MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Jon Jones Wants Out of UFC | Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards | Darren Till OUT | Ep 137

Episode Date: March 31, 2021

Luke and Brian discuss the latest on Jon Jones battle with the UFC, including wanting the UFC to cut him. Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards was added to the UFC 262 card on May 15th. Plus, Darren Till is out of his fight with Marvin Vettori. Is Kevin Holland up? Also, Anderson Silva is set to box Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June. Manny Pacquiao is in talks to fight Bud Crawford. Is that a good move? We hit some Bellator 255 storylines ahead of their Showtime debut. --------------------------- '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

You hear that? Ugh, paid. And done. That's the sound of bills being paid on time. But with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card, paying your bills could sound like this. Yes! Earn rewards for paying your bill in full and on time each month.

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 31st of March, 2021, and we are back in the bomb shelter, bitches. Hello, everyone. My name is Luke Thomas. I am from CBS Sports. I am joined by this... This guy. This cretin. This guy right here. This passive-aggressive texter and tweeter, but my friend and yours, also from CBS Sports. It's Brian Campbell. Hello, BC.

Hello, Luke. I'm a rapid test survivor this morning of the 19, and I'm happy to be back in proximity because, Luke, as much as you really can't stand me, let's be honest, okay? When you and I are together, it's some kind of magic.

First of all, I like you very much. I'm the one who wanted to hang out last night, and you were the one who was crying about sleepy time. But okay. We are here together in New Jersey. We'll be here today, tomorrow, and Friday. Yeah, we've got a lot of good shit for the people. A ton of stuff, because there's a show today, hello, and there's a show for Friday, that's MK.

But we have a live chat tomorrow we're working through. We have the weigh-ins tomorrow. We're going to have a MK Bellator 255 weigh-in post show. That's right. We're going to have a lot of good stuff. And also, what about Friday night after the fight? Do you want to do something else too? Yeah, well, that's what you just said.

We're going to do the post fight show for the fights, I think, on Friday. I was talking about the post weigh-in show on Thursday. Oh, and we're going to do room service diaries either tonight or tomorrow night too. Basically, you should just get on youtube.com slash morningcombat and not leave the rest of the week. Yes, that is basically the idea. So, like the video, hit subscribe, send this video to someone who maybe doesn't know MK or needs to get convinced of MK. This will be a good week to get everyone on board because we are back here together. We've survived COVID testing. It's really not that bad. And yeah, here we are

today. BC, when do you get your vaccine? Step one, prick, is Saturday. Do you know which one you're getting? Originally, I was signed up for Moderna, but I've since changed to Pfizer, Luke. Oh, you changed to Team Pfizer? Yeah. Did a little reviews on that. I feel a little bit more comfortable. If you're going to prick me, prick me softly, okay, Luke? I think that they will.

I think you'll be just fine. So they'll be good to go. All right. As always, like the video, thumbs up, that whole good stuff. If you want to try Showtime, now's a good time to get in on that. Why the frick wouldn't you, right? Showtime.com, 30-day free trial. If you want to sign up,

you can see the URL down there, show.com slash Bellator MMA for the first six months. Your entire Showtime experience will be $5. Of course, that includes Bellator. You want to watch the Outcry doc series. You want to watch Action. You want to watch all that shit.

That's great. But how about Boots Ennis is back in boxing April 10th. How about you want to watch Rumble or Mero, and why wouldn't you? There's one place at Showtime. So if you've ever been thinking, hey, BC and Luke, you hammer that shit down a little bit too hard, it might be time for you to become the nail, motherfucker. Okay. Well, that was weird.

If you want to email the show for Dead Wrong, you can go to morningcombat at gmail.com, and we have merch. You can go to store.show.com, and you can get MK merch there, hats, mugs, tumblers. I don't think they sell these there, do they? No, which is a crime, really. The best merch is...

Yeah, this is actually my favorite piece of MK gear, if I can be candid with you. Yeah, I'd be very candid with you. I'm a big fan of the orange fist. I've got one at home as well. So hopefully we can get that when merch 2.0 launches in, I don't know, the next couple weeks. A lot of people in the sweatshops now warming up, doing calisthenics, getting ready to make our shit. A lot of 13-year-old child laborers.

Yes, yes. All right. All right, BC, you ready to do this? I'm really excited. We're going to spin the wheel today. People don't see, you know, behind the scenes. I've been fired up all morning. I've been excited.

I talked my way out of an invasive COVID test, had a very soft one. You've just been a prick the whole time. I've not been a prick. Okay, hold on. Before we start the show, what have I done that's so bad? I don't want to put our dirty line there. I want you to put it out there.

You know what I mean? I didn't indulge your every shitty joke. You're Luke Thomas, so... Yes, I don't suffer fool's gladness. I'm the cream and sugar, you're the bitter black. Okay, that's how it works, all right? I'll take that, actually. I'll take that.

Okay, we have a show to get started, so let's get started if we can. Topic number one... I don't know how we're going to shoot this, but I guess we're going to go to this camera. Okay. get started if we can. Topic number one, I don't know how we're going to shoot this, but I guess we're going to go to this camera, the tight. Okay, so we had some news of sorts break last night. According to ESPN reporter Ariel Hawani, there is going to be UFC 262, which we already know is going to happen in Houston, Texas on May 15th. You apparently can add Nathan Diaz versus Leon Edwards in the co-main event. You see, here's the kicker. Obviously, if it's Leon Edwards, it's going to be 170 pounds, but the kicker

is that it's going to be the very first UFC non-title five-round co-main event. So they're going to make a fight that's not in a headlining position for five rounds where there's no title on the line. I actually spoke to some people close

to Diaz last night when the news broke. Nick? No, I did not speak to Nick Diaz. I spoke to some folks who are in an advisory capacity around Nate Diaz. And apparently UFC was not really all that hard to get them to agree to do the five round non-title co-main. Apparently it was actually very easy, which makes me wonder why the hell we didn't do this sooner but okay, different conversation for a different time you sir, your reaction my reaction is this is great matchmaking this is creative matchmaking, this is fun matchmaking

look, we all want Nate Diaz back in a fight we don't just want to have him sit out every two and a half years for a long stretch and then say, is he going to cash in the McGregor trilogy or is he not I'd like to see him back in a fight that matters this This is that. Obviously for Leon Edwards, he's trying to get Hamzat in there. He's trying to get anything where he can cash that ticket to the title shot that he believes he deserves. We didn't get that in the Blah Muhammad fight. We had some shenanigans and

ridiculousness. So this is a reset for Leon and for Nate. I want to ask you this. Do you think this is Nate committing by going after a guy people don't go after in Leon Edwards because he's difficult, he's non-marketable, we know the whole shit that follows him. But do you think this is Nate Diaz saying, I'm not a celebrity fighter. I'm not just looking to cash in that Conor ticket or trying to get Dustin Poirier in a big fight. I'm really trying to get back into some type of title picture. And at welterweight, does this confirm that to you? I don't think so.

Here is my understanding. This is my opinion based on sort of what I can read. Again, having had some conversations with the folks who are a little bit closer to Nate. My view is that I would have never thought that UFC would go in this direction. If someone told you UFC really wants to make Nate Diaz versus Leon Edwards, you'd be like, Nate's not taking that fucking fight. Exactly. Forget UFC. I didn't think Nate would ever. Yeah, I didn't think Nate would ever be on board with it.

But now that he is, it kind of makes sense, which is to say it's a tough fight. In fact, you would have to imagine, and I believe the odds have come out already, Edwards should be the favorite there in a very dramatic way. But why does this work? It's actually kind of sneaky how it works. If you're Leon Edwards, you went from having to fight Tyron to then the global pandemic setting you back. Then you get Kamzat, that falls through.

Then you get Bilal, you poke his eye out nearly, and you end up with Nate Diaz in a co-main event. Like, you have such an opportunity here to move ahead by building off of a major name. I don't know what it does for him in the rankings per se, but he's kind of already there anyway. If you needed a stay-busy fight, I'm not saying Nate's easy, but he's a real 155-er. He's a real 170-er. You have to like his chances at least a little bit.

And as I mentioned, huge name value in the opponent. If you're Nate, to answer your question, here's what I think he's trying to do. I think he says, who could I fight at 170 pounds, top five and up, and do well against? Wonderboy, probably not. Jorge, you have different opinions. I thought Jorge was winning that one pretty cleanly. Kamaru, no. Colby, no.

Yeah, you don't want to get in with the wrestlers who are just going to take you down and keep you down. And I think Leon is, again, I want to be very clear about this, he is the real favorite in this contest. But if Diaz is going to have success against any of them, it's probably going to be Leon Edwards. He's not as big. He's not wrestling-centric, as you noted. So what I think he's trying to do, BC, is I don't think he minds, if Nate Diaz had won, a high-ranking position at 170. But one, 155 is always still out there.

Conor and everything else. Two, if you beat Leon Edwards, dude, you are now beating the guy who is widely expected to get the next title shot if he beats Nate Diaz. You just jump to the front of the division. And I don't know which way it goes, BC. But he sets himself up for a huge fight basically across two weight classes with this win. Great point. Because even if Conor should lose the trilogy bout to Dustin Poirier and would need a comeback fight, Nate just at least kept himself active, relevant in the mix, win or lose against Leon. And I think that's the key right now for Nate is just being active, just being there. Because it doesn't really matter if

he takes losses. Now, to your point, I sort of asked without asking it, it's obviously great for the fans. It's obviously great for Leon. It's obviously great for the UFC. What's in it for Nate? If for Nate, it does give him that opportunity to kind of parachute in with a win as a relevant title contender in two different divisions, that's great.

But even with a loss, Luke, just staying active, I think is going to be big for Nate. We want to see him back. We want to see him be able to cash checks. We wanted to be able to see him in fights that are interesting. This one's super interesting. And how often in boxing or MMA does a matchup come seemingly out of nowhere that you never even considered? It almost never happens in boxing. A lot of times too, because stories get fights, even the tease of a fight tends to get broken, right? Like months

in advance. So there's never really a surprise. Do you remember when Triple G fought Kell Brook, who moved up two weight classes to middleweight? It was like, I had never even considered that fight before. It was like a fresh surprise. In its own way, this is kind of that to me right now. It's like, I never considered these two as potential dance partners. And what the hell is this going to look like?

Amazing that Nate Diaz is fighting and Jon Jones is all pissed at UFC. It's kind of wild how things work out sometimes. By the way, it also deserves to be noted, BC, this card is UFC 262, May 15th in Houston, Texas. It is unreal. Would you call it a fight fan's fight card? Yeah, man. You got Charles Oliveira versus Michael Chandler on the card for the UFC lightweight title. Kind of big. Leon Edwards, Nate Diaz. Tony Ferguson vs. Benil Darius, Shane Burgos, Edson Barboza at 145, just an absolute banger. Fire, absolute fire. Jack Hermanson vs. Edmund Shabazian, you've got Kaitlyn Chukagian, Vivian Arujao, Alex Perez vs. Max Schnell. Maybe I'm not as moved with that one, but I'll take the rest of it. Okay, Andrea Lee vs. Antonina Shevchenko, there's another sort of decent fight on it. Would you call that a sneaky fight? It could be sneaky, yeah, it's a little bit one. There's another sort of decent fight on it. Would you call that a sneaky fight? It could be sneaky.

Yeah, it's a little bit one. There's a lot of sneaky elements to it. There's a lot of sneaky elements to that one. But I'm just pointing out, this is a huge card within an audience and the whole nine yards. To me, the one thing that also stands out here about the Diaz side of things,

I think his side realizes that you have the win over Pettis, but there's been a lot of losing recently. And that Masvidal fight, I don't know where we are with getting a rematch on it, but the first one, I don't care what people say, it was not close. Jorge was winning that one walking away. They needed a reset. They needed a moment to be like, okay, we got to get back in the right step.

We got to get back in a command of options because we're the ones that people are pining after. People are always kind of after Nate because of his name. But you add that name value to now you've beaten, I don't know where Edwards ranks, but top three or something, top two. I mean, you just immediately jump to the front of the line. This is a rare situation where you just get a perfect pairing for all the different reasons. What do you think the next six to nine months look like for the welterweight

title picture, which is what this fight seems to be angling toward the most, even though obviously Nate can go in any direction? So 261, you've got the Kamaru versus Jorge fight. 262, you've got this one. I don't think it's crazy to say Wonderboy's kind of sitting on the outside. He needs one more to really push himself back into it. They didn't give it to him. Dude, there's a real possibility, a real one. Nate Diaz might get the next title shot if he wins this contest. Well, we're forgetting Colby.

Okay, you're right. There's Colby out there. Are they really going to make Nate fight Colby? Gilbert Burns will be bouncing back, looking to fight somebody. Yeah, but if you're... So here's what they might do. They might do Colby versus Wonderboy?

Which would be... It would seem like it would make the most sense. Now, you would think Colby wouldn't want that at all. There's not much to gain. Could you argue right now that... I know he beat Tyron Woodley, right? And we've seen what has become of Tyron Woodley. But if you're Covington, you're probably believing that name value alone,

he's next after Jorge to get the title shot, right? Yeah, that's a decent thought. So you really wouldn't want to risk it. You really wouldn't want to try to agree to a difficult fight. Yeah, but dude, okay, fine, fine. Like, dude, there is such a thing as strategic weighting in UFC. You know that certainly just as well as I do. I don't see a lot of it, though.

I see a lot of times people just taking fights. There's that, too. There's a strategic lack of weighting, too. But in this particular case, do you like your chances? This is what Colby has to ask himself. A lot of times people just take in fights. There's that too. There's a strategic lack of waiting too. But in this particular case, do you like your chances? This is what Colby has to ask himself. If Edwards wins, fine, because they'll either pair the two of them up or he'll get next or something like that. Do you want to live in a world where Nate Diaz jumps the entire queue

and beats the number two guy? Do you want to try out the name value challenge there? That seems to be an awful way of securing your future. Granted, you may not think that that is likely. You might think that Edwards goes in there and drops a bomb on him. And I think Diaz is certainly, what do you want to say, inconsistent, but I still believe

in his potency. He's not going to win every one of those fights, but every once in a while he's going to come in there and box someone's fucking ears off. And so, you've got to take that possibility legitimately. Let's say Nate beat Edwards, and we're just completely being speculatory here. There are going to be a lot of people watching this show because we've had different Nate Diaz discussions before, even when we were saying, could he cut to 155 again and fight Poirier for the title?

And a lot of people are saying, no, Dana would never let that guy back into a title fight. What, are you kidding me? But if Nate Diaz beats Leon Edwards, it's not only a, to your point, top two or three win, but it would certainly reestablish the idea of Nate as a viable brand. Would Dana pull the trigger if Kamaru defeats Jorge in the rematch of, of giving Nate Diaz in 2022 or at the end of this calendar year,

a title shot? Is that, I mean, as much as you, you might be like, no, a 46 year old Dan Henderson got a title shot when he completely didn't deserve one in modern history, so it's not completely ridiculous and unheralded, but we know Dana's issues in the past. Would he be okay with that, just for the commercial value? He might.

The other question you have to ask yourself is, if you're the UFC, you've got Kamaru. Let's say, and the good news is you you're the UFC, you've got Kamaru. Let's say, and the good news is you'll know the result of this. If Kamaru ends up winning, you have to ask yourself, okay, this guy's probably going to be the champion here for a while. We need to really do what we can to bolster his name and image. What's a great way to do that? And then here comes Nate Diaz.

Again, I still suspect Edwards will probably win, but it'd be very foolish to count out Nate. So let's say Nate gets it done. I mean, I got to tell you, dude, Nate Diaz with momentum is a dangerous thing for promoters, for opponents. It really is. I mean, that's the people's favorite fighter. I think he would do it.

I think he would do it, yeah. And on the flip side, because we don't want to completely gloss over what's at stake for Edwards, could he get screwed again, meaning let's say he beats Nate Diaz and he gets a very, I mean, look, it's a five-round co-main event fight. It almost feels like a quasi-interim, interim, interim title fight. But does that necessarily guarantee him Usman next?

Or could the UFC just be like, sorry, Leon, you have to fight Covington first or you have to wait out Covington's title shot? That's a great question. I was thinking about that. What do you think about my view on this one, which is, I think that if Edwards has a boring, if thorough win over Nate, they're going to go to Colby. Because here's one thing about Leon you have to understand. He was looking good against Muhammad until the whole terrible eye poke thing.

I've said this before. He has a style that is designed against elite opposition to manage rounds, manage exchanges, and he accumulates points and a differential over time, but he doesn't go in there and exactly just burn people in one round. You okay?

I'm gonna make it. You got AIDS? Do you have AIDS? Is your AIDS flaring up again? You don't have to zoom in on me dying here. It's fine. I can die alone. No, you know what happens, Luke, physiologically?

Your epiglottis doesn't close all the way as you drink, and then some of the fluid falls into your windpipe. I call it, I piped. I just piped. Dude, I hit my epiglottis like a speed bag when I was in college trying to puke and rally. I would just... Sometimes you just eat too much, you sharpen up a coat hanger and you stick that down.

No, I don't commit abortions when I eat. Wow. This is what I don't do. All right. To the point we're trying to make here, I don't think Edwards can simply rely on the idea that if you beat Nate, you're going to just be the assumed number one contender. Because, dude, who are you beating at that point? You're not beating a guy...

Is Nate even ranked in the top 15 at 170? No, it's a weird gray area. So, like, what's your claim at that point other than this accumulative kind of thing? I just feel like Leon Edwards is destined, Luke, to have to keep taking the back stairway to get to the title shot.

But yeah, if you're his manager, wouldn't you recommend this fight? Damn right. You take this fight. The one thing that everyone's saying you don't have is notoriety, acclaim, marketability. Fighting Nate Diaz, if you don't fight boringly and you come out there and convincingly beat him, yeah, that can give you that. Leon Edwards is sitting at three right now in the rankings. Here is who Nate Diaz is jumping. I just want to point this out.

Well, Jorge is fighting Kamara, so not him. Wonderboy Thompson, Vicente Luque, Michael Chiesa, Demian Maya, Neil Magny, Tyron Woodley, Jeff Neal, The Leech, Li Xiang Lang, Bilal Muhammad, Sean Brady, and Robbie Lawler sitting at 15. He's just going to cruise past all of them right there. Only people sitting in front of Edwards, Gilbert Burns, who's not a relevant title picture player, and then number one, Colby Covington.

Membership has its privileges. If you can move pay-per-view buys, and there are very few people, let's be really honest, who against anybody is going to move a certain amount of pay-per-view buys, he's one of them. The placement on the card, do you feel like they're sending a message by putting Nate on there that this is, with all these other relevant lightweight fights, that that's still a thing? Nate at lightweight?

Yeah. It's difficult. It's difficult because as much as we just looked at the long-term welterweight title picture, let's look at lightweight for a second. Do you think the UFC is without question setting up the winner of Chandler Oliveira against the winner of Dustin Conner III? It feels that way, but the only thing that makes that crazy is that fight's happening, this one here in May, that fight with Dustin and Conner is rumored for July.

It's a bit of a gap there. So my point of saying that is it makes me believe that the lightweight title picture is sort of locked up for the rest of this calendar year. We're down to a quasi-Final Four. So that would lead me to believe that Nate could win or, again, win or lose against Edwards, and I can't stress that enough. It doesn't necessarily matter anymore where the level Nate Diaz is at

if he wins. It matters if he gets dominated. It doesn't matter if he wins. Him against the loser of Conor, Dustin, three. It feels like it makes a ton of sense. It does make a ton of sense. Or, hey, how about if Nate loses against Tony Ferguson, win or lose? I mean, there are still so many BMF-style fights you can make.

Here's the other possibility we haven't encountered. If Edwards wins and now let's say Kamaru loses I don't want to hear any of this bullshit about instant rematches if if the fight is like Jorge just goes in there and just bludgeons him right it just beats him up okay so now let's imagine a world where Jorge wins if Edwards wins I mean this is three pieces of soda the real one the real if Diaz wins it's a BMF rematch for a title at that point and the BMF you'd have a title fight on the line's a BMF rematch for a title at that point and the BMF. You'd have a title fight on the line and a BMF rematch on the line.

Well, it wouldn't be on the line, but it would certainly be part of the What a time to be a UFC fan, unless you're Jon Jones at the moment. Seriously, what a time. That vegan burrito's trying to come back right now. I'm sorry for the belching, Luke. This is what happens when I try to eat. Let me explain to you. Your belching is the least of your problems.

Wow. You're talking more emotional and deeper. Any final thoughts on this before we move along? No, Luke. Go ahead. We have exhausted it a little bit there. You're exhausting me right now. How am I exhausting you? What am I doing? You need some help there, guy. Okay. Let's go to point number two, BC. All right. Jon Jones. He is, what would you say, BC? Not a happy camper.

Not really enjoying his time with the UFC. Remember how unhappy he was with you at UFC 214? Yes. Let's triple that, okay? Yeah, I think it's, I would say however mad he was at me, that feels a lot worse today in terms of who he's mad at with UFC. Basically, he just has a number of things like it just is constantly demoralizing to do business with these people. I've done

my part. I've put on the weight. Blah, blah, blah. Why won't they just come up off their pockets and pay a little bit more? Cut me, he said. Why won't they just cut me? Your reaction to Jon Jones' tweets? It's extreme, but as we had stated during Monday's show, this is an oddly extreme time.

I never would have guessed UFC President Dana White to come out after Ngannou's victory on Saturday and almost his first comment, right? I mean, yes, he was told that Jon had made the show me the money tweet. So I get that he's reacting to that, right? But when Dana's first comment is, do you really want this fight? You know, let me challenge your manhood. Do you really want this fight? Why don't you cut down to 185? We're already in a weird space, Luke. So since we're

already in chaos and since let's not forget that these two publicly sparred in 2020 about cut me, we were back at that same thing about fighter pay. Although at that point, Luke, Dana at least could lean publicly on the whole idea of we're in a pandemic. There's no live gates. You can't demand this sort of shit. Not only did that change, by the way, thanks to the folks at Abu Dhabi who have deep pockets, but now the arenas are open. So this is no longer a conversation. Well, that's a little bit much. They're only open in two states.

And there's Florida and Texas, which are, you know. We're going to see. These are our inbred cousins. They're only open in two states, and those are Florida and Texas, which are, you know. We're going to see, by the way, Luke, by the way, to close up, from now until the end of 2021, I guarantee you we're going to see UFC in Allegiant Stadium. I guarantee you we're going to see them in Jerry World. I'm telling you. You think Vegas? I think we're going to see UFC, who has been ahead of the game on all things of getting fans in arenas

or putting fights back on, now that Canelo is doing 60,000 in Jerry World, can't you see UFC going, okay, let's come up with a fight where we do 90,000 there. Let's go to the Raiders Stadium in Vegas and do 80,000 to kick that off. I think it remains to be seen what kind of deadly pathogenetic effects hosting these. No, no, here's what I'm saying.

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Be fair. I'm not declaring to you it will be disaster. I do not know that. I do think though, if it happens afterward and there's no, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Be fair. I'm not declaring to you it will be disaster. I do not know that. I do think, though, if it happens afterward and there's no real ill effects, it'll start opening shit up everywhere. If it happens and it's a bad effect, there's going to be blowback. So I think just count your chickens before they've hatched. Let's wait. The whole point of me mentioning those chickens is that it's a different debate than last year,

which puts more leverage in John's case, in my opinion. So when he's coming out in the past 48 hours and saying, basically, cut me, it's been such an unhealthy relationship of late, it's hard, Luke, publicly, to not side with John. I want to side with John on this. Because we know UFC fighters across the board, percentage-wise, in fact, there's court documents telling you that they're not getting paid probably what they deserve for the highest in the second- second tier level without question right so um every level we've

had this debate on monday that this is the super fight that you would overpay so to me this is john just extending his deepest level of leverage which is saying look if you don't want to pay me what i'm worth then don't pay me at all and cut me which is not going to happen by the way obviously but it is an extreme measure to bring attention to the situation, and I hope, Luke, as always in a negotiation, that the real answer is somewhere in the middle, that John can get paid a lot closer to what he feels he deserves,

what I feel he deserves for a fight like this. Do you agree with some of the extremes? Now, I was extreme on Monday's show, and basically you said, what's your biggest takeaway BC about Ngannou? And I'm like, good God, this guy's a freaking scary mofo, and I mean that. You had Dan Hardy, a guy we respect a lot, basically saying, if you're Jon Jones right now, you have to make almost a potential life-changing decision.

Do you want to fight this monster? I kind of agree with that. I mean, where Jon Jones is right now and the leverage he's built up and what he has to lose should he go in there and get knocked to hell by Ngannou. This is his pay-me moment. I agree that he's taken the stance, and I hope that this leads to him getting close to or the number of exactly what he's looking for.

How do they get out of this situation in your mind? In other words, if Jones doesn't bend, because I don't think UFC is going to bend, to be honest with you. People talk about John's leverage what leverage He doesn't have any leverage. He's got a little little little bit There is a little bit of leverage to bring bad publicity to the situation. That is true. That is true But when has that worked? sometimes it works a little bit to for it can it can grease the the the gears a little bit but if

They're as far apart as John seems to think that they are, and they're not really willing to budge, the only way around this impasse is if he just says, fuck it, the only way... You got to call in the fixer. When I got to Parris Island on June 6th of 1998, do you know what my drill instructor said to me? They said, there's two ways off this motherfucking island. Yeah, what are the two? You're going to graduate a United States Marine, or you're going to die of old fucking age.

That is it. You can't quit. You have to just finish out. You have to graduate to get off. He forgot about the third one, AWOL, Luke, okay? Good luck escaping Parris Island, my guy. We'll see. Good luck.

Oh, really? Name the recruit that did it. I'll wait. There's probably a movie out there on Netflix about it. They don't do it. They would die, eaten by the gators before they do it. Sergeant Slaughter? Sergeant Slaughter, I don't think, escaped.

He wasn't even a Marine, by the way. And also, if he was AWOL, he wouldn't be wearing that shit. But the point is this. The only way out of modern, not just UFC, MMA contracts for high-level pros is there is no sunset clause, There's no time limit. The more you win, and if you're a champion, they just add on time and add on time. You have to fight your way out of a contract.

That's it. There's no other way until we get an Ali Act or a union or the lawsuit advances or something else changes. That is Jon Jones' choice. Do you want to fight for a fraction of what you are owed, and you've been doing this for all this time, to get out of this deal, or do you not want to? Those are your only choices. That's a fair point. He's risking, if he's going to go all in on this, he's risking the potential of not fighting because of it, which does make this an important stance to take for John for the future of all the fighters.

Now, you could look at this in a lot of ways. And I know you can throw the shade on John and say, well, he's caused the UFC more than enough problems and money. Today is the one-year anniversary of him pleading guilty to DWI. So he certainly is not the perfect test case of the ideal employee who you're going to argue for. But yet, at the same time, he's been the best fighter of all time, a consistent draw, not a million and a half pay-per-view every time,

but a consistent big draw, and somebody who's done what I think is the impossible in MMA. Would he, GSP, Anderson Silva, these type of fighters who were able to have sustained dominance at the elite level for somewhere pushing on a decade. It's insane. I mean, it's insane. So has somebody earned it? mean, it's insane.

So has somebody earned it? Yes, it's Jon Jones. And I know you can also look at this as sort of, well, the 1% who are already getting paid well in UFC when nobody else is, they're just crying for more. Well, yeah, because look, this is a super fight. And I do think, yes, fighter pay in general needs to be fixed in the UFC from what we see of the percentages comparative to team sports to boxing and all that but if somebody can't make super fight money in a super fight then when is anybody going to get paid maybe this is the right time for a fighter with a little bit of leverage and a lot to lose potentially to stand up there and just be like for the for the future of everyone

um Floyd Mayweather can make x amount of money. Now it's Floyd Mayweather, but he can make us 10, 20 times, 30 times more than what we're making fighting somebody he's guaranteed not to lose against. And yet I'm going in there moving up in weight, putting my legacy on the line and going in there against this killer. And you can't pay me what I feel I'm deserved. I hope this leads to change for him. I hope this leads to change for the fighters at that highest level who can get themselves into crazy fights like this and get a much bigger piece of the pie. I just wonder, Luke, how much, if there's secret leverage that we're not thinking about with John and the whole thing surrounding the UFC's IPO coming up and the whole idea that Dana can be a hard ass as much as

he wants, right? But at the end of the day, he has a boss as well, Endeavor, and at the end of the day they're trying to do something large right now. Put the product out there to the public where you want a very highly valued stock. You want to be in prime position. Well, isn't making this fight putting you in prime position? I think that's going to end up helping, John, as sort of a secret piece of leverage and negotiation

that at the end of the day we will see this fight made. Is it possible that UFC could slide in Derek Lewis in between? I guess it's possible, right? I would argue likely. We're talking about Ngannou as somebody who we think can fight every two, three months and just keep becoming an attraction that way. But I think you've got to come to the negotiation table

and maybe you've got to call in the fixer. And we know the fixer was there last Saturday night. Lorenzo fricking Fertitta. The guy that they call in for Connor, the guy that still, without running the company or owning it, seems to run and own the company. Am I wrong? And you hear DC telling Ariel on their show that the fixture was wearing

sweatpants on Saturday and he was reeking of expensive cologne. He's still in the mix here. I bet you that could be the guy that they call in. Cooler heads prevail. Let's get John the largest money he's ever made, and let's move closer to largest money he's ever made, and let's move closer to the precedent of paying these guys, but without for the UFC giving up too much leverage.

Because obviously what they don't want, Luke, they don't want this to be, okay, this is just one big fight, but now every star is going to demand X amount more. Right. This is why I think a little bit you're right that it's like, hey, look how much money we can make. And again, we talked about this. It's not just the John versus Francis fight. It's the universe of fights that it opens up, that it's like, hey, look how much money we can make. And again, we talked about this. It's not just the John versus Francis fight. It's the universe of fights that it opens up. So it's a lot of money. But at the same time, the IPO is also working against him because you don't want to try

and say the public should invest in your company right when you're raising the amount of money that you pay the talent. They want to be able to show potential investors, we keep these costs low. We take home the majority of the revenue. But don't they want to show these customers we make the biggest fights possible when we can? Here's the thing. This is what John basically needs, which is that John would need to be like, okay, I'm not doing this. And then everyone else who the UFC can reasonably rely upon to make big fights would also need to do it.

Because if you can say, hey, John Jones isn't fighting, but guess what? We can do Francis Stipe, three. We can do Conor McGregor fights. We can do Dustin Poirier fights. We can do Nate Diaz fights. Call that Brock Lesnar guy and overpay him. We can do Jorge Masvidal fights. We can just keep on going without you, guy. That's what I mean when I say you don't have leverage

if you're Jon Jones. You don't. You should. In a different world, with slightly different rules, he'd have a fuck ton. It's just that, dude, you don't you should in a different world with slightly different rules. He'd have a fuck ton It's just that dude. I can't overstate this MMA fighters are the most controlled Restricted professional athletes that maybe exist anywhere. They their contracts are horrendous and it's not just UFC. It's everybody It's industry-wide. Maybe not the regional shows, but anybody who's got a national television audience They're not great and John is suffering from it,

and you're seeing the results. So I wish him well, but there's one way you're getting off this island. You've got to fight your way out, dude. That's just the reality of it. Or maybe he's the Andy from Shawshank that he's going to figure out a way. Maybe John Jones is the hero we've needed all along. I've got Boo Boo Wild thing on line one. Maybe Robin Hood's going to get the fighters some pennies.

Maybe. I've never watched that part of the video where I saw that. But, again, we're a one-year anniversary. What do you think she looked like? I'm not going to answer that. I thought about answering that, but I'm not going to answer that. Real quickly, we actually spoke to Francis Ngannou's coach. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Eric Nixick. Eric Nixick, Yes, I asked him. We have a video of it very quickly. I asked him, do you guys, are you assuming you're facing John next? Like, what do you want? This is what he had to say. The three possibilities seem another fight with Stipe, John Jones, and Derek Lewis.

I think it's probably safe to say the Derek Lewis one is not either of our top priorities. Probably not even for Derek Lewis. And then it takes us to those two. Do you have a preference about which way you'd like to see the UFC go? No, not really. I'm a competitor, and I want to compete against the best. So I think Jon Jones is the greatest to ever do it at any weight.

And just to be able to go compete against a man like Jon Jones in an unbelievable camp like Jackson Week and Brandon Gibson, just to be able to kind of get behind the X's and O's that, that gets me up. Like I'm excited, you know, to, to, to, for that challenge and just to be able to be kind of in the, in the same mix as those guys with, with John Jones moving up to that weight class, I think it just makes a lot of sense especially just for now with live crowds

coming back and, you know, getting through this pandemic and everything else. I think that fight makes a lot of sense more than anything, to be honest. So there you have it. They're competitors. They'll fight Jones. They're big believers that they could do well there. Oh, God.

If they, I mean, we're at the, Luke, we're at the point, I mean, and I just put in Gano number, I think, four or five in my updated CBS Sports Pomp for Pond rankings. I know right away some people are like, holy shit. But we're at the point, I mean, I just put Ngannou number, I think, four or five in my updated CBS Sports Pomp for Pond rankings. I know right away some people are like, holy shit. But we're at the point now where it's not about what human could Ngannou face next that could give him trouble. It's like, what superhero could we match him up there against mythically? I mean, he's really beginning at that level.

So shout out to his coach, Eric Nixick and Dewey Cooper, the old boxing vet. Did you see their reaction video? Oh, it was great. It was just joy. It was great to see. And was that a Snapchat Randy production? You know Randy from UFC Social? He's got a new business these days.

He's got a new social media company. Francis Ngannou is one of his dudes. Do you know Snapchat Randy? I don't know Snapchat Randy. Shout out to Randall Anthony. Big fan of that guy. You tight with UFC employees? Ex-UFC employees. Ex-UFC employees. We got off the island, okay? You tight with UFC employees? Ex-UFC employees, yeah.

Ex-UFC employees, yeah. We got off the island, okay? We got off the island. I see that. I see that. Fought your way out. All right, let's go to topic number three if we can. A bit of a smaller story, but an interesting one just the same.

Unfortunately, Darren Till is out of his headlining fight with Marvin Vittori at 185 pounds on UFC ABC2. This was set for April 10th. According to Darren Till's message on social media, he broke his clavicle, his collarbone, which is a very soft bone, which is easy to break, but that's a bad one. You see quarterbacks get those all the time when they get bad tackles. In any case, Vittori

still, well, he is... He's an angry mofo. He's a real bro. Remember he almost killed that dude in the hotel a couple months back? Yeah, who was that? That was Karl Roberson back in May because I fell for him there. Vittori took to social media and did not have, you know, poetic things to say, but he's just looking for an opponent.

So, BC, Kevin Holland. Yeah, here's Marvin Vittori. I will always do my part 100% in these bunch of pussies can't make it. And the next line, I'm next in line for the title. Whoever has something to show for it, show the fuck up in two weeks so I can whoop your ass. SJW right here. Shut you off for good. What is he, the water? I'm going to turn your water off.

Why did you hesitate before saying pussies there? You had a lot of trouble. Well, no, it's fine. I going to turn your water off. Why didn't you hesitate before saying pussies there? You had a lot of trouble. Well, no, it's fine. I mean, it's not a big deal of a word, but you know, first of all, we have a diverse workplace here. I want to respect that. And then the second part is... We have men and women working the cameras at Morning Com. Yes, we certainly do. We certainly do. They're all nice people. I'm just trying to be respectful. Dude, I'm trying not to have a call from HR. You know what I'm saying? Malka's HR or Showtime? Showtime's HR. I don't fear Malka's HR. I don't know iftime's HR. I don't fear Malka's HR. I don't know if they have one, but Kevin Holland, always opportunistic, jumping in line.

Is this one of those things where it's a bad... Yeah, so Kevin Holland said he would find him. Bad situation for Darren Till, obviously. But is this a better situation for the division? Considering we tend to see Darren Till getting monster pushes that sometimes we don't always wonder if he was the right guy at the right time.

The only thing was if you were Vittori and you beat a guy like that, and I think he would have, to be honest with you, that's just such a huge boost for you. So beating Holland, I just don't think it gets you the same thing. So what about Derek Brunson? Do you hate that fight? Do you hate what about Derek Brunson? Do you hate that fight? Do you hate Vittori Brunson? No.

Because why would Kevin Holland deserve it except for always being ready? Yeah, and also, it's like, dude, you just got out-wrestled for five fucking rounds. Like, you want to fight Vittori? Because he can do that, too. That doesn't seem like wise. What's this weird Darren Till Ariel Twitter feud?

You've been following this? No, can't say that I do. It's weird. I don't get it. I don't understand it. What are they doing? I don't really understand it. I don't know what's real and what's not.

Is it pro wrestling? I think the schmo's involved. I saw Okamoto involved. I don't understand. I'm trying to get you to translate. Do they insult each other? Dude, I don't read their tweets. I'll have to do a deeper dive.

Maybe for next week's SJW. Yeah, I'd be curious to see that. People have beefs on Twitter. That's just the thing they do there. Look at me versus Japan. I think Japan won. Well, here's the deal. It was never me versus Japan. It was me versus you. They just

got dragged in. Yes, but Japan still won in the end. They still won. Okay, any thoughts on this for the division itself beyond... Yeah, I'm wondering if it's a better situation for the division. I really don't think Kevin Holland's the guy they should go to in this one. No, he's not. Brunson is. Four in a row. He won four in a row, okay? Okay, but could he make a turnaround on April 10th?

That's in less than two weeks. Did he take... Well, he took a little day. He took some punches. It's pretty exhausting to fight that way, plus to stay on weight and shit. Could he even do it? I don't know. But how many more fights does Vittoria have to lose? I can understand his frustration, right? What do you mean? He's had a long road of people

falling out of fights, of injuries. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's been a bridesmaid, unfortunately, in a lot of situations where he's just looking to get back to that title opportunity and that rematch without Asana. All right, do you want to do old guy fights next? You make the rundown when you host it, Luke. All right?

I don't make the rundown. We make the rundown. Is my voice really heard, Luke? That's the question. Oh, my God. Topic number six and seven is only because of you. Hey, boxing fans out there, get ready. It's weekday.

All right. Let's talk about topic number four. Okay. Anderson Silva is apparently going to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. In a boxing match. On June 19th. Is it a real boxing match or is it an exhibition? I don't know.

It's going to be in Mexico, right? It's going to be in Mexico in like a giant. This is a big-ass show because it's Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. in the main event. So he's in his 50s. He's still doing exhibitions long before Mike Tyson made this popular again. He's fighting Hector Camacho Jr. who's retired and fat. I mean, it's sloppy, right?

Wait, he's fighting Macho's son? Yes. The one from the doc? Who got left in a hotel room? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who he was like a pro fighter but not that great. Oh, Jesus Christ. I mean, come on. Senior's like 58, though.

But he's going to take it seriously. So my whole point is, is it an exhibition? Yes. But they're going to take it serious. This is probably, let's be honest. This is Caesar's toughest fight in a while. Junior is a full-on clown, right? I mean, anytime he stepped up, he stole money.

I mean, everywhere he walks, true story. Everywhere he walks, you hear bop, bop, bada, bada, bop, bada. I mean, I've heard stories behind the scenes of like, before the Canelo fight, they had to drag him out of his room and he's high. I mean, look, there's just a... Remember, he lost his money to hookers after the Canelo fight, in which he didn't

perform at all. I mean, he was without sin. No, but they stole from him and there was a video of it. Anyway, my whole point is Chavez Jr. is not a real fighter anymore, so him going into the Jake Paul territory and fighting washed up MMA guys. These are very harsh words for JCC Jr.

But he deserves it, Luke. He deserves it. So we are at that point where this is actually probably the perfect fight for him. It's weird. It's a continuation of this direction that you're not loving the Ben Askrens versus Jake Pauls. But in that gas station food rotary thing where the meat sticks are turning, you know what I'm saying, underneath they've got the Cumberland Farms pizza. You're with me right now, right?

They've got the beef empanadas on the right. The pretzels are totally next to it. If we are forced to eat there, I might grab this option. I mean, you kind of want to see it. You kind of want to see, you know, in this light heavyweight boxing exhibition, what all Andy Silva's got. He's got some pro boxing fights under his belt. People forget that about him.

Yeah, against pre-diabetic gas station attendants that serve you pizza. All I'm saying is this is extra sloppy, right? But sometimes we like that. The whole thing is sad. It's sad. It's only going to get sadder the more fights we're going to talk about on this segment. So let's actually just open up the floodgates here. I don't even know what to say about this.

This is, it's not two years I had it wrong, but this is the first opponent I think in three fights or so that JCC Jr. has had that has a Wikipedia entry. He's been fighting absolute nubbers in, I think in Mexico on whatever regional television is there. It's not as dangerous for either guy, I guess, which I think is, I mean, listen. Here's what he's not doing for Anderson Silva.

He's not fighting top middleweights, which is an improvement already. He's fighting the biggest fail son in boxing. Yes. Is that a fair way to describe it? He's the biggest fail son in boxing. Yes. Is that a fair way to describe it? He's the biggest fail son in boxing. Who had a window of success as a middleweight title holder where he was viable because he actually cared back then. How long ago was that?

This was like 2012, 2013, that area. And the reason why, he wasn't overly skilled, but he cared and got in shape. He was a great body puncher like his dad, and he had the freak ability to rehydrate after making 160 up to like 190. Just like freak levels of rehydration, which basically meant he was two or three divisions above his opponents. And then he fought Sergio Martinez, lost every second of the first 11 and a half rounds. And then out of nowhere drops Martinez in one of the greatest, wildest finishes. But since that point, it's been drug suspensions. It's been showing up for big

fights and just flat. Quitting against Andrew Fanfaro when he was getting beat up. Just constantly. I mean, he just quit. Didn't he just quit like two fights ago? He's had in-ring issues, out-of-the-ring issues. He's a joke. He's a freaking joke at this point. But he's so much a joke that I kind of want to see

this fight in a weird way, Luke. Is this just like hearing your favorite porn star comes out of retirement and you're like, I guess I'll check it out, right? Oh, God, she's toying with Rocco? Who's your favorite porn star? This is very speculative. This is very just a

fake situation. Oh, is that what it is? You weren't thinking out loud for a second there? No, not at all. Alright, but this is not the only sad pairing. There are some other ones in the boxing world. Well, let's keep it going because some of these, I want to ask you, can I read them to you? Yeah, please. I want you to tell me if this is sad or intriguing.

These are so sad. All right. Hey, here's what we got for June 12th, Luke. 40-year-old Miguel Cotto against 47-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez in an exhibition. Now, Luke, this would have been some kind of weird-ass dream fight if it happened seven years ago. You got any care on this now? Roided up Marquez against...

Against HGH's... I'm making it up. I have no idea if they're taking HGH. But, yeah. That's probably likely, right? Probably likely. There's going to be some fight fan, you make sure that you thought of your drug testing. Please skip that.

What I'm saying is, Luke, of all the gross ones, and I've got more gross ones to share, I kind of don't hate this one. Okay, the next one is July 16th somewhere in the U.S. By the way, and also remember, you got De La Hoya coming back in early July, apparently. Versus maybe an MMA guy, so we'll see. Versus like Cody McKenzie or some shit.

Yes, yes. Marco Antonio Barrera. You've got to be kidding. And Eric Morales, who of course gave us one of boxing's all-time greatest trilogies between 2000 and 2004, which was a long freaking time ago. Barrera's 47, Morales is 44. By the way, old 47, very old 47. Because they came up in the low weight divisions

and they notoriously hate each other, but they started to do TV work together for Fox Deportes in recent years covering boxing. For the fourth time. Do you mind that these are exhibitions? Is that okay with you that basically everyone's saying there's a difference between I'm coming back at 45 for a

fight and it's real and it's going to matter on my record and we're just doing this for fun. I don't hate these because I'm desperately worried about their health. I'm desperately convinced about their health. I'm desperately convinced that their financial health is in peril and that these are

designed as very obvious, very late to the market actually, I believe, cash grabs. They're not all going to work. Well, I did the Ring City USA card last Thursday on NBC Sports. Did you? You didn't hear about it. Did you know I was in Puerto Rico?

We had Puerto Rican great Yvonne Calderon, Iron Boy, the longtime 108-pound champion on as an announcer, filling in. And on the air, he sort of broke, yeah, if we can get this passed in Puerto Rico, I'm also coming back in December. And I'm like, dude, you're 46. Why? And he's like, Mike Tyson gave me motivation when he just came back. So, Luke, obviously for the old guy fighters,

maybe it's the motivation of the Fountain of Youth. Look at what Tyson and Jones look like. But I think it's probably more a combination of I haven't made a giant payday in a long time and I'm really not going to again with I can stroke my ego one more time and have a reason to get back in shape. So I don't hate them for it.

I guess I would rather have it an exhibition for the standpoint of it doesn't matter, no one has to stress out about adding or taking away from their legacy. If they can go out there and have fun and give the fans a thing. I want to ask you what this means now, since this is basically an epidemic of these now. By the way, you understand they're not all going to

do well. In fact, the vast majority are going to tank. That's fine. But my whole point is this. This new epidemic of old guys cashing in, mixed with this YouTube generation of Paul Brothers versus whoever, I don't want to ask you if this is taking away from mainstream boxing,

but has mainstream boxing sucked enough of late and then had the realities of COVID where they needed the, unlike the UFC who was getting major bucks from Fight Island, right? Boxing didn't put on a lot of big super fights last year because they're waiting for the gates to come back. Let's be really honest, right? That's why you're not seeing Joshua Fury get an official signature yet until they can secure the money. The window seems

to be open for these fights to work. So should this be a wake-up call to regular boxing, to the promoters who sometimes work with other promoters, to be like, if these do well. Now, Tyson Jones seemed to be the perfect storm at the perfect time of wondering what Tyson would look like mixed with, oh, by the way, that broadcast with Snoop Dogg was really fun. I know that was sort of its own perfect thing. And to your point, not all of these are going to be million pay-per-view sellers. They may tank and lose money. But will this work effectively as a wake-up call or should it to boxing to like, hey, get your freaking shit together.

Let's make the fights that matter right now. I think that I don't know what effect it will have. I think that's a little bit harder to say because let's see what some of these things do at the market and draw some conclusions from that. But I would say early on what it does tell me is there's part of the reason why these kinds of things are working right now is, I do think that if boxing was not as bureaucratic and

had as many hurdles to effective matchmaking as there are, you would not have as much of a market for this. I mean, I think part of this is weirdness. It reminds me, to me it's a combination of things. To me, if you live through the Kakutogi boom in Japan, this was the Kakutogi boom? Hear me out. There was a boom in Japan that happened at the same time as I understand it happened in pro wrestling, but certainly happened on the MMA side, where the Japanese

promoters in K-1 and Pride for a while are really doing a ton of, there's a huge boom of MMA, but then it kind of morphed in one direction to this really clown show stuff where they had hoist fighting Aki Bono. And if you want to know what that did, I mean, that did something insane in Japan, like 50 million viewers. Or even Fedor against Hongman Choi. You're talking about that kind of bullshit.

Yes, that kind of bullshit. That was Yaranoka. That was a little bit later. That was a part of the big boom that I'm talking about. But basically what you see with that is it burns hot for a short while and then the market immediately collapses around it. And I think that's what you're going to see here. But there might be a little bit more enduring to it because, dude, it is a pretty clear indictment of the fact that you really can't get out of boxing most of the things that you want. You're able to get some of them and some of them are

insanely rewarding. But for a casual fan, they don't know about Burchelt and they don't know about any of this shit. All they know is about the big ones. And the big ones rarely ever get made. These kinds of fun little freak show things for now I think is appealing. That's why I'm cheering for these to do well. Not just for, you know, you want to see some of these legends have their moment again. That's fine. Make a payday. That's great. I don't want to see them get hurt, though, obviously. But I'd like to see these do well. I'd like to see it raise, make everyone go, okay, can we go back to putting on real fights that draw fans in?

Because if we don't, we're going to have to do the co-main event with Jake Paul in the main event. You know what I'm saying? Well, the Triller thing is just, I don't know why folks are hard to understand this. It's not going to last. By the way, Triller did reach out to Jon Jones on social media. Did you see that? What did they say? They tweeted at him and basically were like, hey, we'd love to do an MMA

fight with you. Reach out to us. Which obviously is... Which is illegal. Illegal behavior there by Triller. It's a good thing. It's smart. This is contract tampering, but okay. That aside, BC, people don't understand this. I'm not making a claim that

Askren, Paul, or whatever comes next after that, the Dale Ahoya thing. Well, Dale Ahoya thing, I don't know. But probably that will sell well, too. It's not that it won't sell well. Dude, if you're bidding triple what the other people are for Teofimo's purse, can you imagine what they're overpaying for Askren and for all and for everyone else?

Plus, Pete Davidson is your commentator. You're not making money on that show. I don't give a fuck how many people... Hasn't Ben Askren, and again, I haven't followed this closely even though I'd like to rib you with it, but hasn't Ben Askren basically said, I don't care about this fight. The money's just too stupid that I can't avoid it?

He's basically been transparent about it? Yeah, they're just overpaying for everything. That won't last. Triller is an app that's designed to compete with TikTok. Have any of these events or news got you to put Triller on this lovely Kate Spade fucking cover?

Men can have Kate Spade phone covers that they got. They can have Kate Spade purses if they want. 90% off at Best Buy. It was 90% off. You got this because you're the cheapest motherfucker I've ever met in my life. Kate Spade. Look at you was 90% off. You got this because you're the cheapest motherfucker I've ever met in my life. Kate Spade. Look at you. Look at you. You're

so embarrassed and you should be. You 42-year-old man. What are you doing? You old bitch. Alright. Thank you for outing me there, Luke. I saw that. I was like, I'm going to get this. Well, since you outed me, I'm going to bring up the story you didn't want me to bring up on today's show. We don't have promotional confirmation on this, but TheMiddleEasy.com is reporting a rumor of a potential fight.

Oh, Lord. That is going to be staged in Russia, maybe, under the Bellator MMA banner. Fedor versus JDS. Again, put us back in the gas station. The griller's rolling right here. The pretzel machine's going around, right? Somebody's filling up a fake Slurpee in the back, right? Some guy's buying some Paul Mauls.

In that setting, I kind of like that. Showtime has never once told me what to say, and they haven't here either. And they probably want me to say something nice about this fight. I mean, it's sloppy as shit. It's drizzle shit. I'm not going to say anything nice about this fight. I don't like this fight at all.

I kind of like it. No, I don't give a fuck. All right. Is there any old guy boxing match that could surprise you at this point? Because, I mean, dude, Morales- Give me somebody, you know what, who would surprise me? It's not going to happen. But to me, and I hated it at the time,

I'd be way more in favor of Mayweather-McGregor kind of thing than I would hey, we're just doing Dancing with the Stars boxing style, which is low cost. There was something on. At the end of the day, when the bell rang ding and those two walked across, shit got real.

You had to win that. There's something a little bit more to it. Listen, man, I'm old and I like school shooting rock and roll music. There's something a little bit more to it. Listen, man, I'm old, and I like school shooting rock and roll music. That's really what I like. Two guys jabbing at 49 years of age and encircling in the occasional shot

that they would in sparring, it doesn't do anything for me. Jake Paul, I think, has got a good thing going for himself. By the way, I was funny. I listened to a podcast from this dude named Peter Kafka who covers the media industry. And he always has these people coming to give updates on how influencers are doing because there's always controversies. And out of nowhere, I was listening to this on the media podcast. And they're like, what about the Paul brothers?

How are they doing? And they talk about, well, now they've got this boxing thing going, and they're making a ton of money. They were saying that controversy has sunk other YouTube stars, but it's actually elevated the Paul brothers here, apparently. So, take that for what it's worth. It's something, Luke. You want to keep the show going? By the way, you haven't commented on how

flawlessly I dyed my hair this morning. I have to tell you, did you guys know that BC dyed his hair? And my beard, too, Luke. Normally, I can stain my skin. Do you use different dyes? No, I illegally use the same kind, you know, across. I just put that shit on. Sometimes, Luke, you'll stain your face. Sometimes, you'll do some things.

This is flawless today. I don't see a gray, Luke. I don't see a gray. I've got to admit, it looks good, dude. The thing is, though, you're going to have to be my accountability partner on here. You do have some gray here on the side. You are going to have to tell me when it starts looking that fake Hazel, Marv Albert Bryan, Kenny look. You're going to have to tell me that. Like the dude who

does the odds for the UFC? The Greek guy? The Greek guy. Did you know he dyed his hair? No one could ever tell. You're going to have to be the guy in my ear who says, BC, just go. Grisham's my other ear saying, Bruce Buffer told him to go salt and pepper. Yeah, he's right. He's got to let it go, bro.

You have to let the gray eat you. So you got a little bit of white. Do you comb it in? No. How do you get it where, like turn your head to the left. So you got a little bit there. How does it,

you miss those if you're not combing it in? I'm just using a beard right now to cover my bloatedness, but Luke, there will be a time when I don't look as washed, okay? You'll see that.

Yeah, that's when we go back to our high school albums and then we look through like, okay? You'll see that. Yeah, it's when we go back to our high school albums and then we look through like, wow, at age 19, I wasn't such a horrendous piece of shit. At 41, I don't look so great. All right. BC.

Yes. Speaking of Bellator, we have to talk about good things with Bellator, which is Bellator 255, Bellator debut on Showtime. It's in about 48 hours or so. Not far from here. Friday is the debut. April 2nd on Showtime. 255. Now we had breaking news that happened

about 255. Do you want to read it to the audience here as we are just now encountering it? Yeah, if I can find it, Luke. Here we go. Okay. Showtime Sports, Luke, is going to offer Bellator MMA's debut event on its network Friday for free to non-subscribers across

multiple streaming platforms and television providers. I believe it'll be available on Pluto Pluto TV. I can't read anymore. Pluto TV, Hulu, Fubo TV, YouTube, and more. I'm sure you can find more information out there. No, I think YouTube.

Not just YouTube. YouTube TV is just television. No, I think YouTube, not just YouTube. YouTube TV is just television. No, I said YouTube. That's all I said. You did? Okay, sorry. I apologize. So, Luke, that's an interesting move.

That's what drug dealers do. They always give you that first one for free. Don't take my word for it. You want these rocks, Biatch? What drug dealer gave you rocks for free? They don't give you shit for free. You're not from the same streets that I'm from, Luke. Yeah. Are you really

at the crime-infested streets of suburbia? All the rocks there? One day, when the MK documentary crew goes back to my hometown, the factory... What factory is there, by the way? There was. It's really, there was, Luke. So it's actually not a factory town.

Well, it's still recovering from the factory. You make it sound like it's Flint, Michigan. You don't live in Flint. You know Peter Paul? You know Mounds and Almond Joy, now owned by Hershey? Yes. Those were made exclusively in my hometown forever. Almond Joy tastes like butt.

And also Keds sneakers, they were made in the rubber factory. So you guys basically... Luke, what you don't know about my hometown of Naugatuck, Connecticut, is it's the place where Charles Goodyear discovered the vulcanization of rubber. That's cool. That's something. Because of him, you didn't get chicks pregnant in college. Sure.

Sure. There might be other reasons, but yes, that's a decent... That's a claim to fame in my town, sure. Sure. There might be other reasons, but yes, that's a decent one. That's the claim to fame in my town, yeah. Okay, but making Almond Joys and Keds tells me that they just cater to 50-year-old white women with the factories that they build, right? It's a recovering town. I haven't lived there in a while, Luke. Well, Bellator 255 is on Friday. You'll be able to watch it for free in a bunch of different places, Pluto TV, YouTube, and other places. Let me ask you this.

What's your number one storyline? We'll talk more about this on Friday. Obviously, we'll do a little bit more of a deeper dive. But when you think about big picture storyline, what's the number one storyline you're paying attention to? Well, so in some ways, it's just the idea that with A.J AJ McKee waiting, and I can't wait to see how great he is, which fighter is going to come out and make that incredibly important matchup against him in the featherweight grand prix final. In a lot of ways, Luke, that's going to decide. I mean, somebody could, somebody, whoever wins this tournament, they could end up being the

fighter of the year in MMA. They could end up being, have a claim at the best featherweight in the world. I mean, they can have a lot of things. They're going to be a million dollars richer. They're going to be the Bellator featherweight champion. They're going to have gone through a killer's run there. But even deeper than that, I'm wondering if Pitbull's finally going to get the global palm for palm respect he deserves. We sort of consider him, oh yeah, yeah, he's one of the palm for palm best, but you go

website to website, Luke, and I don't see Pitbull ranked up there where maybe he should be. I mean, is he a top three or four, five fighter in the world in your eyes right now? Yes. I'm wondering if this fight... Top five, yes. Which is a close-up for Bellator. It's going to Showtime, premium cable, a network with a reputation in combat sports, and now this first fight is going to be

free, right? You can get 30 days for free on Showtime and all that. I wonder if this will be a close-up for people who kind of follow Bellator but don't, and then they're like, holy shit, if Pitbull goes out there and beats Sanchez a second time, and not only are we banging the drum for the idea of Pitbull, McKee, or even Sanchez, McKee at the same time, but let's say Pitbull wins, are people going to go, this guy's freaking incredible, two-division champion, talking about becoming a three-division champion, who, every when he goes in there, he basically says, I'm going to kill him, and he typically falls through

and knocks him out. Will this give him the global acclaim that he deserves separate from a, hey, these are two ViacomCBS guys pushing the Bellator brand? No. This guy is freaking great. Is this going to be the time that he starts to get that? I was wondering about that myself, and part of the reason is because, dude, he

bodied Michael Chandler, and then Chandler goes to UFC. How good does that one look right now? Yeah, that's what I'm saying the reason is because, dude, he bodied Michael Chandler and then Chandler goes to UFC. How good does that one look right now? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's like, dude, if you can build on this, this is a huge moment for you. If he wins the featherweight Grand Prix, which in some ways you'd be, it's like, dude, you're with a champion. You were kind of expected to win. Okay, fine. But to beat the guys he'd have to beat to get

there and doing it on the heels of Michael Chandler having this incredible moment right now in UFC, this would be absolutely huge for him. He does not get the acclaim he deserves. And I feel like this matchup, I don't think folks really understand how big it is. In part, yes, the winner moves to the finals. That's big in and of itself, number one.

Number two, it's a title fight because Pitbull's a champion. There's that. Three, dude, this is a real, real huge moment for Emmanuel Sanchez. This is a guy that made his run to a title because he was good enough to earn it, the opportunity, but he wasn't good enough to cash in on it. He's not quite ready for it. And then he rebuilt himself, and he's a much different fighter. Duke Rufus trained. This is maybe Duke Rufus' best fighter that doesn't get hardly any of the acclaim. Confident as all hell. Has a motor for days.

Dude, I'm telling you. Let's remind, if you're not big on the history here, this is a rematch. Their first fight in 2018, Pitbull the champion, Sanchez the challenger in Tel Aviv. He rocked Pitbull early. He feels like he was one or two punches away from stopping him, and they entered that fifth round two rounds to two on basically everyone's scorecard. Now, to Pitbull's credit, he was the one who rallied in round five. He was the one who hurt and cut Sanchez and really left no doubt in that fifth round.

He's a champion. That's what he does. But also, you can make the same argument that we haven't seen Pitbull lose, with the exception of when he hurt his leg against Benson Henderson. We haven't seen him lose in like six, seven years. So this version, the post-Daniel Strauss version of Pitbull, has been unbeatable, yet Sanchez came the closest in a lot of ways. Because even though people have taken Pitbull to the distance, even Daniel Weichel had a split decision loss against him.

Did you really feel like Weichel had a case to win that fight? I feel like in that fight against Sanchez, at least entering round five, you were like, this guy has figured something out. He knows how to pressure Pitbull. He knows how to take his punch. And now, three years later, you have a smarter Emmanuel Sanchez. You have a guy who's figured out, let me take a little bit off my fastball here. Let me be a little

bit more patient here. It's very interesting, his odds coming in here of upsetting all these great plans of this McKee-Pitbull fight, which, by the way, again, not knowing how great McKee is, this has the potential to be a great fight. It could just as well be Sanchez. The other part about Pitbull is, like, dude, his success is not accidental.

You point out that he had trouble with Sanchez in that first fight early. It's true. And then he rallied. He had several Strauss fights where he had to do that. I mean, this guy, when he is put in wars, he is more often than not shown to be the one that at the end of it is doing the most amount of dishing out of punishment. He's really quite built for them. He's special. He's a special fighter. He's super special. He's got huge punching power.

But do we also know that Reigns, to borrow from the Notorious B.I.G., Reigns at the top are short like leprechauns in this particular case. Yeah. You know, can you keep up that kind of pace and separation on the pack of featherweights that you've had for some time now? I don't know. We do resume reviews all the time, BC. Yeah, who do you want to jinx next? That's a great question. Pitbull would be a great guy.

Seriously, Pitbull would be a great guy to do a resume review on because by the time we select... To challenge the jinx. To be like, is this jinx real? No, no, no. Because the reason why we select these guys is they are bouts of consequence with a figure that has done something historically significant.

And you're seeing if they can build on that in a new and interesting way. And every time we get to those the four times we've done it, it's not worked out for them because, dude, MMA domination is incredibly difficult. MMA is a motherfucker, Luke. There's so many ways to lose in this shit. By the way, your favorite, Medellin's finest, Azul.

Oh, Alejandra Lara. Yeah, she's on the card, too. So this is a good fight. Oh, she's going to fuck me. I wasn't too woke to this Japanese opponent who won her Bellator debut by knockout, but my guy Brent Brookhouse says she's freaking shit. Yeah, it should be a good fight. 9-0-1-1.

What's her name? Watanabe? I think that's's her name? Watanabe? I think that's right. Kano Watanabe? I'll have to look it up here very quickly if I can, but that should be a good time. Those are actually some decent— Do you think the winner of that's going to get a title shot? Or do you think that—so that's the division, of course.

We're talking about women's flyweight under Bellator, where Juliana Velasquez just beat Alema Lea McFarlane, Luke. Mm-hmm. Do you think we go back to that rematch, or do you think this is an opening here for the winner of this fight to maybe jump ahead? I know Liz Karmouche is in the rankings up there as well. By the way, Roger Huerta is on this card from Sports Illustrated. Yeah, he's been a while, Luke.

But on the card, it's Kananat Watanabe versus Alejandro Lara. Usman Nurmagomedov taking on Mike Hamill. Hold that name for a second. Let me just read these names off. We'll go back to it. Jack May versus Tyrell Fortune. Jack May was supposed to be Matt Mitrione. He fell out.

Tyrell Fortune is one of the more ranked heavyweights. Your co-main, Neiman Gracie, who is criminally underrated, taking on Jason Jackson. He's retired John Fitch. And Jason Jackson, by the way, he's come up empty a couple times, but he came close to beating the damn wrestler, Ed Ruth. Didn't he drop him? I think I have to look that up. I have to look that up. But then

your main event, Patricia. Jason Jackson is the guy that Rashad talks about from Hard Knocks. Oh, no. He just had a win. Jason Jackson did. He beat the fuck out of someone. Hang on. I have the internet too, Luke. He calls himself the ass-kicking machine, which I'm down with. Yes. According to

Tapology, yes, the ass-kicking machine. That's a great nickname, actually. So he had the split decision with Ed Ruth, where you could argue... He beat Benson Henderson. But he's on a three-fight win streak. He beat Jordan Mean, too, so he's on a nice little run here. Yeah, it's a good fight. So him versus Neiman Gracie. He's huge for the weight class, too. He's enormous. All right, but certainly a big focus

will be on Usman Nurmagomedov. So if you're wondering, is that... It's combining the two best wrestlers in MMA history's names together. It's also the first cousin of Habib. Habib will be in the corner because Usman Nurmagomedov, the 23-year-old, was trained

by Habib's father, Abdulmanap, who obviously passed away in 2020. So look, this will be his Bellator MMA debut. He's 11-0, Usman is, with 10 stoppages. He certainly has the Dagestan reputation. He's a strong grappler, but he is much more a kickboxer and a striking threat in a lot of ways. And I did get a chance to catch up with him this week on Morning Combat. Maybe some people are arguing that the translation

from Umar Nurmagomedov wasn't the best, but we thank you them. We thank them for taking part. Let's go to the videotape here of me asking Usman why Bellator? Why now? When you made this decision last August to sign with Bellator, it was an announcement that made a huge splash. A lot of MMA fans know who you were. They certainly know your family name. What led you to sign with Bellator at this point in your career? I have the name Nurmagomedov, it's already known.

But I have a lot of other names, why not? Last name Nurmagomedov is very famous in UFC, so I want to make last name Romagamedov famous in Bellator too. Why not? So, Luke, he says, you know, why the hell not? Why wouldn't I bring my family name to Bellator and try to make it there? So he's got the right people behind him. He trains at AKA. He's got Habib as a trainer.

He's learned a lot from that mentorship, and he's from the damn Smash Factory. Are you expecting a lot out of him as he enters against that mentorship, and he's from the damn Smash Factory. Are you expecting a lot out of him as he enters against 7-4 Mike Hamill? I'll say this. I'm not expecting Habib. I'm expecting Habib light. I'll tell you that much.

Yes, I do. In fact, all those guys from that region come well prepared, so I'm looking to see that, and I'm looking to see, I think you heard DC talking about it with the other, with Umar Nurmagomedov, who fights in UFC, I believe that's right. He had a much more striking style than Habib. I'm looking to see to what extent Usman Nurmagomedov has his own personality and his own style, a little bit distinct from Habib. All those guys, if they need to go to the smash, they can.

Yes. I said incorrectly in the video, it was the co-main event. You're right. Neiman Gracie is the co-main event, but Usman Nurmagomedov is in a featured bout. Yes. And you have to believe. He's on that main card for a reason. And look, this is the continuation of some really good signings lately from Scott Coker, and we are, Luke, evolving

out of and seemingly completely away from the possibility of Fedor JDS, notwithstanding, from the idea of, like, let's bring back Ken Shamrock, let's put Dada5000. That whole Bellator era is over. You have to love the signing of Magomed Mago Sharapov, the only guy to beat Peter Jan.

You have to love these type of young, hungry, finding out right now how great they are guys. I think it's Megomed Megomedov, not Sharapov. Sharapov is a beat. Oh, see, I'm just lost in Dagestan right now. I'm reaching. It's a lot. Magomed Magomedov, the last man to beat Peter Jan

in his split fights with him. Yeah. They're one-on-one. So these are some really strong pickups. Let's see what this guy can do as a lightweight. I like this division for you. I asked him about Pitbull. He didn't really want to bite on saying much, but he respects him,

and he hopes to get a chance to fight him. And so do I, Luke. Okay? All right. I might get on the Smash Factory bandwagon and get my CDL license and think about driving that. What do you think, Luke? Okay. Let's go to topic number six here very quickly.

This is the last big one that we have. BC, according to Mike Hoppinger of The Athletic, there are talks. Nothing official yet, but there are talks about Manny Pacquiao taking on Bud Crawford. But here's the kicker. It would have to be June 5th. It wouldn't have to be June 5th, but they're targeting June 5th. The kicker is it would have to be in Abu Dhabi. I guess you've got to take oil money. Hell yes.

All right, are you big on this? Huge on this. And so they're going to need that oil money. But Bob Arum did tell both ESPN and both traditional pay-per-view that that's the date June 5th they're targeting. So here's the deal, Luke. We've talked about this ad nauseum. We want Bud to fight the vest. He's sort of sick of asking and waiting. Now he's almost giving negative interviews that are making us not like Bud lately. Can we just say he's giving him and Aljamain Sterling are not doing a ton of favors. And we've seen Bob's relationship

with Crawford deteriorate to the point, Luke, that all we talk about is, isn't his top-ranked deal up in October? Is he just going to finally join the PBC so we can get on the road to Spence Crawford before both of them turn 40? This is great because if you're Bob Arum, you're not going to match Crawford in his potential last fight under your contract against a PBC guy, right? A lot of us are saying, can he fight Thurman? Can he fight Porter?

Well, that'd be great. But you'd basically be giving them a fight and then giving him away to them. But yet the best and biggest fight he can make for Crawford without using the PBC roster is still Pacquiao. So the fact that Bob is doing what needs to be done for this to get paid for, which is going to Abu Dhabi and saying, what you got? Can you find the money? Can you give me the oil money? Because I want to make this. This is the most bang for the buck that he

could get right now, knowing that there's a great chance he loses Crawford. So from that point, it's a strong business decision for him. For the fans, it's a great fight. And for Bud Crawford, it's not only his biggest possible chance at giant pay-per-view buys. I mean, this would outsell Spence Crawford, even though we need and want Spence Crawford very badly. It's also a really tough fight. Look, the only thing Crawford has not had up to this point in his welterweight run was big-time names. He's beat the Jeff Horns and the

Amerikans, right, and the Mean Machines. He hasn't had big-time names who you could make a case for against him. Now, Luke, let's not hide from something here. Pacquiao's 42 going on 43. He hasn't fought in 19, 20 months since he had that victory over Keith Thurman, but he had that victory over Keith Thurman, Luke. He looked good.

You were like, holy shit. I want to believe it's clean. I don't even care. Who gives a shit? That is just like, wow, he still got it. This is the right fight, and I wonder. I wonder if by giving Bud what he wants and needs most is this

the last chance Arum has to try to re-sign him. Who cares in the end? Bud or Manny? To Bud. To re-sign Bud. In some ways you're saying who cares because but in other ways if you want Crawford in against the best fights, look he may have to join PBC to do it. I don't know what that future brings.

But for immediate future Luke, this fight is necessary and PBC to do it. I don't know what that future brings. But for immediate future, Luke, this fight is necessary. And we need to see how great Bud actually is at welterweight. A Manny who's going to come at him and come at him explosively and creatively and intelligently. Is he going to be the same Manny? I mean, look, the guy's going to be 43. I don't know. But this is the right

fight to make, and it's a big fight, and I'm really excited about it. It's a great fight. It's the best one I think you can make with Bud. Obviously not the best one, because there's those guys at PBC you talked about, but that's not realistic. Yeah. So because that's not realistic, you look around and you say, what's the best fight you could make? This is, if not the number one choice,

certainly top two or top three at worst. Who do you like early? Who do you kind of like in that? I mean, Bud is a minus 5,000 favorite. Yeah, I'd go with Bud. That seems high, but I would go with Bud. Still, I think he can get pushed, and I think he can lose that contest for sure.

It's weird. Three, four years ago, we'd be like, oh, my God, Bud is going to walk through it. Yeah, he's going to smash him. But that Thurman fight recalibrated what we think here. And let's not lie also. I mean, Bud's 34 now. So even though he's arguably the best fighter in the world, he's right up there. He hasn't taken hardly any punishment. No.

But when you do rely on some things like speed and reaction, eventually it's going to... It's amazing though that Bud Crawford has spent a huge majority of his post-30s fighting a lot of guys you would not say he should have been fighting. Like, okay, they're not the worst fights in the world.

No, but they're mandatory opponents. It's like all of his clothes are from the discount rack. It's like one sleeve is missing, but the rest of it's fine. You know, there's a thread coming out, but all right, the shirt wears. It's like Theo Huxtable's Gordon Gartrell shirt on Cosby Show. It's an Eastmade, remember? Forget about Bud versus Spence because that's not going to happen. Forget about Cosby?

But what does this mean for Spence? What does he do? Because now he was in the Pacquiao sweepstakes too. There are heavy rumors. So here's the deal, what happened with the WBA. Pacquiao was the champion. He won the title from Thurman. But Pacquiao has been out of action forever.

They named him champion emeritus, which basically means whatever. And they elevated the interim title holder at WBA. Look, WBA is corrupt. They got 86 belts. But you know your Dennis Ugas, you know that welterweight from Cuba? Very good fighter. He knocked down Sean Porter in the final round, but didn't get credit for the knockdown, and if that

knockdown had happened, he might have got a draw or a win against him. I thought he beat Porter. He has the WBA title. It's very likely that we get Errol Spence in a unification versus Ugas this summer, which if Spence wins, he would have three or four belts. The only one he doesn't have is his buds. It's amazing. Every time I go on Twitter, people

are like, dude, that Spence-Ugas fight is going to be fire. It doesn't suck. It's just not the one you want or need. Boxing, the king of door prizes. Boxing is the king of door prizes and stocking stuffers. Never gifts under the tree.

Or rarely, I should say. They'll touch your stick, but they'll often kick it. That's the problem. Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua, that's a Christmas gift under the tree. You know, that's a big one. Everything else that boxing gives you is, you know, the hand clappers that you rotate back and forth

and it goes, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck. You mean like Karate Kid Part 2? Yeah, something like that. And, you know, like those Russian dolls you open up and there's just more of them inside. Remember that scene with the ice when they got it up and then, like, Daniel didn't believe in the Miyagi- Yes. Do you remember what Miyagi said at the end?

What? One of my favorite lines. Ah, pleasure doing business with you, Satoru. Oh, that's very, that's very- That's what he sounded like. I know. Pat Morita. And then he walks outside and they take the guy's cash.

All right, last but not least, BC, Greg Hardy. You love this. I love this shit. You know what? You take it away, because I don't even give a fuck about this. Greg Hardy, who's fresh off the stoppage loss to what? Marcin Tybura, in which he gassed very badly and really needs a good comeback fight. He's got an idea for a comeback fight, and he put it on the old IG.

Maniche, can we post it up there? You soulful honky, please. Maneech? That's just me. There's no soul in this guy. So here's what Greg Hardy put up there. Can I read this? Because this is just.

Yes, please. It's like you could have sent this as a DM on Grindr. At Bam Bam Tuivasa. Let's bang, my guy. I have never said that to a sparring partner ever. Who wants to see, A, a real fight, assload of bombs, and broken faces? Is it just me? It sounds like an invitation to fight or either rough gay sex.

I don't know which one. Fucking fighting. It's all the same. We live in Louisville. That's what, who is it? War Machine. God, War Machine. I'm fucking fighting. I'm all the same. We live in Louis-Doug's only way to stay. That's what, who is it? War Machine. God, War Machine. I'm fucking fighting. I'm doing the best of both worlds. It's like, dude, dad, this is my career.

Seriously, seriously here, okay? This is good matchmaking. This is sloppy as shit, but this is good ass matchmaking. Do you realize that if you're Tui Vassa, everyone wants to see Hardy lose, right? Because people are holding his pass against him, and I'm not saying plus or minus to that. But Hardy's pretty cringe.

Let's be honest. I mean, that's a pretty cringe. Yeah, there's a way. His nickname sucks. His tattoos are kind of bad. You know, he's pretty cringe. His call-outs are sexually ambiguous. That could make Tai Tuivasa like a giant baby face.

People love Tai Tuivasa. I mean, again, he could shit in your shoe and make you eat it afterwards. You know, this is going to be a weird fight. I am over the shoe-y, though. It's like, oh, you drink beer out of a shoe continuously? Oh, okay. All right. Are there other things that you do? You think you can catch the 19 that way?

Can you catch the 19? Well, isn't there alcohol in the beer? That might kill it. Yeah, it might kill it. I feel like you can get hoof and mouth disease yeah yeah remember when we used to care about stuff like that but now it's just then gay fever and shit

I don't know anyway that was a weird call out so let's bang I'm gonna I'm gonna before a show

BC I'm gonna text you like let's bang my guy alright you want to get into the weird parts of the show now oh we got one more thing. There was boxing this morning in Australia. Oh, who cares? No, I do. I do. Hey, let's put this up.

Tim Zhu, the son of the legend Costa Zhu. Remember he went in there and stopped Jeff Horn? Yes. Well, he went in. He's doing the tour of Australia right now before he takes it global. He went in against Dennis Hogan. Luke, do you remember Hogan? The dude that Charlo fucked up? Yes. He pushed Jaime Munguia to the limit and kind of got robbed on the scorecards,

and then he fought on Showtime against Charlo and got stopped. Charlo, whoop. But this was Tim Zoo this morning in Australia. Luke, he went to the body like an assassin, and he manned Hogan up, bro. You are a big believer in the little Zoo here. He looks like the real Luke. I mean, his precision, his confidence, he's got good pop.

Does he have the same, like, rat tail thing? As his dad, no. But he's a junior middleweight. He goes hard to the body. Look, the proof is always in the put, and as Floyd would say, for the Aussie or the U.K. guys who are great domestically, but when they go global, sometimes they don't get to that same level. So it's still out, right?

The jury is still out on Tim Zoo. But what we have seen up to this point, I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it. This guy could be big. And we know that the 154 division, specifically Luke in the PBC, is loaded as all hell. Imagine if he kind of parachuted in from Australia and we put him in big matchups there.

Would it move you at all? I love the, you know, Acosta Zoo was such a badass dude. Such a freaking badass, no? Yeah. Remember when he made Zab Judah do that dance after he clocked him? Yes, yep. All right. You're like, man, I can't wait to get out of this show. It's 1220. Back to my hotel room, away from BC. I don't want to talk about it. No, I was the one who wanted to hang out with you. You didn't want to hang out with me, guy. Hey, how about you? You want to split in the back circle? Let's bang, my guy. Hey, how about you? You want to split in the back circle? You want to hang out? Let's bang, my guy. Hey, let's move on to our next segment.

So here's the thing. We've never done this in person before. Yes, this ought to be interesting. Every Wednesday, it's the newest thing. It's the hottest thing on the internet. It's called the Wheel of Death. It's amazing being here in person and watching the graphics work in real time, you know? The premise is this.

There are some questions that Luke Thomas does not want to to answer especially when i present them on a rundown so this is every week i get to present 10 topics randomly you're going to spin the wheel luke although not physically and what you get you get hey you promise a good faith response yes and you also challenge me to get a little bit more creative creative yes ridiculous maybe ridiculous is a fine way to say it okay let me find uh the email that i'm looking for here luke And you also challenged me to get a little bit more creative. Ridiculous, maybe? Ridiculous is a fine way to say it. Okay, let me find the email that I'm looking for here, Luke. This ought to be good.

Finding emails on your Kate Spade phone. Where did that go? I had it open. Oh, here we go. Okay. Luke, your ten categories for this week's Wheel of Death are Schmo Knows, BC's Feces, Bjorn Rebney Was never my friend paint me like

one of your French girls I wanna yana oh god 1.1 21 gigawatts of secretion impromptu improv kicking Sean Salmon you have a gigawatt of secretions it doesn't make any sense but last chance for butt stuff and MMA beat-off. Luke, can you press the button? You get what you get, brother. These are

titles that were made by my fraternity brothers 20 years ago. Here we go, Luke. Let's go. It's wheel of death time. Let's roll that bitch. Yes! Come on, butt stuff. We made a shirt when I was in college that said, if you can't beat us on the field, dot, dot, dot on the back, beat us off.

And we all thought we were very clever when we were 19 years old. Bjorn Rebney was never my friend. Hey, Luke, we all know you did not get the call for a permanent slot on the Bellator MMA on Showtime broadcast, which began this Friday, which to me was a major fumble. I agree. Okay, of the ball from both of our friends at different companies, a story for another day.

But imagine if Uncle Scott Coker called you up today. He said, Luke, I have a different job in mind for you. Okay. Okay? A silent but deadly one. No, I don't want you to shit the part of my face or anything here. It's a weird request, but okay. Coker says this.

Hey, Luke, fuck playing second fiddle in the MMA promotional space. And pardon my San Jose French for saying that. But we aren't looking to take part in the the MMA promotional space. And pardon my San Jose French for saying that. But we aren't looking to take part in the elite MMA promotional game. We are looking to take all. And you are this expert MMA mind that we can bring in to help us get there. So Coker offers you

a private consultant position, Luke. With the sole purpose of your role to help Bellator compete and pass the UFC as the sport's most elite promotion over the next three years. To make sure you're a good fit for your job, though, Uncle Scott asked you to email him three immediate changes or ideas that can be done. Anything from Bellator's production to matchmaking to the roster to the rules that could make a positive change and push forward toward Bellator passing and competing with the UFC. You have 24 hours to send this email. What are your three ways Bellator right now could compete at a higher level?

Steal a bunch of money. Good faith response, Luke, please. You promised. It's not possible. Within three years, it would take something calamitously destructive to the UFC for that to even be possible, which I don't think. Okay, well, you would have to argue that them moving to Showtime was a good step forward. That's a huge step forward. But you're talking about competing with UFC?

I'm talking about. 85% control. Okay, maybe you're not going to get there in three years. But if Scott says, look, Luke, you're our silent consultant. How about this? I'll tell you one thing I think can elevate. Three things to elevate the Bellator brand. Yes.

Okay, one is, this is very easy. It's not controversial. It's got to be more big name free agent acquisitions. That's expensive, but it's a key part of growth. What, Rumble and Romero? We did it here. That's exactly what I'm talking about. It's more of that kind of thing, which is hard to come by, but you get the idea.

The other one I think is, I think they've got to reorient the brand a little bit. This is just my personal opinion. There's nothing wrong with the Bellator brand, although some people don't like the name, but it's not that. It's Latin for warrior. Yeah, is that what it is? Yeah. They've only said that for 11 years. I was in Puerto Rico last week, I don't know.

Right, right. But in all seriousness, BC, I think you would agree with this. If I was in control of Bellator and I'm airing on Friday nights, I am going to make sure that when people think of the brand,

they think of a really fun time. And what do I mean by that? If you think about Japanese MMA, some people will like it and some people don't. But the people who like it,

what do they like it for they like it for its corkiness and it's weirdness and it's unusual as i'm not saying you have to follow that because that's i'm actually not calling it for to be that kind of thing it's a uniquely japanese kind of thing in many cases but but in the way which you present your product in the way you think about

your product will you structure product i think the tournaments get to some of this that tournament show where they were all picking and stuff? Yes. More of that. Than a character. That's right. Not character so much, but just, dude,

if you want someone to watch your product and you're an alternative to the UFC, you have to give them a reason. One reason is we have relevant MMA. That's one reason. The other reason is, dude, you're going to have a good fucking time watching it. So you need more morning combat on the screens.

Yeah, you need more me, less him. No, you need more of us. And I think thirdly, what I would say is, BC, I would say, what's a third thing I would say to really elevate Bellator? I mean, would you change the rules at all? Because you can do that under your own promotion. They already pay 46%. They couldn't raise pay that much. How about no drug testing at all? I mean, you couldn't do that because the commissions have final say.

But other promotions not doing the USADA thing is the smartest call they could all possibly make. You know what Scott could consider doing? Making a Bellator-only version of the game show The Apprentice? No, I think they should have, you know how they want to have tentpole events? I saw you, you're funny.

They should have, you know how Dana White has resisted having UFC's version of WrestleMania? Yes, having major, major. Yes, I'll just go, I'll mix something up. Having once a year, same date, or you know, roughly the same date, same weekend every year, Bellator Mania. Give it a better name. Which UFC kind of has with International Fight Week in July,

it used to have with MMA, I mean, with MSG in November. Yep. And then New Year's Eve, back in four, five, six years ago, used to be a big deal. But you're saying that you know if you're a fan, three, four times a year we're getting everything we ever wanted. Yeah, you know as an MMA fan when Bellator Mania comes around every September, whatever it is, you have got to tune into it.

I think those kinds of things, reorienting the brand a little bit, adding some other decent stuff would be good. What about opening the doors more for the kind of fights we saw like when Horiguchi and Caldwell fought? I also think, dude, seriously, an MMA promotion is going to do this. You know, you can make a strong case that if you could sign a Paul

brother to an MMA fight. Luke Thomas is saying this. Hold on. To an MMA fight. And, here's the key. You don't do the Paul Brother thing. You hire a Paul Brother to do your thing. You actually give him a reasonable fight, you know, commensurate

with... Phil Brooks? Uh, yeah, sure. Something like that. Seriously. Something like that. Okay, that's interesting. So we are kind of going back a little bit. No, that would be the least of my concerns. You put that at the back of the line. But if you can add in an attraction like that or add a fight like that to a Bellator Mania, yeah, I think it would be hugely valuable.

Interesting stuff here, Luke. But the key is you don't do boxing. You don't do select. You wouldn't have Jake Paul versus fucking, you know. With their snipes. Yeah, no, no, no. You wouldn't do that. All right, Luke.

Let's go back to the wheel. Spin two of five. You get what you get. It's going. All right, Luke. Let's go back to the wheel. Spin two of five. You get what you get. It's going to be wild, Luke. Let's do it. Bop. Come on. I really don't want to get BC's feces.

Hey, Luke, I want a yana. Luke, we all know. I'll stop you right here. We all know that Tiago Santos is the only one who gets to swing that giant hammer in Jana Kunitskaya's direction these days. But, Luke. God, you're going to get us beat up. But Heta and Jana are not the only UFC power couple that are still together. Hey, Luke, it's trivia time on the damn wheel.

Are you ready? All right, let's try. From my count, there are seven relationships that are still ongoing in which both members of the couple are current or former UFC fighters or employees. Of the seven power couple relationships, remember, it could be former UFC fighters. Of the seven still remaining, name five active relationships where both couple members had business with the UFC. So Brian Carraway and Misha Tate would be one. No, they're not together anymore, so that would not be one.

So they're currently together. Seven active relationships. So they may not be in UFC now, but they were at some point, and they're currently together. Yes. Okay. All right. Macedo and Hardy. Veronica Macedo and Hardy.

You're right. I'm going to add that in. That's number one. That counts? That is one. Veronica Macedo and Hardy. And he is technically still under contract as a fighter, too. And he does UFC work with BT Sport, and he's a former fighter.

Wow, Luke, you got me. So there's one. Okay, the De La Rosas. Montana De La Rosa and her husband. And Mark De La Rosa. Yep, there's two. Okay, hold on, hold on. Just give me a second here. I'm trying to think. You're not counting Megan O'Leary and Joe B., right? That's three. Oh, here we go. Okay.

All right. Let me think here. I'm trying to think of somebody. Give me a hint. Give me one hint. Active champion? Amanda Nunes and her partner who's fighting here coming up soon, the one who carried the baby. I need an answer off.

There's four. So I just need one more, right? Jon Jones, no. One of them is a former champion who has a title fight booked at the moment. A former champion has a title fight booked? Fuck, I don't know. Wow, you're going to come up just short. Just short.

I probably could get it if I kept going. All right, here's what you missed. The podcast is dragging. JP and Cheyenne Bays. Ah, yes, yes, yes. Their debut. Tisha Torres and Raquel Pennington. Forgot about that.

Okay. Rose Namajunas and Pat Barry. Oh, yeah. And Hoppa and Ronda. Are you counting that? It fit in, Luke. It fit in. All right, let's do this.

Keep going. All right, spin number three. We should only do three of these. This thing takes too long. No, this thing's the best, Luke. This is really the best of this, okay? You just need to dial in. Here we go.

Oh, 1.21 gigawatts of secretion, Luke. Okay, Luke, we've all played. Gig-o-watts. We've all played the what-if game in our life. Like, what if I had gotten that crazy chick pregnant when I was 22? What if the cops had found those shrooms that time I got pulled over at age 18, right? I hear you, I hear you. What if I hadn't spent all those years cheering for the Buffalo Bills? Smart call not to do that.

Okay. The great what-if debate often leaves us wondering, Luke, if we could insert ourselves into the plot of Back to the Future, whether that Polaroid picture of us and our siblings would start to disappear. Ask the question. If one thing happened. On the flip side, Luke, if we're using that same premise for mixed martial arts, and we are, let's take the DeLorean back to February 23rd, 2013.

Honda Center in Anaheim. I have asked you this question before, but you did not give me a good faith response on this show, so I'm bringing it back a second time, Luke. Remember that time at UFC 157 when Ronda Rousey headlined the first women's fight in promotional history, and she was nearly submitted via face crank

when Liz Karmush, the gorilla, got on her back as Ronda was trying to pull that bra up that she was wearing, Luke? Let's say Ronda had tapped out due to the pain. How would the careers of both, not to mention the history of women's fighting within the UFC, have changed eight years later

had the result of that fight switched? There would have been a rematch, which Karmush would have lost. Okay. She probably still would have been released by UFC while she was on a goodwill mission for UFC in Washington, D.C. Folks may not remember that, but that's true.

I don't think it would have affected it all that much. It probably would have made Karmush somewhat more famous, certainly in the short run. In the long run, I think it would have made almost no difference. She'd still be a footnote in some ways. I think so. Because how was she going to build on that?

You are where you are. And they would have done a rematch and Ronda would have won. So I think they would have said, oh, it's okay that Ronda lost. It shows how competitive women's MMA is. You'll get a rematch. You'll get a quick win. She'd recover from it. I don't think it would have meaningfully changed a whole lot.

Short term, bad press. Long term, same press. Okay, long term for the health of women's MMA, because you're basically assuming that Ronda would have won the rematch, which I think she would have, that it still could have had that thing. But could that thing have been as big if Ronda already had an early loss? Could she have still gone on to defeat people in 15 seconds, in 25 seconds, whatever, and knowing that there was an exposure to her fragility when she did suffer her first defeat? Would that have compromised the,

because look, part of why this, why the women's game is where it is today, tell me if I'm wrong, because Ronda turned into female Mike Tyson for that window. Yes. There's no denying that her run of successful fights and the way in which she won them, the quickness, the severity of the armbar, so to speak, it absolutely catapulted women's MMA into the stratosphere. It would have, I think long-term, we'd still be where we are. I think short-term, it would have severely, not severely, it would have meaningfully reduced the highs that we experienced from it. Very interesting to think about. And when we were talking about power couples before, I'm a little remiss that you didn't bring up the newest one in combat sports.

Which is? BKFC's Britton Hart, who had a Karmush-like moment when she upset Paige Van Zandt in her first BKFC play. She's dating Joey Beltran? She's dating Joey Beltran on the old IG. Your thoughts? God bless him. All right.

Two more spins of this damn wheel, Luke. I don't know if this week is working out well. Because we do too many of them. I think we do five every week, and it's fantastic. All right. Let's do number four. You ready? Yeah.

Spin. See what we get here, Luke. We should definitely stop doing five. Five is great, especially in person. Oh, Luke, this is going to be a fun one. Impromptu, impromptu. Is this why they're walking out here? I need your focus, okay, Luke?

Oh, for fuck's sake. Whether it be because of death, divorce, or dismemberment, all marriages have an expiration date, and they must come to an end. Even this one here on Morning Combat, Luke. Jesus. I'd like you to imagine that you and I have a Wilbon and Kornheiser type run. I wish, right? Doing MK

until we are wearing socks with sandals and are full of liver spots. We all know that is far from a guarantee though, Luke, right? This show could run its course quicker than we think. JMMA could come and track me down with an ill-timed joke. I could bring up cocaine on Andreas Escobar in the 94 World Cup, and you could turn on me for life. It's possible, right? Are you going to ask a question today? One of us, though, Luke, namely you,

could also get a lot more famous than his own co-host. Leaving your boy, BC, sitting alone in a pile of his own shit. So, Luke, let's imagine that scenario right here. Your natural state. Stay with me. Back off, guys. Stay with me here. I'm not there yet, okay? Let's imagine this scenario right here. You're in natural state. Stay with me. Back off, guys. Stay with me here. I'm not there yet, okay? Let's imagine this scenario right here.

BC's lack of social media care has left his Twitter followers stagnant at 28,000. But, Luke, you continue to spoil all of your MK takes over the weekend, and you grow to a Helwani level on social media. Suddenly, the phones are ringing off the hook for your services with an offer you simply couldn't refuse. Are you ready? Some TV exec with deep pockets has a wild idea. He offers you a multimillion dollar contract to leave MK when your deal is done and join forces with a famous Canadian journalist and suspected Sith Lord for a volatile two-man daily show on television that's described as what if

first take and meet the press met behind a dumpster for sweaty gross sex and an all-night cocaine binge and then fought until death when the sun came up the show's title you're probably wondering Luke are you ready for this what do you call it I don't want to point something if you fuck behind a dumpster the least of your issues are that it is sweaty and gross. The show is called Dino Picks the Nose, which honestly you hate, Luke, but there's so much money at stake and the possibility of a second home on the water

that your wife says take the frickin' deal. There's only one problem, though, Luke, besides you outright selling your soul. For this move to become a reality, you've got to call your co-host. All right? And you've got to give a good, faith, real, man-up moment and tell him.

The one who you acted as if never existed that time you went to Austin, Texas on the Rogan show, you'd have to call him up and muster up a reason. So here we go, Luke. I'm talking to you here? The wheel of death. Who am I addressing here? Me. I have to to you here? The Wheel of Death. Who am I addressing here? Me.

Okay. I have to tell you what. Let's bring in our staff. It's time for the Wheel of Death's impromptu improv to begin. That you are leaving this show to join the Canadian for millions of dollars. Everybody quiet on set. Impromptu improv. Take one.

All right. Ring, ring, ring, ring. Luke! Luke, how are you, buddy? What's up, BC? Put us in a two-shot. Put us in a two-shot. So, Luke, I got some great ideas for the show moving forward.

I know I haven't been tweeting a lot lately, but I'm really excited. I know you said you had that meeting with CBS about your new contract. What's up? Well, I've got some good news and some bad news. Which one do you want first? Wheel of Death staying? Wheel of Death is staying. The good news is...

We got Rashad in his own segment each week? I can't even make the joke I'm going to make because you're going to get mad at me. No, no, no. I can take anything, Luke. Look, I'm not that soft. I take many COVID tests for the show.

Yeah, and you're soft every time you have to take a COVID test. Listen, here's the deal. I am leaving MK. I'm leaving you. And I'm going to make a ton of money. And I got to go shit. So can we end this call? Wait, wait. Dude, and I got to go shit. So can we end this call? Wait, wait.

Dude, we've been building this brand. I put a lot of my other shit on hold. I've been building this brand, and now I have a chance to leave this brand and build something else and make a ton of cash. I'm really happy for you. Oh, sorry. Oh, I got to go bang your wife. I know this will be great for your family and your daughter. Maybe we can get Abuela an in-law apartment.

That's all cool, but where are you going? Look at me. Where are you going? Look at me. No, where are you going, Luke? Are you going to a new show? It's over. Who? Is this about your ex-co-host? You're teaming up with a Bills fan? Luke, I gave you the best of me. I've come to find the Syracuse basketball program. It's charming.

I'd just like you to know you sold your damn soul. Get this out of here. get this out of here get this out of here I had a zing for you that was too hot it was too hot for TV look at this guy's ink can we rate this guy's ink real quick show your ink to the major camera

this is Luke now flip it over show them the thing is that hebox level or is that good? That's pretty damn good, right? Hold it over. Let me see. So this is actually pretty good ink. The rose is especially good.

I like the eye. The eye is very good. You ever think about getting that eye on the Adam's apple? That'd be aggressive, right? Did you have this and then you added this? Yeah, I can tell because that looks... Nubs. It's okay, I have bad tattoos too.

It's okay. But this... Let me see. That's very good. It's okay. I have bad tattoos too. It's okay, but this That's very good. Oh, they cleaned it up though. Yeah. Yeah, these are good. This is good work. All right Thank you. How much you pay for it? for the forearm That's it. Oh you got a deal look you think you people need to pay thousands for good ink, okay? They do Mr. E E-Boss got that for a lot cheaper, you think. It shows. You get what you pay for.

All right, Luke, we got one more spin of the wheel left. A lot of people already, the words are coming in. They're loving impromptu improv. 1241. I have to shit badly. Luke, you'll be fine. One more spin of the wheel. Here we go. They're bitching back there.

Can you hear them? Oh, MMA beat off, Luke. Here we go. You ready? You can't beat us on the field. Luke, not only did your aimless meandering attempting to get Fedor Milianenko... Speaking of aimless motherfucking meandering, you got balls.

Attempting to get Fedor to talk Russian literature prevent me from finally getting him on camera. You were also the host of record when the wildly beloved fight debate show, the MMA Beat, was buried in the ground for good in 2019. I was. But, Luke, from now until the end of eternity, the MMA Beat, was buried in the ground for good in 2019. It was. But Luke, from now until the end of eternity, the MMA beat is off. It's flaccid. But let's

create a scenario in which we're living in an alternate 2021, and Luke Thomas is suddenly down on his luck, having been let go by CBS and Showtime due to his unwillingness to make fight pics on camera. Ooh, a little harbinger of doom there, Luke. Luke, you're struggling to pay your mortgage and your wife is all over you

to accept the next job offer that comes in no matter what. Surprise! You get a call today from your old friends at MMA Fighting. They've got a great idea. They are relaunching the MMA beat, only there's a twist.

They still want you to be the host, but they're very upset at the misogyny you previously allowed on that show, including letting a famed boxing analyst with a reputation for gas station cuisine talk about that time on air that show, including letting a famed boxing analyst with a reputation for gas station cuisine talk about that time on air that he threw up on a naked girl? Okay. The twist is this,

Luke. Dude, do you know how to write a quick question? The three, they want you to host with three panelists, but the three panelists need to be female, they need to be active pro-MMA fighters. Oh, Jesus. But in an ironic twist against misogyny, they want all three to be as attractive asMMA fighters. Oh, Jesus. But in an ironic twist against misogyny, they want all three to be as attractive as possible.

And they say money is no limit to fly them in each week to do this show with you. Dude, you're asking me to... Now, remember, Luke, this phone call ends with Vox telling you that you have one hour to come up with three co-hosts every week and a list of the three hottest fighters in the MMA that you can pick. Now, you know that you're going to lose your house if you don't accept this. So you've got to dig through the misogyny

and make us swim through the raging waters and come up with an answer. Luke, which three MMA fighters are you telling Vox to recreate the new MMA beat? Okay, so they have to be good at that kind of roundtable stuff. Active pro fighters. And active pro fighters. And they said as good looking as possible.

As good looking as possible? Yep. God, I hate this question. You're making me do terribly inappropriate shit. Good faith questions, Luke. This is to save your mortgage, bro, okay? All right. All right.

I'll go, she's my colleague, but I think she fits the bill. Okay. I'll go Misha Tate. She's done Fox work at the table. Yes, yes. Respect the brand. Okay. I'll go Misha Tate. She's done fox work at the table. Yes, yes. Respect the brand. I always say that about Misha. I'll say it generically.

I think she has taken good care of herself. Wow. That's as polite as you can say it there, Casey Kenney. I like that. I think that's good. That's one. I would... Let me pitch it back to you while I think about it.

I will answer. Let me pitch it back to you for just a second. Give me your one reserve starter. So one of the three I'm about to pick falls out. BC can pick the one to sub in. And I'll pick two around that. Who's your sub in? One name.

Valentina Shevchenko. For a roundtable show? She speaks English, yes, but like some kind of a forceful, I'm going to argue my side kind of way. Okay, Luke. I mean, Michelle Watterson is very well spoken. Oh, that's a good one. Yeah, that's okay. All right, that's a good one. That could be in my reserve. All right.

I would go... Fucking hell. You know what? You know who I'm going to go? And I don't... Yeah, I'll go Angela Hill. Ooh, that's a good pick. I think Angela brings a little diversity to the panel. She has good opinions.

And I'll say it again, generically, I think she's taking good care of herself. Sneaky. She is, as you say, sneaky. And then the last one I would go with... Jesus. Oh, you know what one I would go with, Jesus. Oh, you know what? I'll go Megan Anderson.

I like her black and gray tattoos. Wow. She has a very, she has outspoken opinions. I didn't see this one coming. This is basically turning it back on Sugar Sean and Casey Kenney and being like. Well, you're talking about, you need people who meet your physical description. Yes. Who look good on camera.

I think I picked three that do. And then on top of it, they've got bold opinions. And I threw in a little bit of, I don't want to say token diversity, but I tried to make an effort at inclusion. I do feel like, though, if you're really going to get it right, you've got to have one Brazilian fighter on there. I didn't know who that would be. Amanda Hibas? Kenzie Dern. For a roundtable show?

Look, it's your show, okay? Your mortgage is on the line. I'd skip that. Well, you really tiptoed that question effectively because you played very professionally. Yes, you asked me a terribly inappropriate question, and I didn't blow up our careers over it. Well, the wheel of death lives for another week. Congratulations, Luke. Okay, all right.

We've got one more segment for you. You know what it is. It's morningcombat at gmail.com is the email to send in your pics and all your shit. It's called fan submissions. Let's start with it. You've got mail.

Luke, we always catch up on the greatest couple in North America, Bill and Jen RV Adventures. They are greatest Americans since George Washington. Bill may have two pieces of clothing, but luckily for us, Luke, one of them is the MK t-shirt from the 1.0 launch. Let's go to where they are right now. Mage?

This is Bill at Joshua Tree wearing the MK shirt. Luke? Look at that. Look at that. Has he got like a handlebar mustache going? I can't tell because he is tiny in this picture. Is that rock shaped like a skeleton's face? It's shaped like a shoulder socket or something.

All right. Is that the only one we have, Maneech? All right. We'll go to the next one. This one's for... Thank you, Bill and Jen. Hope you're doing well out there. We'll go to Matt R.

He says, hey, Luke and BC. Wait, blow it up because what's the blue thing there? He says, longtime fan from the MMA beat days. You guys talk a lot about 90s music, but never give any love to my favorite band, Primus. With Luke, like Les Claypool hitting us with hot takes and tons of bass slapping talent. BC

like Lur Lalone fitting in his off the wall style where he can. The rotating producers, the rotating drummers, same three drummers twice, when is Danny coming back? And also with merch. I have no idea what this guy'smers, same three drummers twice. When is Danny coming back? And also with merch. I have no idea what this guy's saying.

Name three Primus songs. I can't get to my Canadian factory town when I can see your godforsaken country from my window. Red Arrow is the steel plant. Blue is USA border. Luke, I don't know what we're talking about here. Cheers to you all, and here's to 100,000 subs. So Luke, Matt R. apparently lives on the border here in Canada. I see, I see. So the red error is the steel plant.

The blue is the USA border. He's drinking Jameson. He had to make his own MK mug because we can't get international shipping over the border to him. So thank you, Matt. You want me to talk Primus with you? Can you name three songs? I can't. When the Toys Go Winding Down, Wynonna's Big Brown

Beaver, and I want to say it's the title of an album, but also the title of a song, Pork Soda. Okay. I think that's right. I know that the first two are right. Les Claypool can bring it on. He can fucking jam. Alright, thank you, Matt. Let's keep it going here. This one's from Einstein

H. Pronounced A-stein he says. Hello from Norway! How am I Han Solo? Shouldn't I be Chewbacca? Hello from Norway. Spent an incredible amount of time on this and it's a masterpiece if I do say so myself. Anyway, Luke is correct on Norwegian slow TV.

Our state TV channels have famous classics like Christmas Pork Ribs, Minute by Minute, Train Riding, Minute by Minute and OF OFC Big Ass Boat going from southern Norway to northern Norway, Minute by Minute. And this is A. Steen's, I. Steen, that's his Star Wars pick. Yeah, I should be Han Solo in that regard. Yeah, that makes no sense. All right, Mish M. slides in from Tom and Nath in the UK.

This is the ab whaler. What is BBL? Getting BBL by virtue of whaling on those abs. Anybody know what BBL stands for? Brazilian butt lift? Big Latina booty? Big booty Latina? Oh, maybe.

Yeah. But those things, those machines don't really work. You've got to do other stuff. That's true. All right, Todd M. is lining in with his own fan art this week. Let's blow this up. I don't get it. It's a hog?

Just laying? Oh, it's a dead hog on the mattress? Are we missing something here? Maniche, you want to explain to me what the fuck I'm looking at? We have quality control here. Where's Mikey when we need him? All right, we got one more from Ben S. He said, made this on the toilet.

Love the show, guys. Keep up the awesome work. That's about right. That's about right. Yeah. That's about right. So where do I hit my high point here, Luke? Have you seen this? Have you seen this shit? You peak and then you collapse.

Yeah, precipitously drop. You're the pre-Great Depression stock market after, have you seen this shit? Just like this show fell apart after impromptu improv, Luke? Kinda. Okay? Kinda. Okay. Kinda. Okay. Alright, that's the shit.

MorningCombat at gmail.com. If you have your own, send in your dead wrongs. We'll revisit that on Friday. Send in whatever you send in. Also, send it in. Here's what we're going to do. Room Service Diaries this week. So we want you to go up to Apple Podcasts.

Hit us with a review. Five stars if you're kind. but put your questions in the review. And what kind of questions? Not fight related, okay? Unless it's funny. Let's get fun, let's get weird, let's get wacky. Here, I was thinking about this. They can be wacky, they can be weird, but they can be a good faith non-weird question.

Let me give you an example. Hey, what's your, maybe not your favorite, what album have you just listened to more than any other? So that's not a weird question, but it's just not fight-related at all. Okay, make them fun, loose, conversational. We're all hanging out together is how the vibe should be, right? Yes, yes, indeed, indeed. So please do that.

Let me tell you what else we got going on. Great bonus stuff on YouTube.com slash Morning Combat. Interviews with Big John McCarthy to set the stage for Friday. Emmanuel Sanchez, Nganou trainer Eric Nixick. You saw that earlier. Usman Ramagomedov. Check that out. Thursday, here's what we're going to do. Luke and I are going to jump on CBS Sports HQ during

the Bellator weigh-in in the morning. We're going to do a post-MK, post- Bellator 255 weigh-in show. The way it was explained to me is we're going to carry the entire weigh-ins on CBS Sports HQ, and we're going to carry the entire weigh-ins on CBS Sports HQ, and we're going to carry the entire weigh-ins. We're going to simulcast right here on Morning Combat.

So just come back here tomorrow because we've got you covered. 11 a.m. is the Bellator 255 weigh-ins. We're going to have, here, interviews with Pitbull, Sanchez, right after they get off the scale. So good stuff you want to check out. And then tomorrow afternoon, do you know what time? I'm going to join you on this set. I usually do the chat at 3, but tomorrow is going to be a live chat with me and BC together in studio. Check times for that. I'm not sure about that yet.

So you're going to want to join that shit. Tell us what you like and don't like. We're always flexible with these fun new topics. But it was great being in the bomb shelter with you again. This is the first of those. There's no show like these shows. Friday, we'll be back here as well. Friday night after Bellator 255, we can do a post-show together, right?

That's right. We're going to. Friday night, we're going to. For any Bellator coverage, this is going to be the best place to go. And look, we get a lot of notes from people that say, hey, look, I'm an MMA fan, but I'm a UFC fan. I don't watch a lot of Bellator. And some of it's positive.

Some of it's negative. But look, this is the first card on Showtime. This is a big fight with Pitbull, one of the best in the world. If he wins, he goes to the finals of the tournament. I think this is a good appetizer to get if you want to know more about Bellator. The pitch to Bellator here is really easy. Like UFC, like any show, am I going to convince you to watch every card all the time? It's up to you.

Pick your fandom how you want. But if you're asking what's the reason why you might want to watch, well, first, it's the first one on Showtime. That kind of counts. But more than that, dude, I'm sorry. Patricio Pitbull is relevant MMA, extremely relevant MMA. And so if you care about who the best operators are, and it's, by the way, going to be on free, Pluto TV, YouTube, Fubo, the whole bit,

you should probably make some time to check that out. I've got to work on these bags, Luke. Remember they zoomed in before? My wife gives me stuff for that, and I just don't even have time to care. I've got to work on these bags, Luke. Remember they zoomed in before? My wife gives me stuff for that and I just don't even have time to care. I've got a lot of baggage. Why don't you want to let your hair go gray like mine? I'm not ready. I'm not ready yet, Luke.

I'm still trying to stay young on the inside. If I look in the mirror and don't feel good, Luke... I can't wait to have it. Actually, what I hate now is I've got the silver here. I want the whole thing to be silver. If I feel as dead as I look, Luke. That's not gonna work. I'm gonna get new glasses. I'm gonna get like silver rimmed or clear glasses to like lighten my face a little bit. You could get an Anderson Cooper vibe going pretty soon. Yeah, but I gotta get more of the gray. I'm actually looking forward to

going full gray. I'm not quite there yet. Just continue being the hobbit that you are and then you'll get there pretty quickly, alright? Yes, that is true. Okay. Alright, so we're out of here for... Hey, shout out to our staff for being part of the production. That's right. Shout out to everybody who made a commitment to come in today from Malka. Thanks to everyone at Showtime who made this possible. Thanks to CBS Sports

for helping this be possible as well. We have a busy week ahead of you, so plenty of stuff to do here. Thumbs up. Hit subscribe. What does your shirt say? Anti-Shithead J of stuff to do here. Thumbs up. Hit subscribe. What does your shirt say? Anti-Shithead Jiu-Jitsu Club. That's great. My friend Jamie Kilstein made this shirt.

He's a comedian, so check him out. Anyway, that's it. All right. Ready to go? Yeah. Look, this show, this is the best in the world at what it does. No one else does this, okay? Oh, yes.

We're Netflix. They're Blockbuster, all right? Yeah, that's your Blockbuster, B. Let's go to show.com slash Bellator MMA. If you actually want to make the plunge, listen, you want to try things out this Friday, you can just try it out for free. Pluto is a free service. YouTube is obviously free. So you can, you know, check it out.

But when you're ready to make that commitment, which, by the way, you don't even have to. You can try it for 30 days for free. But if you want to sign up, show.com slash Bellator MMA. You get it $4.99 for the next six months. And as I keep telling folks, that's not just Showtime like on demand. That's on demand. That's the live championship boxing. That's Bellator MMA. It's the

entirety of the Showtime experience. I want to thank many of our generous viewers. We've got a bunch of boxes over there that we've been waiting to open up. We're going to open them all up. We've got some beer coming in, some shirts, some Peruvian sauces from our guy Lee. Congratulations on the house, brother.

So we've got a lot of fun stuff to get into. MK, we're back all day, nearly every day. I'm very excited, okay? All right. I'm done. For Showtime, for Malka,

for BC, I'm Luke Thomas. Until next time, may all of your gains be loyal. We'll be right back. We'll see you next time.