MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Ray Flores, Lauren Murphy & Gordon Ryan

Episode Date: April 20, 2021

This week on What the Heck, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck speaks with boxing commentator Ray Flores (5:15) to recap the Triller Fight Club event this past Saturday, Jake Paul's TKO win over Ben Askren, and addresses some of the narratives that came out of the event. Lauren Murphy (33:50) previews her UFC 263 matchup with Joanne Calderwood and gives her thoughts on the flyweight title fight this Saturday at UFC 261 between Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade. Finally, Gordon Ryan (1:017:14) discusses signing with ONE Championship, when he may make the transition to MMA, and the viral video of him slapping Andre Galvao. 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 MMAfighting.com. I am Mike Heck. Hope everyone's having a great start to the week, and it's another big one in the combat sports world. Last week was wild with One and Bellator, the UFC event.

of course, the Paul versus Ascran boxing event, which reportedly did 1.5 million pay-per-view buys somewhere in that neighborhood. I mean, are you that surprised? Whether you were into this whole crazy concept or you weren't, it's working. It is working. And Jake Paul and Ben Ascran built themselves a big fight. Paul knocks him out in the first round in the main event.

I know some people are upset about that. people throw in wild claims out there like the fight was fixed, it's just ridiculous. But to sort of paraphrase something Jed Mishu said on our post-fight show and in this aftermath article, which you can find on MAAfighting.com right now, if there's one thing Triller does better than the UFC or Bellator or PFL or anybody else, it's that they fully admit and they fully embrace who it is, they really are. Like when people say, man, like, why would you watch this event? It's a circus. It's silly. Yeah, it is. And you know what? They know it too. Triller embraces the chaos. They're not selling you on anything other than the chaos.

And it is chaos indeed. And chaos and bunches. Chaos that a lot of people were bought into on Saturday night. And we'll sort of put that event to bed to kick off the show this week. But of course, this is another big week in the combat sports world in mixed martial arts. The PFL is back on Friday for their first event of the year. Anthony Pettis and Clay Collard will headline that one. That's an interesting fight. It's a pretty good card as well. And then, of course, the big one on Saturday, UFC 261. Three title fights.

Our own Jose Youngs will be in Jacksonville this week. He is in Jacksonville as we speak as this drops. And as you all know, nobody does event coverage like MMA fighting does. And that will be the case once again this week in Jacksonville, Full House. full capacity, all the fans sold out crowd, Shevchenko versus Androj for the flyaway title, Zhang Wei Lee versus Rosammi Yunus for the Straway title. That's the people's main event to coin the phrase.

That's the best fight on the card, in my opinion. And then, of course, the big one, Kamar Usman versus Jorge Mazadol too. It's a big deal. And I'm fired up for it. I'm really fascinated by this entire event, and I'm also fired up for the show. But I do want to make mention real quick about Robert Whitaker's performance on Saturday in the main event of UFC Vegas 24.

he was phenomenal against Kelvin Gasselm, the rematch versus Israel Adasun. He should be next after that dominant decision win. And you know what? Like when you look at that fight on paper, it looks like Robert Wooderker just went in there and just beat Calvin Gasselm, who had nothing for him. And I mean, I guess there's some semblance of truth to that, but it's not like Gasselm didn't show up because Gasselm did show it up. He looked pretty good. But Whitaker was just that impressive on Saturday.

and he deserves that title fight. And it looks like Dana White's on board. Hopefully Adasanya's on board, and hopefully we see that fight later on this year. Robert Woodaker deserves it. One of the good guys in our sport for sure. He looked phenomenal. And of course, Alex K. Lee and I did our matchmaking podcast

on to the next one. So you can go check that out wherever you find your favorite podcast. Let us know how we did with our matchmaking. But let's get into the show this week. Three fun interviews, not a super crazy show, because this is a busy week. There's a lot to get excited about. So here's the line.

Wrapping us up this week, we're going to chat with Gordon Ryan, one of the best grapplers on planet Earth. He will join us. He signed a deal with one championship recently to compete in grappling and also to compete for one in MMA. So we're going to get an update on when that MMA debut could happen if it will ever happen. When could we see him compete in grappling at a one event? And yes, we will also discuss the slaps heard around the world. Stay tuned for that. It's a fun conversation.

Lauren Murphy is going to join us. She will be watching UFC 261 very closely this Saturday, especially the flyweight title fight between Valentina Shufchenko and Jessica Andrage. Lauren, of course, is going to fight Joanne Calderwood on June 12th at UFC 263. That's a big one. We'll chat with Lauren about all of that and more. But first, let us kick things off with Ray Flores. A gentleman I have known for several years.

He was part of the broadcast team this past. Saturday for that Triller boxing event for the fight between Jake Paul and Ben Ascran. So we will get his thoughts on that event, the ambiance, and more right now on what the heck. All right, let us say hello to an individual who I've talked to a few times over the years. And it's been incredible to watch him continue to make big moves in the world of combat sports, most notably in the boxing world in this past Saturday night. This man was part of the broadcast team for the Triller Fight Club car, which was capped off by Jake Paul's first round TKO win over Ben Ascran.

Happy to welcome Ray Flores to what the heck for the first time on this platform. Ray, how are you, man? Mike, what's going on, my man? How's everything? It's a pleasure to be here on what the heck, especially after the weekend that we experienced. Absolutely. I'm doing great. Thank you for asking.

I know personally, when I go and cover a fight week and get through it all like the Sunday, the Monday after, it's kind of a time of rest, recuperation, a bit of reflection, trying to sort of digest everything that happened throughout the week. So how would you describe what the last 36 or so hours have been like as we record since that event on Saturday? Because you were just all over the place. It was so cool, man. I mean, honestly, it was so cool. It was so much fun.

It was different. It was unique. We had, it was just great to work with so many talented people. You know, the upper echelon in entertainment, you know, Snoop Dog, Mario Lopez, you know, Pete Davidson, you know, working with, you know, crime faces as well. also such a cool guy. I mean, I met a lot of cool people and was able to vibe with a lot of unique and talented individuals from all different walks of life, you know, working with our boxing crew as well. My Coffin-Tray thought did a phenomenal job. Sean Wheeler crushed it. Al Bernstein is who he is. And, you know, we just, we had a blast. I mean, that's the thing.

We had a blast. And we tried to bring you a different experience compared to what you're used to experiencing on a typical fight night. Yeah, because, I mean, you've been a part of of some big events over the years in the boxing world. And I know from, you know, watching different interviews in the buildup to the card, you know, you essentially said, and you sort of mentioned it here, like, you were excited to be a part of something that was going to take boxing in a different and unique direction, unique being a prime word here. And having Jake Paul in the mix certainly does that. I mean, to see what this guy has been able to do with just three pro boxing fights now, like can you even explain this, Ray? Like, this is certainly unique and dare I say, in hindsight, quite unexpected.

I've never seen anything like this. I mean, that's without a doubt. Like, so we'll go back to the traditional way of boxing thinking, like when Vassili Lomachenko was, I think, fighting a second pro fight, and he fought Orlando Salida for the world title for the world. This is nuts. And he's fight for the world title, second pro fight. Take it on the opposite side. You got Jake Paul, who's three in home, who's doing monster numbers on pay-per-view. I guess preliminary numbers are through the roof that it's over $1.45 million at least. maybe upwards up to tomb, the kind of popularity that this guy has, the fact that it was trending number one on all social media platforms on Saturday, just goes to show you this guy delivers when it comes to a marketing standpoint and he's still 3 and O with three knockouts.

No matter who he's beating, you're going to be curious to see who he fights next. If I told you three years ago, Ray, and I think that was around the last time we've spoken that, hey listen in 2021 you're going to be part of this huge event in Atlanta and the same building where the Atlanta Falcons play and the main event is going to be Jake Paul versus Ben Ascran and it would take the combat sports community by storm. What would you have said? Like would you even believe me? I'd be like, well, yeah, I'm there, but also like, is this for real? Because it was so unique. It's so different and so many different variables. Plus, like you had Bieber performing, you know, you had all these different, you know, celebs running around and everything. So, I mean, it was just like, man,

what I told people, and I mentioned this in the lead up to this whole thing, when you're watching Triller Fight Club, this is the absolute truth. Expect the unexpected. Because a lot of times, I don't even know what's going to happen next. It's just expect the unexpected. So let's talk about this fight and some of the storylines heading into it. First off, you and I have, like I said, we've had many in-diff conversations over the years about big fights, breaking them down, whether it's in the build or the aftermath, whether or not the result was expected or surprising. But Jake Paul stopping Ben Asker in less than two minutes like that, did that surprise you?

I mean, listen, I thought it could have gone any different way, right? But I know that Jake Paul has power. And I know that he's been working with, you know, world champion Jean Pascal, Andrew Tabiti. I know BJ Flora as well. And Jay Leon loved those guys. And just talking with them and other people around, you know, the Jake Paul camp, he really takes it seriously. And he has, I mean, he's 24 years old.

You know, what we've seen does far, he is a good athlete. So athletically, he is explosive. He does have some speed. He has some quickness. But to knock out Ben Askeran in under two minutes, that surprised me because Ascran is a tough dude, you know, former NCAA National Champion two times. I think he won the Gable Award, which is the Heisman in wrestling. He's an Olympian.

He was a MMA champion in Bellator. and I think one FC or one championship as well. I mean, this guy hasn't failed anywhere. He's gone. And even though he was entering the boxing realm, but for Jake Paul to stop him in two minutes. And I know people are like, oh, well, the referee should have let it go along, this and that.

Let's be honest here. You and I both fight guys, Mike. It was only inevitable and only a matter of time before Jake Paul was going to knock out Ben Asking, whether it be two minutes in or it was going to last another 15 and 20 seconds. Listen, he got rocked. hit his head, Ascran's head bounced off the canvas, and that's not good for anybody. I agree. And, you know, the build to this fight, it just continued to grow, like, over the

last several months. Like, Ascran sort of got the ball rolling on this show in November. It's before Paul knocked out Nate Robinson. Paul had mentioned Ben's name, and the timing just sort of lined up where he was on the program. We talked about it. And he said what he had to say. And, you know, months later, this fight's building up. And these guys were able to feed off each other so well. Like, they were perfect foils for each other that even for people out there who thought this was a circus, that this is a ridiculous concept, I felt like a lot of people who began to sort of poo-poo this fight in the beginning stages, they started to buy in more and more the closer we got to Saturday. Did you notice that as well? Yeah, you definitely gained momentum.

And the thing is that these guys, they respect each other, but they still don't like each other. You know, the fact that Ben Asking was saying, oh, well, you know, I'm going to be fighting Logan's little brother and I don't even think he's that good as a boxer. And the fact that, you know, Jake was coming in, I'll be honest, I think Jake fought more emotionally because he did lose his bodyguard about 10 days ago. And in talking with him, him and I had a, you know, a conversation even after fighter meetings. And it really affected him. Like, you could tell that he's fighting with the heavy heart. He's like, listen, you know, my bodyguard shadow said in under, you know, in 228 of the first round. And he was fighting with that and he brought that in the fight week in Atlanta. So he was not only that,

but also the fact that he wanted to prove to everybody, okay, you guys say I'm not a real fighter. I'm fighting a real fighter. When I beat him, what are you going to say now? And he did that on Saturday. Kind of bouncing around a little bit, like there's a lot of discussion coming out of the way in on Friday. I mean, Paul showing up with a, with the damn robot that was not surprising at all, but Ascran was, to be respectful as can be, he was not a sight for sore eyes on the scale. And I know Ascran hasn't been renowned for his physique at any point in his career, but everybody was talking about how he looked on the scale Friday. You were up there with him.

What was your reaction being on that stage, speaking with Ben and kind of seeing him on the scale? So Ben, Ben, Ben was fighting at a weight class that is like, I think, like 10 pounds heavier, somewhere around there, you know, definitely wasn't his weight class. But Ben, typically, it's not a body guy, as you pointed out. I think that Ascran was in shape if he had to go the full, what is it, an eight round fight that he was scheduled for. I think he was in shape that he could have lasted within reason. Now, could he have gone and Mani Paciel, you know, pacing volume and temple?

Absolutely not. But also, that's not Jake Paul style either. Jake Paul's not going to come at you and be like, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. like he's not going to fight like a featherweight. Jake Paul is a cruiserweight. Cruiser weights typically do not fight in this crazy throwing a thousand punches, you know, a fight or whatever the case may be. I think Askin was in decent of shape. Could he have looked better? Yeah. But you know what? I'm not Ben Ascran. And Ben Ascran has accomplished a hundred percent more than what I have in the athletic world. So who am I to say? And how many times have we

seen body guys that look like, you know, incredible shape and then they don't translate inside the ring. So for me, a body, like how someone looks physically, nah, like it all depends on if they have a gas tank heading into the final rounds, but Ascran didn't even need the body because he didn't last that long. So Paul gets the win. I mean, like you said, he drills Ascran, he drops him. Ascran gets up, seems to want to keep going, at least in his own minds. The referee holds Paul back for a moment, has Ben walked towards him. Ben looked to stumble quite a bit and the fight has stopped. And a lot has been made about two things in the aftermath, Ray.

The other will get into in a moment. But the other is whether or not the referee stopped this fight too early. And in my eyes, this was the right call. He was in big trouble. It's his pro boxing debut. Why sending him back out there badly hurt like that? What did you think of the stoppage? Listen, I thought could it have gone longer?

Yes. because Ascran, you know, did get up. Was I fine with the stoppage? Yes, too. Because, listen, you know, people paid. And I know that people were like, oh, that was quick, whatever. Ascern was going to get hurt. He was going to get hurt if the fight continued.

But I understand the fan's perspective that wanted to say, like, oh, we want to see someone go, you know, get splattered or whatever. So I understand both schools of thoughts. I would rather side, if you're asking me and putting a gun to my hand, I would rather have the fighter be protected me. more and have an early stoppage than a late stoppage. So at that point, Jake Paul's in a no-win situation because if he drills him again and he seriously hurts Askeran, then he didn't show restraint. But the fact that the referee stopped it, oh, it was an early stoppage, blah, blah,

so again, Jake Paul finds himself with, it's not even his fault. He finds himself in controversy when he had nothing to do with it because of the referee. You're supposed to go until the ref tells you to stop. He told him to stop. That's it. Exactly. Like, what do you guys want him to do? Tell the referee, oh, no, like, I'm going to use my discretion. I'm let me punch this guy in the face again and go against the rules. It's not the way it works. Oh, man. The other narrative, and I'm sure you've seen this plenty on social media. I've gotten texts and DMs about it pretty much nonstop since Saturday night that Ben Ascran took a dive on Saturday, that the fix was in, a very dangerous assumption in the combat sports world, whether it be boxing and may,

what is your response to people throwing up these claims that Askerun quote unquote took a dive and that this fight for lack of a better term wasn't on the up and up? I don't know of any men, no matter what they pay you, that's going to allow another human being that is built like Jay Paul, drill him clean, and then have your head bounce off the canvas because there's only a little bit of padding on that canvas. It's pretty much wood and steel on the bottom that's going to let someone drill you in the head and say, okay, I'm going to have my head bounce off the canvas knowing what could potentially happen. Like, how do you even choreograph that?

That doesn't happen. He got drilled. He lowered his hands. The jab came down. And then the right hand following that. And he got lit up. That's exactly what happened. Watch the video from Sports Center.

There's a video on SportsCenter, Ringside in. It shows you in real time, Ascreen getting drilled and his head bouncing off like a basketball off the canvas. Another thing, Mike Cabincher's sideline reporter, he was right there. He saw it. I mean, everybody that is just in neutral territory was like, no, he legitimately got drilled. I was in the broadcast position, but I've seen different videos and different accounts. It is 100% the fact that Ascran just got hammered by a big shot.

And with all this momentum, Triller has, why would they even take that sort of a risk? Like if they did that and something got and they got caught and something like that's it. Like, why even try it? Like, can you imagine it takes too much effort to even come up with something like that? And then the way that our world works, if one person knows unless they keep it to themselves, then it's going to get out everywhere. So you don't think that it would have come out already from somebody in somebody's camp, whatever and people were like, oh, well, look at Asking.

He was walking there with his wife and all happy. It's like, yeah, because he was able to get up and walk under his own power. I don't know about you, but when I stumble sometimes or if I hit my head somewhere and I get up and I have a loved one next to me, yeah, I'm going to put my arm around him and be like, I'm happy that I didn't get seriously hurt. So that's what Asker was probably thinking. He put his arm around his lovely wife. He's like, okay, I got knocked out.

I'm going to get checked out. But right now I'm not seriously hurt. So this is a good thing. I lost, but I'm happy that I'm able to go back to my family. People don't understand that. I'm like, how are you saying, oh, he's happy because he took a dive? No, he's happy that he doesn't have to go to the hospital or he's able to walk out under his own power. Now, I get stretched out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

And he's getting a big fat paycheck on top of that, which doesn't hurt. Exactly. So it's like, yeah, I mean, he's healthy. And he's healthy and he's getting paid. Do you feel like he took this fight as serious as he could have, Ray? I think that here's the problem. Ascran had hip surgery in September. And the fact that he even said, he's like, all right, you know, I had hip surgery.

I came off the couch. I think that Ascran thought that because he was a competitor, because he'd been in big fight situations, that he could take some of the raw boxing skill that he learned from like Freddie Roach and Mike Rhodes and Tyrone Woodley and be able to use his competition and his savviness to frustrate Jake Paul. So do I think that he focused predominantly on the X's and O's on boxing for two months to three months? No. Do I think he focused more on being able to just be a fighter and use some of his MMA and wrestling skill and incorporate some boxing? Yes.

So that's my analysis is that I think he kind of was like, all right, I don't, I'm not really good with my hands, but let me learn a little bit of this stuff, but let me focus on being a competitor. Instead of, let me really learn boxing and try to box this guy and then use my competitive nature. He thought, let me use my competitiveness. I got a strong chin, and then I use some boxing to beat this guy.

We've seen what has come out of this. Everyone's still buzzing about it. And, you know, it seems like a lot of other MMA fighters are lining up for an opportunity to fight Jake Paul. And Jake Paul seems to be reciprocal. of this idea. What would you do if you could fantasy matchmake? Who would you pair them up with?

We're seeing Tyrone Woodley. We're seeing Mike Perry and a whole bunch of others to name a few. But what say you? If we could keep this train going, because I feel like the boxing versus MMA thing's got some legs to it right now, especially after what we saw on Saturday? Like what would you like to see next for Jake if it were up to you? If it was up to me, honestly,

just because I think it would make, you know, I talked to Jake Paul during the fighter meetings, and I looked over at him and I go, you know, assuming you're victorious, if you had a business on Saturday, I'm like, is Connor your focus? He goes, yeah, he goes, I want Connor McGregor. So I know Connor's fighting Porre, but here's a matchup that I want. And I don't know if, like, I'm not really sure if he's healthy or not, but I, and I think it'd be bananas. And I think it'd be ridiculous and awesome for Triller Fight Club. Jake Paul and Dylan Dennis. That's the fight because, you know, Dennis is kind of real tight with

Connor and stuff like that. If Jake Paul and Dylan Dallas fight, can you imagine the lead-up to that fight, Mike? Like, oh my gosh, it would be nuts. Like, if you thought the pay-per-view numbers were through the roof on this one, Jake Paul and Dylan Dennis is going to be a monster. It'd be like two heels getting after it. It'd be really weird because like, you know, people talk about Ben striking. And Ben has had some finishes on the feet. Of course, he was using wrestling to set up a lot of those knockdowns and stuff throughout his career. But I don't feel like the, like the M.A community was, was clearly rooting for Ben. They wanted to see him do well. And I'm glad he got paid regardless of the outcome. But I don't know if he gets that same support from the

M.A community. And I don't think a lot of people are going to give Dylan much of a chance in that fight, you know? I just think it's a lead up because of where Connor is in terms of, you know, because he's being a fight guy. So I'm thinking about timetable wise in terms of how guys are fighting. So Connor, in my opinion, is off the table for Jake's next fight. So I'm like, okay, how do you keep Jake busy and also still keep that the carrot out there of the Connor fight? Well, in my opinion, it's like enter Dylan Danes. And people are going to pay like Jake Paul is becoming such a phenomenon in pop culture and entertainment and also the, you know, the fight world because, you know, if even if you're a hardcore fight fan, you still want to see what

the heck is going to go on with this guy. So I'm like, okay, Dylan Dennis is a nice little little bit of an appetizer, right? And then that's going to set you up for potential clash with Jake Paul and Connor McGregor. And the more that Jake's talking about it and the popularity that he has, I think he's making a really good case for himself. Let's put a benchmark on like 2023 around this time. Will Jake Paul and Connor McGregor have fought or have a fight booked in the next years because after that win, and if Connor goes out there and loses on July 10, I feel like the momentum, it'll be like a snowball falling down a hill. Like, it's just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. I've seen a lot of craziness happening in combat sports. And I saw

what happened with the genesis of Mayweather McGregor. And this one has a lot of steam already. It's got a lot of buzz already. So if you're asking me the question, I think it happened. around this time, I think it will have already happened or, you know, I think I'm looking at maybe 22. Even, I mean, who knows? It all depends, as you mentioned, Mike. What happens with Connor and Porriere, if Connor loses against Porriere, which very well could happen because Porriere is hitting his stride and had a mesmerizing performance, you know, a couple months ago against Connor McGregor. So, I think that it all depends on what happens in July with Porre and McGregor. I think the fight will have already happened, though, if you're talking to me two years from now.

Unbelievable. I do want to touch on another former world champion in the MA space making his pro boxing debut on Saturday. Frank Meier got in there with Steve Cunningham, lost a six-round decision. But all in all, a lot of praise is being sent to the former UFC heavyweight champion in regards to how he competed on Saturday. What did you think of Frank Mears' pro-boxing debut? Man, I was impressed.

I was so impressed. I mean, this guy goes out there. Steve Cunningham, former Cruiserweight champion in the world. you know, one of only two guys to put Tyson Fury on his back. He's got punching power. He's in shape. I mean, you saw Steve Cunningham. I mean, the guy was just an impeccable physical condition.

And the fact that Meere was able, even though he outweighed him by 60 pounds or so, was able to push the pace, come forward, you know, put himself and make himself competitive. I mean, he told us in the fighter meetings, he goes, look, he goes, if I go out there and go the distance with Steve Cunningham, former Cruzeway Champion of the world, making my pro boxing debut, that to me is a victory. Do I want to win the fight?

100%. But if I can go to the distance with the cruise away champion of the world, someone who's accomplished as much as Steve Cunningham has done, then that's a win. And the fact that Frank, like my heart went out to him, right? Because he had his daughter,

17-year-old daughter cornering him. I mean, what a story. Frank Mears always been. one of the good guys and one of the honest guys in combat sports. I'm so happy for him because, you know, this was a gamble. He really, in my opinion, he risked his legacy because if he would have gotten stretched in 20 seconds, that wouldn't have looked good for him. And he wouldn't have been representing the MMA community well.

But on the opposite side, him going to distance. Man, oh, man, what a performance by Frank Mear. Yep, couldn't agree more. It was pretty surreal, Ray, to see a van, Under Holyfield and Kevin McBride on that stage earlier this past week. It was wild to see. But we're also slated to see the return of Oscar Delahoya on July 3rd. And a lot of names are being thrown out for that one.

I know Eddie Alvarez said recently that there's been serious talks about him being the opponent. What are your thoughts on Delahoya's return being able to see that guy compete again? Listen, I'm curious to see how Oscar takes these next few months and what his preparation is like. Bottom line is this. Oscar Delahoy is one of the all-time greats. And if a commission clears him, and I mean, you know, look, you know, I'm, I'm going to be curious. I want to see how he fares against a younger guy because I want to see him, Mike, fight a younger guy. Not someone that's, you know, if someone is his age fine, but if he fights a younger guy, someone that is, you know, explosive still and he's got power, et cetera, et cetera, that's going to have me curious.

and I asked Oscar on Saturday because he was commenting with us during Me or in Cunningham, who does he want? He goes, you're going to get something that, you know, you're going to get somebody. I want to fight someone that's going to test me. Okay. Oscar tested himself over the course of his career. So who might that be? I totally be okay with it being Andy Alvarez.

Can I, you can tell me no. But can I ask about, can I get your thoughts on Delahoya on the broadcast Saturday? Because there are a lot of people, yeah, there are a lot of people commenting about it. People saying that he was in pretty rough shit. I mean, you were sitting right there with them. What did you think? I just thought for me, listen, I was so in the zone in terms of focusing on the commentary and what I had to do and stuff. Oscar was funny. He was trying to be funny and I let him be who he is and stuff like that. So if he's letting loose, he's not fighting tomorrow.

He's not fighting in a month from now. I mean, he's fighting in July. So we are over two and a half months until July. So that's about 10 weeks. The typical. training camp is about eight weeks when he comes to boxing. So if he wants to go on, if he wants to have fun, et cetera, et cetera, who am I to say, no, you can't have fun, sir? You're a world champion. You know, you are a Hall of Famer. You can't have fun Oscar. No, who am I to say? Like, I don't, I don't care. Like, he didn't, he didn't offer me anything. He wasn't, you know, he wasn't stumbling on me. He wasn't, you know, sleeping on me or anything like that. So it's like he's having fun. He's being open and honest, and he was actually giving some decent analysis during points of that fight.

So I let Oscar be, he's not fighting tomorrow or next week or even in June when Tiofima Lopez is fighting Camposus. If Oscar wants to have some fun, let him have some fun. People are like, was he on a substance, whatever, this and that. I don't know. And that's none of my business. I was just there to ask him questions. And he was being funny. So away we win. Fair enough. Lastly, just final overall thoughts about the event. experience what went down in Atlanta on Saturday. I assume this will be something that you're going to remember for a long, long time. Oh, man, without a doubt, listen, Mike, I'll be honest with you, man. I got to say, uh, Ryan Kavanaugh, the, you know, the head of Triller Fight Club and Triller,

man, oh man, I love that guy. You know why? Because the one thing that he told, I asked him, when before, you know, we went on the air, I'm like, hey, I'm like, you know, pumped about tonight. He looked at me and he said, be you. That's what he told me. He goes, be you. He goes, I want you to be your total true self. And I said, okay, no problem. I've been in this business a long, long time. But he really was like, I want you to be as authentic as possible and be as real as possible. So for that, I thank him. And I'm glad to be a part of it. Awesome. Working with the likes of Snoop Dog, who is phenomenal. I mean, man, oh man, he has such a passion for boxing in combat sports and entertainment. He was unbelievable. Mario Lopez, I mean, I've worked with

some quality TV people over the course of my career, and he is phenomenal. He understands the fight business, and he's so good on the air. Pete Davidson was just being Pete Davidson and just, you know, saying whatever came to my. So it was just so unique and different crime faces. You know, the social media guy, given a different perspective from New York and coming out with different phrases in terminology, you know, the musical acts, the fights. It was something so unique and different.

And man, Mike, it's like, did that just happen? Like, how cool was that? Like, did that just happen? Bro, I can't wait for June 5th. Teofima Lopez and George Campoises. The only thing I'm open for is that in the press, conference, when we get to, you know, Miami from what I'm thinking, that's what being rumored is. Can we like, I don't want to have to get in the middle of these two guys because that wasn't fun.

I took a lot of heat on social media like, well, why did you get in the middle or whatever? This is that? It's like, I had to step in and everyone's like, you were saying June 5th and a lot on the microphone, whatever. I'm going to tell you this, and I've only told close friends of mine this, when I start saying and start talking like crazy, like mentioning dates on the mic, that's. my cue to let everyone else know, like, hey, I need backup. Like, give me backup up here to help me maybe restrain these guys because I don't want to get punched. Like, I'm going to step in

the way of them to save the fight, but I don't want to get punched in the face. So, you know, that's my cue to be like, hey, guys, I'm hitting the red nervous button. So, you know, give me some help. Look, you're the MC. You got to get, you got to get this thing going. You got to get this thing moving. However you can do it. I mean, it's like DJ in a wedding. You know, if they're, you know, the event staff is behind. You got to say some things and get them going so we can stay on time. And that's what you were trying to do. That's right, man.

I can't wait. I can't wait. If you thought this was something, now that we got as a group, you know, a Triller fight club group, now that we got the first one under our belt, just wait for the next one on June 5th with Tio Fima Lopez and George Camposus. And we got a Vander Holyfield fighting, Kevin McBride. And then you don't know what kind of matchup. I mean, we had Joe Fornier and.

Ray Con fighting. Like what kind of other wild matchup that you never thought would happen is going to take place on June 5th? Big thanks to Ray Flores for the time. I mean, seriously, what a great guy. Happy to see him. And like I said earlier, I'm happy to see him get these big opportunities. He's incredibly versatile in this world where it's on the broadcast team or doing the

interviews or doing the press conferences or ring announcing. the guy can do it all, and I couldn't be happier for him. No doubt about that. He did a great job on Saturday, and we'll move on from the Triller boxing event for the most part. But let us move ahead to the number three ranked 125 ponder on the planet. She will be watching UFC 261 very closely on Saturday. Let us welcome back, Lauren Murphy. All right, let us say hello once again to Lucky Lord Murphy.

She is back in action in a big one at 125, June 12th at UFC 263. against Joanne Calderwood. My bad. It's okay. What the hell? This intro is so good that it's taking the lights out all together. Unbelievable. How are you, Lauren?

How is technology treating you? God, yeah, not too good today, I guess. No, I'm good. I just got done lifting. Sorry, I was a little late, but I pushed her. I competed yesterday at the Houston Open, and so I really wanted to sleep in a little bit today. So I pushed all my workouts back at like an hour.

So anyway, sorry I was late and we're kind of scrambling a little bit, but it's all good. I got a really good day. And I had a blast yesterday too. So all good stuff. How did that all go? It was good. I just did like the Nogi portion of it. The Houston Open is pretty, it's a good tournament.

It's a pretty tough tournament. And because of the pandemic, a lot of like competitors from all over the nation and all over the world signed up. So I got to see a lot of familiar faces like come out that I only see, you know, Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. like pans and worlds and stuff like that. So the Houston Open is a really fun one. I took second, which I hate second place. I fucking hate second place. But there were some really good matches. Nobody scored on me like in the finals. It was just like a ref's decision, you know, so I didn't

give up any points. I got to wrestle my ass off. I submitted somebody. So it's good. You know, it's all good. I feel like, you know, at that level, those people do nothing but jujitsu. And I've been in training camp. So it just felt good to be out there and be under the lights and and do what I love. And yeah, it was nice. It was a good day. Did Joe compete to? No, he just coached. Oh, took a, took a, took a rare day off from the competition. Give those other, give those other grapplers a little bit of a break because Joe's a madman. He is. Yeah, he is. He's an outstanding grappler. So, but yeah, we're just kind of loving what we're doing out here. And Houston's a good place to get in a lot of competition. Like Texas is open. So,

we can we can train we can compete openly and like yeah it's it's really a good spot to be in so yeah I'm kind of there's like I got some marks on my forehead and stuff from yesterday all good though well there's a lot to discuss this it's a very interesting time at 125 this week included but first it seems based on your social media uh you had very little interest in jake paul versus ben asking on saturday is that is that accurate yeah like I really like Ben Ascran. I like him as an athlete. I liked him as a fighter.

I like all the stuff that he's accomplished. But yeah, come on. Fuck Jake Paul. Fuck that guy. He's just, every time I see a video of him, I'm like, what a fucking douchebag? Like, that's really all I ever think.

I think he's cringy. I think he's weird. Guys like him on YouTube, like make me worry about, like, the kids that watch him. Do you know what I mean? I just feel concerned about what he's doing to the next generation. Like I just fuck Jake Paul.

He's just weird. He's an idiot. Like I cannot believe that guys like him get rich and popular. It's really, it's dismaying to see that. Fair enough. Well, I mean, listen, if this crazy time in the world has taught us anything, it's that anything can happen and anything can catch on. And here we are, Lauren.

but let's discuss more exciting things in your world. You have your first fight of the year on the books versus Joanne Calderwood. How exciting is, is it that the next stop on the road to a potential world title shot has a date and a venue at least to be determined, but we have a date. Yeah, yeah, the venues to be determined. But, man, I'm so excited to have a good fight coming up with such a popular fighter, too. Like, Joam is a really popular fighter. I think there's going to be a lot of eyes on this fight. and I really want, I have some goals for this fight.

You know, I like to set little goals for myself in my career and try to have my, have my fights. I feel like if I can set small goals on the way there, then kind of the bigger picture takes care of itself. So I'm definitely going to be looking for a finish in this fight because I've beat people in the top 10. A few times now, I've beat several people in the top 10, but I haven't finished anybody in the top 10. And I think that would really go a long way and making a case for myself for a title shot. there's some other big fights in the division happening so uh when the ufc comes to houston kateen chukyans fighting viviani aruho and i think it's like well we'll see how that fight goes depending how that fight goes that could change some things in the division but um i think it's all

based on our performances you know if i have a really outstanding performance and i think i have a i think i have a good case for a title shot yeah because i mean you've gotten a lot of support to fight for the title right now like you you also had a feeling and you were pretty much told from the last time we discussed that Jessica Andraj would likely be next in line, which she is and she'll get the shot this Saturday at UFC 261. But are you happy with the way this turned out that you're fighting Joanne next? Yeah. Yeah. Like I love to fight and I love my job. I feel grateful to be in the UFC. I feel grateful to be in the top five. And like the biggest part of me is like I cannot wait to go out and challenge myself and like put my

skills on display and have fun. Like this is literally like what my life is for. Like I believe that I was meant to fight. I think I was born to fight and I love a good challenge. I love the sport of MMA. So for me, it's all positives. And I think if I just keep that kind of, if I can keep that going, where it's like I set goals for myself, I'm going to meet those goals. I'm challenging myself. I'm going to meet. I'm going to rise to those challenges and meet those challenges head on. I'm going to have fun. I'm going to push myself as hard as I can and I'm going to accomplish as much as I can. Then I think stuff like good performances, wins, finishes in the top 10, title shots, all of that will take care of itself. So my attitude, the last couple months, and especially since we found out about this fight, has been like, okay, I'm just going to have fun. I'm going to do my best.

And when I have that attitude, I feel like I'm capable of really amazing things. And then that kind of, it just takes all the pressure off. Like, I don't have to worry about anything else, you know. And looking forward, like, oh, yeah, this is going to get me a title shot. Or if I do this, that's going to happen. Like, I've fallen into that trap before. And it just doesn't serve me as well as when I'm just grateful in having fun and challenging myself, you know. I know after Jojo beat Jessica I spoke with her and it seemed like this was the only fight to make at this point.

Because I know the UFC had targeted you and Jojo for a while for several weeks before. the bout was actually confirmed. But I'm curious, like, was there a part of you that was holding out hope that maybe something would happen with Andrade? She may not be able to get to this Saturday so that maybe you would get that call to slide in there. Like, was that something you were thinking about before you put pen to paper to fight Joanne? Maybe a little bit. Like, I can't remember now if that was like something I really entertained. But you never really want to see like a, like I never want to get my shot because somebody else fell out. Right. So like that, that's fine. Like I'm totally

fine with whatever happens in the title picture at this point. We're going to see what happens with Androj and Valentina. That's here in Houston, right? So hopefully I'll be at that fight in person. I requested some tickets, so we'll see if the UFC has enough to spare. That fights this

Saturday, the title fight. Oh, that's in Jacksonville, right. Okay, yeah. Viviani and Caitlin that are fighting in Houston. So that's the fight I'll be at. But yeah, I'm going to be watching. I think Androge has a good chance. She has good a chance as anybody in the division, you know? She's got some skills, like her strength and explosiveness, her takedowns, like, on the cage and the way that she can, like, she's so explosive. She lifts people and she hurts them when she does it, you know, like when she slams people. We'll see how

Valentina deals with that, you know, it's going to be an interesting fight. And then the other fight that's in the top five, the Viviani Arruho and Caitlin Chukagan fight, I'm going to be watching that too. But honestly, it's like, if I just keep it. having fun and keep doing what's put in front of me, then not only am I going to, you know, the title is going to be like a byproduct of all that, but I also want to be ready for when I have a title shot. Like I don't want to just be like, oh, I finally got my chance because somebody else fell out. I got to fight for the title. Well, I lost, but who cares? Like, I want to be like, no, I have a, I've earned my spot. I've been through all these tests. I get a title, you know,

I'm going to get a title shot and then I'm going to feel prepared for it because I know that I fought good girls in the division. I've beat tough girls in the division. I've beat tough girls in the division and the next logical step is for me to fight for the championship. Like, I don't want it to be a gimmick if I get a title shot. You know, I don't want it to be like, oh, they gave it to you because they let like the UFC favors you or like there was just nobody else or like something like that. Like I want it to be legit. Like I earned this and not only am I ready to fight for the championship, but because of the tests that I've been through, I'm also ready to be the champion. And there's a big difference. There's a lot of girls that are happy to just get a title shot,

but they don't really want to be the champion. And I think part of the test that I'm also. that comes from like if it gets handed to you without having a lot of tests first then they don't feel ready you know and so yeah so you so you want to be kind of like the charles olivaura of the women's 125 pound division just like go just start running through people and then they just have to they got to put you in there now like the merit alone like he goes out there and just destroys tony fergus and you have to get him a title shot now yeah exactly and he'll know that he earned it and that he's fought tough people and that nobody handed him shit, you know, and I really love that. That's kind of been my whole career anyway. Nobody ever handed me anything. And I would hate for it to start now,

honestly. So in a way, I honestly feel like the UFC's doing me a favor. Like, they keep giving me these tough tests and I have to rise to this occasion. Like I'm, Jojo's a tough opponent, man. Like, she's a very tough opponent. And she has, she does some things really, really well that I'm going to have to navigate and that we're training hard for. And if I can pass this test, then it's just one more step in my journey that's getting me ready to be the champion, you know, but first I have to pass this test. So, so I'm putting everything into it, you know. How did you react to finding out that UFC 262 is going to be in Houston where you're just like, oh, come on, like, let's move this fight up a month or can't we like trade for the Chukagi

and our Ujo fight? Like, come on now. No, you know, I wasn't too bummed because I actually had a lot of injuries. I really acquired several injuries last year. And, um, Like right before I was supposed to fight Cynthia, I dislocated my collarbone from my sternum. And it was a pretty bad injury. I couldn't, like, I couldn't even lift my right arm. And that was like, I think like four weeks or something before I was supposed to fight Cynthia. I was like literally in a sling. So that whole like last month or last five weeks or something of that camp, like I couldn't, I couldn't run. I couldn't swim. I couldn't wrestle. I couldn't spar. I couldn't do jujitsu. Like literally the last part of that camp, I was on a stair stearper. just to do cardio and sweat and like make weight, you know.

And so after the fight in Abu Dhabi, I really needed some time to heal up. Like, like I did a bunch of weight cuts that year too. And so it's like I really needed some time off, honestly. And we told the UFC that, like just give me a little time to heal up. Like I'm seeing these physical therapists. My metabolism's getting back on track. I have a super good team around me. We just need some time, you know.

And so that being said, it was like the, they started making math. and I just wasn't ready to fight yet. So when the fight with Jojo came and then we found out it was going to be in Houston, and it was like, I really didn't have anybody to blame but myself because I asked for that time, you know, and so it's not, it's not a bad thing. If they were going to Alaska, that would be different. I didn't grow up in Houston though. Like I love Houston.

I'm undefeated fighting in Houston. I'm undefeated fighting out of Houston. But it's fine. I'm happy to go and be a spectator at that event and like watch the flyweights fight. I respect those girls, so it's going to be a good show. Honestly, the card in Houston is fucking sick. I am really happy to be able. Like, I hope that they give me tickets and I hope I get to go watch because, like,

that is a sick card. Yeah, it's really good. The Saturday's good. That one's really good. June 12th's looking pretty good too. Yeah, yeah. I know you kind of talked about Androge being a really interesting stylistic matchup for Valentina this Saturday.

You know, do you have a pick? Do you think that Androge can get, can do it? go in there and do what no one else has been able to do or something that not a lot of people think anybody is able to do right now? I'm still picking Valentina to win. If Indraj wins, it'll be like she'll shock the world for sure, you know. So we'll see. I thought Caitlin was going to beat her though. I thought Caitlin was going to like use her footwork, stay off the cage, not get sucked into Androj's game. And it was like within the first 30 seconds, Androj had Caitlin on the cage and she was looking for like those single legs and those crotch lifts and the um high you know what i mean like

she was looking for those lifts that she likes so much and she does pack a lot of power so um i was surprised like when that happened so nothing says i can't be surprised again but i'm picking the champ to stay the champ you know a lot of people may not be aware of this but for a long time before like both of us have moved up in the world in the combat sports landscape you used to come on like my old podcast and used to make fight picks like every single pay per view you used to come on and we'd go We battle against each other to see who was like the smarter, the smarter fight picker. So I'm curious kind of going back to, uh, to good old pastimes. Do you think we'll see any new champions on Saturday?

Of course, we get Zhang Wei Lee versus Rosamai Yunis. That is a banger. Main event is the rematch in Kumar Usman, Jorge Mazadol. Any new champions in your expert opinion? So the, the only one that I could see maybe working out might be Jorge Mazvedal. You know, maybe I don't, uh, it's hard for me because I don't follow. men's MMA as much as I follow women's MMA. So sometimes in the men's division, I'm like, I don't know, like, who they fought. I don't remember their performances as well.

But we'll see. I know Jorge took the last fight on super short notice, super, super short notice. So we'll see if him having a camp and having a full camp and a good weight cut and all that, like, does something for him. I know he went got some like stem cell treatment too when his camp first started. And so I know that can really alleviate. a lot as far as inflammation and injuries and all that kind of stuff. So we'll see how it goes with the men. That would be one that I would pick. I think Jean-Wele is going to stay the champion. And then, yeah, I think Ballantyne is going to keep her belt. So I think I'll, I guess all three of them are going to walk out still holding their belts. But that's what like I love. That's why

I love this sport because if something happens, we're all going to be shocked and we're all going to, you know, have a bunch to say about it. Twitter's going to blow up and go nuts. It's going to be a night if one of the underdogs wins. So I mean, Oh, 100%. 100%. If Mazadal wins, listen, that's, you know, in terms of like what we try to do in terms of getting attention and getting people to like go to the website, a Mazadal win probably does more lucrative things for everybody if over Usman because Mazdaal is such a big star. But I'm excited to see how that fight plays out on a full camp. But what have you, you meant obviously Arouso is fighting Caitlin Chukagian. That's a very good

fight. I feel like a lot of people are pinpointing Arrujo as a as a legitimate contender in this division. Someone to keep an eye on. What have you made of her surge up this division right now? I feel like, you know, this was where you were like two years ago, starting to make that move. She got, you know, when you got that big finish against Mara started turning the corner and really starting to surge up the ranks, I feel like Arrujo is in a kind of a similar spot right now. Yeah. Honestly, I think if Arrujo has a really great performance, like if she finishes Caitlin or something, like knocks her out, then I can see them giving her. a title shot based on that. I really could. And I like I wouldn't hate on it that much. You know what I mean?

It's like I wouldn't hate it because I feel like I have to pass a lot of tests to get to the title. And it's fine, you know. But she's like, I think she was a pancreas champion and also a competitive black belt like on the world circuit, you know. And so that's like two big things. That's like two really big areas of high level competition that she had before even coming to the UFC. And she does have a lot of power. And I honestly think she might, I think she's going to beat Caitlin. So we'll see how she does it if it's a decision or if she's, if she does hit Caitlin on the chin, like that could be lights out.

That girl really does pack some power and she's got a really good double leg. She times it really well. And when Caitlin gets taken down, she just puts on a body triangle from bottom. It's like she's not offensive. She doesn't try to get up. And so if you, if the striking is close and then Arrujo takes her down, Caitlin's like just going to body triangle her and hang out on bottom and do nothing, you know. And so that'll give Arrucho the rounds if that's how she wins.

But Arrujo stand up is good and she's fast and she hits hard. And so if she strokes Caitlin, like she might be, you know, it might be the second or third time Caitlin gets TKO this year. So I guess it would be the third time she's going to get TKO this year if that happens. So I'm picking Arrucho to win that one. She's a very, very good competitor. I think she's a dangerous competitor. And for sure, we're going to see her, Tyler Santos.

we're going to see her and Tyler Santos in the top five in the next year for sure. Yeah, I would agree with that 100%. I think Amanda Lama is a no, Mandalayas, she's a 115 or never mind. I can't believe. I forgot she's a 35er and is now a 115 or which is mind-boggling. She's looking spectacular as well. Can I just ask what sort of change with you? Because, I mean, I remember after your submission went in Abu Dhabi, you went into that press conference and you were on fire.

Like I thought you had that entire thing, the way you handled yourself with the opponent change, the way you kind of like took over that press conference, you were calm people out about different things, some of the journalists in the room. And it was to me, I thought you stole the show with like everything that was going on, like outside of Habib and everything. This was like a big moment for you. And you caught, you got a lot of attention, a lot of waves and you got a lot of people on your side. Now you're kind of looking at things a little bit differently. Like, you know what? Enjoy the process. Like let's pass these tests. Let's set these goals, make it happen. And when it's my turn, it's my turn. Like I will have earned it. What changed? Nothing. I still feel the same way that I felt in that press conference. I mean, y'all gave Jennifer Maya a title shot. I literally had a better record in 2020 than she has in her entire UFC career. Like that's crazy.

She missed wait twice. You're giving her a title shot off of one win where she made weight and beat somebody on short notice. Are you out of your mind? Like that's crazy. That really is, right? And that's just facts. That's not me. Like, that's not subjective information.

Like she missed weight twice. She beat one person. She beat Jojo. who took the fight on like five days notice or something like that. And they were like, oh, yeah, that's impressive. Let's give her a title shot. She was like three and two in the UFC or something, you know. So to me, that is crazy.

And if you look at the other people that have gotten title shots in this division, I have accomplished what they have accomplished, you know. And I do feel that that's true, but I also feel that that mindset doesn't serve me very well. And things change so much in MMA so quickly that it's like, okay, well, that was last year. That's over. Like now we're in a different spot and there's other women in the division that are coming up and making a splash and there's other fights being made now. And I feel like you kind of have to have this flexible mentality where sometimes you're willing to sit back and chill and see what's going on in the division. And other times you need to like make a case for yourself.

You need to be loud. You need to be like, you know, the squeaky wheel to get the grease. And having that kind of mental flexibility I think is a really valuable tool that I've been working on. you know, for many years now. And I think just at this time, it's going to serve me better to be a little more flexible, to see what's going on, to keep improving my skill set,

make sure that I'm going into these fights healthy. Because as the division grows and develops, the fights are getting more and more dangerous, right? When the division first opened, you kind of had a bunch of girls in there, like, the rankings were all kind of fucked up. People were getting title shots off of like wins over nobody's, like, you know?

And now the division is really developing. It's getting deeper. and the girls, I think, are much tougher now. And so it's going to keep getting better, too. Like the flyweight division is good, and it's going to keep growing and evolving, you know? And so we have to evolve with it. I like the approach.

I mean, it seems like you're, you kind of just let that stuff go. Like, it's just the uncontrollables, let it fly off to wherever it needs to fly off. Let's focus on the things we control. And I think that's a very freeing feeling. I've talked to a lot of fighters over the years about that. I'm sure you're feeling that way, essentially right now.

Yeah, it's practice. Like it sometimes, I mean, I would be lying if I told you like I'm always in this great mindset. Sometimes down in the dumps about stuff or I feel a little negative about things going on around me. But you said it perfectly. It's like if I can't control it, then I'm not going to worry about it. I can't control who the UFC is going to give a title shot to. I can't control who they're going to offer me as an opponent. Even with like the injuries that I had and stuff, like it was like, okay, this stuff is out of my control.

I'm just going to do what I can do. We just have to focus like what's right in front of you and do what you can do and running your mouth about all this stuff outside that you don't have any control over. It's okay when fighters do that. I don't think it's inherently a bad thing, but it's like if it's taking away from your mindset, then it is a bad thing. And so for me, I just need to keep practicing like staying mentally flexible. I need to keep practicing like being in a state of gratitude, having a great attitude,

and doing my best. I think as long as I focus on that kind of stuff, then I feel a lot happier. When I'm really focused on everybody else and what's going on with them and, like, oh, they get a title shot, but I don't. Then, like, it just is a downward spiral.

And it can even affect, like, my practices, which then affect my performance. So, yeah, just really a lot of learning experiences. But a lot of, they say, like, wisdom comes from, like, experience, and experience comes from making a lot of bad choices. Like I've made a lot of bad choices in the past and had a shitty attitude in the past,

and it's taken some time and some work and really surrounding myself with a good team to improve that. And the more I've improved my attitude, the more my mental game is improved, the better my practices have gotten. The better my practices have gotten, the better performances I've had. And I really think that that's what's like shot me up the rankings,

you know? like that's really why I've had so much success in the last like year and a half or so. A lot of it has come from the attitude change. Yeah. Dustin, just jump on Dustin Porre's Twitter like once or twice a day and that'll make you feel good as well for the most part. I just retweeted him today. Did you?

Of course, him and Connor are going to get after it for the next couple of months, but that is what it is. But one thing you can control is June 12th, UFC 263. How do we get this thing done against Joanne Caldeaway? I know we're still a couple months away. I'm going to punch her in the face as hard as I can. I think that's a really good first step to winning the fight. You know what I mean? It's hit her as hard as you can.

And then honestly, I just want to be good everywhere. So she does have a really good clinch. I'm looking forward to seeing whose clinch is better. I for sure think I'm going to be quite a bit stronger. I think I'm just a more solid athlete. But she has some really good tricks up her sleeve. like she's really good with her left leg. She's very quick with it.

She throws her left leg at a lot of different angles. Like she can bring it up to your face. She can keep you in the stomach. She can make it into like a roundhouse kick. She can double it up, you know. So her left leg is like something that I think is one of her most dangerous weapons. Like I said, she has a very good clinch. And I think her ground game is underrated.

I watched her with Andrea Lee. I watched that fight a couple times. And like, Jojo knows how to move her hips. She knows how to get to the cage. She knows how to get up. She knows how to push the head. Like she has a pretty good ground game. And so I think people kind of shit on her ground game sometimes.

And it's like, y'all don't really get it. Like in fighting, Jiu-Jitsu becomes so physical and so scrambly that, you know, at a certain level, it just gets very, very hard to make it look easy. That's why guys like Damien Maia and Charles Oliver are so fucking impressive because they make it look so easy. But it's really not like fighting is fucking hard. So Jojo's a really good opponent, and she's actually more well-rounded, I think, than people give her credit for her. Her stand-up is very dangerous, I think. She keeps such a high pace. I think she has, like, three or four fights where she threw over a hundred significant strikes or something. Like, that's an incredible pace. So those are some things about her that I really

respect, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of, like, overcoming those things about her that she does really well. You don't have to answer this question. You can just give us a yes or no, but have you you've been told where this fight is happening? Yes, I've been told where it's happening. Okay, fair enough. Fair enough. I'm not going to ask you anymore.

I just want to... An announcement will be forthcoming, ladies and gentlemen, but we... We have to announce it pretty soon, yeah. Yeah, I mean, we already know where the July 10th card's going to be, so it would only be natural to find out sooner rather than later. Maybe we'll find out this Saturday during the pay-per-view broadcast. And the July 10th card is already sold out, too, which I think... In seconds.

Because, like, the tickets haven't even gone on sale for the June 12th fight yet. but it will sell out in seconds for sure. So I'm telling everybody I know, I'm like, if you want tickets, join the UFC club. Like they're on like the fight club or whatever they have online. You pay like 50 bucks. Dana, like, send you a letter or something. You get like a hat.

But then you also get early access to tickets. So all my friends and like also anybody watching this, join the little UFC fight club and you can get early access to tickets. So it's not going to be in Alaska. Unfortunately, no. Okay. All right. So we've narrowed it down to four.

49 other states. Oh my God, Dana, please go to Alaska. Please, me, Gina Mazzani, Jared Kananeer, we would all kill it on an Alaskan card, you know. It would be cool. There's a lot of fight fans in Alaska. So, Dana, if you ever see this, please, let's go to Alaska. We've seen when Penny, your dog, we've seen his head a couple of times in this conversation, her head, excuse me.

A new sister? Did I see that? Another dog in the household? Large Marge. So it's cool. She picked us. She picked us. Last summer, she just showed up in our driveway one day. It was like early in the morning and I was getting ready to go to the gym. And so I opened the door. I got in my car and there's this big ass dog. Like I didn't know if she was a pit bull or what. She looks like a pit bull kind of. And so she came running over and she literally tried to get in the driver's seat with me. Like her tail was wagging. She was super friendly and she tried to crawl up. She's 100 pounds. And so she tried to crawl up in the seat. with me and basically she never left. I left. I came back. She was still in our front yard. Later on that night, she was still hanging around. And so, of course, we, like, you know, gave her some food and water. We put her in the backyard. We took her to the vet the next day to see if she

was chipped or if she had an owner. And my husband took her to the vet, and he sent me a picture. And he, like, he was driving and her head was, like, over his shoulder. And both of them were just smiling, like, ear to ear. And when he sent me that picture, I said, oh, we're going to to keep her. I already knew. I say, you're in love with her. I'm in love with her. We're going to keep her. She's been such a good addition to our house. She's a very, very sweet dog. That's awesome. And it was also great to see, we talked about Joe earlier, your husband, in the corner of Derek Lewis during the knockout went over Curtis Blay. It's very cool to see him getting a bit more shine in the UFC coaching realm these days. He's an incredible coach. I think he's as good as any John Deannaher. He's as good as

any Greg Jackson, like he's as good as any MMA coach out there. He's just still very young. We're still, he's still, like, young in the coaching game. He doesn't have decades of experience yet, but he has a lot of experience. He has, he's got some MMA fights himself. He's obviously done however long he's been with me, like through the whole process, you know, through the camps and the weight cuts and the fight weeks and the interviews and everything. He's a very gifted coach, very, very gifted coach. So I think that someday Joe will have a whole roster of fighters, and I think several of them are going to be in the UFC

because he's a very gifted coach. But it takes a team, so we have a whole team around us, and he's always learning from the guys we get to work with, like, my nutritionist is here. So, like, Mateo's the best. So Joe gets to learn from him. I get to work with Andy Galpin, which is, like, a huge, like, bonus for me. And he gets to learn from Andy.

He gets to learn from Bob Perez, as one of the best striking coaches in the game. He gets to learn from Alex Seiznay, who's kind of unknown still, but has been in my corner eight times now. I'm undefeated with Alex. And so anyway, yeah, he's still learning and growing too, but someday he will be recognized as one of the best coaches in the game. I feel very confident about that.

Well, we'll definitely be excited when that happens, Lauren, in around two months, we could be talking about you fighting for a world title. I know that's something that you're not completely focused on. If it happens, it happens. but it all starts on the road to June 12th, UFC 263 against Joanne Calderwood. Thank you for the time, as always, Lauren. All the best of you for this camp and in the fight itself.

Thanks a lot, Mike. I really appreciate it. I like coming on your show. Thanks a lot, man. Hey, it was cool to see the UFC use some of your footage from your interview, you know, on the big card the other day. That was cool. I was like, hey!

I was like, hey, that's me. Yeah, I got my phone, my world change for those 10 minutes. My wife made me rewinded it like 500 times. It was wild. Yeah. So cool. Yeah. So that's awesome.

We're growing up, Lauren. Look at us. I'm trying to. Bottom. Now we're here. Kind of like I was saying with Ray Flores earlier, Lauren Murphy, another person that I have known and have been speaking with for a long time now. Happy to see her turn things around getting very close to a world title fight. I love that matchup with Joanne Calderwood for both ladies.

But, I mean, it's a perfect piece of business right there. It should be a banger. And we'll see what happens with that fight. We'll see what happens with the Caitlin Chukagan, Viviani Araujo fight on May 15th at UFC 262. And of course, the flyway title fight this Saturday between Valencia Chivchenko and Jessica Androj, 125, has gotten very interesting over the last year or so. And we'll be all over that whole UFC 261 event this week, Jose Young's, in Jacksonville right now. And whatever happens in the sunshine state throughout the week, we will bring it to you here on MAAfighting.com. So keep it locked in to the site, to the YouTube page, to the Twitter, social media, all platforms,

and we will keep you posted on the schedules and whatnot and what's going to be going on and taking place in Jacksonville. But we're going to wrap things up here on the program. One more interview to get to. And you know what I just thought of? I forgot to mention with everything going on this week, the events going on for the week. I forgot about one championship. One championship. How could I do that?

They're back on TNT this week. One on TNT3. John Liddaker versus Troy Worthen is the main event, Bannamway fight. Also, an interesting fight between Marat Gufarov and Ray Yun Oak, and the winner of that fight is going to fight Eddie Alvarez next Wednesday, April 28th at 1 on TNT4. We obviously, we confirmed that last week. Eddie Alvarez will be fighting on that April 28th card. We just don't know who the opponent is yet.

I mean, it is on tape delay, so Eddie probably knows who it is, and whoever's fighting Eddie knows who it is. but we will know this coming Wednesday night at 1 on TNT3. So that is happening as well. Of course, the PFL opens up their 2021 campaign this Friday on ESPN Plus and ESPN2. So lots to get excited about in the combat sports world on the road to the Saturday in UFC 261. We can focus now on mixed martial arts. No more Triller, at least for the time being.

Now there's anything wrong with Trillel, we talked about the big. But listen, let's kind of get back to business, you know. Until then, I am Mike Heck. Thank you for watching. Big thank you to Casey Lyon on the production. He's a godsend. Cool Alex and Jose on the graphics and the social media work. Have a heck of a week, everybody.

We will leave you with my chat with Gordon Ryan. All right, let us say hello to our next guest, one of the newest members of the one championship roster. We found out recently that he has signed with the promotion to compete in grappling. And eventually, in the world of mixed martial arts, big news for Gordon Ryan. Gordon, how are you, man? Yeah, it has everything. Everything is great. It's great to have you here. This was a great move for all involved.

So let's begin with how this all came together. How did this all happen, this relationship between you and one championship? Yeah, this was actually a long time in the making. When I competed in 2017, ATCC and I won, Gary had wanted to start fighting MMA after that. So one initially contacted Gary, you know, when Chanchi was talking to Gary. And they were trying to sign him. And they also wanted to sign me. So I was like, you know, I just won my first ADCC. Maybe I was still young. I was only 22.

I was like, maybe I'll stick to grappling for a few more years. And then eventually signed to the MMA. So, you know, 2017 ADCC happened. And then I was preparing, you know, I was like sparring and, you know, getting ready to fight MMA and, you know, learning new skills. Gary had already signed with one. And then we went to a fast forward

2019. I hurt my knee. So I had a catastrophic knee injury where I needed to get LCL surgery. And then I came back from the rehab from that. And that pretty much just led me right into a 2019 ADCC camp. So MMA kind of got placed in the back burner

because I hurt my knee. I couldn't train for like four months. And then the second I could train, I wasn't focusing on MMA because I had 2019 ADCC camp coming up. And I was in a position where I was just coming off a huge knee injury. I need to focus solely on Shihu to make sure that I was ready for 2019 ADCC. So I did 2019 ADCC and, you know, Sean should have messaged me again. And he was like, hey, do you want to come fight MMA?

And, you know, then I won the absolute. And my main focus was fighting Andre to the next ADCC. So I'm like, you know, I'm not sure if I'm going to be. do you know, MMA just yet, um, if I'm going to do it at all, uh, because I, my main focus now is to do the super fight. It's the only thing I haven't won in, in Nogi Jitsu. Um, so I said, you know, let's, you know, if you want, we can do, you know, a grappling contract. And if, of course, I ever fight, if I, if I ever choose to fight MMA, then I'll fight for one. Um, but I said, let's just do a grappling contract for now because my main focus still is grappling. And then if I

ever choose to fight, um, then we'll, we'll move it into that. So where would you say you are, like in that road to MMA. Like, let's just say like zero is not interested at all. We're never going to do it. Ten is like, I'm right there. I'm ready for my first fight. Like, where are you right now? As far as excitement, you know, I've always wanted to fight MMA.

As far as like a technique, from a technical standpoint, I'm not very close to being able to fight. I'm still just like terrible in most areas of MMA and shoot boxing and wall wrestling and just striking in general. But as far as excitement, I've always been. want to fight MMA. You know, it's something that I'm kind of torn between because John really wants me to stay with grappling just because, you know, grappling is kind of at the, at a, in a position now where I can kind of start taking off as a as a real sport. And I'm like,

I'm at the forefront of that. So to leave grappling now, you know, grappling, you know, jih Tjitsu is like my one, you know, my first love as far as combat goes. So to leave Jiu-Jitsu now, you know, where it's just in the cusp of, you know, breaking into that next level, will kind of be a disservice to grappling. So John wants me to stay with grappling. I was always excited to fight MMA. Gary's fighting MMA. So technically, I'm not anywhere close yet.

I'm excited-wise. I was always excited. I was always excited to fight. The whole reason why I started training Jitutu in the first place was initially to fight to fight MMA. Now I'm in a position where I still want to, but I still have some things I have to accomplish in Jiu-Too first before I start moving.

into that direction. Because you're, I mean, you're only, you're 24, right? Just 25. 25. So you're 12 years younger than me. You're not even near your athletic prime yet. So, I mean, the time for you to compete in MMA, there's really no rush, right? Like you could still focus on grappling for the next five, six years if you want to and then go in MMA.

Like, the time is on your side, so to speak. Is that kind of how you're looking at it? Yeah. You know, there's a ton of time for me to compete in MMA. and I know that once I go to MMA, it's going to be something that I focus 100% on. I feel like if I ever do make a transition to MMA, I'll do grappling matches here and there,

but I feel like, you know, if I do something I do at 100%, and if I feel like I can't focus 100% on grappling, then I'll probably stick to just preparing for MMA fights. So, you know, grappling is something I'm just not ready to leave at this moment. Maybe I will be in the future. But I just, I love grappling. You know, it's much more.

you have a much longer career in grappling. It's much more enjoyable to practice day to day. And it's just, I just, I love where the sport is going. I love the innovations that our teams, that our team is making. And, you know, every day it's something new with John. It's just you're working on something. It's not like I'm doing the same old stuff for, you know,

the last two, three years. Like we're working on something new every single day. So it's still exciting. It's still fun for me and I love it. And it's something I'm not stepping away from right now, but maybe in the future. I agree with you that grappling and, you know, the no-gi jiu-jitsu in the tournaments and all that stuff. And we're seeing all these different, like, Chale, obviously with Submission Underground is big.

Quintet tried some different things. It's starting to take off. Like, I feel like, like you said, like it's on the cusp of getting to that next level. I'm curious why it is taken so long because I love it. Like, I love watching this event. Why do you think it hasn't gotten to that next level yet? Even though we're on the way, why do you think we haven't gotten there quite yet? Um, because number one, every sport needs a star and Jitsu hasn't have a, and Jitu just doesn't, has never had a star before.

They've had dominant champions, but they've never had a star. So I think that's a big part of it. Like, you know, basketball was big, but then when you have Jordan, it was just a whole other level. You know, fighting was big, but then when you have McGregor, it's a whole other level. So I think that grappling was. big, you know, relative to how the size of grappling. But now that we have like genuine stars in the sport, you're going to have,

you're going to start pushing into that next level. Another reason is just because grappling is a participant-based sport. And if you look at like MMA, for example, or football, it's a spectator sport where most of the people who watch Jiu-Jitou events are either one practitioners or two family members of people competing. Like no, like most, normal people that don't train Jiu Jit too don't watch matches, don't watch like IBJGF world matches, for example.

Whereas most people who watch MMA aren't going to the gym to get punched in the face the next day. You know, they're just spectators, they're fans and they watch it. So the limit, grappling is always going to have a cap on the limit of how big it can get. Because most people who watch grappling are people who also participate in grappling. So the viewership is going to be capped at a certain point. Like it'll get bigger, bigger and bigger, but then it's never going to be like football. Or like most people who watch football don't actually play football.

Maybe they played football in high school or something, but they don't like seriously participate in football. So it's going to be like wrestling. It's going to grow to a degree. But there's always going to be a cap and a limit on how much competitors can get paid and how big the audience is going to be. How much do you think signing with one could help boost that? you know, with them, you're exclusive to MMA. Like if you decide you're with them, I'm sure they're loosey-goosey in terms of where you compete grappling-wise,

but obviously they're going to want to put you on some cards too. But especially now with them being on TNT, some of these events being shown around the world, especially to do a U.S. audience at a pretty good time frame after the pro wrestling show. How much do you think, you know, your appearance on maybe like a TNT show could help boost the sport of grappling in, you know, the jiu-jitsu world? Yeah, I mean, I think it'll be.

be I think it'll be great just for the exposure for myself as a brand and and for our sport as a whole. And not only just, you know, being on a big, a big station like TNT around the US, but just getting, you know, grappling to be a worldwide, an international thing. You know, I've competed all over the place, but most of what I do is in the US. Whereas now I'll be traveling to, you know, all over Asia, all over, you know, wherever one is, I'll be there. So, you know, just a way for me to get, you know, myself and my sport in front of a lot more eyes. And, you know, I think what one is doing is really interesting. They have belts for all, all different combat sports.

They have their kickbox and they have MMA. And I think they're, they're kind of striving to have a grappling belt as well. So if they have, if they, you know, give a title for a jihitsu and they hold it at the same, they help put on the same pedestals, they do their MMA and their other, the other striking martial arts that they have, I think it will be, I think it'll be huge for grappling. Has there been any discussion on

when you might debut for them in the grappling world? Like when you're going to, maybe sometime this year, has that been talked about it all? Yeah, so apparently they were talking to to Bishatia, to do a match with me in late April. But he's focusing on MMA right now. So I don't blame him to compete against me

on four weeks notice when you've been training for MMA. like MMA and grappling is really different. So, you know, Bouchetia has made, has made a decision to go in the route of MMA. And when you're not training grappling to go against someone like me without, you know, preparing for it properly, it's kind of difficult. After the whole Andre Gauvel incident, they also asked him. And of course, he said no. So right now, I think they're just looking for opponents.

They don't have, they didn't mention any dates. They didn't mention any opponents. I think what they're going to find is what I've been finding. And I think it's going to be like nearly impossible to find a match for me, like a competitive match, like another high level grappler. I think that they can get like MMA guys, you know, that are part of one to agree to matches maybe or just like some guy that nobody knows. But to get like high level grapplers to go in there and face me,

with any other promotion, it's like nearly impossible. So I think that one is going to start to have that issue now. And I told them, I'm like, listen, I'll compete against anybody. You just got to get them to sign a contract. and show up. But it's been tough lately. You mentioned Andre Calvow and of course that thing just blew up like crazy. The whole thing talking a bit of smack after your win and you know, you're walking to the back to do an interview. He's saying things. You walk up to him and you smack him in the face.

One we saw clear his day. The other we didn't really see on the flow combat video. It sounded like you slapped him a second time as well. What happened? Like that was just wild stuff, man. And it escalated in this big way that like, everybody was talking about it. Yes. I mean, I didn't walk up to him. He walked up to me. We were, we were, well, two of our teammates were competing.

So he had Bernaldo competing. We had Craig competing. I went up to shake his hand. John Shook shook his hand. I went to shake his hand and shake Manlo's hand after the match. And Rinaloa didn't shake my hand. And And Andre flipped me off. So I was like, okay, whatever.

I just started laughing. And that's who I am. And then I walked away and there was no big deal. So then there's like a little backstage area because it was in a hotel. There was no audience. and they did they basically just laid down maps in a conference room and put like black sheets around so you couldn't see anything in the background and that was a competition stage so the second you go out of the competition area is basically just like a dark room and um they uh

they have these the sheet set up and i walked through the sheets and andre's like sitting there almost like he's waiting for me and uh he like started cursing at me and I was this is like This is kind of weird because he's kind of off character because there's no cameras around. I thought there was no cameras around. So he started calling me a bitch and a pussy. And I just started laughing. And then he started like walking towards me. He was like, why are you running away?

So I was like, I can't get punked like this. So I turn around and I'm like, I'm not running. And then he like kept walking up to me and walked up to me and pushed me. And I was like, okay, well, that's like the most you can do before there's a fight. So I'm just assuming there's going to be a fist fight. So I was like, let me start the fist fight off at the smack and see how he responds. So I smacked him the first time And then there was no retaliation of any kind

And I was like, oh, I think a guy who doesn't want to fight So then we started walking I started walking away again Because I had to do an interview I started walking away again And he started chasing me and walking up me on me again While I had my back turn And I was like, okay, maybe he wants to fight now And he was like oh

And then so I walked towards him like they were going to fight And he kept walking towards me So I smacked him again And then he backed up and he was like you know, talking, talking, talking. And then I went to go walk away at another time, and he's like, oh, if I fight you, the cop's going to come, blah, blah, blah. First of all, there's a mutual combat law in Texas.

If two parties agree to fight, it's perfectly legal a fight. So it doesn't make any sense. Second of all, I don't know what he expected calling me a pussy, walking up on me and pushing me. I don't know what he expected to happen. That's like the most you could do before you get into a fight. So I was like, okay, he wants to fight, let's fight. But then there wasn't a fight.

I mean, I don't know. I was just rolling with the punches, and that's, that's, that's what happened. I mean, any, anytime there's competitive things going on, I'm sure there's, you know, there's heat every so often from time to time. But is this the first time you actually like slapped somebody at an event like this? Yeah, I mean, it's the first time that anyone was really confrontational with me outside of the mat. I mean, people do 30, 30 things inside the mat, you know, like cyborg smacked me a bunch of times and got be queued at the world.

but that's all that's all inside the competition stage that's all on the mats so as far as i'm concerned stuff like that happens on the mats and you leave it on the mats for the most part whereas andre just confronted me like out of like out of the blue like when there was nobody around and i like people don't talk about this but could you imagine what people would say if like i was on camera getting pushed by and then just like punking out and walking away like i would never live it down So I was like, okay, if he's pushing me, he wants to fight. So let me just start to fight off with a smack. But then that's not what he wants to clearly.

So I was just like, okay. And then I just walked away and did the interview. If you could kind of like hop in the DeLorean and get sent back to that moment, knowing what you know now, like the attention that it got, knowing that there's cameras there now, would you do it the same way? Or do you think it would go down a little differently? No, I think that was an appropriate response. I think it was just enough.

to send a clear message that you can't just bully me around. But not, it wasn't enough to like seriously injure him, which I didn't want to do unless he wanted to actually fight me. But it was a clear message that, you know, if you, just like the internet. If you start with me, I'm going to retaliate. If you walk up to me in person, you try to fight me, then we can fight. I mean, I don't know what. Everyone's like, oh, Gordon only talks online, but he's nice in person. Yeah, I am.

But like, if you're like serious and you like want to fight me, then we'll just fight. I mean, that's like the next step. It's not the big of a deal. We fight. We shake hands and we go home, just like we compete. Have you, has there been anything that has come from that? Like, is there any, like, social media chatter? Like, has he reached out to you, like, anything?

Well, he, I didn't watch it, but apparently he issued an apology, like a week later. And then just used the apology to, uh, promote a 50% sale on his school for a school website. So, uh, I actually. actually, I was like, I don't know if Andre could make this any worse for himself. And he managed to me to make it, make it worse for himself. So he just, he used that and people were like kind of buying it. They were like, oh, it was sincere. And then he's like, oh, and by the way, 50% off on Otto's HQ.

And then he just lost everyone there. So, I don't know. I mean, I'm just waiting to see if he's going to do a superfight or not. And once he pulled out of the super fight, then I guess maybe we can call it truce. But, you know, until then, he's still my end. I'm still fighting him and then the ADCC super fight and that's what it is. I don't think he's going to show up. I think he's going to milk it for as long as possible to get as much promotion as he can

and then he's going to pull out. Even if he agrees, he officially agrees and accepts. I think he's just going to pull out with an injury, fake an injury or something later on to get as much promotion as he can and pull out later. So is there like an actual date and like not in place, but at least a tentative date for this super super match? So I think ADCC, they're having trouble because the rest couldn't get into the country because of the COVID restrictions. So they have to keep pushing back to trials.

It was supposed to be September 20, 21. But now it's looking at almost like September 2022. So it's going to be like late summer, early fall for 2022. Did you think that video would blow up the way that it did, that it would get the attention that it got? I mean, yeah. I knew. I mean, I mean, I snacked him and I saw, I like, because he was walking towards me. He didn't see the camera. So he was walking towards me and I saw the camera was there. And he didn't see the camera was there. So then he tried, like telling everyone that I walked up to him and punched him in the face, like just like completely unprovoked. And I'm like, yeah, it's not true. Like wait until you guys see the footage. And they were like, oh, we have the footage. And it showed him like walking up to me, cursing at me and pushing me. And I'm like, yeah, that's what happened. Do you watch a lot of MMA?

I do. It's not something that I study right now. I basically just watch it as a fan because I'm not getting ready to actually go out and fight those guys yet. But I mostly watch it whenever John has to study something that's important or one of my friends is fighting when George fights or one of my Gary fights, one of our teammates is fighting. Have you been seeing or paying attention to what McKenzie Dern has been doing as of late? because, I mean, she just got a big win on Saturday. And one of her big goals in MMA was, you know, to shine some light on the grappling world and sort of represented, so to speak. Like, have you been paying attention with what she's been able to do?

Yeah, I haven't followed her super closely, but I just saw she won again. And, you know, most of her, most of her matches have a lot of grappling in them. I think that that's great for someone who has so much, so many eyes on her moving from a graph, moving from grappling. Because she has a huge following. She is like, you know, she's way more following. He's a way bigger following than I do. And, you know, someone with that many eyes coming from a grappling, coming from Jiu-Jitsu moving into MMA, I think it's great that she can go out and showcase, you know, what we're about.

Same thing with Damian Maya, same thing with Bouchetia. I like when pure Jiu-Jit-2 guys go out and are successful in M.M.A. You're excited to watch Buccia make his M.A debut. He was supposed to start. He's waiting for it. He wants. He's excited, like you said, you know, he's taken like the last year or so and really focused on that at American top team, but are you excited to see? Because, I mean, you would essentially kind of be following

eventually down the line, you know, another guy for coming from the grappling world getting an MMA. Are you interested in seeing what happens there? Yeah, I'm always super interested to see Bouchetia. You know, an interesting thing with Bouchetia is, you know, he's a he's a heavyweight who can move athletically. There's a lot of guys, people don't realize how big Bouchetia is. Bichita is like 265. Like people are like, oh, he should fight Bouchatia in MMA. I'm like, guys, he's 55 pounds heavier than me. Like we're not even close to the same weight class. But to have a guy that's that size that can move as quickly as he can,

is just inherently a problem for heavyweights. Because heavy weights just historically or slower and less athletic. Bouchetia can move. He can invert. He's explosive forwards to backwards. He can move side to side. He can go up and down. So I think that just his physicality alone is going to bring him very far.

And I think that on top of that is the grappling aspect. If they can get the fight to the ground, it's going to be a big problem for guys. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. Also, looking forward to seeing what happens with you on the stage. Congratulations on this deal with one, Gordon. This is great stuff. Hopefully we can see you on one of these future cards, maybe on TNT. That would be a massive deal for you in the grappling world as well to get on a big platform in the U.S.

and around the world like that. So looking forward to that. Thank you for the time, man. And all the best to you. Of course. Thank you, guys. listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.