MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Five Fights to Make in UFC, Bellator & Boxing | Whittaker-Costa | Ali Act | Ep 389

Episode Date: December 21, 2022

On Episode 389 Luke and Brian break down the five fights they want to see in 2023 in UFC, Bellator and Boxing. Next up the guys discuss Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa being removed from UFC 284. Who is at fault here? They also break down the report that the Ali Act will be reintroduced to congress in 2023. As always they close the show with Fan submission. Morning Kombat is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.     For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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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. Hey, everybody. It's the 21st of december 2022 and it's time for morning combat hello everyone my name is luke thomas i am one half of your hosting duo i join you from the capital of

right here in washington dc joined by my friend from a town that time forgot i mean just no one gives a fuck about Connecticut. Except him. He's the king of it. It's Brian Campbell. Hi, Brian Campbell. Wow, there we go. We're back at it.

Thank you, Luke, for that rousing introduction. Ronda Rousey, as Luke would say. Great to be back. It is the letter S. I'm just pointing that out. Yeah, we did have a fantastic studio return on Monday in many ways, Luke, including great sit-down with Aaron Blanchfield, which turned into some sneaky breaking news for your boys at MK. Yeah, it kind of did.

We're having a nice end to the year here. We won the award, a little bit of breaking news. The Gervonta interview kind of took off a little bit, and some other things as well. So I'm pretty happy with the way things are ending this year. So thanks to all the MK fans who've been supporting, who saw the Aaron Blanchfield news, which, of course, is right up on CBSSports.com.

You're looking for more information about it. But, BC, when is the Aaron Blanchfield room service diaries going live, the full thing? Tomorrow, Thursday, 11 a.m., get ready for it. It's going to be a fun ride with somebody in the moment who's making big moves. And, Luke, you know, what's great is, I mean, look he's fighting talia santos and basically a number one contenders match where you as taken aback as i was at i mean just how insanely confident aaron blanchfield is and

not in like a misguided i don't know better way not in a i'm overly trying to show you how intense i can be way almost just like yeah dude yeah, dude, like who cares, man? I'm cold blooded as shit. You know what I mean? I mean, like she might, she's a real one, Luke. Yeah. She has a certain, to BC's point, she's not out there being like McGregor, like we're not here to take part.

We're here to take over, which was cool in its moment, but you know, very grandiose. She's just like, uh, yeah, I think I'm ready to beat the fuck out of these ladies. And, uh, UFC is going to give me an opportunity to do so. I look forward to proving it like very, very matter of fact, super matter of fact. So a fun conversation with her. That'll be out tomorrow at 11 AM right here, youtube.com slash morning combat. So thumbs up on this video, subscribe. If you haven't yet tune in tomorrow at 11 AM for a little RSD with Aaron Blanchfield, our first ever, by the way, Money Lion Hammer of the Month. She goes into the Hall of Hammers, which is fun.

We give her the award, the little trophy, certainly at the end of that conversation, which was really fun as well. Let's see. Also, morningcombat at gmail.com. You want to reach the show for today's fan subs for Friday's Dead Wrong. All that good stuff. And don't forget, showtime.com is the label that pays. Showtime.com, 30-day free trial.

You'd like to keep it tonight. You can bounce. Plus $3.99 a month for your first six months. I mean, that's a pretty good deal. Pretty dang good deal for everyone. Also, look at all the merch that Captain Stabin has on right here.

I mean, look at him. Spalding, get your foot off the boat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go. There you go. Hey, guys, check it out. All right. I even got one on the ttt right here yeah this is uh i'm dressed to the nines in this stuff okay and it feels good luke i mean does it make me feel classy no no but comfortable luke and i think that's what you know this tonic called morning combat is all about it just feels

i don't know it just feels like home to me right you know i mean you know home was home was pretty grimy though but you know it makes me feel good so where are we right now i don't really know and i'd be uh i'd be in error if i wasn't also reminding folks february 8th february 8th mk to the uk we're gonna do a live morning combat at the king's theater you can or's Place, excuse me, in London. Get your tickets now. There's a QR code on the screen if you're watching on YouTube, and if not, I think it is. I had the read here for just a second ago.

Let me pull it up one more time. I want to make sure I get it correct. Look, did you hear the news of who's coming to that? We haven't announced our special guests and all that, but attendees in the audience of these tickets that are getting swallowed up very fast remember this this is all this is a music vet you know concert venue that hosts the 500 seats for this so uh uh app appy dude appy's coming and so are the paquettes from canada luke i mean this is like these are special guests these are royalty luke

they're coming to see us in person, okay? You ready for this? Yes, and so if you want to get tickets, of course, you can use the QR code. If you're listening online, where you would go is pod-live.com. Pod-live.com would be the place to get that done. BC, I also want folks to know about our sponsor today ag1 i mean it's the color of your hoodie it's the color of goodness it's the color of health it's the cover it's the color of

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and it's just you know it's it's a one minute transaction we're in we're out we feel great i mean what about that taste too luke tell me tell me you know share your passion with me you know what i mean mild tropical taste and as bc indicated you don't have to take a million pills you get 75 high quality vitamins minerals whole foods source superfoods probiotics adaptogens to start your day right and what are you looking for you're looking for immune system help energy help recovery help focus help aging help ag1's got you covered as a daily investment in all of those things i mean you know you we always talk about lifestyle friendly and we all live different lives and passions and journeys. But whether you eat keto, paleo, vegan, dairy free, gluten free, all that stuff.

Hey, this is less than one gram of sugar. No GMOs, no nasty chemicals, no artificial anything. While still tasting that fresh, alive feel that we talk about. And, you know, what I also like best about it, the price. You know what you're doing for three bucks a day already with these bad vices and habits of watermelon flavor this you know you know the direction i'm going even you cold brew heads out there less than that to feel this good luke worry-free micro habit that just just builds into some big benefits in the

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By the way, and it's out there right now folks especially heading into the flu and cold season every kid i know is just boogericious right now it's just one scoop and a cup of water every day that's it no need for a million different pills or supplements to look out for your health pretty simple folks yeah i mean athleticgreens.com slash morning convert there it is okay look i put those vitamin c drops in my AG. So it's not even AG1 anymore. It's like AG1.5. It's fantastic. And what BC failed to indicate, but is also part of the verbatim read,

is that Athletic Greens is going to give you a free one-year supply of immune-supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. But as he indicated, athleticgreens.com slash morning combat. Look, you ever play volleyball before? What I did was I, you know, it was like a dig or a bump. You know, I said it to you. Yeah, I know.

You're not supposed to do that, though, because we're not playing volleyball. I mean, is volleyball lame for men? Is that what you're saying, Luke? No, volleyball is cool, but it's got nothing to do with AG1 reads. You know what I'm saying? All right, BC, let's get to topic number one here if we can.

Now, we know there's not... I think the UFC is not going to have a show from the end of its last one to the beginning of its next one for like a month. It's a while. Of course, there will be Bellator for New Year's Eve, so it's not like that's done. Again, Cage Warriors is going to have a show.

There's some stuff, but the vast majority of the overall MMA calendar has come to a close. That seems pretty fair. So what we're going to do today is we are going to get to some headlines, the Paulo Costa and Rob Whitaker fight falling through, sort of. We're going to talk about that. Plus, I didn't see shit about this on any of the MMA websites, but it's big news in terms of the Ali Act. We'll talk about that a little bit later. But for first things first, BC, let's talk about it. We have Bellator, UFC,

and boxing. We're going to talk about the five fights we'd each like to see be made in those two mma organizations and then boxing overall bc we start as we customarily do with the ultimate fighting championship so five fights that you want to do now do you want to do all five of yours first and then mine no i think we should alternate four four yeah yeah the latter luke okay all right my friend give me your number five please look i could just see five fights to make 2023 i could just as easily say here hamzat chamayev versus a world champion or hamzat chamayev versus potentially the winner of edwards and usman three but what i really want here is hamzat chamayev to fight for the welterweight title and really fight

against kamara usman because of the legacy he had built before that upset loss to Edwards and was pound-for-pound king. And, you know, style-wise, damn, do you want to see that. This pick is more, of course, about finding out as quickly as we can how great Chamayev really is and how great he could potentially be. But of the available guys in that welterweight title mix, I'm still standing here luke for uh for the idea of hamzat and kamaru and what that looks like that'd be a hell of a fight for next

year uh sign me the gun to your head who wins like if you actually had to make a pick you know it's one of those where like usman does usman have to be the slight betting favorite or do you believe sharps will be like nah man hamzat's that train come and get on board here's you know minus 150 hamzat chamayev i think kamaru would be an ever so slight favorite at least to open the betting line i mean i want to i want to it's tough because because look didn't kamaru do everything he had to for four and a half rounds to edwards and didn't look old and didn't look dominated or anything right I mean that was a strong solid performance and then that happened half rounds he didn't lose till the last minute of the last round so four four rounds and 90% of the last one 80% of the last one yeah okay so four and three quarters look four and nine tenths

there um by the way some people think I'm only like you know nine you know I'm one tenth Lithuanian look I may be adopted by the Welsh but I'm pure split here on Lithuanian, French, Canadian, just so you're sure. OK, just checking in on that. But ultimately, Luke, I think Hamzat can win this. But it's it's such a great fight. If Usman comes back, wins the title, we're asking a lot of them. Hopefully he's healthy, all that. But but damn this is the sexiest find out right now fight for me involving chamayev who i think at the moment i have the biggest urge to want to see active and making big leaps to find out how great they are like look if you could pick one fight you might be picking shavkat rakmanov for this specific uh niche thing i

brought up but i you know if you could find out right now how good somebody is put hams out in that chair i'm ready to see it all right fair enough for my number five different division but something we've talked about previously i was against this guy just returning and going right to alexander volkanovsky i thought there was some proving that had to get done boy what better way to make it done uh what a better way to find out where someone is especially with their championship pedigree that they have than putting them into this kind of fight i want to see henry sahudo versus al jermaine sterling now i don't know if that's going to happen obviously we'll have to championship pedigree that they have than putting them into this kind of fight. I want to see Henry Cejudo versus Aljamain Sterling. Now, I don't know if that's going to happen, obviously.

We'll have to see when Sterling returns and what they do and blah, blah, blah. There's been, of course, some indication that the UFC might make this. I really want to see this. I think Cejudo has been, obviously, you know, the calm triple C and without, excuse me, with good reason, but he's been gone for a little while. I don't know exactly what his level would be at. However, you know, no one took that belt from him, right? No one made him give up the belt by virtue of beating him in the cage.

So what I would like to see is him returning to a bantamweight title shot, if that's a thing that they can do. And then from there, we can figure out, is he still the best bantamweight? Does he deserve to go to featherweight? Because I'll tell you, if he goes in there and blows the doors off Aljamain Sterling, a fight with Volkanovski to me then after that part makes a whole lot of sense. But by itself, Cejudo with the wrestling pedigree that he has, the ability to athletically, I think, be in play, I would say match Sterling

in a lot of different departments. Not the same skills, but he's got great athletic ability through all the different phases of the fight. I love fight i love how suhudo's leg kicks could change the dynamic of the sport or the the fight itself what about ubc are you interested in this fight at all or not absolutely uh seeing seeing suhudo come back i want it to be really big to me that's that's must see tv among you know the the larger options whether it's you know big big celebrity fight or hardcore event like an Islam versus Volkanovski. Like just the idea of Cejudo against anybody I'm fired up for. But especially like, I mean, damn, like we're probably going to continue to overlook or disrespect or whatever Aljo for things that aren't his fault. And obviously that whole TJ debacle has nothing to do with Aljo.

But I feel like a lot of us are going to favor Cejudo and, you know, give him the chance to show us that cage rust isn't a thing and do one of these crazy GSP type moves. Because look, if Cejudo comes back and wins this, I don't even know what we start to do with him legacy wise, right? Like, I mean, he's already pretty damn secure in terms of like, you know, accomplishments in a, in a, not only a small window in that run he had before walking away from the sport, but then you take into account the Olympic gold medal. And, you know, when he makes these larger claims of being the greatest, like it's easy to not take that serious because of his shtick. But are you prepared to like fully grasp and understand where this guy fits in

historically? If he does this, it just comes, walks back in and wins the championship, Luke? Yeah. I mean, it would be out. It would be bonkers. It would be completely bonkers. It'd be out of control. And'm here for it i'm here for it and if he loses then you find you then you get you know he has to figure out what he's gonna do from there but if he wins oh the amount of things that that super charges is too much to pass up for me yeah i'm with you

go ahead my friend number four number four look uh the the division that that was everything to us you know up until recently when bantamweight got even better was lightweight and even though our heroes at lightweight are aging it's keeping alive the idea that this era of action fighters in and around lightweight is just an all-time great one not just because a lot of these guys are former champions interim champions title challengers uh they're also like you know pound for pound rank guys at times when they've made runs too they're not just uh you know all action heroes here but when it talks about what fights are left to be made i mean we just

had chandler versus poirier and it was amazing it was probably better than it should have been and uh how about dustin poirier versus justin gaethje part two for next year i don't know exactly if their lanes are going to collide based on where they are, but obviously if the promotion did this, they could, you know, do no wrong on the merits of the first fight alone or on the merits of just

their reputations. But Luke, what's helping this action era stay so bountiful is the fact that these guys are getting old in their own, you know, respective ways. And that's making these fights even crazier. The real man inside of you hears me say Poirier-Gaethje 2,

and I know you're feeling something deep inside, Luke. I know it, right? I wouldn't put this as like a must for me, but I would never, ever, ever poo-poo it. I would in no way be unhappy with it. I would in no way have a single negative thing to say about it, but I just would be lying if I said that that's like a thing that I, of all the fights I would want to see in 2023,

that's at the top or near the top of the list. Not really. Fun little thing, or actually more than that, great thing if they made it, but not my favorite by any stretch. I tried to, you know, get a good mix, obviously, of, you know, serious title historical implication fights, but just potentially marquee fights I want to see. And I guess the reason why I love this more than you would is I think their first fight might be my favorite of this era that I'm talking about. I mean, there's many children we love in this family, right?

Whether it's Gaethje versus Michael Johnson or, you know, anything involving Chandler. I mean, God, Poirier's got a million amazing fights. The Holloway-Poirier fight was incredible. But I don't know, I just love that first one, dude. I mean, Poirier had to walk, not just walk through hell, he had to, like, set up camp and sleep overnight in the midst of hell to stop that monster that was Gaethje at that point. Like, damn, that was high theater.

It's probably going to be the same thing all over again, right? I mean, it's going to, you know, they're going to bang. It would not suck. It would not suck. I would not speak badly about a fight like that at all but yeah but definitely i'm on a bit of a different page you know it sounds like it sounds like you're describing like an aging adult film star you're like you know not not at her best anymore but i'm not gonna sit here and you know and be upset at this i mean i wouldn't say that's the best comparison but that might work depending i how I got that feeling from you

you're trying to protect her but after doing five years on the bang bus it'll wear you out BC I'm going to go a bit of a different one this one the first here's how opposite my choice is yours is like that one you picked, great fight, all action affair,

reliably all action affair. You just know it's going to be. This one would not necessarily be that, but it would have something that that fight didn't, which would be historical significance. I'm going to say Amanda Nunes versus Valentina Shevchenko, three. That's where I'm going to go with this one. And again, the first, well, the first fight was actually not bad.

It was only three rounds, and it turned late, but not enough for Shevchenko. Second one wasn't great and very, very, very close. Don't know exactly what the third one would look like. I think Amanda is not at her peak anymore, but even if she's off peak, she's obviously still very, very good. I think Shevchenko is probably at the peak or someplace around that, give or take. So to me, this is the most, this is probably Shevchenko's best chance actually of the three, because the first one was only three rounds. This one's five. But I really think that they have to make it.

I mean, we've talked about it. At women's flyweight, there is a future there. It's not quite here yet, but it's coming down the pike. Amanda Nunes doesn't really have a more interesting matchup i mean i guess you could do the third fight with with juliana pena which would not be the end of the world but this is the one these are the two best of their era they fought before it remains somewhat undecided bc i'd like even though even though amanda won twice it's still close i'd like to see them fight a third time and you know i love narratives and when amanda fought cyborg that was a legitimate narrative of we have the potential to hand

over the crown of you know greatest of all time whether people care about that or not or think it's something that you can just transfer you know that easily but you know you could play this one up as something similar to that because of how close shevchenko was in that rematch but what's interesting is that it's still so viable right now. And it went through some waves of potential, you know, volatility there when you consider like after Andrade got destroyed by Shevchenko,

I'm thinking, man, maybe Valentino not just wins the third one, but like maybe everyone's going to favor her. But, and then Nunes gets, you know, stopped by,

by Juliana. And you're like, man, like, and then're like, man. And then Valentino looks human against Tyler Santos, and you remember what somebody with legit size and skill can do to pose a challenge to her. I don't know. I think I'm back on, yeah, I'd love it for history.

I hope they both get that chance. But Amanda might just always have this, Luke. It might be an Adesanya-Poetan thing. Who knows? Who knows? Who knows? It could, in which case, God bless her. Like, made the best person win. I just think one more time would really scratch an itch.

Yeah. Yeah. All right, Luke, my number three is my final dip into more emotional event. Keep me happy for one night, UFC. And I think we have to, you know, be real that when Conor comes back next year in any form against any level of opponent, it'll be one of the biggest events per year for the year and it will feel like you know the cowboy one did you know where it's just like man it feels like it's been a long time um it does feel like

it's been a long time because connor never leaves the news cycle yet hasn't fought in a hell of a long time so whether you think it could end up sneaky being Diaz three or anyone from RDA to Tony Ferguson, if I ask myself entertainment wise, what's the best balance of giving somebody to Connor that he potentially could be based on the into Dana's heart and realize that when he was asked that question, which he thinks he was misinterpreted and misquoted and he was just saying, look, if you asked me today for Conor, I'd love this fight, but we don't have plans for it. I think we all know the UFC would love this fight. So, I'm just

going to, this is like me saying, hey, Luke, you ever go to McDonald's? It's pretty damn good, right? I mean, this is a McDonald's type fight. It's easy for the company to make this if the planets align, but it you ever go to McDonald's? It's pretty damn good, right? I mean, this is a McDonald's type fight. It's easy for the company to make this if the planets align. But it's also going to be freaking incredible to watch, right? I mean, so, yeah, dude, you can call. You know, I just Walmarted you, Luke. But, you know, there's a couple products at Walmart that are okay, right?

Hey, listen, I'm not above going to Walmart. I just don't like the fistfights in the aisles. Or that naked guy in the freezer at the, yeah. Well, I'm trying to find, no, naked lady in the freezer, which I'm trying to find that place when I go to the PR. I think that was a man in there, Luke. Well, I couldn't tell because I couldn't see very clearly from the feed. It was a woman or a man.

If it was a man, then, you know, put it in a place to the ground. Yeah, it was a man. I was wondering why in the moment you were just supporting that. I't know if you just thought hey oh you know every like there's tenants right you know he learned that from the liver king sometimes a man just gotta be a man my vision is trash these days i mean sometimes a man's just gotta be a man in public right that's just what that's what that is you know yeah i mean listen when you're out there dropping trow in the olive garden like you do and he's going to town on yourself having a little fun there all right well at the very least i couldn't even finish the joke chandler versus connor is um i mean you're not going to turn it

down luke thomas this is like one of like your favorite marvel movies spitting out unnecessary sequels but you're like you know what thor love and thunder is probably going to be pretty awesome so i'm going to go with my son despite what my co-host says you know Luke we've seen that I mean the problem is I'm right about that movie and it fucking sucks although it doesn't suck nearly as much as Black Adam which is the worst movie potentially ever made um this one would be great now BC answer me honestly and if the answer is probably no, but would your enthusiasm for this fight change in any direction if it was 155 versus 170? You know, you kind of already know that it's probably going to be 170, right? Because Conor's done this before with the Cerrone one, getting to move that one up a weight class last minute.

And he's, you know, he's got all the control in this, star-wise, in terms of A-side still. So, yeah, dude, it's going to be a Walter. Unless there's an interim title at stake, Conor's not signing on for 155 here, Luke. Everything gives him the advantage potentially, right, in going up and trying to use that size. Plus, Conor weighs like 265 luke okay i thought you were gonna ask me does my opinion on this you know uh depend on whether i watch uh the uh the roadhouse remake and think it's good i mean there's any chance this movie's gonna be good luke or is this gonna be one of those regrettable ones no no almost no

chance but okay doesn't mean i won't watch it but it uh probably is gonna be terrible all right yeah all right for me bc i'm gonna go a slightly different direction i don't know if this is on your list or not but i'm gonna give it to you for mine for one of the my number three fight that i want to see in 2023 in the ufc robert whittaker versus alex pareda i really want to see this i i'd be very curious to see because we you might know you might think offhand robert's gonna win. And by the way, I would favor him to win. But I actually feel like getting him back into the title mix almost reintroduces a certain level of very fun chaos. I mean, folks don't remember this unless they were around at the time, obviously. But, you know, back when light heavyweight was the marquee division, not merely in the UFC, but in all of MMA. Because at the time, the UFC had your your Randy's and your Chuck's

and your Tito's and to an extent Vitor Belfort at that time Pride had Vanderlei and Rampage and Shogun and many others as well Dan Henderson for a time although he obviously went over to UFC but at that and he was of course in two different weight classes but the point being is there was just so much parody at 205 and there were guys who did better than others but the title did change hands fairly often it made these iconic fights and it made these iconic you know almost relationships between the fighters I really believe that like you know with this cost of fight falling through and we'll see if the UFC tries to rebook it or what happens there but if they don't I think Robert Whitaker should get next on whoever, if they do the Izzy trilogy,

or yeah, well, the fourth fight, the quadrilogy with the second, the rematch in MMA. If they do that, then I think Whitaker should get the winner, and then let's see what happens there. By the way, Pineda might knock him out. I mean, the guy's just such an insanely dangerous fighter, but if Robert Whitaker wins, I think it just turns the division on its head again. It does create fresh matchups. It forces another fight with Izzy, potentially, if that happens. Although, if he loses to Pereira, then he's kind of out. And again, it sort of cycles it through. It just would be interesting for me to see how it would go

and then what it would do to the division, what it would do to his legacy, and how it would reshuffle things in the middle there. I would love to see this contest. Yeah, it has a lot of fascinating elements to it. It makes it like a coming-attraction movie I want to see. As much as you would favor skill-wise Whitaker in many ways, that's a matchup that I like for him. Pereira has some of those, I mean, he's got that sick power,

but dude, he showed a lot in that Izzy fight, Luke. He really did. You know what Pereira has some of those, you know, I mean, he's got that sick power, but he, dude, he showed a lot in that Izzy fight, Luke. He really did. You know what I mean? Like, it's just easy to quickly say it and then move on. But like, he showed a lot of poise in that. No, he showed a tremendous amount of poise and patience. And remember, he got rattled and I think, didn't he get rocked in the first round? Yeah, he was almost stopped.

If that was like five more seconds, he's probably stopped. Exactly. Like, dude, Izzy was up 3-1 on that he got he got put in some bad spots and then kept his composure did what he had to do to hang on in bad spots and then closed the show in the fifth i mean that's just championship material shit from like in every possible way still robert whittaker is a motherfucker man he's a different animal all by himself i would love to see him back put in a position to like read you know to to just change things up again yeah i like that idea a lot all right luke i'm down to number two here which is it's got to be massive fights there's no bigger fight that okay even if you

debate how big the ceiling actually is commercially the combination of must see history on the line so many other elements with contracts and layoffs. How about Francis Ngannou versus Jon Jones for the heavyweight championship? I mean, this could be incredible theater. There are things that have to happen first. Most importantly, the company coming to terms with Ngannou and Ngannou getting whatever, again, whatever piece of the chunk that he's seeking from money to freedom to you know i mean he earned it he

went through hell with the knee and all that he earned this but it would be hard to walk in the other direction away from a john jones fight right now i mean maybe that maybe that's not in the thought process at all for in ghanu maybe it is more about like i went you know if i got this far i'm already i'm almost out of shawank. I'm almost at the beach, right? I'm Andy Dufresne here. But, dude, you can fight Jon Jones, like, maybe even in the stadium. Dude, this fight, we got to see it for so many reasons. But even just for the reason of, like, it's so big, make it right now. Let's do it.

Let's go. Let's bang, Chewie. I agree with that. I mean, I'm kind of giving it away because one of my next two fights is also that fight um so i don't really know what to ask on top of it except we could probably save it but john jones i would think versus i won't say anyone in the top five i think it's a little bit a bit of a stretch but there's a solid two maybe even three fights that you could put john jones in any of them in any of those would be must-see. That's sort of the level of, I mean, again, when he was doing his thing, and on top of the game,

it was effortless for him, truly, truly effortless. And he broke all the rules. We talked about this with Chael Saunders on RSD. He broke all the rules about all the things. I don't mean like getting in trouble, but I mean, you know, not training very much between camps, not taking nutrition seriously in a way that he should have, in certain ways, not even taking training seriously

in a way that he should have, and still going out there and winning world titles and defending them against, yeah, aging guys in that division, but still very, very powerful ones. And then the next generation came and they couldn't do shit to him either. I mean, it's remarkable what he was able to achieve, but this is a different can of worms. This is a different scenario. Everything about it is rightfully, I think,

should be viewed as a fresh and different and not the continuation of the old challenge, but a new one. Yeah. And so for that reason, I'm curious to see how it goes. Hell yeah. Let's do it. All right.

Let's do it. My number two, BC. This one is a bit of a no-brainer really you could go a lot of different directions with either of these guys but i say let's have the irresistible force meet the immovable object hamza chamaya versus shop cot rock monoff i mean i don't know what the fuck we're doing you're breaking glass in case of emergency you're like let's just eat it dessert first kids we're eating our dessert right now i mean i mean dude what are we doing in 2023 if that fight is not made i just it's like it doesn't have to be made right away you know you can you can put it off a little bit but fucking you're

talking about two guys that have taken the sport by storm in very very different ways one much more loudly and prominently but old shavkat just sneaking up on everyone like a ninja, slicing the throat, dumping them as they head down the path to meet the final boss. I mean, that is really who he is. He is an absolute assassin, unflappable, one of the most skilled guys in the UFC, devastating finisher, well-rounded, doesn't get hit a lot.

I mean, we're just talking about as remarkable a contender as they come and what else can I say about the guy absolutely bulldozing basically except Gilbert Burns everyone in his way but that fight was you know given to him very quickly his stats in terms of blanking his opposition or something unheard of in the amount of times he's been able to do it I mean I could go on and on about both guys and also BC this it would almost be like dude we've been putting like these dagastani chechen kazakh hammers against brazilians or overmatched americans or some british guy fuck that put the hammers against the hammers that's what i want to see i want to see the two people uh who are worthy of lifting thor's hammer collide against one another to see what happens there. I think it would be an absolutely electric atmosphere,

an electric fight, unpredictable in many ways, to be quite honest. I really don't know what would happen there, to be honest with you. No. But I would love to find out. Yeah, I mean, look, Tremaya versus anybody is a big part of this, but you can go a couple different ways with that, you know, and sticking Rachman off

and that just changes the equation and makes it, yeah, yeah, damn. All right, that's straight from your heart, that number two, Luke. You know it is. You know it is. Then you would probably expect nothing less than what I'm about to offer for number one.

Not only is it straight from my heart, not only do I think the fight would be really good theater, but you talk about the history and the other stuff on top. Maybe it's only history to me, but I'll just come out with it, Luke. Zhongwei Li versus Rose Namajunas, part three. You got to put behind you Rose's performance against Carla. It's inexcusable. She lost the title, all right? She paid the price. But this might be the fight. Look, the thing about saying who's the greatest strawweight of all time, it's such a young division still.

It launched December of 2014 with the first title bout, which was my first UFC live show, Luke, so maybe that's when I caught the bug, all right? But here's the deal, ultimately. These might be the two best. Ioana has that stretch of title defenses that they haven't equaled, but each of them beat Ioana twice, still within her prime, you know what I mean?

Or when she at least was in her twilight, but tough as nails in that twilight. I just want to see what the end of this book looks like. You know, how does the movie end? For me, for my fandom, I think the winner of this can say that, and I think you mix a couple factors of the

unknowns that make it great. The fact that young way, at least seems to be better now, certainly than she was heading into that first one as a more complete fighter. The second one was close in some interesting ways. And Ken Rose just put this disaster behind her. Like she's consistently done in this weird pattern of like every three

fights. I'm tuning in for it. Luke two of the best pound for pound right now. And, and ever really, I mean, look, what, Luke. Two of the best pound for pound right now and ever, really. I mean, look, what's the devil's advocate response to negative for this? Just because Rose stunk up the joint last time? Is that the only reason?

That could be one. The other one is we keep making a lot of the same fights at the top of this division. So it's not to say that, like, that's a bad fight. I don't know how you could make the argument that that's a bad fight it's not but you could make the argument that given that we've seen this matchup a bunch of time or several times and that all the other permutations of Carla being in there and then of course Ioana who's not in the sport anymore but you know all we've done these x versus y versus z matchups these three characters so and then Andrade is part of that too maybe some fresh blood would be a little bit better for the division.

I think you could make that argument, but that wouldn't really tell you whether or not that's a good fight because that's a great fight, right? Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah. I mean, but if this had to happen next, you would be entertained, Luke Thomas. I know you.

I know what gets you. Yeah, I don't know if I want to see it next, but I wouldn't be mad at it, if that makes sense. Yeah, I don't know if i want to see it next but i wouldn't be mad at it if that makes sense i i yeah i don't love it quite like you love it but i i could not poo-poo it i mean look you you can't choose who you love it just injects you you know do you love me over zoom yes luke i mean you get very very hands-on in person i'm like is that mike bone again is that you no okay great yeah uh yes you got my zoom love all right uh my number one bc we kind of already telegraphed it but i'll just get right to it john jones versus francis and ghani i think this is this is the one this is the key fight that has to get made i don't know if it

will you know john's been talking about moving up to this weight class for a fucking decade without doing it for a long time by the way the fight to make was John Jones versus Cain Velasquez like that was the big one and but they never materialized it never happened for a lot of different reasons by the way in that particular case that had not much to do with John but um I'm just pointing out we haven't got it we've never been there and now we get a chance now will Francis re-sign I guess we'll have to find out. Will John actually come through and fight? I guess we'll have to find out. But let's assume that that's on the table.

This is the one to make. You have the very best light heavyweight of all time without contest, arguably the best fighter of all time, still with some measure of athletic ability, not too old for the weight class, right? Not too old for the weight class. Moving up to then get a belt in another weight class. He was a product of the era where most title defenses in a singular weight class was the most impressive thing. I still think it is the most impressive thing, but this new era,

which he's still kind of as part of, we're not getting multiple belts in multiple different weight classes is a little bit more of a premium. He wants to come back and see if he can do that. He has taken all this time to make that happen has still by the way and it's been reported of course numerous continuous issues outside of the cage so many questions on both sides and by the way can Francis get it done and blah blah blah I mean I don't need to sell this fight it's the one to make yeah yeah I mean yeah I mean it's hard not to have this number one look it's it's what it's a it feels like a an all-timer in a lot of ways. It also could just, it could be, I mean, like, it could be very dramatic and have, I mean, John's a dog, Luke.

You know, say what you will, John's a dog. I know one punch could end at any time, but this could be some theater, dude. You know, the will, the will's going to play a part, even though it's such a large style contrast, potentially, of John trying to be slick against the the one shot crushing power but dude francis is i mean he's added stuff to his game at a late i mean if you want to say late point because of his age but really probably on time for his development because he got into this game with like

you know no background and you know and not too short later was was in it so um it's wild luke all right let's go to bellator let's go to bellator top five bc we'll do the same exercise top fights we want to see top five fights excuse me we would like to see in 2023 in bellator bc give me your number five yeah i feel almost shameless putting a potential gimmick fight on here when bellator has so many relevant fights you know that that real fans know and need to see uh style wise and all that but it's hard for me not to ask for something when there's a chance you know oh you're going to put spider-man and batman in the same movie you have a chance to do fedor emilienenko versus anderson silva provided fedor comes out okay winner lose against ryan bad. And maybe there's a CBS element to it or a pay-per-view element or just the, you know,

we did this before with Dan Hendo versus Fedor, and guess what? It was awesome. I know different time. I can't believe Fedor's still here. I don't even know if Anderson still wants to do this anymore. But if you're going to go into the old playbook and play, you know, an old favorite, you could do a lot worse than this exact matchup right here. That's going to wake a lot of people up who used to watch

and come back in again for one night. This is my only gimmick on the list, Luke, but I like it. I like it, okay? I can't hide from that. Didn't Silva say he's not doing MMA anymore? Yeah, I think, you know, they'd have to give him enough money to change that, right? Probably, right?

Oh, yeah, right. I mean, he'd have to go back and reconsider, which they might for Fedor. They might for Fedor. But they're going to have to open up the purse strings to get old Silva in there. Actually, I thought this was the fight they should have made instead of the Bader one, to be honest with you.

But that one's already going to be happening on February 4th. Of course, that's for the title, so it's a different fight, right? Because Bader has it. And it's a rematch, so that one has some stakes in a different way. But, yeah, I would love to see this fight if they could make it. All right, for my number five, BC. I mean, I don't know if I... How do I say this?

I wanted to make sure that I didn't completely sleep on women's MMA. Chris Cyborg, I don't know if she's going to get that Kayla Harrison fight. I don't know what the hell is going to happen. But I really respect the career she's put together at this point. I really respect what she's done in terms of like crafting her own vision for herself. Didn't get a lot of attention, but she did fight on that Bud Crawford card more recently. She got a nice win. She got a nice win in boxing in Brazil.

She's going to come back and she needs to fight a top contender BC. I'll tell you what, I'd like to see what happens between Chris Cyborg and Kat Zingano. They've been telegraphing this contest for a while. It hasn't happened yet. Kat Zingano training with Justin Flores, who is the judo coach of Ronda Rousey for a while, Patty Pimblitt, but a lot of fighters like Angela Hill and many others.

He's just a phenomenal coach. He's been working with her. She looks tremendous in the training room from what I've seen from the footage she's posted. I think Chris Cyborg could benefit from having another name on her resume like this if she could get it. And if you're looking at what the bigger fights are that Bellator can make, I'd actually argue this is up there with it. So I'd like to see Chris Cyborg defend against a known name, see what it looks like. Kat Zingano is certainly longer in the tooth if you're going to do it.

Now is the time. Let's make this fight. Yeah, I mean, I don't hate it, certainly. And there is some weird elements to it that are cool, and they've both been around a long time and are everything from pioneers to legends in terms of... I mean, it's not easy also, Luke, to stay relevant this long. And as explosive now as she seemed to be

in the big Misha Tate winner breakthrough comeback win there, no, but right style, right matchup, right night. I mean, this is a very interesting fight. I'd bite in on that. Number four for me, Luke, you've heard me gush a little bit about this before, but Vadim Nemkov might be the best light heavyweight in the world. So I say, okay, what are his options for 2023

that's going to get me really pumped up? He's fought everybody else and he's beat him, right? Obviously, Corey Anderson could potentially get a third dance one day based on what we've seen in the past. Who knows? How about Gayguard Musasi though, before he one day hangs it up on his legendary run,

he just lost his middleweight title and it was a lot wider than we expected, but he's, you know, a light heavyweight, uh, through and through just the same as his middleweight run. There's,

there's theater in this to me. And I think it's another big name Vadim Nemkov could add on as he continues to kind of somewhat quietly, when you look at the attention people get on the global scale, continue to just be great. He could do worse than Chase in this one. So, I mean, do you like this fight for Gegard? Could he reinvent himself one more time, Luke?

No, I don't think so. I don't like this fight for him as much as you do. Yeah. All right. All right. I think Nemkov would beat him brutally. Yeah. I mean, brutally now, Luke?

Really? Is this what's going on? Yeah. Yes. Yes. I think Nemkov would handle him. Yeah. You're just sore about that Vandiver prediction, all right?

I mean, I'm not. Listen. He let you down. I don't recommend listening to any of my predictions but that one blew up in my face that's fine but the eblin one didn't and uh it's because listen dude musasi has had a amazing career i mean truly the just look at how long he's been doing it in how many organizations and the kinds of achievements he's racked up it's remarkable but he's older now he's older and it's he's not the same guy that he once was.

So if this was like five or six years ago, I would definitely have a different view of it. Like if you could get today's Nemkov versus, you know, the guy who beat Chris Weidman in UFC, the one who came over here or whatever. Yeah, that to me completely changes the equation. But, you know, Father Time's undefeated. He's undefeated, and i just don't know

if this is the right time for that fight so suck it bc all right for my number for my number four on this one how about this we didn't get a lot of clarity in his last fight because his shoulder just completely blew up like someone put a grenade in it but he's massively improved he has time for a step up and I'd be curious to see how this one goes how about Aaron Pico versus Adam Boric too right the rematch there a little bit Boric got the first one of these somewhat handily I would actually argue but Pico it's it's I'm not saying it's now or never but it's time it's time for a step up and Boric had his chance against Pitbull and it didn't go well of course he had that amazing fight against Logan Storlie. We know that he is certainly capable of amazing feats.

I think Pico is ready for something big. He needs a big fight in 2023. He's been quietly rebuilding, and there's not a single thing wrong with that. I feel like his team and Brandon Gibson, they've done the right thing, Bellator too, in slowly rebuilding him. But I feel like we've turned that corner a little bit didn't get the clarity we wanted against Jeremy Kennedy because of his shoulder but I think it's time BC where are you on a Pico Boric 2 rematch yeah I mean look you know if we're saying it from the real dream standpoint of the best fights you can

make I mean him against Patricio is Pico versus Patricio for me is probably one I'd put higher than this but the storyline angle of how you know how that Pico fell apart in their first matchup and where they're both at right now I mean boards versus Pico is a great fight as well uh I just I do wonder I mean I hope the shoulder's okay you know what I mean I mean it got his shoulder got dillashawed pretty bad there Luke I hope I hope it's okay but yeah but to your point of like is he ready now for a really hard fight yeah they they took the long road rather than the short fix and it seemed to have worked shoulder provided that it's okay back then you know we're back to normal yeah you could go as high as a title shot in my opinion i really think you could i mean have we fully learned how

reformed he is not fully but we've learned a lot when he sticks to the wrestling luke and and and you know shows more responsibility striking pico is is is such a much better fighter it's incredible but uh man that shoulder shoulder gate was gnarly though yeah just yanking on that shit on national tv like you know i'm not in a position to be telling corners exactly what the best thing is but i have a feeling that wasn't it. Yeah, you're like, that ain't it. Yeah, yeah. My radar went off. We'll see.

I mean, he's still young, so we'll see. Go ahead, number three. Number three, could I have gone wrong basically just saying number three is Sergio Pettis, the injured and idle but current Bantamweight champion fighting the winner of the World Grand Prix who will have the interim title. Yeah, either Rafael Stotts or Pachy Mix. But if you ask me, not only which one do I think, you know, should be favored coming in and which matchup would get me a little more fired up, I think right now Pachy Mix versus Sergio Pettis is my number three fight to make for next year.

You know, it will get made if Mix beats Stotts. And again, no disrespect to Stotts versus Pettis, that potential of two former teammates. That's a hell of a great fight. But Patchy Mix, as we've talked about throughout this tournament, it took me a while to catch up to what he was doing, but the Horiguchi fight was no mistake, and he just continues to wreck shit up. I mean, he's figured out his own formula to be at

his best now let's ride that wave and see it it's an interesting matchup against pettis who will have a lot of questions to answer from not only the injury laps but you know he was losing every second of that horiguchi fight before he he saved it all um this this be good theater for me i'm into it uh i love anything patchy mix related for bellator in 2023 you can sign me up yeah anything and he might not win them all he may win some he may lose some don't know but his game is so exciting uh his control is excellent he can be a devastating finisher as well he is such a problem for that bantamweight division again the choice you made in terms of matchups is fine but dude there's a lot of directions you could go with that and still get great fights so yeah dude i'm

all in on patchy mix 2023 the bellator takeover let's see if he can do it but whatever path he takes this matchup or the other ones two thumbs up from this guy cannot go wrong uh bc how about this one i'm gonna go a slightly different direction than you slightly different direction how about patricio pitbull versus sergio pettis fuck all this nonsense whoa about yeah hear me out on this one hear me out on this one i know that we still have to declare the winner of the bellator bantamweight grand prix but that's still undecided to be patchy mix to the point we just discussed versus ralphieotts so we got to get that and then the winner takes on ostensibly Sergio Pettis and we wanted Sergio Pettis in the tournament but we couldn't because he got injured and blah blah blah

alright here's the thing though I say fuck all that I say Pettis is going to be back to health and ready to fight relatively soon-ish I know he was on the broadcast talking about his health and recovery and he's not quite ready yet but he will be relatively soon-ish I think if there's a way to squeeze that in you just tell

patricio dude fuck 155 forget all that nonsense it's time it's time to figure out if we can get a three belt holder in a single organization have them fight right away patricio pitbull going down to 135 taking on sergio pettis and then the winner of stats and Mix gets the winner of that doesn't matter because they're going to fight the champion no matter what um in terms of Stotts and uh Mix but whether it's Pettis or it's Pitbull it's hard to go wrong in either case it would be in a can you think about that I mean Stotts versus Pitbull yes Mix versus Pitbull yes or the other way around Mix versus Pettis or whatever all of those work none of those are bad fights. And just to, dude, let's see some ambition from promoters.

And I know that Coker's trying with this Ryzen versus Bellator thing, which I think is a great indication of that. But what I'm saying is let's get creative with the matchmaking. Let's try and see if we can create some actual history here. Pitbull is in a unique position where he can make 135 without much problems, and you already know he's going to be competitive no matter which guy on that roster he fights. Let's see if he can actually do it.

Pitbull versus Pettis, make it happen. Yeah, you just played some elite-level chess in that matchmaking. You caught me off guard with that. That's actually the brilliant way to do it, and it gives the winner of the tournament time, rightfully so, to get some rest from how quickly they've had to stay healthy and stay active here uh but think about it

like this we we just had we're in the midst of what has been a very good grand prix we all are really excited about the final then you have the champion waiting who is you know arguably the biggest name of the group sergio pettis and you also can drop in the greatest fighter in bellator history potentially if he wants to right now and patricio chasing history as what would be the first three-division champion of elite MMA. I mean, it would be, right? I mean, that's what Rene Derrida wanted to do before he lost to Malikin. We always know Conor wanted to be the first one to do that. That's wild. That's wild potential, man, because you could just as well make the debate on Patricio going up to lightweight instead and entering that group but uh but he

already beat michael chandler he already he already did that you know what i mean like i guess don't get me wrong patricio 155 amazing like there's not a thing wrong with that but dude we're gonna really pass up an opportunity to see what he can do against elite championship guys at 135 that seems like a mistake to me. All right. I'm interested to, on the same topic for my number two to ask what you think Bellator will do,

because here's the deal. Patricio Pitbull versus AJ McKee, part three, and whatever form or iteration you choose to do it. Although the timing here has to be key because who's modern, Amalga Medoff just won the title and Patricio could go and really anywhere across three divisions but luke whether it would be potentially for a lightweight title if either one wanted here or it

was as a part of the grand prix tournament that they're going to do it lightweight or if it was for pitbull's featherweight title next year or if it was it doesn't really matter the weight right pitbull versus mckee three has a lot of answers to questions we still have based on the first two fights when do you think they'll fit this in? You know what I mean? Does this have for them on a short term level almost like a McGregor Diaz 3 type thing where it's like

you can cash in at any point but you do have to be strategic with that I just it's going to be I don't know who they're going to pick for the lightweight Grand Prix and I think that will tell us everything we need to know at that point. It's just hard to know. I don't think they're going to go right for it. Not to say, not to say your call for it is bad.

I agree with it. But, um, by the way, Tukey might come in here at any moment. I forgot to lock the door again. Um, but the point being is I, I feel like they want some, I feel like they want some different matchups. But if they end up getting a scenario where this is organically a place that they find themselves, if in fact Patricio goes to 155 for this Grand Prix, they'll probably put him on opposite ends of the bracket, and then hopefully they find their way in the end.

But either way, it's an impossibly good fight. Yeah, there you go go what do you got for number two take a two luke drop drop funnily enough my uh number actually you know what no sorry i got it wrong my number two is going to be one that's not okay so bc i told you this before with with rakmanov and chamayev right let's get the hammers against each other i'm sick of the hammers beating up on the the the terrible Americans and the overmatched Brazilians and the under whoever Europeans let's put these goddamn hammers against each other how about Usman Nurmagomedov versus Tawfiq Musayev

and I know I've got a name that a lot of people know in in the case of Musayev but that dude is an absolute hammer as well was beating the shit out of a lot of good fighters over in Ryzen and you know obviously his last fight they weren't able to make I think he had visa issues Musayev but That dude is an absolute hammer as well, was beating the shit out of a lot of good fighters over in Ryzen. And, you know, obviously his last fight they weren't able to make. I think he had visa issues, Musaev. But in either case, this is a guy in Musaev who I actually feel like could give Usman Nurmagomedov some problems. Would really show us, because what you've seen from Usman is that he's very talented, very good everywhere. But I think was, you know, he's a bit of a risk manager relative to some of the other guys.

A little bit less willing to open up unless he has very good conditions. Dude, Musaev is a little bit more hard-nosed than that. And he can wrestle. He's good at submissions. He can strike. He can do everything as well. And I think he might push Nurmagomedov in terms of his comfort zone, which is where all of his offense comes from.

He has to be kind of comfortable there to get it really going. That could be a very interesting matchup. And I got to tell you, I'm not saying that I know for a fact that, or I even believe that Musaev is necessarily the toughest fight for him in Bellator. But if it's not, it's the next toughest fight. It is a very difficult contest. Usman Nurmagomedov to Afik Musaev. I would love to next toughest fight. Like it is a very difficult contest. Usman Nurmagomedov, Tufik Musaev. I would love to see this fight.

Damn, it felt like you just like ordered off the menu at a real ritzy restaurant and like to impress us all and like created a dish out of thin air. Luke, that's, that's, um, it wasn't on my five, but that's a fantastic sell. And I think it would be a great fight too. So, uh, nice artistry from you. Uh, Luke, number one, you know what I'm going to say, dude.

Usman Nurmagomedov, AJ McKee. It says it all, dude. And we may end up. So look, if they do this. We can just stop here. It's my number one as well. Hell yeah. My number one as well.

I mean, look, this lightweight Grand Prix Bellator setting up has potential to be incredible. I mean, if Patricio surprises us and jumps in too, Luke, you know, I mean, this could be wild. I don't know. Do you see this in the final if they do fight next year? Either way, I can't wait. I can't wait to see what, you know, McKee's combination of athleticism with, you know, IQ and the flashiness that he brings and the chances sometimes he takes, that's just the perfect opposing fencing opponent to come here and try to see if he can take that amazing computer in Nurmagomedov, who also is an artist, but in his own different way, and just try to make him overthink himself i mean this could you know this could be slow and and it could be quick it could be fast too luke either way man i just can't wait to see

what they paint i you know go ahead go ahead paint your masterpiece together i mean the thing for me here is that a guy like number come in as i just mentioned very careful excuse me very thorough very talented great wrestler able to create openings in so many dynamic ways but a little bit of a risk manager which it sounds like i'm being insulting i'm not just the kind of fighter that he is i mean his success speaks for itself mckee is not that guy mckee is balls out let's go he's very talented as well and he's not he doesn't fight stupid but he does fight a lot more offensively open and he will take more risks along fight stupid but he does fight a lot more offensively open and he will take more risks along the way it's just such a great pairing it's you know youth

taking over in the division which we've by the way we're seeing over a 155 in the UFC as well so it's kind of this broader global movement to be quite honest with you all the other talents kind of slowly getting pushed out this would be a great example of it and honestly i don't know who would win it's such a phenomenal contrast of styles personalities approaches to the fight game and yet on both sides youth elite athleticism well-rounded skills finishing capability you name it can't i mean of all the fights bellator can make in 2023 if we can't find a way to make this one what a missed opportunity that would be. And this would be one of those compelling ones, even though neither are like,

I mean, McKee can be flashy at times in his own way, of course, but like neither of them are over the top. Trash talkers are overly charismatic, but I still think like a doc series behind the scenes on these guys would be very interesting considering, you know, their camps and their backstories. And yeah, like this is a book I want to read slowly, luke because that's usually the pace i have to because of my upbringing uh all right with that in mind we just have one left boxing our top five boxing fights that we

would want to see in 2023 bc as is customary you get to go first good sir what's the all right i talked about it most fight you want to see in um i've already hyped this up massive the potential uh last week when naya inouye the monster became the undisputed bantamweight champion his third division and you saw it on the t-shirt he wore in celebration after which indicated a want to move up to go for a fourth title at 122 right now the big names it's akhmadaliyev on one side, it's the PBC banner on Showtime with, you know, Fulton, Figueroa, Neri, and all those guys, but look, the best fight, the biggest stakes, pound for pound rankings against each other, it's the monster Nia Nui fighting Stephen Fulton Jr.

And, you know, maybe Fulton could get his own undisputed path eventually, you know, with Akhmad Aliyev, or maybe he rematches Figueroa. I don't know the direction he's going, but if this can somehow land late next year and all the parties would have to be willing based on Inouye's ESPN partnership and top rank affiliation, but I don't know if it can be made, but damn, if this is high class stuff, this is like going, you know, this is, this is the high end steak steakhouse luke i'm ready

i'm ready for this like this is some wagyu shit okay let's do it this is um this is something special which is why it's my number five as well i have exactly this fight anyway steven fulton jr i didn't know much about steven fulton jr when i started covering boxing again at the beginning of my morning combat run bc hit me to him a long time ago or i should say at the beginning of that process and so i've been a little bit more acutely aware of him more recently and when i say that last few years he is just a marvel i mean he is so smooth i got to host that uh prelim stream on the danny garcia return fight with him and boots ennis and um i got to talk to him lot, both on that broadcast and off smart guy understands the fight game, understands what makes him work, understands what his competitors are

good at and how to get around it fully confident in his own abilities. And what can I say about the monster himself? Ridiculous power, the ability to create openings, fast, dynamic, dynamic talent. Both of them are technicians to the nth degree both in their 20s i mean ladies and gentlemen we could have put this number one on our list and we would have been justified it's almost insulting that we had it at number five but if there is a god they will make this fight in 2023 yeah the the planets need to align properly but it's uh you know i believe that there's there's there's life out there beyond this planet luke so there we go number four go ahead uh i cannot believe this is number four i

cannot believe it is it butterbean yeah it's butterbean rematching larry holmes no uh luke number four i mean it was our number one every year for a lot and and we can't act like we're over it completely but errol spence jr versus terrence Crawford for the undisputed welterweight championship between two generational welterweights. I don't know. I don't know. It could happen next year. It very well could.

It has taken a... It's been a gut punch. It's been a kick to the nards, Luke, to watch this thing fall apart when... I mean, you know know and you got to juggle the blame and you know who even cares at the end in terms of who's to blame like i feel like i know you feel like you know everybody feels like they may even if they have a dog in this race or not my dog ultimately is i want to see this fight i want to find out who's the best welterweight of this era post mayweather pacquiao who's the man um and also contrast wise style wise i don't

have to tell you anything else about this this is this could be the best thing going in this sport you know the best thing we have to offer could be right here but they've waited a long time terence grufford has not looked good in the public eye whether unfair or not throughout the negotiation process in this uh it it could i mean it could make next year like overwhelmingly epic it also could just never happen if you know i'm gonna tell you i i'm gonna be honest with you i just and you could say whatever you want about me and how this critique is bad faith we do work for showtime and so please take that into consideration with what i'm about to say but i candidly i just don't believe crawford

really wants it i don't i don't i'm at that point where i just don't think he really wants it i know he even tweeted spence today at the point which we're having this conversation that's great i would love to be wrong maybe they'll make it you know i don't know what other options bud really has at this point so i guess we'll see but i don't think he wants that fight i mean in the end this could just be if you're if you're blaming bud it could just be him wanting like like spence said on the showtime broadcast he should have just come out and said, you know, I got this bag and I want it. And let's wait and let me get this bag first. I mean, that's what it seemed like it was in the end.

Although who knows, you know, who knows who actually got paid, Luke, at the BLK Prime pay-per-view because you hear a lot of negative rumors coming out of that as well. Hey, did it sell a million buys? No, no, it didn't. It didn't turn that kind of profit. But I'll have to check Todd Grisham. Hopefully his check made it through there, Luke.

But yeah, man, it really could happen. I mean, that's why it's big. But I hope it's one of those things, Luke, where it does happen, and then we all wake up again to how great it could be, and it's this bonus on top of the best year that ever happened in the sport. Luke, every year has the potential to know the best year that ever happened in the sport luke and every year has the potential to be the best year ever okay just you gotta hold that level of optimism in boxing or you'll die luke you'll die okay if you don't hold on to some you know fleeting

feeling and moment okay it's still real to me damn it all right for my number four in boxing i'm gonna go dimitri bivol versus artur baterbiabio. Oh, yes. Or however you want to say it. So in the case of Artur, you have the only champion in all of boxing with a 100% finishing rate. We're talking 175 here, light heavy. Bivol doing incredible things against Zerdo, and then previous to that, Canelo really elevating both his game and I think this past year, BC, his profile.

Bivol went from very much an insider's kind of guy to having pretty two big main events, obviously the one with Canelo being the biggest of them. And he really just did nothing but shine. He did nothing but look good. And also on top of that, his game to me got a little bit cleaner. It got a little bit more offensive. He just really grew in that time.

And we don't have a great window left for Beterbiev, however you say it but but um he is a guy who is just a punishing punishing talent you know we look at it to canada but from chechnya originally he is so dynamic he is such a powerful force marches down everyone puts everyone away undefeated again 100 finishing rate that's he's the only one in all of boxing to have that as a champion how do we not make this fight this seems like not it's a no-brainer mentally obviously it's much more complicated in real in the real world but bc surely you agree this is one to see in 20 i just can't believe this didn't make my top five because

it's like you didn't even mention the the element of, oh, by the way, it's two unbeaten champions, both in or right around the top 10 pound for pound, and it's for all four light heavyweight champions. Like, it's the undisputed championship. Like, it's everything. The only thing it lacks is like that over-the-top crossover appeal, which it doesn't have. But with B-Vol raising his profile, as you mentioned, damn.

Yeah, it doesn't seem to be anything in the way still, except for what, Anthony Yard fight against Better Beef coming up? I think that's right. Yeah, he does have to get through that, which he probably will. Yeah, that's in January, I think. Yeah, there you go. All right, Luke, number three is a fight. We hope we're seeing one.

April 15th is the working date. Yes, it's Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia, pay-per-view, 136-pound catch weight. But obviously, Luke, forget whatever. There's no titles here. What we're talking about is two unbeaten, absolute stars, not just in the sport, but really more importantly for them in terms of how they've crossed over outside of it into a younger audience group.

They have separate audiences in some ways, too. You bring in two just studs. Not that both, you know, there aren't questions in some ways regarding both, although Gervonta is, I mean, God, we know who he is now. We know how finished and how pound for pound he is. Ryan Garcia, there's still more questions, but the fact that we don't have those answers is part of what makes this potentially a great fight because there's two gunslingers

who are just going to go at it, they they kind of bent the system to make this happen ryan garcia pushed back and at the end of the day they made the deal you know provided that gervonta wins on january 7th provided no injuries no court obligations that that threaten it we could see this in four months i mean this is this is this is wild luke and we as we always talk about don't see this enough in their prime going out of their way to fight each other it's not even like they're doing it for the championship luke they're just doing it to prove something when you get that mentality and an already can't miss fight it could be a you know can never forget it type of fight. Man, I'm just watching this highlight here and Tank flattening Roley Romero like that. Good Lord, what a beautiful shot.

Obviously, you know, we think that this fight's going to happen. We hope that this fight's going to happen. Nothing is ever guaranteed until they're in the ring. But yeah, dude, I mean, this is one of the most exciting fights boxing can make, independent of weight class, independent of belt, independent of all that. Just give me, like, if you just said, what's a huge fight boxing could make?

Tank Davis, Ryan Garcia. It's going to be in most people's top of their list. Not a damn thing wrong with it. So I really, really hope that they make it this year. Can you believe that's my number three? That was my number one like three months ago. I think the fact that we kind of feel like now we're getting it, maybe I'm, you know, for some weird reason underrating it now.

I mean, but it's my third. that could be number one for anyone yes actually i didn't even put it on my list only because not that i didn't think it's in my top five just because it's kind of already on the calendar i'm more thinking of fights that haven't been announced or anything yet you know so that's where i'm at so for my number three bc listen man i'm not telling you this is going to be the most technical fight it's not what i'm saying i'm not telling you this is going to be the most technical fight. That's not what I'm saying. I'm not telling you this is for all the marbles. That's not what I'm saying. But what I am telling you is one of these two names I'm about to say,

you can't tell me you wouldn't have a good-ass time watching this fight. So, BC, you know how some fights are just, like, for example, your fight you wanted to see between Gaethje and Chandler. That's just a fun-ass fight, man. I mean, there's not a damn thing wrong with it, right? Here's my version of that. Deontay Wilder versus Andy Ruiz. And people shit on Deontay Wilder because he doesn't have, you know,

Muhammad Ali technique. Dude, fuck all that. That guy has the – he can lower the boom on anybody we've seen. I think he takes AJ to school school personally uh just by virtue of his power not by virtue of his boxing ability and ruiz can box and he definitely looks a lot better than he has been ass tats and all but i don't think he's necessarily like fully maximized his potential either he still fights fights with balls sometimes for the wrong reasons at the wrong times like this by the way how about

this both guys are pbc fighters both guys are in the same promotional family bc this is a fight that should be again relatively speaking easy to make and for as long as it lasts fun as shit do you yeah it's interesting the life this fight has taken on because it seemed to be like fox in particular was like telegraphing the want to do this on pay-per-view and you know putting on pay-per-view interim fights to build toward this and you know there was a time where we thought of ruiz maybe higher immediately after he upset john or aj for sure and you know before the disappointing uh loss in the rematch but he's done andy ruiz things since then right ashtats come back look you know good but also got dropped by areola um man he's a threat

still to win a title he can box and is quicker than people realize and that's ultimately what makes him dangerous but he's also a proud mexican fighter luke and there's times he just throws himself into danger or just ends up there because he gets wobbled the potential for just pendulum shifting drama in this fight is through the roof so I like that when you're basically like yeah that'd be a good action movie let's watch it right basically that's it who doesn't want to see a great action movie that's all I'm saying that's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. Yeah. What's your number two, I believe? Here we go, Luke.

You want history? You want two unbeaten fighters? You want every, I mean, everything. Tyson Fury, Alexander Usyk. And we seem to be really close, by the way, based on, you know, Bob Arum put another rumor out there that part of the deal signed or both verbally agreed or whatever. You know, it's like another step in the process. But we survived

the the trilogy with jesora we didn't need it here we are it's i mean if usic wins this okay if he pulls another upset you're talking about a you know olympic champion who would then become the first four bell undisputed cruiserweight champion and then become the undisputed heavyweight champion like i'm not prepared to know how to even put that in historical terms or fury wins and you know begins to add enough names on his resume to really make that argument not just of the heavyweight of this era which a victory here over usic would prove that but i'm not i'm not kidding like to you know he doesn't have the resume of the historical ones we try to compare

him to because of the times he's been in and out and the unpredictability and all that. But he's starting to fill it in just enough. If he beats Usyk and becomes the Undisputed Champion, you could throw Fury into top 10 list of heavyweights definitely, but you could even try to

push him further. I'm seriously, unbeaten, if he gets a chance to fight everybody, I think he'll fight Joshua before giving it all up. That would probably be as close as it comes to having fighting everybody he could. I mean, he'd be Klitschko for the titles in a big upset. I mean, he's done some things here, Luke, not as consistent as we've wanted to and all that,

but there's so much damn history here. And I think also it'll just be a really interesting chess match on top of that. It'll be pomp and circumstance. It'll feel like royalty. Let's do it. My number two could be your number one. Maybe you didn't have it on there.

I don't know. What do you got Luke? How about your number two is my number two Tyson Fury versus Oleksandr Usyk. I have the exact same fight in the exact same placement we had a couple of these overlap through the three different lists that we did I couldn't add much to it other than it's a fight that needs to happen

it's a fight that I think probably will happen and for all the reasons of the historical significance in either side this is the one there would be other good fights you could make with Tyson Fury as you mentioned the one with AJ I would certainly not poo-poo it. I'd be happy with it.

But for the sport, for the history, for the division, for its significance, for its, frankly, like for people who like technical fighting, man, this is going to be a dream fight, right? Really unpacking all the tiny details that make the difference in this contest. This is the one. Tyson Fury a phenomenal technician Usyk maybe the best of the all the heavyweights in terms of how precise and thorough he is in that department what else could you say it's the fight to make maybe in the all

of boxing certainly in the heavyweight division and I really really really hope we get it next year damn it's like Usyk is he might be the greatest cruiserweight of all time. It's either him or Evander Holyfield. And now he has a chance to beat Tyson Fury and be the undisputed unbeaten champion here in heavyweight. Like that's just wild, as is the history potential for Fury on the other side. That's how you know you love it.

Luke, my number one. I just realized I don't have what might end up being your number one on this list, but, and the one that I'm missing could end up being your number one on this list, but, and the one that I'm missing could end up, could have been in any of my five slots. The point is there's a lot of great fights that actually are realistic can happen next year. I don't know if this one is specifically realistic,

but it's actually not hard to make. Here's the deal. The boxing fan in me, the pure fan in me, the hardcore loves pure boxing on the highest level. The artistry of it loves young boxing on the highest level, the artistry of it. Loves young fighters on the verge of breaking through and loves them having to prove it against the very best contest, you know, they can have. So look, Devin Haney's your lightweight

champion. He's got all four titles and he's unbeaten. He's like 24. He might be next to fight Lomachenko and that's a fight that could be on anybody's list in the top five. It could be in mine too. But Shakur Stevenson might be the top five. It could be in mine, too. But Shakur Stevenson might be the next Floyd. He might be that next pound-for-pound king. Devin Haney might also be that guy, too. Boots Ennis at Walter White might also be that guy, but in this same division, in the same promotional stable

and network, now that Shakur's moved up to 135, he can't get any of the names. That's all you see in the headlines. All these people are saying no to fighting him. Imagine if Devin Haney brings all four belts in his unbeaten record against two division champion Olympic medalist, unbeaten Shakur Stevenson, and they fight for number one pound for pound. I could be on the table if these guys fight each other, and it would be them fighting each other in the early part of their prime. Like, you know, the stuff we want,

that old school mentality we'd be back luke from just straight up your chess game against mine that might be the purely the best boxing matchup you can make in this sport seriously i mean spence crawford is there too that's better you know i think i have one that's better all right uh but it fits in line with what you're talking about I don't hate that fight at all I love to see that contest what a dream it would be

find it unlikely but certainly crazier things have happened but in the spirit of why you're arguing for it I'm going to throw something out that I don't think will happen either candidly but this is the one I think should happen. And if it does, I will have my pants around my ankles.

Namely, Errol Spence Jr. versus Jerron Ennis. That's the one I would like to see. I candidly just do not believe Bud Crawford really wants the fight. He may end up taking it. He may end up winning it. We'll have to see. But I just don't really believe in his heart of hearts. He thinks he needs it or really wants it.

I just, I'm very down on the idea of Spence versus Crawford ever happening hope I'm wrong but the one that you could make in the same weight class although again no one really wants to fight Boots for all the reasons that we know Boots Ennis is maybe the best talent in all of boxing we don't really know that but he appears to be the real deal Holyfield he can do it all he can box he can punch he can move he can counter fight hefield. He can do it all. He can box. He can punch. He can move. He can counter fight. He can lead. He can do every single thing.

High fight IQ, dynamic athleticism, you name it, he's got it. And we all know the story of Errol Spence, just an absolute jackhammer of a fighter. Gets in close, works the body like nobody else, has an unrelenting pace, unrelenting pressure. They'll be the best trainer in the game. These two guys are in the same weight class. They're not exactly in the same promotion, but more or less kind of are,

because obviously Jerron Ennis has a slightly different promoter, but it works with PBC. So you wouldn't have major hurdles in that sense to making it happen. And you want to talk about chess game. You want to talk about a brutality game. You want to talk about two just fully complete fighters to talk about two like just fully complete fighters in their own kinds of ways bc tell me i'm wrong tell me that you wouldn't die to see geron ennis and errol spence lockhorns i see what you did right there and it's a brilliant it's a brilliant

you know shuffling of the uh the deck chairs but we're not on the titanic we're on the chess board you're basically telling me for your personal fandom, obviously no one's going to turn down Spence Crawford. It's everything and more. But Spence Boots has become your Spence Crawford just from the standpoint of there's a question out there that I want answered, and this might be the best way to find that out, right? Yes, but also I think the fight would be exciting.

I don't think it would be a defensive affair you know I mean it's that's the thing it's like you know you could get it wrong to look at boxing and even get into it a little and then exit and just focus on the negative and be like man this portal it's always in its own way this could be a fight next year dude this is a generational fight it could be number one I can't yeah I love that you you ordered off the menu and kind of made even though really it's not that far of a leap because if Venice beats uh Tricades in there on January 7th he's what the mandatory now in two of the belts for for uh Spence so damn that's a great fight so Luke the biggest thing that people might be yelling at is how the hell do both of you not have Canelo versus David Benavidez I don't only really because I don't think we see it next year.

Again, dude, I'm not opposed to that fight, and we're going to get David Benavidez versus Caleb Plant. So, by the way, that's a great contest. It's just, yeah, it's really, really, really, really, really hard to know what. Like, that could be your number one. That could be your number one because if anybody, you know, Canelo is in the argument among the best in the world at the moment obviously not our pomfropon number one anymore but he's still in that argument and his best division is 68 and

this is the only guy i think you could you know make right now a monster case for having the style youth you know power everything mixed together The backbone, everything to give him in extreme trouble. My question is how long is Canelo going to be out, you know, with the injury that's supposed to go into the summer, at least next year. And at that point, will he be waiting to see who wins B-Vol better B-Vol to, you know, to potentially rematch B-Vol for all four titles, right? I mean, there's basically a decision that Canelo's going to have to make next year

when it's about to be time to come back. Will he come back to the PBC and, God, hopefully on Showtime here, right? And try to get into this larger sweepstakes with Benavidez, who's going to fight Plant. Maybe Jamal Charlo moves up. I mean, you know, Andrade's around and there's names, there's options. Not that I think he ever wants to fight Andrade. He's told him off before, but you get my point. Or Luke, does he look at that B-ball matchup

and the competitor inside of Big Red just go, nah, man, I know how to beat him. And if now you have a chance that he could do it for four belts, what do you think? What do you think next year Canelo goes? Which direction? I think he tries for the B-ball rematch. It changes the landscape so much based on his decision, right?

Yeah, I think he tries for the Bivouac rematch, personally. I think he wants it back. I don't think it's very advisable, but he wants it. And I think, you know, as arguably the biggest star in boxing, I think he gets what he wants. So that's probably where we're headed with that, candidly. All right. We have just a couple of topics we want to get to here very quickly,

and then we'll get to some of the fan subs. You see topic number four here. So the Robert Whitaker versus Paulo Costa fight is off from UFC 284. Whitaker on Instagram said, quote, UFC tried everything in their power to get Costa to the fight. The Perth fight is not happening. Of course, that's where it was going to take place, Perth, Australia. They're looking to reschedule me in March or April.

This is very upsetting. I'm sorry to all the friends and fans and family heading over there to watch me work. It's out of my hands. Costa had tweeted basically that he felt sorry for Robert Whitaker because he's been consistent, which, by the way, he's right. He has been telling everyone in the public, I didn't sign off on this fight at all. He also wanted a new contract. Now, according to Whitaker, UFC did in fact offer him a new deal, but he was making 65-65 in his last fight. I think he wants more than that. You can make

your judgment about whether or not that's justified. But Costa then tweeted in addition to saying he was sorry to Robert because it's not his fault. He didn't announce this fight to the public. Quote, great fights are going down due to a lack of negotiation skills. They should stop being petty. They, I think in this case, refers to UFC. BC, who's to blame? Robert Whitaker, Paulo Costa, UFC? Come down on this one.

It depends on ultimately who you believe and how much information is out there that we don't know of what actually goes on at the negotiation table because didn't Paulo Costa end up putting public, at some form, I don't know if it was an interview or a tweet or an IG post, that he was offered 70 and 70 for this fight

and sent somebody like Whitaker's getting, you know, what, a guarantee of probably 250, right? 250K, something big like that, right? I don't know, but probably more, yes. Yeah, or maybe a lot more. 70 and 70, you know, to go to the guy's backyard, more or less, and travel halfway across the world. You know, I get, in theory, what he's saying with that,

but isn't Costa also, like, very public about wanting to fight out his contract and get out of here? So are we looking at him? I mean, are we looking at them trying to freeze him out, basically, Luke? No, I mean, here's the way I come down on ABCc and if i'm missing something by all means tell me i am perfectly willing to believe that costa is asking for things that even the most ardent fan of increasing fighter pay would recognize that he's asking for things that he's not really entitled to he just this is way too much or that he's flaky and somewhat hard to deal with.

I don't know that those things should be true, but I can really imagine that that would be in play, right? But here's the thing for me, dude. Of all the entities, who was the entity that made the announcement of this fight before any of it had ever been signed? It's the UFC. It's the ufc dude they did this is like we go hold on hold on we go back to this this is not the first time that they have allegedly done

this you had many fighters being upset about this and you had uh in the last few years ally quinta upset that they had announced the fight with bobby green he had never signed on to it at all he didn't understand why they were doing that they were doing that ostensibly and one of my favorite words to pressure these guys to sign they make the announcement they're like oh well i guess i gotta sign this now because uh they made it public and i guess i gotta go through with it dude i'm sorry man you can say whatever you want about behind the scenes a guy like paulo costa being difficult to deal with and of course he's missed weight at times like don't get me wrong there are plenty of criticisms to make of Paulo Costa, but there is one entity here that gave literal fake news about this.

I think that you should read all of you, the proverbial, you, all of us should take a step back and say, if they're not done negotiating, whatever the terms of that may be, they're not done negotiating. Well,

yeah, not announce a fight that doesn't exist it's a dirtbag dirty you know mafia level way of negotiating that they seem to do constantly so the thing is we don't know like we know that they're at odds but the thing is you know you never know if coast is kidding or not and he posts a lot of stuff that's you know memes or just him being ridiculous but you know he's been talking a lot publicly of late, you know, teasing this idea that he's going to go and that, you know. So who knows what the first wound was, right, to start this?

Maybe, like you said, maybe they looked at him as being something big for them and then his flakiness, you know, contributed to that. But they're not in a good space. So now for him to reveal, if it's true, that they did only offer him 70 and 70, this tells me that they're trying to, like like what's their what's their move right here this is their move to just try to hurt him that way offer him fights he won't accept at prices he won't accept but then at the end of the year say look we offered you our our you know what we're what we're contractually obligated to so he's in an interesting spot luke he could be in purgatory and get to a point where

he's just like man man, I gotta come back. It doesn't feel like they're in a good place at all. So what is his future? How many fights does he actually have left? Does he have to wait for some sunset clause and sit out a year? This is going to be interesting. Not that I think him on the free agent market would

dramatically change things, but he may have some life in him for somebody to really do some fun stuff. I get the feeling he's trying to get out, Luke, that this isn't a joke. Well, again, I just don't know how relevant any of those things are. Like, oh, he's got one fight left, and I think declining this could probably add a little bit of time left on the deal, though. After he gets his next fight, they may decide that they don't want

to work with him anymore who knows like again it's not to me the question is is he making unfair demands to the UFC and being difficult to work with probably probably but what does that have to do with a UFC 284 announcement that's again according to him and there's been other fighters in history who have had the same complaint, allegedly fake news. Like there's only one party responsible for that. Just one. And so to me, it's like, well, who do you blame for 284? That's a separate question from, should UFC resign him? What is he actually worth? Blah, blah, blah. If the negotiations are private and then this news is allegedly released to the public to force him to sign something he doesn't want to sign i don't know how anybody else is to blame for any of that it's very clear there's one side to blame for that then have a

separate conversation about okay well is this guy worth it being in business with because he misses weight he you know he antagonizes usada which is a partner of the ufc like there's plenty of reasons to say the ufc maybe should get rid of him or doesn't want to be in business with him fine fine totally happy to have that conversation i don't think the ufc is to blame in totality again by another one of my favorite words for the relationship that they have with costa and how it could have gotten sideways i guarantee he's responsible for a lot of that i mean just go back to the fight against izzy where he just imploded and was drinking wine like you know i get how the ufc would be like yeah we don't want to pay this guy a bunch of money i get that but here's an insider question to the public if it's not real well you're right i mean i mean dude you're right they're they're dirty

they're dirty as shit but here's the key question do you think wherever they were at that he irreparably damaged his standing with the company during that nate diaz chamaya fight week when he kind of made it about himself. And, you know, it was one thing to make a moment to like peak interest for a future fight. But do they think like he,

he helped create a level of chaos that led to Chimaia of getting off focus or missing weight or anything like that. Is there any connection there in your eyes? You don't tend to care about the drama. No, because Chimaia is like a hard charger. I don't, to care about the drama no because chemayev is like a hard charger i don't i doubt that i honestly feel like it's probably they hate it when people miss weight i mean they fucking hate it and i understand that i think their ufc is justified

for that so i get that you know and antagonizing partners or you know speaking ill of them in the media consistently which he does i dude i get the ufc being like oh we're sick of dealing with this guy fine totally on totally okay none of that in my view has a single thing to do with where we assign blame when news gets leaked to the public that isn't true uh just you can't do that you can't do that and if that's what they did again it's all alleged but if that's what they did and there is some evidence for that this is a continued practice, to me, this is an open and shut case. Don't do that shit if you want to have the moral high ground.

Don't. By doing that, they're basically pointing the gun back at the fighters and saying, go ahead, make a union. You know what I mean? Go ahead, figure some way out of this bear trap that we got you in and we know you have nowhere to go unless you want to fight us and we'll use every inch of leverage we have to bury you and offer you fights you won't accept right i mean this and also like if you're mma media we don't we don't we're not in the business of this because it's just not what we do in terms of hammering the phones and verifying

but also like if you are in the business of that kind of thing like i feel like matchups have to be double checked now like when the ufc says hey this fight is a is a is a go can you trust that i don't know that tell me bc can you i i don't even know yeah um apparently you can't but you know to be very fair with you although the good ones stand ground and do it right uh for journalists and you know i always respect people like ariel dan rayfield who like are just so committed to getting it right which should be their job right i feel like a lot of the the the news that gets traded around anyway really in both combat sports luke sometimes is like i mean it's i mean it's always going to be based on relationships when people get

little snippets ahead of time but a lot of times it just feels like public leveraging from the entities behind the scenes. You see that Luke, you can sniff that. You can smell that from time to time. For sure. For sure. I mean,

a lot of stuff gets leaked to pressure people in either direction. And we should also be clear, like fighter. And I don't know about this particular case, but like fighters, managers will leak things to the press that aren't true or, you know, partly true or,

you know, halfway true as a way to influence the public as well. Every party does it in the course of a year, in the course of a lifetime you see it. I'm just saying in this case, people being upset, I get that. I wanted to see the Costa fight with Whitaker as well. It would have been a tremendous contest. And I understand the UFC wants to sell tickets in Perth.

I get all that. But either the fight is signed or it's not, and either it's a done deal or it's not and if it's not you can't announce that it seems this all seems to me like very very easy to understand all right is there any part of this that whether okay i want to ask if they were willing to pull this apart by low-balling Costa in theory, I guess, if all that is true. Are they thinking about, hey, maybe the immediate rematch with Pereira and Adesanya isn't our only option. Maybe we could sub in Robert right here. Is that part of the potential thinking here?

Is there any, I mean, you'd have to go conspiracy to connect those dots, Luke, but you know what I'm trying to do. I don't think so. I tend to think it's probably, I mean, you'd have to go conspiracy to connect those dots, Luke, but you know, I try. I don't think so. I tend to think it's probably, you know, I've had discussions with the UFC matchmakers over the years and like sort of tried to get in their head a little bit about how they think about things. I don't.

I just don't think that they want to pay him any more than what they're paying him. Probably not much more anyway. And they probably think he's a bit of a loose cannon with some good reason. Again, I'm not saying that that's a crazy thought. That's probably a reasonable thing. How reliable is this guy as a business partner who goes after USADA, who kills us in the media, who undercuts this? Yeah, I get all that. I tend to think that's probably pretty reasonable, and they just want him

to accommodate it. He didn't, and again, allegedly, they just released it to the public anyway. Yeah yeah it's like okay man you had it you guys might have been right the whole way through but then all of that gets flushed down the toilet when you just say yeah the fight sign and UFC 284 that's what they're gonna fight well no not necessarily right so there you go uh BC we won't spend a ton of time on this because I know we don't necessarily have a ton to say didn't see this hardly anywhere in the news media. Eric McGracken reported it some other places. But folks, when I tell you this is probably the biggest, or I should say, potentially the biggest news for next year, I'm not exaggerating. The Ali Act is reportedly coming back in 2023. It has to be reintroduced every legislative session

if it doesn't actually reach completion in the previous one. And the guy who initiated it in previous legislative sessions was a guy by the name of Mark Wayne Mullen, who was at the time a congressman from Oklahoma. He had fought MMA. I think he had three MMA fights. And he's a Republican from Oklahoma. He is now a senator from Oklahoma. So he's going to be there for a while.

And he has pledged to the MMAFA and Nate Quarry, who's the guy who's been shepherding all of this, that he's going to be reintroducing it on the Senate side back in 2023. For folks who may not know what the OLLI Act might do, it can do a lot of things. It prohibits coercive contracts. That means that there's a certain time limit that they can be on it, as well as some other things. In-house titles, so like the Strike Force title, the UFC like the Strikeforce title, the UFC, the Bellator title, that gets removed and gets put in sanctioning bodies.

That way the promoter can't control it. All contracts between promoters and fighters need to be disclosed to athletic commissions and promoters that would be required to disclose all compensation the promoter is making to the fighters, so there's much more transparency. A firewall would be in place between promoters and managers, so you can't do both at the same time. And it would impose criminal and civil penalties for those who violate the

legislation more importantly it gives fighters the right to sue anyone who caused them quote economic injury by violating the statute it's a powerful tool for MMA fighters that they currently do not have now you can like the fact uh excuse me you can like the ollie act or you can hate the ollie act but bc now mark wayne mullen who by the way did a good job in getting bipartisan signatures he got a lot of democrats to sign on to it he got a lot of republicans to sign on to it by the way i'm gonna say it one more time he is a republican um and you should note something the guys who own wme uh what's his name um the dude who has made a uh patrick white cell but the other one ari ari emmanuel ari emmanuel by the way he was close friends with uh

trump and had you know had meetings with trump when trump was president i tend to think trump would have vetoed the legislation if it had made his way we'll see if it actually gets to through the house and if it turns into legislation that heads to President Biden's desk, but he might be more inclined to sign it than anyone else. I don't know what exactly to ask you about this, except to say I find this to be very big news. And again, one more time, Mark Wayne Mullen's stature in the U.S. Congress

went from here to up here now that he's a senator. Big, big deal. I mean, is it percentage chance that this starts to become a problem for the ufc in any form well they're going to lobby against it they've been lobbying against it on the hill at every point in which it's become proposed legislation moving through committee um and they're going to find any way they can to get it killed in committee killed on the floor killed in reconciliation they're going to do whatever way they can to get it killed in committee, killed on the floor, killed in reconciliation. They're going to do whatever they can to prevent it from getting to their president Biden's desk or whoever's president by the time it eventually gets there.

And, you know, listen, passing any legislation in this Congress is I think both sides of the aisle might agree is very difficult, not going to be easy. Um, but I just feel like if you've got a majority Dem Senate, right. With a Republican Senator shepherding it. Now you've got a Republican controlled house and they're much more, I think these days inclined to believe the abuses of big business than they had been previously. I don't know, folks, I think it'd be a huge mistake to sleep on this. Any legislation getting signed is going to be difficult. Any, any, any, any, including this. But this would be transformative in the industry, and the power player behind it has had a massive increase

in his functional role in Congress not to be trifled with, not to be ignored. Very interesting, Luke. Very interesting. Could be a game changer. Could be, be but just wanted to make sure we got it into the show since i didn't see any coverage of it anywhere basically so there you go all right bc let's let's time it's time for farts and uh pull my finger jokes well not really luke i wanted to remind the people that we're getting closer to the end of the month and i want to let you know what that means not just the beginning of a new year upon us luke it's almost time to select the second money lion hammer of the month of course aaron blanchfield the rising ufc flyweight

we were able to give it to her in person you can watch that episode tomorrow when it drops for room service diaries but the spirit is the same who this month has just leaped through your screen from the undercard from a you know anything but a main event or a co-main event uh luke we could throw around a lot of names and and we have been using that hashtag holy hammer hammer of the month at money lion on twitter at money lion inc on instagram but dude when you look at this month this is a lot of nominees across the board i mean i could just say you know to pour you and be done with it if i wanted to right luke but then i got roman delizze looking at me sideways you know what i mean what am i gonna do lead say had a fucking hell of a month

uh that win over her manson was one for the history books and that's the beauty of and brutality of it but you're right ilia tapora tapori excuse me did a great job we can't include him because he was a main event guy but a guy like frank martin would be in the spirit of this kind of thing you know yeah i see you billy q directions you could go i see that dog in you all right so again moneylion.com slash morning combat for more information use that hashtag hammer of the month you can go to moneylion on twitter you can tag them at moneylion and then on instagram, Moneylion Inc. Let us know. Let them know. Who do you think deserves the award?

Who do you think should be on that list in the Hall of Hammers? Vote, folks. Vote. Moneylion.com slash Morning Combat to learn more on how to enter. Yeah. Well, I hope we left room for Rocco in that Hall of Hammers, Luke. So, Freddie? Wow.

I was talking about Antonio Red, Thinny, Roc rocko martin oh worry hasn't fought in a while yeah that's who i was talking about making mma related you're like adult films wow yeah that's great okay hey look you know we offer people an email address doesn't reach us though it reaches our cbs sports uh producer mikey more mile the guy the the man. What we offer you is Friday, you can dead wrong us. I'm sure you will. But on Wednesdays, you make artwork. You take pictures of yourself on vacation when you brought MK with you, and we appreciate that.

It's your chance. I mean, some people don't like it. Maybe they're just not creative. The Paquettes seem to love it. This segment's called Fan Submissions. I love this segment. We've got mail. Yes. We've got i love this segment viewers we've got mail yes yes we've got a lot of mail a lot of males in this clientele here luke thomas uh shout out to those females though a couple of times though they've had to check us and be like you know i will say this

in 2023 we need to make a better effort uh if uh rj dunkel gangbang r RJ Dunkel Bang Bus is watching, we need to make a better effort at getting some women's merch. Like good women's merch. Like some quality merch designed for women because they've been complaining and it's a fair complaint. So we got to do it. Like MK Yoga Pants. Hey, right? Right, Luke?

Don't even get me started on what those would look like i don't know what happened it just became a big seller in latin american communities it's great you know it's bbl season luke it is upon us okay hey let's get a first submission from ryan he says greetings to the king of connecticut and the don of donks from Bogota, Columbia here. Like Luke, like Luke, not only are we based in the DMV for us, it's Alexandria, but my wife is from Bogota also. So we come back here to visit a lot.

It was my sixth time visiting and Luke is right. The cheeseburgers here are insane. Unfortunately, the pizza is vile. Usually we eat more traditional Colombian food, but every time I've made the mistake of ordering a pizza, my subconscious ends up telling me what bc thinks when he interrupts luke trying to complete a single thought which is i can't let you finish that anyway wow anyway this is a picture

of us at montserrat with him wearing uh his favorite rj dunkle knuckle blaster original keep up the amazing show wow very nice to meet r nice to meet Ryan and his beautiful woman from Bogota, Luke. By the way, she's wearing the same shoes my wife wears. That's funny. Yeah, so this is actually not the best view from this, but this is the one that's, Monserrate is like really, really, really high up there. You have to take like a finicular, like a cable car to get to the top of it.

And you can see all of Bogota. For folks who don't understand, Bogota is 10 million people. It's a gigantic city. And then from this spot in the mountains, you can actually see the whole thing. It's beautiful. There's a church at the top. Yeah, it's epic. It's epic.

That's cool as shit, man. I got to show this to my wife. She's going to love this. Would you ever thought our stupid show would cross, you know, continents like this? And, you know, I mean, Don Paquette's taking MK all around the globe lately. Look at this guy going to going to Columbia. Remarkable. And by the way, I've never it's funny enough.

I don't think I've ever had pizza in Columbia. I don't think I've ever tried. Yeah, I wouldn't think it's good. I mean, pizza in Florida is a debacle. Just a straight, absolute. Is it bad? I don't think I've had pizza in florida either oh god it's the worst you know although i've done damage at a cc's pizza like the four

dollar buffet i've i mean i've done some serious those are just i mean you know those are filled with the jack sauce yeah that's the cumberland farms of pizza joints you know although i've also torn up cumberland farms pizza but that's probably where i'm that's why next time next time we're in miami we have to go to... They have them all over Columbia, but they have one or two of them in Miami. And I've told you about this place before, El Corral. That's their burger joint there.

And I don't know how good the ones are in Miami, because I went to one in Cartagena and it was not good, which was very unusual. So we'll have to see. But we have to give that a try, the burger joint of Columbia. I'll pause my trying to save my liver to eat that. Luke, would you ever thought MK would become the Flat Stanley for people? It's like they take us with them wherever they go in life.

It's pretty great, I have to admit. I'm going to show this to my wife. She's going to love this. Yeah, hey, the next one comes from Peter. He says, hey, guys, I'm a huge fan, but here's a picture from my trip to Mexico. I was down there for my sister's wedding in Jalisco, the home of tequila. And, of course, I had to spread the good word of MK by rocking my hoodie. And, yes, BC, I was starting to feel these margaritas.

It was a great week full of partying, family, good times, and all the BBLs I could handle. Keep up the great work, until, until next time salute. It's Peter. Yeah, man, this guy looks kind of manly to look, right? I mean,

I mean, Hey, you need a little bit more bloody Mary guy. Jesus Christ. Look at that thing. That's a, that's something right there, but you know,

he's rocking the hat and the, and the hoodie. That's, that's a professional beard. He's got their due. I wonder emotionally, what is he hiding emotionally underneath that? That, you know what I i mean luke we're starting to unpeel your onion a little bit right it's the smell is gnarly always makes me cry it's great all right luke let's go to

number three this is al he says uh somewhere in the multiverse look what is going on here what what what planet are we on look dude planet failure i mean hey comeback corner it's in the it's that's the podcast i didn't notice that that's so fun dude we're never gonna let izzy live that one down that is great wow this is like uh you know uh what's that movie luke uh freaky friday right we switched we switched i look like the guy look at blow up that picture again in this picture i gotta tell you which is not far removed from how i actually look except for like the hair dye i look like a guy who manages a kinkos i mean just the worst human on earth look that's that's what you could look like if you

actually try to fight the age curve luke i know father time's undefeated but you can keep them off your porch for a lit for a bit okay you know what i mean no i'm gonna let the gray eat eat it just gonna let the gray have it i mean do i how much more white trash do i look on the left vaping luke as opposed to normal i know and you got the books behind you too which is the best part that is funny yeah this is this is this is well done material uh we got joth josh sliding in from perth western australia he missed out on tickets by the way to both 221 and 284 but he says luke wins drug war bc wins hot dog war morning combat wins podcast award keep up the good work and by virtue of this being the best mma podcast the world, have a margarita to celebrate.

Luke, what does Josh's meme say? I'm joining the war on drugs, dot, dot, dot, on the side of the drugs. Yes. Yes. Thor loving thunder to that with the Moneyline hammer in his hand. I love it. That's right. He's got the hammer of the month.

Indeed, right there. Let's go over to at Natch Rubel. Knock Rubel? I don't know know uh morning wombat is his photo okay it's a little disturbing um lots of vaping going on once again the biggest gift of this show ever look at the guy in the right he looks good in that drug rug luke this is this is this is a morning wombat yeah that's uh you know i could pop for that you know come on you know what here's the thing how high was this motherfucker when he did this you know what i mean he must have ripped all of every bong in america he hit before he made this yeah this is the this is exactly what you make when you're too high to think more clearly

you know would you say like okay first of all if i asked you what percentage of our audience on our mk audience gets high you're probably like legitimately 70 right 70 75 easy yeah okay um how many of them on like a nightly basis get like talk to aliens high like that level you know what i mean 71 72 i mean it's up there like not even just like i want to chill out you know lay back they're like no i want to i want to yeah yeah i want to consult with my dead relatives that high that level high okay great uh danger mouse is back luke he says hi bc first allow me to take a moment to recognize the truly magnificent job you did on Friday when Luke was late. That was actually Monday, right?

That was that was a Monday. Yeah. 10 to 15 minutes of goddamn art. He says it wasn't the show of the year, but it's almost certainly the best introduction maybe ever. Before we get to my own art BC, I'd like you to do this donk a favor and ask people to follow at Danger Mouse Art on Twitter. I just need 50 followers. We're just sort of shilling for subs here. All right.

Okay. I was just going to send in some Christmas stuff this week and leave you both alone, but I won't respect myself in the morning if I don't take a shot at the late, late Luke Thomas. Oh, and BC, all of the images this week were drawn with the assistance of an AI. There's Luke in a bunny costume. You're late for an important date luke uh these final two are just christmas cards that i tried to tailor to your tastes i'd just like to take this moment to wish you both and the mk crew a very merry christmas thanks for a great year except appleton fuck that guy lol i'm joking these are disturbing it's danger mouse um why

what's going on here luke what do you got what do you got just did an ai guy ai machine or ai engine make these like what happened here i don't he says it was they were ai produced luke see this what happens when you give robots the key to the car luke don't do it i know you're going to be one of those first in your neighborhood to have all the cool technology, but then suddenly, Luke, they control you. They don't just watch you, they control you. They haven't figured it out yet, but

I will tell you that long term, I am confident that robots and computers will be able to drive cars better than primates. I'm going to make that bet. How about if the state of Florida just becomes public transportation, will be able to drive cars better than primates. I'm going to make that bet. All right. How about if the state of Florida just becomes public transportation, Luke, and no one is allowed to drive?

I mean, have you ever driven on I-95 in Florida? Daniel Snyder's kid and I were talking about that the other day in the office, Luke. It's awful. It's a different world over there. Let's go to Matt. He says, to help get the MK boys in the holiday spirit, here are three christmas movie posters reimagined for mk side note i've managed to bag two front row tickets

for me and my beautiful girlfriend at the live show in london so it's confirmed there will be at least one female in the audience happy christmas to everyone at mk from matt and kelly Matt and Kelly in England. Oh, no. Dude, these are great. Luke, Matt and Kelly got the Gallagher seats. RIP. But they may get hit with the crushed with the smashed watermelons. They're sitting front row. Oh, you wanted front row?

We should dice clay them, right? Wow. Look at this one. Can't stay hard. Unbelievable. That is magic. Look at that one. Yeah. You got to hang that one in the office. Unbelievable. That is magic. Look at that one. Yeah. You got to hang that one in the office.

Your wife would love it. Yeah, yeah. We still, we got all those great web screen ones framed in the office. We moved those for the RSD set. We've got to get, you know, we should line that hallway. Because, look, that hallway is becoming an unlockable character in our universe. I mean, you know, you zooming in through there from the street running that was that was high theater but yeah this is a great what happened to the famous poster of the guys whose dicks were touching at the way

in i don't know where that went somebody take that home i don't know where it went to be fair oh i know someone who took that home not me i mean i have i have the internet as you would say luke okay i don't need that in my life but uh yeah uh there we go matt and kelly from england luke um how much what do you think okay let's say we it's a 500 seat venue let's say we sell it out i mean we're doing pretty damn good we're on a pace to to to rock this town luke uh how many will be females of the 500 500 5 10 because if you go by 10 because if you go by what we saw at the vegas show is the guys will bring their girls with them like yeah here's the question how many women are buying tickets or being or not being dragged to this by their male counterpart that's the

question and that answer is like two people honestly like on a bondage level yeah there there you go um yeah yeah if i had a good one i had a good one look in the in the holster but it uh yeah all right let's keep it going here uh jp time speaking of uh you know regular in these parts it's mount unike nova scotia's own uh good day mk nation we have a breaking news as it pertains to the main event of UFC 283 in Brazil. Let's go to the videotape. Good day, MK Nation superfan Jay Paquette, a.k.a. JP, coming to you from beautiful Mountain, Nike, Nova Scotia, Canada.

We have breaking news as it pertains to UFC 283. Newly crowned middleweight champion Alex Pereira in his very first title defense will take on, no, not Izzy in the rematch, and not even the rumored Shamayev. Rather, the one and the only Chewbacca. Chewie was an alternate at the UFC 281 match, seen here all sucked in on the scales, and yes, vapin' like a Luke Thomas dirty old wash bowl bag.

Although in related news, Chewie has selected Team MK to help train and corner him for the fight, including Showtime amateur boxing specialist Courtney May and producers extraordinaire Mikey Moore-Mile and Gap LaPierre. When we reached out to Luke and BC for comments this is what they had to say fucking Chewbacca Chewbacca's like where let's go let's fucking go Chewbacca was loyal as shit though I'm telling you man can you imagine having a friend like that be like dude Chewbacca will fuck this guy up plus he drinks you know Chewie's already started making the PR rounds seen here being interviewed by Laura Sankko and of course on the rsd coach with our mk gents luke and bc and bc i gotta say spitting up really

i mean i don't know factory town aside i would have taken you for more of a swallow type of guy Oh, wait a sec. We have an incoming DM from a dog. It's at Don underscore Uniac underscore Boss Lady. And she says, or writes, UFC 283, Chewbacca versus Pereira. Who wins and how? Well, Luke and BC,

I'm going to send that one over to you. And as we know, folks, may all of our games be loyal in two words actually no three words Chewie let's bang oh that's tremendous Luke that's incredible

hold on uh i gotta say that's one of the best fan subs i've ever seen but here's the problem with it one i mean chewy's been you know he's got his winter coat on. He ain't making middleweight, number one. That's the first problem. Second problem is Chewie would rip Pereira's arms off and beat him to death with it. Let's just be very clear about that.

Chewie is the motherfucker of all motherfuckers. And then he's going to go and take everyone's wife and bang them in front of him. I mean, that's what Chewie does. Slanging that Chewbacca D. Luke, does Jay Paquette's efforts, which were, you know, they were ambitious. Does it hit the mark? It's up to, you know, it's up to the voters in their hearts here.

Luke, does this alter at all? What's going down to the wire? Like literally down to the final days and seconds in the race for donk of the year for 2022? I'll let Chewie speak for me. Yo, I want wanna go see I wanna go see Doom with Delta 8's in my wookie tummy with Brian Campbell S or D

hold on hold on can we use it more this is the stupidest show in america let's be very clear about that uh let's keep it rolling here uh alan w sliding in we've all been waiting for trt luke thomas look at the possibilities luke god of war thomas and scrawny brian campbell get on it yeah i'll never look that good. Let's just be honest about that, too. You kind of look like Mikey in this meme, right?

Yeah, that's a problem. That's a problem. I look rather handsome in the background there. Yeah, not bad. You look like an elf who can sling the arrows. Not much else. Oh, they know I can sling something, Luke. They know that.

All right. They know that. And Towns like Deadwood and yeah. Yeah. Dude, remember that hellacious fart you let go when Courtney walked into the room on Monday? That was not me for the record there. But how about JP using government names in that video? I think he's going to get a cease and desist from a few of our employees. Right.

What's the is there anything else from Alan W here? No. one photo. Okay, thank you for playing. Appy is going to close us off. Let me read this before we throw to this. This is David Appleton of France. We know this guy, one of the up-and-coming, you know, leading educators.

And, you know, he molds minds of the youths, Luke, okay? He molds them like clay. Like, you ever see ghosts when they stab, like, you know, they spoon the other on the wheel? He molds them like clay. Like you ever see ghosts when they stand behind, they spoon the other on the wheel. That's kind of what he does to his students. He says, fresh off your success at the World MMA Awards, I wanted to pay homage to you,

while at the same time sealing the deal for Donk of the Year. So here is a little song I came up with i enclosed the lyrics below in case my franco british accent is too much for bc's connecticut english i'm free to pick up my award whenever you announce it and have already prepared the world's best victory speech well done on the award thoroughly undeserved but very happy for you appy so look before we throw to this, this is David Appleton, I guess, you know, bottom of the ninth here, or, you know, 12th championship round here, basically trying to put Jay Paquette

and others away here. This is his called shot, Babe Ruth, 32 World Series. Let's see what he's got. Morning combat You've been winning lots of prizes But it's not really surprising as you begged us to vote you got your fan base which is one percent female we set up 50 fucking email accounts so you could beat Ariel and Joe

Brian Campbell, you pathetic wash stoner Three meetings took away your phoner and you lost your razzmatazz So come on BC, where's your BDE? I've got to tell you verbatim You've got to stop musical masturbating Over shitty 70s jazz At least when Luke gets in the mood It's for big booty Latinas Our two girls, one cup

Where no one else is around. But Brian has to tell the guests about the current state of his wiener. Especially when they've weighed 115 pounds. Luke and Brian, you guys ain't getting no younger BC's got gas station hunger And he's obsessed with Jonah And Luke Thomas, he can drink More than 50 fucking beers, you know

But he's not such a hero After three more good turns When you get the two in studio There's magic in the air Their loyal ad-read games Help keep the show alive And when it comes to psycho MK fans Neither of them really care.

Why not give these upstanding citizens a dodgy loan to invade Scotland with top quality knives? Look and learn. You're my reason for living. Your favourite meal at Thanksgiving. You told me four times, but I'm still not tired. Reason for living Your favourite meal at Thanksgiving You told me four times but I'm still not tired But come December I'm the dog to remember

You gotta get me a victory interview BC you gotta let Luke Thomas touch you Need Keith Hackney to punch me in the balls for this note You gotta let that big bastard hug you Before you both get fired Oh my god, wow! I gotta say Jay Paquette, I

I don't know that was tough competition I mean do you remember when Vince Carter let off the 2000 NBA dunk contest and like Isaiah Thomas jumped out of the judges chair and Kenny Smith was like it's over and you know Vince Carter was like it's over

I mean Luke that's a powerful statement he just went all in and he had the full boat luke he did he did wow that was uh that was excellent that was excellent i really can't even say anything bad about that by the way dude the vaping i mean i i mean the 2022 joke was vaping right like getting killed for vaping that really was it and then one day you'll get killed for vaping yeah literally because it'll catch up to you luke but dude is that that's like a major major mk moment like you do remember of course uh uh callie remember that guy the drummer

he gave us the luke and bc make it look easy song and you remember uh damo uh from england um who wrote us the uh the song that ended documentary too you remember thato from England who wrote us the song that ended documentary two. You remember that one, Luke, right? Ricky Martin. No, I don't. Oh. Really just creative milestone in our history. But I mean, look at this song.

We had that guy rap for us that time, Luke. The guy from Georgia. I mean, what? This is. Yep. Wow. Wow, Appy. Wow.

Is that all the. Yeah, that's all of it. Okay. It's, you is... Wow. Wow, Appy. Wow, is that all the... Yeah, that's all of it. Okay. It's, you know, that... BC, we've been going two hours on a day where there's nothing to talk about. We should probably wrap it up. You know, I didn't think David Appleton and Jay Paquette and the others were just gonna... I mean, dude, people are coming out

throwing bombs as if they get a chance to win a Dana White Contender Series contract if they if one lands like they're calling for it Luke they have slapdick mentality here okay they're good no defense all in all in wow I gotta say that was that was a very good batch of fan subs I loved today's batch that was really really really really well done all right there you go uh Luke don't forget Aaron Blanchfield tomorrow 11 a.m okay Aaron Blanchfield tomorrow, 11 a.m., okay? Aaron Blanchfield right back here, youtube.com slash morningcombat. A RSD will premiere.

We'll talk about the fight with Tyler Santos, but a whole lot of other stuff. So be on the lookout for that tomorrow, Thursday. Well, we will have a Christmas mailbag on Friday and a show for you on Monday. So we're just, I mean, we're burning the midnight oil here, folks. We got you covered. The show doesn't stop.

Can't stop, won't stop. So stick around. MK got plenty of stuff for you before the end of the year, including We got you covered. The show doesn't stop. Can't stop, won't stop. So stick around. MK got plenty of stuff for you before the end of the year, including the rest of this week and the beginning of next. Of course, morningcombat at gmail.com to reach the show for all the different things you need to reach the show for. morningcombat.store to get all of the merch that is available. And then showtime.com, 30-day free trial.

If you like it, you can keep it. If not, you can bounce. And then first six months thereafter, $3.99 a month. One more time, pod-live.com for tickets. London, February 8th. Get them while you can. We haven't even announced special guests yet. Tickets are moving.

It is time to get them, UK. Get them now, get them now, get them now, get them now. There's the QR code. Come see us in London. What's Patty's rate? We should ask ariel luke right what are we i mean i just you're doing you're doing bits skits and bits now we're doing skits and bits that's what this show is it's just one long bit it's just really it's just one it's it's it's not even broken up anymore into docs it's a living documentary

luke you see i just want to point out you talk shit about my man bag yeah i'll point out look who's got a man bag that's a great point wow that's a baka i mean he's got bullets on it though he does have bullets on he does he's got you know he's loaded he's loaded i do i show this to tuki and she wants she runs out of the room yeah yeah what do you think he carries in that man see i gotta i gotta piss my pants look i'm done the show's over you gotta it. Condoms is the answer. Hey, happy holidays to everyone. Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, all that good stuff. Whatever you celebrate, be safe. Don't text and drive.

Don't drink and drive. Don't do anything stupid. Have good holidays. Come back and see us next week. RSD tomorrow. MK on Friday. MK on Monday. We got you covered.

So I think that's it for Malka. And by the way, Merry Christmas and happy holidays that's it for Malka for and by the way happy Christmas or Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of the Malka staff to the CBS sports staff and to the Showtime staff everyone who makes this show possible thank you so much be safe and happy with your loved ones over the holidays so for Brian Campbell I'm Luke Thomas until next time may all of your gains be loyal