I don't know.
Oh, good for you, man.
I'm happy that you got the bones.
I'm happy you're in a good place.
And now I can stop bothering you.
But before you let you go, man, I, I,
I can't even begin to tell you, like, how many people have reached out, like, asking for updates how you're doing.
And I try to, like, send them to your YouTube channel.
And finally, I'm just like, all right, I'll try to get them on the show.
But do you have, like, any message for your fans, like the people have your back that these people that continually ask about you and how you're doing, what do you want to say to those people?
Thank you guys so much from the bottom of my heart.
I mean, especially the ones that I don't know, because it's a little bit weird to have fans.
But the ones I don't know personally, man, thank you guys so much from the bottom of my heart.
I appreciate all the level of support.
and I'm never really going to change when it comes to the way I bring it.
But I'm going to be looking for the kill every single time I fight.
And you guys know what to expect me.
I think that's why the fans love me.
And I'm not going to change that part.
So I appreciate you guys.
Then to my friends, my family, you guys mean the world with me.
You guys know my team.
I love you guys.
And I appreciate you for having me on, man.
With Instacard, you get groceries that over-deliver so you can over-share your preferences.
Want russet potatoes with no brown spots?
You got it.
Want turnips that look light but feel heavy? Easy.
Want honey crisp apples that are firm green and definitely not Macintosh like last year when you lost the fall bakeoff to perfect Penelope Johnson?
Okay, a bit TMI, but we're here for it.
So download the app today and get zero delivery fees on your first three orders.
Instacard, groceries that over deliver.
Service fees exclusions and terms apply.
At Desjardin Insurance, we put the care in taking care of business.
Your business to be exact.
Our agents take the time to understand your company
so you get the right coverage at the right price.
Whether you rent out your building,
represent a condo corporation, or own a cleaning company,
we make insurance easy to understand
so you can focus on the big stuff.
Like your small business.
Get insurance that's really big on care.
Find an agent today at dejjardin.com slash business coverage.
I really can't appreciate Shane Burgos enough.
I mean, this guy, not just because of his fighting style
and just what he brings to the cage every time he fights me.
And the guy is just so exciting to watch.
But he is just a warrior.
And there are probably 100,000 other things he'd rather be doing than coming on this show,
like relacing shoes or walking on hot colds and bare feet.
But he still came on here.
And it was great stuff.
So big thank you to Hurricane Shane Burgos.
And I just realized we're going from one hurricane to another.
So let us transition to our next guest.
off her big win on Friday in scenic, Uncusville, Connecticut.
Here she is, Hannah Guy.
All right, let us welcome in one of the big stars from this past weekend in MMA.
She picked up her first win inside the Bella Torcade.
She did so against Valerie Lareda, unanimous decision victory, made her presence felt at 125 ponds.
Happy to have the hurricane.
Hannah Guy joining us on the program.
Hannah, how are you?
I'm great.
I'm back in this Mississippi heat.
There you go.
congratulations on the win. It was a fantastic performance. No doubt about that.
How does it all feel a few days later? Like has it sunk in what you've accomplished
and I guess the fanfare you've received because of it? Yeah, it's honestly been crazy.
Like my Instagram blew up a whole lot. I mean, I was kind of expecting that win or lose a little
bit. But yeah, just like flooded with so many messages. But not only from just that,
but from all my friends and family, just like, I don't know,
them sending their reactions like of during the fight was really special to me
because a lot of them weren't able to be there,
which I always have, you know, bring a big crowd to my fights
and I just wasn't able to, obviously, this time.
So that was like really special to be able to, like,
watch all their reactions and everything.
But, yeah, it still hasn't really sunk in, I feel like,
because, like, I slept most of the day Saturday,
and every time I woke up, it was just like,
whoa, did that really happen?
Like, super weird.
It's funny because, like, those who had been aware of you,
and you mentioned, you know, your friends and family
and those watching you compete in your region
from even as early as your amateur days,
not many surprised folks out there
that you were able to go in there
and get a win like that against Valerie.
But I was kind of surprised because, you know,
I'd watch some film on you.
I was aware of you.
but I was surprised you were such a massive underdog heading into that fight.
I think the odds makers had you at a 4-1 underdog or something to that effect.
Were you aware that all the odds makers saw you as such a big dog heading into this fight?
Yeah, I didn't know it was going to be like that big of an underdog.
Like I knew they were bringing me in because they thought Valerie can beat me.
Like I was pretty sure.
But, you know, I mean, we practiced all camp, how to get to the hips.
and like whether I wanted to stand or not,
which I hate that my striking wasn't showcased as well as like what it really is
because it's gotten so much better this camp.
And I'm not sure if it was like the big show lights or whatever.
But my striking is like way better than what I showed you guys on Friday.
But, you know, my wrestling and juditsu were still there, thankfully.
So, but yeah, I was pretty confident.
I was going to get it to the ground.
So I was, I guess because all the people she's fought haven't been able to connect to her hips and might get her to the ground, even though they were grapplers.
So maybe that's why they thought I would be the same way.
But there really hasn't been anyone that I haven't taken down before, even if they had good wrestling defense.
So I think they just overlooked me, which is fine.
I won some people some money, you know.
There you go.
Do you know, like what the biggest amount was that that you won?
somebody? Somebody told me, I don't know if they're like being honest, but they said they put like
10 grand down. What? Yeah, but I'm not sure that that's true. Like somebody actually put a thousand down,
so they made a good bit. But there you go, most people like 500 or 100, you know, something like that.
That's pretty darn impressive. Hopefully they give you a little piece of that. I think that you would deserve that for sure.
So were there like, did you experience some nerves heading in?
Like I'm sure you're nervous for every fight.
There has to be like some of that, those butterflies at least.
But were you feeling, you know, a little more nervous considering the stage, you know, being on the main card, etc.
Yeah.
Honestly, the closer to the fight it got, the better it was.
Like right when I woke up, I was pretty anxious that day on Friday.
And like as we got closer and closer to time, because I couldn't even report down to start wrapping my hands.
hands until seven, which, I mean, it was just a sit around and wait game all day.
And then even at seven, I had two hours to warm up, wrap hands.
So I had plenty of time to just wait around still until nine.
So as it got closer to time, the nerves really started to go away more and more.
It was just like time to actually do what I knew how to do, you know, so.
things
got a little hairy early in the fight
because obviously you know
you come out pretty aggressive
Valerie lands that combination
lands the left hook that that dropped you
and you seem to recover pretty quickly
when she let you back to your feet
and then you took her down not long after that
but was that just a
was that like a hey good shot kid
kind of a knockdown or were you in some trouble there
it got me because
honestly I don't remember
that making me fall to my butt
so I think I was
out for a second, but I
do remember landing on my butt.
And so, like, that's when I came to,
I guess, for a second.
So I was, you know, fine once I hit
my butt, but yeah, she
connected. She got me that
one second.
So I guess I wasn't in trouble for a second,
but in the past, I have a pretty
strong trend, and it showed
in that, I guess, you know.
Had you been dropped
like that before in a fight?
Not to where I
actually dropped, no, which is surprising because I feel like I've fought way better people than
Valerie as far as like power in their hands and just skill in general. Like I thought her teammate
Kayla, really, really good boxer. I fought Gina Gooden. She was like number one in the southeast as
amateur, super strong. And I've had, you know, I've seen white or whatever in fights many times.
but I guess that time it just kind of dropped me to my butt
and I think it may have been the nerves
just with all the big lights and everything too
that does add a factor
so who knows
I don't really know
I mean the fight was despite the knockdown
the fight was very close to being finished on your end
in the final minute because you locked in that arm bar
it was nasty and then in the second round
you had her in big trouble again because you monitor
you had her arm trapped and you just landed
those big shots, the punches in the elbows, and the referee was so close to stepping in there
and stopping it, but she tuffed her way out of it. Were you surprised at how tough she was,
and how she was able to escape some of those really difficult spots that you put her in?
I mean, I know at this level you have to be tough, but I was surprised that she didn't tap
to the arm bar because I had it multiple times. And as you can see, her social media,
like, she's cast it up. So, I mean, she was a lot tougher than I'm.
thought she would be. I expected toughness. I always do. Um, but yeah, she was definitely tougher than
I thought she would be for sure, especially on the ground. Yeah, the, the first round was obviously
very close. It could have gone either way. I know one judge gave it to you and the other two gave it
to Valerie. And heading into the third round, Valerie's corner gave her a lot of tough love saying, you know,
stop with the spinning stuff. They were very honest with her. So I'm curious what the advice was like
on your end between the second and third rounds,
I wasn't sure how your corner was looking at the fight,
how it was being scored in that stuff.
Yeah, honestly, don't remember a ton.
It was just like a big of journaling rush,
but I do know after the first round,
my coach was like,
she most likely won that round.
You definitely have to win this round,
and if it goes to the third, the third round.
So he was like,
you're not really like punching how you need.
to be, so just shoot.
If you need to just shoot, just do that.
Because it really does suck because, like, I don't know what was going on mentally there,
but my striking has gotten so much better, and it really sucks that I wasn't able to show that
or utilize that because it even made my wrestling not look as good because I've been
setting a lot of my shots up with, you know, punches like you should.
But anyways, but I do remember him saying I lost the first round, and I think after the
second round, he was like, just do what you keep doing, just keep taking her down, keep hurting her.
You know, if you can get a finish, get a finish, whatever.
But he was more encouraging after the second round when I did.
Yeah.
Like, after the first round, like I was talking to one of my colleagues on our Slack channel,
and we were both just like, Valerie's arm is done.
Like, she couldn't really, like, lift it up as much anymore.
I mean, she put on a poker face for sure and tried to battle through it.
But did you notice that as well that, like, her arm was, was in jeopardy there?
Yeah, I mean, I thought I heard it, but I actually didn't notice as far as like her striking goes that she was having issues with it.
I didn't notice that.
But I just thought maybe she was double-jointed and it didn't bother her for what.
Because I fought a girl like that one time and the ref stopped it because it was like going completely the other way and she still wasn't tapping and he was just worried about safety.
But I don't know.
Yeah, she was really tough.
So I can say.
You finished the fight on top in a dominant position, which pretty much sealed it for you.
But you know how MMA can be and how the judging can go.
And so when Michael C. Williams is announcing, you know, who won the fight, are you nervous at all?
Or did you feel pretty confident?
Like, if I lose this fight, it's a total hose job by the judges.
Yeah.
I don't know.
In the moment, I'm always like, well, I shouldn't leave it in the judges.
But I'm hoping for the best right now.
I did feel like, you know, it went my way the rest of the time, second, third round.
But I know there may be something I'm missing at the time in the moment or whatever.
So I always think something may have gone wrong, you know, something.
So I wasn't sure which way it would go.
But when I heard the scoring on the first round that all three judges gave it to somebody,
or one of the judges gave all three rounds to somebody, I was just like, oh, well,
Maybe I did win.
Yeah, I'm sure hearing the 3027, we probably felt a little bit better.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
I have to tell you, the Hannah guy, little dance move at the end after you got the decision,
it stole a lot of hearts, Hannah.
It's been a very popular move throughout this past weekend amongst the staff here at
M.A. Funding.
I know our producer Casey who's on the line right now, just loves doing the dance.
He's been doing it like on every live stream.
We've been doing it afterwards.
You kind of stole his heart along the way.
Is there a name for this dance move yet?
No.
I don't guess so.
I was just being my goofy self.
Have you seen that gift like going crazy?
Yeah, I've seen it a little bit.
Some people have been sitting that to me.
Just crack it up.
It's so awesome.
And you obviously you have received a lot of praise for your win.
And on the other end, Valerie's been taking a bit of a beating on social media.
And I'm sure you know this.
The sport can be pretty tough when it comes to some of the fans.
And I know she's probably used to getting some of that hate and getting chastised.
But like yourself, being so young in your career, personally, I think it's a little bit unfair with her being so young and same if it happened to you.
But have you kind of noticed some of the harshness that she's gotten?
And if so, how do you kind of react to all of that?
Yeah.
I mean, I can't be on her Instagram just all the time being like, no, she's great, whatever.
But, you know, I definitely think people just don't understand the sport and they have no right to say anything.
Even if she is like a terrible fighter, which I don't think she is.
Even if she was, she's still getting in the cage.
I'm like, you know, calling people who just are talking shit on social media.
Like, nobody has a right.
to say anything, I think that's kind of messed up that, you know, people were just sitting all that hate.
When the other day, people were like, you know, whatever, saying, oh, you're going to knock her out, whatever.
Like, people are just so finicky and it's ridiculous.
Yeah, it's a rough sport.
It definitely could be a rough sport at times.
But it'll be fine.
Yeah.
Whatever.
Those fans don't matter anyways.
When you signed for this fight, was this a one-fight thing, or did you sign a multi-fight deal with them?
Yeah, it was a one-fight.
Hey, lady.
Yeah, it was a one-fight deal, so we'll kind of see if Bellator wants me back or whoever.
So I talked to my manager last night, and he said he would kind of explain to Bellator, like, what I wanted.
and he was going to make sure that, you know, whatever we signed or agreed to is exactly what I wanted for my future.
And so he's taking good care of me, making sure that, you know, whatever happens is going to be definitely my favor and help me out.
So we'll see.
We'll see if they even want me back or whatever.
I feel like I probably upset him a little bit, just, you know, beating their super.
superstar, but whatever.
Did you talk to Scott Coker
anybody after the fight?
No.
I just had my post-fight interview,
and then, you know, that was about it.
Got paid and then just left the next morning.
So I haven't really talked to anybody
on the Bellas, Bellator side at all.
Yes.
Of course, your manager that you're speaking of
is the legendary Matt Weibel,
great guy, set this all up.
And good to, I know he was very happy
after Friday night because not only you,
but Jolil Willis also got a victory on the card.
But say if Bellator does resign you,
and I think,
or at least add fights to the contract,
which I think they'd be kind of crazy not to do at this point.
Is there any sort of matchups that stick out to you?
Is there like,
and even if you don't resign with Bellator,
any sort of date stick out to you as far as like when you want to get back
and fight again?
Yeah,
I think I would definitely want to fight again before the end of the year.
You know, I don't,
sometimes I get burned out if I do like more than,
to a year or if they're too close together.
So I definitely would like some time.
And not only time to just relax a little bit mentally,
but because I'll still be training.
But also to work on stuff and kind of figure out where that mental block is
as far as my striking goes.
So that under that kind of pressure, I can really show, like,
show my striking off and utilize it a little bit more.
So maybe take some boxing matches if I need to kickboxing, whatever,
just to get more comfortable on my feet.
because I know I have so much more growth to go.
So no matchups stick out to me necessarily,
but I would like to fight before the end of the year for sure.
And last thing before I let you go,
I have to say kudos to you on the walkout song selection
because I think I was in sixth grade
when Gangsa's Paradise came out from the great Kulio.
And it was off the soundtrack of like one of just,
just an awful movie, Dangerous Minds, Michelle Fipers, and that.
But that song, when it comes,
came out was so massive. It was huge. So it kind of like brought me back to the days where
life was a little bit easier, Hannah. Is there, is there a story behind that song and why you chose
it as your walkout? No, I love like old school, like hip hop, but, um, you know, I don't know.
That song just gets me high, but it also kind of like chills me out at the same time.
I can't walk out to something that's like too, too high because my nerves are kind of like
get a little too going.
So,
but yeah,
I just like the song.
So that's where I walk out to.
Big thank you to Hannah Guy for the time.
I really think Belich short,
I really,
excuse me,
I really think Belator should probably go ahead
and ink her up for a few more fights.
She went in there,
spoiled the party a little bit for them.
And there's been precedent sent for that.
A lot of times,
fighters get brought over.
The promotion,
you know, maybe leaning one way.
I'm not saying they're rooting for fighters,
but Valerie Lill Raiders become a star for them.
They probably were confident that Valerie would probably get the win.
And that's how you build prospects.
But Hannah went in there and spoiled the party,
and hopefully they give her another shot in there.
I think she deserves it.
But we're going to go ahead and wrap this one up.
Just a reminder, normal schedule of shows this week.
Next week, no on to the next one on the podcast network on Sunday.
A.K. and I are taking the weekend off since there's no UFC, no Bellator. The last time there was no UFC event. There was a Bellator card. So we turned on to the next one to a Bellator show. But we don't even have that this week. So A.K. and I, we're going to take a Sunday off. And then we'll be back the following weekend after the Jarzina Rosen Strike versus Augusto Sakai card on June 5th. This show next week will drop a day later on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. And then everything else stays the same. Plus, well, the normal UFC.
live shows as well. But that's that. So big thank you to all of you for checking up the show.
Big thank you to Casey Leiden on the production. Big thank you to Jose and Alex on the social side.
We are going to leave you with my conversation with Danny Sabatelo coming off his big win on Friday.
Have a heck of a week, everybody.
All right. So for those of you familiar with the history of this program, it is pretty rare that we bring guests on back-to-back weeks.
But you know what? The people demanded it. The M.A. Fighting staff demanded it.
Our producer Casey Lydden demanded it.
So we got to give the people what they want.
Let us say hello once again to Danny Sabatello,
who went into Mohican Sun Arena at Bellator 259 on less of a week's notice and dominated.
Brett John swept the scorecards and put the entire Banimate division on notice.
Danny, congratulations.
How are you, man?
Thanks, man.
Doing fucking great.
How are you doing?
I'm doing great.
You're looking like a couple Billy right now with the shades on.
How you feel, man?
It's been a few days.
you let it all digest, but something tells me that you didn't really have to digest much because
you knew this is going to happen. You went in there and did exactly what you said you were going to do.
How does it all feel a few days later? Yeah, it all feels good. I think it's all kind of sunken in now.
You know, I've always like dreamt of doing that and putting on a performance like that after,
under the circumstances that happened and all that. But to go out there and actually like execute
that game plan and to have it all go in my favor that night was just awesome.
You know, I said that I was going to go in there and beat the shit out of that guy.
A lot of people thought that I was crazy for saying that.
You know, Brett Johns has a long list of guys that he's just whooped up on.
And I made him my bitch, essentially, you know, with all due respect to him.
And it was just awesome, man.
I'm just really happy right now.
What was the rest of Fight Week like for you taking this on shirt?
I know you were in quarantine when we spoke.
And I know how horrifying that can be.
You just want to get out of the damn room.
But you can't until you get that email saying you're clear and ready to go.
but the rest of the week, like the weight cut and everything, taking the fight on such short notice,
what was that like the rest of the week heading into the fight?
Yeah, fight weeks suck, to be honest with you.
Just because the whole protocols with Corona and all that, there's not much you can do to cut weight,
especially right when I got there, which was Sunday.
I had quarantine for 24 hours.
So I'm in my hotel room and I'm a boat load over, you know, so I'm just like shadow boxing,
jumping rope in my hotel room, trying to get this damn weight off.
So, you know, it sucks with all the protocols that you need to do.
But, I mean, if that's necessary to fight, then you got to do it.
I went into that fight week knowing that the toughest part about that trip is going to be the weight cut, you know, cutting all that weight.
And that short amount of time is just a not fun thing to fucking do.
But I got it done because I'm a champ like that.
And then I performed like one.
How much weight did you actually have to cut?
Like when you got to Mohican on Sunday, what was your weight at?
Well, I know the commission doesn't like it when you cut a ton of weight.
And I don't know if they're listening right now.
So if I gave a number and they didn't like it, they could find me.
So I'll just say it was around a pound, maybe two pounds.
Fair enough.
All right.
There you go.
You came in ready to go and cutting two pounds probably sucks.
And I'll let it stand there.
This was overall a pretty big deal.
Like I knew you felt like this would happen.
but it doesn't take away the fact that, you know, Brett's a pretty good name to have on your resume.
Does that, that obviously means something to you, right?
Or is it not as sweet because you felt that it would go that way?
Like expectations to what it feels like now, is it kind of like weighing evenly for you?
Or how does it, you know what I'm saying?
Yeah, absolutely.
This is definitely the feeling that I thought I would have.
And it's probably the best feeling that you can have as a fighter, you know, these fighters envision something that they want and they work for it and they train for it and they sacrifice for.
and I did all that.
And then you go out there and you actually do it, it's the greatest feeling ever.
You know, this is what I wanted.
This is the exact type of shit that I worked for.
And to get it done, to go out there and perform, I just wish that there was fans in there.
I'm sure a lot of them would have been booing me, which I love as well, you know,
boo me.
That's fine.
Go fuck yourselves too.
So I wish I had the fans, but anything other than that, it was a perfect trip.
what did you take away from the first bellator experience like outside of the wind was there any part of the ambiance like getting the introduction in that cage the stage was like was there anything that made you feel like you know what that was that was pretty damn cool yeah you know belator is very professional i love fighting for them
I was blown away by everything that they did for us.
You know, they treat us like kings over there.
I was very happy with that.
You know, I kind of had a feeling that that was going to be the case
because a lot of guys at ATT fight at Bellator.
They're always talking about how awesome it is.
So I was very looking forward to that.
They executed on their end.
And then one other thing that I'd say I was a little bit surprised was
how calm I was before the fight.
Before the fight in the Octagon, when I came into the cage,
I was just really calm and just still so confident that I was going to smash this motherfucker.
And then when he came in, he came in screaming.
And I don't know if you guys could see it on the on the feet or not, but he was screaming.
And that kind of even gave me a little bit more edge knowing that, you know what,
this guy's fucking 17 and 2.
And he's screaming trying to get himself hyped up like it's a movie.
You know, it put more confidence in my mind that, wow, man, I'm calm as a cucumber in here.
And he's going berserk.
this is my time.
Yeah.
Do you think there's a part of that?
I mean, I'm not saying like every fighter, like, listens to all the interviews I do,
but there were some clips that came out from that interview that made its way on
Instagram and got a lot of traction and a lot of views.
Do you think there's a chance that maybe he saw what you said about him and maybe that
fired him up a little more, try to take some of that confidence level down for you a
little bit?
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, I talk my trash because it's fun to me, but it's also kind of mind games.
It's mental warfare in here as well.
I said a couple things to him face-to-face at the face-off that I think got in his mind
and he didn't really know how to handle it.
But man, a lot goes into fighting and a lot goes into the fight before the fight that people
don't understand.
You know, people are going to be saying, oh, I'm so disrespectful with my trash talk,
but they're fucking retired.
They don't get it, you know, they don't understand what's going on here.
When I talk my trash, it's a little bit to get in my opponent's head.
And I think I got in that guy's head.
What did you say to him when you guys were facing off after the way-ins?
I just let him know we should get some fishing chips afterwards.
Okay. Did you get some FaceTime with the big boss after the fight or anybody in the Bellator Brass at all?
No, I didn't. I really wanted to talk to Scott Coker and, you know, kind of just formally introduced myself and meet him, see what he thought about the performance and all that.
But I'm sure along the line, I'm going to meet him here soon.
But, yeah, I would love to talk to Scott.
Did Bert Watson get you hyped up?
Dude, Bert Watson is the man.
I've never really been around him.
I've always heard stories about him, how energetic he is and awesome.
Dude, that guy is pumping up the fighters the whole fight week.
It's awesome.
That guy's my favorite.
He's the man.
I was so happy when they brought him on board.
It was such a good call, man.
Like, such a good guy underrated.
And I know a lot of the guys that were formerly in the UFC that got to work with him that
are in Bellator now are just so happy that he's around, man.
So that was the first time you really got to.
like feel that energy from him. Yeah, and I loved it, dude. I know he might not be everybody's cup of tea,
I guess, but he is so passionate and so energetic before the face off. So we're all standing there.
And he has given us maybe like a 10 minute hype up session. And I loved it. I mean, I was like
looking around to see if the other fighters were kind of feeling it. And it really for the most part
seemed like everybody was loving it. I mean, that guy, that guy's awesome. Yeah. It was a it's funny because like
right you were mentioning how some of your teammates at ATT were telling you like dude come to
Bellator it's awesome and like probably two or three hours after I talked to you I talked to Austin
Vanderford and he was like yeah man I told him to come and when you found out that you got
the spot he was like F yeah like so when you got the opportunity and you both went in there and got
wins like that must have been a pretty cool moment to share that with him because he was one of
the guys that really helped you make that decision like dude take this Bellator opportunity
you're going to love it. Yeah, definitely. Austin's the man. He's a really good friend of mine down here.
Ever since he moved, I was pretty pumped that he joined the team at ATT. And I'm very happy that
he won. I was slamming shots watching him tear that guy up Friday night. That was awesome.
But yeah, there's not just him. There's Cody Law. There's Dalton Rosto. There's Johnny Ablin.
You know, the list goes on, Sabahomasi. There's so many Bellator killers at ATT. And we've really all kind of talked
about how much we love this promotion and the sky's the limit for really all of us.
You know, we're all kind of like looking out for each other.
We feel like we're a team of killers.
I think we went three and one because Alex Chabilly also won on Friday night.
It was another ATT stud.
So, you know, ATT's coming to takeover, Bellator.
I loved watching the fight because Marnello was essentially taking the transcripts from our conversation
saying, like, look at this guy.
He's coming out on his first fight.
He's going to expletive up our champion, Sergio Pettis, but he's got to go in there and beat this guy first.
And, you know, you felt like you could F up most of the guys in this division.
And then you took it to Instagram after the fight and you kept your message very simple.
And you just said, you're all left.
You're all in big trouble.
Like, I'm not going to say that word if you want to say go right ahead.
But yeah.
Why just those three words?
I just want them to know that, man, I'm not, I'm not messing around.
And I know everyone, you know, talks trash at some point.
point, I'm going to keep talking trash because I know how good I am. You know, I didn't even have a
fight in the promotion and I'm already calling out the champion. That's probably never been fucking
done before. But I say that because it's the truth. And honestly, it's not really even trash talk.
I say I'm going to fuck up Sergio Pettis. That's not trash talk. That's just a fact. If we fight,
I will fuck that guy up. So I think the whole, uh, the whole Bantamweight Division is
fucked because I don't know who I'm going to fight. You know, I anticipate a lot of guys trying to duck
me, but you know, you can only duck me for so long. I don't know who my next fight is against.
I don't know who I'm going to fight in two fights or three fights. So I'm just letting them all know.
It doesn't matter which one of you guys it is. You're all fucked. I saw during the post-fight
interview you did with the media, you called out Jornell Lugo and Josh Hill. Is that accurate?
And if so, why those two gentlemen? Yeah, so I don't think I'm going to get Sergio or Juan right off the get go.
that's just kind of the way it goes.
And then Higo and Darian Caldwell just fought, so I don't really know their timeline.
You know, I know a lot of people are pussies, and they don't really like fighting actively throughout the year, you know.
So they might want to take a little bit of time off.
I know Patrick Mix and James Gallagher are having their little pussy-ass game of who's going to keep backing out first.
So I don't know if they're fighting each other or what.
And then just went down the list, really, that ended up on Josh Hill and Jornel Lugar.
go, you know, because I do want another ranked opponent next fight.
I think I deserve another ranked opponent.
And those two names just made sense, you know, and I also see myself fucking up
either of those guys.
You know, I didn't want to just call out one person because I figured, you know what,
they're probably going to duck me.
So I call out two people.
Chances are I land one of them.
So whichever one of those bitches, it doesn't matter.
You've become like a topic of conversation since our chat last week.
like even in some of the live chats that we've done,
people have been asking about you.
And whether they like you or not,
I guess like the question I keep having for anybody is like,
no matter who it is,
whether it's Sergio or Archerletta or Apache Mix or any of these guys,
if you get these guys on their back,
it's going to be so hard for them to get up.
Like they can like your style,
hate it no matter what.
You get a guy on the ground,
it's going to be very difficult for them to get back to their feet.
So like, who can stop that right now?
Like, is there anybody in this?
And I'm not saying that to like pump your tires or anything like that.
I'm just actually curious at this point.
Like who in this Belator Abandonweight Division can get off their back if you're on top of them?
None of them.
Nobody can.
And I saw Hugo's fight.
He was fighting off his back, that whole fight.
You know, he spends more time on his back than my ex-girlfriend.
It's crazy.
You know, I'm going to take these guys down and they're not going to be able to stop it.
And even if I don't take them down because maybe I want to play along on the feet,
then they're screwed on their.
feet. You know, I could fight these guys all on my feet, but the problem is fighting a little bit
on the feet is just a little bit more risky. You know, the margin for air on the feet isn't very,
isn't as much as it is on the ground. So I take it to the ground because I know once I take it
to the ground, this is a done deal, man. I'm going to smash these fucking guys. You know,
they're dead. I take you down, fights over. Done. You're not getting out. That's it. You're
getting punches and elbows to the face. Maybe a submission doesn't matter. So to answer your question,
none of them can stop it.
You look at it stylistically.
Sergio Pettis, I mean, you could try to sprawl on me.
It's just not going to work.
Yeah, they're all fucked.
What do you look like, what have you made of Daring Caldwell?
I know you mentioned that fight a couple of times.
And I feel like with the athleticism he has, some of the gifts that he has and a lot of fighters don't.
Like, he should be a lot of people feel like he should be a world champion right now.
But for some reason, there's just something holding him back.
Do you have an answer to that?
question. Like, do you know what might be wrong with him at this point? Like, he's, he's so good.
Like, we've seen flashes of brilliance from him, but it just seems like these last few fights.
I don't know, man. Yeah, he should be better than he is. And especially against the guy like
Hugo, who kind of sucks. You know, he should be beating that guy. People don't understand
how mental this sport is, man. You know, you can have all the physical gifts, but if you don't have
it up here, forget about it. It doesn't matter. You're not going to accomplish.
anything. So, you know, I don't really necessarily want to say what's wrong with his fighting. I don't know, you know, who knows nobody has an answer, but it's definitely got to be a little bit mental, you know, but once he figures out the mental side, that guy can be pretty good, you know, he might be second best in the way class. I don't know. But, yeah, he's got to find it mentally, as do a lot of fighters, man. A lot of people have a lot of talent in the sport and they just don't have it mentally. And the mental part is the most important part, you know, if you, if you're not
confident and you don't have it put together mentally and you're not ready to go in there for war
and accepted all consequences, accepted that you might win, you might lose, you might get knocked out,
you might die. Once you accept that, man, it's easy. You're going there. You're calm,
but you got to love that shit. When did you learn that lesson? Is that something like you've always
had or is that something you've had to sort of learn and teach yourself along the way?
Yeah, I've had this my whole life. You know, I've been kind of a fighter my whole life. I've been
fight in my whole life. You know, obviously you don't want the dangers to come with the sport,
but that's kind of what the sport, what makes the sport that good is the dangers that come
with it. I've always been kind of a passionate, you know, motivated, energetic type of person,
and you could also see that in my fighting. You know, I've just always kind of had that chip.
You know, I just, the bottom line is I just love beating the shit out of people. That's,
it's really simple. Any sort of time frame when we're looking to get the sophomore appearance
the Bellator cage?
Yeah, hopefully sooner than later, man.
You know, again, I, I like fighting, and I'm a very active fighter.
I like having four fights a year.
You know, half of fighters are pussies.
They fight one time a year, and then they fucking bounce.
Who knows where the fuck they go.
They don't really like fighting.
I love fighting.
I want to fight ASAP.
I will fight tomorrow.
I will fight in the street.
Doesn't matter to me.
So I'm thinking August, my ideal timeframe would be Jornell, Lugo, or Josh Hill,
and August.
That would be perfect.
There you go.
And you've sent the message to the Bannamweight Division at Bellator already.
Danny, congratulations, man.
You come on here, you say these things, and some people might have a problem with it.
But when you go out there and you back it up the way that you did, there's not much people can say.
So congratulations.
Can't wait to see it again, man.
And when that happens, you've got to come back on here.
We'll make this sort of a ritual at this point because if I don't, our producer is going to be very upset with me.
So thank you for the time.
I congratulations on a great performance once again.
Thanks again, bro.
You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.
