MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Holloway vs Kattar | Usman vs Burns | Bellator 253 | Canelo, Wilder-Fury 3 | Ep 84

Episode Date: November 18, 2020

Episode 84 of MK has arrived and Luke and Brian breakdown all the latest combat sports news. The boys discuss the latest around the Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns UFC fight (6:00) and preview Bellator 253 (49:50. They also talk about Wilder-Fury 3 (1:04:53). Plus, it is another Social Justice Wednesday with debates about Jon Jones, Henry Cejudo and more (1:16:45).  --------------------------------- 'Morning Kombat’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Bullhorn and wherever else you listen to podcasts.    For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit: store.sho.com   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat  To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Rise to rewards with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card. Terms and conditions apply. Reveille, reveille, donks. 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.

It is Wednesday, the 18th of November, 2020, and it is time, everyone, for Morning Combat. Hello, and happy hump day. Guess what day it is? Guess what day it is? My name is Luke Thomas. I'm from CBS Sports. I am joined by the gentleman, not merely on the other side of the screen, frankly, on the other side of the world. He is my CBS Sports partner in crime, my friend and yours, BC Brian Campbell. How is the left coast, Mr. Campbell? Yeah, I feel like I'm one half of the Java Jerk

spinoff series that you do. I'm doing great, Luke. Fantastic. Jet lag like a mofo, ready to cash checks for rival companies. That's how I get down, Luke. I just want to warn the viewers that although we're going to be very excited about this episode, this is a no-J Wednesday. So, you know, that means, Luke, you're very pissy this morning, Luke. Very pissy. Well, I've got a few things going on I'm just trying to deal with. But for the folks out there who may not know, tell them why you're on the West Coast and what they can expect from that. Yeah, I mean, I'm out here on the West Coast living my morning combat dreams, but more specifically, Thursday night, 9 p.m. Eastern, NBC Sports, the launch of the new boxing series Ring City USA, which is promoter agnostic,

going to match a lot of rising fighters, you know, names you may know against each other, Oshaki Foster and Mickey Roman on Thursday night's card. So I'll be out there working that broadcast. Still hustling. Still getting you what you need, which is morning combat. And if you haven't checked out the MK YouTube channel, did a little four-pack of interviews yesterday, Luke. Valentina Shevchenko, very sneaky good interview, if you know what I mean.

And Jennifer Maya, Alex Perez, Davidson Figueredo shirtless. What else do you want? I got it. Okay, bro? sneaky good interview if you know what i mean and uh jennifer maya alex perez uh davison figueredo shirtless what else you want i got it okay bro that's what that's what's happening fair enough a nice four pack there good luck tomorrow i'll give you a hundred dollars if you refer to me not as your co-host but as co-host if you do that i'll give you a hundred cash as america's co-host right like usually like this is my co-pilot when I'm on the road, Luke, but in a lot of ways, this is you, right? This is you. This is Luke Thomas, and this is BC.

Live in. Wavos, brother. What else? What other hotel in the world is going to give you two gross eggs and a wet bag, Luke, okay? That's the one I'm staying at right now, okay? Yes. I'm glad that no matter where you go, BC,

you still find ways to eat like a raccoon out of the dumpster okay couple just housekeeping items very quickly thumbs up on the video hit that subscribe button let's keep those numbers rolling as you have been we appreciate for folks who have done that if you'd like to try Showtime who makes this kind of program possible try it out Showtime comm right now 30-day free trial. If you like it, keep it. If not, you can go watch things that suck. And let's see, last but not least, we don't have any merchandise on today, BC,

but store.show.com is the best place to be to get those in there. And one more little drop, Luke. The people need to wake up and get ready because this morning combat documentary about our return to civilization, our return to the bomb shelter, I hear a little birdie in my ear telling me it'll be live Thursday. That is tomorrow. So get buckled up. Luke, you told me you were not pleasantly surprised, astronomically surprised at the

ability of our friends at Malka to put this shit together. As you know, I am a skeptic of anything ever at any point in human history ever being good. And this was not, and I saw the rough cut, so I've not seen the fully finished version, but I saw a version that was like 80, 90% done. So pretty close. And that had me in tears laughing. I couldn't believe how good it was. So, we've not properly hyped it, given how good it is, but it should be out by tomorrow.

Of course, my live chat will be out tomorrow as well. So, you'll have some nice Thursday content, and then, of course, Friday we'll get you ready for the UFC. There's a UFC pay-per-view this week, BC, and there's less than zero buzz for it. It's kind of amazing. Alright, with that being said, let's's kind of amazing. Yeah, yeah. All right. With that being said, let's get this show on the road, BC.

We start with our biggest topic, the juiciest, the meatiest. There is some congratulations in order, not merely to Brian Campbell for getting another check to cash, but to former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway, who, of course, got engaged, or at least announced it yesterday on social media. So congrats to him and BC. He is back in action. January 16th, he's going to be headlining. So it will be a five-round fight about at featherweight against Calvin Cater. Yes. Now it'll be January 16th. We don't know if this

will be Fight Island or if this will be Apex. I don't know that that's been totally announced at this point, but whatever the case, January 16th, headlining contest, Max Holloway, who fought Volkanovski in his last contest, lost a, what do you want to call it, a disputed decision, and kind of faced a bit of a crossroads moment, BC. He decided to stay at featherweight. So let's start here. First, what do you make of the fight? And second, what do you make of Max deciding not to go to 155, but to keep trying, at least for now, featherweight? Yeah, first of all, Luke, I hope you're talking about sights.

Taichi Palace might be in play. Who knows? But I'm fired up for this fight. Look, this is great freaking matchmaking, that this can be a potential in-between fight night main event and have this much at stake in the featherweight title picture, but just, you know, another fight we haven't seen for Max through this destructive run of the featherweight division

and now bouncing back off the two losses to Volkanovski, even though, as you said, both were very debatable, especially that second one. Look, you didn't have to watch that 49 times to see that, but some people have. Max, I think, is making the right move, Luke. Now, look, it was a one-off up to lightweight for that interim title to fight Dustin Poirier.

And let's not forget, because it came right after Adesanya Gastelum, which is the best fight, boxing or MMA, I've ever been in the building for, that fight was also pretty damn badass. Max and Dustin. Dustin came pretty damn close. But I think what we saw in that moment and just one attempt at moving up that maybe didn't have the top end power to beat those elites and those killers. Luke, I have to believe, given his

size advantage and pressure style at featherweight, that this is the right move. He just fought the damn champion Volkanovski and I thought he beat him and you did until you re-watched it another uh bunch of times so Max is an all-time great I mean it took me a long time to realize that Max is great he think I think personally he still has a lot left in this tank and uh could end up wearing this belt before too long once again this is the right fight to get him back into that picture uh cater the Bostonoston strangler on a nice little hot streak himself you know he's going to bring it you know this fight is going to be all action all the time so luke i'm sitting here with a you know not to be crude but with a phoner over this okay and by the way i did wear pants in that shevchenko interview i really don't appreciate the comments

of people suggesting anything else but uh i'm pretty damn fired up for this fight yeah i mean in terms of the fight itself i don't know how you can do anything but like it. I mean, Calvin Cater has earned this opportunity, right? Beating Dan Ige the way he did, beating all the guys at this point that he has. He's had a couple setbacks along the way, you know, but he has continued to get better. He's developed into one of the best pure boxers in that featherweight division, if not all of the UFC. He is a little bit, you know, he's still got some things to work on, a little bit slow of a starter, but he's a strong, strong finisher, which actually kind of makes it a great matchup for Max,

because I would not necessarily call him a slow starter, but I also think that he heats up over the course of a contest. So both of these guys are going to be really in their face the longer this goes, and both are durable, both are experienced, both in different ways, battle tested, both like to use a lot of the same skill sets and a lot of the same phases of the game. I mean, I'm not going to call them mirror images, but they are certainly cut from a certain kind of cloth that make them very, very, very, very similar. So this will be a lot of fun. I mean, I like the fight for all those reasons. I have mixed feelings about Max staying at featherweight, and I'll say it this way, BC. In the end, I think it's the right call, because going to lightweight,

we saw how he did against Dustin Poirier, which was he made a strong account of himself, and Dustin has big firepower, to be clear, but it just looked like sometimes you can watch a guy who's very talented, and they go up in weight, you're like right that's not the right weight class for them and this was not the blowout for example that Rory McDonald experienced when he went up against Gagard Musasi but you know what I mean like uh Benson Henderson against Koreshkov you're like it's just it's just too much of a leap and so I don't know that it's on that level but I feel like parts of that are there in other words that the size differential, even though he's having trouble making 145 with the cut more and more, it's just a little bit

too much to maximize what is possible, I think. That's what I would say. He'll beat good guys at 155. I don't know if he'll be the best guy at 155, so that's the first thing I'd say. But I think it's probably the right call, BC, because while for now he can still make 145, even if it's hard, I don't want to say that there's uncertainty at the top. In fact, I think Volkanovski is going to be very, very hard to beat. But Max got pretty close not once, but twice. Maybe Brian Ortega will. Maybe somebody else will come along. I don't know. But if 155 is still for now a bridge too far, you were this close to Volkanovski before, you're still a fan favorite in many ways,

why not see what is possible? He took a break. He's going to have a break up until, well, not a break, but he's going to be in camp. But he's not taking that much damage. And I think that getting a title back at 145, while still pretty difficult to imagine happening I think that's a lot more doable BC than getting a title at 155 at least right now it is it is very

much so and again when you are that close to having one back your belt and and he altered his style to do that let's give max credit look from, you know, sort of away from the typical voluminous voluminous, volume natively style that he puts out there, Luke. And, you know, he still brought these, still brought these to the game, of course. But he made the right adjustments I think to try to figure

Max out, or I'm sorry, Volkanovsky out. And then you give Alex credit. He made adjustments upon adjustments on top of that. But if, you know, if Holloway had gotten stopped, or if he had just gotten solved in a way that showed you either he's slipping or others are catching up or this pool is so deep, I don't know where he fits in. Then we would have other talks. Is it time to be a celebrity fighter? Is it time to go up to lightweight? Is it time to just whatever? No, he's still there. He's still the guy. I'm going to be really slow, Luke. And, you know, some people argue if you're just a basement journalist like myself, you should be always slow and trying to tell a guy when he's had enough or what he should do. But I'm going to be really slow in terms of Max Holloway in this regard, because I'd already

conned him out a bunch of times, Luke. I mean, look, let's remember that whole weird situation with the BizPing interview. I thought that was telling us a lot of really bad things. And then it came out against Brian Ortega like nothing ever happened. So he's still got it as far as I'm concerned. He's still growing as a fighter. I know he's got a lot of mileage and a lot of rounds put in there, but he's still young, Luke, and he's still building on what is a very, very good resume. And again, I want to see this fight. I want to see Holloway against Zabit, which is probably something you're going to see coming up soon, and I think you're going to end up seeing Max at least fight for the title again.

I don't know about win it, but at least fight for it again at featherweight in the next 18 months. That's certainly not a stretch or a leap, but I think that's what we're going back to. I like this matchup for him, even though I certainly recognize the danger that Cater brings to the table. Yeah, and I don't want to dismiss Cater. I mean, if Cater wins this, easily the biggest win of his career. The Ige win was nice. The Stevens KO was brutal as hell, but nobody of this quality

has he fought and got his hand raised against. I think that's pretty important to say, so I don't want to lose sight of that. Cater's earned the opportunity, and if he wins, hey, that's your number one contender, probably, right, at that point, or pretty close to it. Okay, but let's talk about Max for just a second, BC, because I want to focus in on this. What is the blueprint here? And here's what I mean. If you look at somebody who's been really, really, really, really good, maybe a previous champion, they get unseated by the next guy, there's a little bit of difficulty to figure out what to do. So let me give some examples for the viewers who are watching. Some of the obvious ones, and maybe perhaps the most iconic one, is Rich Franklin by the time that Anderson Silva came around.

But there are some other ones. Jose Aldo kind of was the man at 145, eventually, obviously, but the first guy to really take Uriah Faber out of that was Mike Brown, but then, of course, Mike Brown loses to Jose Aldo. So there's a bit of that happening there. You could go on and on down the list. I mean, how about Jose Aldo tried to go down to 135 now because he got unseated or whatever. You can pick a bunch of different guys, but there's a common denominator, BC, in all of them,

namely weight class change. They play with it. They don't necessarily altogether abandon the weight class. In the case of Franklin, he would play in that space between 185 and 205, and he had big fights after losing to Anderson Silva, and he won some big fights. It wasn't no man's land in that sense. It was just nowhere ever really getting back to a title

in any kind of concerted way. Max is going to stay at 145. We've already said on this program that we agree that staying at 145 is the better opportunity, but I don't know what blueprint he'd be following by doing that. What do you make of what the historical truth of his situation tells us and what he is trying to do? There's some elements to it uh in that regard especially if he can come back and and win back his title and sort of start a second potential reign there and let's not forget how long it took for him just to get that first crack at that title he was on something like it

you know an obscene win streak at that point um yeah that's an interesting question uh i just think that he hasn't slipped in that meantime he's had this the scares of the health or the injury concerns or whatever but look i just haven't seen a you know either a flat performance or something where he's slowing down or or look the only negative i saw was that his power didn't carry as well at lightweight when he still gave poirier hell for five rounds so uh i think he's right in the thick of it luke and uh i mean we going to see Volkanovski and Ortega for the title. And the fight's fantastic there. I still have to find out how great Zabit is.

But Max is no worse, in my eyes, still like the second best fighter in this division. But the thing is, here's what I wonder. It's like, and here's another name I could throw in there. So you have your Aldos. You have your Rich Franklins. You have your... What were some of the ones I just mentioned? I'm losing my memory here, relating to my old age.

Another one you could add to the list, Frankie Edgar. Another one you could throw on there where things didn't go right at 155. Let's see if we can get 145 and now even 135. It's pretty admirable along the way. Randy Couture going back to heavyweight yeah. Exactly or you could even throw in BJ Penn right 170 wound up being just a little bit too big for him so he went back down to 155 he tried it again later on and also got stomped on but here's a little bit of like the whole idea is there's okay you had some success here at a certain point in

your career but then the conditions under which you had those success were no longer around anymore what are you going to do here's I, what Max Holloway is up against. Again, Holloway is still by many to believe the rightful winner of that second bout with Volkanovski. I don't want to relitigate it, but I think it's fair to say a lot of people do feel that way. And to your point, I think he actually might get another title shot. But what the UFC is up against is, if in fact he actually is the second best guy in that division, boy, that's a real problem. Because it's great when the second best guy in your division has never had a title shot or only had one. But when you've had two, and now you're knocking off

all the contenders that would be fresh matchups for your other champion, you're not servicing the division anymore. In fact, you're actively in their mind, I think, and I wouldn't necessarily be wrong. You're hurting it, right? Because what's a fresh matchup? I'm not saying it's as exciting as, you know, Holloway versus Volkanovski 3, but Cater is a fresh matchup. Ortega is a fresh matchup. If you ever got a chance for it, Korean Zombie is a fresh matchup, and so on and so forth. If you just feed those guys to have Max, and he actually is that dude, he's just going to keep knocking them off. I think part of the reason, BC, why all those other players changed weight classes is because, one, we all know changing weight classes can rejuvenate your career in many ways. But two, I honestly wonder if the UFC leaned on them because they're like, we'll give you huge fights here. We're not going to give you huge fights here. We got to let the rest of that queue get a chance at the top.

It's an interesting idea. It's fair to think that. And also, look, it's not going to be easy if Volkanovski stays champion for Max to speed his way into a third fight when he's lost the first two. That's just the reality of that situation right there. But, you know, I don't know. Other times, guys, after a big loss will switch weight class, a lot of times it's determined on how hard it was to make that weight. I think Max still has always been strong here at 145, and that's not an issue. And I just think the physical advantages there, Luke,

are so much more dramatic than even 10 pounds away away where him with that really long reach at featherweight and the quickness and counter punching ability uh he's just a guy that can overwhelm you there where the power and and the difference in size could catch up with him quicker at lightweight uh UFC is going to have some interesting things there but Max is a UFC guy UFC is a Max promoter uh they love him I think he's, look, he's going to be back in there real quick, all right? Guess what? I'll predict the future for you. He's going to beat Cater, and we're going to be like, oh man, what do we do with this now? Who's going to get it? Is the beat going to go right to the title, or do we got to figure? He's

going to be right back in there. I cannot count this man out. Do you know I bet against him? I'm not bet physically, but you know, making picks, the thing that you hate to do, and I respect that, Luke, okay? I bet against Max in something like eight consecutive fights, Luke. I thought Aldo was going to beat him both times. I thought Pettis was going to. Okay, maybe not Lamas, although thank you for the final minute there, what they did at 199 in Los Angeles when they basically hung these out, Luke. They were just like, you know, I'm going to pin this to my chest and we're just going to find out. Look, I mean, here's the deal. As much as I'm prepared right now to hijack this show in gross ways, it's just inhumane.

Three of these? Three of these? It's not fair. It's really the worst moment of my life. I cannot believe it happened, Luke. It's really ridiculous. But, yeah, back to what you're saying about Max. I fully agree.

Yeah, by the way, amateurs make predictions. Professionals talk about probabilities. Just want to make that clear. All right. Shout out to William and Mary. Getting to the max part, BC. I mean, I'm just trying to think about all the different possibilities that we have to encounter.

And I think you're right. I think he probably will beat Cater. At which point do they give him another title shot? Probably, maybe, unless something happens in the interim. I'm not sure who else is like banging down the door at this point. TKZ's loss to Brian Ortega was pretty thorough, so he's kind of lost a bit of the buzz that he was riding. So let's say they give it to Max. Now let's go even further, BC. What would it say about a guy who had two losses to the same guy, however disputed you want to call them, they are losses on the record. Stayed in the division, didn't

change weight classes, stuck it out, and then actually found a way to win. I have to tell you, for a guy in the Rich Franklin position that he seems to be in, we don't know for sure, it seems to be, for him to do that and then reclaim the title, and I know we are very much getting ahead of ourselves, but trying to game this out, that would be one of the more difficult, if frankly unheard of things we've ever seen in UFC history. I'm struggling to think of a scenario where a guy was a champion who had multiple defenses, lost it multiple times, or not lost it, but lost a fight multiple times to the same opponent who took the title, and then a third time he came back around in the same weight class

and got it back dude that would be that would be a singular achievement not merely in featherweight history but honestly i think mma look it'd kind of be like juan manuel marquez right thinking he got screwed with the draw against pacquiao losing decisions in the second and third fight against pacquiao that were razor thin and then coming back and sending him to hell with really one of the greatest punches in boxing history in their fourth fight yeah it would be completely uh rare and unique but I think again the difference is a guy like Ace Franklin had to enter into that celebrity mode because he got served and sent to hell by the active champion not once but twice a lot of these other names you're talking about, they had to alter their plans because it wasn't just a loss. It was a, you know, an era shifting, defining loss,

like the kind of loss that says this era is over and a new one's coming in for everything great that Volkanovski has done. I love him. Okay. City cock boxing to the core, brother. I don't think this is his era yet. Okay. It was two very close fights with Max, and because Max didn't get completely solved or knocked out, he's still rightfully right in this position in this conversation to get another crack at it. But it would be unique. You're damn right, Luke, okay?

We got you back. You were very angry pre- record. You're back, Luke. I love this. I never went anywhere. I never went anywhere, BC. Alright, well, I'm very much looking forward to that. We'll see who else they put on that card. I just feel like Max Holloway staying at 145, all the risk in the world, even if I think it's the right call, but all the possibilities too. He could really redefine. I'll say this. I don't know if he belongs to be in the Hall of Fame,

but if he goes out there and beats Cater and gets another title shot and beats the winner of Ortega and Volkanovski, who I think will be Volkanovski, if you go and do that, that's Hall of Fame shit. That's when you start elevating yourself. Hold on, hold on. Stop the damn tape. Let's get into this a little bit here. A couple points I want to just counter here. You're basically saying he's not taking a risk staying at Featherweight. It's the smarter choice. That's why he's doing it. Going up to lightweight and facing Ferguson Chandler or Poirier again,

that's taking a risk, bro. He's doing sort of the smartest and safest move. Number two, look at his resume. He's already in the damn Hall of Fame. I'm not even fooling around. The guy's like 30 years old. He's already got a Hall of Fame resume, not just in the UFC Hall of Fame rules, which is we could put 11 and 7 Matt Serra in because we love him. But if the Hall of Fame was voted on by us rather than the company itself, Luke, look at the damn

resume as it stands right now. Tell me the amount of active fighters who have a better resume than Max Holloway right now. Tell me, Luke. Yeah, but I mean, if we're doing like pro football, because it's actually not the NFL Hall of Fame, if we're doing like pro football Hall of Fame, you know, I'm not sure that that would qualify to get in, to be honest with you. It all depends on what your standards are. I mean, I have the highest respect for what Max has done. What are your standards?

What else does he have to do? Look at the damn, look at the run he was on. This is my point. It's like, dude, what has he done? Maybe, listen, maybe the case is that he should be in the Hall of Fame. I'm not here to argue against it. I'm here to say, let's assume for the sake of argument that he's on the bubble. Right, let's just assume.

You go and do something like that, where you beat Volkanovski in your third chance, not abandoning the weight class. By the way, there are risks in staying with the weight class. There's all kinds of promotional risks. You're right beyond that. You're right in saying that it's the smarter of the two approaches. I agree. I said so up front. But that doesn't make it risk-free. It makes it all kinds of ways in which your stock could drop badly if you lost at 145 versus you went to 155 and took on somebody like, I don't know, you took on McG you know, McGregor on late notice or something

and it didn't go well, you'd be like, well, you know, 155, we already know is not really his weight class, blah, blah, blah. There are, there's a series of challenges associated no matter where you go. I'm just pointing out for Max to stick it out at 145 and if he can see through this campaign to the ultimate apex point that it can be taken, I cannot think of somebody else in modern MMA history who can match that achievement. And so for those reasons, if it is as unique as I think it is, that is the Hall of Fame golden ticket times a thousand.

At that point, you couldn't even argue it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. But I mean, look at it freaking now. He finished still prime Jose Aldo twice. Twice, Luke, okay? Good God, Pettis. Good, I mean, come on, Ortega. Frankie.

Can we see you eat one of those eggs on the air? I was just thinking, like, how gross would I be for the sake of entertainment? Would I penetrate this bag with this coffee stirrer and simulate the three-needle destruction and drink the juice out of here like I was showing up in my own Have You Seen This Shit? Yeah, destruction and drink the juice out of here like i was showing up in my own have you seen this shit you know you gotta drink the juice first

because i have a soul who the hell i mean what is this what like i don't want to rip on different cultures is this breakfast for some people look this is a this is obscene where i come from all right no it's not that that's where you come from. Buddy, you're a trash panda. That is a delicacy. All right. Topic number two. Not much to say for this one, but worth at least making a note of it. Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns, according to Kombache, it was reported that what the UFC is targeting is now February 13th. So they were originally supposed to fight this year and

everything kind of got scuttled. And so as a consequence, that's when Jorge Masvidal came in because Gilbert Burns got COVID and then Masvidal fought Usman. It was not the best fight either way. Usman wins. Okay. They were supposed to fight pretty in close succession to that, but Kamaru Usman was looking for a little bit more time. He was granted it. Okay, February 13th. BC, we don't have any official wording yet, but at A, I'd say 1. A, I'd say 1. A,

2021, going to be a strong start it looks like if you're going to get a Conor event in January and then this in February. You're talking about back-to-back pay-per-views. Pretty strong. I think Stipe and Ngannou around that time too, they're looking like, right? Possibly. Exactly. And B, any other thoughts about putting it there or

the matchup in particular? Sorry, I'm just rearranging the text. No, it looks good. Yeah, yeah, it's great. By the way, everyone's ripping on me those four interviews. The sound was horrible. I know, because Jay screwed up on what he sent me in the mail. We're back though, okay? We're all good now. Yeah, look, that's just adding.

It's just riches. It's a delayed fight that we already wanted. And, Luke, on paper, seriously here, that fight Burns and Usman is as good as any fight UFC can make right now. Just like on the on paper, not on the what it'll sell and all that. Matching those two guys up together, will the wrestling cancel out? Will Burns have an advantage on the feet if that does happen? Just the fact that you've got the extreme wrestler in Usman against the extreme grappler.

I mean, look, I cannot wait for that, Luke. And if that ends up being in that mix, it's going to be bangers. I mean, look, the one thing we said at the beginning of this whole quarantine, Bonanza, was that when these promoters come back, and now, look, UFC barely went away, right? But we said when they do, they're going to have to pack in great fights in a short period of time to get everybody paid, to keep the ratings going.

UFC's already had a hellaciously great time this 2020 in terms of big fights. What they're putting together to start the new year, I'm humbled here, Luke. I'm fired up. I'm screwing up this whole thing. But yeah, that's what I got. Thank you. Who do you think the delay benefits more?

Potentially, I actually think it benefits Usman more if he's going to be working with Trevor Whitman and it gives them another camp. Because in that short time that they worked together, Luke, for the Masvidal fight, you really saw an evolution or at least an attempt at evolving his ability to strike and game plan and not be just more about the physicality of the wrestling and the timing of the takedowns. I saw a lot of room for great growth there potentially. Is he staying with him?

Do we know that? I have to assume that on this. I don't know for sure. That's actually a good question. I don't know for sure. Okay. We could probably get our friend Rashad Evans to break that for us, but yeah.

All right. Maybe we'll do some peyote afterwards. Yeah. Yeah. Well, here's what I would say about it in just sort of thinking about the matchup itself. I actually think the delay, depending on how they treat it, probably could help.

I mean, here's what it'll do. If he stays with Trevor Whitman it will help he and Trevor get on a better page than the short amount of time they worked together with for what ultimately ended up being the Masvidal fight I think I would agree with that but I think overall

in terms of the delay it's better for Gilbert because it's going to give him more time to I mean he is still more of a developing talent, if you ask me. Kamaru Usman is more of a finished product. Now, he's not finished, but to me, the amount of strides that Gilbert has made are incredible, but I actually still think he's got room to grow. I mean, the level of sophistication he showed in the striking department against Tyron Woodley, which may not necessarily be available to him given how Kamaru Usman fights,

but still, that level of sophistication is, to me, more sophisticated striking than what Kamaru has ever shown. Now, Kamaru, to me, looks to be more of a heavier hitter and uses the fact that he has good defensive wrestling and amazing offensive wrestling to kind of sit down and not be wild per se, but he doesn't have to be as calculating with it and that's a that's a benefit that he gets to enjoy by virtue of the way in which he competes I'm just saying part of the way he wins and this is well known there's a lot of tape on Kamaru Usman he kind of not spams you but there's an overall volume of takedown attempts there's sort of a volume of takedown attempts. There's sort of a volume of pressure forward. You can work on that in one game plan for one camp, but now you get two to work on that. I mean, to me, Gilbert Burns has

more ways to adjust than Kamaru Usman does. Kamaru Usman, to me, can make strategic and even tactical adjustments. Gilbert can make those and level up his overall game in the process. I actually feel like it benefits Gilbert a little bit more. What do you make of that? Yeah, that's a fair breakdown right there. I mean, look, Gilbert is going to be one of the hotter dogs in these big fights that we sort of see on the docket coming up in the next six months. And I do believe, like you're right, we don't know how good he actually is

because the improvement was so steady. Each fight by fight, he got a little bit better, a little bit more confident, and that's seemingly the key. Look, he's a really good dude on top of that, Luke. We don't say enough of that sometimes, of the guys that are easy to cheer for. And Gilbert Burns is going to have his moment.

I cannot wait. Look, I don't know if this is going to be boring, if this is going to be fireworks, if it's going to be... I mean, if this turns into a Covington-Usman type fight for Kamaru, there's a worse guy to be banging with than it was with Colby. Wait, what? Sorry, let me put it in layman's terms, Luke. If this fight should turn into a punching match for five rounds,

unlike the Colby one in which Kamaru handled him in the punching department, I think Gilbert will beat his ass. That's where I was going with that. There was a part, it was one or two words I couldn't quite hear because the volume of my thing is low. And then I heard two dudes banging and I'm like, wait a second. Where are we going? Not really my style, Luke.

Sorry. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so we'll see what happens with that again. Not confirmed by UFC, but something to pay attention to. Topic number three. This one to me is a little bit more interesting. And I don't hate this BC. In fact, I like it.

In fact, I like it a lot. I just wonder if there was another way to go. But maybe not. Okay, here's what it is. In the works for UFC 258, I don't have the date in front of me. But in the works for that is a rematch. Now, it's not a rematch from one UFC fight to another. It's a rematch from the regional scene to now both guys are in the UFC, and let's see where they are now. Namely, Chris Weidman is rumored, or at least reportedly,

going to be fighting in a rematch Uriah Hall. Now, these two first fought, I think, in September of 2010 in Cage Fury Fighting Championships. I don't know if there's any video of it on Fight Pass, but I know years ago there was video of it on YouTube, and it was one-sided, man. It was not especially close. Chris Weidman, that was when Chris Weidman was like the guy coming

out of the regional scene. And to be fair, Luke, that was before Uriah was training with Jay Aaron, so you gotta... Right, exactly that. I mean, I think he was a Tiger Shulman guy at the time. Oh, you know what that was? When he was training with Jason. Yes. Training with Jason, meaning fucking him up

and throwing his dirty jock in his face and being like, no escape, bitch. Who do you think gave it to Jay better old world style? Uriah Hall or Ron Johnson? I mean, come on, you know? Uriah probably took mercy on him. Make him humble. Yes.

Yes. All right. I F your A and make you humble. Camel crutch. The only reason, by the way, the only reason I know that is because my best friend in the world is Persian. And he took me to a Persian restaurant not too long ago. It was before the pandemic. And in the Persian restaurant, I swear to God, they had a picture of the Iron Sheik from

like the 70s. Oh, yeah. And it was signed. And then he showed me his whole Twitter account. It's pretty funny. Have you ever seen, by the way, that that that shtick that the Iron Sheik used to do in the early 80s, where you pick up those two Persian clubs that each way like a shitload each and spin them separately with each hand. As a weightlifting guy, Luke, I've got to bring this video into our show. I think you would appreciate that a lot. Yeah, I'd actually be curious to see that. Bring that.

Because he was like a legit athlete, as I understand it. No, he was an Olympic wrestler, and he was an Olympic assistant coach for the States. Oh, was he? I didn't know that. For folks who may not realize, the Iranians and the Russians are maybe the two best teams in the world. coach for the states you know oh was he i didn't know well if you folks have not realized the iranians and the russians are maybe the two best teams in the world so you come out of that place and you wrestle you're gonna be pretty good right yeah all right well getting back to this chris weidman taking on uriah hall too you in the works for ufc 258 bc what do you make of this pairing

because i like it but i was hoping that they would make Anderson Silva versus Chris Weidman three I guess they're not going to do that because now Silva's retired or whatever the hell is happening Weidman did get the win over Omari Akhmedov okay do you like the matchup it's okay yeah it's not bad I mean I like the element of we fought in the past in the shadows in the carnival days like excuse me Liz Karmush and Valentina Shevchenko, but now we're going to do a rematch on the big leagues. The only thing is, it's like, why not just make Weidman Rockhold? I mean, that's the damn fight.

That's the damn rematch to make. Two washy guys with big names just bang them against each other. Maybe there's belief that because of the win over Akhmedov, Weidman's got a little bit more in the tank right now. Both guys are coming off wins. I don't hate the matchup. I don't hate it. I'm just a little afraid at this point for Chris Weidman against any elite striker. And there's certainly still a big bang theory coming his way in Uriah Hall,

whether he's slowed down or not. I mean, the guy can absolutely send you, Luke, to sort of the basement apartment below Hades. And I hope that doesn't happen to him here. But it's an interesting style contrast. And it's also both entering into hashtag old guy fights. And, Luke, that's where I get down. That's where I live.

That's my domain. So, yeah, I don't hate this. I think the loser might go there. I don't think the winner does. In fact, I would say if Uriah Hall wins, even though he's, what, 36 years old, honestly, he'd have beaten two names back-to-back in Silva and Weidman. I'm not saying that puts him in title shot contention, but it's definitely going to do something for his career in a positive way as far as the rankings are concerned. I have to tell you, I favor Uriah Hall this time.

And again, I encourage everyone, please go watch the first one. Chris Weidman, he made it look effortless. It was not especially close. I don't know where that guy exists anymore number one number two even if you want to say he could still get the wrestling done the fact that he couldn't put away Ahmedov to me was a bit of a bit of a warning sign even though he did look you know strong and physical and you know still has a good top control wrist rides the whole nine yards but you you alluded to something which was the ability to take punishment. You know, Uriah Hall still has, to me, a pretty good chin he might need if he gets

ground and pounded. I think Chris Weidman has been absolutely put through the ringer. I mean, he's still, I think, somebody you couldn't overlook. But can I look at the camera now and say, I think he can take as much punishment today as he did when he fought Jesse Bongfeld? No, I don't think I can say that. I'd be lying to the audience if I said that. I don't think it's particularly controversial either. So to me, it's like, man, Uriah Hall, the first time around, I don't think had the wrestling pedigree or the overall MMA game to deal with it. 10, was it 11 years later, nearly at this point, whenever they decided to make it, I think his overall game has developed significantly.

I think being with Fortis MMA changes things, and his one-shot ability has not necessarily gone away, and that's something that is just kryptonite at this point for Chris Weidman at this stage in his career. Do you think Chris Weidman needs new coaching, a new team, just to get a new philosophy in there? Like, I like some of the changes he seemed to be making in the Akhmetov fight. It almost looked like he was borrowing from brother-in-law

Wonderboy Thompson in terms of the movements and the look for kicks. But do you think there's a change could bring back a little bit more life in this man? Or is it, you know... Listen, it's like... The waves are rolling in, you know? Could you benefit by training with somebody else

who also had wisdom to impart? Sure sure would it meaningfully change his career I mean these are the kinds of conversations you have around somebody who's like Cody Garbrandt where he ran into those you know multiple KOs in a row but he was still in his 20s and you're like okay wait a second we can we can fix this you were a champion this is a fixable thing or you know if someone is still at a stage in their career where they haven't ultimately achieved their best and getting with a coach who understands them could get them there. But Chris was already champion. He's closer to 40 than he is 30 at this point, much closer in fact. And he's taken a ton of damage. And this is something that doesn't get talked about with Chris Weidman nearly enough, which is whether it it's his fault, or whether it's genetics, or some combo of the two,

I don't know. But the dude has been injured a lot. Injured in fights, injured in training, he's missed a lot of time, he's had a lot of camps that were just disrupted, by virtue of having, you know, a foot injury, a knee injury, a shoulder injury, a hand injury, all different kinds of things. It's happened over and over and over again. Dude, it adds up at some point. It just really does. It's not necessarily fair, but it's a fact. And so to me, it's like, if you trained him at, you know, Hard Knocks 365 or Sanford MMA, whatever it's called, or AKA, and he somehow put, you know, buried the hatchet with Luke Rockhold or whatever, could he get beneficial training out of that? I'm sure that he could. Would it really change his fortunes at this point?

That seems like a reach for me. Yeah, you just basically described him as the old guy at the MMA class who shows up with all of his limbs and bandages and braces, Luke. No, he's not quite. No, that's a little unfair. He's not quite Kazushi Sakuraba, were it not for KT tape, I think would disintegrate, not disintegrate, but would collapse into a blob of a ball of jello or something. I mean, honestly, that dude is held together. Who was that guy that fought in a Speedo a few years back and got in trouble dennis hallman he's dennis hallman is the

is the tokyo to um to what's her name's new york in terms of opposite who wears more items of clothing in the in the octagon than roxy modafari nobody yeah she nearly has spats on because she has so much going on with the rash guard i'm not a fan of the rash guard for the women by the way rash guard she comes in with sweatpants, a sweatshirt, Luke. She's got a warm-up coat over that. I mean, that's just the fighting. It's like, Roxy, are you going to fight, or are you putting out a fire there?

What's wrong with all the clothing you got on? Hey, it's legal. Go for it. No, I think if you're going to, this is a bit of a side note, I'm not a big fan of the rash guard, but if you're going to do the rash guard, why can't it be V-necked and sleeveless? Why do you have to have sleeves that go around the armpit?

It's actually kind of important. Luke's like, come on, this America, show me your curves, bitch. You always have to be weird. It's just a thing with you. I don't understand it, but it's a thing. Anyway, give me some odds. What are the odds for Weidman? What are the odds for Uriah Hall?

Who do you like? If I was an odds maker, I would certainly like the idea of Weidman? What are the odds for Uriah Hall? Who do you like? If I was an odds maker, I would certainly like the idea of Weidman winning a decision by out-wrestling him, but I would ultimately make Hall a minus 200 favorite and expect him to get a knockout, Luke. All right, real quickly. If Hall wins,

is this the best win streak of his career? If Weidman wins, do we have to talk about him as a legitimate contender? I guess you've got to talk about either one. You're right. As not a legitimate, like, jump to the front of the line contender, but certainly Weidman has bigger star value, and I don't think it would be against Dana White to take Weidman

like they did with Frankie Edgar against Holloway recently and just go, okay, dude, you're looking good. You beat a couple of guys. Go ahead. Get back out there for one more title. It'll sell better than whoever is the other big name out there in the moment. I mean, look, if Adesanya is going to stay at middleweight, you got to do Whitaker. That's just what it is. But yeah, I think more importantly for Weidman, a victory here, he's actually not that far out from getting one. I don't think they'd go out of their way but he could slide in there easily if there was no one else or there was a you know an injury he he's basically in Rich Franklin territory now Luke just stay healthy stay by the phone you can fight a multiple weight classes whatever you got to do and for folks who

may not know currently Hall and Wideman respectively sit at nine-10 in the UFC middleweight ranking. So part of the reason why they probably paired them, they're right there next to each other. But here's where, I mean, if you win, okay, you win. But here's 6-8. 6 is Darren Till. 7 is Derek Brunson, who, all the credit in the world, looked amazing against Edmund Shabazian.

You have to acknowledge it. And then 8 is Kelvin Gastelum. Now Weidman, if he wins, has the win over Gastelum now Weidman if he wins has the win over Gastelum already last question on this BC if Weidman beats Hall whatever that means in your mind would you favor him to beat Gastelum in the rematch if they made it no I still don't I remember watching that fight and I still don't know how Weidman was able to make it look that easy and I guess it plays to well it plays to, he's a really good wrestler and he leaned on his strengths there. But it also plays to the fact, Luke, that Kelvin Gastelum will give you, you know, he'll give you the full spectrum.

He'll look like an absolute killer title threat against Adesanya and then kind of look okay. I think he struggles with inconsistency and that was certainly a night where he got handled that was surprising. I would like Gastelum's chances in a rematch, but I always overplay Gaslam because, Luke, I was there in Atlanta when he came out in full-on championship predator mode and nearly did the deal, okay? It's funny, dude. You watch tape from that fight on Gaslam, and certainly I've watched a fair bit of it, and then you watch him in other fights, and and it's like how were you able to do things in this contest even if it was a losing affair ultimately how are you able to do that and then you can't do that against other guys who aren't nearly as good or don't pose many of the same threats it's been very baffling I don't quite understand it because you know yeah he lost okay we all know but dude there was several rounds there where he looked great

like really good i and then you think okay look really good against x or y and the times he has a lot of times he hasn't it's bizarre yeah i mean there are there are guys like that luke who who not only do they play to the level of competition but they just can't summon that full elite effort every single time and And could it be a bad camp? Could it be an injury? Could it be a fight with a spouse? You never know, Luke, okay? You never know. By the way, it looks like if Weidman wins, he'd fall out of the top 10. Now, I don't know this to be sure. I know he's had a significant time off. When was the last time Chris Weidman was outside of the top 10 at middleweight?

I would say after the three of five consecutive knockout losses, probably, Luke, probably. I don't know if that's true. Maybe right after Romero's knee. Again, you could say, Jose, you could say, like, he may have deserved to be in the top 10, but the way the rankings work, I would like to check that. If one of our listeners knows, I mean, I'm not going to declare it

because I certainly do not know, but I wonder if this is the first time he's out of the top 10 since entering it look what do you have less respect for in terms of integrity the ufc's ranking system or their cutoff for hall of famers the ranking system i mean because here's the thing. Their cutoff for Hall of Famers is, you know, it's not robust. I'll put it that way. I got an angry bone to pick. Not angry, but people get mad when I say this, but Luke, you know how they put fights into the Hall of Fame, which I don't hate on. That's a fun idea, right? Yeah. The fighters that are involved in those fights sometimes end up referring to themselves now as hall of famers and then get referred to i'll use as an example um uh what's his name the uh diego sanchez i've

seen people say hall of famer diego sanchez look the damn fights in the hall of fame sanchez ain't in there i mean he may end up getting in there from how UFC operates, and he's had a long and fun career, but I don't like when people get that sort of, oh, well, the fight's in the Hall of Fame, so he's a Hall of Famer now. Can we have some kind of Mendoza line here? By the way, here are players that played in the NFL who are not in the NFL Hall or the Football Hall of Fame. Luke, I don't know, Luke. I must have been talking to this bag of eggs here.

I was looking for you to, you know, I don't know. I know, but I want to finish this point if I can, because I think you'd actually be able to add to this. Here's who's not in the Hall of Fame for the NFL football. Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, Chris Carter. By the way, Chris Carter, 16 seasons, caught 1,100 passes for 14,000 yards and 130 touchdowns, not in the Hall of Fame. Tim Brown, Marvin Harrison, Terrell for 14,000 yards and 130 touchdowns. Not in the Hall of Fame.

Tim Brown, Marvin Harrison, Terrell Owens, Ricky Waters, Jason Taylor, Kevin Green, Ken Reilly, Isaac Bruce, Jerome Bettis, not in the Hall of Fame. Michael Strahan, not in the Hall of Fame. Terrell Davis, not in the Hall of Fame. Priest Holmes, Drew Bledsoe, Phil Sims, Rich Gannon, Boomer Esiason, not in the Hall of Fame. Randall Cunningham, not in the Hall of Fame. When you look at what other sports actually do to maintain some integrity about their Hall of Fame,

the UFC's version of it, I'm not as angry about it because they're celebrating fighters who mean a lot to them. And so in that sense, you can't be too angry about it. But if you're in for a fight, you're not a Hall of Famer. Tell me the truth, Luke. If you're in for a fight, you're not a Hall of Famer. If you're what? Is Diego Sanchez right now a UFC Hall of Famer? No, the fight was a Hall of Fame fight, right?

That's what they're saying. Right, right. Even that, I wouldn't necessarily call it a Hall of Fame fight, but yes. No, I think pro football's Hall of Fame's not that bad. Baseball has always been like the one that will actually leave you out, right? Like the Don Mattingly thing where it's like a guy was great for a short period, but we're not going to reward that he couldn't do it over the long haul. I have much more issues with the pro basketball Hall of Fame,

which will get in guys on the first year that were like, you know, like a Mitch Richmond gets in on the first year. You're like, okay. And Gino Mitch Richmond gets in on the first year. You're like, okay. And Gino Auriemma's going in every year. But, like, there's no – like, the NBA needs their own damn Hall of Fame is where I'm going with that. Whatever. Who is the best player not in the Basketball Hall of Fame?

They all get in. But my point is there's no real cutoff line, and you get in for your your high school international and college achievements just as much as your pro you know what i mean got it okay fair enough that's a conversation to have but in in american football they got damn good players who are not even close uh all right speaking of things that are close bc tomorrow bellator 253 they had a great card last week they had a bunch of duds but they had a great card last week. They had a bunch of duds, but they had a great card last week. I think they're building on some momentum here,

because this card, you know, it's not big. It's only three fights starting at 7 p.m. in the east on CBS Sports Network. It's only three fights on the main card. So just to be clear, it's not a long night, all right? But it's a good night. In your main event, Darian Caldwell is taking on A.J. McKee. This is the other side of the bracket for the 145-pound World Grand Prix Tournament. Co-main event, Benson Henderson taking on Jason Jackson. By the way, at welterweight, at the face-offs, I was like, God damn, Benson Henderson is going up against a Goliath on the other side. So good luck to him. And then the guy I've got my eye on, we'll talk about a little bit later, Joey Davis, Black Ice, taking on Bobby Lee.

Let's start at the top there, BC. First of all, a decent card by Beltor. Good card it could end up being. We'll see how the main event looks. Caldwell versus McKee. Size him up for me. And do you really see a fighter in either case who, if it's Pitbull or Sanchez,

do you favor this side of the bracket over the other side of the bracket? Well favor this side of the bracket over the other side of the bracket? Well, this side of the bracket's tougher. I mean, AJ McKee's been saying that all tournament because, you know, the top seats had their pick at the beginning and he felt who you could, you know, you had your pick of where either on the bracket you'd be or who you would fight.

And he thought Pitbull set himself up for an easier side. Look, I think how this breaks down is not only do I look at this as literally a flip pick-em fight between Caldwell and McKee, even though McKee's a three-to-one favorite, and look, he's been so spectacular lately. He's more well-rounded, it seems, than Caldwell. He's the bigger fighter, naturally. He's younger. I get why he's the favorite, but I really think Darian Caldwell's got a great chance in this one, and Luke, and I think the winner of this, has a very good chance of competing head-to-head with Pitbull. I know Pitbull's got to get through Emmanuel Sanchez first in the rematch,

but this just speaks to the strength of this tournament. They doubled the Grand Prix this time to 16 fighters. We talked about how it didn't really have the sex factor at first, as much name value as the welterweight or heavyweight tournaments before it, but these are the right four you want in here, and this is a damn great matchup Thursday night. Luke McKee's got 16 consecutive wins. All 16 have come in the Bellator cage all in the last five years. He's only 25 and he's three wins away from tying Pitbull for most in Bellator history.

This is as perfect a job of taking a homegrown talent, and obviously one through his father Antonio, who's got a pedigree in this, and building him up to this moment where if he beats Darian Caldwell, I mean, he's going to go into that fight for the championship in the final as a very live dog, if not a favorite, depending on who he fights. He is the real deal. He's spectacular. That eight-second knockout of Georgie Karkanian in the first round of this tournament was a Bellator record and really showed you what he's made of. There's the footage of it right there.

But I'm just not ready to... Good timing, PC. What'd you say? Good timing. Yeah, damn right. I love our team here. I'm not ready to count out Caldwell's chances. Luke, Caldwell's going to have the experience factor. He's gone five plenty of times.

He's going to have a lot of things in his favor. Now, granted, though, I think Caldwell's fight has to go his way to win it. He's got to be able to set the terms of this and control it on the ground. If there's a need for plans B, C, and D, I think that's where McKee comes in and could take over the top, and that's why he's the favorite. But I'm not convinced that Caldwell's not going to just be able to do to him what he did to the first two guys he faced in this tournament,

including, you know, boldly disarming Adam Boric when he came in as this unbeaten stud and just dominating him. I kind of like the underdog Caldwell here, and at the very least, I think it's speaking to the fact that this is as good of a fight as a tournament could produce, and it's a pick-em. Luke, this fight kind of reminds me of when Doug Lima fought MVP in their Grand Prix side of the bracket in the welterweight one, where it's like one guy's got to prove himself,

one guy's been pretty much proven. Let's see what we do here. I mean, I love this fight. Yeah, I mean, to me it's kind of interesting, right? It's like, do I think Darian Caldwell is by far the best wrestler that AJ McKee has faced? Not even close. I mean, absolutely the answer to that is yes.

And do I think that Caldwell will take him down? I do. Do I think if the fight goes, let's say, multiple rounds, he will take him down multiple times? I do. Hold him down and ground and pound. I suspect all of that will be in play. But if you asked me, can he beat AJ McKee with the same game plan over the course of five rounds, assuming that it goes that long, and maybe it doesn't,

but the one he used against Kyoji Horiguchi in the rematch, do I think he can beat AJ McKee that way? I'm not so sure. I'm not so sure. I mean, listen, part of what Caldwell does that nobody else can do is, you talk about other people who watched wrestling at the time that he did, and you talk about his famous win over Brent Metcalf and how athletic he was and blah blah blah like this dude was a marvel in college right national champion the whole nine yards and in MMA he just still kind of a wrestler and you would think after a couple of setbacks that he had against Horiguchi

but you know against time and glow as well where you had this sort of singular approach to the game. It takes you pretty far, but it limits you at the very, very end a little bit. So if he can vary it up, really go to the ground and pound, take his time with it, soften guys up, advance position, threaten from the back, which by the way, he's pretty good from the back too. You know, go go after chokes make this guy nervous about even putting a hand on the mat anything because you're gonna you're gonna absolutely contort him like a pretzel and then pound him out in between i think he can win that way but if it's this i'm gonna be the better wrestler and hold you in an era in mma bc where judges are more than ever not as inclined to give the top control fighter the round, even if there's multiple minutes where you have top control, if the guy underneath has an active guard,

or you just didn't do a whole lot. And that has been Darian Caldwell at times. And so to me, it's like, AJ McKee has all the tools to beat Caldwell, provided that Caldwell is the same guy we've seen. But if he can show a new wrinkle, I think Caldwell can advance to the finals. I just don't know if that's even possible at this point.

Yeah, I think you nailed it. I think you nailed it right there. If he can control the terms himself, he's going to have a great chance. If this goes later, he has better experience in that regard. But McKee is the more dynamic one. We interviewed both these guys briefly on CBS Sports HQ during the weigh-in show today,

and I've been checking out their other interviews this week, and you know, McKee's a talker, but he really looks at Caldwell as just one-dimensional, a guy who's not a mixed martial artist, just has one speed, holds you down, tries to run away from contact. He thinks if he can get him into a striking battle, it's on, and

it's going to be over. And Luke, I've loved everything McKee has said about his future, meaning that, you know, he wants this one. He wants Pitbull. He thinks he's a live one against Pitbull. He wants to not only take Pitbull's featherweight title, he wants to move up right after and go up to lightweight and take that belt as well.

And for all the talk that Aaron Pico was this, you know, potential building block for Bellator, the most prized, hyped prospect of all time, and again, Pico's still young. He may figure it out. AJ McKee is actually living this out for them. I mean, I was really surprised. I didn't realize he's never fought anywhere else.

This is homegrown, day one, and this tournament is going to give him his chance to make good on all of it. That's why he's your betting favorite. But again, just good matchmaking. Bellator, they'll give you the shits. We cover the shits. This ain't the shits, Luke. This is good matchmaking. Bellator, they'll give you the shits. We cover the shits. This ain't the shits, Luke. This is good.

It's good stuff. This is not what I had it for in the morning today. I'll say this. We should absolutely bludgeon promoters verbally when they fuck up the development of a product or a prospect, right? When they get it wrong

by going too slow or going too fast. And that happens pretty frequently, both the UFC and Bellator and one. I mean, they're all like when one matched up, you know, Sage Northcutt with Cosmo Alessandri, you're like, Ooh, don't know if that's the best idea. And of course he paid for it. And one deserved to be criticized for it. But for them, for Bellator to get 16 fights out of this guy, but start him young and, you know, walk him through the prelims and then slowly incrementally deserved to be criticized for it. But for Bellator to get 16 fights out of this guy, but start him young, and, you know, walk him through the prelims, and then slowly, incrementally,

give him the kind of challenges that he needed to rise to the occasion and prove that he was the real deal. And now, at 25, filled out into man strength, you know, really matured his skill set. You're beginning to see, like, this is now the time to step up in competition. And I think, I forget who he faced in the opening. Oh, Derek Campos.

And he got the win there. Now against Caldwell, you beat Caldwell. It's not only your best win, but to me it's the right kind of incremental approach that he has already been on all this time. And it could lead to Emmanuel Sanchez or Pitbull, which is, of course, an outrageously difficult test. But at that point, you'd have earned it.

So you can't even complain anymore. Luke, as the fan in you, what's your hope for the final? What's the best matchup that can be made from these four? Hmm. I'm going to just speak from my personal bias. It's not anything personal in terms of the guys. Just, you know know I have a soft spot for Darian Caldwell I have been burned by him uh you know sort of hoping he would turn the

corner I don't know if that's still possible but let's say he gets to the finals and then really what you're up against is two things if Emmanuel Sanchez beats Pitbull I mean you're talking about a massive win at that point so i don't know that i would like that fight as much even though the story would be kind of cool so to answer your question in a sort of a roundabout way i'm looking for a caldwell pitbull final but it could just as easily be mckee versus sanchez and you can't hate on it because again if you get to the finals man nobody handed you that spot you have to work your ass off to get there and so I wouldn't complain either way yeah while I go nuts for a McKee uh Pitbull final I want to see Caldwell's wrestling against Pitbull and see if that can be the the x factor here the smaller guy moving up

in weight but he's been he's been great on the ground that's what he does can Pitbull make him have to have you know extra gears extra extra game plans there or will the power be too much when Pitbull touches people lately, Luke? He's like that damn dog with the machete going up against the guy with the skateboard on Have You Seen This Shit? The guy's vicious, all right? All right, very good. Lastly, Benson Henderson taking on Jason Jackson. You saw the weigh-ins, dude. Am I lying, or was Benson Henderson... Like, you ever see those fights, you're like, wow, this guy must be a weight class below the other guy. No, that's what this looked like look i don't understand why benson henderson's

taking this specific fight it's his first welterweight fight in four years since he lost that title bout to koreshkov when he came into bellator luke and he's openly said this week i not only have to i need to win the bellator lightweight championship yes he just lost to chandler by one punch knockout in their rematch, but Luke, we know he has that win over Pitbull. Now, it was because of, you know, leg injury more than anything, but Henderson believes this is sort of like,

you know, some back-end validation for his entire career. He was a UFC champion, WEC champion, done great things. I don't think it's wrong to call him a legend, but if he can close by adding a title like that and the belts or, you know, in the final run of his career, it would really strengthen it. Then why are we doing a welterweight fight against a riser in Jackson? Look, Rashad Evans has been talking up this Jackson fellow Luke for a long time from down there in Sanford MMA. And I thought he got robbed against Ed Ruth. He had dropped him twice and look good there. And if you look at the split decision loss to Ruth and the other loss for Jackson,

where he hurt his leg outside of that, he's unbeaten Luke. He's been looking really good. And you know, you call yourself the ass kicking machine. You're going to get me fired up, Luke. You are. And that's this Jamaican. I'm with you. Like, you know, I don't know that I want to take the cynical approach, but it looks to me, it's like they see a future in Jackson and they don't know that I want to take the cynical approach, but it looks to me it's like they see a future in Jackson and they don't in Henderson. And let's just match up Jackson in a way to get some of the name value from beating a dude like Benson Henderson. Now, again, I'm not declaring to you that to be the case because I don't know what the case is. But it certainly smells of it. It certainly looks that way. It's a great opportunity for Jason Jackson.

I'm not here to say that Benson Henderson can't or won't win the fight, BC. That would be foolish as well. But quite literally a tall order for him to overcome. The last of the fights, or I should say the first of them that will air on CBS Sportsnet tomorrow, 7 p.m. in the East, this is the one I've got my eye on. Pay attention, folks. The main event is cool. It's great. Maybe the best fight on the card by a country mile, but the guy you should pay attention to is Joey Davis. Joey Davis calls himself Black Ice. He trains at the Body Shop with AJ McKee. They're longtime teammates. And this dude is the real deal Holyfield. You want to talk about blue chip prospects. There's been one wrestler in the history of Division I to win

all of their matches in college. It's Kale Sanderson. There have been two to do it in Division II. Marcus Levesseur, who fought in the UFC but eventually washed out, and then this guy, Joey Davis. But here's the difference. Levesseur was just kind of always a wrestler, and Kale never fought in MMA. Joey Davis already, seven fights into his career, looks so smooth on the feet, calm, patient. But when he needs to explode and use his athleticism smartly, he can. He already has an understanding of distance and fakes and feints. He has brilliant spinning and turning back kicks that he uses to steer opponents into what he's doing. It takes his time, but even with being patient,

he still has, of those seven wins, I believe five first-round stoppages, all, by the way, I think in Bellator. And so you're talking about a guy who is just acclimating to MMA at warp fucking speed there are not many guys I'm going to give praise to seven fights into their career like this Joey Davis is one of them now he's going up against a guy who's experienced who's got 16 pro fights in Bobby Lee so not some pushover 12 and 4 by the way his record but Joey Davis should uh should shine excuse me and I'm looking to see exactly what improvements he makes, BC, because he looks to be the genuine article.

I'm not well-woke to him. I'm excited. You have talked him up in a way that does get me fired up to see this, Luke. And you mentioned Cale never going to the MMA space. Of course, he's an insanely accomplished amateur or collegiate wrestling coach, but would you call him a bitch for never once putting it all on the line? Would you be willing? No. No, I would not do that, BC.

I would not do that. By the way, Kimbo Slice Jr. on this card. Boy, the buzz is falling off for him. Well, yeah, he's like three and two. He's coming off of a win in which he illegally used some bad elbows and punches to the back of the head, and he turned it into a no contest there. Yeah, he's fun, Luke. He's fun because he looks like the dad, and he's a nice kid.

But he might go the way of Conroy Gracie, Luke, and Ryan Couture. Conry? Conry, Conroy, Conroy. Wow, Conroy Gracie and Ryan Couture. And any other kids of fighters that suck the horn a little bit, Luke? No? No, not that I can think of. All right, last but not least, BC, before we get to the social media aspect of the show on the Wednesday program here,

got a little bit of a boxing corner. We got two things to discuss very quickly. First, Fury, it appears appears is not going to be fighting uh Wilder on December 5th Wilder is now super bitter about it without belaboring the point BC what can you tell us about it yeah so uh you want to see you want to you want to get an update on where Deontay Wilder is check out the uh Last Stand podcast with Showtime's Brian Custer and you know shout out to Brian has been getting some big interviews that others haven't. And he got Deontay for an hour sitting in his car.

Luke, I hung on deep into that interview because I was just waiting. You know, Deontay talked about all the people that were at fault for that Tyson Fury rematch. You know, from his suit to the, now he's saying that Tyson Fury's fingernails protruded through the glove and cut his ear. He's got the, somebody doctored his water. Luke, I only hung on to find out if he was going to throw the European banks in there, but he did not mention the name Rothschild at all, Luke. So, uh, the conspiracy ended there. No building seven, uh, reference either. Uh, the Pentagon hole. I mean, it was that big, right? But there was a plane. I don't get it either. But Luke, yeah, what the hell is going on with Deontay Wilder?

I do not know. It is an entertaining listen, just the same. But it's getting to the point where I don't think Tyson Fury wants to or will ever get in there a third time because you're almost at the what do you have to gain point. This guy's calling you a cheater on 96 levels and people think you dominated him already in the second fight, which you did. So the update on Fury is, you know, he was supposed to fight December 5th against a guy you never heard of. It seems like they couldn't come to terms on the money for him to turn around quick enough. So now he's looking toward next year. We know he wants Joshua. We know AJ has mandatories. So I'm a little bit more interested, Luke,

in seeing where Deontay Wilder goes in the near future. I know there was some talk at some point because PBC has Andy Ruiz. Would that be sort of an early, short-term, big fight to build to? Luke, Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz would be some business. I'd be down for that. You? I'd be totally down. It's not that there's not other good fights to make, not even by a long shot.

It's just that these two have a certain amount of magnetism. I think we could agree. They have an interesting rivalry. I think we could agree. And there's demand for more of what they offer, and so we're in the position that we're in. But it is amazing. By the way, here's a quote from this interview

that Wilder did with Brian Custer. Quote, The gypsies believe in cheating, and you don't cheat, they consider you to be a sucker. Oh, we have the clip? Play it then if we have the clip. All right, look at this.

Ooh. After that fight, when you lost your belt to Fury, and I'm quoting you, you said, listen, I had a lot of things going on. No, no, no, let me correct you. After that fight, when you lost your belt to Fury, and I'm quoting you, you said, "'Listen, I had a lot of things going on-' No, no, no, let me correct you when I got cheated out of my belt to Fury. Okay, you said- You can proceed.

Yeah, you said, quote, "'I had a lot of things going on coming into this fight, but I have no excuses. The best man won tonight um why has that changed i mean he cheated he flat out cheated that wasn't the best man that was the coward of a man you know he got a long reputation of cheating and uh this right here is nothing nothing less of him i mean he's known a known che. So if you're known to be a known cheater, why are you going to stop now? You know, the gypsies believe in if they have an opportunity to cheat

and they don't cheat, they consider you to be a sucker. Yes, I could. Hey, while I was doing that move I do when I get a gas station hot dog, Luke, but the bun is like a week old. So as you're eating it, the bun just deteriorates. And then you're constantly reaching down to your crotch and pushing the crumbs onto the floor while you're driving. I've been there.

I saw Deontay pulling that move during that interview. Luke, I'm a conspiracy guy. You know what it looked like to me, real quickly? It looked like that video of Kawhi Leonard, who was obviously rolling a blunt after the Raptors won the NBA championship but he was rolling the blunt inside the car just outside of the view of the camera and he was like what it do baby I didn't see that I thought pick up all the shake from the bag there been there too I thought you're going to reference the John Jones

Albuquerque pullover but that's another story as Luke, what I'm saying is he's so committed to this conspiracy theory. He himself, somebody has got to walk with him. Like, I almost want to be there with him, Luke, and just say, you know what? You're damn right. Okay. First, uh, first, first they got Kennedy and then they got you, Deontay. You know, uh, uh, it is what it is, bro. To this day. Um, I don't know how to react to that, Luke. It is, it's disarmingming. Again, if this is the only way for him to get himself back up and going, then go on with your bad self. He did mention in there, Luke, when Brian Custer asked him about switching chainers or adding a new trainer to go along with JDs, who he's been loyal to. He said he ripped out JDs as a-hole, he said, for not checking the gloves on Fury well enough. But he said there is a checking the gloves on Fury well enough.

But he said there is a trainer they're targeting. They won't mention names. But what did you hear when Custer asked him if it's going to be Floyd? And he went on like a 15-minute rant about how he thinks Floyd is fake, doesn't support him, thinks Floyd would only do it to try to bring attention to himself and take credit. It was an interesting sort of look on the inside of the PBC there for two of the biggest names. Most people don't come at Floyd like that, right? They don't come with the king.

I think he just went for the head. I think he just beheaded him. It was pretty intense. And then last but not least, BC, we end on this one. We have Canelo Alvarez, December 19th, taking on Callum Smith. It's official. He's going to be back on DAZN, although not with Golden Boy. He's going to be with Eddie Hearn and Matrim.

A couple things that came out of that bit of news, BC. We already kind of talked about some of this, but he actually said, unless I'm mistaken, he was actually not going to go back to 160 pounds anymore. He was looking forward to just maintaining at 168. What is the situation there? Yeah, this is a 168-pound fight. And again, this is a ballsy move. He can fight anybody. He's taking a tough fight, unbeaten Callum Smith, who's got knockout power. He's like seven inches taller than Canelo. And he, Callum Smith has the full title at 168

pounds in the WBA that Canelo has the bastardized junior version when he knocked out Rocky Fielding that time at Madison Square Garden. So in a lot of ways, it's like putting together the broken sphere of boxing, moving to this, you know, bigger weight class and combining belts. I am all for it. Look, seriously, we would have not have given him hell if he just came back against any old anyone, super middleweight, anybody. He's going in there against Callum Smith. Now in the, in the favor here of Canelo is that Smith, despite being bigger, younger, very strong, he's coming off a bad performance against John Ryder, a British sort of not every man. He's good. He's okay. He's not great.

And Callum Smith got away with a decision that it was hard to believe in the moment. So he's not coming in streaking, but he's a big dude with some pop. This is not going to be an easy fight for Canelo. And oh, by the way, Canelo destroyed Callum's older brother, you know, Liam Beefy Smith. Remember when they fought inside Jerry World for the junior middleweight title a couple of years back before the first glove can fight? There's the four fighting Smith brothers. It's a good story in England. Callum might be the best of them all. So it'll be a little redemption here. It's Canelo going back to his old network, and Luke, what's interesting is the zones, they're not dead yet. They're going to be doing that Triple G title defense against that name

you never heard of the day before this Canelo fight, and they're also looking to do the Ryan Garcia-Luke Campbell fight as a separate card in that same week, if they could get Canelo and Triple G back on the same schedule, it's not likely here. It's not likely because Triple G, because Canelo hates Triple G. All right. It's not likely, but if they're on the same schedule, it's not impossible that they could fight a trilogy fight next spring with Canelo being a free agent. It's not impossible. You would not have to include Oscar De La Hoya or Golden Boy. You know, it's more likely Canelo goes to the PBC and signs a deal, but it's not impossible. And that's good to know. A couple of things I would say here, the odds currently to have it at Canelo Alvarez minus six or 700 in certain places, and then about a plus 450 for Callum Smith, which again,

by MMA odds would be a blowout, but in boxing, not crazy odds per se. Gives Calvin Smith a little bit of a chance, so worth pointing out there. Secondly, with DAZN, this is my understanding, BC. If you watch this fight, the Canelo versus Smith fight, if you watch it in Mexico, it'll air on Azteca TV, right? But everywhere else, including the UK, it's going to be on DAZN, which makes this for a global event and a global property, something of a big win for DAZN, because I don't know that they would have gotten that otherwise. Did I get those details right? Yeah, you did. They went global, not quietly. It just wasn't a story people went nuts on a couple of weeks ago where they sort of announced that it's

a global app now. It's not like, well, I've got the Italian DAZN, so I get all this soccer. I've got this, I've got that. I mean, there's still some limitations by country, but look, we rightfully shat on them this year. It's been a bad year for DAZN. And it just got worse when Canelo just up and left. But now he's back. Could be just for one night,

but that could be a good night for them. And this is a good-ass fight. Look, Canelo should win this. He's the better boxer. He's incredibly strong going into the body. He's the puffer pound best in the world, in my opinion. He should figure out Callum Smith and maybe even stop him. But Callum Smith is big and strong, so there's danger here. Look, we talk about resumes all the time. In the UFC, if you're willing, if you're an RDA or a Max Holloway, like, you know, you always want to face the best. You can accrue a badass resume. Even not trying in the UFC, you can accrue a pretty badass resume because

the best typically always face the best. In boxing, you can go soft as a hard-on in Arctic weather if you want, Luke, and many guys do. Who's got a better top-end resume than Canelo? I mean, this is his era and he is only constantly adding to it. That Rocky Fielding fight is like, is, is like the one gimme. And it really wasn't a gimme. He moved up in weight against a much taller guy for a secondary title, but he just doesn't have shitty stay busy ones. I mean, you know, you could rip on him because Amir Khan came up in weight and he sent him to hell, but Canelo faces everybody, Luke. Whether he deserves the decision or not in these is

another story, but you want your biggest star in the sport to always be looking to face the best. You've got to give Big Red that respect. Always. I think the only thing people get after Canelo for is they thought he either lost the first or second Triple G fights or even the Arislandi-Lara fight. I think some people thought

he lost that one as well. They're always like, yeah, but it should be this. It should be this. Okay, maybe it should, maybe it shouldn't. I don't know. We can have that debate, but to your point, it's like whenever he's looking for next man up, in general, he's looking for serious challenges, and you have to respect that.

I certainly do. All right, BC. It's time for the segment you get to have control of. It's where we look at what happened on social media and decide right and wrong. Yeah, it's called Social Justice Wednesday. It's also a no J Wednesday, so enjoy that. And also, Luke, we will call on the honorable one, Luke Bader Ginsburg, to come in here and settle these fighter on fighter beefs. No surprise, Jon Jones is back. With USADA, you are guilty until proven innocent, unless you are the GOAT. When you've been winning this damn long, you remain guilty. It helps people sleep at night.

This is part of a multi-series of tweets in which Jon Bones Jones, not seemingly fired up by anybody, Luke, just started defending himself and really playing up his Teflon-ness. He says, people will remember I was accused of steroids. They will also remember that I was proven innocent and able to continue with my career. Hashtag facts. But Luke, when you put out comments like this that are polarizing, someone going to take the bait. And then john went after dc you lost your last fight and then quit the sport talk about being eliminated from the essentially the goat conversation uh dc didn't like that luke i don't know if you watch him these days he pairs himself with a canadian

journalist on a show very much like this he said john john john jones came out here with this naysayers will always try to discourage you from having something they can't have dc is a stand-up guy but he will never be considered one of the best at anything. Puts that up with an is-what-it-is meme. Luke, why is he doing this? You know what? He also said something I haven't seen all Jesus Christ. A man who fell short now sits back and talks about what I can't do.

Hilarious. So he must have heard DC say something. I saw one tweet where, Jesusesus it still keeps going fucking a i've lost many times throughout life but the fierce competitor to me won't let me go out with an l honestly that's what i remember most about dc quitting on his fans the sport okay so look pause the film here he's trying to lure dc into a trilogy right luke he's trying to lure him into a trilogy right he probably i don't know what he's doing here's the thing I was going to say I saw one tweet he had where someone was asking him about fighting Izzy and he said something like you know uh something to the effect of I don't even like

you know he does nothing for me I don't even think about him you know and I'm paraphrasing here I'm sure I'm not getting it totally right but I remember reading the tweet and being like man you do an awful lot of tweeting for somebody who you claim to be as utterly insignificant in your life. And it's like, he did this with Khabib in a different way, of course, it wasn't as acrimonious. And even with DC, it doesn't have the same acrimony it once did. But it's like, he takes to Twitter for these things. And like, part of it, I understand, like, I'm with him on the idea that him on the idea that people are like, oh, he failed a bunch of tests. Guys, you've got to read what USADA wrote. I know a bunch of people didn't read what the arbitrators wrote.

I did. I read every page of it. The guy who did the report for the arbitration is Robert McLaren, after the famous McLaren report, which was involved in, if you saw, Icarus and the whole Russia scandal. So this is a guy who is famous in the anti-doping world for being a hard ass. And in that, they basically say, not basically, they say outright, we don't think John cheated. Now, you are allowed to say whatever you want about the report or McLaren or whatever.

But in terms of what the anti-doping record shows, the record as it is written, and this is why I think anti-doping record shows, right? The record as it is written, and you know, this is why I think anti-doping, among many other reasons, deserves to be reconsidered as a position of automatic, you know, greatness. But in those written documents, John is exonerated of explicit wrongdoing. There are many other criticisms that they make of him, but in the documents, he is exonerated for the charges he is talking about here. And so that's why he says what he says, and he goes, Jesus Christ, it's still fucking going? Well, somebody came and said,

do you feel the same about Anderson Silva? John said, no, Anderson fought back from a gruesome leg injury. Success defeated DC. Success defeated DC. The man would rather have Popeye's chicken remaining at a high level is not for everyone. He must have saw DC say something on the Ariel show and got mad and responded. I don't know the origin of this. Oh my God, it's still going?

Getting back up after being knocked down is a very hard thing to do. It's easy to quit and just talk from the sidelines. DC has absolutely no leverage to talk about who is going to be a GOAT or not. Does it end here? What else we got? Jesus. Oh, my God. People say DC was a double champ.

John responds, Sure, but was he really, though? All right. Yeah. You shot and never found steroids in my system, and that's an absolute fact. Most of you would never look that up, though. Keep it going here.

Now they're telling him to fight Izzy. He says, yeah, just how he envisioned it, the arena he wanted and everything. There's not a man on this planet that tells me what to do. I march to the beat of my own drum. There's no red panty night for Izzy without me. I may just keep him broke. Alright, well, John had a good night here with the

Twitter machine. He's definitely not mad. Does this end at all with DC sending him back to hell? Honestly, we could just do a podcast devoted to his tweets every single day. It just doesn't end. It just doesn't end. Alright, well, John came back with, yeah, finally, DC. I don't care about any just doesn't end. All right. Well, John came back with, yeah,

finally DC. I don't care about any of this other bullshit. Let me see the DC one. Here we go. Dummy, after I lost to you while you were on PEDs, mind you, I won back the 205 title, then won the heavyweight title, then back surgery, then Stipe beat me two times. Sure sounds like quitting, huh?

I'm 41 years old. Let's see what you're doing at 41, you loser. I can't wait. Alright. Yeah, the one we spent through was just John responding to Izzy's stuff. So, Luke,

John's taken a few L's here. Like, unforced errors, they would call it in tennis here, Luke, right? Yeah. He's Chuck Knobloch. Remember Chuck Knobloch? He couldn't throw from second to first, and he was constantly throwing his shit into the stands?

Yes. That's him. He's like, you're fielding the ground ball. Okay, you got that part right, but then you got to throw it to first, and you're having some issues there. I mean, listen, there are points to what he is making, but he just doesn't, he just, you know what I mean? There was a criticism somebody made of Banksy art.

You know, remember Banksy, the guy who's sort of mysterious, or maybe it's a girl, who knows, who does like the street art in various places, and then, you know, it's all sort of hush-hush about who it is and it's protected identity. And it's supposed to be about this political messaging. But then there's an art critic who was talking about it once. It's in this famous movie called Exit Through the Gift Shop.

And he says, the problem with Banksy's art is that it's not subtle. It just bangs you over the head constantly with its message. That's what John is doing. It's like Banksy art where he's just fucking banging you over the head. He is right about many things that people don't want to give him credit for, but they don't want to give it credit for him because he's a polarizing figure. And it's very difficult to accept the reality where the anti-doping authorities who are supposed to be in control exonerate you in many ways but you don't feel

like for whatever reason i'm not saying you personally but the proverbial you you can't really square that with what you know your intuition might tell you and you know you're just sort of going on and on and on and on about it. So, like, I think he's got points that are certainly worth consideration, but the method of it, fucking hell. Let it go. Jesus. Hey, Luke, you're false here. And you're right, you're right. He kind of loses this just for getting engaged in all of these.

It's like, just do it already. Just fight Izzy or fight whoever you want to. You know what I'm saying? But I want to ask you a question, then I can answer the door really fast here, Luke. Do you think, I'm not asking for it i don't think it'll happen but jones dc3 at heavyweight it'd be a war there'd be a banger it'd be a freaking banger your thoughts luke yes while you go and answer the door like a super weirdo in your hotel room how many times do you think he's defiled that room by the way everybody out there

i wish he had kept the microphone on him so it would have been like a naked gun scenario where you see him go to the urinal and he's pissing and farting and you can hear all of it that would have been great but to answer his question there no i don't know how much appetite there is for it even among the two competitors and i don't really care there's bigger fish to fry john francis john, John Izzy. A lot of different ways this could go. The John DC3 thing has, we're past that now, BC. All right, who was that? Luke, I passed my COVID test. Sorry for the interruption.

I have no vid now. They said I have a green band. I'm now free to roam the grounds of the wildcard gym. Thank you. Now you can go to wildcard and go get COVID there. Yeah, probably. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, all right, what else we got for the segment?

Henry Cejudo's back, the cringe master, Luke. He's ready to take on the world in a Twitter war, including his fellow Bantamweights that he left behind. Here's Volkanovski outstriking Peter Yan in a sparring video that somebody posted. Cejudo tagged it and said, these guys should just go on a date if you ask me. Yeah, dude, because being gay is dumb, bro. Yeah, that's pretty cringe.

Good to see he's up to his old tricks, Luke. It's interesting. Something I asked Davison Figueredo yesterday about the whole idea of when Suhudo parachutes back in because it seems inevitable, which super fight is he going to go after? We know he wants Volkanovski. I don't think he ever cuts down to fly again,

but do you think he's watching closely to see which one of these Bantamweights he can make a massive fight against? Yeah, I do think. There was a while there where I thought he was retired, retired, but he is way too thirsty. No chance he's actually retired, which is great. I'd love to see him back. I think he is biding his time

and he is waiting for one of these like no BS opportunities where it's a fight people would get excited for there's something on the line for him from a historical perspective he gets a big fat payday now maybe after that he calls it quits and I don't know if he'll get it because as we all know the UFC got burned by GSP so to speak after the whole Michael Bisping fight thing where he just gave the title back after one fight. But I do think he's keeping his options open. But, you know, Luke Bader Ginsburg, the reigning justice here, in my opinion, in the court, I'm going to say, you know, suggesting that two guys go on a date. It's not an insult, bro.

I know you think it is. It's not. Yeah, two men date on a date. It's not an insult, bro. I know you think it is. It's not. Yeah, two men date all the time. It's 2020. You and I date. We're totally hetero. Who gives a shit? Yeah, yeah.

As our documentary will show in explicit detail. Kamzat Shumayev is back sending people the hell, Luke, on Twitter, just as he does inside the cage. This time taking aim at the 209 bros. Here's Kamzat tweeting out, Diaz brothers, we are coming for you. Where are you? And it's a picture of Kamzat and his boys all wearing weed hats.

Is that true? Is that what's going on here? Very funny, I guess, if you're from Chechnya. Okay. Yeah. All right. Hey, Kamzat, we'll handle the comedy from here on out. All right.

Gilbert Burns is back jumping in here uh luke bader this week uh tweeting out split decision really holy shit wow freaking judges luke that seems to be in response to the uh what the uh the damn rda fight correct yeah has to be and i was with him i was like what against pa Felder. Let's advance the slide here as we continue. Then Gilbert said, F these judges. I'm always looking for the finish, but sometimes it's hard. These judges are doing a terrible job. Wow, please, at Dana White, at UFC, or whoever can help.

Please, we cannot have our payments be decided. One or two checks by these crazy judges. That's insane. That's not the commission's fault. Not unfair. Continue. UFC Vegas 14 lessons. RDA is a 155 top five, not 170. Felder is a

warrior and one judge is terrible at his job. This is all truth right now. Where's the fight here? What is he saying that's wrong? What do we got here? Who put this together? Now he posts the scorecards. Who the fook is that guy? He says, Chris Lee, the judge. Those fook jokes. They just, they just never go out of style, BC. All right. Keep it going here. Is there an ending here? Is there a happy ending here? Is this orchids of combat? Whoa,, whoa. Alright. Uh-oh. A No Jay Wednesday is turning into

a Technical Difficulties Wednesday. Hello? Is that it? Those are all four tweets. Not really suitable material for this segment, but you know. Look, it was Gilbert Burns versus the judges in

Nevada. Gilbert Burns wins, okay? Yeah, but if the judges aren't on social media, does it count? Yeah, we were really trying to make something happen there that wasn't there. All right? Thank you. Thank you. That's all I got. Is that it?

That's it, Luke, okay? All right, well, take us home with the fan art, good sir. All righty then. It's time for fan submissions luke this is the only segment each week where our fans can send in their shit of them dressed in our clothing them doing shit and them just being them luke here's pd maloney with a morning combat play bill the reviews are in it says worse than those three needles who who the fuck are these guys? UFC president Dana White. Yeah.

Dude, if we actually had a play and he reviewed it, I would put that on the front of the playbill. Yes, yes. The playbill says The Book of Morning Combat. It shows you and I in, looks like we're dressed like the guy in Falling Down. And also, it's a little nod there, Doug Stanhope Theater. Oh, hey, I like that hey i like that all right all right shout out to all joe and his super friends right right luke yep that's right all right hey let's see what uh at philly underscore dent has concocted remember that time you reacted live luke to the

canelo alvarez news on our show get you a man that looks at you the way luke looks at the canelo news luke i i think you popped an o-ring there luke i mean look at that at you the way luke looks at the canelo news luke i think you popped an o-ring there luke i mean look at that face that's fantastic luke you know you know how you know what that face is it's a shameless face from a uh you know a shameless careerist that i have been for the last 20 years that was me thinking maybe he could end up on showtime and we could go cover it and now he's's back on frigging DAZN. Well, there's still time. All right, Luke.

We got another one here from Forest KOs. He submitted this Beavis and Butthead reproduction of Morning Combat. I can't read your shirt. What does it say? Yours says phoner, right? Yes. I'm going to have to ask the crew. Can you guys zoom in on that, or can you tell me what my shirt says?

City cock boxing. City cock boxing. Fantastic. That's funny. That's pretty much us. Look, we are the Beavis and Butthead of fight talk and digital podcasting. Do you know I asked a person who was 30 years old if they had heard of Beavis and Butthead and they hadn't?

Yeah. I mean, there was a time, Luke. There was a time when they owned. They owned the world, okay? I saw the movie in the theater opening night. I bet you did. Okay. I bet you did.

All right. Hey, Luke, let's bring on Alex L. Has submitted his album cover. This should be the freewheeling Bob Dylan. Instead, it's the freewheeling Morning Combat. Luke playing the role of Bob Dylan. Me playing the role of his former girlfriend, Susie. Oh, that is too good. Down in Greenwich Village.

Great album, by the way. Bob Dylan's second album in his great career. That's well done. Is there writing on there oh those are just the name of the songs all right i can't read it i don't know if there's more jokes but that is hilarious i would put that poster on my wall hey daniel s has a movie poster idea here luke for the whole co-host way of they don't even understand how big demy Moore and Patrick fucking whatever his fucking name was.

Swayze, bro. Swayze. How big that was when that fucking movie came out. I had to listen to that shit. If you're not watching this, it's the picture of the ghost photo doing the pottery wheel with me playing Demi Moore, Luke playing Patrick Swayze behind me. This is getting a little too close for comfort. Danny M., Luke, has a movie poster for The Last Stand to show us.

Oh, I did not see this one ahead of time. Luke, is that a giant penis? What is happening here, Luke? That or it's an unusual underwater creature. I don't understand this one. What is The Last Stand? I don't know either. Anyone? Anyone on our team? I like how this guy just took a poster and was like, let's just put some dicks on it and call it a day. It's probably a great joke that went over our head, Luke. It really did. Alright, Jose

A. has set us up two of them. Here's the first one. Big Beige Campbell on the Brock Lesnar body. Okay, and this plays in his other larger photo of Cool Hand Luke. Oh, snap. Well, it's got BBC on it, too. Even better.

Yes. Yes. Yes. And I'm carrying the picture of you. Yes. Yes. I guess so. Okay.

You ever seen Cool Hand Luke? I have not, no. Might be the sweatiest movie of all time. Sweatier than Brokeback? Much. I never saw either of them, Luke. Hey, Dan P has submitted this one to us and it may be our new wipe for Dead Wrong.

Check out the theme song in the wipe here, Luke. Dead wrong, dead wrong Stupid mother effers, dead wrong check out the theme song in the wipe here Luke no it won't be it was very uh to the tune of Wayne's World I think is where he was going with that he's doing Wayne tune of Wayne's World, I think, is where he was going with that. Is that what he was doing? Wayne's World, Wayne's World, excellent. Dead wrong. You stupid mother effer, dead wrong. I was thinking more like the Biggie M&M crossover.

Bump, bump, bump, bump. No. Todd M has a picture of you and I playing racquetball, Luke, just to summon your high school sports days of old. Morning racquet. Look, that kind of looks like you on the right. It kind of does, right? You know what?

It looks like both of us in many ways. Pathetic certainly is the one overarching theme here. That is hysterical. Luke, what's the difference between squash and racquetball? Is it just your bank account and your parents? If you're rich, you play squash? A little bit. There's a little more to it than that.

But I'll say this. Racquetball is closer to tennis than it is squash. In fact, significantly so. Interesting. Okay, okay. Luke, Scott M. Rizzo, he's back at it, brother. He's got an MK mk tip brothers poster for us oh my god they grow that is amazing dude my listen my photoshop is pathetic i mean my face

looks like the size of the moon i mean what the fuck are we doing yours on the other hand is amazing no mine looks weird and fake yours is actually perfect luke i could see i like i like your dainty donald trump hands all right hey i think there's a lot of people scott rizzo included who are trying to come at web screen where's he been luke i don't know italy maybe all right uh let's go on to um it wouldn't be a fan submission luke if we didn't get our guy Dickles? That's the guy who's really trying. He's got us these three. Here's the first one. Ketchup to my burger.

Luke, he's got to set the pottery wheel again. Only instead of clay, that's ketchup all over our arms with the quote. Dude, this is uncomfortable bro i'm the ketchup in this burger the difference between this quasi homo one is i'm on the outside i'm the back side of this yeah but then the the clay has been made red and it looks like i'm having my period or something i mean this, it's just really all wrong. It's disturbing. All right, Dickles has hit us with a Luke's Homeless Gym concoction here, Luke.

Drifters and lifters. Oh, dude, that is the shit. Get games or pound grains is the sweatshirt that you're wearing. Dude, that is the shit. That is amazing. That's a reality show waiting to break out. You getting some homeless people in shape, Luke? That'd be, you know, getting them some yogurt.

That'd be great. Oh, man. You gotta be kidding me. That is too good. Too good. Wait, I'm being told that the African-American guy has what in his hand? Gaff? Oh, he's got Jay's notes in his hand right there.

All right. Luke, our final one also comes from Dickles. This is a three-pack. He's got a potential cover for this MTK documentary coming out on Thursday. Donk-umentary.

What does it say on the thing that's getting knocked out of the donkey's mouth? I think it says morning combat in like a fight club type soap type thing. I'm not sure. By the way, I guess I didn't realize this. Soulja Boy has a song called Donk. I didn't know that. I didn't either. I'm being told that's a ticket.

It's a morning combat movie ticket for our film, Luke, which I believe is a donumentary, if I'm correct, from the folks at Shulmalka. Very well done, Peace. That is hilarious. This documentary. Oh, it is a donumentary. Thank you. So yes, this is coming out Thursday, guys. It just may change

your lives. It's a peek inside, under the hood, of what the relationships are really like. So many thanks for the fan submissions. We do this documentary. We get weird because of you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Very good. Let's plug that. Tomorrow, the Dongumentary will be out. Live chat tomorrow at 3 p.m. So be on the lookout for that as well. BC, what time does your show go live on NBC Sports tomorrow? 9 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night, NBC Sports.

It's a two-hour broadcast live from the parking lot of Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym here in Hollywood. So it should be good matchmaking. It should be a fun broadcast. Sean Porter, Bob Papa, Kern Batier, and myself looking forward to it. Luke, also a reminder for our homework for Friday. We'll be listening to the 2013 Roots Rock Americana Power album called Southeastern by Jason Isbell. That's I-S-B-E-L-L, the last name.

You can find it for free on YouTube if you don't have access to it anywhere else. But be sure to check that out. Luke, anything else? So you can watch Bellator 253, and then you can switch over, and you can watch BC and everyone else on NBC Sports. So you can get your boxing, you can get your MMA, and it won't really overlap. Everyone will get a chance to get a turn there. That should be very, very fun. And congratulations, dude.

I know you've been working hard for that one, so I look forward to watching you. And by that, I mean DVRing you and just pretending I watched it later. But will at least dvr it for you i promise thank you luke thank you okay i got a i got a packet of this waiting for you for your friendship thank you i'm sure when you thought you're like you know what at 41 42 i want to be in parking lots calling fights you made it bc you made it look the the actually the it's it's going to be cool there's going to be the good year blimp there luke it's going to be great all right's going to be the Goodyear Blimp there, Luke. It's going to be great, all right? Right in the real bad section of Hollywood.

I'm teasing. I'm actually thrilled for you, and I will be watching for sure. Okay, so with that in mind, thumbs up on the video, subscribe. By the way, speaking of the channel, as BC indicated, not one, not two, not three, four interviews he pumped out yesterday. Lots of content coming your way for the rest of the week. The Dongumentary tomorrow, the live chat tomorrow, then Friday's show we're going to get you ready for this pay-per-view that is still pretty good kind of, sort of, but we're going to get you ready for it

just the same, so we are not pumping the brakes at all this week, if you want to get at us on social media you certainly can Morning Combat on Twitter, Morning Combat on Insta and then Morning Combat youtube.com slash Morning Combat and there Brian and I are on uh you can see it there as well um any fan submissions anything for dead

wrong for friday morning combat at gmail.com is the place to get that in don't forget about that okay morning combat gmail.com and let's see if you want to try showtime you certainly can showtime.com 30-day free trial you'll like it you can keep can keep it. If not, you can go pound sand. And then last but not least, merch. Christmas is coming up. Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Not too far from now.

Store.show.com. White Wednesday. All those days, right? That's right. BC, enjoy those disgusting eggs. Look forward to watching you on the old TV tomorrow. Be safe. And for everyone who watched today, thank you so much.

Until next time, may all of your gains be loyal. We'll be right back. you