MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Bellator 268 Recap | Ladd vs. Dumont Recap | EP 217

Episode Date: October 18, 2021

On Episode 217 of MK, the guys recap Bellator 268 where Corey Anderson scored arguably the biggest win of his career and Vadim Nemkov dominated Anglickas. Also, Luke and Brian recap Aspen Ladd's lackluster loss to Norma Dumont (08:24) - Vadim Nemkov (15:35) - Corey Anderson (29:50) - Dumont's Decision over Ladd (46:00) - Andre Arlovski & Jim Miller's Wins (55:40) - Everything Else from the Weekend (63:00) - Dm's from Donks (76:00) - HYSTS Morning Kombat’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Bullhorn 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  To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Reveley, reveveille, dogs. Look at us now, tip to tip. This is our life. This is our passion. That's the spirit we bring to this show. I'm Luke Thomas. I'm Brian Campbell. This is Morning Combat.

Back like a bag hat. Jesus. I mean, could I... I mean, I'm the worst person in America. Back like a bag hat Jesus I mean could I I mean I'm the worst person in America back like a bad habit wash like your favorite pair of jeans I'm just I'm struggling today because I had to get up at 4 a.m. because that's life hello everyone my name is Luke Thomas I am one half your hosting duo from CBS Sports and Showtime joined by a much more refreshed looking than me still washed like your favorite pair of jeans though king of connecticut brian campbell what's up bc how you doing boss luke i can clean up well

to to cover the washedness but eventually by the end of the show it'll seep through i'm doing great luke why because you know i'm back at the controls here of the the best damn combat sports talk show there is period luke this phenomenon is so strong that we had to put it in a song and it goes like this whoa mk is the color of your energy yeah whoa let's talk about fights and punani so i mean could would there have been a better way for me to start this monday luke no these are these are songs i sing while i take it a dump and then you come and do them on the show it is an amazing yeah that just means i live rent free in your brain that's what that means rent free well it's not about you it's about my dump usually but either way uh welcome it's a monday show we are

reacting to a lot of bellator stuff we We're going to react to some UFC news. We, of course, have a big set of combat sports fights ahead of us this next weekend. So a lot to talk about here. As always, thumbs up on the video. Hit subscribe. How was your weekend very quickly, BC? Anything fun you do? Not, you know, I actually got a little handy, Luke, which is not my forte. And I purchased a new chandelier light for the foyer area. Don't let chandelier fool you into thinking it's something that costs more than $79, Luke. But, you know, it took me hours, but I put that shit in, and the lights turn on.

So that's a big win in these parts, Luke. Much like Master P describing art in his house that literally was a painting of himself it's neither eloquent nor elegant it's eloquent in your house that's what i'm guessing right that's the vibe absolutely luke uh absolutely i mean i may have chipped the paint a few times and swore a lot but uh luke that that shit's up and uh that don't that's not always a guarantee okay when you get bc's hands on things look i'll break look i tend to break shit is really the quote you know the point here yeah i went to a kid's birthday party yesterday uh which was fine and then saturday went to a pumpkin patch which was probably full of covid just being candid

um but it was fine very dad of you i like that luke i bet you probably wore some like metal shirt to like make sure that people know people know you are a dad in service, but you're not really a dad, right? Yeah, I'm cool, guys, for real. No, I wear black shirts like I do every other day of the week. So, no, it was nothing. I mean, who am I going to impress with a goddamn black shirt? You're like, this could be my Monday shirt, or I could end up at a funeral, and it still fits.

So let's, you know. You just never know when you have to roll up on some honoring of the dead so there we go um all right folks if you want to watch showtime you had a chance to do it last weekend but here's the good news you can still keep trying you can go to showtime.com get a 30 day free trial if you like it you can keep it if not you do not have to you can go and make bad choices about your life elsewhere if you want to shoot us an email for wednesday's fan subs or friday's dead wrong or something else related to the show, do that as well. You can do that at morningcombat.gmail.com.

We're giving away a gift. We have a big merch announcement for today. Oh, let's hear it. Morningcombat.store, not only your home to some fine shit, but our Halloween line has launched today, Luke. So it's not only this blood-curdlingly, screamful MK shirt, you could get the Luke Thomas, I'm dead, Dios de Muerta shirt as well, which is actually pretty damn solid.

Check out our entire Halloween line at morningcombat.store. While you're there, F around in the Factory Town MMA section. Maybe end up with a camouflaged or tie-dyed dad hat. That's what we do for you here at the MK Store. Wait, they really put that shirt up already? Yeah, Luke, you should check your own website. I'm looking now.

I see it. I don't see that one. Oh, yes, I do. Yes, I do. Wow, would you look at that? They actually do have it up. Wow. And there's one of your boy looking.

I mean, I've never looked this cool in my life i can assure you i certainly don't look this cool now but uh yeah they got one of the dia uh dia de los muertos shirts so um that's fun all right luke i've never seen you this excited since uh my face ended up on a hawaiian shirt my daughter my daughter is strangling the fucking life for me dude i am barely hanging on today. Let me just tell you. All right. What else do we have?

We've got a great show that people are waiting for. It's been a great show. One last plug before we get started. I know it's taking forever. The Apple Podcasts. Leave us a review. Make it five stars. If it's funny, we'll send you some cash.

We're trying to scam the algorithm. You all know how this works. We're just being scam artists. But help us cheat is really what we're trying to say. Help us cheat. All right, BC. With that out of the way. Very Gordon Gekko of you.

Greed is good. Okay, let's keep it going. With that, coffee, this is, I feel like it's more Glen Gary, Glen Ross around here, right?

Coffee's for closers kind of a thing. Speaking of which, by the way, show me your beer koozie or whatever that is. That's my official Thomas the Hitman Hearns beer koozie, Luke.

That's a nice one. That's a nice one. I got to say, where'd you get that? From the fine folks at Corona who do not sponsor our show, Luke. So maybe I shouldn't say that out loud. But hey, Corona, there's still time, all right? You sponsored this globe the last year and a half, Corona. There's still time to sponsor this show.

Okay, thank you. Who are you, Shannon Sharp? I mean, these are just the worst takes. Okay, with that out of the way, BC, let's go ahead to sponsor this show. Okay, thank you. Who are you, Shannon Sharp? I mean, these are just the worst takes. Okay, with that out of the way, BC, let's go ahead and start the show. I feel washed. I look terrible. But what else would be new about that? Nothing, I suppose.

We go to topic number one. Okay, let's start with Bellator if we can. It was Saturday night. It was in Phoenix, Arizona. Pretty decent rocking crowd from what I could tell. And a little bit of trouble, but in the end, some familiarity. Or at least the main event going more or less according to what we thought it might. Vadim Nemkov submits Julius Anglicus in the fourth round of the main event.

BC, did he get this win in the way that he got it, which was that stoppage in the fourth? Did he get it because he was just too dominant? the way that he got it which was that stoppage in the fourth did he get it because he was just too dominant or and largely controlled it or did he uh despite being vulnerable escape by the skin of his teeth oh no this was this was dominance this was because Vadim Nemkov really is that guy and we had a maybe with the last minute change of the opponent Rumble Johnson out and Glitskis is and of course we're talking to ourselves into some kind of romanticized Daniel Maybe with the last minute change of the opponent, Rumble Johnson out, Anglicus is in. Of course, we're talking to ourselves into some kind of romanticized Daniel Cormier 2.0 alternate. Nobody gave him a chance type of story arc. And to Anglicus' credit, Luke, he came in in incredible shape, nine fight win streak,

and he let that right hand go and had a moment there against the champ Vadim Nemkov by rocking him with that right hand. But Luke, that was it. Because this Vadim Nemkov is perfectly well-rounded across the board. And this fight just further announced this guy's poise is championship level. Yeah, rightfully so. He's the champion. But it's sort of next level mixture of the Fedor cyborg coming from Team Fedor there. But just a smart 28 year old fighter in the midst of his physical prime, who was really putting that argument together, Luke, that, okay, you know, I really might be the best 205 pounder in the world to do this on short

notice in a tournament. That's, that's not forgiving for the champions at all. It shows you what we're dealing with here, Luke, a true breakout performer. And I thought the way that Nemkov showed that motor, getting it to the ground, and then just coming up with 79 ways to try to finish this guy, playing with his food until he found the right one. Luke, that's some dominant shit there from a guy who's maybe robot in terms of his demeanor, not robotic at all in the way he fights. How much do you dock him for getting dropped in the first?

I don't dock him. I don't dock him, Luke, because he got back up so quickly and then he led it right to a takedown in which he worked well from top position. So it was a hiccup, it was a mistake, but it wasn't, you know, he didn't have to dance around and fall down and really where it's a mistake but it wasn't you know he didn't have to dance around and fall down and really where it's a conversation point did you care it sounds to me by the angling of your questions luke that you came away from the vadim nemkov experience questioning some things okay so why don't you why don't you step up to that microphone and hold it like a grudge for once

and tell the people i think he's got a tough tough fight against Corey Anderson. I'll put it that way coming up. I mean, why did that punch get the land, the right hand land of English kiss? It landed because he goes, uh, he, he jabs to the body and then comes up to the head when the hook is coming. So rather than punch, punch, and then rolling under the hook the way he was supposed to, he just stood straight back up. And as a consequence, he's right in line for the right hand. Dude, you do that against Corey Anderson, your night's going to be very, very short. I mean, listen, the ability for him to not get rattled, to get literally right back on his feet, as you indicated, and then arguably win that round. I thought he won that round. Big John, who's calling the fights cage side, he hadn't won that round. The next round was what, 10-8 or something? I mean, it was terrible terrible for him and then he eventually just closes the show but

and glitch gets looked like he was almost out of there by the end of the third maybe even earlier than that but certainly like he goes back to his corner at the end of the third and you're like dude he is he's not gonna make it very far after this surprise he made it that far like obviously he is lithuanian look he's lithuanian so there we're we're very uh very important that you it's very important that you interrupt me right there that needed to be that needed to be done but the point being is uh there's you can see him getting dropped here on the on the on the screen he obviously has many gears to go to and glitch guess is well-rounded but as we kind of thought pre-fight uh a guy like Nemkov has the athletic ability and

he has um you know good fight IQ good discipline to go back to that and obviously to get the the the finish the way he did after trying for the straight armbar and everything else like every part of that was like right that's Nemkov but I don't know early in that fight dude with the way he is coming up that way and not anticipating punches that you've got to know are coming against what we saw about Corey Anderson which I know we'll talk about just a second I'll say this I think Nemkov is in many ways who we thought I also think the still developing part of his game it may play a role when he fights Anderson because it is a liability and it is real well if if the bigger headline is still we got a fight on our

hands between nemcoff and anderson at the end of this tournament then i fully agree with you on that do you see a fatal flaw is that really what you're establishing i saw a guy who took on a last minute foe who was coming in there with nothing to lose and while trying to figure him out he caught he got caught luke you know happens. I didn't see necessarily a fatal technical flaw that can resurface itself. But Luke, before Saturday night, did you... He went back to it after he got dropped in the next round, too. That's what bothered me. He went right back to the same problem.

Did you consider Corey Anderson a one-punch knockout threat before Saturday night? I'm not sure I did, Luke. We'll talk about Anderson in just a second. I guess all I want to say about Nemkov is, in many ways, he delivered on all of the things that we thought he could, but I do think, to your point, semi-late notice, doesn't really know this guy, blah, blah, blah,

but the fact that he went back to that combination a little bit later in the fight tells me that as good as his striking can be, we may need to dial the evaluation of that back a little bit if those are the kinds of punches he's getting caught by. Not fatal, but certainly important and against an opponent who might be a little bit slicker and can anticipate these kinds of things. I mean, listen, if this had been the Corey Anderson fight,

do we think he's going back and getting the takedown that easily? I don't. I think he got that easily against Anglicus, but I don't think it's going back and getting the takedown that easily I don't I think he got that easily against Anglicus but I don't think it's going to work against Corey Anderson so Vadim Nemkov did himself right I thought he rallied I thought he showed a lot of important fight attributes please don't misunderstand me but he showed some weaknesses here that should not be overlooked too and I think the story is the both of them is what I would say all right I was I was eagerly impressed but I I will say that whether you take my road to get there or yours i think we're both in the same spot as i mentioned not only is this final the perfect final not necessarily for commercial

is a remarkability but for you know maybe the two best guys coming out of this tournament but i think you got a favorite you almost got a favorite cory anderson as the underdog i mean hate it or love it luke this guy was one of the underdogs coming in but but he looks like he could be on top and he looks like he could be the favorite now Corey Anderson after what he did to Ryan Bader Luke while I I identified him sitting in that Jersey City restaurant with you Corey Anderson as a potential you know dark horse I didn't necessarily think it was going to look this easy on the road to get here yeah so let's get to him because it's the far more interesting of the two stories let's talk about topic number two here which is Corey Anderson Corey Anderson I mean my goodness 51 seconds blasts through Ryan Bader drops him with

a what I mean one of the most perfectly timed punches you'll see in MMA just great reactive decision making throws it drops, clinically finishes him off. And just, he looks, BC, let's start here. Has Corey Anderson, to your mind, in all the years we've been watching him, has he ever looked this dialed in, this good, this in control? I mean, you know, the only flash I've seen before was the Johnny Walker fight when you realize the experience difference was going to be more than enough and that he had figured something out and he was on his way to victory. But that's also a matchup against a lower guy trying to come up.

At this level, at this point, when you and I both came around and said, look, pick him, fight, close, fight, but I think we're kind of feeling Bader. Or maybe I was. I'm not sure who you were feeling at the end. I was feeling Bader, Luke, because of the boxing, because I'm thinking he's going to be able to keep Anderson from taking him down. I didn't see Corey Anderson making this next level leap above here with not just the one perfect counter shot to drop Bader, but the speed in which he went for that. Look, he pressed fast forward twice on his remote control and went in there, and it didn't even matter if that ground and pound was hard, fast, or clean. It was just so much of it that you're going to make a referee stop the fight, and that's exactly what you do when you have your opening.

This guy, the momentum he's riding is scary when you're now doing this, because I thought Bader was the more well-rounded fighter. I thought he was the guy who was going to bounce back from that title loss. Now we've got to have a different conversation, I think, but even pause the Bader was the more well-rounded fighter. I thought he was the guy who was going to bounce back from that title loss. Now we've got to have a different conversation, I think. But even pause the Bader one. Corey Anderson's freaking here, Luke.

And what is it about the way in which he exited, which is a very rare situation? He got out of his UFC deal early. Maybe that pending sort of medical issue he had played some kind of role in it. But he basically got out of his deal early signed as a free agent for what he's saying is not only more money but like life-changingly more money he rebounded from that fall he had in the health scare luke and now he's like the happiest man on earth and it's playing into his performance he's not the first free agent we've seen come to bellator and say for my interest interest, this is the better play. But that seems to be a big part in freeing this guy's mind to just go out there and fight Luke.

He looks damn great because he's on point with everything. It's a great point. I do think the fact that he feels valued and is certainly in a much more materially comfortable place than he was probably previously can only add to it. I just also got to say, dude, I'm convinced. I'm convinced. I've never thought Corey Anderson was a bad fighter by any stretch of the imagination. I always thought he was good. I didn't think he was great.

And I won't think he's great unless he wins this tournament. But I got to tell you, I am convinced about his chances. After what I saw over the weekend, I'm going to favor Corey Anderson to win the entire thing. I do think Nemkov can beat him. I think it's very close, but if you ask me my pick right now, I feel like Corey Anderson deserves that nod. His precision, his timing, his punch selection, his preparation, his experience prior to getting here, his wrestling acumen, everything is on point. He's, as you mentioned, only 30 years of age. Dude, he has thoroughly convinced me that he deserves to get a new look, not just from people like me and you who are paid to do it, but

everybody else. And if you don't, I think he's going to have a bit of a wake-up call, win or lose, by the way, in the finals of the Grand Prix. He is so much better. He is so polished at this point that whatever impression you had, and me too, by the way, guilty as charged about this guy coming out of the UFC and into Bellator, I had one expectation. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to take those expectations, ball them up, and chuck them in the garbage. This is a different guy who's got a different mindset, as BC pointed out, and he's got a different skill set too, or at least at a bare minimum, a massively improved one. Dude, that timing, I'm not saying it's as good, it's not as good, but it reminded me, the first thing that came to my mind was the punch that Bud Crawford sat down Kel Brook with. That little tiny window he was able to throw it based on the recognition of what Brook was trying to do.

It's not as polished as that, not by a long shot, but same kind of situational awareness where they know what to look for. They had a jab counter. They had a center line overhand counter, and he was able to make all of it work in short succession. Dude, he beat him in 51 seconds cleanly cleanly there was no deny i was i have to say this dude we did that sit down as you mentioned in the jersey city restaurant and we kind of gave cory anderson what do we thought dude we did not give him enough do we we sold him short we have to admit it well i think he is very

much okay don't don't don't we us in this I may have picked against him in this Bader fight, Luke, but I was talking up the praises of this guy. I didn't think, again, he would make this type of leap. We didn't shit on him. We didn't shit on him. But did we accurately assess his upside? I don't think we did. All right, at least half of us didn't.

But that's fine, Luke. He's 32, not 30, so I'll dead did wrong here, but point taken just the same. I did want to ask you, as much as we're talking about how confidence and happiness-wise he looks like a changed fighter, and he did have that loss, like, not even a year and a half ago or whatever, against Jan Blachowicz, and it was the only loss in his seven or eight fight stretch right now, and it was pretty convincing. Do you see any difference, like, in terms of what he's doing technically from that or is it just he got caught in this one and now he's so on point that he's kind of just playing in another atmosphere above what we thought his ceiling was and he's going for it and all that stuff

did you see the same in that Blachowicz fight or did you just see like a completely different guy I think that Bader plays into his strengths a little bit because the problem with beating Blachowicz and Adesanya encounter this too is he just lays back he's very judicious he'll fire on you if you get reckless and you really charge over him or really try to push him around yes then he can be deadly but if you just let him do what he wants to do he's very very patient it was a counter right hand remember at it was a kick that uh Corey Anderson a leg kick, and he got countered. Well, he threw a leg kick within punching range. So, you know, he just made sort of a miscalculation there.

But the thing for me is, you know, Bader probably made Corey Anderson look a little bit better. But here's the thing. We don't have to worry about Jan Blachowicz. By the way, they're 1-1. Keep that in mind because Corey Anderson has a win over him. Granted, from years ago. But he does have a win over him. They're one and one. Nemkov doesn't lay back. Nemkov brings the fight. Now that's usually to his strengths, right? He's pushing into you. He's making you work. He's overwhelming you. You know, a guy like Blachowicz

doesn't really do that, which makes Blachowicz a little bit harder to beat. And sometimes it makes Nemkov harder to beat. But against Anderson, I wonder if that might make things a little bit better for Anderson's chances. Could be, could be. Either way, he's got the go-get-it right now. Were you not blown away? Yeah, I was blown away, absolutely. I mean, to do that in a minute against Ryan Bader, who 38 or not, I mean, Ryan Bader was

just a two-division champion trying to get that So, um, tough loss for Bader for sure. But, you know, Anderson went after it and got it. And it was obviously the type of punch. And he said it in the interview afterwards that he was watching on tape that Bader slips to, to his left just a bit while throwing the jab. So he landed and set up that fight, that punch. Absolutely. Perfectly. So momentum wise, I wonder if we we're gonna end up favoring him

when it's time to fight Nemkov but you know just style wise contrasting I can't wait to find out if Corey Anderson can get Nemkov down if Nemkov can have any success in top position is this go to a striking war where maybe before I would have said you know kickboxing well-rounded abilities here Nemkov finisher I'd like his chances on the feet. But if Corey Anderson on the feet is going to use that length and be a threat to land counter shots of his own, Luke, we're going to have a different championship fight, and I can't wait for it. No doubt about it.

Also, I just have to say there's a discussion to be had about Ryan Bader here. Now, when we spoke to him on Friday, BC, what was he saying? He was saying, like, you know, I was asking him what was left for you to do because if you win this and then you win the whole tournament, you become a two-time champ champ, which is like weird to even consider. He's still the Bellator heavyweight champ, which I know, but I don't know. I think it is time based on what we've seen recently, whatever, how fluky the Nemkov win may have been given some of the circumstances that he

had laid out. Still 38 years old is not the best time time even at light heavyweight to do your best work it can be done again we're going to have that obviously the blohovich and glover to sheriff fight coming up but i do think the sun is at least beginning beginning to set on his career yeah well certainly and certainly at 205 because you're seeing look it's not like in his prime luke he couldn't be gotten to and get to his chin and finish him. I mean, he's had some destructive elite losses in the first round normally. So it's not that this is completely out of character, but at 205, when the speed gap becomes a legitimate thing in your late 30s, could he go to heavyweight, Luke, and just focus on that and stay champion for a while?

Maybe. I mean, he did seem to have a game with the emergence of his boxing that's perfect for heavyweight given that he's got a big frame to begin with and not everyone at heavyweight is close to the accomplishments that he has wrestling wise but um there's still big fights luke at 205 if he wants to stay there i mean i'd love to you know outside of outside of tournament or even title i would love to see him be fighting Musashi before he's done, rematching Rumble Johnson, fighting Romero. I'd be down for all this shit, Luke. You? Yes, I'd be down for it too, but I do think that this tournament and everything that happened against Nemkov, I'm with you. I think he can still take fights at 205 if the right one emerges

or that makes sense, or he can let's say um anderson wins the whole tournament and he gets a shot at a rematch with him which will also be a title shot with like one more win in belter which by the way i'm not saying belter title shots are easy to come by but sometimes because the divisions are smaller they're not necessarily as difficult one win could put him right back in there would i take it if i was him yes i would take that under those conditions but i would also kind of begin to prioritize the heavyweight component of the career because i do think there he's still going to have speed advantages he's going to be a size that is going to be compelling and agile but still strong at light heavyweight it looks to me like that division

is kind of moving past him even in bellator and it might be worth waking up to that fact look did you see uh on schedule coming here but did you see, unscheduled comment here, but did you see the prelim main event when your boy Zavletzan Yagshimurdov was willing to go to war with Karl Abrekson? Karl gets the decision in a close fight, but Luke, that was a former Grand Prix-er in your boy Zavletzan, and he came to fight, Luke. Did you see that shit i did not i

did not didn't he lose he lost but that was a fun-ass fight with with momentum swings and and wild kick attempts it was uh it was some good theater like you should have you should have caught that all right all right so before we move on from bellator what is your sense about the finals anderson versus nemkov how competitive is that in your mind heading into those the finals anderson versus nemkov how competitive is that in your mind heading into those the finals whatever those may be well i i just gave you a shit ton of analysis directly on that luke i can only put some more uh on top of that shit who do you just say uh well like i told you earlier i think we're all we're both going to end up favoring anderson by the time we make uh you know we get to fight week for what early early 2022, and we make our pick.

As of right now, momentum is a thing. And if you're going to pile on top of your momentum, a 51 second finish of Ryan Bader with the type of, you know, power in your counter strikes that we didn't think you necessarily even had. Yeah, bro, this is, this is legit, Luke. And that's with everything I said good about Nemkov. And that's, if you're Bellator, Luke, it's, look, here's the deal. If you're Bellator, and you have a lane once in a while to make that argument and say, look, right now, we might have the best featherweight or light heavyweight in the world. Look, I'm all for, like,

debating those arguments. That's fine. But you also, at the end of the day, when you're not number one, you want to put on competitive divisions with competitive fights for the belt. This is that at light heavyweight. And this Luke has to make this tournament a success. Even with Romero never fighting in it and Rumble not getting the matchup we wanted in it

in terms of the biggest names, the tournament played out pretty damn well. Yeah, not getting Romero hurt, putting Romero against Davis, to me, still incomprehensible. Obviously, the losing of the Anthony Johnson situation it's not anyone's fault it just sort of happened and so you kind of I mean here's the problem the right side of that bracket was like the bracket of death and you really wanted to see that all played out in the end Nemkov advanced which he probably would have been the guy to do that anyway but it would have been nice to get it but I think from the other side of the bracket you got a real dark horse contender.

You've got a guy you can now believe can win the whole thing. And really, if you're Bellator, what do you want? When this is over, you want a guy you can market. But you want to be also able to argue effectively and genuinely, we have a claim to have the best light heavyweight on earth. I still think it depends how things go between Teixeira and Blachowicz. Before you can say that, again, Blachowicz and Anderson, if Anderson wins, they're one and one in total. But I do think, BC, it is possible you could find yourself in a legitimate circumstance

where that fight is over on the UFC side, the tournament has concluded on the Bellator side, and we can say, yeah, the best light heavyweight on earth resides in Bellator. That is a possibility and not just a remote one either. I think we're going to have that discussion in today's uh dms from donks i hear luke so i don't want to put it put it all together but uh i think you're damn right luke okay the tournament worked and don't forget what was the best and most exciting tournament fight up to date rumble johnson jose augusto luke that was some some weird sloppy shit but that was that was fun while it lasted it was fun while it lasted is the perfect way to put that. All right.

This next one was not fun while it lasted. In fact, it was torture for the entirety of it. The UFC had a main event, and to call it lackluster, I think, would be quite charming. Topic number three. Aspen Ladd had a fight with Norma Dumont and just lost it. And it didn't just lose. Like, she didn't get, like, super beat up or anything. That was a terrible fight.

Terrible in its execution. Terrible in the fact that Aspen Ladd had no seemingly second gear to go to. BC, how do you assess how this fight went? And who do you principally blame for that that's a that's a deep question luke with a lot of chatter online about it so look first of all you're right she didn't get you know even though this was a debut of sorts for under the ufc at 145 and she's moving up in in theory facing a bigger opponent and even though we didn't give norma dumont a ton of credit or respect coming in, you know, and we're probably, look, we're not even really talking about her performance either right here.

It's all to say, look, it was a tough opportunity. Moving up in weight, two years off, injuries, pullouts, missed weight, all that craziness just to get here. But then she put off the kind of performance that it just shows you there's there's major rewiring that needs to be done to the computer because her circuits are all off in this type of performance luke i don't get what she was trying to do with the head it looked like night at the roxbury like stuck in a permanent looping gif it was just sort of like an awkward start with the head movement patterns and they're not throwing much and the willingness to sort of give away the first two or three rounds, like,

you know, very widely sort of, and then we're all waiting for the, the, the, the Jim West power up speech, Luke, which,

you know, only can consider it only this time because lad didn't respond right away by going out there and knocking out Yana Kunitskaya, like she did last time. It, it of course made it look like a fail, but is the failure, the fighter, the coach?

How much do we sprinkle on there and get into the juicy side and realize they are also dating Luke and have been in a relationship for a while and he's coached her since she was a very young teen? Is there a place? We question if there's a place for the father-son or father-daughter trainer relationship at Combat Sports because of how difficult and the lines cross.

Is there a place, Lukeke with significant others coaching others either way i can only look from the outside in and be like she's not responding to what he's saying and because of that it looks extra harsh and again luke the problem i think with being a coach and the significant other is eventually you're going to get fired of one of those two jobs. And that means you get fired of both. And at some point, you know, like you can't, you can't have a 24 seven relationship that is fighter coach, right? It's gotta be different. The problem is in the fight game, you really have to be 24 seven all in from nutrition to your mental thoughts to everything you do has to

be fighting related so i don't know how that that can not end badly for when you have a relationship and it's not like we haven't seen it before you know husband wife look it's been done and it can be done right just like the father-son thing but there's also a lot of grounds for combustion and i think luke even though we don't want to dip too much into the personal side, that's what I'm seeing as a factor. There's also a two-year layoff there's also a moving up in weight and the sort of, you know, mental tricks that might be playing on oneself and wondering what weight class do I

belong in and all that, but down to the foundational core of coach and fighter communication, it looked all kinds of off and I think her performance even though she did step it up a bit in rounds four or five, it was lifeless enough, Luke Luke that that's almost more concerning than had she come out there gotten to a fight and gotten finished I think it's more concerning when you have this far of a disconnect between one's ability and one's performance and the communication to get

there yeah I think the reason why you feel that way I think a lot of people feel that way is because if you get finished within two rounds it's like, you went for it and it didn't go your way. You took on potentially some risk that caused the fight ending sequence and okay, live to fight another day. But when you go five rounds and you look bad basically in all five, you just got audited. You got audited. Every part of your game that is even remotely relevant had a chance to make itself known and impactful and essentially didn't. I mean, dude, do you know how many strikes she landed in the first round? Do you know?

No, I don't, Luke. Three. Three. She landed four in the second, nine in the third. So through a regulation MMA fight, she landed 16 total strikes, single digits in every round. She had 12 in the the fourth round which is nice and then regressed back to five in the fifth these aren't like that's just total amount landed dude

her numbers before this where she was averaging almost three and a half strikes a minute a minute and she gets down to this this was a bizarre performance for me I actually think quite highly of Aspen Ladd in the past I mean she, she's had some ups and some downs, certainly on the scales and other places as well. But I tend to think highly of her ability. This was a weird, I mean, you took this fight on short notice because you wanted to do right by management. Okay, fine. And then you thought maybe this might be a good opportunity for you to win. But dude, like there was no answer for the jab. If you don't have an answer for the jab, why are you taking this fight? Well, look, when she's at her best, and this is why, like, you know,

the Jim West, like, I'm not saying that he's, like, this is the wrong. I'm not saying anything, really. I'm saying there's been times where he's been able to light that spark, and she's an absolute force out there. I remember when she walked into the cage before this fight started going, what's with that look? She just had a look that was sort of like, oh, we're here, okay. It just didn't, something seemed

off. So to see the performance mixed with that, yeah. I mean, it's one way to say an audit, but Luke, I don't think this was like, oh, everything she tried got stuffed so she just basically didn't have a plan C or D. I don't think she I think it was a failure to launch, Luke. I don't even

think she got audited. I just think that she, I mean, she looked like a broken robot out there. Just looked like the whole patterns where it's like a Chuck E. Cheese when the guy that's supposed to be playing the banjo in that puffy band is instead doing like, you know, crazy hand signs. Luke, it doesn't make

any sense. Well, I'll meet you halfway. I think that's a little bit fair to say, like, you know, part of this was you just couldn't really get going. True. But when you're faced with the same problem for roughly 25 minutes or let's say 20 minutes, right, something like that, where the jab is being stuck in your face and you don't have an answer for it, yes, I think it's a bit of a middle ground between you

know how much are you competitively in a mind space where you're able to like you know marshal all of the forces that you have to potentially win and how much of that is your inability to actually muster those things is a consequence of knowing you don't have an answer for this I mean it's a bit of a chicken and the egg scenario but I don't think you could fully remove one consideration or the other both are probably playing a bit of a factor here. But to me, you know, at this stage of her career, we're missing weight, moving up a weight class and having a performance. It's not that I don't, like I'm judging her for losing per se. It's just that the lack of another gear, another option to turn to, whether it was motivational, whether it was tactical, whether it was some combination of both, really was, I think,

a major setback. This is a bit of a bad time i think for aspen lad's career hopefully she'll have some of your days in the future but this one is not quite it which leads us bc well hold on i gotta are you transitioning out here because i got a key question for you well i want to talk about the the speech in the corner after the third round please go for it yes yeah so her coach jim west as you indicated they're romantically involved. But either way, the round is over and she's walking back and her coach just kind of matter-of-factly begins to scold her, saying things like, you know, I forget exactly what the words were,

but it was like, what are we doing here? When you're down three rounds, this fight is over unless you could basically just knock her out. But he did it in this very aggressive, in-your-face, you know, almost like a parent talking to a student who had troubles in school or was cutting class or something. PC, how do you assess the cornering advice there? Was it too much or maybe not?

Okay, here's another situation where it's like we don't want to talk about, oh, they're in a relationship and try to act, okay, that doesn't play a part in this. I think it does, Luke, because if they were in a relationship, then that's how some coaches motivate and that's how some athletes need to be motivated. Luke, I mean, I know it's not so much the generation now. I know that because I tried to coach youth basketball a couple times in the past few years. And, Luke, you can't raise your voice or do anything most nowadays or people want to cry or quit the team instantly and maybe I just come from a factory town Luke so I'm used to being yelled and sworn at to get the best out of me but for some people that freaking works when you add in the oh they're also dating and it's coming from older male to

female I just think it gets a little messy especially when it sounds that condescending and almost angry and it doesn't the flip the switch doesn't flip right she doesn't go out there and repeat what she did against kunitsukai and then go okay you know you may not love the coaching methods but they work when you have a complete breakdown in almost the fighter kind of yeah whatever then it it adds an extra level of focus in the in the uh in the you know magnifier luke it just does it does you know like so do i think that was harsh in his normal situation no but i don't think you this situation is normal at all luke so i think that's why you're seeing the very polarizing reactions to this in

really both directions you know from dc and and laura senko coming out being like look that's fine that's how coaches do to misha tate on the other end, just really making a run on Twitter and just being like, this is abuse. I tend to fall more in the middle on the abuse question, but again, this is kind of reality TV, Luke. We can't really avoid it. I am with you. I think I'm with you. I think the reality is when you look at that kind of motivational attempt,

which is what it was, right? I think everyone would agree. You could call it a bad one, but it would still be one. And it doesn't get you meaningfully closer to anything that you're looking for, then you have to recognize that either the tactical way in which you are speaking, or even at this juncture, just trying to will her into something,

it's not working. It's not working. I don't know know just trying to will her into something it's not working it's not working i don't know what the right answer is once you realize it's not working except maybe to call it off because you can get injured in a fight but surely he must reflect on this episode and say okay what worked and what didn't and probably a lot of it didn't work the part about scolding and this being like bad for the fighter i mean here's what i would say i saw a lot of fighters come out and say as you you mentioned, Misha Tate and Lando Venata was out against it. I saw some other ones, too, who were like, you know, there's a limit between angrily motivating through fire and brimstone and then depressing through scolding, the kind of thing that gets a fighter to perform.

But I would say, and push back to that, a lot of fighters disagreed, as you indicated, Laura Sanko, she has a fighting background as well, and then Daniel Cormier. Dude, these things are very much preference-based. One thing I have learned through the fight game watching is when fighters have disagreements about what best practices look like, you should listen to them, because they're all basically correct. Everyone is going to have a slightly different system, in some cases even radically different system, by which they have a relationship

with their coach, what kind of motivational tools from those people actually work for them, what kinds don't, and we don't really have a window into how those things get developed and molded in the training room. We don't know what Aspen is okay with and what she's not okay with. Jim West came out and apologized for being a little bit harsh, but kind of indicated that these are things that they had done in the past. But here's my point.

Fine, everyone is on board with it. Everyone there looked at it and said, this is a thing we normally do. Everyone else butt out. Okay, no problem. I go back to what I said before. It just didn't work, dude. It didn't work.

So my only complaint would not be that he violated the sanctity of what corners do. It would just be when it's all said and done, dude, did that shit in any way change how you guys were operating? It didn't work at all. And by the way, anytime you have a weird fighter-coach relationship of any sex or anything, Luke, when the trainer is such a commandeer of the attention and sometimes get, like, remember when Teddy Atlas was in Michael Moore's corner?

He did lead him to a heavyweight title, right? But he had to do theatrics and pull Moore out of there and sit on the stool himself and just, you know, inevitably it almost where, you know, the fighter gets jealous or starts to think the coach gets too much attention. So you already have that to begin to deal with when you're implementing a style like that. But Luke, you mentioned Jim West came out and apologized.

I do want to read his Instagram post to you and ask you a specific question. Here was the quote here. Tonight was not our night. It's been our night many, many times at the highest level, but not tonight. I blame myself though. It may not be my fault.

It's not up for debate. I take all the blame. Yes. After the first couple of rounds, I may have been a little harsh, but I know Aspen. And at that time, technical conversation was not in the cards being down three rounds. Nonetheless, I own it and I'm sorry, Aspen from the bottom of my heart, I will continue to be better each time. And then he went out to tag a bunch of media members in there to make sure everyone saw it. Luke, I have, uh, I got a pretty extreme problem with the, uh,

it's my fault, even though it may not be my fault pretty extreme problem with the, uh, it's my fault, even though it may not be my fault. I still take the blame, dude. That's not, that's not, that's not code. That's not coaching right there. Like you want to come on, you know what I mean? Like, that's like that, that's a little, it's a little too far. Luke, don't you want to come out and do nothing but supporter and put all the blame on yourself and, and sort of like protect publicly now that this has spun out to become a public thing. Don't you want to protect and snuff that out and be like, look, yeah, it was, look, we had a break. You know, it's on me.

I need to be better. We'll take care of it. Not if you don't believe it. Well, look, and that's a dick thing to say publicly, Luke. And as much as, again, we want to avoid, you know, well, they're all showing a relationship. Luke, that plays into how people are going to respond to this. It just does, dude.

It's all right. I'm trying to understand what sentence in particular is the one that drives you nuts? Saying outright it was my fault, but then instantly, you know, hedging that with, although I'm not sure it is my fault, you know, I must take the blame. I always take the blame i always take the blame like really bro like oh i see yeah a real a real leader or coach would would just take the blame there right and then fix it behind the scenes especially with this thing spiraling into like a you know yeah but here's the thing i mean i know what you're saying if you're going to do an apology do it the right way i get that i'm not so sure he's wrong i'm really not so sure he's

wrong honestly i feel like um i feel like we got a window into the particular kind of dynamic that involves two people that have it to your point i think well raised that are going to have a complex different set of interactions that have nothing to do with corner man trainer fighter that are going to bleed over into it and affect the way that it looks and we're all going to try to make judgments about it based on just one aspect of it that clearly was not working and that could get to difficult territory like dude like did he really violate some kind of trust between he and Aspen I don't know that he did did he do something he's never done before that hasn't worked before with her I don't know that he did it didn't work that day i can say that for sure but like did he really act inappropriately in the

grander scheme of their relationship i i'm not so sure that the evidence for that is very strong and so as a consequence i'm like left with was that a great apology no it's not a great apology but like is he totally immaterially wrong show me where i don't know that you can prove that well that's fair i mean there's definitely not the facts screaming in your face that we know what's going on behind closed doors and whose fault it is but uh certainly enough for us to make a segment about it and question it luke because the performance did not match the ability or the coaching coming back so last thing i'll say in this because the production staff wants us to move along last thing i'll say in this is a lot of

times it's like oh what do the fighters think oh, what do the fighters think about X? What do the fighters think about Y? And what you find is on a lot of issues, not every one of them, but on a lot of issues, BC, they're split like the fan base is. Some of them find certain things acceptable. Some of them don't. And then there's no real unanimity across the board. The only thing I think there's unanimity on

is that COVID is the flu. Other than that, they have very much widely different views on the fight game. Okay, number four, BC. I mean, I don't even know what to say about these guys anymore that we haven't already said, but we just have to go back to it because it's just unbelievable. Andrei Orlovsky and Jim Miller are doing what is supposed to be basically the impossible. I mean, these guys are, I say this with love, these guys are relics from a former era, really. I mean these guys are I say this I say this with love these guys are relics from a former era really I mean they had their heyday a long time ago do I recall watching Andre Orlovsky fight Pedro Hizzo you know I mean what I mean this is a I can't believe they're still around

but they are still around and they're deep into the 20s in terms of the number of wins that they have on the record I think a guy like Jim Miller's maybe one or two wins away from setting the all-time most wins in UFC historyc history record bc what can we say about andre arlovsky and jim miller who got a knockout stoppage in his win uh arlovsky winning via decision that we haven't already been said these guys are unbelievable ironmen i do wonder like it's hard for us to really know like what really deserves more uh acclaim and praise and focus than something else. So if somebody has a short peak, Luke, and they're absolutely world class for four fights and maybe they win a title and then it sort of falls off, whether it's injury or age or whatever. And then, you know, they sort of get out of the sport early.

We look at those people and say, okay, they were once great, but what about these people, Luke, that have had periods where they were absolutely great, periods where they were on the down low being fed to others, and then somehow pulled that back up and just had periods. I mean, to do this in your late 30s consistently and be a credible gatekeeper, and I say that not using gatekeeper in the sort of way we use them, which is almost disrespectful,

but really playing that role and only not losing enough to where people are them, which is almost disrespectful, but really playing that role and only not losing enough to where people are going, okay, you've kind of outlived that role. It's time to go. To be able to be where Diego Sanchez was a few fights ago and then sort of fell off, but where these two are now, and then to be Jim Miller on top of that, Luke,

to go in there and just absolutely hammer the guy across from him, the Ghost Pepper Gonzalez himself. Was that the guy, Luke? Yeah. Or was that the guy Nate Landwehr fought? Either way. Landwehr fought Klein.

That's right. So, you know, he went in there against the damn Ghost Pepper and was sort of the Jim Miller we don't always see. We see Jim Miller grind out fights and take it to, you know, and out-wrestle you and maybe get a submission or just, you know, out will you, he went out there Luke and found an opening with that lead left hand and just milked it. I mean, he just took this guy apart with it.

So then to see him do that in, I mean, you know, he just set once again, the UFC record for most appearances, as you mentioned, he's about what, one win away from tying or two wins away from tying Cowboys record for most wins. Him and Damian Meyer are tied right there. You know, as long as him and Cowboy keep staying active, they're probably going to keep flip-flopping these a few times. I'd almost rather see them both in a retirement match, Luke, where, uh, both have to go home and whoever wins, if they're tied in the wins record against each other wins the wins record, okay, for as long as that will last.

You know, either way, Luke, yeah, I'm going to sit here and tip the cap to a great warrior in Jim Miller. Do you believe there's any chance, Luke, that his goal of fighting on UFC 300 after doing the same on UFC 100 and 200, joining Brock Lesnar as the only fighters to do that, do you think he can get there? They're estimating on the broadcast that it would take another four or five years at this pace and what he's already 38 no he can't do that i mean he might they might try when we get to that point but in general no he can't do

that okay i'll say this dude we'll start with our lovsky i mean he has figured out a hack and we knew this we called it on friday we're like dude this is this is what Arlovsky does now. You know, he can't go back to being what he was. Arlovsky used to be a heavyweight gung slinger. I mentioned the Pedro Hizzo fight. You can go back to a lot of fights where he was doing that. And some of those he won and some of those he didn't, but he did it a lot. That's not what he does now. What he does now is he is careful. He manages risk. He manages the rounds and he finds a way to get these heavyweights who all want to ascend the ladder but who just don't have another gear to go to he he borrows a lot from Blachowicz dude slowing the fight down what here's what he makes them do he doesn't allow

these new heavyweights when I say new I mean relative to him these generationally different heavyweights really he doesn't allow them to use all the tricks they've been using to that point. By slowing the fight down and not engaging with a firefight, now what they have to do is they have to use skills and tactics to control Orlovsky, find the right range, land the right punch, exit, or take him down or whatever. And as we know, he's got pretty stout takedown defense. In other words, he's making them, he's like, if you're going to beat me and some of these guys

are going to beat them, right? But if you're not, what you're going to find is that I'm going to make you rely on skills that you just kind of got away with not having against other heavyweights by virtue of aggression or a big punch or something else. I'm going to make you try and play the smart game with me. And if you can, great. If not, I'm just going to keep feasting. And sure enough, he just keeps feasting. It's a bit of a commentary on the state of the heavyweight division, but it's even more commentary that this guy has figured out a crafty.

And frankly, BC, here's the thing you can say. Win or lose in these fights, and he's mostly winning four and one in his last five. It's incomprehensible. He's not taking a ton of damage. He's not beat up he's not getting super bloodied he can do this for a while as you mentioned in his prime he was such a destroyer and then became in his set you know in his late prime a knockout or nothing guy he's either going to finish you or an elite guy will finish him i never would have pegged him to be somebody who can transition to making this a technical fight and as you said slowing down the speed of it to give him that advantage. I mean, it kind of

works better in heavyweight, obviously, because some guys can make it pretty far up the top 10 without really having those skills because it can be so much a knockout or nothing or, you know, weaponizing your cardio or whatever. Like there are ways to win heavyweight fights you can't win in other divisions, but either way, I mean just to avoid look i know four or five and those have come in against you know guys that we found out it because of good gatekeeping matchmaking that that they weren't meant to be and it's look it's like when gatekeeping is done right some of those fights are the best fights because it's the old name pulling in that bag of tricks you know staying around and exposing the young one or the young one,

you know, handing it to him. I love that shit. And credit to both these guys, most importantly, to be in your late 30s and have fought so many big names and to not catch one of those losing streaks that leads to a losing your job. And I know Orlovsky had to go

to the World Series of Fighting, but he worked his way back. I mean, that's probably the most important thing, Luke. Avoiding that ending blow. That slide. No promotion, unless you're BKFC, can promote you at that point. To be able to keep that shit going is ridiculous. It's very hard to do.

He's making it look way easier than it is, and I'm blown away by how impressive this run has been for him. Again, it doesn't really change exactly how far you think he can go, but it definitely makes you rethink how far he can make this whole process work, and that seems to be, for now, no end in sight. On the case of Jim Miller, none of us think he's going to be able to recapture top status in the division or anything, but dude, it is amazing to me.

He has been at it as long as he has. Again, he's from a different era as well, although Arlovsky's even predates Jim Miller's in certain ways. But to be out here doing this, and you're still beating young competition, and now you're stopping them with strikes, it just tells you that this guy has to be a martial artist in the way in which he lives his life. There's no way to not make this just who you are every day when you wake up, applying the skills, learning new trades, in the gym training, in the gym working, in the gym coaching. You can't have a life that's kind of in and out of the gym and then do what Jim Miller does at this stage in his career.

You only get to do this if you've lived the life inside of it and you've got so many tricks and so many tools to use that even these young bucks coming up they just can't quite hang with you it is so impressive what he has done well look it's a testament to his work ethic because i think the reason why you don't see guys that have had big highs and although jim miller's been you know he's had a season where he was elite certainly and on the verge of of real title contention you know he didn't have the highs that Arlovsky had. But I think when you have big highs and then they fall apart,

not everyone has the work ethic to give everything you have when your ceiling may never be a title shot. And so Jim Miller may wake up every day and every week fighting to get into that title contention and still fighting to do it. I don't know if that's his goal or not not but you have to fight with that goal to stay relevant for this long because how many times i think it just comes down to pride if someone's like

i can't be as good as i used to be when shit came easy to me i don't know if i have that same work ethic to adapt and learn and just be in amazing shape and be ready when the phone rings as jim miller always is i'm just hoping this jim victory tour, you know, final lap really gives him a chance to make some money and to really get applauded because, um, you know, he may not have had the personality even to have a cowboy like run where he was like the darling of fight fans, the real fight fans know and love this guy. So I hope he can make a little bit of money on the way out, do some Mickey Ward type matchmaking, meaning, you know, that-Ward fight, the first one, Luke, came at a point where both were kind of down on their luck.

I mean, you know, Gotti still had maybe one more run running for a title, but they were both on sort of like, okay, we don't have anything else to do, let's match up against each other. Hopefully there's one of those, or two of those, for Jim Miller. That perfect old guy fight where he could put on a you know put on a fun clinic and we can applaud him would be amazing all right last but not least BC it was a busy weekend in combat sports point number five here if we can do it simple question who stood out to you in this combat sports weekend for reasons good or badke i gotta go good here on a guy who's inevitably going to become a favorite of this show if he keeps this up nate the train land where uh luke this guy is hick

tastic unabashedly but he's also even though he's been alternating wins and losses of late kind of figuring out how to fight down there at mma masters of miami he went in there against ludwig klein who uh came in shredded and knew what he was doing as a boxer. And Luke, to see Landwehr, you know, not have to necessarily dig into the blood and guts Darren Elkins style, although him and Elkins combined to make a very fun blood and guts fight, to kind of start to realize that he's in such great shape and he's evolving maybe faster than we can tell on the outside looking in. To see Landwehr go out there and put on that type of performance submission-wise when he's in such great shape and he's evolving maybe faster than we can tell on the outside looking in to see Landward go out there and put on that type of performance submission

wise when he's known as really just being a brawler and as a pretty heavy underdog getting a late submission win with the kind of uh you know choke anaconda choke that he had locked in earlier and almost had it but just stayed after it Luke um he didn't necessarily have to go berserker to get there and you know every time he talks't necessarily have to go berserker to get there and you know every time he talks in the post-fight interview i'm going to probably play it on have you seen this shit but uh this guy's wild and uh this was a a step forward in a lot of ways no denying it he looked at his opponent was jacked by the way that dude klein he was he was huge although i thought dean thomas had the best advice during that fight, which is, dude, Nate Landwehr, he's not quite as technical,

at least from standing at range as Klein, but he can just get in your face and just make it ugly and grimy. That's exactly what he did, and he got the win. Pretty goddamn impressive, I'll say. For me, it's not for reasons good or bad in terms of who I'm highlighting. I could not believe this. In fact, BC, tell the truth. When I saw the result, I texted you being like, how is this possible?

It is possible. Mikey Garcia, a four-weight champion, goes in there in a mandatory. If I get the details wrong, BC, please correct me. Look, not a mandatory. Let's be honest. He was supposed to fight Rougarou. Dizon didn't want to put up the money for it. Oh, that's right. honest he was supposed to fight Rougarou uh Dizon didn't want to put up the money for it so Mikey

at the last minute got paid a million and a half to take on what we thought was no hoper what was the guy's name Martin Sandor Martin from Spain yeah Sandor Martin who had you know his best fight had been a loss to Anthony Yigit the same guy that Rolly Romero just sent to hell so this was not I mean look it was like minus 2,500 favorite Garcia. And he made Sandor come up in weight. They did that at a catch weight of 145. Everything was tilted toward this guy getting sent to hell. And Sandor Martin, dude, not, they had one judge had her to draw.

Dude, it was not close. When this fight was over, it was only a 10 rounder, not a 12. Sandor Martin clearly had done the better work. His combinations along the ropes to give a guy like Garcia problems was incredible. His intercepting punches was great. He had more spunk. He was good about rolling with the combinations along the fence line, but the rope line that Garcia was throwing.

Garcia seemed I won't say in water BC that's not quite true he didn't look languid but dude even into the eighth ninth tenth round when you're like uh Garcia is losing on my scorecard he didn't show any urgency I don't know if he phoned it in BC I don't have quite enough experience covering Garcia's career but he 10th round he's clearly clearly losing at this point and he's not really trying any harder meanwhile Sandor Martin just looked to have the day of his life and he wins not controversial even a little bit I was shocked I mean this look you know you're shocked when we didn't even preview or mention this fight last week why because the the opinion

in boxing was, what a waste of a disowned main event, what a waste of a million and a half paycheck, and Sandro Martin, by the way, only got $150,000. So it almost didn't... When you lose a fight that people were saying shouldn't have been televised, and it's not that Sandro Martin is incompetent, as you saw, as a softball, I mean, he fought great, fought the fight of his life,

but we didn't expect Mikeyy to be as lifeless and the problem luke was that mikey garcia had little pockets of success here where he was getting his power shots off so he was believing that his pressure was winning and that he was ahead on the card so that explains from his standpoint what looked like a lack of passion and to not really understand the circumstances there was telling and so it's also really just voiced a bigger discussion. Mikey, I mean, look, he had almost two years off. He's had big time off in his career ever since he got out of his top-ranked deal and he's been willing to call his own shots.

Luke, he's also just not the same fighter. I don't want to say that he wasn't the first half of his career because when he came back in that second half after sitting out for almost three years, you know, he was blowing dudes away and winning, you know, lightweight he moved to 140 and beat lippin yet in a in a war and you know then eventually moved up and fought spence it's not that he hasn't been the same when he's been great but i i don't think he's active enough and i don't think welterweight is the division for him luke i mean he got handled by spence with ease in a fight where you were you know you thought guys were some guys were kind of getting hipster takes of, you know what, he's such a great boxer.

You never know. He might be able to pull this off. And yeah, he rebounded and beat Jesse Vargas and he looked good, but he's so much better at 135. Even at 140, his power doesn't really carry like it does at 135. He's just a destroyer. When he touches you, you go down. I don't know if it's a, if there's a commitment problem with making the weight, Luke. I just feel like he should really re-examine where he's at, because welterweight ain't it. And this was lifeless enough where it was just sort of like,

where's that hunger? Where's that passion? I just didn't feel it. I think, dude, I think he was losing. I think he came into this fight being like, there's a certain amount I'm willing to give to win. I'll kind of push it a little bit relative to that limit. But if it requires anything other than that I'm just not really going to try I think he feels like he can rebound from this with some other fight which to an extent he probably could he's still got some name and some people still care about watching him compete there were

only 8,000 people in attendance for this fight anyway which I guess is even a pretty good number considering what they were trying to sell to the public yeah that was a success dude they packed that baseball stadium that was a good crowd Dude, they packed that baseball stadium. That was a good crowd in Fresno. It was decent. It was decent. But the point being is, you can't convince me that he was trying to win that fight by the 10th round. I think he was trying to just hold on long enough where he could kind of smile his way through the result

and then get another fight down the road. Because on that day, he knew he was beat, and I don't think he cared that much. But we'll have to see how things go. That was shocking. Yeah, as bad as this loss is, obviously it doesn't kill him and ruin his chances. But, you know, there was talk coming into this fight that he would move down to 40 and take on Josh Taylor for all four belts.

He also had some public interest in fighting Gervonta, Luke. So I wonder if this loss, you know, it's going to hurt him financially, but I don't know if it's going to take him out of those conversations completely. No, I don't think it does. I don't think, in fact, in some ways it could make him more of an attractive opponent depending on what we're talking about here. But in terms of Mikey Garcia, the four-weight world champion, where could he go to ply his trade?

That question to me is a lot less intriguing. It's a lot less intriguing. It's a lot less intriguing. I'll put it that way. All right. With that out of the way, BC, it's time for us to take questions from the audience. It's time for DMs from dogs. Hee haw.

Hee haw. My daughter came home and did not make a bunch of noise, which is amazing, because she woke up at four this morning and wouldn't let me go back to bed. And so I thought for sure she would come back to the house after going to the park like a maniac who needs a hit of meth. But no, BC, she doesn't.

It reminds me of your pre-license days when she was a young baby and you would get zero sleep and come in hot off the train in New Yorkork angry as hell luke no selling jokes not because you understand the pure art of comedy but because you hate anyone who steps in front of you those were the days on early mk i was tired bro i was existentially tired those days now i just no sell your jokes because they're bad all right um i'm teasing i'm teasing all right from at underscore zaterain is that is that a rain after nemkov's performance bc does your perception of his chances against jan change at all uh well look if you're going to focus on him getting caught

by a punch and getting dropped then you than against somebody as patient and powerful as Jan. Yeah, I believe, while I don't want to focus on that one hiccup there, that certainly illuminates what potential chances he can have against a finisher like that. So could he be favored against Jan? I would say no. But Luke, I don't think, and you sort of alluded to this, that Nemkov is

out of the conversation that he has a chance, if should he win this World Grand Prix prix to sort of exit that hold up the million dollars the title belt in the tournament championship claim and say i'm the best light heavyweight in the world i don't think that i think that's still possible if he goes out there and finishes cory anderson dominates him i think we're still in that debate but as it's as you look right now i think he could beat plowovich i don't think he could be favored against him, though.

Yeah, favored, I don't know. I mean, here's the funny part about it, though. Corey Anderson also has a win over Glover Teixeira. So he's got wins over Blachowicz and Teixeira. Again, granted, the fuller picture is since that first win over Blachowicz, Blachowicz got a win in the rematch. But okay, he does technically have wins over both the two guys who are fighting for the UFC light heavyweight title. If he goes in there and loses to Nemkov and then Teixeira wins, right?

Can you claim he's the best light heavyweight on earth? I think at that point you could. You can. You could reasonably. But if some of the other circumstances don't line up, it's not a question of how he does against Jan. I don't know how he's going to do against Jan because they're not in the same organization. But could he still reach a similar status by virtue of some other circumstances? Yes, he could. I think

Jan's more as cerebral as Nemkov is, and that's a big part of his poise and why he's never out of position. Nemkov's pretty solid. Blachowicz showed against Adesanya particularly, Luke. His IQ's pretty high.

It is. Pretty damn high. Yep, yep. He showed against Reyes, too. Yep, totally, totally, totally. And against Luke Rockhold as well, you know. All right, from atloidh123, has Ryan Master Bader had a massive decline since steamrolling the heavyweight Grand Prix,

or how do you explain his last four fights where he's won two and one BC? We kind of hinted at this before, but is there a way to encapsulate that argument? It's hard because like I mentioned, you go back over the prime of Bader's, you know, especially as UFC run, which by the way,

his win loss record in his last, you know, 10 or whatever. And UFC was very impressive, but he would lose big when he steps up and makes an early mistake. So it's not absurd to see him go out there and lose to somebody, the class of Nemkov or Corey Anderson. And even in this regard, as shocking as it was to see Anderson land one punch and kind of finish him, it's a bit of same as it ever was Luke,

even if we both agree that, you know, he's probably lost that step enough where he was as an elite light heavyweight just, you know, two years ago. Okay. He's not that anymore at two Oh five, but I, I refuse to believe until I see some,

some legit heavyweight fall back to that. He's significantly washed from those days, Luke. Yeah. To me, it's like, you could make an argument that there's not much of a departure, right? So he lost, even when he was a UFC, he lost to Glover, Luke. Yeah, to me, it's like you could make an argument that there's not much of a departure, right? So he lost, even when he was a UFC, he lost to Glover, Liotto, Tito,

Jon Jones, and Anthony Johnson. Since then, he's lost to Nemkov, who I think is absolutely at a bare minimum on par with those names. Not Jon Jones, but Anthony Johnson. Is Nemkov as good as Anthony Johnson was in that fight? Different skills, but yes, I do think he's as good. He beat Leota, fine. And then he lost to Corey. Okay, the Corey one was surprising for certain things, but Corey is a lot better. In some ways, I don't see that as necessarily out of step.

It's the losses kind of close together. His only other pair of losses close together like that was Tito and Jon Jones, and the Tito one was kind of accidental, but he was coming off of the Jones fight. Dude, the Tito loss is bad. It's a really bad loss. I mean, it was bad then. It's probably worse now, Luke.

When you think of great fighters who have inexplicable losses and which one is the worst, this one is in conversation, given the circumstances for the worst. So what I'll say is, BC, in certain ways, the situation I think you rightly articulated is not that different. On the other hand, that they're happening in close proximity, that he is getting to 38, you just wonder what could be done to get past that level,

to get rid of that. At this point, the die is kind of cast, and you just kind of have to live with it. But as you indicated, I think he's smartly playing this to where if things don't work out like heavyweight, could he go to heavyweight and win for a while? Dude, do we really think that Bader has no chance against

Valentin Moldovsky? I don't think that. I think he can very much win that fight. So, you know, maybe he's not what he once was, but the idea that he's just trash to throw away seems a little premature. It seems misguided luke misguided wrong how about from at buzz the blogger what is more unnecessary bc pushing the drug rug merch

or luke giving 17 spoiler alert warnings before an instant analysis episode now in my defense bc the reason why i do this is because if i don't believe it or not which you just can't believe it's like who would even care about this video other than people who want spoilers or whatever? No, dude, they get fucking bitter. If you don't put a preamble at the beginning.

Here's a, here's just a reminder. The world revolves around. None of you spoiler alerters. Look, do I want you to spoil the new star Wars film ahead of time? No, keep that shit away from me.

Do I want you to even spoil reading the Dave Meltzer rag? Which big superstar is going to come back in a month? I hate that shit too, okay? But if a sporting event or the premiere of a television show happens and you don't watch it live, that's on you.

And if you're going to make that choice not to for whatever reason and you're not protecting yourself by staying off Twitter or watching a fricking instant analysis clip, good Lord, Luke, never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever again, say spoiler alert during an instant analysis clip ever. Luke, if that caused a mass unsubscription, I'll, I'll stand firm in that Luke. Fuck them. Like in that, Luke. Fuck them.

Like, no. No. Stay off Twitter. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm 1,000% with you. These people who it's like, oh, the Walking Dead season's been out for six months. Spoiler, bro.

Hey, how about this? Here's a spoiler warning. Your life is going to be disappointing to you because you're stupid. And you'll never do anything right. There's a spoiler alert. I didn't go that far, Luke. I mean, I just went, fuck them. You know, you're like, yeah, okay.

Here's a spoiler alert. You know how you are deeply unsatisfied with the condition of your life? It's never going to change. Spoiler alert because you're a fucking loser. That's why. There's your spoiler alert. But if I don't do it, dude, they get so bitter. I can't believe the fucking news like that. or that's why there's your spoiler alert but if i don't do it dude they get so bitter they get i

get can't believe i mean who is going to seek out on youtube and analysis video and then be like i want you to provide this analysis in a dramatic way which never actually tells me who won until the very end what is this like what is this like old time radio and what are we doing here luke you know i mean i'm with you bro i'm with you with you. But what about the idea about you unnecessarily pushing drug rug merch? Are you pushing drug culture on our impression? Here's the deal. How about this? I guarantee you the drug rug will sell out on the first day.

I guarantee you. Okay? I think you're right. And whoever sent that in, as Luke would say, then we'll find out what time it is. That's right. what time it is. All right, from Lundy House, Lund House. I cannot believe they put this in here. All right, how many times each day do you guys check

the Fighter and the Kid subreddit? I'm surprised this made it to air, but here we are, BC. As the chairman of the board of... What do you think, BC? They're very passionate fight fans, Luke. You know, I've... You know, I've... This is like, BC, can I see your

search history, please? Okay, what... I mean, are you just looking at nude broads or are they in action? You know, like, what are we doing here? I've definitely been there before. Well, I've definitely been there during this recent war, Luke. I mean, we have many reasons not to talk about this, but what the hell's going on right now, Luke, in this rivalry that's gone public?

Here's what I'm trying to do to the best of my ability. I am trying to just la-la-la-la-la-la my way way out of this i don't know if that will work but i am certainly trying i'm letting uh i'm playing i'm gonna be switzerland here y'all wanna y'all wanna you know the allies and the and the communist army y'all want to beef over this uh or actually allies with the communist army and then the germans on one side with everybody else the y'all can do this. I don't. I don't. I'm going to just. But yes, if you've never been there.

I was going to be like, who the hell is John Africa? They don't like Brendan. No, I thought they did. That's why I got into that channel at first. I'm like, oh, this is cool. They got this whole Reddit board that supports the show and goes. How long before our subreddit turns into the same kind

of thing? Look, my goal every day is to not turn my back on the people, Luke, because we are... When you and I do this show, we're really just crowd surfing on their hands. You feel that itch right there, Luke, in your crack?

That's our fans just holding us up and, and probably molest and maybe getting a little, a little, you know, a little treat on the way by a little, a little, a little creeper shot. Yeah.

Yeah. Anyway, moving on. There you go. At Jonah Griff underscore. If the Eagle globe and anchor make up the Marine Corps insignia, what are three images and symbols that would best represent MK on new MK insignia? BC, it has to be a gummy edible. I was going to say a hot dog, but yeah.

I mean, we do have two symbols in our logo, Luke. We have the rising sun, which is sort of the light that I try to bring to this show and then the fist luke which is that detailed fight analysis that all those p1 hardcores with no sense of humor not only consume on this show but then write in the comments man this show would be a lot better if bc wasn't on it you know well a third one that you could add um i guess a donk e no i don't want to do the donk shit dude it's so played out it is very played out it is very played out i don't know if there'd be a third one something phallic luke i don't maybe uh maybe a rake luke yeah the back scratcher yeah your beard are you growing the beard out yeah i'm growing it back so my wife doesn't leave me she she hate luke they you know like you've

well you've never done it because you know when was the last time you shaved your beard it's really like a debt before you met 2009 okay so you you're what so wait your wife has never seen you in person without a beard she has seen me i had i uh i did not have a beard when i first met her i think that's an interesting factoid on the on the history right there wow i was gonna say if you had shaved it off and just walked in the door tomorrow your wife would be like oh my god my wife gets like that even if i don't have the five o'clock shadow look i don't know that you know they women like what they like luke all right they like what they like uh okay bc that's it that explains yeah yes that is it for um maybe a pepto bismol container i don't know something like that probably a marijuana leaf

i think just behind the sun and the fist something like that bc is that a fair assessment i think all the smoke has that all the smoke has that on that IP on lockdown, I think, Luke. Yeah, it's working for them, so let's just steal from them. Alright. With that out of the way, BC, it's time for when we watch Elderly Abuse. Take it away. Yeah, this is what I do every Sunday.

I scour the globe, the internet, for the good and bad, the highs and lows, and the in-between, maybe even the ugly, of combat sports and beyond for this week, it is... Have you seen this shit? Well, have you? Oh, God. UFC Fight Night in Vegas.

Luke, Jim Miller, we talked about earlier, walked away a walk-off winner in his 38th trip to the Octagon. Let's see this finishing shot. Good God. Act like you've been there before. winner in his 38th trip to the octagon let's see this finishing shot good god act like you've been there before that's because he's been there before luke okay i mean look at that you like his new uh his new tattoo on titty do you like that luke i didn't see it all right all right it's on his uh left pec i'm not sure what it is but uh it's probably pretty cool i missed jim miller you know it's probably pretty cool all I mean, it's Jim Miller. It's probably pretty cool. Alright, Luke, let's go mention Nate Landwehr can take over an interview at any time with his

Hick from French Lick persona that I love, Luke. Let's hear the train talking to Michael Bisping after the fight. I still got power in these hands. That was a one time enough. I just wanted to show y'all I could do that there. Luke, he has the voice of a 75-year-old African-American blues guitar master in some club. That's a distinct voice that i've heard before there luke yeah he was definitely uh well i don't think he's doing a bit though right i mean i think that's how he normally sounds right yeah i mean he's got great one-liners and inspirational

quotes too luke let's see his his quote uh that that was making the rounds on Twitter there from MacLife. I mean, that's well said, Luke. That's very well said, all right? Look, I'm on the train. I'm not clowning this guy. I'm on the train. He's becoming my guy, Luke, okay? It is what it is, all right?

He's infectious, really. Luke, the UFC went to Mongolia to find badumweight Dana Bagherl. And, Luke, did you see this beatdown he put on Brandon Davis in the first round? That was good shit. This was ugly. This was one-sided. Oh, good Lord. Stop the fight. Not letting him have an inch.

Yeah, that punch that he first dropped him with was fantastic. And look at this. Yeah, there's the celebration. Yeah, wow. Yeah. Woo-ha yeah i think he's correct me if i'm wrong is he mongolian i think that's right look you're really doing that are you doing a bit is this a bit luke this is about the fifth time today i've said something and then within like 10 seconds you're like now correct me if i'm wrong but i'm gonna tell you whatever brian just said and act like it didn't happen and i do and i do hear you i swear to god

dude i'm beyond i'm i don't i didn't plan it for it to be this way usually on monday show i try to come in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed but my wife is away on work and i'm just i'm running ragged so i apologize you i am listening to you i don't have any distractions up i'm just i'm my brain is it's struggling since when did this turn to couples therapy luke all right let's keep it going i mentioned misha tate who had uh who had some words for Aspen Ladd when she missed weight more than a couple weeks ago. Came back hard at Jim West. This is abuse. What a douche.

Let's keep these tweets rolling. At Jim West, Gold15, you would never speak to one of his male fighters that way. Hate to see it. Do you think that's true? Do you think that's true? He wouldn't speak to his male fighters that way? to see it than there before you think that's true he wouldn't speak to his male fighters that way no i don't i don't that's where i'm you know yeah i didn't i didn't fully agree with that that take without really knowing either way but uh she would close with she would have done that without him it's who she is he will take credit

for her win but never for her loss trust me she can only take so much of this abuse before it breaks her spirit luke i'm not on the ins. It appears Misha has some level of knowledge of the inside. I don't know. I'm not saying that this is abuse. All I'm saying is I didn't see him fully take credit for the loss in the quote either, Luke. Okay? I didn't like that. Fair point.

That's a fair point. Yeah, she was bitter about it, dude. She was real bitter about it. Yeah. All right, let's go to Phoenix. Bellator 268. Luke, are you aware of NyQuil Nick Brown? Check out this first-round knee bar he put on Bobby Lee.

You see this shit? That's Nick Brown with the bald head in the front, Luke. Rolls underneath, comes to the bottom leg. And then perfectly, let's see. Oh, and then just inside heel hooked it from oh that guy's in pain that's a weird knee bar it's like an inside heel hook knee bar that's weird someone to watch luke he looks like he's up your alley all right i love his haircut or lack thereof it's very fox catcher yeah it's fantastic all right luke let's keep it. Bantamweight Jalen Bates nearly takes out his corner during celebration of his first round submission of Raphael Montini.

Luke, I feel like we see this a lot. Yeah, but this kid's good. Bellator has something special with this guy. I don't know how far he'll make it, BC, but this is a name for folks to remember. He is up and coming. He's very young, and he is beating the shit out of everyone Bellator can find to remember he is up and coming he's very young and he is beating the shit out of everyone bellator can find to give him some you know up and coming experience he

looks like the real the real deal all right that guy almost took a ko1 uh good head movement edmund edmund should be looking out for that cut man good head movement all right luke let's go to benson henderson's wife maria opened the night night in her amateur MMA debut with this first round submission. Not bad, Luke. I think it was 59 seconds. Yeah, she ran through this other girl like it was nothing. The other girl was 0-2, probably not a great fighter. But, you know, folks are like, oh, what about these squash matches? Dude, that's exactly how promotion works at the regional level.

You see this 1-0 versus 0-2 all the time. And yeah, she just took it down, got the back, put the choke on. There's no real hand fighting, and then she gets the tap. I don't know. Was this a pro bout? Wikipedia said it was an amateur bout. It didn't actually appear on the broadcast, right? It was like a prelim prelim? I don't know. It looks

like an amateur bout, but I don't know. Alright. Let's keep it rolling. AMC Fight Night, somewhere in Eastern Europe. Check out Sharapudin Magomedov with this elbow KO off the wall. Luke, watch this closely. Oh, and they stepped on him on the way by. He did the Iverson over, what's his face? Tyronn Lue.

Tyronn Lue. Look at this, Luke. Oh, God. Wow. Dude, and he walked into it. He took every inch of it. And let's just see. He steps on him.

Shout out to Rebecca Hitman. I'm going to put out the cigarette on my feet. For putting this on the timeline. Good Lord, that's good shit. All right, Luke. DAZN Boxing from Fresno. We mentioned that Mikey Garcia card. Let's listen to the trash talk between Devin Haney and Teofimo.

Devin, what was that conversation like? We don't fight for free here. Devin, what was that conversation like? He's not going to do a motherfucking thing, so we ain't got to worry about nobody fighting. But anyways, continue. What was that conversation like for you moments ago? How does it feel that the only way you're relevant is through me?

Relevant through you? What are you talking about? Yeah, that's the only way. I relevant is through me relevant through you Money I make more than No, you don't. Okay. Eddie, do we want to ask Eddie? Do we want to ask Eddie? You're talking about followers. All right, then. All right, then. This is the problem with society today.

You see what I'm saying? You see, that's the problem with society today. Exactly. It's all about followers. Wow. It's not about followers. That's why you guys fake it until you make it. Make what?

What are you talking about? You always fake it until you make it. All right, you can cut it. Luke, I've got more followers than you. Yeah, the I've got more followers line than you sounds very Luke Thomas-like. And also the 24-year-old tail female going, this is what's wrong with society today was great. But, Luke, does this lead to a fight? I mean, they really should be fighting each other.

They're two studs at 135, but you know politics, Luke. Yeah luke yeah i mean okay so help me correct me if i'm wrong it is haney were haney and lopez ever supposed to meet on any circumstance by one or the other having a mandatory that was them yeah so haney is the wbc champion he was the interim and then they bumped him up when they made Teofimo the stupid franchise champion, which is just such bullshit. So we have two WBC champions. They were never officially paired up like, you must make this fight

or they'll lose their belts, but everybody's like, hey WBC, pair them up and make them must make this fight. So we can see it because promotion and rival network-wise, we're not going to see it right now until both become like legitimate pay-per-view brands because that's how the shit works Luke but

can we show also the video they ended up getting loose after the interview Luke and did a little nose to nose Teofimo Sr. Jr. getting involved they call him Jr. by the way Teo's dad Teo Sr. I don't understand that at all but anytime Teofimo Sr. is involved Luke hands could at all. Anytime Teofimo Sr. is involved, Luke, hands could get thrown.

And there's Eddie Hearn just letting this whole shit simmer. Yeah. Hey, Luke, speaking of father and son Lopez, though, they know how to get down in training camp. You see this video that's floating around? This is you and me after recording a show in studio yeah that's you and me the day you got that medical license luke yeah i mean show me the lie i i don't see it all right back to fresno for that disowned card look

who uh showed up in attendance luke wow look at those moves look at those tail moves that look at that look at that luke he's almost crip walking what damn oh okay okay that dude's athletic bro holy shit i didn't even know that was at the end of that video. All right, next one, Luke. Hey, Nate Diaz taking the fights in in Fresno. Luke, your thoughts? Hey, does Nate Diaz like the color black? I can't tell.

Him and my dad have the exact same wardrobe, Luke. You're not far from being a black jeans and black t-shirt guy. No, no, I am on the same trajectory, but it's funny. All right. Luke, also, when that Mikey Garcia loss happened, this was Rougarou's response. I see. So they believe that if he had won that,

that Progray would have been in line? Yeah. That they would have put Mikey Garcia against Rougarou. Because DAZN could not fit it in, I guess, budget and date-wise wise they couldn't put up the money for it to make Rougarou the opponent and now he lost it it seems Luke so uh yeah all right Luke uh top rank boxing it was in San Diego on Friday uh we may have to be aware of this 18 year old Floyd Mayweather protege Luke his name is Floyd Diaz but he goes by the nickname Cashflow. Floyd found him in Vegas.

He seems to be a rising prospect. What do you think about this Michael Myers-esque Halloween mask and knife to come to the ring with, Luke? Yeah, what's weird is that he's doing it when there's no one in the audience. Look, the stands are, like, completely empty. I don't know where this was, but there wasn't anyone there. Look, there's one donk right here to his right. Watch this. There he is.

Where's everybody else? All right. It would be a little bit better if there was, like, an audience, but there's not. But that's a good name, Floyd Cashflow Diaz. Luke, he would go on to drop Jose Ramirez and take a four round unanimous decision to improve to 4-0

oh god seems a little bit brawly that's some sloppy shit Luke wow cash flow Floyd cash flow there I mean he did get the win Luke so we'll see what happens on his development also deep on this top rank card you want freaks Luke 6'9

heavyweight antonio el gigante morelis made his pro debut look at that tall drink of water el gigante wasn't that a professional wrestler from our high school days yes yes it was he was one of the worst in terms of being able to walk or move in the history of the uh of the genre luke do you remember he wore that giant man suit that had the body parts on it? Yeah, okay. Luke, I couldn't find video of it,

but this fellow Morellus would go on to score a TKO-1 over this guy with the big moobs, Luke. Yeah, old titties there is. Not having a good day. All right, let's go over to the mma side luke this apparently is how jsp jumps into bed every night this is me getting into bed when i've had edibles yeah luke i know i said it last week dude retired gsp is pretty weird he's pretty weird luke yeah he's like the dungeons and dragons guy who's also athletic yeah yeah i'm with you on that i'm with you know you're like i can't deny your obvious athleticism but you seem a little bit like a nerd uh luke ryan garcia hurt his hand

which pulled him out of that jojo diaz fight but the the week before, him and Shaq, can we blow this up? Luke, does this count as tips to tips? What do we got going on here? Yeah, but it's like Lex the Impaler tips and then ordinary man tips. I've seen that film before. It's called Rocco Loves Jenna, Luke. Yeah, alright. Yeah, okay.

Let's keep it going. Hey, Luke, AEW Wrestling, check out Jake Hagerager who's rock hard with emotion as he slams down Junior Dos Santos in JDS's pro wrestling debut through the damn table Luke this is when you say pro debut you mean like in a match by himself he was in a six-man tag match which is three on three and he had a couple moments, including this against Hager. How did he do? Dude, I'm really out of it,

even though I get back in every couple weeks and then I get out of it. I didn't watch. I saw highlights only. I hear he did okay. I mean, people are very— The whole Dan Lambert invasion angle is getting very well received, even though it doesn't make a ton of sense, because Lambert's so good on the microphone, Luke.

And when someone's so good on the microphone, that can cause the great ones that they're up against to also be good. Here is Chris Jericho unleashing on Paige Van Zandt and Austin Vanderford. I got a question for you, Paige Van Zandt. Yeah. You always seem to be wherever

the inner circle is. You got a little bit of an obsession with Le Champion, maybe? Huh? You're maybe gonna try and slide into my DMs? Well, I wouldn't worry about it because I wouldn't touch you with your husband's

genitalia. Pretty heavy words here. Also, I don't believe him. I think he would. I also see you taking a lot of pictures for your Instagram. What kind of a filter do you use? Clarendon, Juno, Bimbo, or Bitch? Get a little personal now.

Luke, does this verbal thrashing make you... Who are the people who can look at me in the face and say I'm wrong when I say this is rubbish? I thought you would have enjoyed that, Luke, okay? Why would I enjoy bad insults? They're not even good. Well, yeah. We usually enjoy bad insults on the show, Luke. I'm sorry. It's kind of...

But they're our bad insults. They're our... Okay. Don't bear witness to another's. All right. Hey, back to the action, Luke. There was a boxing card called Crypto Fight Night. Check out Sajid Abid with this nasty KO coming up here.

Nasty, I tell you. He actually rolled under the hook. Did you see that? Oh, Jesus. Oh, my God. Stop the fight. Boy, Sachin over there not having a good day.

Yo, Sachin got the... That was like five extra shots that Sachin got from Sajid, Luke. I can't wait till NFT fight night where everyone gets paid in NFTs, aka scams, and no one goes home with any money. Luke, I told you the Roley Romero training camp would be a wild ride. Here's what Roley's been doing on the weekends. Dude, I tell you what. I tell you what I tell you what sign up for ko's Devin's biological father I tell you what about this guy Rolly Romero BC has this a million times correct which is

for as long as the fight promotion and the fight itself lasts it's gonna be hilarious and then this dude is going to take one of the all-time great knockouts of our lives it's going to be amazing here's roly breaking out his gervonta davis uh piñata luke on the streets and very clever yes get it he's wearing a bra see that that's that tells you. I'm not saying it won't be cringe, but, oh, God, they're running over it. Oh, geez. Oh, the car.

Oh, man. Oh, wow. Wow. Yeah. Well. How much to get that tweet tattooed on your body somewhere? Look, I mean, this is pretty corny, this shit, but I love it, Luke, okay? I like the guy with the accordion.

The guy with the accordion in the back is really the MVP here. Oh, yeah. I didn't even notice that at first. Wow. Okay, Luke, let's go over to not your dad, but somebody's dad. It's having a 50th birthday party. Shout out to Padre right here. Oh, no. Padre is, uh...

Yeah. Oh, Jesus. There's like three torn ACLs. Look, he's got... He KO'd himself, Luke. He knocked himself out. This looked like Romero Weidman. Look at this footwork. Bl Luke. He knocked himself out. This looked like Romero Weidman.

Look at this footwork. Blah. Oh, knee to the back of the head, too, by that mariachi guy. Wow. The guy, the dad is laying there like he got shot. Dude, he's out cold. Knee to the back of the head, Luke. Oh, is that what it was? Because he just looks like he got killed.

Bop. Look at that. Look at that. Look at? Because he just looks like he got killed. Bop. Look at him. Look at that. Look at that. Look at Senor Barriga right there. Get Padre an undershirt, please. Hold off on the taquitos. Yeah.

All right, Luke. Let's go over to the playground. You said your daughter loves these. Here at this playground, you can learn sex education while you sleep. That has to be Photoshopped. That has to be Photoshopped. Talk That has to be photoshopped. Talk to your boy Slash.

He's been a very interesting IG follow, Luke, okay? That's all I got to say there. Luke, you love it when dirty dancing goes wrong and white people try to swazy themselves to neck and back injuries. Yep, here we go. You deserve every bit of this. She's had the time of her life, to be fair. Oh, God.

Hey, baby. I like how, in the end, he wasn't holding onto her, just her clothes. Yeah. He's like, yo, let me take off your bra to help you break your fall. Oh, boy, yeah. I mean, you know, he is the one man that she can't get enough of, Luke, okay?

Dude, you know what? Practice your break falls, kids. Because it's going to prove valuable. Luke, good story here. Boxing in England over the weekend, Chris Eubank Jr. finally made his return. And while signing autographs on the street in Newcastle, can we blow this up? Luke, I know sometimes fighters are asked to sign a boob, sign a baby. But check out the gall on this one fan.

If we can get through these youngsters first Luke this guy showed up with his microwave what I need you to sign my motherfucking BCR I need you to sign my beta max please yes yo my foreman grill can you sign that shit though I need you to sign my beta, Max, please. Yes, yes.

Yo, my foreman grill, can you sign that shit, though? Oh, that's great shit. Anyway, Eubank would go on, Luke, to score a fifth-round TKO, but the bigger story was this was his first fight since the loss of his brother, Sebastian. So not only did he honor his brother with his robe, but he dedicated the fight and had his nephew, Rahim, who was the son of his late brother right there.

This was a good, good, wholesome moment, Luke. That's cool. Yes. I did see this picture. Good for him. All right. Luke, we've heard of a shotgun wedding before, but how about a gas station wedding? This is my kind of couple.

Can we blow this shit up? Wow. Yeah. Yeah. It's good that brothers and sisters can find the kind of convenience to get a Mountain Dew and a bag of chips while marrying one another. This is real, dude. Oh, my God. Hey, I've seen her. Is she on BKFC?

Look. BC, we should get gay married doing this. Tiger King style? Look, we got to do it in a 7-Eleven or a company. We got to do it. We'll make Corey and Gaff also marry you or something like that. There's going to be three of us. In the pink shirts?

In the pink shirts, yeah, with the cowboy hats. And then we'll be just like, for the after party, we'll be catered by Doritos and Bang Energy drink or something. Yeah. I know where they're going for their honeymoon, Luke, okay? Liver treatment, right? You know what? By the way, who is the guy who is marrying them?

He looks like the Undertaker. That guy great yeah yeah wow i you know i have i kind of believe he just works the pumps luke it must be like full service this guy just works the he's the cashier you're damn right these wow this this the guy who is marrying them looks like somebody who was very upset when colin kaepernick kneels or he looks like the guy i sold my guitar to at the pawn store, Luke. I mean, it's about the same, yeah. Oh, yeah. This guy has definitely officiated. Here's the thing.

You think it's his first gas station wedding, BC? Not even a chance. I bet you. You know, if you open up gas station divorces, that's a nice little spinoff thing for your family pump business, Luke. Yeah. All right. I got one more for you, Luke, and it's the T-shirt of the week.

Your favorite IPA style. Is this your dad or something? Who is this? No, but that's a great shirt, right? IPA lot, one night drink. We didn't drink once in Jersey City last week, and I got to tell you, I'm so glad we didn't. Yeah, yeah.

I just can't take it anymore. Yeah. It was great to see Chuck, though. He drank, all right? Chuck did drink because he's a sensible human, and he's not completely washed like the two of us. Luke, people should be seeing that clip we did with Chuck in the next weeks. What about this resume review?

When does that come out? Are you ready to announce who we reviewed? I think that's more a you thing than a me thing. I could do it right now, Luke. Do it. you thing than a me thing i could do it right now luke do it this time around we put the seven and resume review curse with six finishes to the test when we look at the four division championship career of the biggest pound for pound star in the sport of boxing today, Saul Canelo Alvarez.

You've been resume reviewed. We'll see how it goes. We'll see how it goes. Should be interesting. Luke, that is a, you know, that's basically Luke saying, like, you know, the Jennifer Love Hewitt meme from, you know, I Know What You Did Last Summer, you know that's basically luke saying like well you know that the jennifer love hewitt meme from uh you know i know what you did last summer you know yeah saying to the heavens like you know if you're if you hey hey curse if you're real then then smack that l on my boy canelo i'm gonna hit

my hit my boy big red where it hurts all right oh you oh you think you're a plus 700 favorite, Canelo? I'll show you. Is that it for have you seen this shit? Yeah, that's it. All right, so that means it's time for odds and ends. What do you have for odds and ends, BC? Look, we didn't hit up much of a boxing preview last week because the fights were of a certain level, although they proved very entertaining.

And Friday night's top rank card. Here's what I'll say, Luke. I don't give Emmanuel Navarrete the respect that he deserves. The former, uh, 122 pound champion who gave up his belt, moved up to featherweight.

Luke, it seems like he's headlining the ESPN card like every damn week. He's so active. He fights every three months on the dot. And you know what he makes great freaking fights and the best fight of his entire career came friday night in san diego when he took on joette gonzalez the wbo title at stake this was a blood and guts war that will be in the conversation for fight of the year and the reason why is joette gonzalez

luke even though i started this praise rightfully saying, Navarrete's the guy we sleep on. He's got one loss and it was like 15 years ago. I mean, here's a guy who's really fun and he's great. But Joette Gonzalez, who we saw lose to Shakur Stevenson for his featherweight title opportunity before this. And also, Luke, he didn't just get owned by Stevenson.

Stevenson was dating his sister at the time too. There was family drama. I mean, it was just a, rightfully so, I think we looked at Joette as saying, we know who he is. We didn't know who the time, too. There was family drama. I mean, it was just a rightfully so. I think we looked at Joette as saying we know who he is. We didn't know who he was, Luke. He came out balls glazed, if that's even a thing. And he brought that shit. And, Luke, he had vicious swelling under his right eye.

He had two cuts around it early in the fight. And he fought through that shit to really push the pace and make it a close decision. If anyone hasn't checked this fight out, it's worth your time. and he fought through that shit to really push the pace and make it a close decision if anyone hasn't checked this fight out it's worth your time just blood and guts battle at 126 pounds our boy Navarrete with those crazy long arms Luke he's tough to beat he's not technically perfect he's not necessarily a slugger he's not necessarily a boxer but he comes out there and he fights and uh this was a this is great theater so shout out to these two yes i have not seen that one but i look forward to watching it i was still blown away by the sandor martin

performance uh for my odds and ends bc i don't even know what to say about this it's like partly it's like if you commit crimes in in in european parties does it even really exist uh but mcgregor has allegedly and we should sort of know allegedly here here, punched an Italian DJ who he was partying with over the weekend. The way it is told to us, I can't even pronounce this donk's name, but the way it was told to us is that the two were hanging out after McGregor had one of his children baptized at the Vatican, if you can believe that. Wow.

And everything was fine, and it was going well, and then I guess McGregor had invited the DJ to another party. And when he said yes, he punched him in the face, according to the Italian DJ's girlfriend, BC. Do we care about McGregor punching Italian DJs? Yeah, the same reason why when I got a pretty hard stance this time around against Jon Jones, it wasn't about this specific transaction per se. It was about the total amount just adding up where it's just constant and where, again, a regular person would get a little bit more than a slap on the wrist at this point.

What is going on here? Look, dude, are we at that level? Maybe you can debate the serious nature of the crimes and put McGregor's recent run against Jones. You know, good God, which sins are better, which sins are worse. They're both pretty bad. But Jones has had some pretty severe ones within there. I mean, didn't he just fight with one leg, machine gun Kelly?

What are we doing here, Luke? What is wrong with this guy? Yeah. I mean, we're having like a midlife. Francesco, I think it's Facchianetti is how you pronounce it. Facchianetti, I'm pronounce it. Facchianetti? I'm not sure. Cristos... Cristoforos?

The Italian graphic designer? Yeah, the guy from Waze. Yeah, that dude. That's the DJ he punched who I guess is famous. It's like, dude, you know, this is... We're back to the...

Dude, if you're just beaten up... If you're trying to start fights with old minute bars or Italian DJs or, you know, MGK who looks like... If heroin and fentanyl was a person,

it would look like him. Oh, God. Wow. He doesn't? I mean, that's like you and I sitting out in a park enjoying the breeze, and then you pull out a gun and shoot an animal, Luke, and you're like, yeah, they were annoying me. Sorry about that.

In any case, he just looks strung out. But he's not a fighter. He's just an ordinary person in that sense. You know, this is who you're trying to routinely get into conflicts with. Dude, something's wrong with you. You know, what is it in this particular case? God only knows. But it's just another, like, tick on the list of things where you're like,

dude, is this guy ever really coming back in the way in which, like, the real Conor McGregor comeback, where he can be something approximating what he was against Eddie Alvarez or something like that. Is that guy ever coming back? I don't think that guy's ever coming back. I think those days are gone. The absence in this case has not made our hearts grow fonder,

and I think it could have been if, you know, I've compared this before to, like, you know, when we look back in hindsight after a breakup, when we were the one who got broken up and then you're like, man, if I wish I could have those, you know, eight months back of when I just sat around, did nothing and was sappy on the phone all the time. You know, you had to, you had to get through it. You had to grow Luke, but you wish McGregor can look back and have not given us any insights to his psyche, his healing, his recovery, or any of that shit

from this injury so that the time would have been fonder to the badass that was once in there. And we, we, we kind of hope and want is still, I'm not so sure. Uh, he's taken constant steps back in the court of public opinion in terms of where he's at and could be at after this injury and, you know, his character and makeup and all that stuff i mean it's just been just constant shit so if i was running his pr and had a influence in there it would be like uh yeah can we uh can we please we please uh just get this guy you know fixed and get him off the uh but uh you know luke it feels like i mean do you feel like we're in a runaway car without brakes gonna crash badly at the end yeah just to see yeah what this one

individually means hard to really know but like where am i most curious i'm most curious to see how this ultimately plays out into one big event which it will what that will be and when that will be your guess is as good as mine but it's it's going almost all of these unless there's real reformation dude almost all of these end poorly you know although i will say he's also had a series of like okay dolly throwing not withstanding he's had a series of these smaller incidents all the time punching the guy in the pub this one the miami cell phone thing you know he tends to get into these little small skirmishes that never seem to amount to anything yeah goddard jumping in the

cage that whole thing um by the way our staff is now telling us this far too late but uh jan blachowicz tweeted about how cory left the ufc and is now claiming to be the best quote jan blachowicz says hold up so a guy who bolt is now claiming to be the best. Quote, Jan Blachowicz says, hold up. So a guy who bolted from the UFC after I slept him and almost made him retire, got a couple of wins in the second league and claims he's the best. Maybe I punched him too hard. No class in win or defeat, Corey. There's levels to this.

Wow. Wow. Laying down the gauntlet. Corey responded apparently as well. I don't have his response. Luke, you think it's creepy that Jan Blachowicz hangs onto that rope of some guy that hung himself in a forest? I'm not into that, Luke.

I'm not as into it as others are. Corey responds, let's not forget what happened to you the first time I left you looking like Elephant Man, and you posted, I need to rethink my career. That's not a bad response, I suppose. It's not a bad response. A little Social Justice Monday for you here. There you go. BC, I got to remind everyone,

you got to like this video, you got to subscribe. I apologize to you one more time, BC. I just am tired in a way that's hard to explain, so I should have been a little bit more alert about things you were saying, but I promise I was trying. I really was.

If you want to follow us on social media. Thank you for the good faith effort. I did. I'm just struggling a little bit more alert about things you were saying, but I promise I was trying. I really was. If you want to follow us on social media. Thank you for the good faith effort. I did. I'm just, I'm struggling a little bit. But here we go. Everything you want to follow right there on the social media. Morning Combat's name is consistent. Me and BC have slightly different names between Instagram and Twitter.

You want to email the show for Wednesday's fan subs or Friday's Dead or Wrong, morningcombat at gmail.com. New merch, as BC indicated, is up on the store now, morningcombat.store, including Halloween editions, which, by the way, that means limited time only. They're not going to be there forever. So if you want the Halloween edition stuff, now's your time to get it right there, morningcombat.store.

You can't be buying that shit on Arbor Day, Luke, okay? It's now or never for this stuff. Either pull the trigger or don't. We got a Hanukkah line inspired by our old producer, Luke. I'm very excited about that as well. We certainly will not do that. You can go to Showtime.com, get a 30-day free trial. If you like it, you can keep it.

If not, you can pound sand. Be on the lookout for MK Extra Credit. We'll talk about some of the fights we didn't get to here bc anything else that the audience should know for today that's it that's it i mean i i was kind of into mk dreidels luke we we can make them out of clay i would be very into that but uh we could do that maybe i just have a sense for commercialism and it it would go too far. Probably so. Probably so. All right, so thanks to CBS Sports, Malka, Showtime, everybody else who makes this possible.

That's the King of Connecticut, Brian Campbell. I'm Luke Thomas. Until next time, all of your gains. Be loyal.