MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - 2023 Predictions for Each MMA Weight Class

Episode Date: December 26, 2022

Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell are here to give you their predictions for each weight class in MMA in 2023. (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:30) - Heavyweight (00:11:30) - Light Heavyweight (00:17:30) - Middleweight (00:22:35) - Welterweight (00:28:45) - Lightweight (00:32:20) - Featherweight (00:38:00) - Bantamweight (00:42:07) - Flyweight (00:45:20) - Women's Lightweight (00:46:40) - Women's Featherweight (00:52:00) - Women's Bantamweight (00:53:45) - Women's Flyweight (00:56:50) - Women's Strawweight (01:01:20) - General Combat Predictions Morning Kombat is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.     For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Rise to rewards with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card. Terms and conditions apply. Hi, everybody. Merry Christmas. Feliz Navidad. Whatever you celebrate. Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, the whole bit. Happy holidays, everyone.

It is, let's see, it's Monday. I don't even know what the date is on this here fine day, BC. What day is it? Oh, today is the 26th. Yeah, it's Boxing Day, Luke. It's Boxing Day. That's right. It is Boxing Day, which means it's going to be a big day for the Premier League over for our friends in the UK. Hi, everyone. Morning Combat. My name is Luke Thomas, one half of your hosting duo. I join you, of course, from the capital of the status of Milos right here in Washington, D.C. Joined by my... You know what? I need to give you a new title, B.C.

I'm going to call you chief antagonist. I feel like that's a good way to describe you. How are you doing, B.C.? Osama bin Campbell in the flesh. Yes, yes, yes. Merry Christmas to you. Right back at you. And Merry Christmas, as you mentioned, and happy holidays to all our fine, amazing listeners.

Hope you were with the family. Hope you enjoyed it. And, you know, unplugged from the stresses of regular life in the space time continuum. We are recording this before the holidays, but you're getting this now on Boxing Day because we don't want to leave you hanging. I mean, I don't think our rivals look who come in second to us in the awards balloting are putting out a show today. But this ain't just one of those like Coach Peters in high school, just roll out the ball so he can go down to the office and, you know, chart X's and O's for the football game that week and drink hooch. You better believe it.

This is one of them where we're actually taking a serious glance at what might go on in 2023 in the UFC and MMA in general. I'm talking about prediction time, Luke, and you love making predictions. So let's predict things too. We, right. You know, let's, let's, let's bang. All right. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to go by weight class and give you some predictions. Listen, we don't, I don't know what the hell's going to happen in 2023, but definitely some things we're watching.

Definitely some things that are on our mind. You can agree. You can disagree. You can comment below about who you thought was right or wrong or what your predictions are we'd love to know but just some things that are definitely on our mind we're going to go from heavyweight on down in the men's side watching on youtube thumbs up we appreciate that hit subscribe if you're new here happy again merry christmas to you and all that good stuff of course um if you want to give us a nice review whatever podcast platform you're listening this on, that'd be so nice. We really appreciate that as well.

We love all our podcast listeners. Always weirds me out when we see people and I meet them. They're like, yeah, I never watched the show. I only listened to the podcast. I know. I know. I'm there and they're like, yo, but I love, have you seen this shit? And you're like, that doesn't make sense.

Yeah. I don't know how that's a thing, but apparently it's a thing. If you guys are wondering how many stars to give five, okay. Grab it by the satchel. Five stars, okay? Get a full handful there. Thank you. And, of course, as a reminder, all that good stuff,

Showtime.com, 30-day free trial. If you like it, you can keep it. If not, you can bounce. MorningCombat.store. All that good stuff. Don't forget. London, February 8th. We're going to be there.

Get your tickets now. All that stuff. We'll put some information in the description box below and all that oh we got it now that appleton's coming we got to look into what security measures they have there luke yeah let's just make sure we get a nice big bouncer who can chuck him out on the street by this shirt collar all right bc if you're ready let's get this party started yeah yeah i mean you're an ex-bouncer but there's i don't know if there's such thing as that but let's just get intobouncer, but I don't know if there's such a thing as that. But let's just get into the predictions, Luke, okay? I don't think that there's the same amount of nobility in fighting in the bars as opposed to the military.

All right, BC, we're going to start with heavyweight prediction time. Now, I don't know if you want to go first. If not, I can go first. But I'm going to guess on this one, we're probably not too far apart, at least in terms of who we're talking about. BC, what's your big 2023 prediction for the heavyweight division? I know you want me to have a Jon Jones prediction, and it's like our knee-jerk reaction to what this division might look like next year.

We're all waiting for Jon Jones' arrival. But don't forget the Francis Ngannou saga is just as important and uncertain. So here's my guess for 2023. Francis Ngannou does resign in time to make two big appearances. And Francis Ngannou finishes off the new year with knockouts over Jon Jones and Cyril Ghosn in the rematch, which if that happened, by by the way he's your fighter of the year for 2023 and probably just stamped his ticket to hall of fame immortality i mean we're talking about

something big here but luke we need to see him respond from the knee injury yes but not out of the question that this predator that this heavyweight 2.0 finds a way to figure out how to be as dangerous as he once was. This is possible. You know, it is at the end of the day. Yeah. You know,

what's funny. I'm actually going to give you my prediction as well, because they dovetail together. Although mine was slightly different than yours. Mine was that John Jones fails to win the heavyweight title in 2023, which doesn't mean he won't win it eventually, which doesn't mean he won't win it at all. It's not really exactly what I'm saying,

but the idea that he's going to come back in 2023 and then just take over the very top of the division of course it is in play as you know we had a sit down with Chael Sonnen who's been talking to Henry Cejudo who's been training with him and they think it's just a foregone conclusion it could be but because we've discussed previously a long long long time off changing weight classes obviously changing his body to make the weight class better. And those are all, in many ways, not bad things, right? They're not bad that he's doing that. Actually, it's pretty good. But I still just, this automatic coronation that we sort of talk about with him, I feel like is overstated. Let me pitch it back to you a little bit here.

What gives you such confidence that Francis is is going to be in doing this well after a time off for him being knee surgery and also he's not a spring chicken anymore either because he has next freaking level mental toughness that was on display in one of the greatest you know fairy tale victories move over couture you know decisioning Tim Sylvia. Like this was heroic shit. What he did against Cyril gone. That doesn't automatically mean the knee just recovers fully and we're back. But that, that, that, that goes hand in hand with his contract. So if this happens that he comes back, Luke, he will have one, some level of respect.

I know some people say BC you're off on this Francis thing. Cause what he really wants at the end of the day is freedom more than anything else. He's not going to sign that contract with the UFC, unless he gets some strong percentage of exactly what he's looking for. Money, respect, freedom combination, but he's going to get it. I believe because this is, you know, at the end of the day, this is the direction he should go for history, for all of that, you know, as a fan now personally, he can do whatever he wants, but if he does that, Luke, I still hold firm on this.

I believe Jon Jones is going to be great at heavyweight. But I do believe the Francis Ngannou that I saw knock out Stipe with a jab and just looked scary as shit. And then the mental toughness I showed changing his game and wrestling against Cyril Ghosn, I saw, excuse me. I just believe that he comes back healthy. He still has a window of his prime heavyweights age late, all that good stuff where dude, I mean, when he finds you, it's over. I

mean, it really is Luke, especially now that he's much better than he was in the first steep a fight and so much more confident. This is not a slam dunk. This is a guess, a hope in some ways, a big prediction by me, but I, but you do know at the end of the day if if that injury was just time off and it healed he you know he can knock on anybody at any time and i think his skill is only getting better along the way so i think jones beats everybody but him how about that luke how about that okay i don't think i'm too far apart i think there's a lot of fights that john jones really does win in the heavyweight division, quite candidly. But for some reason, man, I can't quite cross that threshold like you, that he's just going to go over there and beat the shit out of Francis

and then take it. I mean, again, he might do that in a round, and then we're going to have to eat crow. But I'll believe it when I see it, I think is the way that I would put that. BC, anything else in the division you're watching? I'll give you an example. There's two more things I'm paying attention to. One is UFC related.

Here's something I'm watching in 2023. Not necessarily predicting because I don't really know exactly how it's going to go. But here's someone I got my eye on. How about Alexander Romanov? Alexander Romanov, not that, I think just 32 years old, which for heavyweight is not very old. He's got five fights in UFC.

He's won them all, especially his last two over Jared Vandera and then Chase Sherman. This dude is, they call him King Kong. He's all over the takedowns. He's got high amplitude ones, good ground and pound, good riding. He's faced some good opponents as well. Folks sleep on the fact that he beat Juan Espino. That's a really good win. I like what he's got. Also, I'll say this, BC, for one championship, Boucher, probably one of the very best heavyweight grapplers ever, probably the best current grappler in all of MMA. I think that's pretty fair to say. He's in with one. I think he'll be fighting contenders by the end of the year,

maybe even for a title. What about you? Great call on Romanov, by the way, dude. It's going to be hard. It's going to be interesting to see what is that ceiling. Does he just push right through it? Uh, I think Curtis blades finally comes around and has his moment. So to me, what does his moment mean?

Getting to the level where he is the number one contender at heavyweight. I don't think he'll break through and fight for a title this next year, but I just think, look, it's been so close to the top two knockout losses, uh, to Ingano and, you know, the one to Lewis, which surprised a lot of us. But I do feel like he's learned and come back stronger in each step of the way. And he hasn't been without missteps at certain points, you know, when he steps up high. But I think this is the year he figures out the formula to get the best out of himself. And we close this calendar year going, whoever is champion, whether it's John, Ngannou,

gone, who knows? Like heavyweight could be wild and fun as shit this year. If people are active, I think blades will be that next in line and finally get his chance, whether he wins it or not. You know, it could be matchup dependent, could mean a lot of things, but I'd like to see him finally get it. And finally, not that I have any Intel on this or,

but I'm just going by history fade over February 4th, CBS against Ryan Bader for the Bellator title is supposed to be favor fade or farewell. But like like this is a royalty engagement not just because Fedor could ostensibly as Luke would say uh retire as Bellator champion with this crowning moment the last time MMA was you know I mean I know UFC's been on ABC and Fox and all that, but like Strikeforce kicked the door open on CBS to do stuff like this and do it to large crossover numbers. Fedor was the centerpiece along with, you know,

the Kimbo experiment at that point. Now Fedor is back. I just think win or lose. Imagine Fedor fighting, you know, over his head, but losing dramatically. I just think he's going to come back.

And I think if, and nobody knows yet in this post streaming era, if the CBS attempt hits blockbuster ratings, the fact that like Silva, Anderson Silva versus, you know, Fado are still sitting out there. Like, dude, that is the ultimate CBS fight because the whole purpose of network TV is to try to pull back former fans or ones or one night only fans. That's a one night only fan thing. So, uh, you know, look, if Fedor gets iced here, uh, you know, I could eat my crow and he could walk away and be a great coach the rest of his career. But, uh, I just have a feeling he ain't done Luke. If when there, when there's this

much kind of like Royal, not history, but you know, this, this, he's in a great spot again, right. To, to, to do something potentially big, you know, let's's in a great spot again right to to do something potentially big you know let's see let's see what happens you know let's see what books he reads fair enough let's move to light heavyweight now a lot going on in this division bc if i may i'd like to go first on this one because i feel like i'm probably going to be way different than you could be wrong i suppose i think that up to three and i'm not sure exactly which ones but i feel like you could get up to three, and I'm not sure exactly which ones, but I feel like you could get up to three of the current top 15 retiring next year. Right? Let's think about that for just

a second. If you look at the rankings for, excuse me, for the light heavyweight division. Oh, now my, here we go. You have Glover Teixeira, who has already been talking about retirement since this year on. So that's one. You have Dominic Cruz, who, excuse me, Dominic Reyes. What am I saying? Dominic Reyes, who, you know, I think he's pledged to continue, but his career is in peril. It's a fair way to put that. Khalil Rountree has flirted with retirement at various points in his run. Jan Blachowicz is barreling down towards 40. He's not far from it at this point as well. Anthony Smith, I know, is not, I don't think he's like eminently retiring, but I know that he certainly doesn't have a ton of time left, and who knows with all of his injury loads.

To me, but by the way, Volker and Uzdemir are kind of in a similar position. To me, it's not at all crazy that you could get upwards of three of these guys, potentially even more, just calling it a day by the end of 2023, given what they're up against and, in certain cases, some of their ages. Yeah. I mean, it shows how wide open this division is. I mean, I wonder if you could put that for the light heavyweight or heavyweight division any year, that three in the top 15 may go, only because you can hang later in age.

But I think it does ring true to the era that we're in right now. You know, maybe, maybe the best light heavyweight is Prohotska. We don't know, but he's going to be out for a year and might not ever be the same. And maybe the best light heavyweight is Nankolayev, but he kind of got partial,

I don't know, like not screwed, but a disputed loss. And it's like, and now he's not getting the next chance. So who, I mean like, damn,

I mean, this all ties in. I'm sure we're both mentioning Vadim Nemkov in this point, but if you were riding the train of Vadim Nemkov actually is the best light heavyweight in the world, which is a scenario that's out there and in play, it could be true. He's got the best chance to prove that this calendar year with all the upheaval in the UFC.

I mean, like who's going to be even Glover or Jamal Hill winning, which plays, I'd rather give you my, what am I something to watch for Luke? I think the winner of to share a hell, you know, it gets hammered out by ankle. I have to close the year. That's your new champion.

Very similar predictions. Yeah. It could be transitional champions. I mean, for, for the bad luck of late or the weird decision making a light heavyweight, even though Glover has said publicly in the last week, he won't do it.

Imagine if he's in a war with Jamal Hill, it's just a bloody war wins it and then it's like sorry guys I know I said I wouldn't retire but there's no better way to go I mean that would be the most like reverse karma I mean be a great moment for Glover and his fans but UFC like are you kidding me we cannot does anybody want this title you know what I mean it's it's wide open right now Luke and that that's that's playing into all of our points right now. Yeah, I mean, some of the other things I was going to watch were Ankhalaev, I think, eventually ends the year as champion. I think that's one thing I'm paying attention to.

To your point, Vadim Nemkov, basically solidifying his status maybe as the top 205-er in the world. Certainly, I think you couldn't have a conversation about who is without him very much front and center in the conversation also i'll add one more dude how about this hammer over in one championship anatoly malikin beating the shit out of uh renear de ritter and i actually think he might defend both belts and one he doesn't have to keep necessarily the same kind of competitive defense schedule he might end the year but but he'll have to he's the interim heavyweight

champion in the full-on light heavyweight i think he defends his light heavyweight belt continuously however much that ends up being and i think he'll eventually either get the heavyweight title if they can't come to some kind of deal with arjun buller or i suspect he might even end up winning that contest dude that dude is a motherfucking nightmare yeah and i don't think i had to pay attention to too anybody that tuned in for the rDR fight or in reaction to it is like, how the hell is that guy light heavyweight? One's rehydration rules allow you to, you know, these are 205 pound bouts that are really like 220. Right. I mean, let's be fair here.

Right, right, right. Luke, I echoed one of your something to watch by saying, look, I have huge questions if Dom Reyes will ever be the same. But I didn't give you my, you know, and I don't want that to come true by the way this year but yeah i've got monster questions about literally is dom reyes like is he done luke i mean i hope not you know he'll get another chance to prove that wrong but damn my prediction though is this and it's related to vadim nemkov is that you know he might be the best light heavyweight in the world so you ask yourself well what can he do this calendar year amid the upheaval in the UFC to sort of stamp that or cement that.

And, you know, fighting Corey Anderson, a trilogy could be that, but Luke, even though I haven't heard that this is in play at all, Gayguard Musashi recently lost his middleweight title to Johnny Eblem. He's a former elite light heavyweight who cut back down to middleweight.

I know he's always talking about wanting a heavyweight fight too, but how about Vadim Nemkov, Gegard Musasi in 2023? And my prediction is if that ends up happening, Luke, that might be the best title fight globally that this division produces from the standpoint of like resumes royalty on paper. And,

you know, and that's not a disrespected to if like Glover wins and then fights uncle. I have like, well, I'll be tuned in for it, but that doesn't have the same, you know, legacy stuff to it as Nemkov Musashi would. And I think that'd be a hell of a fight. That'd be very interesting to see.

I think, I think Nemkov does evil things to him. Candidly dude, but Musashi does have a way to kind of just reinvent himself or remind us that even at his age, he's still got another gear i wouldn't put it past him is what i'm saying we we've this is one where we've disagreed considerably over the years sometimes to my own detriment sometimes to yours but it will i do think that that is a fight that is very much on the table because he just won the lightweight grand prix like need some fresh matchups you know what i mean the best way Nemkov could add to his resume in short time

is somebody with that stature who still got you know a stroke he's got something left I don't know how much but he's got he's still got a decent amount left I mean Eblen handled him that was shocking Luke fair enough all right we move we move to the middleweight division BC I will let you go first on this one what is your big prediction 2023 for the middleweight division you know I've been thinking about this and and when you're kind of plotting the future of this division in the ufc moving forward uh post poeton upset knockout i'm just like look at the end of the day we got to see this rematch it's got to be next do not pass go do not sub in anybody else give me uh poeton versus adesanya too and you

know luke as it pertains to a rematch like you know I'm sure Izzy could end up even being favored on a betting line because let's not forget that for four rounds he showed you exactly how you beat somebody as as good and dangerous and you know and all that but there's this thing about their story and their arc I mean Poiton's had his number three friggin times and has had to overcome and climb hills to get to where he is now and get, you know, the same type of attention and world acclaim. I mean, I know he's two division champion in glory, but him coming over the UFC and the quick run to the title. I'm starting to wonder, Luke, if he just has Adesanya's number where when they do this rematch, no matter if it's in Brazil or Australia or wherever, I wonder if he stops Adesanya even quicker the second time. Even though my natural makeup would be, I saw what I saw for four rounds.

Adesanya can win this fight. He showed us more often than not in that fight that he can control this. But, dude, sometimes people just have the other guy's number, and I don't like to ever lean on that you know when it comes to a prediction but I I do fear that it always it goes back to the couch when pregame preview and Chuck Mendenhall was like we might be having this wrong this is the Poetan redemption story even though he won the first two meetings this is not even about Adesanya look it may be just that man's time you know what I'm saying sometimes you can't fuck with that

yes and no here's my prediction for 2023 and I'm saying? Sometimes you can't fuck with that. Yes and no. Here's my prediction for 2023, and I'll be honest. I don't really know exactly how it happens. What I'm about to say is I'm not exactly sure what the mechanics are, but I think by the end of 2023, Robert Whitaker reclaims his title. That's what I think. He's been waiting in the wings for a while. As of the time of this recording, uh,

the fight with Paulo Costa is supposed to be in UFC two 84 and Perth has fallen through. They may rebook it. They may not, but I think one way or the other, he's going to get next on that. Is he, and potato rematch,

or even if Izzy wins, does he want to fight Rob again? I, I seriously doubt that. I just feel like Robert has been waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. And if you're right, that potato wins again, I seriously doubt that. I just feel like Robert has been waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. And if you're right, that Pineda wins again. We've said this before. His worst matchup is definitely Robert Whitaker.

I don't know, man. Robert Whitaker might get that belt one more time. That would really cement his legacy at middleweight, would it not? Well, you know he's one of my favorite fighters. I like to refer to him as a living legend for a reason, meaning it just so happened he had Adesanya in his weight class, in his time and era, and, you know, came so close in the rematch, but after legitimately getting crunched in the first fight. But yeah, I agree with you. I think this is a great prediction because there are ways it can happen, meaning, you know, they could do the

rematch and Izzy loses and then just says, hey, I'm going to, to light heavyweight or as he could win and then say, Hey, I'm going to light heavyweight for all we know. And it could open the idea of a vacant belt or is he just goes, I need more time before I come back. Anything can happen. Obviously, you know, injuries, all that stuff. But if anything happens, Robert Whitaker's waiting next and you know, they'll put them in there against Pereira and it'll be a very interesting test that he'll be favored on paper to win so yeah Luke I he's not gonna I don't think he ever moves up to light heavyweight and if he ever did had success but I I don't think it you know I'd put a lot of money down if you said are you gonna bet before his career is done that he holds that title again he's gonna hold it again will come next year very well could be but um I think Johnny Eblen Luke and

Bellator is gonna stay unbeaten for this year and really show us how good he can be i'm looking forward to that i also am going to have my eyes closely on roman delizze who by them giving him marvin vittori in the ufc side that shows that they believe he's ready for big things could you imagine if delizze goes in there and like let's say stops vittori who is so insanely durable imagine if that was the transaction that happened you'd be talking oh shit when do we match him up for a title shot you know what i mean or or like what so he's common dude and he may end up knocking out one of your heroes on the way to get there so uh you know i i don't you know i'm not a super fan of him by proxy luke if you will no i understand i'm also afraid of him and you know he he tends to hang around with one of my favorite fighters so it's just all coincidental at the end of the day

you know so there's definitely that. I'm going to add, I think, Robocop, Gregory Rodriguez. I think he finds his way to the top 15. Over on the one side, you know, Rene DeRitter lost his light heavyweight title, but he's still the middleweight champ over there. So I think he holds on to that. Also, BC, this is a question for this division and the next one, which is Hamzat Shemaev.

Does he fight in 2023 at middleweight? If he does, I think he does pretty well, but I don't know if he's gonna, and what does that do to shake things up? So those are all of the three things in addition to Robert Whitaker's fortunes that I'm paying attention to there. Luckily, Luke, my crystal ball is the answer. As we transition to welterweight here in terms of my prediction for the year, it does involve Hamzat Shemaev. Look, I think he could get a middleweight fight at any time right if everybody got sick and they needed a challenge championship contender last minute it would be him if you wanted to do some weird Costa fight it would be him right but I think they're going to give him the chance this calendar

year to max out what he can do at welterweight before it might become that he just can't make that anymore which is still you know in play after missing weight against Nate Diaz by so much but But my prediction is Luke, that he wins the championship next year. At the end of the day, I just don't see, you know, from what we see, you can only go on the eye test. You can only go from what we've seen, but dude, from what you've seen in the cage, you know, it's like, I do start to believe that that Burns fight was certainly Gilbert, you know, a legendary warrior just going for it. But I also think Chamayev was like, okay, I'll play this game with you. Let's do this. Let's do it for the fans. I want to show you how tough I am. I think when he, when he hones in on a title fight in this division, and if he has to go

through Covington first on pay-per-view, or let's say Kamaru gets hurt and they put him right in with Leon, there's a lot of scenarios here. Kamaru wins back the title, then fights Chamayev. However, the scenarios play out. We're doing the show a year from now with Tremayev as champion at welterweight because I just can't imagine anyone beating him so I can't bet against that until I see it Luke he has like has anyone ever done this to us

just I mean you know maybe boots on us right now in boxing maybe that's the equivalent where you're just like I know what I'm seeing I know I'm seeing something ridiculously special right here you know fair enough I don't have one about. I know I'm seeing something ridiculously special right here. You know, fair enough. I don't have one about Hamza, but I got one with a similar sounding name. I don't think he's going to win enough based on his current ranking position to win a title, although that certainly could happen. But I think it's just inevitable. Shavkat Raghmanov moves into

the top three. So I he is on his his way I don't know who he's going to beat but he's going to beat him and I think he's going to remain undefeated this next year and he will move into a position where either at the end of 2023 probably more likely the beginning of 2024 maybe the first first or second quarter there he's going to fight for a UFC title I think that is just simply inevitable and coming down the line now I will say also in this division BC two things I'm watching in one. Christian Lee had an amazing performance to become a double champ over there at welterweight. I don't think he holds on to it, though.

I tend to think that that is something he will remain the lightweight champion over there, but I don't think he's going to hold on to the welterweight one. It just seems like a little bit of a bridge too far, given how the first fight went with Abasov and everything else. Also, BC, here's my prediction about this one ready i don't think sage northcutt comes back next year and i don't think he comes back ever i think i think that's a wrap no he's a he's a professional fitness model on ig luke and by the way i don't think anyone's ever put more time into to to abs and stuff than he'd i mean

he's freakishly in shape, Luke. That's a business model in 2023, right? Like, just don't come back, dude. Don't come back. Yeah, your face was shattered. Like, what would be the point anymore? If you can make money doing something a lot safer, just go do that. You don't need to prove anything to the rest of us. And then lastly, BC, we can't have a conversation about welterweight

without a big name, Conor McGregor. Now, of course, he's rumored to be fighting Michael Chandler. That's what the UFC wants anyway. That could happen at lightweight, but it could just as easily happen at welterweight. The guy is teasing even a move to middleweight. Okay. The middleweight is, you know, middleweight is a joke. Okay.

I mean, you talk about matchup dependent. So the middleweight's a joke, but the I mean, you talk about matchup dependence. So the middleweight's a joke. But the things I'm watching echo right into that. One of them, Luke, I'm fearful for this, okay? You know it's not past the UFC. Let's say Usman gets hurt again and has to continue to delay his return. Could Hamzat get the call against Edwards? Of course.

Jorge Masvidal also could, Luke. Like in a London stadium as like a setup for Leon to be the triumphant hero at home against the guy who three-pieced him, who's now – Three-pieced him in the UK. That happened in the UK. But who's also now decidedly passed it in Jorge Masvidal. Luke, this would be worse at the – you be worse timing-wise if they went this way. Dude, this is worse than Dan Hendo at 46 getting the Bisping rematch title shot. I don't put it past them that they might do this. I hope they don't, Luke.

It's just like when Jorge got the rematch with Kamaru, it was gratuitous at that point, in my opinion. Now we're doing this too, so I'm watching that. I think McGregor does return at welterweight, but I think he only fights once this year, Luke and win or lose. I think he's going to leave more questions than answered the answers in his lone fight. That doesn't mean he's going to shatter his leg again, but I just think that like, he will come back. We'll get all excited. And then it will, you know, seriously win or lose. It'll be, Oh, okay. But he's decidedly again, past it.

You know, we're going to find that out in this fight. And I fear that Luke, because he's been so fun to watch. My final thing to watch is this look, Dustin Poirier could, could still be in line to, to, to make his way back to a lightweight title shot, especially given his name and history at this point. But Luke, I think there's a lot of like Walter weight, non-Connor pay-per-view fights that will continue to slowly open up for him right I mean like if he gets the call and they need an event and it's like oh yeah we want you to fight Masvidal we want you to fight Colby like these type of fights dude Poirier is in a spot right now Luke where he's already shown us more times

over than not that you know this is the road he'd rather go and make the big money and be in these big fights than necessarily get back in line and get Mahachov. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Although he's not going to fight Masvidal. Is that what you said? I'm throwing that out as the type of idea I'm talking about here. Oh, I see. I see. I see. Yeah. You know, like that type of fight where maybe something falls through, they, you know, cause who do they call when something falls through? Do they call people in the rich Franklin spot, which is Poirier is now in where you're still good enough and famous enough where nobody would go crazy if you got a last minute title shot or whatever but

you're basically in the bullpen waiting for them to use your brand in huge fights and that's not saying that poirier's uh past it dude he just showed us how gritty and great he still is against chandler but um there's going to be money to be made, Luke. He's in the spot now to make that. So good for him. Okay, good for him. All right, fair enough. We move to the lightweight division, the division of kings,

or at least the one that has been the division of kings for the last few years anyway. BC, my prediction, my big prediction for lightweight, not a very, not a very, I don't know, not full of pomp and circumstance. Pretty straightforward. I just don't see any way that Islam Makachev doesn't finish the year as the lightweight champion. I know, of course, there could be. That doesn't mean, by the way, that Volkanovski can't win at 284 and then he has to get revenge on him.

I'm saying here's my prediction. When 2023 closes, Makachev's wearing that belt. What do you think? Yeah, well, not only will I, you know, stamp down on that and say, you're right, and that's the, you know, it's an easy prediction, but it's a good one. I mean, he's going to be the pound for pound king after he beats Volkanovski.

So this is going to be a monster year as he continues to, weird, like show us he might actually be as great as Habib. Like that's not out of play yet. You know what I mean? Like this is just, I mean, look, he's in a spot to show us greatness. My prediction, Luke, goes along with that. Below Makhachev on top, this top five is going to get, I think, completely this is just, I mean, look, he's in a spot to show us greatness. My prediction, Luke goes along with that below Mahachev on top. This top five is going to get, I think, completely overhauled. Like the top five, as we see it right now in the rankings is not going to be the top

five. None of those guys are going to be in the top five at this point next year. And it's not some bold prediction either. When like this was the old division of Kings and those Kings are aging. And when you age, you either fall out of the rankings or you move up to alter weight and fight action fights. Um, this is the division where I think most maybe along with women's flyweight right now under Valentina, where there's the most amount of young talent that are coming the hell on right now and appear ready. And I can't believe I'm saying that about one 25 for Valentina, because just feels like an hour ago, there was

nobody for her to fight, but there are young know aggressive hungry fighters coming on and the same thing at lightweight dude those hammers are here so both of our predictions I think are obvious Luke they're obvious all right so something I'm watching this one also feels kind of obvious but just as a reminder remember in 2023 Bellator is supposed to be doing a 155 a a lightweight Grand Prix, which if you look at some of the names in there, it could be kind of fun. AJ McKee, Tawfiq Musayev, obviously you can go a lot of different directions. BC, I don't think it matters. I think at the end of the day, Usman Nurmagomedov is going to win all the fights in that tournament and he's going to win the whole thing outright. I'm not going to say it's going to be easy because I don't actually think it's

going to be easy, but I think he's going to get it done. Well, Luke, I took your prediction on my head chef and just that trumped it up by saying, he'll also be the best fighter in the sport. Usman or mega Nirmaga Madoff may end up using 2023 to become the Bellator pound for pound King in route to defending his title. Because Luke in this tournament, he's going to have to fight killers. And look, I think the fight to make for Bellator for next year is Usman versus AJ McKee like oh my god the hardcore fan that is somewhere inside of me

Luke people think that you know the casual has pushed that out but I still holding some hardcore in here and damn that's my hardcore Super Bowl right there you know he does that he eventually I mean you know like who knows he could end up playing Patricio one day they're gonna give him that chance to become that. He's going to be the best fighter in Bellator, which I think that is going to make Khabib the best coach in the world if both those things happen. But we'll get to that later in the show, Luke.

All right, fair enough. We move to the featherweight division. Oh, I had one more thing, Luke. I'll say it in one sentence form. Charles Oliveira is going to turn back into a pumpkin this year. And that doesn't mean he's going to get knocked out in consecutive fights or anything. I'm just saying this. the greatness that we saw,

I just don't think it's sustainable because of the risk. The hot streak is over. It doesn't mean he won't win a fight. That doesn't mean whatever. I just think he's going to come back down to earth at, at where, you know, what the rest of his career is going to look like.

So don't, don't shoot the messenger, but how could he keep that shit going? Luke? How could I? Fair enough. Onto the the featherweight division bc i'll pitch to you first give me your big prediction for 2023 in the 145 pound division all right there's been eating at me because you know i'm a brian ortega super fan right i just respect the guy a lot he makes the most fun fights possible what he eats at me luke is that every time he does get another title

shot or another big fight he puts on a damn near fight of the year and his blood and guts. But you do question like, well, is that the best use of his skills or, or is this the best use of his, you know, long-term future and health? Or is he just that dude that makes fun fights? Well, he is that, just that dude, but look, he's also really happy in his life right now. This seems to be like domestic bliss, Brian Ortega coming through. And I think considering he's still young enough right now at 31, that there's one more big run in him where he finds a way to use that, that, that formula and find the balance of the force a little bit better. So my pick is domestic bliss fuels Brian Ortega into a revival in 2023, where he works his way

into position for a third title shot. He's going to have to beat the very best. It seems he only ever wants to fight the very best, and sometimes he comes up just short. But, Luke, I think he's going to figure out how to use his main best skill, his jiu-jitsu, as a weapon rather than as a Hail Mary, and he's going to rein in that lack of defense or lack of intention on defense where he just walks straight in on people

and just goes mano a mano. And if he can do that, there's some subtitle matchups here where I think he's going to surprise us. I think he has a big year. But that's also just because I love the guy, Luke, so I could be looking through giant Coke bottle glasses here that are all fogged up, right? Steamed up is the better way to put it yeah bc i don't have a great prediction for this although i do have

some things i'm watching in 2023 i do want to talk about my prediction is pretty simple for 2023 dude volkanovski does not end that year as anything other than the champion he's so far ahead of the competition at 145. They cannot catch him. So let me get to the two things I'm watching in 2023, which to me is much more interesting. One, BC, what happens to Max Holloway? Does he stay at 145? Does he go to 155?

Does he retire? It doesn't seem like he's going to retire, but what is he going to do? What is his path back? As long as Volkanovsky is there, I don't know how this is going to go. That's the first thing. The second one is I think 2023 stands the best chance of being the year of Arnold Allen.

It is time for him, and he does appear ready for a big step up in competition. Obviously, he didn't get a chance to fully actualize that this year based on the injury that happened in his last fight to his opponent but you get what I'm saying he is he's ready he's ready for a move he has been diligently building his skills but has been something of like the Gary Russell of MMA where he's just not competing often enough despite how good he is to really you know just truly advance through I think this year with the UFC by the way traveling more to the UK the the UK being more of a hub, he's going to get more looks, he's going to get more chances, and I think he's going to really elevate himself

to a title contender this coming year. By the way, the UFC is looking for fresh matchups. I mean, we're going to get the winner of Josh Emmett and obviously El Pantana. Rodriguez. Yeah. Who? We're talking about Rodriguez? Who who we're talking about uh no the

uh god my brain doesn't work this yeah i mean we're two washed absolutely pathetic pieces of garbage here that i can see rodriguez no no yeah you're rodriguez yeah you're rodriguez okay so i wasn't being racist i was being right thank you you're being right no i wasn't accusing you of that i'm just accusing you being washed like me yeah i was washed in the moment i'm'm like, I think it's Rodriguez, isn't it? So we know Volkanovski has to fight that, but he's probably going to fight one more time. And who's it going to be? They're going to look for some fresh contenders. Zombies out. Ortega, to your point, has got some rebuilding to do. Max has had three chances. They're going to start going down the list. I think Arnold Allen might really assert himself this year into that position. Until he gets tapped by Ortega,

I agree with you, Luke. He should have a strong year, a chance to prove it. Luke, I'm going to be on the lookout for Shane Burgos and the PFL if he can potentially make a run in their featherweight tournament, which that's a fun division for the PFL. Brendan Locknane, right? Luke, that's the same weight class, correct? I believe that's right. Brendan Locknane had to go one war after another to get to this point,

so it'd be interesting to see an action hero like Burgos, who, by the way, Dana White, remember he said publicly that the plan was to re-sign him, and basically Dana threw somebody under the bus and said somebody fucked up, and they didn't. So, you know, he's got a lot left. Ilya Tuporia obviously is coming on. Luke, I think he gets a chance to clean out the old guard

that's left in the top ten. You know, like some of your favorite fighters are inevitably going to be offered a fight at him, and that's going to be their biggest opportunity, and they're going to get knocked out. This guy's coming the hell on. My wild card, something I'm watching, Luke. Wow, I kind of said the same thing about Fedor. But I just didn't believe that Jose Aldo's really done when he was done, Luke.

So, you know, could could i see josie aldo waking up this spring and just feeling really good one day and being jacked as shit and looking around and going you know what i should move back up to featherweight where i was the king and i should just make really fun you know like celebrity matchups that are wars yeah for a lot of money and respect because this is how i'm wired and this is what I do. Yeah, the King's going to come back, Luke, at 1-4-5, okay? Imagine if he rematched Conor at lightweight. God, I love fun matchmaking, you know? That'd be crazy.

That'd be crazy. He would take that in a heartbeat, dude. You better believe he would. All right, we move to the bantamweight division. Now the true division of Kings, at least currently at 135 BC. I'll go first with my prediction. And again, not exactly sure how it happens here. Not exactly sure the mechanics of it, but I'm a big believer in his ability.

I'm not a big believer in his comedy, but I'm a big believer in his ability, even though I poo-pooed a fight between him and Volkanovski, because I do think he has some work to do. But I think by the end of 2023, Henry Cejudo is going to reclaim that belt. I think he is a generational talent. I think he is extremely special. And it was unfortunate he retired when he did, although I understand his circumstances.

It's unfortunate that he went to Kadyrov's son's birthday party. But nevertheless, abilities are abilities. He's got them. I think he's going to be your champ next year at some point, probably towards the third or fourth quarter of the year. But I think he gets it done. What do you think? That should be a lot of Eric Alberacin on the timeline, right?

Yeah. Tons of tons of Captain America. By the way, not Captain America. He's Captain Americas, right? That's what they call the North and South America, the Americas. So he's Captain Americas. Well, I'll say this. This division for me is the hardest to predict who ends next year as the champion,

not just because it's the deepest and best division at the moment, but because it seems like a lot of these potential matchups are in flux. And because of O'Malley having won the big fight with Jan, he could lap everybody and get the shot. So I don't know what's going to happen next. I don't, I cannot though. You know, it's like, did I, did I pick against Suhudo in almost like every single one of those big fights before he walked away?

Yeah. Like I was, he had to prove it to me in historical context to show me how great he is. Yeah, he's great, Luke. I'm going to give him that chance like you to prove it. I don't know if he reclaims the title, but my prediction is this. Whether it comes in the title form, interim title form, or just a grudge rematch, Chido Vera stays being Sean O'Malley's kryptonite, Luke. I just feel like the meanness, where he's at in his career. And I think, look, could O'Malley win the championship?

Absolutely, he could. But, you know, yeah, there's still things Sean O'Malley has not fully shown us on this elite level. And no one's going to forget the way that Vera fight ended and how it ended. So, Vera's even better and hotter and angrier than he was then, Luke. It could happen in the championship. But, I mean, that's the thing. Chido Vera could be your champion. Dude, people could get hurt and Merab could become champion.

Like, you don't know what's going to happen here. Corey Sanhagen's still alive. You know what I'm saying? Like, watch out. It's so many dynamic, rising, surging, incredible contenders in this division. Tell you something else I'm watching in this division, BC. First thing, I don't think Sergio Pettis ends 2023 as the Bellator champ it's either going to be Ralphie on Stotts or you know do patchy mix look so good in his last fight it might be him but

either way I think one of them has got Sergio's number I think they end that also small little thing you didn't get a chance to fully have it actualized between fabricio andrage and john lineker in in one because of the whole thing ended up in a bit of a disaster but i think by the time the year ends fabricio andrage is going to be your champion over in over in one for the bantamweight division not a bad pick i'm looking for patchy mix the same the same look i think he just keeps winning this calendar year and that could end up being uh one million dollars, the championship. You know, if he wins a tournament and then beats Pettis, I mean, God, can you imagine him again?

Imagine if Patricio ever did fully cut down to 35, and then it was him and Patchy. Dude, Patchy could just stay winning right now. I mean, he could be on one of those runs. We'll see what happens. Also, I think Aljo and Marab are going to end up staying friends because the uncertainty atop the division, like Aljo could run the table who knows we have no freaking idea but I think it's just dude any fight here the belt could go so uh Aljo won't end up having to fight Marab for the title

but yeah do you think Marab gets the title level he's he's good enough Luke I mean here's the thing he's got like he's got a couple of like the really important qualities he can wrestle obviously and his cardio is maybe truly I'm not even doing a bit maybe the really important qualities. He can wrestle, obviously, and his cardio is maybe – truly, I'm not even doing a bit, maybe the best I've ever seen in the sport. He's a dog, too. He's an absolute dog. Yeah, and he's tough as shit. So all of those things really put him in contention. I just wonder, against Jose, he couldn't really do a whole lot.

Plus, it was at elevation. There's some fine-tuning of his game. But if he fine tunes it this next year he's going to be tough to beat he's going to be tough to beat um all right at the flyweight division bc you go first give me your big prediction for the men's 125 division in 2023 i said bantamweight was the division that's hardest to predict who ends holding the title i think the easiest division division to predict will be the hot potato division, maybe outside of men's light heavyweight.

That belt could change hands multiple times this coming calendar year. My prediction is that three different fighters end up being UFC flyweight champion by the close of the year. So that would be Figueredo coming into the fourth fight with Moreno, which, look, we asked a lot about Figueredo in the third fight at 34 to you know stay in a division that

he could barely make the weight and try to go in there against a guy that just stopped imagine if moreno wins it and then imagine luke if moreno fights kk france in a rematch fight who else is coming on i mean this division's got some some good names in it in the moment that that are you know there's parody for sure but that parody plays into the possibility that raw dog rival that nicolau who's on that win streak luke anybody could be coming on here so i like the craziness of the division the other things i'm watching quickly is where does ask our asker i've ended up signing unless he signed somewhere and i missed it because he left on his own terms he could be a plus for any

other global federation that has a good fly weights and raw dog rival in particular luke brandon rival who has a very exciting flashy well-rounded rival in particular, Luke Brandon Royville, who has a very exciting, flashy, well-rounded game, but loves to fight. And I think sometimes gets too crazy. If he could turn back the raw dog a little, I think he may end up turning the corner this year and, and becoming a fixture in these rankings and, and, and, you know, putting himself in position to fight for that title. So I'm expecting a big year from him because it's in him he's long he can sub you but dude he i think he plays the like me on this show luke you know what i mean you say i all i do is play to the fans all i do is try to pick up on what they don't like about you and exploit it like some disingenuous friend luke yeah that is what you do that's kind of

accurate yeah it's all right i'm sorry you know all i can do, Luke, is ask for forgiveness after the fact. After we win all the awards. After the fact. We win the awards, you're forgiven. How about that? We don't win shit? Yo, we're fighting. That's the end of it. All right. By the way, for me, I don't have much at Bantamweight to say, except this.

Again, our predictions are slightly different, but may end up in the same place. I think by the end of 2023 Figueredo goes to Bantamweight now he might start the year at flyweight but by the end of it he's all he's up to another division I think his ability to cut down to this weight class and especially if Moreno beats him I think I think he just moves on it's going to be too much for him either way also something to pay attention to they've kind of downplayed it in the media being like oh it's no big deal which I just don't believe at all.

But what does Brandon Moreno look like after the departure from James Krause? Like, how do all these guys manage? And Brandon Moreno was something of the golden child over at Glory MMA and Fitness in this latest chapter of it prior to all of these incidents around betting being involved. So I'd be curious to see what that looks like. Very curious. All right, BC, let's go to the women's division.

Now I'm going to group these together, these two divisions together, because I just don't know what to say about either of them. So let's talk about women's 155, because it is a division that has at least got some news, and women's 145. Let's talk about them together. Do you have any big predictions for 2023 for women's 145 and women's 155 155 i think it's a slam dunk one that this is going to be kayla harrison's last year with the

pfl so that may that may be the fourth fight against pacheco uh you know maybe they eschew the tournament format and just run that as a pay-per-view rematch for the belt and then whether or not she gets cyborg to close the year or whatever they don't have anything to keep her there luke i don't think that i don't think they do outside of the million i don't downplay the million or how intelligent that cage might be but uh there's history at play and kayla's actually not 25 luke isn't she like like i mean she's in the midst of her prime right now yeah remember she remember she has two olympic medals so that's just an eight-year cycle let me let me double-check.

I think she's 32. Let me double-check that. Yeah, so, I mean, it's time. She knows it's time. Could the division stay alive after that in the PFL? Maybe because it's been going for a few years and they've been cultivating talent, and Pacheco seems to be absolutely legit. But, Luke, it folds into my prediction for featherweight, too.

Dude, I don't think they ever even have a UFC women's featherweight title fight this year. I think Nunez has the potential to be tied up too much at 35. There's no rankings on the site. We always make that joke. So I don't know if Kayla leaves after next year. I don't know if they do a PFL women's one 55 anymore. I don't even think they do a UFC one 45 anymore.

I do think it's still in play that if Kayla goes to UFC in 2024, that somebody gets my idea. And I'm sure others have had it too about the women's heavyweight catch all division. I think that's very possible. Cause I don't know how else you're going to make Kayla who she's supposed to be in a division 45, which she says I can make like, you know, once in a while for big fights. But so I think that all plays in where you'll you will see huge upheaval in these outside divisions, meaning outside of 115, which is always stacked and loaded 125, which is starting to, you know, become something now. I don't know, you know, unless they do women's heavyweight, these divisions may only pop up or down based on star power, Luke. And if, you know, these things, meaning Kayla and Amanda

shifting organizations or divisions is going to play into whether there's a future there. There's no future at 145 for UFC females unless they go heavyweight, Luke. That's the only future there. Yeah, so 155, mine is almost exactly the same as yours. Kayla is probably going to beat Pacheco, and then that's going to be it right so that she's going to be gone 145 is a little bit more interesting to me because if kayla doesn't end up there right back at the ufc not back i should say at ufc what they're going to do is they're just going to wait

till amanda nunez retires and then close the division right that's I completely agree they're not going to have a heart again if Kayla doesn't show up they're not going to have a 145 pound fight they're all 2023 and then if Amanda calls it a day which she may or may not but they're just going to they're going to close the division if she ends up there that changes it but here's the thing to sort of factor in BC I wonder about this if the UFC doesn't really have any designs on 145 would they really keep it around just to make one fight especially now that kayla is not undefeated any longer maybe but what i think could really end up happening is introducing the new mcspicy from mcdonald's it looks like a regular chicken sandwich but it's actually a spicy chicken sandwich mix spicy consider yourself

warned limited time only at participating mcdonald's in canada uh remember i think bellator made a big pitch and push maybe i think they did make a an offer for kayla what i tend to think might happen here is kayla might beat larissa and get out of pFL. UFC just says, we're just not in this business anymore. And then she actually ends up in Bellator, in which case the 145 is closed in UFC, but they can make good use of her. Like, dude, here's the truth about it. Scott Coker and what the Bellator model does

is better suited for Kayla in terms of catering to her interests long-term than just the one big fight at UFC. better suited for Kayla in terms of catering to her interests long-term. I mean, Scott Coker, big fight at UFC and Scott Coker gave Rhonda Rousey the platform and helped promote her to get her UFC ready to, to take that leap and open up the, you know,

women's fighting UFC. So could you imagine if that's an interesting scenario that I never thought about until you just mentioned it, that what if UFC does go forward with these other predictions we're making, shut that shit down, say, I'm sorry, Kayla. Unless you can make 115, we don't have a big fight for you. Imagine Cyborg versus Kayla on CBS, Luke. Seriously, imagine that.

Kayla is not exactly Ronda, no one's saying that, but in the Ronda ballpark in some ways, accomplishments, legitimacy, of course. Imagine if that's the fight you put to casuals and try to, you know what I mean? Of course, yeah. Dude, that's brilliant. Oh, I can't wait to hear what Tooks thinks about that.

No, no, no, no. I had to lock that door. Sorry. I'm assuming he was definitely going to barge in. Dude, that's a very smart way. Kayla Harrison is a dream matchup for, well, I should say this Kayla Harrison Kayla Harrison is a dream matchup for um well I should say this she's a dream setup to be on CBS yeah two-time Olympian greatest judoka in American history you know almost not quite undefeated but you know this decorated athletic past and you know she's not

she's good on camera and all the stuff that we know about her. Dude, that is a great matchup on CBS. That's exactly who they want. Think about the synergy there. If that, if that's a direction Scott Coker ended up going and we're just putting fantasy ideas out there. Like he made Scott Coker made Carano versus Cyborg, you know? I mean, like Cyborg is such a legend that she was in the first fight that was thrown to the masses on a crossover level, and she could be in all these frigging years later,

she could still be just as strong of a brand to kind of give the pro wrestling rub to Kayla Harrison potentially. I mean, that's central booking, Luke. I mean, that's a beautiful a beautiful calm around full circle there you know all right let's talk now about no go away too quickly quickly um i'm watching espen ladd doesn't have a division in pfl we got to be really honest with ourselves can't make 35 anymore there's no 45 division in pfl and maybe they use her as the fallback for kayla's second pay-per-view opponent next year which no one's buying buying. I'm sorry. I don't know what Esmolad's going to do with PFL, Luke.

I guess join the 55 tournament, but I don't know. The other thing is this. Arlene Blanco, one of my favorite fighters in Bellator, just signed another contract, Luke, and she went to war in that rematch with Cyborg and I think liked it. Be on the lookout if they end up making Blanco versus Sinead Cavanaugh too. Imagine if they put that in Dublin. versus Sinead Kavanaugh too.

Imagine if they put that in Dublin. They fought once. Blenko won in a close fight. That fight would be a war. That's a little BC sloppy special on the radar that could happen, Luke. Okay? All right. Let's get to the real center of the bullseye in women's MMA.

I get closer to it anyway. How about a bantamweight division? BC, I'll go first for 2023. Bantweight division women's division here we're talking about for predictions this one seems to me like a no-brainer I think they're going to make they're going to move heaven and earth to make Amanda Nunes versus Valentina Shevchenko three I just feel like you know again maybe Amanda doesn't want it and maybe she pooh-poos it, but I really, really believe UFC wants to see this a third time. They're going to make a push for it. And I tend to think that, in the end,

the gravitational pull and significance of this fight will force the principal actors in place to get it done. Not only do I agree with that, even though I'm sure I've predicted that in the last four years, and it just didn't happen, but I will add to that to that Luke that my prediction is Amanda Nunes accepts two trilogy fights in 2023 and both at the Bantamweight. So to be fair here, Juliana Pena is the only one that I think is even talking about the idea of a third Nunes fight, but imagine this scenario, you know, the UFC loves Juliana.

She's, I mean, God, she's a great ambassador of the sport and her victory over Amanda in the first fight, even though she got dominated in the second, was just one of those storybook ones. Imagine if Juliana comes back in a big fight. I know, for example, Holly Holm has Jana Kunitskaya coming up, but imagine a Holly Holm level fight. Juliana wins that. She's right back in the title picture. Imagine if Amanda goes, fights Valentina a third time, but wins. Could they close the year with that, Luke? Yeah, they could.

They very much could, you know? Pena versus Amanda three, who knows? So that's not impossible to get two trilogies. Holly Holm will probably stay ranked for the 25th straight year at this division. Luke Bantamweight, if they'll have her. I mean, she may be, you know, Kunitskaya for all we know. And my other, oh, that's all I got. You got anything else for Bantamweight? No, not for in terms

of things I'm watching, but I do have one for the next division if we can talk about it. All right. So last week we broke the news that at least what Erin Blanchfield told us was she told us she was going to be fighting Tyler Santos in February. Here's my prediction, BC. Erin Blanchfield is going to have a title shot

in 2023. I'm not going to make a prediction beyond that. And here's the way I worded it when I wrote these to our producer. She's going to earn a title shot in 2023. So she may not actually get the fight itself in 2023, but by the time the year closes, it'll be clear she's the number one contender and she's ready for that. The UFC has designated her in that position do you agree or disagree where are you look i wouldn't have guessed that she would get the call

ready for tyler santos who's coming off you know pushing chev to the limit there i hate when people call her chev or chevy like that's so that's so lame luke it's put some respect on that chevchenko name um so yeah i'm fully in agreeance on that luke uh ultimately that blanche field if she beats her and she damn she's not nervous at all i mean if she goes out there beats tyler santo she's gonna fight for the title absolutely luke and she's young and they would they you know she's coming on uh my prediction as it pertains to women's flyweight is i can again can't believe i'm saying this but i'll i, I'll pull it, fully put it out there. Women's flyweight next calendar year begins to legitimately rival one, one five straw weight as the best women's division in UFC. And I understand crazy, crazy. Well, what does a

great division need? It needs certainly the threat of multiple potential champions, which straw weight always has. It needs the consistency of making great fights. I think, look, we've seen some really good fights at 125 that doesn't get that stamp always of, look, strawweight once again comes through. But when you look at the top 15 right now, seriously, just six months ago, it felt like it was Valentina and nobody else.

The top 15 right now from Manon Farrow at number one, who's coming to Hellon, to Santos, to division stalwarts like Chukagian, Murphy, Andrade is moonlighting in this division. You've got Grosso, who's moving into position, Araujo, Maia is a tough out. And you even go down to Blanchfield, King Casey O'Neal, Macy Barber, Tracy Cortez, Amanda Hibas in play. Luke, those are building blocks for

the future, but it seems like that future is like now. You forgot a key name, I believe. You forgot a key name. This was my thing to watch in this division which only serves your argument. The return of Tatiana Suarez. She could come back to this division

and absolutely. Now, we don't know. She's been out for so long. She had the neck issue and everything but dude if she comes back she might just hammer through everybody along the way and and look i don't think pound for pound talent for talent 125 is as accomplished or as good as what we see in 115 but some of these 115ers like he boss and andrage are moving up because you can get a shorter path to big opportunity dude 125 is fun that's all I'm going to say at the end of the day it's going to end up rivaling 115 so you're right about Suarez I hope this is finally the year look what do you have on the best women's division that ever happened 115 what do you got here all right let's get to it straw weight I don't have a great prediction because one it's partly unpredictable I think two it's due for

some turnover in certain places, except at the top. When you just look down that roster, I mean, there's great fighters everywhere at 115. But the way that Zhong Wai Li has been looking, I just don't know who the hell is going to beat her. Of course, we always say that, and there's these crazy upsets at MMA. But my prediction for 2023 is, dude, she's going to remain the champion in that weight class, even if she has another fight with Rose or whatever the case may be. That she is better athletically. She's so much more well-rounded now. She can wrestle.

She has legitimate subs. Her ground and pound is terrifying. We always knew she was good on the feet, fast, athletic. I mean, I could go on and on about her. Zhong Wai Li is the best in class at 115, and that's not going to change in the next year. Well, Luke, my prediction forces that to change my prediction. No surprise to anyone listening to this show is that Rose Nami Eunice is still the motherfucking best.

And she proves it again. And I don't mean to start sounding like Pat Berry with his theory on like every three or four fights, this happens. But if you look over Rose's career, every three or four fights, Luke, she goes from dominant wins in a row to one where you know she just barely loses like the split decision against Carolina when there was upheaval in her personal life at the time or ones like getting dropped on her head or just this one against uh the rematch with Carlo where look you know you can't forgive

her for that it wasn't it was an awful fight and an awful game plan and performance there's a lot that's awful about it but Luke she has that ability when she figures it out and puts it together to be better than anybody else. So the reason in particular why I believe I would give her the edge against, like you said, somebody like Jung Wiley, who is as scary as she's ever been and is proving that she's got like all-time great metal in her. Like she's a legit, like she is that, that woman, you know, she's that chick. But is there one hole in John with his game on the elite level? I think it's her defense Luke, which is why that you want to fight was somewhat surprisingly that close.

That first one, that blood and guts war rose time, timing wise accuracy can piece, uh, young up and has done it. Luke in two different fights in various ways second fight very close yes you can make an argument for way lee on the scorecards but dude rose just has her number in the striking and i think they'll always make close fights together

and rose will win it so um i'm looking for a big one out of the thug once more because that's what she does i'm also going to be looking luke to see if mackenzie dern can figure out her own striking issue if she can she's a title threat. She's an absolute title threat. She's certainly a title threat in a Brian Ortega way in any matchup at any given time if it goes her way. But if she doesn't figure it out, Luke, she's never going to max out. I mean, is it? But it's not just her striking.

I did a tape study on her for my personal channel. Her ground and pound is a major problem, a major problem. There's a lot of ways to make the argument, but I'll simplify it in this way. She likes a lot of positions that make a transition to the submission quicker, right? So she'll ride very high on the back. But if you're riding high on the back, for example, you're unstable. So to stable herself, she'll plant her forehead into the mat and then kind of punch. But these are mechanically not advantageous positions from which to punch with at all. You know what you need? You need that Roman Deleuze style where you have them, you can drive hips into them, you can control a wrist and then really begin to unload on your power hand, whatever side that may be. That is a mechanically advantageous position.

BC, she's still in her mind in terms of how she strategizes positions, hasn't gotten out of thinking about it in a very jiu-jitsu-centric way. And I think if she wants to go to the next level, yes, striking, of course, the fight's not on the feet, but let's get her ground and pound up to speed. If you do that, it's going to open up so many more avenues for her on the ground. I think she's too naturally talented and she has very good intangibles, like her toughness and her,

and her drive that I think she's too good not to have a run where she figures it out. I just wonder if it's going to happen next. I mean, you can argue that if it doesn't happen soon, it never will, but I don't know, again,

is it, is it, you know, does she need to game plan better? Does she need to commit more? I don't know, whatever it is it you know does she need to game plan better does she need to commit more i don't know whatever it is luke i think she's going to figure it out eventually it's just will it be too late by that time who knows we'll see luke we got to close with what what do we got here some combat sports uh prediction angles stories yeah so i'm going to pitch five at you and you tell me how significant or real they are for 2023 ready here we go sports in general these Here we go. This is combat sports in general.

These are the biggest headlines, right? Yeah, combat sports in general. Okay, go ahead. Here's one. Are you buying or are you selling Nate Diaz boxing Jake Paul on pay-per-view? I'm going to sell that, Luke. It seems like the fight to make for sure, but I don't know. I wonder, just as we looked atake boxing against anderson we're like

damn he did get better and you know what i mean in like in this silo he's young hungry and tough man that's not a great fight for nate diaz at the end of the day i think nate's gonna look around and go you know what i have other ways to make money there's other things i can do in the fight space necessarily than needing to go all in on this or nothing um for all we know he can end up back and in you get news that he resigned for one fight with the ufc the trilogy connor who knows so i think nate jake's more likely to go to tommy fury road and then we'll see where we go from there but um i'm gonna sell on that luke and i can't believe like because just you know even like the day of the silva fight if you would ask me bc would you be fired up next for Nate versus Jake?

It's like, damn right I would. Let's see some trash talk. Let's do it. But that fight's not going to be great, right? I think Jake wins it if they do have it. All right, number two, Gervonta Davis versus Ryan Garcia. Now, we don't even know if it's going to happen because, of course, Gervonta has court issues. He has a trial in February, and hello, he has to fight in D in dc in january but let's assume that they actually do make it it

actually reaches the finish line where are you on it selling a million pay-per-view buys okay i first of all buy huge that it will happen because don't forget ryan garcia just turned off the idea of a january 28th stay busy fight to to get ready so i think we're going to see it um yeah i think it does more pay-per-view buys than people realize because like this is the fight in boxing that we don't get enough of these because boxing has so many um entities that are opposite each other naturally from a business sense networks promoters and and we tend to see them typically only come together when fighters are older, more established, their brands have been more built up and they're sort of the storyline want like there was

for Mac, uh, Mackey, uh, Mayweather Pacquiao. And also like there is right now for Spence, uh, versus Crawford, but obviously the Spence Crawford problem is they're going to be like 35 soon. These guys are young enough. They have their own fan bases that are almost separate from boxing because of how much they cross over in pop culture, on social media, have relationships with some big, you know, big stars in the acting music game, all that stuff. I think this does like the potential for like one five. I mean, dude, one in this era, one million pay-per-view buys in the streaming era is is very impressive. One one million pay-per-view buys in the May era is is very impressive one one million pay-per-view buys in

the mayweather pacquiao era was very impressive one and a half in this era when not involving like floyd and connor dude you know not involving like a fantasy circus matchup this is like a rare bird right now and i think you'll see it and it will do very well okay number three bc what happens with the u i'm just going to call it this. But what happens with the UFC's James Krause problem in 2023? And I don't just mean James Krause. I mean all of the ways in which it affects the rest of the business. I mean, Dana's finally being honest.

I don't know if you saw that sit-down interview he did with Okamoto where in the past he was sort of like, no, this won't be a big deal. Now he's like, no, this is absolutely potentially, you know, massively destructive. That's what we're going to nip it in the bud. They're going to go after whoever they end up finding at the conclusion of the investigation, whether it's, you know, Minner or whether it's Krause or whether those guys really didn't do anything. We don't know yet, Luke.

Okay. But whoever had any connectivity to this is going to get hammered out shoeless Joe Jackson style so that nothing ever actually happens again so this will be a big headline that will have long-term things i just think that in some ways maybe it came at the right time and had a big enough name and an established coach and former fighter and kraus where everyone took it seriously enough so that this won't happen a year from now involving like a active champion who may or may not be suspected of like you know fixing a fight that's when it goes to like you can't fix it

levels this may be perfect timing for ufc that it happened at this level they put in all the sanctioning now all the eyes are open the fighters are aware the coaches are where you can f up your entire career in one in one time getting caught in this don't touch it that's what i think plays out with number four i actually feel like we're gonna see some big women's boxing fights in 2023 i think we're due for a serrano taylor rematch you could do uh who's it marshall and shields again you could do even uh mayor and bum garner again right there's a bunch of different ways now those are all rematches they're not organic fresh new matchups but bc women's boxing had a pretty good year in 2022 oh great i think that's only going to continue in 2023 what do you think and when fights like i mean

here's what we got look i was asked on the showtime boxing podcast with raskin mulvaney um my guys like you know what was your biggest biggest moment or biggest headline of 2022 for boxing like without even without even like hesitating like i had to make sure it was this calendar year and i wasn't just washed and i had the wrong year but without even hesitating i'm like taylor serrano and what it did for women's boxing because like biggest stakes ever biggest fight ever they put it in madison square garden the main event and it over delivered so over delivered you talk i mean is that a rousey versus karmush or serrano versus like cyborg moment equivalent to mma no different but but could be just as impactful from the idea of like girls watching on from home and going oh my god i could do that

like that could have an impactful thing that goes well beyond that we realize but the immediate impact to your point is networks and promoters who let's give them credit last couple of years, more networks and promoters were positioning women in key spots. And, you know, even Showtime had a good run with Clarissa Shields before, uh, you know, the business relationship changed and put her in big fights on Showtime, obviously top rank and DAZN and all that. Eddie Hearn's been big on it too. Um, now that, you know, a fight like Taylor Serrano being that great, now Michaela Mayer gets a chance to be in big headlining bouts. Yeah,

you're going to see an aggressive matchmaking because people are realizing that the product at that, at the elite level is very good. The problem that women's boxing will have and always has in cycles is that depth, depth is a problem. and let's give mma credit not in every division but mma since coming on the scene has been able to consistently rebuild the depth and get new young fighters that are better than ever before that there may be a a stretch of that in women's boxing but if there is it's going to be based on what happened in madison square garden that night because it has that big of a ripple effect so give me that rematch and you're right luke give me some big ones here let's do it all right last but least, BC, and you kind of indicated it before

when we talked about it with Fedor, but Bellator going to CBS. I mean, here's the thing. Like, obviously we're for Showtime and Bellator being on Showtime is, is obviously great for, for both parties, but it is behind a paywall, right? There is something that could dissuade people from catching it from a wider, broader audience. It's not unfair to say that CBS has a much broader audience. Hello, it's CBS, the channel, of course so bellator being on cbs is great and you know i'm told that if things go well with fate or there could be on cbs multiple times a year now nothing of that is written in stone none of that is guaranteed a lot of this depends on the performance but that's what sort of makes me sort of curious about it all like don't get me wrong

bellator being on cbs is great it's great for bellator i think it's great for cbs they wouldn't be doing if they didn't think they were going to win on it but it's not as how do i say this like earth shattering as it was when strike force was on cbs the first time to your point they've been on ufc's been on fox they've been on abc so it's a huge deal and it's a big question about what can happen here but bc if bellator does well with Fedor and CBS, and they have multiple shows a year on CBS, I mean, that is, you know, listen, the UFC has only grown in profile in the ESPN era.

I think some of these other promotions, your ones and your PFLs and whoever, like a shot in the arm from CBS to Bellator, it's not going to completely alter the landscape of the business, but definitely, definitely, definitely could reestablish them as a number two. I mean, there's no better flick through content than elite combat sports. Now, in the streaming era, are people actually doing that anymore? Are they going channel by channel and just whatever comes? Oh, that looks interesting.

I don't know. I mean, not everybody has all the technology and apps that we do. Luke, I'm sure there's a lot of america that does it old school but oh by the way cbs also the most most watched network in america so this is a great gamble but to be fair we don't know what this the post streaming era is going to do to the numbers here but even comparative not but you can't ultimately compare these numbers to what kimbo and bell you, and strike force did with Fedor back in the day, but for what's expected today, it may just be the perfect storm that that's why I think Fedor might

reconsider. And that's why, you know, we've talked about that after AJ McKee first beat Patricio, the first meeting, it's like, damn, that's the guy to put on CBS.

If you want to like, you know, get people excited that there's this next big thing. Now look, he lost, but he's coming back all that, but there are there are you know let's give Scott Coker credit Luke he does play the hits he does know what works and the the Grand Prix's with the legit one million dollar prize on top are are fun as heck and this is an old Scott Coker playbook move

but there's no reason why this isn't a classic move that could still work so i'm just as interested as a fan as i am as a you know cbs paramount employee to see if this if this can hit if this can really be something so i'm excited i'm excited so look my five angles to watch you ready for this i want your reaction all right let's do it okay number one luke seriously here if mahachev becomes the ufc pound for pound king and usman nirmaga medoff becomes the bellator potentially pound for pound king and uh who's the other nirmaga medoff umar that's you know could be in the top five by the end of the year in his weight class habib nirmaga medoff has got a great shot to be your 2023 mma coach of the year i can't really disagree with that especially if those things come to fruition if usman wins the 155 Grand Prix in Bellator, if Makachev beats Volkanovski in Perth and then defends it against whoever,

and then to your point about the rest of Umar, that whole crew is just nothing but winners. They've been training hard their whole lives. They now have a very elite. I think what folks really misunderstand is, yes, these guys have been training hard for a long time, and they've got good coaches. But it seems to me, you see, the thing that's lost is, and every elite gym has a good system,

but Nurmagomedov and that whole team, they have great systems in place, both for camps, for long-range training, like what are we going to do over the next year. Everything is planned. Everything is hard-nosed. Everything is meticulous. And the results speak for themselves dude habib is on the precipice of not just being the greatest lightweight ever which of course is something of a debate and ongoing but you know probably is but coach of the year but one of the best coaches

we've seen he really is leaning to this hardcore and the results are not accidental at all and no one's forgetting that you know he's taken the the reins from his father, Abdulmanap, the late trainer, you know, who's an institution in Dagestan and being such a great coach and teaching this discipline. And obviously Javier Mendez as well on the team at AKA. But Fedor's going to be the face of this moving forward. And when you talk to people on the inside, as we do, all the Habib stories are amazing, Luke,

because the intensity, the dedication, the commitment to tiny details. I mean, yeah, dude, the guy's wildly successful in this space, Luke. It's incredible. Number two angle to watch. I'm not predicting this. I don't necessarily want Dana White to lose money here, but I've said this weird feeling that the Dana White slapdick league is going to be slapdick league is going to be over before it starts Luke. Meaning,

you know, maybe we get a couple episodes out of it, but I just, dude, it's to me, it's just such a bad look with somebody like, like you would never see the NFL commissioner put out a dicey message as it pertains to like CTE and head trauma, which is one of the biggest things that the NFL builds, like changes its rules to try to protect, which is junior sale, like incidents,

you know what I mean? And taking great care of the fighters long or the, the, the, you know, the football players long-term like, yeah, Dana white on the flip side who would,

you know, be best advised and typically is to not talk about head trauma and all that, unless they're saying, well, you know, the football players long-term like, yeah, Dana white on the flip side, who would, you know, be best advised and typically is to not talk about head trauma and all that, unless they're saying, well, we have, you know, PI plans where you can get, you know, all that doctor and healthcare and all that. That's, that's what you should be talking about. Yeah. You're putting out this product that is being promoted with the power engine.

That is the UFC. That is just no defense. And it's completely opposite to that. Is it going to be an injury? Is it going to be that nobody cares or is it just going to come across in bad taste? Either way, Luke, I mean, you remember when Dana White put out that boxing reality series? I watched the first episode. I thought it was cool and good. And then it fell off the network because nobody watched it and it was gone.

I just have a feeling like this will be the like we used to say about Vince McMahon. This will be the XFL on his legacy. You know, this will be that one albatross. Like, you this feels like out there I mean Zufa boxing was too Luke to be fair but this feels like Zufa boxing all over again doesn't it I mean the whole thing is just so ridiculous and on top of it like how they're trying to use the UFC's architecture I mean quite literally the architecture of the apex that's where a lot of this happens and also like the way in which they have teams and there's like a like a uh what do they call them slappers they're not fighters a slapper house and the and the uniforms that they have like they borrowed they borrowed every element and then just

repackaged it for this and on top of it like they're leaning heavily and expecting mma fans and to an extent even mma media to just sort of go along with it like by inundating us with this messaging my understanding is it's an eight episode deal that they have with TBS starting in January. I think it probably runs through eight episodes and then that's it. That's it. They call it a day. Yeah.

I don't see this becoming a phenomenon. And I think it's just a bad look for the company. Number three, Luke, I mentioned about Fedor might not being done. Obviously, like he's got a puncher's chance against Bader and all this, but be prepared for this angle.

If Fedor knocks out Ryan Bader on CBS and in theory retires in the moment as the Bellator heavyweight champion in you know avenging a loss by knockout as the cherry on top dude he's gonna hit MMA fans especially old ones or ones being brought back in directly in the field spot. This is Randy versus Sylvia or even in Ghana versus gone, like on steroids, Luke, what is he 45? I mean, this would be wild. Yeah. I mean, given the response that we saw in the Timothy Johnson fight and how happy people were and granted that was in Russia, which of course had a different kind of sensibility about everything.

But to your point, if he goes in there and then floors Bader, who by the way is not looked great of recent um and claims the title and then crowns his career that way dude it would be massive massive in the fields massive for like also restoring Fedor's reputation a little bit which you know he's fighting well past the point we probably should I completely agree number four Luke we've hit this ad nauseum so we can do it quick but the more i keep talking about this scenario in this statement it might actually be true jaron boots on this the unbeaten welterweight who comes back january 7th on showtime pay-per-view like he actually might be the best fighter in the world right now only like no one would call him that because he hasn't proven it and it's so early

and he's trying so hard to get big time names but every step up i mean he's it's not just demolishing we've seen people look at edgar Berlingo was knocking everybody out in the first round. People can demolish people, but it's, it's the way he sets it up. It's everything that makes him so next level dynamic. He's a video game fighter. Who's come to life as a 23, 24 year old on the verge of the title level. Luke, you we've gushed about him ad nauseum, but it's for a reason. I don't know if he could be the fighter of the year next year,

if he ends up getting the big enough names to do it. Either way, he will use 2023 as a way to invade boxing because he's coming on and you can't get in the way of it at this point. Yeah, he's going to become a lot of people's favorite fighter by the end of next year. To your point, the only thing that can hold him back, and by the way, he's co-main event on that Tank Davis and Hector Garcia fight in D.C the pay the showtime pay-per-view

so you'll get to see boots ennis in the co-main event role but the only issue holding him back is can he get the fights he needs that i don't know but whoever they line up in front of him they're in trouble well he'll become the mandatory for spence in one belt i think he already is in another alphabet we're gonna like he already is an ibf okay what if he so he's fighting karen chikadze in in january if he if he wins that could he fight staniosis or ugast fights that i think we would like or could he fight spence or crawford if they don't fight each other or i mean spence and crawford aren't going to fight him but but but ugast or somebody else like a just a tick down i think they will all right number five angle to watch for the new year is this, Luke. Really, the only bad thing you can say about the UFC this year is,

you know, we didn't get Conor or Jon Jones, so some of those big-ticket crossover event-type pay-per-views just didn't happen. Instead, you got great fights and big upsets. But it is time for the UFC's next era of pay-per-view stars to stand up and improve it. So that could be established guys already, like Volkanovski and even Adesanya who have a certain platform, but haven't raised it either way. Luke,

we are somewhat dependent right now on, on, on old names, which isn't, you know, it happens in transitional phases, but right now when you look like who could headline a pay-per-view that like mainstream sports fans would care about, I think that that list is small and dependent upon age and injury and comeback more than it is on fights we can make next. Are you looking at anybody that may end up using this calendar year of doing just that, putting themselves in a position to be a pay-per-view draw?

Well, it's hard for me to answer that one quickly um um i have to think about that one for a second um man i wonder if no because the hudo's been out for a while so no volkanovski maybe but I still don't know about that. 155, it's kind of hard to say. Makachev, yeah, you know what? Makachev, honestly, with that Khabib rub,

if he beats Volkanovski and he has a big-name opponent, they end up finding a way to get him Conor or something. Yeah, he could actually turn it. Even though he's not as dynamic as Khabib, I'm not saying it's the same level in terms of what he could do. But he literally has Khab be standing next to him. Like literally there's so much wind at his back and he's got so much ability to combine two forces.

It might be big for him next year. It really might. I mean, Tom's out could be that guy, right? Cause he has, he has the attitude of, of like a pay-per-view headline or either villain,

or you think he's a badass. I mean, he could be that guy, so we'll see. And then don't forget, dude, I said it before in our predictions for Welterweight, Shavkat Rachmanov, man, he's much more quiet and he doesn't have the same kind of, you know, bulldog on a chain kind of

way of looking at like a Hamzat Shemayev. But I'm telling you, man, that dude is going to be an assassin and I think that's going to start playing off on his aura, so to speak. Pay-per-view star, I don't know, but you know. Yeah, I don't know about that. I don't know about that I don't know about that hell wait to finally to close here if there's ever any female fighters like Rondo pay-per-view star Holly Holman Misha Tate's like you know they needed to be b-sides but they're stars Amanda and Valentina have you know in different ways have crossed over but never never in a high level is there any female fighters

that have that long-term potential that maybe we don't even realize right now not for 2023 but you've got with these young ones the barbers the mavericks the blanche fields and some other ones as well i think long term yes but for 2023 too soon yeah yeah there it is luke i got nothing left to give the people all right well then that's it for us today. So thumbs up on the video. If you're, if you're having done it yet, please subscribe. Once again, Merry Christmas, happy holidays, however you celebrate or not. Don't drink and drive.

Don't text and drive. Be good to each other. Be safe. Be see any final message for the audience before we go. We love you folks. Not that, that, that doesn't necessarily mean Luke wants to shake all of your hands or, you know, welcome you onto our show or really any further into our lives beyond you clicking play on that video.

But even in that Grinch's heart, he knows we're here because I mean, none of those things are true. I shook everyone's hand in Las Vegas. What you should say is the producers may not want us shaking everyone's hands, but old LT is all reliable when it comes to that. Yeah, yeah. No, you're a stand-up guy in person. I'm more of the slimy weasel. But no, thank you.

Thank you, folks. So I had this moment, Luke, just real quick to close the holiday season. Yes, please. We have a whole other thing to do here. I had this moment of taking the train back from when we were in Jersey City most recently and really doing one of those, like, yo, this is our fucking job, man. And I'm like, this is our job. Like this is, this isn't even like community theater.

This is like getting drunk and doing skits, you know, to make fun of your friends. And we do this for a living. And it's like, you know, thank you people out there legitimately for allowing us to play our passions out. What's your passion BC? Dick jokes. So thank you for that. No, seriously, though, but you get my point. Look, you do once in a while have to pinch yourself, whether us in this job or the people watching at home, when you come home and you have a happy, healthy family and you got great animals and you know, and you're just like, you know, life is good. Life is always going to be challenging.

There's ups and downs, but you know, stop and take a look around once in a while, as Ferris Bueller said, we only get one of them and it doesn't last forever. You know, so I'm very happy, Luke. I'm very happy, man. There you have it. All right. For the crews at Malka and Showtime and CBS sports, that's Brian Campbell. I'm Luke Thomas. Happy holidays to you. Merry, or I should say, happy new year as well.

And we'll see you on the other side. Until then, may all of your gains be loyal.