MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 63 | Colby Covington, Lauren Murphy, Terrance McKinney & Eryk Anders

Episode Date: June 15, 2021

This week on What the Heck, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck chats with Colby Covington (7:24) about the latest on the potential rematch with Kamaru Usman, Leon Edwards' win over Nate Diaz at UFC 263, and more. Lauren Murphy (38:08) recaps her UFC 263 win over Joanne Calderwood and states her case for a title shot against Valentina Shevchenko. Terrance McKinney (1:04:07) reflects on his 7-second KO win at UFC 263 and how a crazy night in 2015 changed his life forever. Finally, Eryk Anders (1:19:41) discusses his decision win over Darren Stewart at UFC 263. 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

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 on MMAfighting.com. I am Mike Heck. Thank you for having us on.

And man, oh man, is there a lot going on in the world of MMA, especially with what came out of this past weekend in our great sport. We have a new Bellator, Welterweight champion in Yaroslav Amosov. He defeats Douglas Lima. One-way traffic. I mean, Amoslav's wrestling was on display. Douglas Lima just had no answer for it. And we get a new champion.

So congratulations to Yaroslav Amasov. A lot of people in the crowd supporting him. It was a crazy night at Mohican son. I was there to witness it all. I was also there to witness another incredible performance from one Aaron Pico, that man is on fire right now. Buy all the Aaron Pico stock you can because right now it's probably as low as it's going to get.

Aidan Lee is a tough dude, legit fighter, and Aaron Pico just ran circles around him. Tons of takedowns, just dominance, nasty body shots, nasty striking, nasty submissions, scrambles on the ground. The guy is the real deal. I'm very intrigued to see what is next for him. He called for the rematch with Adam Borch. I am down. let's make it happen. I'm in. Of course, Saturday, UFC 263 in Glendale, Arizona, a lot coming out of that event.

We will touch on some of that on the program this week. We have a brand new UFC flyway champion of the world in Brandon Moreno. What a moment for the assassin baby. One of my favorite moments in the history of mixed martial arts. Like really just unbelievable. It's one of those. It was a FOMO moment for sure. If there's been very, there's been very, few moments covering the sport from home where I was like, man, I really wish I was there for that. That was one of those moments. And yes, for the many of you who have asked, who have DM'd, I have reached out and I will be speaking with the new flyway champion of the world later on today, actually, as you get this episode, it is Tuesday.

Later on today, I will be speaking to the new champion. So get ready for that. After that, Israel Adasania successfully defended his middle. weight title against Martin Vittori. He made it look pretty easy. It was a dominant performance. I will props to Martin Vittori, no doubt about it, for his durability, his toughness in that fight.

And he had his moments. He did. But in the end, Adasania, just a bit too much. But there's no shame in that because Adasani's been a bit too much for pretty much everybody he has fought inside that middleweight division. And then before the two title fights, Leon Edwards versus Nate Diaz, dominant performance for Leon Edwards. And then all of a sudden, we were moments away from one of the craziest endings to a fight in a very long time.

Nate Diaz stings Leon Edwards, puts him on wobbly legs, had him badly hurt. It was so close, so close to finishing that fight. But in the end, Edwards gets a decision win. He survives. And a lot of the talk is about Nate Diaz, those last two minutes, it was the Diaz show. People tend to forget those last 23 minutes of the fight. But there's one thing that I kind of thought about earlier today as I record this. As amazing as those last two minutes, 90 seconds were,

where everybody was on their feet in their home, in the arena, all wondering, like, could this really happen? Could this really happen? I give so much credit to Leon Edwards for hanging in there. Because, again, he was badly hurt. And here's another thing. most times where Nate Diaz has somebody hurt like that, Connor McGregor is a prime example of this,

and there have been others who have done the same thing, what is sort of the inclination? What is sort of the first thing that fighters do when they're rocked like that, when the other fighter who did the damage gives them a little space? What's the first thing you do? You try to shoot for a takedown. And Nate Diaz loves when that happens. In fact, he welcomes it.

then he can transition to his nasty jiu-jitsu, which you don't see that often, except for those moments, and for Leon Edwards to have the wherewithal, to not do that, to just get in survival mode, to somehow stay in that fight, he deserves a lot of credit for that.

He deserves a lot of credit for a lot of different things, and the tough question is now, what is next for him? It is super difficult to answer because he has done enough to earn a title shot. In fact, he has done enough, like three wins ago to earn a title shot. But Colby's the guy right now.

And as impressive as he was in different moments of that fight, slicing Nate up, he looked great. He looked like a world beater for 23 minutes. I just didn't think he would be able to jump the queue anyways unless he knocked Nate out in the first minute of that fight. But it was a great win, only gets him one step closer for the title. And if it's up to him, his next fight is. for the belt. If he wants to sit and wait, his next fight should be for the

Walterweight title. The question is, does he want to wait that long? And that's why we're in the situation we're in right now. But a lot to get to this week on the program. Let us run down the lineup. And we will get to our first guest. One of those, an individual who probably has something to say about where Leon Edwards fits in this division if you catch my drift. We'll wrap things up with Eric Anders. You boy, got back in the wind column on Saturday with the decision win over Darren Stewart. It was a rematch from their prior fight that ended in a no contest. Eric Anders will recap that performance and some of the other cool stuff that came out of this week as well.

Terrence McKinney made an amazing impact in his short notice UFC debut. His second first round stoppage win in eight days. He knocks out Matt Frivolta in just seven seconds on Saturday. A historical knockout. What a performance it was for Terrence McKinney. He will join us coming out of UFC 263. what an incredible story he has. He will join us a bit later on.

Lauren Murphy looks to be next for Valentina Schofchenko in the UFC Women's Flyway title. She got the win on Saturday against Joanne Calderwood. It was a split decision. It was a close fight. It was a very competitive fight. There's got to be no doubt at this point. There are no more hurdles.

Lauren Murphy is the number one contender. Her next fight should be against Valentina Schifchenko, and it should be for the UFC flyway title. We will get Lauren's reaction to the win. Schifchenko as a probable next opponent and much more. But first, a lot to discuss with the former UFC interim welterweight champion. Dana White said heading into UFC 263, he said it again coming out of UFC 263, that this man is next for Kamara Usman, his rematch for his opportunity to once again.

Actually, he's never become the actual undisputed champion, but he's got another opportunity. It looks like, let's hear from right now, Colby Covington. Let us welcome back to the program, a man whose name was mentioned many times in the build to UFC 263 this past Saturday. It was mentioned after UFC 263 as well because according to Dana White, no matter what happened on Saturday, the number one contender for the UFC welterway title is won Colby KS Covington. He joins us right now on the show. Colby, how are you, man? I'm doing great, Mike. It's good to talk to you again.

It's been a great journey being able to talk to you and, you know, coming from the bottom to the absolute. absolute top of the sport. You know, it's, it's great and a pleasure to always talk business with you. Appreciate the kind words. There's, as always, a lot to discuss with you, sir. First off, we spoke a couple of days after Kamara Usman's knocko win over Jorge Mazadol. Dana White said that night that you would be next for Usman. He stated once more after Saturday's event that you're still next for Usman. So I guess right off the bat, where are we at in the negotiations for this highly anticipated rematch between you and Kamara Usman? Yeah, my side's finished, Mike. You know, my side's already pretty much signed, sealed, and delivered.

They're just waiting on Marty, you know, ever since, you know, he beat that fragile dude, Street Judas Mossfidol, he's been running, you know, but he just found out. There's no more, there's nowhere left to hide, Mike, and he's going to have to face me inside that octagon sooner than later. So, you know, as soon as Marty, you know, his balls, you know, stop shrinking and he comes back to Earth, you know, he can fight me again. But the thing is, he's off the grid. He's hiding right now.

He's probably got his phone on airplane mode. He's denying all the UFC's calls, you know, so he doesn't want to sign the contract. He's just hoping some alien invasion happens where he can just pick some other lightweight washout to fight again. But now he knows there's nowhere else for him to go. It's me and him. Round two. Too much controversy in the first fight, Mike. I don't care what anybody says.

You know, you can't claim to be this champion. You can't claim to be this great and all-time great fighter if you don't prove the doubters wrong and prove the fans right. You didn't win that fight fairly the first time. And here we go, round two. Usman Covington, round two. I can't wait for it to happen. It's only up to him when it's going to happen. It might take a couple months.

It might take, who knows, maybe a year by the time he signs a contract. But it will happen. It's going to happen. And the UFC has reassured me of that. It's funny when people talk about this fight and trying to get to put it together. It's always, well, if they can come to terms with Colby, if the UFC and Colby can come to terms on this, How are you happy with the negotiations?

Do you feel like the UFC is approaching you with this fight the way that you feel like you deserve? Yeah, definitely. The UFC has came at me right. And, you know, I'm happy with it. But this is the opportunity that propels me to another level within sports and within the MMA world in general. So, you know, I'm looking forward to taking that opportunity and running with it and stealing the show and creating a spectacle for all the fans around the world. And, you know, this is going to lead to bigger and better fights in the future

and my cut of the pay-per-view, which is what I want more than anything. Have there been any discussions in regards to when this fight might happen? Have we gotten that far yet? Oh, you know, I know they were pushing for August, September originally. So that's what I'm hoping for, you know, at the latest. You know, I'm ready to go today. Me and Marty could fight tomorrow. But, you know, the thing is is he needs to get his new chemist to give him the proper

for shots, you know, to get all juiced up and so he can fight me again because that juice box knows he can't fight me, you know, fair and clean. He's got to be cheating to fight me, but it's not going to make a difference, Mike. He can do all the steroids, all the EPO in the world because he is the CEO of EPO, but it doesn't matter. Marty Juiceman, I'm going to end his career and I'm going to break his soul. Do you feel like he was on something for that first fight? No question. I mean, if you look at the acne, I mean, he's almost a 40-year-old guy, mid-30s. got acne all over your face, all over your shoulders, all over your back. Come on, man. We're not in high school anymore. We didn't just hit puberty. We're grown adults. We're grown men. So it's just

that's too sketchy, Mike. And I've heard a lot of bad stories from some of the friends that he trained with in the past of Blacksilians, you know, and guys that went their own way. And they've said kind of the same thing. They're like, he's definitely doing steroids. So we all know he doesn't move the needle in the sport. He's not a draw. So the only needle that Marty Juven moves is the needle he puts in his ass every day. You have talked about separating from ATT many times. We've had this conversation before, but you've also, along the way, separated from your management team, Colby Covington Incorporated is just one big sandwich thing under the same

umbrella for not just the fighting, but for the management side of things. So is that accurate? Like, are you sort of representing yourself in the fight negotiations as well? That's 100% facts. and that's as accurate as it comes. I've been talking directly with Dana White and Hunter Campbell, and we've been getting the deals dead on our own. So the thing is, when you're in the UFC, you know,

there's not really much managers can do for you. So why pay this big percentage or any percentage to a manager that's not getting in the octagon? They're not helping you in your development and your career. If anything, you should give that fee and that percentage back to your coaches, the people that are investing every single day in you, the people that are giving you everything to help you develop and help you grow as an athlete.

So, you know, I'd rather give that to my coaches and take extra care of the people that are around me every day. I'm not going to give it to these sleaze ball, slime ball managers that just take a percentage and they don't do anything for you. There's no more sponsors in the sports. So, you know, I'm just working on my own. And, you know, talk about one of the sleazyest managers in the game,

Abdelisleas Sleez. I mean, you know, there's trouble in paradise, Mike. I don't know if you heard, but, you know, I spotted, first off, let me say, Ali, don't tell me I never did nothing for you, because this is the first time you're ever going to hear about it. So, you know, now he's going to be panicking, calling Usman, what's going on? So, you know, Marty and Ali, they're having a little bit, they're button heads. I guess Ali promised Marty that he'd get him out of fighting me, but now Marty realizes he can't get out of fighting me. So he's entertaining and having business meetings with other managers.

He went and sat down last weekend with CAA and Swan, the Miami Design District, and he had dinner with them and talk business. So, you know, there's some trouble in paradise. Mike, him, Marty, and Ali are at odds end. You got moles everywhere, Colby? Is that what you're telling me? People are hitting you up with this information. They're shooting you photos and everything.

You got, like, some solid evidence on you? Man, I'm a powerful person, Mike. I mean, not only am I, I'm Donald Trump's favorite fighter. And by the way, happy birthday to Donald Trump, you know, the greatest president of all time, a good friend of mine, a good family friend. And, you know, so, yeah, I know a lot of people, Mike, you know, I'm connected within law enforcement and secret service. They have my back. So much loved to all our first responders, all our military, all our law enforcement, the people that keep us safe and keep law and order every day.

Speaking of Ali, one thing he said along the way is, you know, Colby doesn't deserve the title shot. Let's, who wants to fight in June? Let's give the shot to Michael Kiesa. I'm curious how, how you react to that. we briefly texted back and forth, but because I asked you if you wanted to fight in June, you said you'll fight him tomorrow. But what did you think of them thrown Kiesa's name out there like that? I thought it looks funny, Mike.

I mean, if the fans and everybody and all the media can't see what's going on, dude, Ali and Marty are squirming right now. They're so scared. They're like shaking. They don't know what they can do. They're trying to get out of this fight at all costs. They're trying to find a way to maneuver out of fighting me again because they know they cheated the first time and they got lucky and they can't prove it.

and back it up again. So it's just funny. They're trying to find any excuse not to fight. But, you know, I think this is what's killing his legacy. You know, he's not going to be an all-time great fighter because, you know, you didn't want to fight the next best guy, the number one guy in the world in the division. You didn't want to prove that you were actually the best, you know.

Instead, you want to, you know, be a fake guy and make all these lies to the media that you never fulfilled. Look at what he was telling the media before the George fight. I want to fight two or three more times this year. Oh, blah, blah, blah. Okay. well, what are we waiting for? Let's fight tomorrow.

Let's fight in June. You wanted to fight another guy in our division in June, but you don't want to fight me in June? I mean, if the fans can't see that, you know, but I think they see that. You know, he beat two lightweight washouts in Gilbert and Street Judas Mosped out. Now he thinks he's the shit.

The media is hyping him up to be some pound-for-pound goat, some just unbeatable, you know, guy in there. So, you know, it's hilarious. After I break him, I wonder what the narrative is going to be then. you think Florida would be an appropriate place to hold this fight? I mean, obviously, the UFC and the state of Florida, the governor, they have a pretty tight relationship. They've helped each other out along the way. You both sort of have ties to the area.

Is that what you're thinking? Like, if you had it your way, we do this in Florida? I mean, that would be a dream come true, Mike, you know, to sleep in my own bed and be able to compete in the state that, you know, I live in now. And especially a state and a city that Marty comes to a lot. You know, he's been in Miami the last couple weeks. I hear all these places he's been. You know, he's been at Hard Rock. He's been at Swan Nightclub, having meetings with managers.

You know, he's being at Live Nightclub and Fountain Blues. So I get all, I get all these words of where he's been in my city. You know, this is my city. I'm Mr. 305. I run the 305. So I'm Miami's finest fighter. I'm the best fighter to ever come out of Florida. So it'd be an honor to fight here.

And, you know, we have a stadium that's right next door, the BB&T Center. We have a good relationship with them. I know the UFC does. It's the Florida Panthers. So, you know, the BV&T Center is where they play at. And we've done UFC fights there. So, you know, I think they have a good relationship with the UFC. And I've been talking to the vice president, Sean Thornton,

and we're trying to get the fight done there. It makes sense, you know, Marty used to train here. He comes here a lot. He probably still, you know, lives here half his time. So let's do in Florida, you know. And the UFC and DeSantis have a good relationship. And DeSantis has done a good job to let the UFC come. come back and be the first sporting event that has a full capacity and full crowd.

So, you know, we owe DeSantis a couple of favors. He's amazing governor, definitely the best governor in the United States right now. So let's get this title fight, the biggest fight of the year. Let's get it done. The 170 Walterweight title, Marty Jusman versus Colby Chaos Coventon, Part 2, here in Florida. Has there been an official offer for this fight yet? Oh, you know, yeah. I mean, there's been, I know the, I know what.

I'm getting, you know, I know what's coming to the table. You know, there's definitely been an offer and I've accepted. It's just, it's really just up to Marty for when he accepts and when he's going to sign the contract. So, of course, he's going to use this fake, you know, narrative. Oh, I'm with my kid. Oh, I'm this. I'm not. But, you know, he's just, you know, sit and doing nothing, you know, just hoping that he can get another lightweight to fight.

Because if you don't notice, his last two fights were lightweight washouts. They weren't real well to wit. So, you know, he's just hoping that, you know, something's going to appear out. out of thin air where he can fight, you know, somebody that's irrelevant to the division, like a Diaz. He's begging to fight, you know, a lightweight jobber in Diaz, who's not even ranked and relevant to the division anymore. It's just, it's pathetic, man.

He's making a mockery of the division. He's making a mockery of everything the UFC stands for, anytime, any place, anywhere. And, you know, I just can't wait to expose him sooner than later. He's either getting exposed or, you know, he's just going to walk away and retire from the sport because he's a coward and didn't want to face me again. So you're going to get a cut of the pay-per-view?

Is that what you said, earlier? Did I hear that right? No, you didn't hear that right, Mike. I said, I would love for this opportunity to get this one, you know, and pass this opportunity. And then I'll be looking at pay-per-view. When you're a champion, that's when you get pay-per-view money. Right. Okay. Just want to clarify. I just want to make sure I, uh, I cross the tease and dot the old eyes. I don't want to put misinformation out there, Colby. I don't want to, I don't want to spread any lies or anything like that. But you mentioned, uh, don't put the fake news out there, man. I can't do it. We don't need any more impartial.

biased reporting, man. These fake journalists, oh, I'm a journalist. Man, you didn't even get a journalism degree. Stop acting like you're a journalist. So, you know, all I ask is be honest and don't listen to fake news. Okay. Now we get that clarified. You mentioned Nate Diaz,

and I know that you don't typically watch these events. You do pay attention to what is happening. The Walterweight Division was of importance with that fight between Nate Diaz and Leon Edwards. So I guess, did you watch the event? Did you watch that fight? You know, I definitely wouldn't, I definitely didn't watch that fight and that fight was definitely not an importance to this division. You got a guy who's a lightweight, you know, stocked and soy boy Nate Diaz.

You know, I don't even know if he's ever wanted to fight at Walter Wade. And if he has, he's definitely has a losing record at this weight class. He's, I don't know the last time he won a fight in general five years ago. So it's on par and on course for the fights that Edward Scissorhands gets and he wants to fight another guy that's irrelevant. and, you know, I didn't see the fight. I was out supporting my teammates, Mike. You know, I was at Premier Fight League, the best amateur world MMA show in the world,

watching a good training partner of mine, Richard Mayo, go out there and win the title, and all my training partners at Kobe Covency Incorporated, MMA Masters, putting on a good show. So I didn't have time to see that preliminary fight at 170. You know, I only watch headliners and title fights, and I don't got time for amateur hour. The way I looked at this fight heading in,

and some people don't think it's all that, fair because of the streak that he's been on. I went into this one thinking, unless Leon Edwards knocks Nate Diaz out in the first minute of the fight, I just didn't see a world where Leon was going to jump the queue and get a title shot before you, especially with the way Dana has been hyping the rematchup. I assume you were not losing much sleep heading into Saturday. You know, I don't ever lose sleep no matter what. So any direction that the world takes it, you know, I'm just happy to be here, man.

I'm very thankful, Mike. I'm very blessed. You know, I come from, you know, a very poor town in Oregon and, you know, the upbringing that I was raised on, you know, my parents, you know, were struggling to make $20,000 a year for the whole family, you know, five people. So, you know, I'm just thankful, man. I've made myself into a multimillion dollar business and, you know, my life's going to be great no matter which way we go. But at the end of the day, I'm a blue collar, hardworking American. I'm going to keep putting in the work, Mike. I work hard every single day. It doesn't matter. what someone tells me. It doesn't matter what type of direction they want to go with their business. I'm just going to stay ready and keep preparing it and having that, you know, hard-to-kill mentality that the military has instilled in me. So you feel like there's zero chance Leon gets the next shot before you do? Yeah, I think it's pretty obvious. You know, Dana has quadrupled down, 10-time down on it.

You know, this is the fight, you know, that everybody wants to see. Leon already, Edward Cisorhan's already fought, you know, Marty Jusman. and it wasn't even competitive. You lost every single round. You know, I beat Marty two, three rounds out of that five-round fight. And, you know, I probably was going on to beat him if, you know, Mark Goddard didn't save his life and give him a couple of life rafts,

stopped the fight when I kicked him in the liver, give him a nutshot. And then obviously the early stoppage, I stood up right away and protested, you know, so this needs to be run back. There's no other fight. You know, I came back. I beat a former champion.

My last four fights of wins are all former UFC champions. So no one has the resume that I have in this sport. No one's done the things that I've done in the sport, the history I've created, the moments I've created. So, you know, Marty can keep, you know, pretending that he's some God, but, you know, I'm going to bring him back down to Earth really soon. Is it fair?

Like, would you say it's at least fair to say that Leon Edwards' next fight should be for the title? Like, not your shot, not the next shot, but maybe the winner between you and Usman? Like, has he earned that spot? Or do you think he still has to win another fight, maybe too? Yeah, he definitely needs to come back. He's, what's he on a one-fight win streak now?

I mean, his last fight, he should have been decued. Edward Cisorhands poked the guy in the eye like two or three times, and he was worn in the back by Herb Dean. Hey, don't poke in the eyes. Keep your hands closed when you're throwing punches and blah, blah, blah. He didn't listen to instructions and he broke the rules twice. So, you know, his winning streak's broken up. He needs to come back and beat somebody relevant.

Somebody in the top five, you know, come beat somebody relevant in the division, and then you can get a title shot. Besides that, stop crying. You're a mumbling, fumbling, an idiot. No one wants to hear you talk. Your accent is a joke and your fighting is even worse. Is there a part of you that understands this frustration, though, because once upon a time, you were a guy winning fights, you were a guy having a hard time finding fights, you wanted the title shot, many people felt you deserved this title shot, and people would argue that

you deserved a shot well before you got the fight with RDA. Can you at least understand and somewhat appreciate where Leon is coming from? I cannot, Mike. You know, I give credit where credits do, and I can understand scenarios and situations. And his scenario and situation is different because he's the one that backed out of the Woodley fight originally. And then, you know what?

There was people fighting during the whole pandemic during COVID. He didn't want to fight. He was turning down every single fight that got offered to him, didn't want to fight anybody, backing out, turning down fights. Meanwhile, everybody in Europe is going around flying, fighting, you know, during COVID, doing their thing, you know, and he's just sitting on the sidelines just trying to wait and pick and choose his fights. So, you know, he did it to himself.

The UFC knows that he turned down a lot of fights and he wasn't ready to fight. You know, I've stayed ready. I've prepared myself. I've kept myself ready for short notice at all times, you know, the last couple of fights. I was ready to fight on a day's notice on a week's notice. I told the UFC, and they saw my willingness and readiness to be able to fight on such short notice. So that's why I'm getting rewarded because, you know, I put in the work and I've stayed ready and I've always been ready to help the UFC if they needed me.

So another piece of this puzzle seems to be Stephen Thompson because he's on a nice run right now. He's getting ready to fight Gilbert Burns, who fought for the title in his last fight. He is a fresh matcher for Usman. He seems interested in a Wonderboy fight at some point. How do you like Wonderboy's chances against Gilbert on July 10th? Well, the thing is, you know, the karate kid,

which is a joke he's still calling himself a kid, Mike. I mean, the guy's a 40-year-old virgin. He drives kids around in a karate van. and he wants to call himself a boy. You know, you're a grown-ass man. You're almost a grandfather now. We see the gray hairs coming out on the side of your head. So, you know, if anything, that guy needs to stop complaining, man.

He had, what, two or three title shots? He's had more title shots than anybody in this division. He got destroyed by Woodley, got dropped bloody. Man, the guy's a bum. I don't know why he's trying to talk like he deserves a title shot. You just got knocked out by Anthony Pettis, like a year or two ago, a lightweight, a guy that's not even signed by the UFC anymore. You're on a two-fight winning street.

Your last fight, you were beating a bus boy for Outback Steakhouse. Think about that for a second. The guy is a joke. Yeah, it's karate. I mean, he thinks he's cool with this karate. He's not a well-rounded fighter. And, you know, he doesn't deserve anything, Mike. He's already had his title shots two or three.

You know, he's had more title shots than anybody in this division. So he doesn't deserve anything. You know, honestly, you should probably just retire. He's going to get hurt. You think he's going to get hurt? He's going to get hurt, Mike, for sure. He's going to come back for a paycheck. And these guys don't know when to leave, Mike.

You got to know when it's your time to hang it up. Your time's past, buddy. You're going to get really hurt if you want to stay in this. But some guys, you know, they're wanting to take a paycheck, you know, to ruin their health. Of course, the main event of that card on July 10th, your former teammate, Dustin, Porier, will look to put a bow on that trilogy with Connor. I know there's no love loss between you and Dustin these days. But I guess putting your just analyst hat on for a moment,

if you will. Do you see Dustin getting it done again? Or do you think Connor makes the appropriate adjustments in a six-month stretch? You know, I don't know what's faker. Dustin's personality or his wife, Joe Lee's fake gimmicks for ticks. So Dustin is a complete joke, Mike. I mean, I have video footage that I'm going to release to the fans very soon to show what type of person Dustin truly is. Everybody hipes him up to be some charitable guy, some nice guy on camera, some nice guy, offside camera. Oh, he's a family man. Oh, he has a kid.

Yeah, his kid and his wife are props. He's a fake piece of shit. The guy is a dirtbag. I have a video of him knocking out an amateur on the gym, and he's celebrating, dancing around, yelling in the guy's face and new. Woo! Dustin, who are you trying to impress?

Dude, it's a closed practice. You're knocking out a guy that came to help you, and it's an amateur. You knock this kid out, give him a concussion, leave him senseless. His head's shaking. You're yelling in his face. Like, what does that mean? Dude, you're not a UFC world champion.

You're training for Khabib. This isn't Khabi. You didn't just win the world championship. You're in a close practice, you know, beating a guy that's a humble amateur that came to help you out for your training camp. And you're not going to concuss to this guy. And you're screaming his face and new a woo. Like, dude, you're not even checking on him to see how he is. I mean, dude, the guy is just, he's not what everybody says he is.

He's not a charitable guy. He uses his, his charity as a tax ride off my heart. Mike, that's nothing more than attacks right off. And, you know, he's just, he's not a good person. So I can't wait to expose him to the whole world because, you know, I train with him for a couple years in our old gym. So I know the type of person he is day in and day out. And I'm exposing soon.

Do you think he beats Connor again? Yeah, he'd probably beat Connor again. But, you know, I mean, what is that saying? You know, beating a guy that has no motivation left in the sport, you know, and I love Connor. I think he's a great, he had a great career, great fighter. He's done great things in the sport. But man, your time's up too, man. Like, you're not hungry anymore.

It's obvious that you don't train every day and you're not working on your craft. It's obvious you're just working, you know, for other business deals and aligning your pockets and patting your bank accounts. So it's just not the same hungry corner from a couple years ago. It's a different corner that's, you know, towards the end of his journey.

And, you know, it's not saying much to beat him anymore. I want to talk about one more past teammate and then a couple of your current teammates, before we wrap this up. But I'm sure you've talked about this already. Tired Woodley no longer with the UFC. He is venturing into the world of pro boxing. He's getting set to fight Jake Paul in August 28th.

I know up to talk about you, you have done interviews and you said something to the extent of he needs money, he's going to take a dive. Why do you feel that way? Like, do you really think that he would take a fall when there's so much at stake for him? So much at stake. You know, the only thing that's at stake for Woodley

is paying his alimony, paying all his ex-wives, and putting food on the table for his, like, four or five kids that he has. So, you know, he's got multiple kids with different women. So he's got a lot of mouth to feed, Mike. And there's no doubt that, you know, I took all the shame and all the dignity that everything Woodley has, you know, he already faced his biggest fear, you know, me and all the verbal harassment that I gave him and then the physical harassment that I gave him inside the cage and breaking his will. He died inside the, when he fought me. That was the last of Tyrone Woodley. That was the ending of

his great career, you know, a former champion that did a lot of good things in this sport. But he's done, man. He's washed up and there's no doubt he's going out there to take a dive, Mike. I can promise you that. He has no dignity. There's no shame left in him after I was done with him. So, you know, if anything, you know, that little

Lizzie McGuire, Hollywood little star Snake Paul needs to call me and ask for permission, you know, because I am Tyrone Woodley's legal guardian. So have your little slimeback people from Hollywood call me Snake Paul, and I'll sign off on my son Tyrone Woodley fighting you. Let's just say for the sake of argument that he is approaching this fight. He is taking it seriously.

Everything's on the up and up. He's going in, trains hard. Jake goes in, he trains hard. Do you see a way Tyron wins? Do you see a way Jake wins? Is there a part of you being an MMA guy that, even though you don't like the man, that you'll be rooting for Tyron to beat Jake Paul? Do you even care?

I don't even care, man. It's such a circus side show, Mike. It's not real fighting, man. It's a fake fighting. These are all people that are taking dives. Did you not see the last show that they had? I mean, they're having Justin Bieber perform at halftime for like an hour and a half during intermission.

I mean, they're just, it's a complete joke, man. They got this little YouTube fighter who's not a real fighter. Jake Paul is a complete joke. I've had amateurs at my gym, Colby Codontin, Incorporate, M.M.A. Masters that have went out to help Jake Paul with sparring and training in Miami. And they came back and they all said the same thing.

He sucks. He's no good. The kid's not a real fighter. They're just covering it up. You know, he's a big draw because he's got, you know, all this Disney following and this little YouTube kids that all follow him and stuff.

So, you know, he's not a real fighter. If Woodley really showed up, you know, and took it serious, he'd knock him out. But he's not going to take him serious. He's going to get paid a couple extra million to take the dive. And I think that's pretty apparent. When they had their face off, you know, Jake was yelling stuff. Oh, why don't you put your purse down?

then put your purse on it. And Woodley's like, no, he didn't want to risk his purse because, you know, he knows he's going out there to take a dive and he doesn't want to risk those couple million dollars that he's getting. You mentioned M.MA Masters. I want to talk about one of the up-and-coming welterweights at Mammate Masters. Miguel Baezza just went through one of the most exciting fights of the year thus far. Suffered a tough loss to Santiago Ponsonibio. How has he responded to that loss?

What kind of potential do you see from him moving forward? Because he looks like a stud to pretty much everybody. Yeah, Miguel is a stud, man. He works extremely hard. He's dedicated to the martial arts and improving his game every single day. So, you know, his ceiling is very high, Mike. I see a bright, bright future for Miguel. You know, he's going to put on a ton of excited fights.

He's always going to be in those fight-of-the-night-type fights, and he's going to get a lot of performance bonuses because that's just the way he fights. He's explosive. You know, he's a great fighter, and he's only going to learn from that fight. That was his first real experience of a test of a fight, of a real fight and a high-level top world-class fight. So, you know, he's only going to learn from me. He's going to come back better. He realizes the mistakes that he made.

And honestly, I just see an unbelievable ceiling for Miguel Beza and accomplishing great things in the sport of MMA. Another teammate of yours will be fighting on July 10th. Nico Price is fighting Michelle freaking Perjera. That fight is absolutely insane. What is the house? Nico kind of looking at that fight because that is just a wild. fight that everybody just got super enthused about when they heard about it. Yeah, man, that's going to be a great fight.

Nico is just one of the most exciting fighters on the whole entire roster. So, you know, he just wants, he just wants to come in and put on a show for the fans. And that's what he's going to do, man. He's going to go out there and he's going to knock this guy out or he's just going to make it the most exciting fight, knockdown, drug, drag out, bloody fight that you've ever seen. So, you know, I'm excited for that fight, man. I love watching Nico. He's always must-see TV every time he steps inside the UFC

the Octagon. So it'll be great. You know, tune in, man. Don't miss it, fans. Yeah, he's got such energy, too. He's such a unique and fascinating individual. That fight is going to be bonkers. But before he let you go, man, it appears we are embarking on this adventure back to Kamara Usman, back to a welterweight title shot. What is the message for Kamara Usman right now?

You're ready to go. You said you'll fight him tomorrow. What is the message for the champion right now? Yeah, the message is, man. Stop hiding in your so-called. home country of Africa. We know you only went back there because it's the first time you've ever been back to Africa

because we all know, Marty, that you were born in Dallas and you went to college in Nebraska. So stop hiding in Africa from me. Get back to America. Let's get this deal done. Man, you look desperate. I know you're squirming right now.

You're scared to fight me again. Let's get this done. Let's find out who the best wealth to wait in the planet is. And does he have his shots to get to Africa? And I'm not talking about those shots that his chemist gives him in his butt, you know, with steroids. I'm talking about the shock for like malaria and shit.

I don't know. I'm not his doctor. I don't know. And he might want to get that checked up, man. It would be a terrible thing if, you know, he came back with malaria or spread some diseases in Africa. I'd feel terrible for them, you know, and that's the last thing they need. So hopefully he's being smart and safe over there. And, you know, he gets back to America on one piece, you know, and let's get this done, man. That's going to be the biggest fight of the year, you know, two of the best fighters in the world, you know, two of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters, and, you know, we're going to end this thing once and for all.

We got unfinished business, man. There's no more, you know, Mark Not So God, it's going to save you inside that Octagon. We're going to fight, man. It's going to be a real fight. No cheating. No fake breaks. No fake timeouts.

No fake stoppages. Just the greatest fighter in the world being settled that night. A man with a lot to say is always, Colby Covington, always appreciate his time. I really want to see that rematch. and say what you will about some of the other guys at 170. I think a lot of the names that I mentioned have arguments as to why they could be fighting for the belt. Leon Edwards, obviously, Stephen Thompson, obviously, with a win over Gilbert Burns.

He's in that conversation for sure. But in my opinion, Kamar Usman and Colby Covington are the two best welterweights on the planet. They're 1A and 1B, and I want to see that fight again. I want to see it, especially. a little less than two years removed from that incredible fight the first time around. I want to see what happens once again when the two best welterweights on planet Earth get in that octagon and battle it out for the biggest prize at 170 pounds. Hopefully we see that one go down in the next three to four months, but we shall see.

There's a lot of hurdles to get over in fight negotiations and all that different stuff, and it is what it is. As we move ahead to another fighter who could also, it probably should be, fighting for UFC Goldener next fight. Let us say hello to one of the big winners from this past Saturday. Lucky Lauren Murphy. All right, let's move ahead to Lauren Murphy, who after Saturday night should absolutely be next in line

to fight balancing to Chivchenko for the UFC Women's Flyway title. She picked up a hard-fought split decision win over a very gritty Joanne Calderwood. Lauren Murphy back on the program. Congratulations on the victory. How are you? I'm good, man. Thanks for having me on.

Yeah, I'm good. It was a good weekend. Good weekend for Team Murphy. There you go. Super close fight on Saturday. It was as competitive as advertised, but in the end, you got it done. How does it all feel a couple days later? Yeah, it feels amazing. It definitely wasn't competitive in the second round at all. I think I dominated in the second round. It could have easily been a 10-8. I think in the first round, I was hitting all the hardest shots. I think she hit me with like the spinning elbow that she hit in the very last couple seconds,

but then I took her back for it. You know what I mean? Yeah, I don't know. I thought we clearly won round one. Like even going into the second, I was like, okay, we won the first round, but let's get a take down this round. And then when I got the takedown, it felt so easy and I felt so dominant. And then in the third, I just couldn't quite get to her hips. I started shooting from really far out, like just trying to turn it into other stuff.

I was like, okay, maybe I can get in on a shot but then turn it into some strikes or turn it into a situation or something like that. So I gave her an edge in the third, but it was still super competitive. But yeah, I thought I pretty clearly won the first and I dominated in the second. I mean, yeah, it was a good. I thought it was an awesome performance, really out of both of us, but I was really super happy with mine and I'm happy with the way the fight turned out. And I think I think I made a statement, especially with my wrestling and my ground game. Yeah, it's funny seeing this road to the title shot that you, year on and kind of turning the win into a winning streak with the split decision went over

Andrea Lee in Houston. And now on the cusp of the title shot, another split decision win, another super close fight. I felt like this one, at least amongst the fans, was a bit more split down the middle compared to the Andrew Lee fight. I think a lot of people thought you won that fight. I scored it the exact same way you did. I thought you landed the harder shots in the first round. And that's why I gave that round to you.

Two was clearly yours. Three, she got and you explained why. But do you notice a difference between sort of the aftermath amongst the MMA community between this fight on Saturday and the Andrea Leafite? Do you feel like more people are on your side this time around than that fight? Yeah, for sure. You know, and the Andrea Leafite, it was like we wanted to take her down too, obviously. Like, I love working on the ground. And I wasn't even like I didn't implement that.

I wasn't able to implement like our A game. I wasn't able to implement like Plan A on Andrea. you know what I mean? And so with Jojo, like, it's pretty incredible for two fly weights in the top 10, for one of them to have a round like that, like a 10-8 round and just dominate, just unanswered, you know, in my grappling and the strikes that I landed on the ground. She was defending really well, but that's all she did the whole round was defend, you know. And so if you look at, like, other title eliminator fights in the flyweight division,

like Jojo got a title shot after B. beating Andrea Lee by split decision. That's how Jojo got her title shot in the first place. That was a super back and forth fight. It was very, very close. I'm sure the fans were split down the middle on that. Jessica, I got a title fight after beating Caitlin Chukagian by split decision. All of Caitlin Chukagian's fights are just these like stand-up fights.

There's no domination on either end. So for any flyweight to go in and have a round like that against, you know, another top contender, it really does say a lot. Like what other flyweight contender has done something like that? None. None of them. I'm alone in that. You know what I mean?

And then if you just look at my body of work as a whole, like who else has won five in a row against ranked opponents? Like all against all ranked opponents. Who in the UFC has done that? Like we're talking very few, very few go on windstreaks, like the one that I'm on. And hardly any of them go on windstreaks

against the caliber of opponents that I've been taking on in the UFC. You know what I'm saying? So I really feel very pleased with my performance. I'm super happy with the streak that I'm on. I'm really happy with the wins that I've put together, and especially who I've put them together against, you know, and being the underdog every time and going in there and getting it done anyway,

it makes it a little bit sweeter. Casey, our producer and I were having this conversation before you came on about the difference between a 10-9 and a 10-8. And I feel like if we're going to use an example of a fight, rounds one and three were scored 10-9s, but round two for the most power was also scored a 10-9. There were two completely different rounds. I just hate the scoring in the sport.

It just makes no sense. Like how can you compare the first and third rounds and score it the exact way as that second round? It just makes no sense. Like, is that, do you feel like that should have been a 10-8? Yeah, 100%. It should have been a 10-8. 100%.

Like if she moved at all to her stomach, I was going to take her back and choke her out. If she moved any more onto her back, I would have mounted her and pounded her to death. She had to stay on her side and defend with one arm for like four minutes or something like that. You know, it's just, that's insane. Has any, the only other person to do that in our division is Valentina Shipschenko. The only other person that has rounds like that in our fucking division is the champion herself, right? Yeah.

Yeah. When it got to the cards and Bruce Buffers reading the scores and you're hearing that it's going to be a split, like how nervous were you with the stakes? as higher as they were. Were you like, there's no way, especially in Arizona, like one of your homes away from home, there's no way they can, that they could take this away from me, right?

Were you nervous? Kind of, but I think once, by the time you get to the fight, like, I just get into this mindset where it's like, I'm going to do my best and let the rest be in the stars, you know what I mean?

Like, let the chips fall where they may. I'm just going to give 100%. And I've learned by now that like once you're standing there, waiting to see, like, who's going to get their hand raised, that there's nothing you can do about it at that point, you know. So it's no good like to even sweat it because you have zero control in that situation.

But I was surprised. I thought it would be a unanimous decision. I was pretty confident that we had the decision, you know what I mean? But when they said split, I was like, oh, fucking here we go. Thanks a lot. You know, but I don't know. One judge I think must have been on crack because I, like, there's no denying it. I've gone back and watched the fight twice now.

I won every exchange in the first round. I want every exchange. I think she landed one good shot at the very end that you could have counted as a significant strike. But yeah, watching the fight minute by minute, I won every exchange in the first round. So I don't know, people that are like super jacked up thinking that Jojo won that fight,

I think they don't know what they're looking at, you know. But thank God the judge has got it right this time, and we can all move on forward with the rightful winner. Can I just say just because you and I have been having these conversations for so many years on a pretty consistent basis. I know you're happy with the performance, but you don't seem like overly enthused about, I don't know if it's like the reaction to it or whatnot. I haven't seen like people saying it was an egregious score or anything like that,

but you don't seem as overly happy as I thought you would be considering you got the win and what could be next for you. Am I reading that right or am I crazy? No, I mean, I'm happy and I think I've ruined a title shot for sure. I'm super happy with my performance. And it's like my best keeps getting better and I keep showing that on bigger and bigger stages at higher and higher levels. Like I'm really happy with it. I am honestly disappointed in myself that I did not get to finish in the second round.

But that's just really the kind of competitor I am. I was really bummed. I actually cried about it after the fight. Like when we got back to the hotel, I was so furious at myself for not finishing the fight. And when we went back and watched, it was like I was right there, you know. And I wanted that so badly. this fight believing that I could finish her and that I was going to make such a huge statement, you know, so I was so close to having that performance, you know, but at this level, it's just,

it's like, at this level, it's seconds and inches, you know, I was like seconds and centimeters away from finishing that fight and I was disappointed in myself for not doing that. But that's why I am the competitor that I am. That is why I, you know, display so much growth between fights. So if there's any frustration. I think that's what it's about is that I wasn't able to complete that finish in time, you know, so it's okay. Like I am. I'm super happy with the win. I think I did show a lot of growth and I was a little irritated about it being a split decision. I really was about that because I really thought so legitly like, well, we've won the first and the second. Like, yeah, I thought my stand-up has improved so much. I threw higher volume than I've ever

thrown in any fight. I was excited to show all of that off. And I guess for it not to be recognized by the judges, I was pretty pissed. Now that it's behind you. I'm just kind of going back one more time on the scoring. I know open scoring has been kind of a hot topic over the last couple of years. Like if you watch any of the Invicta cards, we see it. Are you like a proponent of open scoring? Do you think we should introduce that in the UFC? Is that something that even enters your mind at all? I don't know. Sometimes it's kind of exciting, isn't it? When you're standing there and you don't know who won. That's true. But sometimes that's actually a pretty cool feeling like when they hear your name,

when I heard him say the word lucky, he just like flooded with so much relief and gratitude, you know? One question I saw a lot heading into the fight. And even when we did our pre-fight show right before was why was this fight not on the main card? I mean, obviously with the two title fights and Leon and Nate, there's only two slots for it. But on the flip side, you get to fight on ESPN and arguably there are more eyeballs on this fight than there would have been. had it been on the pay-per-view. So were you okay with it being on the prelims,

or did you think, you know what, with the title shot likely on the line here, this should have been on the main card with those other fights? No, I think it was good. Actually, I enjoy fighting earlier in the night because it's like, then you get done, you can watch the rest of the fights,

you get to just relax. Like, it was actually really at a perfect time. It's not so late that you might be tired. Like, I don't know, it just, I really enjoyed it. And then you're out of the arena in time to, like, go eat and celebrate and have, you know,

have a good rest of the night, rather than, you know, getting done at like two in the morning. Everything's closed. You go back to the hotel and order some, like, 24-hour pizza or something. We all went out after the fight and got cheeseburgers. And, like, my friends all brought me cookies and ice cream. And, yeah, we really celebrated afterwards. So I was happy to fight earlier in the night.

And plus, like, it was cool because a lot of my friends in Phoenix got to go. And so I felt like there was a lot of love from the crowd for me, too. So that was cool. But, yeah, I wasn't really, I don't know. I hope we showed them that we belong in the main car. it was a fucking awesome fight. It was a badass fight. And I thought Joanne and I both showed that we really wanted it.

Like that was like the best Jojo I think we've ever seen. I don't know if you agree with that. But I feel like she moved better than she ever has. She committed to her strikes more than she ever has. Her cardio was better than I've ever seen it. So I felt like I beat the best Joanne called her what there was that night. So let us talk about what should be next for you, that title shot. Because I remember our last conversation.

and you said something that really stuck with me. You said, in essence, I'm not going to get on the rooftop and scream for title shots. The shot will come when it comes. I want to enter a title fight knowing that I've done everything I can to earn it. And it sounds to me like you feel like you've crossed over to that threshold. So unequivocally, beyond a shadow of a doubt, you feel that you are next for Valentina Shepchenko. You are next to that title shot. There should be nothing else standing in your way.

100% I've ruined the title shot. Who can deny that? Nobody. Nobody. Yeah, nobody, nobody in the division has anything even close to the same resume that I have. Nobody in that division has five straight wins over all ranked opponents. None of my opponents have been a gimmy. It's either been people in the top 10 or one short notice fight that was, you know, totally out of my control. But it was a short notice fighter. She was tough. She was championing of another promotion. And I took her on on a week's notice, you know. I've never been finished. I've never even been clear. close to getting finished. Every loss that I have is to a former champion or a UFC title contender. Like, the losses that I have are so fucking close. It's ridiculous. Like, I could easily be 17 and 2 right now, 18 and 1, something like that. You know, I could be like 9 and 1 in the UFC or 10 in 1. I don't even know what my record is right now, but it's something close to those numbers, you know? Like, nobody else has even anywhere near the resume that I have. Nobody's ever gotten,

Nobody's ever even discussed a 10-8 round when I'm fighting. Like, nobody's ever done that to me. You know what I mean? For me to go and do it to these other girls, it's incredible, especially considering I never even had a background in athletics before I started this sport. So I think when you take my whole story together, it's like, it's crazy what I've done in this division. The resume that I've built up around myself over time is absolutely fucking incredible. And I'm excited to take all of that together and go put it on the line for the championship.

I feel I've earned it. I know I deserve it. I know when we last spoke, you felt like the only roadblock that could have prevented this with a win over Joanne was if Viviani Arruzzo beat Caitlin Chican, which she did not.

So that opened the door even more. I know Tatiana Swar is getting ready to make her return. She's going to move up to 125. I think it would be kind of outrageous if she gets a win over somebody and then gets a title shot right after. But did you or your manager

or anyone in your team have a conversation with the UFC and they said to you, good fight, you won, now you're fighting for the belt next. We haven't talked to anybody yet. No, but my manager was super, super happy with the way the weekend went down. He was nothing but smiles. He was there in person. And so it is the belt for us next. You know, Tatiana Suarez can come up to 125. Let her win five in a row. And then she can get a shot at the belt. Let her fight the people that I've fought and come out with the victories that I've come out with, you know, and see how that goes. nobody has put together the resume that I've put together. Nobody has the windstreet. Nobody has the toughness and the heart that I've displayed in all of my fights.

Like, really, I've never been shut down. I've never been rocked. I've never even been close to being finished. Nobody's ever whooped my ass. Like, I think people are just, I don't know why people tend to overlook that, but I'm a fucking tank. You know what I mean? Nobody's hurting me out there.

And we're talking, I've been fighting the best of the best. And I'm coming out with victories over these girls. You know, I'm getting my handraised consistently. every time over them. I almost finished Jojo Calderwood on Saturday. Can Caitlin Chukagie if I can say that? No. I watched their fight back and I watched it on mute by the way, which really helps a lot. I thought Jojo won that fight. I thought Jojo beat her. You know, I watched Jessica High and Jojo Calderwood fight. Jessica, I couldn't even take her down. Jessica, I didn't have no fucking 10-8 round like I did. Are you out of your minds? What are you people watching? What is

Jennifer Maya done? Miss Wade a bunch of times and then she beat Jojo, who took the fight on one week's notice. Come on. Let me fight Jojo when she's got one week's notice and I'll finish her in the second round. Are you like I just don't know what people think they're talking about. Fucking who just fought for the title? Jessica and draws she has one fight in the division.

What is her record in her last four four? One and three. Yeah, I'm telling you. When I was one and three in the UFC, they were talking about cutting me. Not about giving me a fucking title shot. Wow. Is it frustrating that you even have to speak like this? that you even have to like defend that you should be getting the next title shot?

I put like so much work in over the years, you know? Like I've been waiting to be able to talk like this. Nobody else can talk like this about their record and their resume and their career. Nobody else can say the things that I'm saying right now. That's the truth. This is it. I'm not even giving you my opinion about things. These are just facts.

Things I have accomplished in the last two years overshadow everything these other girls have done. I've done 500% more than anybody else that's been given a title shot in this division. What did you think of Valentina's fight against Jessica? Because it seems like a lot of people are like, well, you know, based on her resume and what she's done in the past and her style, like maybe she could be the one to be Valentina Shepchenko. And it looked like Valentina had a little bit of extra edge to her. She was hearing all that chatter. And she goes out there and she pitches a perfect game in my eyes.

What did you think of her performance? I think she's an incredible champion. I thought she did have, you know, shut out performance. It was incredible. and I actually advocated for Jessica Androge to get the title shot. Yeah, after my last fight, I was like, go ahead, give her the title shot. Like, maybe she does deserve it. You know, I'm keeping it 100.

Like, she did have a good resume going in, but she got destroyed, you know. It's my turn to go in there now. Like, my team's going to put together a really good game plan. They believe in me a lot. It's the best team in the world as far as I'm concerned. Look what they've done with me over the last two years, you know? Like, we're going to keep winning. We can do this again.

My coaches are brilliant. I'm an incredible athlete, and I think when you have a recipe like that, then you can come out with a championship on the other side of it. I really believe that. Does this challenge excite your coaches? Because they have to be mentally at least preparing for it. I know you probably are. Are they like, they must be jazzed to try to put these puzzle pieces together

because no one's been able to solve it before, and they must feel very confident that you are the one to do it. So how excited are they? How excited are you to get to work and get ready to try to solve this unsolvable puzzle? Yeah. I mean, we're pumped. We're pumped. So Bob Perez is like, he's so funny because he's like, we're going to do it. We're going to do it. I need to smoke a cigarette. And then he'll like go outside and smoke real, you know, smoke furiously. And then like come back and talk about it. And my head coach is Alex Seesney. I've been working with him for a long time. We're nine and O together. I'm literally undefeated with that guy, you know. He took me through Invicta.

to the Invicta Championship. He started working with me again when I fought Mara Borrella and I was taking me all the way to the UFC Championship, you know, that guy's brilliant. He has five fucking black belts, count them, five black belts in both grappling and striking arts. He's a Sonda master. Sanda's like the Chinese martial art, you know, it's striking and takedowns. Wei-Jong is a Sonda martial artist.

Muslim Salikov is a Sanda martial artist. In fact, my coach competed with Muslim. in a Sonda tournament in China at the World Championships. So I really do believe in my coaches and they believe in me. And I think we can find Holes in Valentina's game. And I think I'm strong enough to exploit them. I think I'm tough enough to get to where I need to go with her. She hasn't faced anybody as tough as me.

Like she hasn't faced anybody that can grind like I can grind. Seriously. I mean, look at my resume and look at my past fights. It's like I have the biggest heart. I'm one of the toughest girls. not just in the division. I'm one of the toughest girls ever. I'm the strongest girl in the division. I'm a huge flyweight. And I think my top game in Jiu-Jitsu, it's second to none. It's second to none. When would you like this fight to happen if it were up to you? This fall, this fall for sure. You know, so I think I'm on like a 30-day suspension right now, something like that. So we're going to take some time to enjoy this victory. You know, you got to celebrate the wins and stuff. And then, then I do want to get back to work. I want to start training right away, and I want to get in there, and I want to shock the world again.

Did you see Brandon Moreno win the title? Yeah, I did. Yep. I was like doing something when the fight was on, and then everybody was freaking out, and so I ran out, and I saw the replay. It's pretty cool. It's pretty awesome. It's got to be, I mean, it's such a cool moment for him, because I feel like they're different, but kind of similar in a way, yours and his stories, like kind of from the brink, and they

come back, and they just go on this impressive run, things just click at the right time. And he, again, kind of like you're about to do, took on a guy in the flyway division that many believe could not be beat. And he didn't just beat him. He stops him and becomes a world champion. It's an incredible story. Knowing what he's gone through, seeing him capture the title and dominant the way he did. Does that motivate you even further? Does that give you like a little extra pep in your step? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's like, Brandon Moreno can do it. I can do it too. You know what I mean? And nobody, like how dare anybody ever tell me that what he did isn't also available to me you know what i mean

it it definitely is and like not only am i living my dream but like i'm living the american dream this is like what we're supposed to do we're supposed to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps we're supposed to buckle down work even harder until we find that success you know and that's what i've done over and over and over again so yeah i do kind of have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder about it because I feel like I've been proving myself, not just lately, but my whole career and people have never given me really enough credit for what I've done. It's very few that really recognize it. But the people that do are odd by it, because it is awesome. What I have done, not just in the last five fights, but in my career overall, has been fucking incredible. It's really amazing.

It's funny, the canine community, when they know you and I are about to have a conversation, because normally your dog show up and now my dog has decided to show up and now he's hiding under my desk. So, yep, I am now a dog owner. First time in my life, Lauren. You've inspired me. Are you totally in love? Yes, two weeks, two weeks since we adopted him. Oh, yeah.

Is he a puppy or was he like an older rescue? He's a rescue. They think he's like around two years old, but I don't know. It was like meant to be. He's been phenomenal. Me and my wife joke about it all the time that we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop because he's been so good and it's just it's not dropping. So that's awesome.

No, that's what dogs are for. That's, that's how I feel about my thoughts too. Yeah. Dogs are way better than people. So things are going pretty well right now. I'm sure crew bob has to be thinking in the back of his mind that at the end of this year, he could have two world champions underneath him with Derek Lewis likely being next for the heavyweight title, you likely next for the flyway title.

What a difference a year or two makes in this crazy sport, right? I'm telling you, man. Yeah, I can hardly wait to go back and see Derek and have him give me a bunch of shit about the split decision. Did you see he scored the first round 10-7 for you on Twitter? Probably. He probably fucking scored it for Jojo knowing him. Yeah, he just goes 10-7 Murphy.

I thought it was. Yeah, he probably gave her a 10-9 in the second. No, yeah, it's been pretty, it's going to be an incredible summer at the gym. Derek has already started working hard. And I think they're talking about doing that card out in Houston, you know. So that, I mean, if Derek were to win that fight in Houston, I'm pretty sure they would make him the mayor, the president. They would give him keys to the city. You know, they would have parades in his honor probably for a long time.

So I hope it does. I'll come together for him, man. But, yeah, Bob is an incredible coach. He's one of the best striking coaches in the world. And, like, just look what he's done with me in the last two years. Go back and watch that fight. with Mara Borella and look at my stance and the way that I was throwing one shot at a time. And, you know, this weekend I was able to compete on the feet with a woman that has been doing

Muay Thai since she was a child. You know what I mean? She's been an athlete for a long time. She's been striking for a long, long time. So for somebody to take me from where I was, to take me to where I'm at now and doing the things that I'm doing now, it's just, it's incredible. great to have Lauren Murphy back on the program once again and look I don't know how you scored the fight and I'm not a judge other people are out there are not judges either I thought Lauren won the fight I thought it was pretty clear at least to me I thought she won the first round I thought she landed the more impactful shots in the first round she found her range better she just did more in my opinion like Caldewan may have hit her a couple of times more but I thought when Lauren landed a counted

a little bit more if that makes any sense. She clearly won the second round. Could have made an argument for 10-8 round. I hate the 10-point must-system in MMA because it makes no sense because round one and round three were super close. You scored those both 10-9, and then Lauren Murphy has that second round, and we're scoring at 10-9. It's crazy.

But Lauren clearly won the second. I think it was pretty universal. Joey called it won one-third, but that's how I scored it. 29-28 for Lauren Murphy. She gets the win, and because of that, she should be next for Valentine's. Tina Schofchenko. Next woman up, she is that. And then some, hopefully they make that fight. Because if they don't, it's pretty egregious. Let's, let's be honest. It's, yeah, it would not be fair. Let's just leave it at that. But we will jump ahead to a man who made a gigantic impact on Saturday in his short notice.

UFC debut took this fight on no more than six days notice. I think it was five days, actually. He tells you during the interview. Let us say hello. to one of the big winners from Saturday, Terrence McKinney. All right, let us welcome the breakout star of UFC 263 this past Saturday in his second fight in an eight-day span, makes his UFC debut against a very tough opponent in Matt Frivola. And then he just goes ahead and knocks him out in seven seconds. The fourth fastest knockout in UFC history, the fastest knockout in the history of the lightweight division.

What an introduction to the UFC 4-1, Terrence McKinney, who is kind enough to join us, just a couple days removed from that amazing performance. Terrence. How are you, man? Hey, I'm doing great, man. And it's an honor to be here on the show with you guys. And I just want to thank you for that. Absolutely. What an amazing moment that was for you. You've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. Comes on short notice. You delivered a highlight for the ages.

Has it even sunk in what you did on Saturday night? Yeah, sunk in, you know. It's like, people been blowing me up. So, like, I didn't want to go to my city. I knew it was going to be awful. so I'm out here in Miami just trying to relax and just let it all stick in like you say you know and honestly I'm not trying to think about it too much because there's still a lot of things that I really need to get done that I'm really trying to do like until I touch the UFC goal like I don't even want to care about none of these wins until I have to build around my waist. So you don't savor the flavor at all? I did for a couple of days and I'm trying to get straight back to gym. I'm about to be hitting midst as soon as my coach and like. in town.

There you go. So you had just gotten a first round finish in just over a minute for LFA earlier this month, eight days before your debut took place in the UFC. How did this opportunity come together for you? Like, when were you made aware that this was a thing and that you could be taking that next step in signing with the UFC and getting right in the octagon? They called me on Tuesday. Literally that same day, I flew out of town.

So that quick, huh? Like five days notice? It was a done deal? Yeah, I think it was actually coming Monday, and then, like, the next day I was flying out. It was confirmed when we were flying out. There you go. Not even a second to really breathe, but that's probably better, right? You just get in there.

You don't have to kind of overthink anything. You just get there and do what you do best. Yeah, exactly. You know, we still study him because we know he's a game opponent. Like, no one was really putting him out like that. He's very tough and durable. So, like, I was already training hard, but after that, I was just trying to stay sharp. We hit and miss, and we're, I was.

studying hard and watching them like crazy. It was great to see this moment for you because, especially it was reference on the broadcast a couple of times and you even said to Joe Rogan after the win, like, I have this crazy story in regards to how I got to this place. And it is a crazy story of redemption and sort of hitting rock bottom and then getting a second chance and making the most of it. The partying that sort of came to light while you were in college, it led to this wild night in Spokane where you and some friends decided to have this wild night of escaping reality.

You mix the hallucinogenics with alcohol. It was this bad combination of things. You put your head through a window. Your friends call 911 and they bail on you in this beginning of this road to this incredible knockout. So, you know, I know you know what happened that night, but you don't remember any of it. Is that accurate? Yeah, like, honestly, I was tripping the whole time.

It felt like I was just dreaming. Like, I was seeing all kinds of crazy visuals. I thought I was still sitting on the couch, like, dreaming, you know, but I was out there being wild and punching windows and doing all the kinds of crazy stuff. And there's videos, all over social media of this, from your local news outlets, and the officers, like, try to get you into custody, and you were tasered,

had little effect on you because you were in that zone, and then they finally get you in the ambulance where you ended up dying twice on the way to the hospital, your heart stopped beating, scary situation. And I know you don't remember everything that led up to that moment, but do you recall like the first thing you remember when you woke up? All I remember is like me at the house and I remember all I just remember like what I was seeing, but I don't remember like recall anything after like I fell through the window.

It was an interesting time in the world when all this happened because all the riots are going on and some of these major cities around the country due to racial tension, especially with police officers. And those officers were in a pretty tough spot that night. But in that moment, it was like, it just seemed like the right group of officers were on duty and they helped save your life that night. Like, how grateful are you that it was those guys on duty on that specific night and that you were in Spokane when this all happened? Yeah, I'm very grateful to the guy because, like, I know I couldn't walk up to someone going crazy like that. It's a scary situation.

Like, luckily, I didn't, I had like straight on the world's own so they could tell I didn't have a weapon. So I'd thank God, like I always like to be comfortable usually and just like to wear shorts. So like, and honestly, I'm glad the officers didn't shoot me. You know, I'm grateful to God for that. And I thank them for taking that experience and doing their best parts. How did you react the first time you saw that video? Honestly, it was very emotional. And, like, I was pretty embarrassed.

I'm not going to lie. I was very disappointed myself, you know. I took a serious look at life and see what I really want to do. And, like, is this the kind of life I want to live? I never wanted to be seen you like that again. So like it was definitely a game changer. Have you ever thought about how your life would be if that never happened? Like if you went through that night and it didn't get as extreme,

you got through the night without it getting to that point. Like do you think that you'd be in the spot in your life right now? I think everything you have for a reason. So I'm glad it did. But I think I probably would have thought I was a little bit more invincible. and I probably would end up dying, to be honest, because I've probably gotten more front to drugs, you know. But it obviously led to, you know,

you helping out the officers with some of the youth in your area. How fulfilling has that been for you, sort of taking on that role, joining, you know, kind of joining forces with the police and trying to help out some of these people with the same problems you used to have? Like, going to the schools, speaking of kids, doing all that crazy stuff.

Like, they brought tears to my heart just seeing like kids out there doing that kind of stuff. Like, I've never thought I hear some kids, like, in middle school, doing any drugs like that or talk to parents like that. It was an emotional roller coaster ride and really changed the life, you know. It was a pleasure to see that I was impacting these kids' life in the positive way. Like, it was crazy. Like, kids till the day, like, still talk to me that I used to talk to, you know.

So it's pretty cool. And it led you to mix martial arts, and you got off to this incredible start to your career. You got on the Contender Series. You had that fight with Sean, Woodson that didn't go your way and then the fight with Derek Minner didn't go your way on the regional scene but then everything just sort of turned around for you. I'm curious where your head was at after those two losses. Did it sort of ignite this massive flame inside of you or was that

something you had to mentally seek and kind of push through to get to that next level? No, I already had the flame and I knew what I had to work on and like it was mostly just getting healthy and just getting my body right and just not being so overconfident, you know, and God had to have to humble me, man, you know, because I really thought I was going to smoke both of them, but I even fought, like, both fight injured. Like, I thought I could be Derek Minner, even though I fractured a ball on my shoulder and tore my leg from, so, like, and it went out of socket bad during that fight, and I couldn't escape the triangle because of it.

So, but that's my fault, like, not listening to my mom and not having my surgery instead because I did need the money at times, so I took the fight, and I really shouldn't have. So you got the surgery and all good now? Yeah, I'm all good now and I'm done cutting weight because I never cut weight while I was wrestling really. And I think that I played a factor where I was always so healthy. And that's why I moved up again. I was like, I'm just going to get stronger and be healthy because it's not really good to be cutting all that weight all the time. And now here we are.

You get signed. You're on this big card with fans headlined by Israel at Asana, who you got to meet during Fight Week. How did that happen? And what did you take away from your conversation with the middleweight champion? I have to wait a bit. You know, I almost gave up a couple of times, you know. I was about to give up. My friend's Kobe was like, all right, man, we waited here long enough.

Let's his go. We probably already missed him. And, like, as I was getting up, like, he said, like, he was coming right out from getting his COVID test. And I was like, hell yeah, man. And he was just such a hump, boy, and I was doing, man. And I hope that someday I could be a champion, just like him on and often, man. what did he say to you that that really stuck with you like he was telling me how i'm a good guy you know and he said i had a good story and and i can't really recall all the things he said like it's just

been a crazy weekend what was the walk to the octagon like for you like can you describe it because considering where you were like six years ago that must have been such a surreal experience for you it was a surreal experience man i just made it all sink in i didn't want to run to the cage you know I just want to just take it as it is as it is and just know that I belong there and just soak it up. Soak it up, man, enjoy the fans, give them half-fyes and show them that I belong, you know. And I was glad to show the result that I did. Seven seconds was all it took. The fans erupt.

And then the celebration and the knee injury. What are you thinking when you tweak your knee like that and come up hobbling? Are you like, you have just got to be kidding me right now? I was like, God, dang it on my idiot. That's so crazy, man. Because I remember, I was about to hop on a cage and sit on there, but I forgot. I remember they said something like, you can't do that anymore or you get fine. So I was like, it was like, because I think so fast, I had a double thing.

And like, I wasn't even focused on that. I was like, oh, I can't do that. That's why I was thinking my head. And then I wasn't thinking about landing on my leg weird. I know you did your post-fight scrum with the media afterwards, but did you go and get the knee checked out afterwards. Are there any x-rays done? Like any sort of diagnosis on the injury itself? I think I hyper-extendant, but I'm going to get an MRI tomorrow. Do you think you're, you don't think it's like a tear or anything like that, right? I don't think so because I can walk

on it now, but I'm not a doctor and I just got a high pain tolerance, so I just got to get a checked out either way. You feel confident that it's nothing major? I don't think it's anything major. And if it is, you know, it's not my first injury, so I make sure, like, I take care of body lays into a whale and not respect. When the bonuses came out, it was a no-brainer in a lot of people's eyes that you were going to be part of the bonuses. You were not on the list, which was pretty surprising. I figured Moreno would be on there.

Paul Craig had that an early submission, but when you get in the record books like that, that's typically like an automatic bonus. You didn't get one. I know Dana White since said that you were going to be taken care of, but when you found out you weren't getting a bonus, how did you react to that? I didn't care about that at all, man Because like I said, man I was just so grateful for God

Just to be there, man And just to have performance like that Like nothing can tear me down Like even if I didn't get a bonus Man just to get a win like that Man, it was so surreal So it was like cherry on top of the Sunday When Dana White said

We're going to give him a little bit A little bit extra for that performance Yeah man I can't wait to see what he buses me with man I'm excited to see So where do we go from here I mean Saturday is something that's going to be pretty hard to top,

but you seem to be taking the right approach. Like, you savored it, but now it's kind of behind you at this point. You do have this crazy wave of momentum behind you coming out of Saturday. What's next for you? I know you've got to get the knee checked up, but what do you kind of foresee?

I'm trying to be the next McGregor. Honestly, I think I have, like, that explosiveness and the power to just really just put people out and get some crazy highlight wheels and finishes. Outside of that, like, What do you mean by being the next McGregor? You just want to, like, stay active and just go, go, go. And whenever they ask, you just, you're ready to.

Just like your McGregor effect, you know? Like, just the way he just took over the whole game. Like, that's what I'm looking to do in every aspect. Is he a guy that you look up to? I would say what, who I looked up to was my key. Like, he's one of the main reason I started fighting, like, because he was from my town. Like, he won the ultimate fighter show.

And then, like, after that, I always was a fan of Anderson Silver, and now I'm a fan of Israel. Like, they're pretty similar, and, like, I love both their style. And, like, I'm just trying to get the same way with my stand-up. The rest is already there. So, like, that's my full focus is really just the stand-up right now. I'm going to continue to work on it until I get to a level where it's an A for me in that, in that, in that, like, category. Where do you think it is right now?

honestly stand-up's just for every evolving game. I'd feel like a C-plus. A C-plus, even after a seven-second knock-a like that? Yeah. All right, you are a humble guy after all. I was going to ask you about Kiesa because not only is he a great fighter, he's on a great streak right now going up to 170, but he's also one of the best analytical minds in the sport.

What kind of influence has he been on you? I know he's a guy that you look up to, but just, you know, from an influential perspective for you as a fighter, as a teammate, a student, if you will, how much of an impact has he had on you? He was really like a big brother to me, you know, back in the day. Like, you know, he still got busy, but, like, he congratulated me, like, not a long ago, so I was happy about that.

Like, I don't really train anymore. I end up switching over to Warrior Camp for, like, other reasons. But I think my new place I'm at is just a great home for me. at Warrior Camp. What a debut. What a moment for one Terrence McKinney, seven second knockout win. The man is an inspiration for sure. And his story is crazy.

I appreciate him. His openness to talking about the story. And I'm excited to see where this kid goes. Seems like he's clicking on all cylinders. He's battled back from a really difficult spot in his. life and nothing but respect for that, man. As we get ready to wrap up the show this week, much love, much appreciation to all of you for checking out the show each and every week. I really appreciate it. It means a lot. Don't forget, Brandon Moreno, the assassin baby,

the brand new UFC flightway champion of the world will be joining me later on today. So be on the lookout for that. And that would be Tuesday. So for those of you listening in the future, that would be Tuesday, which means if you're hearing this, now they think about it, doing the math in my head. That Brandon Marino interview would probably be out by now. But I'm talking to him on Tuesday. Just subscribe everywhere on a YouTube page. You'll get it. You'll see it. You get to see

that smiling face of the assassin baby, Brandon Moreno. Big thank you to all of you once again. Big thing to Casey Lydon on the production. Alex and Jose on the graphics and social media. We shall return next week right here on what the heck. Have a heck of a week, everybody. We'll leave you with my chat with your boy, Eric Anders. All right, the UFC 263 winner train continues on here on what we have your boy. Eric Anders back on the program, picked up a unanimous decision win over Darren Stewart on Saturday night in Glendale, Arizona.

Eric, congrats, man. Good to see you. How are you? Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Another rematch on this card full of rematches. We all knew how the first fight ended.

You come back, you get it done with unanimous decision, huge third round. Do you feel like you have sufficiently. put Darren in the rearview mirror. Yeah, absolutely, man. You know, I was well on the way to TK on them the first time in the first round and got unanimous decision win this time. So I don't know what else I need to do, you know, to solidify that. Most people, when they hear your name, they know you as a guy who goes in there,

powerful strikes, putting guys away. And when you get yourself into these grueling fights, these wars of attrition, you found yourself on the wrong end of these decisions or at the Mearshard fight, there's some questions on whether or not you did enough to win. This one, there were no questions. It was almost universal,

everybody scoring the fight for you. Do you take solace and knowing that can unquestionably come out of these grueling fights without any doubts whatsoever? Was that like a good feeling for you? Yeah, you know, that's just, you know, I've sacrificed so much for these fight camps and whatnot

that, you know, If I go out there and get knocked out, you know, there's really nothing I can do about that. But, you know, if I have a choice, I'm in the fight, you know, third round, I got to go out there and win. I can't let any more of these fights slip out of my hands in the third round anymore. So, yeah, I just went out there and kind of did what I had to do, you know, so not like super pleased with my performance, but I am pleased with the win. You know, I'll take it. why aren't you super pleased with it just because man i think for myself and everybody watching you know i thought that everybody i thought the fight would be a lot like the first fight was

but it wasn't it was kind of quite the opposite you know so you know it is what it is there made some adjustments and uh you know yeah it is it is it is you know like i said at the end of the day it's all about the w i know i know i know you didn't have to cut the extra weight to 185, but to me, and my eyes were deceiving me in some way, you looked like better than ever physically. Like you looked in tremendous shape. Like, right in a, like, is this the best condition you've come into a fight in, in a while, I guess? Not that you've ever been in bad shape, but I felt like you looked a little, I don't know, you just looked better this time around. At 205, 100%, you know, yeah, definitely at 205.

You know, I think before I kind of took fighting at 205 for granted. So I didn't really pay attention to the diet or whatever. But, you know, I was much more meticulous in my approach for this fight. But I think the fight before this was the best shape I've ever been in at 85. So I got new strength of conditioning coach Chad EK over there, fight ready. And this guy's trained at, you know, people look at the Olympic Training Center, NFL athletes, NHL athletes, professional. fighters, you name it. He's done everything under the sun.

So, yeah, I just show up, do what he tells me to do, and, you know, kind of let him guide that portion of the process. How did you enjoy being back in front of the fans? You got the hometown pop during the intro. Yeah, there were some boo-birds during the fight, but I think it was more because a lot of these people probably, like, locked up for a while, is their first UFC event in a long time, and they just wanted craziness. They wanted that cartoon-esque kind of fight every single fight for the entire cart.

So overall, outside of that, did you enjoy being back in front of the people? Yeah. And I also think that, you know, my fighting style is a brand. You know, when I get in there and fight, like people like to see people get knocked out and punched. And, you know, they like the exchanges. And that's kind of what I bring to the table. So, you know, they didn't quite get the your boy brand in this last fight. Did Darren do anything that surprised you in the fight?

I know one thing you mentioned when you were speaking to reports after the fight is he didn't feel as strong as he may have did in the first fight. He just felt a little different this time around. Outside of that, was there anything he brought to the table that threw you off that surprised you at all? He took me down twice, you know. You know, he was looking for the takedown, maybe because of how the first fight went. He wasn't trying to engage as much on the feet and wanted to clinch fight a little bit more. So I'm not really sure what his exact game plan was, but he did take me down twice. And I haven't been taken down in the fight in quite some time now.

So he kind of stole along me with that. The veteran, that veteran savvy he brings to the table. Yeah, I guess. Seeing how the rest of the night played out with that amazing moment with Brandon Moreno winning the title, the wild ending to the Leon Edwards-Nadeez fight, Adasania's dominant win, could you sort of feel the magic in the air while you were out there fighting that you were a part of one of those nights that fans are going to be talking about for a while?

Yeah, you know, the atmosphere was crazy. You know, just walking out. I mean, you could feel like the tension. You know, you could feel the excitement. You could feel the energy. And, you know, I think that's something that I've been missing with these fights, you know, last year and earlier this year

was that energy of the crowd. What was your biggest takeaway of, like, the empty arena fights? Not saying that that, that you've had your last one because it appears that the fight night events are going to be at the apex for the remainder of the year. Next year, who knows? But just say, like, you have it. You've already fought your last fight in the apex, the empty arena setting.

What was, like, your biggest takeaway of the experience? Man, I'm not really sure because either way, you just got to show up and fight, you know. You can hear your corner. You can hear their corner a lot better and clear. But, you know, other than that, you know, I prefer the fans. You know, I prefer the, it just adds an extra element to the game, you know, the, an extra X factor, you know, when, when the crowd gets into it, you can't help, but, uh, have it, you know, you know, fight, you know.

Do you notice the difference between the cage sizes? Like, is that something that is obvious when you're in there? 100%. I prefer the smaller cage. I think the smaller cage is, is a strikers cage, you know. I'm not like one of the guys who bounces around and moves around and dances around. So, you know, it's a lot easier to cut guys off in there and get them up against the cage. You've said many times in the past that middleweight is your path to getting to a world title at some point. But it's nice to have the option of going up to 205 if needed. So as a guy who is on the hunt for the middleweight title at some point in your career,

did you watch Adasani's fight against Marvin Vittori? And if so, what did you make of his? performance. Yeah, absolutely, man. I'm a fight fan. You know, that night, the other night, it was super cool to go from fighter to fan in the same night. So I went out there, won my fight, took an elevator up to one of the suites and, you know, kicked it with a bunch of teammates and stuff from over there at Fight Ready and got to sit down, drink a beer and, you know, be a fan of the sport. And, you know, that guy has a lot of, like, Green Generalship and he's a showman. So he's super fun and exciting to watch.

Oh, so you guys got to stay in the arena this time if you wanted to? I did. I don't know what you're allowed to do and what you're not allowed to do, but that's what I did. So, yeah, it was cool, man. Was Captain Eric in the suite? He was there with his glasses, for sure. What a character, man. What have you made of, you know, I'm sure you've seen him, obviously, in the past and builds

up to different fights, but now that you're working with him, like, what have you made of just being able to work on him. He's definitely a character, but a very intelligent character at the same time. Yeah, you know, he, when I first came to fight ready, I was kind of telling Eddie, man, kind of keep that guy away from me because it seems like a distraction, you know. But, man, the guy is world champion. I didn't know, like, his credentials and stuff. And, man, he really is a good coach, a knowledgeable coach.

And he's not the guy that you see on Instagram. I hope I'm not like killing his persona or nothing. but what you see on the internet, on Instagram and stuff, that's not like really who he is. You know, that is who he is, but it's like a persona, you know. He really is knowledgeable and he really is a good guy. You see him in the gym talking and playing with the kids and stuff. And, you know, he hasn't had to do that, you know, so, yeah, I think he's an awesome guy. Yeah, I got to speak with him in person last week because he's, you know,

He was cornering Alara Joani, who was supposed to fight on Friday before a fight got canceled. And one of the things you talked about was, you know, what you have added to the team over at Fight Ready. He mentioned you by name, you being a great addition to Fight Ready. Do you feel like you found your home for the foreseeable future with Fight Ready and the squad over there? Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, I know my last two fights have been, my last two fights with them, I guess the same opponent. But I think the progression is undeniable. know, especially in that first one.

And then, you know, I've had a real problem in the past with holding guys down once I get them down. And, you know, I was able to hold there and down for, I don't know, how long, three and a half, four minutes or whatever in the third round. So, you know, I think I'm making, you know, vast improvements in all phases of the game over there. So, yeah, for, yeah, I'll be there for a while. Marka Madsen's there now?

Yeah, yeah, he's there. He's also one of the guys who was showing. He's also another great addition to the team because he likes the coach as well. You know, he didn't have to do that. I'm sure a guy, you know, everybody's asking him questions, a guy with that kind of, you know, there's been in the game that long and, you know, as the credentials that he has, everybody's trying, oh, how do I do this? How do I do that?

but he loves the coach, he loves to teach. So, you know, he's showing me some of the stuff to hold somebody on the ground as well. And I, you know, was able to implement it in this last fight. So it's great. Even though you've been in the UFC for a while now, we're still sort of learning more things about you

outside of the fight game. Like you talked about different jobs that you took after your football career heading into MMA. And one thing that I've found fascinating kind of taking a look back at like old social media posts, things like that is back of the day, you were the guy that was borrowing suits

for all these different functions, for all these football events, and now you're the guy, you can get your own suits. Like you've built a pretty good life for yourself with fighting and some of the decisions you've made with your money over the last couple of years. Is it kind of surreal to like go back

of those old photos and think about those, I guess, humble beginnings to see how far you've come? Yeah, I laugh at it now, you know? You know, obviously it's pretty frustrating at the time, but, you know, now that the situation has changed and I'm not in that situation anymore, yeah, it's funny now. You know, I had to live in a hotel before with my, you know, with my oldest son. So that's not a good feeling. That's not, that's not cool. So to have my own house, to own several other houses, rental properties and stuff like that.

And, you know, I can buy my own suits and my own clothes and stuff like that. You know, it's a, it's a, I mean, dude, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's real is not the, the. Surreal is not the word, I don't think because, man, it's what you strive for. That was always, always been the goal, you know, I even got like a 720 credit score now, you know, my shit used to be like 300, you know, Africa. That's, that, you know, that's, that's, you know, that's that's, you know, that's also the big thing, you know, because, man, that credit score makes life a lot easier, you know. And what I realize is all this stuff is just a game, just like fighting.

And you just have to fill out the right paperwork, play the game the right way, and you can make it, you know. So I'm still figuring out the game and, you know, the little gray area and stuff like that, and things, what you can and can't get away with. And, you know, just trying to keep moving forward. it's the little things that don't seem like big things but they really are like the credit scores even in the mma like one little thing little tweak could make all the difference in a fight and you know you mentioned yeah and then the credit score things like that things you take for granted

now you know how important they are it makes you not only a well-rounded fighter but now kind of makes you more of a well-rounded individual person father husband so forth and so on 100% i used to think that you could just buy everything cash you'll be straight but man who has you know just a bunch your cash line around to buy, like the home that you're going to raise your kids in and stuff like that. And to be honest, like, I didn't have any of this figured out until I met my wife. She's really the one who put me on the spot in the financial game, you know, because I'm not still not that great with money, but she kind of guides what we do with our money and stuff. Yeah, I'm with you on that one. Shout out to the wives out there who are financially responsible.

Speaking of financial responsibility, if people took your betting advice, you won some people some money on Saturday because you called both title fights. You said Brandon Moreno was going to win the title. And that was such a cool thing to watch, man. Like seeing one of the good guys in the sport get his moment. And what a moment that was, what did you think of the co-main event and how it ended in the moment that Brandon Moreno had on Saturday? It was great. And man, just watching him walk around the hotel. And he was so loose. He was joking around. He was singing in the hallway. He was on like the top floor singing down to everybody in the lobby.

You know, he's such a great guy. His energy is great. And I just, you know, just kind of observing both guys on Fight Week. I was that, man, my money's on Moreno. He's too loose. Like, he's like, the moment's not too big for him, you know?

You know, Figaro, man, he just kind of just seemed upset all week. You know, it seemed like he was cutting weight, you know, since Wednesday. You know, so I was like, man, this fight goes past round three. You know, there's no way he's going to have enough energy to keep it going to sustain for five rounds. So, yeah, I just felt the Moreno mentally and just, you know, being around somebody, man, you kind of like feel their energy and feel where they're at mentally. And then he was just, he was on, he was on point all week.

Yeah. And as far as you go, where does your boy go? from that win on Saturday. Like, I know you want to take the summer off and spend some time with the family, but what sort of time frame are you looking at to get back in there? I like to get back there in late November,

or excuse me, late October, early November. You know, I was scheduled to fight Ed Herman and Antonio Royo, who Antonio didn't get his fight because, you know, whatever happened with Tom Breeze or whatever. So I'd like to fight one of those two dudes just because, like, I was on paper to fight them. late last year and it just didn't happen. So, you know, it's just, it's been bothering me,

especially Antonio O'Royal that I got all the way to the scale and didn't make it to the fight. So that one kind of bothers me a little bit. So I'd like to get that one for sure. There you go. Yeah, Ned Herman just was scheduled to fight and he just got forced out of his fight. So there you go. Now you have both options potentially in October, November. You know, I understand that they don't want to wait that long or whatever,

but man, I'm not going to fight before then. So if they get a fight, cool, if not, then, you know, your boy will be available in October, November, it's time frame. There you go. Well, congratulations again, Eric, hard-fought, gritty win against a wily veteran. Go ahead, enjoy it, enjoy the family, enjoy your summer, and look forward to your return later on this year. Thanks again, man, for the time as always. Hey, pleasure. Thank you for having me.

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