MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Major UFC Announcements | Bivol - Beterbiev 2 | UFC Seattle | FULL EPISODE | MORNING KOMBAT

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

It’s another massive Friday MK episode, and Luke and BC break down all the major UFC announcements this week! First up, they react to Ilia Topuria vacating the 145 title to move up to 155—does this set up a potential showdown with Islam Makhachev? Plus, UFC 314 just got stacked with Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes and Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett in the co-main event. The guys share their excitement and give their initial thoughts on what’s shaping up to be a loaded card! In boxing, Artur Beterbiev faces Dmitry Bivol in their highly anticipated rematch this Saturday in Saudi Arabia. Why isn’t there as much buzz for this fight compared to their first? Luke and BC also discuss major changes to the undercard after several fighters pulled out last minute. Lastly, UFC is back in Seattle this weekend with a thrilling main event between Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong. Luke and BC preview the entire card and give their predictions for what should be an exciting night of action! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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What's up, everybody? It is Friday, the 21st of 2025 and it's time for Morning Combat. Hello everyone, I am merely one half of your hosting duo. I join you from the capital of the status unidos right here in Washington DC joined by this gentleman over there. Look at, look at, look at this pale pasty bastard. He's the king of Connecticut, though. It's Brian Campbell. What's up, BC?

Luke, wow, what a time to be alive. Great to be back on this show for this Friday morning. True or false, our rundown, because of the headlines this week and the events going on, was so loaded that we couldn't even fit in room for a segment on Steve Bannon's Nazi salute yesterday. I mean, wow. You know what? Hey, it turns out a lot of people Bannon's Nazi salute yesterday. I mean, wow. You know what? Hey, it turns out a lot of people in the Trump administration have autism.

I didn't know this. You know, apparently that's what it is. Kind of funny. Wow. Anyway, what a time to be in combat. That's what they claim he's doing it for. Anyway. Did you see, by the way, breaking news from BoxingScene.com just before we start here? We're all excited, of course, for the biggest fight card of all time,

the last crescendo on DAZN on Saturday. But they're moving the event from a 25,000-seat arena to a 6,000-seat one. That is... We're going to break down the card in detail. And BC, even with the changes, the card is still pretty great. Oh, it's still an A-minus, dude. Anyone that's trying to downgrade it more than that it's

like it's still a dream but yeah i don't know if it's like the best card ever but it's obviously still very very good however it just goes to show listen he who pays the piper calls the tune if saudi's footing the bill they get to put the fights wherever they want and that's just i guess the way that this goes but it's just hard to deny that the atmosphere there and continuously is just really never all that great. Even at the Emirates, whether it's Dubai or Abu Dhabi, it just feels like UFC or even PFL. It feels like it's just a lot better. So I guess it's better that it'll be a little bit more intimate in the sense that it'll be a livelier crowd. But dude, these fights deserve a gigantic audience

putting them in saudi just sometimes mostly for a live event anyway just doesn't get that yeah i mean you could put that fight on the moon and we'd still be watching and getting excited about it but um yeah wow indeed all right let's set the table here if we can as you indicated there is so much to do today first on the do the docket, we had that slate of insane UFC announcements related to the featherweight division, UFC 314, UFC 315, UFC London. We're going to get to all of that. Plus, as we just indicated, how about the boxing card this weekend? Just a phenomenal card.

Even with all the changes and all the craziness, there's still a lot to like on that one. And then how can we forget, BC? You still got the, what do you want to say? The tiramisu, the flan, the tres leches to the rest of the meal, which of course is going to be Henry Cejudo taking on Song Yudong at UFC Seattle. And there'll be some other little gems on that card. We'll get to all of that.

So thumbs up if you're watching. Hit subscribe if you haven't. Here are our socials. And you can follow us on all the different ones, including but not limited to also our YouTube channels, The Brian Campbell Experience for that gentleman, and then just Luke Thomas for me. BC, before we go any further, I know I have to ask, and I'm prying, so I do apologize in advance.

Can we get an update on Mr. October, Sir Reggie Jackson? Yes, thank you for everyone that has shown love and support and care including everybody in the uh live ramble on the bcx yesterday but my favorite cat uh and yours is hanging in there he's fighting the good fight he had a doctor's appointment two days ago that has cleared him for a possibility of surgery next wednesday he has to go get a chest x-ray As long as he passes that and that pneumonia Has cleared all the way he can immediately Get put under for the much needed dental

Surgery he may have permanent Floppy tongue hanging out of his mouth But I'll take that over the opposite And my guys fighting There's been some rough days in the process Luke You know the ups and downs that the animals produce when they are very ill. But this guy is driven by selfishness and spite, and he's going to be back in our lives quickly. I know it.

I know it. I'm very happy to hear that. Really happy to hear that. Obviously, having a sick pet is a little more difficult than people who don't have pets realize. Yeah, like it's not a pet. It's a family member in my house, all five of them. i'm sure it's the same in yours too luke you know what i'm saying well it was they all died so okay i'm really sorry to bring that back up but uh by the way i have to shout out they're all gone friend of the program animal lover average joe

art has been a a a daily rock in a lot of ways reaching out to me i appreciate that guy a lot so bc i need your expertise here, okay? So we have 10 calories for the whole can. Nevertheless, though, I need you to grade and rate the energy drink I'm about to consume. Give me the Brian Campbell. I got Watermelon Jolly Rancher C4. What do you think?

Give me a rating. I just saw a study on Instagram yesterday that every can of Coke you drink takes 12 minutes off the end of your life, and they can scientifically prove this. I'm sure you're going to lose at least three months with that four can of Starburst explosives, but I'd be intrigued to try the flavor despite what it would do to my insight. Let's see. Let me give you a taste here. Are we ready? It's got to be better than that pink monster you've been rolling around with wow it actually does taste like jolly rancher yeah wow yeah um

bc if i may please monday show my audio was not the best and my connection was not the best so let me just first apologize to i already told you how uh regretful i feel and long Island Luke and everybody else to the audience. I apologize for that as well. Um, didn't go as planned, but BC, do you remember how I had to take a dump in the middle of the show, which also just added more insult to injury at that point? Yes, I do. I do. Can I just tell you, there's actually a bit of a funny story to that, which is I, that whole weekend, I hadn't really taken a dump at all. And then that morning before the show, I took three of them, all three of them. This is too much info. And I thought, okay, great. I'm full. I feel great for the show. This'll go great. 30 minutes in, I got hit with the shit attack. I mean, 30 minutes in. And I thought, well, the audio sucks.

I can't fuck this up anymore. I just got to push through. And then an hour passed and I'm like, okay, I'm about to shit my pants. Okay. It's not, it's not, it's not, I'm not, I'm not going to make it. I'm not going to make it to the end of the run. So then I had to message you when, when DMS from dogs was on, if I could, if I could go, let me just tell you that number four, day number four that day was a joseph a bank size nuclear bomb i've had two poor two okay i think she just took a year

off of the end of her life being in the same room dude i'm telling you i it was i i almost wanted to laugh about it but i couldn't in the moment because i'd fucked up the show but wow brother wow it was an absolute cleansing from top to bottom and i do mean that literally well you do have to wonder drinking that energy drinks mixed with lighter fluid that it probably just slowly chips away at all your inner organs and that's what you're actually crapping out at the end of the day luke but that's fine you know it's great listen listen we're all gonna die and uh mine might be sooner than others but yeah yeah you might as well die on camera like a real man and you know

document this for the rest of us that's great listen i didn't die taking a dump in a joseph a bank which is right up there. I mean, that's one of the worst ways to die. If they found you in the commode in a Joseph A. Bank, that would be truly up there. So I didn't die there. And so I feel like that's a good thing. So apologies to you. Apologies to the production staff and apologies to the audience.

Just wasn't my day that day. But today is going to be great. I mean, I've put us through some interesting episodes on the road, including in Puerto Rico. Luke, a few times with bags of eggs and barely any Wi-Fi. Who knew how good we had it when I had all those bags of eggs? You remember back in the day in Puerto Rico? You're a sick person, and I hope you have. I should have saved them. I could have been selling them on the street right now.

I could have been flipping them for a lot of money. Like Elvis, I also hope you die on the toilet. You know what I'm saying? All right. Very quickly, Long Island Luke, how are you doing, my friend? Like Elvis, I also hope you die on the toilet. You know what I'm saying? All right. Very quickly, Long Island Luke, how are you doing, my friend? I'm doing good, guys. I got Ruby here showing solidarity for Reggie Jackson.

Thank you. She's being extra annoying this morning. No buttholes, Ruby. No buttholes on you. Long Island Luke, I'm loving the Lloyd Christmas haircut. You understand that? Yeah, of course. I mean, mean big dumb and dumber fan myself you know hey are you taking that lady out this weekend or you're like sorry baby it's fight night ufc i mean we're missing the boxing card because we got a party to

go to but uh we will be doing the watch along 9 p.m main card minutes saturdays are for the boys baby she's got she's got the patience of Job. It's unbelievable. All right, BC, unless there's anything else, let's get this party started, yeah? Yeah, let's rock. All right, here, let's bang, Tooey. Let's get to it. I mean, there is so much to talk about.

Let's start with topic number one. UFC President Dana White made a series. I mean, we'll get to all of them, but let's start where they are most important with all of the major announcements that he made. I think leading off as the most important, Ilya Teporia has given up his 145-pound title to move to 155. BC, we will talk about the 145 title fight that's going to take place at UFC 314. We'll talk about all of the other fights that have been added to that card. Let's start here. Is the time right now, given the lay of the land

for the UFC to pull the trigger on Ilya Teporia versus Islam Makachev that's question one question two do you like that he gave up the 145 pound title I love that he gave up the 145 pound title let me explain myself when we turned the calendar for the new year and did the type of previewing content ahead of 25 that many podcasts do and we ranked which fights would we want to see the most in our personal fandom as much as we all need jones aspinall among many others my number one pick was islam versus ilia why well first and foremost because they're number one and two pound for pound but i think even more more than that, if you look at it, if you listen to their words, they're both moving up anyway. This weight cut has become tough for Teporia mixed with the idea that he feels like,

look, can I do any better than knocking out two of the greatest champions while they are in the top 10 pound for pound as viciously and thoroughly as I did. He couldn't. So the reason why I love that he gave up the belt or was stripped, either or in this case, whichever way it worked out, I'm not sure, is ultimately because that removes the type of thing, the asterisk, that makes people like Jed Meshew II lose his mind in a poor man's Luke Thomas rant on Below the Links, Beneath the Belt, a couple weeks ago. Because people don't want to go in this direction of every time somebody gets hot,

they win a championship. Their next statement is either, let me box Canelo, or let me go and become a two-division champion. In this case, I think Toporia is a special talent. He rocketed it up the charts, number two pound for pound on my list, the reigning fighter of the year. He wants to prove himself in terms of how great he can be. And because we know that he wants to move up anyway, and because we know that Mahachev is headed for welterweight or middleweight,

sooner than later to capitalize on what's left of his own prime, and maybe to make room for Usman Nurmagomedov. Luke, this is absolutely perfect. Whether the UFC ultimately decides that you make Islam versus Ilya later this year and truly make it a super fight, which it is, an active super fight between two guys on the top of the world in this sport, or if they make Teporia feel himself out first at 155, whether that's Dustin Poirier or insert, Conor McGregor, insert any name you want. I'm here for it because at the end of the day, Luke,

it is about entertainment. But I think even more than that, when you have a window to make number one versus two pound for pound, the two biggest, the two best fighters right now, you make that. I don't think it's going to screw up the other divisions. I don't love that Volkanovski's getting a title shot off of two knockout losses

and three defeats in four fights, but that is a separate topic. What your boy Teporia is doing, you had to remove the belt to do this. Okay, let's see what he's got at 155. How could you not be excited or potentially entertained at this fight taking place? I mean, I would say, I mean, I generally agree with the broad strokes, but I don't share your emotional state about it, which is, I agree. It's certainly better that he dropped the belt to, if you're going to move up and we're not going to do this back and forth nonsense, because obviously in order to hold

two belts, you'd have to compete at probably at a bare minimum four times a year, changing weight classes. It's simply not doable. So if you're going to make the move, it has to be complete. And it doesn't leave the division in limbo, whereas Jon Jones has just absolutely held the entire thing hostage for as long as he's been up at heavyweight, essentially, right? Very, very different scenario. So in that sense, I appreciate it. And I'll also share your enthusiasm, BC, that at 155, is Ilya Teporya really going to be in bad fights? Like, what are we even talking about here? It's a silly thing to say.

Whether it's Dustin, whether it's Charles, whether it's Islam, whether it's who knows. It doesn't really matter. All of them are going to be bangers. And for that reason, I'm pretty excited about it. On the other hand, BC, this is where I think we part ways a little bit. I hate that he gave up the title. I mean, again, I get it that it makes sense. And at the end of the day, if the guy says he can't make weight, I mean, I don't know what

else there is to say, but am I allowed to say he doesn't look that big? He doesn't look, do I think his power carries at 55? I do. Do I think he can win fights at 55? Of course, he already has. And do I think he can even beat Islam? I mean, I don't know if I would favor him to beat Islam, but I certainly think he's a worthy adversary, no matter what. But BC, there were so many good fights available for him. A second Volk fight. Again, your mileage may vary. I wanted to see him fight Movsar. I wanted to see him fight Diego. I wanted him to see him fight you name it. Whoever could move their way up through what I think is a still very interesting and kind of red hot 145 pound division.

The fact that he gave it up again, if the guy can't do it medically, who are we to say keep doing it? It doesn't make any sense, but he doesn't look that big to me. And well, I don't know. It might just be career strategic in the sense of how do you navigate stardom and and pull a you know poor man's conner path to becoming the face of the sport if that's what it is i'm okay with it but i want to spin it right back to you luke do we want to live in a world where fighters can ultimately declare which division they want to

fight in i'd rather live in that world so if the penalty for wanting to move up faster than you or the UFC would want is to strip him of the title, the extended penalty may be you got to fight somebody else first before fighting for the title. He's willing to do both of those. So I don't really understand the issue. The broad strokes, there is no issue. The broad strokes, there isn't. There is just a little part of me, if I'm just being honest,

there's a little part of me that, again, if he's trying to do what you mentioned is the Conor thing, which I think he would do more like the Habib thing. I think that's probably closer to the model of what he's trying to do now. It follows Conor because it's a 45 to 55 leap, so that's the natural antecedent. But in terms of making a name in the fight game and then calling it quits and doing something else,

it's probably more along the Habib model. And again, if that's in play, if he actually has trouble making the weight and this is what he wants for himself, there's really nothing else to say. You just are where you are. But there is a part of me that feels like he's kind of an undersized 55er.

And these bigger 50 fivers. These are, these are dudes who walk around close to, or even sometimes above 200 pounds. He does not look like that kind. I think he gets up to the low one eighties. It just seems, I don't know. It seems a little hasty or I should say, let me correct that. It feels at times a little hasty and it feels like we're being robbed of what could have been one of the more special campaigns at 145 for a UFC title holder in a division that has already had many such campaigns. Nevertheless, I do grant that at 55 there's a lot of opportunity and I'll be honest, I'm totally okay if they gave him a title shot and I'd also be totally okay if they made him fight his way up

I think it's kind of a function of what the schedule is going to demand and where his head is at in all of this it doesn't sound like Teporia is against the idea of earning a title shot against Islam but at the same time BC we'll talk about this a little bit later the John Jones factor looms large because they're just going to need something for international fight week they're going to need something for some of these bigger cards if it doesn't take place then a little bit later the john jones factor looms large because they're just going to need something for international fight week they're going to need something for some of these bigger cards if it doesn't take place then a little bit down the road the new york cards you name it they're going to need some kind of ammunition for the bigger guns here and if that's the one that's laying in wait dude they're gonna use it that's just what it is so i guess we'll have to see what really can i jump in and top priority for UFC is. Can I jump in and ask one conspiracy-related thing?

Because a prominent fighter named Dan Hooker did come public in a recent interview in the past two days and said, in his opinion, he felt like the UFC did not want, the UFC was on your side, did not want Teporia to exit the division at this time and leave it behind. But when he stood fast that that's what he wanted to do according to Dan Hooker the UFC just stripped him of the title and announced the next fight and Hooker does not believe that Ilya will be close to an immediate title shot as sort of payback because of that I wanted to get you to weigh in on that because you tend to be more sober-minded than me when it comes to MMA conspiracies uh the UFC forcing the hand

of its fighters is a continuous and ever-present way that they simply do business. I don't know why folks have such a hard time. This is how they've always done business. And listen, sometimes they twist the arm a little bit. Sometimes they twist the arm a little bit, but they also make it worth your while financially.

Sometimes they just twist and that's it. There's a range of ways in which they handle this, but putting pressure on the fighters to act in a way that is in accordance with their interests is simply a way that, that, that, that is how that, that organization governs itself. I mean, I don't know what else to say about it. It's just, it's just what happened. So that wouldn't surprise me. Ariel Helwani reported something a little bit different, which is that, um, they don't want champ champs anymore, or at a bare minimum, they're, you know, they're not seeking it out. So if you're going to jump up to the next weight class to, you know, you want a title shot, you want to make a run for whatever they've got up at the

next one, you got to drop the last one. And by the way, that's also something that we've been told has applied to Zhong Wai Li, who I'm sure is in good standing with the UFC BC, but they're telling her, if you want to go to 25, the one 115 title has got to be let go. And to be honest, I mean, I wouldn't say I have mixed opinions. I think it's hilarious that here's another way in which the UFC is exerting control over these guys. I mean, could you imagine telling Canelo that he would have to drop these titles in order to go pursue another one? That would be, you know, there would be rioting in the streets, essentially essentially from his team on the other hand just from a how do we operate this product if you've got a guy who has to go back and forth between weight classes one of which he says is very very difficult for him to make it's just not realistic that they're going to

defend this shit it's just not so for that reason if you're going to move to 55 well then you're going to move to 55 i am not convinced however that they would be they would penalize him maybe they don't give him the islam fight right away i could certainly see that especially if they've got the john jones fight in the chamber ready to go or if poet on let's say just runs through on kalia could they offer him a quick rebound would he take it he probably would right there's some other way to make that work but in the event that they've got options they may not pull the trigger I don't have any problem I have in fact not only do I have no problem with him not getting a title shot

I actually would prefer it if he didn't I kind of preferred if he earned his way up I am people have said oh he's trying to speed run the Connornor thing but the connor thing to me was a little bit different yeah okay he won at 45 and then moved up and then that was it he never went back and defended although you know max was a title defense but the point being is at 55 he kind of kept escalating and escalating and escalating uh or very quickly anyway he kind of escalated from there but remember i actually showed peak people on my live chat yesterday, the one, the last weigh-in that Conor did at 145 for the Aldo fight at UFC 194. BC, you already know this, but for folks who may not have gone back and look, please don't take my word for it.

Go look. Conor looked unbearably awful. I mean, I cannot believe he made 145 as long as he did before jumping to 55. Once again, BC, I'm not saying the cut 245 for Tupori is not hard, but he's never looked like that. He's never looked as gone. He's never looked as drained. He's never looked as just unhealthy on the scale as Conor did.

And maybe that's a good thing overall, but it goes back to my other point. The reason why I like him getting a number one contender fight, if they made the Islam fight, fine. But if they give him a number one contender fight, I they made the Islam fight, fine. But if they give him a number one contender fight, I want to see what he's going to look like at 55. I think his power carries and I think he's good, but I do think he is undersized and how he handles that is actually a pretty critical question.

If the guy you want is freaking Islam Makachev, BC. Damn right. And to be fair, look, I don't want this for the IFW main event, but if it had to be to poria debuting in this weight class and dustin poirier's retirement fight you wouldn't hate that right or if that's the co-main like you wouldn't hate that just like ilia against any of these aging legends that are action stars or charles olivera or whoever you can come up with they can certainly use his debut as a very big fight

in their pay-per-view schedule rolling forward. Ilya put out something on social media. Let's quickly take a look at it here. It's a reference to the Kendrick Lamar song, Not Like Us. I don't know if you put the graphic up. This is from ESPN MMA. You can see in the lower right quadrant there where he's sort of referencing that i guess he's unlike

the other ufc champions bc he appears to want the smoke um i don't know what do you make of all this um i i make that he's trying to be in the driver's seat of his career. And most stars at the level he has achieved this quickly want to be like that. You know, we can argue a guy like Henry Cejudo who's coming back and fighting this weekend, you know, taking three years off at the peak of his absolute prime, maybe in an effort to try to gain some of this leverage and control, failed him.

But I think Ilya is a smooth operator and really knows what he's doing and this is really all strategic regarding his career and the type of matchups he can escalate to because while i i mean i don't fully disagree with what you said that that there's matchups you still want to see like if they made him against diego lopez tomorrow would i be upset no like hell yeah but luke i do have to agree if you were going to make this argument that there's not big business left for him at 145 in terms of being a monster draw in a huge fight and being something that he can prove himself with. A rematch with Volkanovski, especially on this recent knockout losing streak,

just doesn't do that for me, even with Volk's star power. There's much bigger names and stars at 55 I mean what if he ends up fighting Patty in some huge pay-per-view or something like you know what I mean Luke I just feel like he is very smart and ahead of the game on on figuring out a path that is going to lead him to the most money the most critical reception and the biggest level of stardom and this is all part of that and it's up to the UFC to either partner with them and assist in that or even if they force him into some corners I think he's good enough to fight his way out of these corners and win these these test fights he will need before getting in there with

Islam if that's the way they go I'll also say say this. I mean, this, I don't think this is in any way controversial, but it's worth saying out loud, you know, obviously Connor or John Jones are going to be the most popular fighters on the roster, right? I mean, Connor's not really active. Jones is semi-active. But you know, they've got big names and okay, fair. But among like actually active fighters, probably Poiton is your biggest star right now. I think that's the case. And listen, we're talking about a snapshot in time. If he beats Ankhalaev, this only raises. If he gets a Jon Jones fight, that only raises.

But if he loses the Ankhalaev fight, you know, that's a whole thing. It's very, very context dependent. But BC, I'm not going to say if, obviously, these are big ifs. But if Ilya Teporia gets the Islam Makachev fight, and if he wins it, particularly if it's authoritative, he's going to be the biggest star in the sport.

No doubt. No freaking doubt. And that's why, that's really, again, this is why the broad strokes about your understanding of the situation, I basically agree with. I don't even know how you can argue with it, aside from just having some feelings of, I really wanted something that I guess is just not available anymore.

But if he beats, this is why 55 is so attractive to him. Not only is it another weight class and it's another title, the guy holding it is the number one pound-for-pound guy on the sport who is low-key also kind of a big star for the organization as well. If you move up a weight class, and you say, again, it's a big if, but if you ice him as well, Tupori is on top of the game, period, at that point. Like the big game hunting that is available at 55 at this point

is just far beyond what 45 has. Even if I recognize if he stayed at 45, he could have a long campaign there, beating some really quality fighters and doing some really quality work. And let me just add a final thing. It's you know if you're a coach do you coach everybody the same way no stars get handled different ways if you're at a job and somebody's really talented but they're lazy will they get more chances than others yes i would not be this into this move and this idea if toporia didn't have the breakout face of the franchise star potential that he's building mixed with the fact that he's number two pound

for pound and could end up being the best fighter in the world. If it was a champion in a different division with less marketability, I wouldn't support this as much. But if the year of the UFC, how could you not support it when this guy could literally be the reason that you do massive events in Spain, Italy and other parts of Europe and moving forward. This is that ticket for that expansion.

So just like Wei Li in China and DDP in South Africa, they're building these, you know, we always say we don't have stars. They're not properly ready to reload for the next generation. This guy's ready. Give him the chance to be that star all right so with that let's move to the next part of this bc which is of course the ufc 314 announcement it will be headlined a miami show but by the way miami turning into a real fight capital here can you hit that why though why because some people have said it's politically

in uh motivated meaning that we know when they go to abu dhabi they're we're going to get their best matchmaking it used to be mmaking. It used to be MSG. There used to be majors. Why is Miami suddenly getting this treatment? I love it, but why? Well, I mean, there could be something to be said for the fact that governors Greg Abbott and Governor Ron DeSantis, respectively of Texas and Florida, were open during COVID or even, you know, pandemic era events that they wanted to hold, in particular Florida.

Obviously, Florida was the first at Jacksonville, that unfortunate beating that Tony Ferguson COVID or even, you know, a pandemic era events that they wanted to hold in particular Florida. Obviously Florida was the first at Jacksonville that, that unfortunate beating that Tony Ferguson took with Justin Gaethje. Yes. I do think there is something to be said for that. Certainly that, you know, we're going to put our business in a place that was accommodating to us at a time of need. Okay. At the same time, like there is bc you know this too there is out fucking rageous money in miami yeah and miami is a very showy culture anyway if you've ever been to miami you cannot believe the number of luxury cars on the street like 90 of which are just rented for show but they're there it's a it's a place that's like designed to be able to pull huge gate numbers at least currently right um so as long as like they're not doing a favor to Florida they're making money you know

what I mean and Miami has a ton of it I think it's more really just the latter than the former to be honest with you but okay okay UFC 314 Volkski, Alexander Volkanovski is back. He'll be taking on Diego Lopez for the vacant 145 title. BC, how good are Volk's chances at recapturing the belt? I mean, I'm certainly not feeling that they're high, given that he's 36 years old, he's lost three of four, and he's coming off back-to-back knockout losses. Obviously, there's some level of wiggle room and asterisk play in that when you consider the head kick loss to Islam was him moving up in weight on short notice.

We've been through this a million times. And then maybe he rushed back and took the Tupori fight too soon. Or maybe Tupori is just a next level phenom for the future. I get why he's in this fight. I'm not going to pick it outside my street he's the star power in this matchup that allows this division losing to poria to keep going and keep putting their best face forward and if diego lopez is the real deal then nobody better to stamp that approval on him critically than have him go through Volkanovski, one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. He's so great, Luke Volkanovski, historically, his body of work,

that if you knew the future and you told me he does a Shevchenko, right, from the third Grosso fight and turns it back and wins a close fight and reestablishes himself a two-time champion in this division, he's of that ilk, but I do have some serious doubts. I think Diego Lopez is red hot. This is the right time for him to get into this title fight. And I know it's happened before where people get title shots coming off of even consecutive losses. Remember Holly Holm at Featherweight when Cyborg wasn't ready, but that itself was a weird scenario. Jose Aldo coming off of one loss, but it was close. I don't know, Luke,

I don't love this, but if the alternative was Evloev versus Diego Lopez, you're not putting that in the main event. So I get it, but I'm cautious and skeptical that Volk's going to be able to dial it back one more time. I think this is a great fight. I think this is a great fight. I think it was the right fight to make. We'll talk about some of the alternatives here in just a second. But I personally think it's the right fight to make. I think Diego Lopez certainly had a case for being number one contender. But BC, I'm going to say this.

I feel like, and I mean, Long Island Luke, let me pull Long Island Luke in here. Long Island Luke, let me pitch something to you. I saw the early odds. I don't know what our friends at DraftKings have on this one, but I saw in most places, Volk was a very modest favorite, which I feel like is very fair. Listen, skill for skill, Long Island Luke, there's no question in my mind, Volkanovski has been better and is better, but he's had his chin tapped badly in the last two fights. He's been dropped in multiple fights before that.

And while not as technically proficient and I think strategically complex as what Volkanovski can do, he flurries. He's quick. He's got offense everywhere. He takes risks. And against a guy this kind of old and battered, that's as legit a threat as they come right now true honestly i think those odds should be flip-flopped i feel like volk should be a slight

dog plus 110 plus 115 something like that because i'll i honestly want to jump on diego at plus money right now and that that that sounds like a good bet and i love volk so it'd be hard for me to take that bet so i hope they flip-flop but uh i think that's about accurate should be no one should be bigger than like a minus 150 in that fight yeah and and thank you i appreciate it and then also bc just getting back to like we know the the sort of standard themes of the show if volkanovsky ends up winning this title not only does he become a two-time champ which itself is quite important he'd be the first person uh 55 and down to win a ufc title over the age of 35. That's not been done before.

So, like, this is a great headlining fight. It's a huge test. And there's simply no question in my mind Volkanovski has the skills to pass it. But I'm sorry. I think people overlooking now that you're this old and that you've been through this much damage and you've in previous fights even before you incurred this damage you got dropped against Chad Mendes you got dropped against Brian Ortega I can go on down the list I I actually think that this one for it being five

rounds is extra dangerous against a guy like Diego Lopez not a question in my mind did you weigh in on specifically like outside of the star factor like are you okay with him being in this fight and i say that because when conor mcgregor knocked out jose aldo but then never returned to the division i wasn't against jose aldo then fighting for the interim belt against frankie edgar in a rematch and then continuing on as champion i justified it by saying look aldo deserves an immediate rematch if anyone ever did after the title reign he had and the way in which he lost that in 13 seconds on the first big punch. This is different. This is three losses in four fights, two consecutive knockouts, just

getting KO'd cold in the last fight against the former champion. I don't feel good about that meritocrically what what what what's he supposed to do have to have fought somebody else he lost the title 11 months ago have to have would fight for the title i get the the the my inability to answer that question is the reason why he's in this fight but is that i'm asking you if that's a good enough reason to justify it in your eyes as a fan and journalist under normal considerations of meritocracy he would not be deserving of this right however you're talking about arguably arguably i don't think he is my personal book but arguably the best featherweight ever that's who you're talking about here he's certainly the most talented featherweight I've ever seen. And I think guys like that play by different rules.

That's just the reality. Also, it leads to the other question, which a lot of folks asked me, BC, which was, okay, like the fight, fine fight, fine headlining fight. Great for Miami. Great for us. Why didn't Movsar get the nod? Movesar has a win over Diego Lopez. Movesar is undefeated.

Movesar is a super tough challenge for anybody in that division. Why was he snubbed here? Because they needed a main event. In my opinion, if they already had a main event aligned for this card, and this wasn't, if this didn't happen as abruptly as it appeared that it did i think they could have made movzar versus diego as a co-main event vacant title excuse me on the line after taporia moved up i think the quick nature and the fact that over the past year and a half as we have complained about the matchmaking card qualities going down a bit it seems more often than not,

they're scrambling a month or two out from a big pay-per-view rather than having the matchups locked in well ahead of time. We did see that with UFC 300. I mean, why would Poiton become as valuable as he did? Because he was ready, waiting by the phone every time they needed a new main event, and he'd come in there injured or not on short notice three times in 176 days and deliver it.

So I think it plays completely in that, that they had to kind of scramble. and they're injured or not on short notice three times in 176 days and deliver it. So I think it plays completely in that, that they had to kind of scramble. Volk's the biggest name, close enough to the top of it. I mean, could you have subbed Holloway in? I guess you could have, although it would have been the same thing. You just got knocked out by the guy that just had the belt. I mean, Luke, you also could have done this, and it would have driven people freaking crazy.

Let's hear it. You could have done this and it would have driven people Fricking crazy You could have done Max versus Volk 4 Oh no No Max is done Mozart got screwed I mean he beat the guy But if he was more exciting

He wouldn't be in the situation he is That's just the reality And I'm not blaming him for that But it's the old John Fitch thing He kept winning Eventually he had to get his shot right and that's dude when when I I I covered John Fitch's whole UFC career when John fought GSP he was by a million miles the consensus number two in the world it wasn't even close for a time it was cost check because they were both at aka at the same time they didn't want to fight each other blah blah blah and in the end

john fitch by the time he fought for a ufc title there was no question who the number two guy in the world was it was him and that fight was actually at least on paper really exciting because you were like wow it's number one versus number two in the world how often do you get that that's pretty great and then he got scrubbed and never got a title shot again that is that is movsar's future he is probably going to barely ever get a title shot and if he doesn't win the first time it'll be the last title shot he gets in the ufc his style is not appreciated by the matchmakers you can like that fact or you can hate that fact we've been over these debates a million times but it's simply where he is also bc another reason why volkanovski got this nod among every other one is you mentioned,

well, they could have done Movesar versus Diego Lopez. And I know you indicated that would have been a co-main, but who would they would have put on the main there? It wouldn't have been a great choice. The point I'm trying to make is Volk is a guy you can slot into headlining roles and not tank on pay-per-view. I don't know how well it's going to do, but it's not going to take. Certainly we all probably think Movesar versusgo too is a quality fight but it's not a pay-per-view headliner it's not the thing you can sell very expensive tickets to in miami and then reap huge dividends at the box office so to speak on pay-per-view either yep all right with that in mind bc let's get to some of these other parts of the same UFC 314 card BC Michael Chandler versus

Patti Pimblitt will co-main this card in a five rounder at lightweight is this good matchmaking from the UFC to well let me ask you grade the matchmaking here both for uh Patti as well as for Chandler and give me your early inkling about which way you're leaning i think it's a matchmaking for both and i realize for other people that they don't love this because they see something that i predicted was available to the ufc after patty's last win there is a path to the title for patty without having to be an elite contemporary because there are so many lingering all-time great action names still here. The Gaethjes, the Poiriers, the Chandlers, and he's getting one of them.

I love this for Chandler, despite him having so many more losses than wins in this fantastically fun UFC run because it really gives him the chance to revive himself against a guy who's good, good to very good in Patty. But I think any opponent is going to look at him and go, okay, I think I can do some things against him. So I think it's perfect. It's a younger fighter with a big brand for Chandler to go against, make a lot of money.

And I think for Patty Luke, this is the path. And it is based upon marketability and commercial liking and all that. I mean, of course it is, right? We don't know if Patty's for real. There's been a few stumbles along the way on this path to get to this point. It looks good lately, but I mean, like I said, imagine if it ends up being Ilya versus Patty for the title. It's very possible.

I actually really love this fight. First and foremost, Luke, and you can respond because I don't know who's going to win. And it's a creative one in that regard. It's similar to two fights ago when I thought Conor should have been fighting Patty Pimblitt straight up because it was just like, you actually don't really know what's going to happen. And we do have odds from DraftKings that Long Island Luke just sent us, plus 100 Chandler, minus 120 Pimblitt.

Luke, I love this. Tell me what you feel. I love it, but I want to play some audio, if we can, from Michael Chandler to tell you how he is feeling about this matchup and Patty in particular. After the last fight, one of the most disappointing losses of my career, I wanted to get right back on the horse,

get right back in the octagon. So here we go. I like the matchup. Love the matchup, actually. I respect Patty. I think Patty's a skilled fighter. I think he's still got a bright future, but I think he's going to run into a buzzsaw named Michael Chandler on April 12th.

And as always, I will be the most entertaining guy that steps inside the octagon that night. I will have everybody on their feet. I will have everybody on the edge of their seat and typical Chandler fashion, we're going out there with one goal in mind and that's to separate our opponent from consciousness. So, can't wait.

We head into training camp today and for the next eight weeks, we're going to be getting after it. Thank you guys for being with me on this journey. God bless. I'll see you at the top. See you at the top, BC. I have to say our friends at DK, as you mentioned, I believe Chandler plus plus 100 Pimblitt minus 120 I think the odds are right on the money dude I freaking love this matchup because here's the reality Paddy Pimblitt is definitely better than I thought he would be I still don't think he's all that great necessarily but he's I'd be I'd just be lying if I said he didn't exceed my expectations he did he absolutely has and his work from the back is especially good like he's really actually very very deadly there so that part is interesting dude michael chandler we have

seen him give up his back multiple times it has caused him problems multiple times at the same time patty is very hittable michael chandler fucking throws the absolute dogs when he's out there this is this is fantastic matchmaking a phenomenal addition to the card the only part for me bc is the guy sat out basically two years of his career to get a charles olivera rematch that he lost and now he's fighting patty pimblitt and non-title co-mates these are not small figures necessarily but oh jesus this guy gave up a lot for not much in return i do feel bad for him in that regard i do feel bad for him in that regard. I do. I do feel bad in that regard.

And he's been everything the UFC would have wanted them to be. And more, even with a lot of these losses in very close fights where he had moments, he could win, but I'm glad that the very least, and he's a very positive person, of course, that he's embracing the road he took and where he's at and is just trying to go for it. And what could be better

than a younger fighter who's unproven with a huge name it's it's perfect for him i would like him to keep his eyes on the road more when he's driving and also uh would like to wish him a happy black history month as well which is you know perfect timing so you know there you go yeah remember the first time ufc tried to do a black history month thing and they're like the first guy we're going to talk to is a uh no that's a white guy it's gonna be great um bc in the interest of time there's more i'd like to get into in this one i think by the way pimblitt beats michael chandler he's it's going to be great for his career i mean there's simply no denying obviously the winner here gets a lot i mean the the the matchmaking here is perfect the one that's kind of interesting to mean, the matchmaking here is perfect.

The one that's kind of interesting to me is the third fight down on this card, BC, which is, holy crap, Patricio Pitbull, the best fighter in Bellator history. We did a full resume review of him on Morning Combat. Has had one of the most remarkable MMA careers outside of the UFC. Well, that is now finished. He will be on this card, and he's taking on Yair Rodriguez. Now, what's interesting BC is you sent me something earlier today suggesting that the UFC kind of twisted Yair's arm to take it what did you send me yeah it was an interview that Patricio Pippo did with an MMA junkie

immediately after the fight was announced by Dana uh you know two nights ago late night and he ultimately said that uh he gave his history of being called by the UFC. He's been talking to the UFC going back to like the beginning of last year. He claims he accepted a fight with Aljo. Aljo pulled out. He claimed he accepted a fight against Yair. Yair said no. But he said ultimately UFC called him back, asked him one more time about Yair.

He accepted. And according to Pitbull, Yair said no. So then Dana called Pitbull and said, I'm going to announce the fight anyway. And you can fill in the blanks to pressure Yair into accepting it. And according to Pitbull, that's the reason why Yair ultimately accepted this absolutely badass all action fight that is like the gift from above the special icing on top of this cake. But Luke, that's some heavy-handed

bullshit man i mean that's that's like that's the kind of stuff we hate here and of how they actually operate uh this is once i'm gonna say it again this is i'm not defending it as such in fact far from it what i am trying to get folks to wrap their mind around is this is how the sausage is made. This is how fights get made. That's not a thing I think is awesome. But like, what are the mechanisms in place to deliver to the fans the cards that look like this? It's it's this it's this kind of thing. Because if you're Yair right now and you come out on a podcast today and go, I never accepted this fight. This is UFC pulling things. He's not going to get an offer for a while and it go i never accepted this fight this is ufc pulling

things he's not going to get an offer for a while and it's going to be a fight he doesn't want and that's the truth luke that's the damn truth yeah yeah that is the truth uh but bc as it stands however the fight itself is freaking awesome here's my concern tell me what i'm missing i love that they have different body types. I love that they are from different, like obviously places in the MMA world. They're coming together. They're both action fighters. The problem is Pitbull is 37 and you're getting him what I think is post-prime. And I do think his last win BC, you'll recall the Jeremy Kennedy fight. He looked much better than he had more recently, but he's also lost his last win bc you'll recall the jeremy kennedy fight he looked much better than he had more

recently but he's also lost his last two out of three what am i missing about all of this you're not missing anything we're lucky being fans of him and realizing that he is in some in his own form a historically great fighter right like the face of bellator one of the sneaky great brazilian champions of all time who's lingered throughout and fought everybody he could. But you do need that stop in the UFC at the end of the journey, even if it's just for one fight. It does matter and mean something. We're getting him with still something left in the tank.

So here's what I'm really trying to say. I don't think he's going to end up fighting for a world title. But I do think this is brilliant matchmaking to not only give us the IEA fight first, although to be fair, you could have picked any number of action opponents over multiple weight classes and you're going to get what you're going to get, instant combustibility. This is brilliant in my opinion, putting this on the same card as Chandler. It's going to get Chandler and Pitbull talking about each other again. They hate each other. There's been a great longtime rivalry with

Chandler and the members of the Pitbull gym, including Patrycki, who he knocked out and pissed off Pitbull, Patricio, which led to them fighting and Patricio getting the early knockout. I think if they both lose on this card, the next fight is Chandler versus Pitbull. If one of them wins and one of them loses, the next fight is Chandler versus Pitbull. Those are the type of fights I think we're going to get from Pitbull. Let's say we get four or five of them, Luke, and he wins one of them. It's kind of the Michael Chandler thing all over again, even though Chandler was on the title level and maybe had a little bit more in the tank. I'm just happy we're

getting this. I'm happy he's not in PFL jail anymore. I think like a late career Kung Lee going to the UFC, we're going to get what's less of him but it's going to be really fun against other equal legends remember this is a guy who dusted off michael chandler and he was asked about that even though he signed with the ufc how he feels about michael chandler and my man is still holding on to old grudges play the clip long island luke you and michael chandler ended up on the same card after all these years for your ufc debut him fighting in the co-main event um was it kind of crazy to or funny for you to see that full circle moment where you guys are are both uh kind of on the poster for a ufc event

yeah uh before i started the interview i saw a guy on Twitter saying that UFC 314 is going to be great because it's going to be the first time father and son are fighting on the same card in the UFC. So that gave me a big laugh and I found it really funny that people said that. I don't know how it's going to be but I think it's going to be great. Is there still rivalry there at all with you guys? Like if you see him on Fight Week, are things going to be cool and cordial? Or is there still a little bit of heat between you and Michael?

I don't like him personally, but I don't have any issues. I'm a professional. We're both sportsmen. We have to respect each other, so I'm not going to be trying to do anything. But if they want to give me as many opportunities as they can to beat him up until the end of my career, I'm going to be trying to do anything. But if they want to give me as many opportunities as they can to beat him up until the end of my career, I'm going to be taking all of them. Old habits die hard. Old habits die hard.

Dude, that fight's going to be great. That fight's going to be awesome. It's the next fight. I guarantee you it's perfect. I mean, look, we're not being unfair to him. I don't think he's going to contend for a title, but he's going to get knocked out cold and knock people the F out. We know what we're getting with him.

I think a title at this weight, at this age, seems deeply unrealistic. However, you're talking about the best guy Bellator's ever produced, even if he is post-prime. It makes no sense not to sign him. It makes no sense. It only makes sense to see, listen, whatever he's got, let's fire him in there and let's see what it is. Maybe it's not the best of what he has anymore.

It's hardly going to be bad, and it's definitely not worth ignoring him. It's all the right call. I'm sorry that the fight got made under the terms that appear to be strong-arming, but, again, it's how the sausage is made. All right, BC, but we're not done with these topics related to UFC announcements. Let's go to topic number two, which is, well, basically the rest of them, which include UFC 315, which will take place in Canada, as well as the main event around UFC London.

Let's start with the biggest part of that, BC, which is that Bilal Muhammad is now going to fight Jack de la Madalena at UFC 315, while Leon Edwards is going to fight Sean Brady. We'll talk about the latter of those in a minute. But here's my question, BC. First of all, give me your reaction to that main event in Canada. So why didn't they just leave Jack de la Maddalena on the London card and then call up Joaquin Buckley to fight Bilal Muhammad, who's basically right there, fresh matchup, and you didn't have to move anything around? It's a great question. I think you could have actually, even though he's coming off of a defeat, I think you could have called Ian Gary too. I really think you could have, right? And that shows the depth of this division. It may not have top-end pay-per-view stars, but 1 through 15, this division's fire. So I guess it probably came down to who was available, who was in camp, all of that. We know that they got to call a bunch of people.

Hunter Campbell's got to go in the front seat, Luke, outside and call, put a bunch of people on speakerphone and get it done. I love the fight, ultimately. And I think this is actually really good news for Bilal Muhammad because we were, I was, I was, we crapped on him. I crapped on him for a long time. Thought he was a transitional champion. Thought he was overachieving to get to this point. Took advantage of a short camp, Gilbert Burns, blah, blah, blah. I was wrong. I now remember the name and yet we still were like, yeah, but he's going to fight Shavkat next and Edward Scissorhands going to but he's gonna fight Shavkat next and Edward Scissorhand's gonna slice through him only Shavkat look kind of human against Gary and he's hurt and

unavailable and now you're giving him a JDM who we all love great fighter fun fighter year layoff did not look great against uh Gilbert until he needed to look great in the final minute with that knee. But up until then was out grappled. And what does Bilal do great? So suddenly Bilal's in a spot where he's finally healthy to get the title defense here. And I think he's in a fight that he can win. So it's definitely a hardcore fight in my opinion, right? Like it's not going to move pay-per-view blocks, but it's in a division that just needs to keep moving forward no matter who steps up. And this fight, yeah, this is more than good enough for me so is Leon and Sean Brady by the way great substitution there as well um could this have been Leon but then you're doing an immediate rematch

so I don't hate it Luke tell me what's wrong about this there's nothing wrong with it there's nothing wrong with it it's just kind of interesting so let's break it down here a little bit first of all throw up on the screen if you can bong island luke the statement from shafqat rakhmanov who i did not mention off the top was injured here's what he says quote big thanks to the ufc for offering me the shot at the belt first unfortunately due to injury i won't be ready for may i'll be facing the winner later this year okay fair enough um and by the way put up the balal muhammad message about taking leon's opponent Let's see that very quickly. Dang, he says, I stole Leon's belt and his opponent.

Dude, Bilal Muhammad. I beat Paulie and I got his girl. Oh, the Adrian Broner thing? Yeah. Dude, like Bilal, he does that. He does that a lot. You know what I mean? It's interesting.

Here's what I think. I love both fights. We'll talk about the Sean Brady and Leon one in just a second. But on the side for Bilal Muhammad, I think very highly of Jack de la Maddalena. I would have rather have seen him fight Leon first, if I can be honest. But I get that they're just trying to, you know, patch up an unfortunate situation with Shafqat being out. So it's interesting for Bilal because I think that's stylistically something of an

advantageous matchup it's kind of striker versus grappler obviously the thing that's interesting to me about Leon is on the one hand BC he's now going from a guy who is almost entirely a striker to a guy who is almost entirely a grappler so that has to be frustrating however he's been fighting nothing but wrestlers all this time all the kamaru's been rematches and trilogies the colby covington fight below muhammad and now this one like this is like the fifth time and have almost as many fights as he's had to find or fight excuse me bc a wrestling based kind of guy so there's got to be some comfort there and by the way i like that matchup too.

It's just, I don't know. Buckley seemed right there, usable. You didn't have to move anything else around, but it is what it is. We're happy for, you know, former Room Service Diaries guest, Sean Brady, I think to get a title shot just the same. But that's kind of how I feel about it all.

Well, is this telling us something that we don't know yet? Wait, Sean's not getting a title shot. Sean's fighting. Sorry, sorry. Not a title shot. Number one contender Sorry, sorry. Not a title shot. Number one contender fight. I apologize. Presumably a number one contender fight. Because the two missing pieces here are Joaquin Buckley and Ian Gary.

Is that the next fight? Should that be the next fight? Because my loins are jumping thinking about that fight. Wow, that's a great question. Ian Gary and I love that fight. Joaquin Buckley versus Ian Gary. That's a really really really good fight um they were booked too before they uh that's right they were booked for that for

that was a Tampa card yes yeah and then everything had changed and they had to bring in Colby whatever but uh yeah that's a great fight that's a phenomenal fight I really really like it now uh if I may BC going through this list here a little bit in addition to all of this um but actually do you like the jdm which one do you like more edwards brady or edwards jdm edwards jdm i would have enjoyed more but i think this is a more than fine substitution. I think, look, the real intrigue for me is Leon Edwards was like pound for pound top four at the time that he lost to Bilal and kind of lost soundly. So this is a big, no matter who the opponent is, as long as it is an elite one, is a big opportunity considering Leon's age in his mid-30s here,

where if he comes back and completely reestablishes himself, he's very much still in this very deep title picture. And we got to take him very seriously. Or if he's just a step below that, he could be given someone like Sean Brady, the rub on his own push toward the title or JDM, if it had happened. So the intrigue is still surrounding Leon.

I love that it's in London. Like this is going to be a fun event. Yeah. I agree with the broad strokes there. Like, this is going to be a fun event. Yeah, I agree with the broad strokes there. Now, the co-main event, BC. A lot of broad stroking going on here. Look, I always stroke to broads. Always.

Always. I bet. I bet. In public and at the bus stop. Valentina Shevchenko is going to face Manon Fiorot in the co-main. This will be a 125 title fight. BC, of all of Shevchenko's fights at 125 is manon fiero the toughest we don't know yet we don't know yet because i i think wayley's the tougher fight but we we knew it probably came down to a quick turnaround against wayley to just capitalize on the

stardom and the pound for pound potential or give manon faro what she has already earned and did deserve So ultimately Luke maybe they can Still have their cake and eat it too In terms of when Whaley does Move up to 125 it's going to be a Big deal trying seeing her go Trying to become a champ champ with

The stardom she's built in China would It be bigger against Shevchenko yes But I like that Faroe who has been unbeaten As it's passed every test, and really showed us her true talent and backbone against Blanchfield in that fight. Let's go here, Luke. No reason.

No reason to nitpick this at all. This is the fight. And I don't know yet if it will be more dangerous. I mean, Whaley's a more well-rounded fighter for sure, and maybe a more no, not maybe, a more dangerous finisher for sure, but that's at 10 pounds South. So let's see what Manon has Luke. I mean, what, what do you think top of your head feeling can Faroe win this? I think Faroe does win this. Um, yeah, I think she does win this. It lists. I mentioned again,

not her she's fought nunez twice so that doesn't count we're talking about 125 fights here are her 125 fights bc at 125 she fought priscilla cachoeira forget about it that was a mismatch now in 2018 she fought jj you want to j check but remember she's not really a natural 25 or kind of a mismatch kind of a mismatch too then it's jessica i liz karmouche, Kaitlyn Chukagian. That's who it was when she fought. Obviously, she's changed her name since. Jennifer Maya, Jessica Andrade, Lauren Murphy,

Tyler Santos, and now Alexa Grasso, BC. Yeah, Manon Fiorot is better than all of them. There's no question in my mind. She's not as well-rounded as some of those. I don't know if she's better than Grasso. I know know grasso's not only coming off a bad performance in a title fight she's the underdog coming up i get all that but i don't know if you know that minone furrow is better than grasso i don't know if you actually know that luke she's a better athlete and a tougher fight i can tell you that because won't you say if there's anything we still don't know

about furrow i just gave her a ton of credit for the blanchfield fight because we thought Blanchfield was a runaway train, but didn't Blanchfield look one-dimensional in that fight too and still kind of rallied with takedowns? Yeah, because Faroe made her look one-dimensional. No, I get what you're saying, but I think Grasso's more of a proven commodity at this level, but we'll find out. Let's see. Let's see. Yeah. Anyways, the point being is this debate is important,

and that's a phenomenal addition to that card. But me just say this i have seen people complain they're like wow their ufc is going back to canada and we're getting a balal muhammad main event with a women's title co-main event now again i think that's a little unfair balal muhammad versus jdm is a is an absolutely worthwhile fight and shevchenko versus fiero, I don't think is going to be a barn burner, BC, but these are quality fighters who are deserving of respect. But these are not necessarily the most entertaining fighters. And certainly, BC, certainly these are not the biggest stars. Do Canadian UFC fans have a right to complain?

They do. They do. Which really is now, you know, because I read enough MMA draw in the email, and they do have a lot of insight into the business decisions, government contracts. So I'm now looking at the sport through a different lens. I'm now wondering, it's like, what is the site fee that Montreal pays out compared to some of these other cities that, you know, TKO have done these group packages of where you get the UFC pay-per-view, you know, sandwiched between the WWE events and all that. Maybe you get the UFC pay-per-view sandwiched between the WWE events and all that.

Maybe you get some bull riding in between if you're lucky. We know that Dubai seems to pay the most. They get the best cards. Saudi gets some special treatment, of course. But it seems we can debate which cities they tend, in recent memory, to match better than others. I think that's ultimately telling you who's paying the most. For Canada, or specifically Montreal,

to be out of the loop based on COVID and the aftermath for this long, despite having that history of being amazing, bloodthirsty fans, this is either they got screwed or the UFC going, well, that fan base is so great and so hungry that they'll take literally anything we'll give them. So here's two title fights, no matter the value. I'm not crapping on these two title fights. Like I'm here for it, but I get your point.

And one of those things are true. If not all, I don't even know anymore. I mean, which card is better? I mean, they're not filled out yet. We can't fully say, but which card is better i mean they're not filled out yet we can't fully say but which card is better the miami card at 3 3 14 or the montreal card at 3 15 miami is deep as shit it's it's not even a question which one is better it's very very obviously better while recognizing i personally don't have a problem at all with 3 15 i just recognize there are some pretty big

goddamn differences in the entertainment and star power quotient between the two of them something to keep in mind is this ferole related to take advantage of my people luke the quebec oh you mean having a french speaking person there yes i mean i'm sure i'm sure it helps um i'm told that their accents are very different so you know it's a little bit like English and Scottish or something. I don't know. Yeah, but they still speak the same language at the end. They speak the same language.

And they're also, you know, equally very. Boy, you think the D.C. serving class doesn't like your jokes. The mantra, the Quebec. Oh, no. But you know that coming in. I will say this about the Quebec because I vacationed there with my family a year and a half ago there were definitely deep pockets of french that i was in some of these uh back towns at like supermarkets and stuff where not only is nobody speaking english like one employee in the building can speak english

but they were like really nice where i expected them to be as rude to me as the montreal service workers were when i would go there at like age 19, looking to just get drunk and hang out on St. Catherine street and look at the nudes, Luke, right? I mean, let's be, and then eat French fries with mayo on them. That's the life cycle of going there back in the day. It was tremendous. BC is like, I'm going to go, I'm going to drink. I'm going to drink bush light. I'm going to eat some poutine and I'm going to look at some titties and it's going to be a great day in my life. They love pork over there and putting extra sauce on everything i don't hate these people luke they are my people okay um if i'm um oh you know what before we move on i just wanted to put this in here after balal spoke out uh on twitter darren till took a shot at him so balal responded he

goes dang of course the one i showed you before i stole leon's belt and his opponent to which darren till quote tweets and writes try and steal a personality while you're at it to which balal responds why don't you try and steal some ozempic so you stop looking like a fat sauce i have to tell you balal muhammad has grown on me dude he's grown on me a lot he's got some things. He has been just consistently him, which is good. And then you wake up and go, oh, he's actually like a good dude, and he works really hard, and people like me just don't believe in him. You know what I mean?

Yeah. All right. With that in mind, BC, let's move. Oh, no, excuse me. Before we do anything else, let me just say this. Hey, basketball fans, are you ready to win some real money? Check out pick six from DraftKings. When it comes to basketball payouts, DraftKings pick six dunks on its rivals, including prize picks. Here's how it works. Just select two or more players

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We're going to start putting up the weights for ufcc at seattle they have done the official where the official weigh-ins are currently happening and dan rayfield has reported on his twitter account for boxing that both better bf and b vol have come in under the 175 pound limit so saturday's boxing main event is also, uh, is also there. All right. Speaking of which BC, um, oh, by the way, let me just, before we move on gambling problem, call one 800 gambler help is available for problem gambling call 888-789-7777, or visit ccpg.org in Connecticut must be 18 plus age and eligibility restrictions vary by jurisdiction. Pick six not available everywhere, including New York and Ontario.

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tomorrow in riyadh saudi arabia now we let off the show bc by telling the folks they're moving this from a 25 000 seater to just a 6 000 seater for the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. BC, before we even get to actually what I put on the rundown, let me just call an audible here to talk about this. Someone asked me, is there less hype for this one than there was for the original one, the first fight between these two? And the answer appears to be at least stateside, yeah. Yeah, there is. is now that's not me saying that the quality isn't high or that i'm not excited that's really irrelevant but they're moving this from a 25 000 seat venue for one of the biggest

rematches of the year for again uh a unification the whole nine it's already unification but you know for all the marbles they're putting in a 6 000 seater there hasn't been a ton of buzz for this what's happening here a couple things i mean one of it is that saudi effect when you take really big fights out of the u.s market you're naturally going to get less of a buzz less of casuals having the opportunity to hear about it run into it on sports center on tv we've been up and down the road talking about that also let's be honest b-ball and better b-ev are future hall of fam famers and living legends and all time greats. I mean, check the resumes, check the first fight, but this fight kind of always needed Saudi to be able to pay for it. They were with opposite promoters. It was always looked at as the kind

of fight that would die on pay-per-view if, Bob Arum and Eddie Hearn had gotten together and tried it. So we're lucky that Saudi is involved right now on the level that they are so that this thing gets the pop in circumstance it does. That it gets put on top of what at its original incarnation was the deepest boxing pay-per-view card we ever saw. And they brought the prices down. There's certainly a lot to like here. But as much as this card has tremendous depth and probably is, even with the changes, it's still up there, right?

It might be the greatest pay-per-view card of all time. You don't have great individual stars on it. And I don't think anyone's quibbling with that, right? Dubois and Parker, not household names. Neither are better BF and B-ball. I think that all plays into this it does feel damning that the day before they would move it to such a downsized arena because it plays into that narrative even though neither b-ball or better be ever from the

u.s but it plays into that narrative that it's pushing the sport away from the you know the vaunted loving u.s market here But it kind of is what it is, and if this is a more intimate experience and looks better on TV and gives the fight more of a big fight punch and feel, then we're all going to win out in the end of it. But it's unfortunate, because this fight on paper was great.

I like the replacements. We're going to talk about it. But they got hit hard twice this week, and now they're downsizing arenas. If you just take that information alone, I get the optics. It doesn't look great. All right, BC, let's talk about the fight itself because it is an intriguing fight. It really is an important one. And I'm again, whatever the buzz for it, it's a phenomenal contest between two of the best boxers currently alive, certainly in that division. By the way, David Benavidez will be in attendance for this one to see if he can get the winner at a later date. But let's just talk about it,

BC. Very simple question. As a refresher, what was the story of the first fight? And I guess the second part of that question is, what's one change either one should make to improve their chances of victory in a rematch? Yeah, I love this line of questioning because I think unequivocally for as great as the first fight was, a fight of the year contender, a BC special technical thriller, the second fight's going to be way better. It just is. Listen to the way they speak. They only tell the truth. The story

of the first fight was that these two unbeaten champions came together to crown the first four belt champion in light heavyweight history in this modern era. Oh, by the way, they also happened to already be two hall of famers coming together. So it was perfect. You love the style contrast coming in yet. Surprisingly, it was Beavol,

the guy who in theory is the smaller puncher, more closer to being the more traditional boxer really came out and put on a pace, landed the more significant shots for the most part, including hurting better be having round seven but ever since beevil going in for the knockout pressuring better be and then getting hurt in return he did show a different posture the rest of the way better be have did rally to outwork him in the final rounds and there is that damning to a degree even though i scored it for beev 7-5 like a lot of

people did did B-Ball go in the other direction in the final in the championship rounds with the fight on the line yes not not as shamelessly egregious as Oscar De La Hoya listening to his corner against Felix Trinidad and really that being the turning point of his entire career but like I said it's still I thought B-Bball had done enough to win, but Luke, the real story of the first fight to me was, I think certainly for B-ball, but I think for both of them, and I'm not trying to outwardly say these two aren't as great as we thought. That's, that's not what I'm trying to get at, but I think both had such high esteem and respect for the other one coming into the fight. And if you listen to their quotes this week during fight week, talking about that first fight,

they both kind of found out halfway through that the other one was more hittable or maybe that they were just better dance partners than they even thought. So I think that has left a feeling where better BF feels like he has to come out and do more because everybody said he lost, even though they asked him about it this week.

And he's like, I don't give a damn. I don't care. I don't listen to those people. And on the flip side, B-Ball knows he probably won that fight in his heart. Most of the media scored it for him, but knows the thing that was missing was more pressure and maybe to really believe in his power more. But when you believe in your power and you pressure better, B-Ev, who never gets tired and is always the fresher fighter late, a real key, by the way, to his unbeaten success.

I know it's usually about that knockout streak, but we know he can box. The stamina is so underrated. Both feel like, hey, that first fight was close. That guy was really good, but he wasn't a superhero. I'm the superhero and I'm going to come in there and show you. I really think they are both going to be wired to not leave anything behind, not leave it to chance. That doesn't necessarily mean there's going to be a knockout,

but I think this is going to be an even faster pace in a more action-packed fight. Yes. With strategical adjustments. I am very much looking forward to what happens here. Knowing that if B-ball wins, Turkey already said we're getting an immediate trilogy and have better bev wins, David Benavidez is sitting in the front row. Interesting times right now, Luke, but I really believe this fight is going to be even more special. All right, so let me play devil's advocate. I actually agree with all that,

but I want to ask the question this way, and granted, it's a very different kind of circumstance, but we saw the rematch between DDP and Strickickland and the second fight was kind of just like the first one i mean there were some differences obviously but it wasn't really much different you know it was they they kind of just matched up how they matched up won't this fight just be how the first one was which by the way i'm not calling a bad fight it wasn't necessarily thrilling but it wasn't a bad fight but i guess see how much really you really, I think it was thrilling. You really don't think it was thrilling. I thought it was like the fourth or fifth best fight of the year. Light buzz, thrilling, light buzz, thrilling. It never, it never had like a big crescendo.

I think is the thing that's missing. They both left a little bit left. They could have. That's right. That's right. So how much of your analysis, I'm just trying to ask you to like, like reflect on a little bit here. How much of it is this fight is likely to look just like the first one and how much of your assessment which i agree with about the changes that they could make but how much of that's just wishful thinking like they just fought they went 12 rounds their styles are what they are there's only minor things they can adjust why is that perspective wrong no i don't think i think ultimately we're saying the same thing but i get your differentiation different different temptation that's exactly right that's it's amazing grammar wow and speech right there

i'm not having a seizure folks sorry um so ultimately luke i think it'll be better than the first but to your point it'll look like the first, they'll just be taking what was left of the jug that they left behind. Maybe giving their opponent a little bit too much respect. Maybe B-ball gassing out a little bit more than he thought, not having the engine to push down the stretch. What has B-ball said all week when he said, when people asked him, why did you lose the first one? According to the judges and your opinion, and what can you do differently? He said two things, stamina, so I can go 12 hard rounds unlike the first one, and more output, which is still him doing the same thing. He's got a great jab, his quick combinations. I mean, B-Ball, I think, has always been greater than he

realized. There was a long stretch in B-Ball's career where he was that safe European fighter from the outside. But I think we learned a lot about him and he learned a lot about himself in the Canelo fight. Because to win that, to get the benefit of the doubt on the scorecards against that legend, he had to almost dominate and overwhelm him. And I know the narrative has become that that fight was one-sided.

It really wasn't. It's just, I think that we were shocked at how much better b-ball was against an equal great i think b-ball learned the same lesson in this better be a fight that he's actually better than he thought and has more of a chance to implement his offense and maybe even hurt better bf who can be hurt maybe not finished but can be knocked down that i think he's going to be more offensive and then on the better bf side he don't forget this he had knee surgery this fight was supposed to be in june of last year they pushed it to october but that shortened the training camp for better bf recovering from that knee he admits even though he's a man of very few words and gives you almost

no substance in interviews and never makes excuses he admits that it affected what he was able to do in the ring in the first fight. He says now the knee's fully healthy. So I think he's going to have even a deeper tank to be able to throw more punches. I think they're going to be constantly adjusting off of each other, just like the first fight. So everything you're saying is true. I just think it's going to be faster paced and even more tense. And's going to be a classic i really cannot see an area in a way that this fight doesn't shine uh very quickly i'm looking at the weights below here i'm sorry to interrupt long island luke did rob font miss weight why is that fight 138 139

john matsumoto took it on like a week's notice it's 140 pound catch rate and then also austin vanderford versus uh with lc fighting varetnikov that's also a 175 catch weight got it okay getting back to this along on luke in fact i want to see this better be i've actually told us what he learned from the first fight let's play that clip you know there is many things it's too long to telling you let's talk fight. Can we do some talking now at the press conference though, please? No, I like everything. We sit with my team, see the fight, like you know, it's always different when you see a fight. We make something different, try to correct something, you know. We're working on it.

In that first fight, for the first time in your career, three men ringside got to decide whether or not you had won. Would you prefer on Saturday, we do not need to speak to those three men, and you decide for yourself? We'll see. We'll see we'll see yeah not a man of many words but you certainly get some idea there let's take a look at their face off if we can bc get some reactions just two dead-eyed huh look here's what here's what the term wouldn't be scares me but here's what's blinking in my brain when i think about who's

going to win this fight okay because i i i had b-ball winning the first fight i thought he fought better all things considered i thought he was the better man that night but i think the better fighter between the two of them all time is better. I think he has stronger skills in the areas that he needs to be. And if he's coming in and the knee's not a problem and he's in even better shape. And if B-ball is who's always honest is straight up telling us his playbook. Like I'm obviously there's other elements to, to the attack he's going to bring this time,

but he's saying I'm going to be more offensive and I'm going to have the stamina to go harder. He might get what he's asking for from Better BF in that regard. You know what I'm saying? If he comes in with the mindset that I'm going to be a sportsman and leave it all in the ring and risk getting knocked out and go for it, even with Better BF's slight decline now at age 40, and even with the fact that you can't hurt him, you can wobble him.

Like you can, but we've all showed us briefly. I'm still a little bit worried that B-ball is going to turn it up too much and F around and find out here against this absolute monster. What do you feel about that? I think I thought Bivol won the first I can't remember. I felt like Bivol was the better boxer, but he wasn't the better punisher. And the better

punisher won out, and that probably is what's going to happen the second time, but it's just really hard to tell. Still, I love seeing little glimpses of Better BF's personality. We have this exchange with Eddie Hearn that I thought was really funny. Let's take a look. You know, after Better BF said who is Eddie Hearn? Look, you don't know what to believe these days, but there are unconfirmed reports that back in Canada,

after better be a dozen, a copy of my book. Uh, he bought the latest men's health magazine with me on the cover and has pre-ordered the Eddie Hearn pajamas that drop in 2025 so we don't know what to believe but in all seriousness we try and have a little bit of fun after better be a bitch one of the great fighters of our generation is this true Arthur have you pre-ordered Eddie's book have you got some pajamas Eddie Hearn's anything to say I I don't understand what they say. I was just saying we're friends. I can't say anything like you say

always anything. What you want to say always like this. I was just saying that deep down we're very good friends. Yeah, of course. You give me opponents and I beat them. Yeah, there you go You give me opponents and I beat them, right? Yeah, there you go.

So we're friendly. We do good business. Yeah. Inshallah. Continue. You've been planning that one. Not bad. Not bad.

Decent zing, I thought. He's quietly hilarious. I got to give him credit. But, Luke, imagine if everything he's accomplished in his career, right? He just broke his knockout streak after knocking out his first 20 opponents. Could you imagine if he has two wins against B-ball, one of them by finish? The future will be very interesting because we know he's not going to fight forever, but whatever he ends up choosing with those two, three, four fights, whatever, however he would have left, you've got everybody

from Opitaya at Cruiserweight to usic given their amateur history even though even though you always see better be up going he's a little too big from benavidez to canelo i mean like there's a lot going on right now this could get very interesting so let me ask this last question on this topic the winner is likely likely to face david benavidez who like as i mentioned accepted the invitation from Turkey Al-Ashiq to be in attendance. Who is a tougher matchup for David Benavidez, BC? Better BF or Bivol? Better BF.

And I think what adds to that is Benavidez sharing that he sparred Bivol multiple times and, you know, quote, I heard him and not bragging, but just being like, yeah, I fought that guy and I had success in there. So I think that confidence level, even though Bivol is incredibly skilled and quick and all, you know, powerful to better be, I was just different. I think better be of has a deeper well to pull from, to battle back from being hurt or to survive and push through a potential high level war. Better be of is that dude.

He's just that dude. I mean, he's a freak of nature. You know, his, his strange workouts and his insane strength. And I mean, look, he's taking these giant hundred pound dumbbells and throwing them up in the air and catching them. And I mean, like just on the guys out of control in that regard, but I want to add one thing and I want to get your quick reaction. OK, there are a lot of people in the both the boxing and MMA Twitter space these days

who are making reporting harder because there's a lot of fake accounts. You know, there's Mick Coppinger. There's always fake aerial ones floating around. And then there's people that aren't even journalists that are becoming newsbreakers. And we don't know if we can take them seriously. But I will say I've liked what brunch boxing has done. They've come on the scene lately. They've been breaking stories. They're doing constant live podcasts on Twitter there. And they have a report yesterday that they

claim Canelo has not signed the Crawford contract yet, even though the fight was announced and that the Benavidez fight could still be in play for the fall. And they are reporting that Benavidez is going to meet with Turkey and that team Benavidez was told that if you come here, we have a contract for you. And that they asked is Canelo on that. If Canelo is on that contract, we'll sign it. That's a quote from brunch boxing reporting that there's no doubt in my mind, Turkey wants it. There's no doubt in my mind brunch. When I gave the thumbs down, I like brunch boxing too too i'm sure the report is accurate i have no reason to to doubt it whatsoever turkey wants it brunch boxing i'm sure is accurate david benavidez wants it canelo doesn't want it and if he doesn't want it it's simply not going to happen

that's just what the reality is so okay yeah canelo's a businessman though at the end of the day which means maybe in his heart he knows precisely in his heart he knows i'm going to take it eventually but i'm going to maneuver myself into the best possible position which might be forcing benavidez to come back down to 68 you know what i mean maybe that was the strategy let him go up to 75 get used to the weight maybe that was it i know that canelo doesn't deserve me potentially sticking up for him and trying to present this scenario because he shamelessly ducked this guy. Let's be fair. Let's be outright with that.

It's like undeniable at this point. But I guess we'll see. I'm optimistic. I am optimistic. Luke, this undercard still bangs with the changes, and you know it. So let's talk about it. Topic number four, which is basically the rest of this card. Now, we don't have time to really go into each of these fights but i think just kind of hitting the

high notes on the rest of these is important now bc there have been some changes to the card first let me read through what the card now today looks like martin baccoli is going to take on joseph parker martin baccoli is replacing obviously daniel dubois shakur stevenson is fighting josh padley of course that was supposed to be how do you pronounce the kid's last name scofield is replacing, obviously, Daniel Dubois. Shakur Stevenson is fighting Josh Padley. Of course, that was supposed to be... How do you pronounce the kid's last name? Schofield? Schofield. Yeah, Schofield.

Schofield. Which has been a debacle and a soap opera unto itself. We'll talk about it. That'll be for Stevenson's WBC lightweight title. Carlos Adamas taking on Hamza Shiraz for the WBC middleweight title. Virgil Ortiz taking on Israel Madramal. That's a hell of a fight. Big Bang Zhang taking on... How do you pronounce this guy's name?

Ajit? Ajit Kabayel. Yeah, Kabayel. That'll be for the vacant WBC interim heavyweight title, for whatever that is worth. And then the card opens, the main card anyway, with Joshua Boazzi taking on Callum Smith. Let's start at the top, BC.

Martin Boccoli comes in on late notice. I want to point out something. Obviously, BC, these changes to the card where they had to patch it up very quickly, this is all made possible by the extraordinary wealth that Saudi Arabia and Turkey Al-Ashiq has, like this obviously, right? But the model of like quickly replacing everything and then putting it together and then the fans just don't have to worry about whether an event is going to take place this is quite obviously turkey borrowing the ufc model and this is not a model that doesn't have its downsides in fact i don't know that i like it per se but the fans don't seem to mind

and i have to say bc i'm looking around i don't really see any boxing fans complaining too too much i mean some but they always complain and complain. And I don't think that represents necessarily the majority of fans. Is that a fair assessment? Yeah. Like, I really feel like Bacoli was such a best-case scenario in terms of replacement that anything short of this would have felt like this card took two legitimate hits with the Schofield falling off and then Dubois.

But this has, like, inflated that flat tire back up because because of Bacoli's personality, his style. But look, he looks like he's like three bills right now. And yet he jumped on this plane and took this opportunity to go in there against Parker. It's not a better matchup than Dubois Parker would have been but it still really matters and and bet your ass if Bacoli can continue his dominance as unlikely as it might be given the scenario um he could be fighting Usyk next for all we know listen Martin Bacoli is fat as hell I mean let's just say what it is and maybe it doesn't matter but it's got to matter in some form here it probably will if it goes late if you're Joseph Parker you know you got to be wary of his power but you're probably going to want to put a pace on him

because god only knows what shape he's in right that's just the reality bc um i love this fight i don't love it as much as i would have loved dubois versus parker and i think that would have been a much more interesting fight obviously dubois getting sick and i want to say this dubois getting sick bc saved schoolfield's career can I just say that like where'd he go sorry I had cat issues okay I had to let the cat out sorry all right no worries I get it I was gonna say didn't Dubois getting sick kind of save Schofield's career a little bit he was looking terrible early in the week and then Dubois gets sick and you're like all right maybe there's something happening here i don't know about career but at least reputation and if floyd scofield i

want to say pulling out of the fight but technically the british board of boxing control medically withdrew him like the soap opera attached to that if that irritated turkey and we don't really know the behind the scenes mechanisms there it could have been a disaster for him meaning the reports were that he was getting as high as four million for this fight to fight shakur so if you if he had pulled out because he was afraid or didn't want the fight anymore then that that could have been disastrous for the future of him but luke it is starting to like people are believing because his father took the video of him on the hospital bed you know looking not great at all and now Dubois coming off you're starting to wonder is it

something in the food or you know the climate and trying to cut weight or what have you but what did not help Schofield is the aggressiveness of his dad on social media, his trainer and manager, and almost the insinuation or the outright insinuations that first Shakur Stevenson's masseuse had, you know, drugged him with some cream. You know what I'm saying? And then, and then, then suddenly the same account, the Schofield account that the dad and son share is like putting out there. They just want to say, we're sorry. It's definitely not Shakur. Shakur had no part in it.

So it's like, were they threatened to get sued? It's just been kind of like wild and all over the place. And Schofield's dad is talking in a manner of which he's almost saying, I know something happened, but I don't want to get sued. So I've got to do this the safest way. And we're just happy. Thanks to Saudi for the care.

And we're just happy to get home safe. I don't really know what happened, Luke, but I think you're right. Reputationally, the Dubois thing corroborated with that. Either way, it's disappointing to see. I hope Schofield didn't pull out. He looked pretty sick in that photo. I just do remember that time that Oscar De La Hoya put a false hospital video out

when he pulled out of that Vitor Belfort trailer fight, Luke. You remember that, right? And now he's just sort of like, oh, yeah, I pulled out of that because, you know, because, yeah, yeah, yeah. Very quickly, Martin Bacoli's manager explained how quickly this fight got made. Let's take a look at the clip. I was up there on the press conference. I couldn't concentrate.

I'm not talking. I'm not even looking up. And I apologize if that looked rude. I was trying to make the fight, and we're trying to get it over the line, and came out of the press conference, spoke to his ex-senency a couple of times. The deal was done in about 15 minutes. Yeah, well, talk to me about that. When did you know De Waal was pulling out?

When did you know McCurley was in? When did I know? To be honest, I just saw the news that you saw around Daniel. I wasn't absolutely sure whether it was 100% or not. Obviously, at that point, everyone's putting their names forward. We felt like the only 50-50. This card is about a historic card. This is about a 50-50 card.

And for me, that was the only fight to make if you're trying to do this. But for me, everyone deserves a lot of credit. Everyone's taking a lot of risks. But I hope Martin Bercouli gets the appreciation of every boxing fan because to do this on two days' notice, it's a top five heavyweight like that with a final eliminator around the corner for our entertainment to, to add to the greatest card. I believe of all time, he deserves absolutely every credit. Yeah. Not just that Joseph Parker deserves a lot of credit for taking on a complete change

in the end as well bc how different are the styles between dubois and bacoli um they're pretty different they're pretty different but this version of dubois is a straight ahead destroyer especially the you know coming off of the most recent fight against anthony joshua where he was like possessed to go through aj and he did even getting hurt himself briefly in the same round that he delivered the knockout, but Dubois has better skills than, than Bacoli. There's no question about it. Bacoli six foot six strong as hell, big, durable,

gets up inside of you lingers in the pocket with you and tries to overwhelm you in like a raw old school, George, young George Foreman way, even though Foreman was a Olympic gold medalist and certainly could box just the same. I think Dubois is the better athlete and boxer. But this is just as dangerous. Less dangerous on the potential of Parker taking him into deep waters, which he should try to do basically and try to gas them out. But also dangerous because Bacoli is going to be looking to make this a war even more, even more than he normally would. And Parker can bang like Parker could also knock him out. So it's going to be fun to watch this for as long as Bacoli has gas.

It's going to be fun to watch. Bacoli looks like a modern George Foreman, not, not quite as good as Foreman obviously. And And, you know, he just punches like him. He mechanically moves like him. He's just got a lot of big George in him. But as we mentioned, he looks fat as hell. And taking this on very short notice. Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous opponent for Joseph Parker.

But there are some limits to what he can offer, I think, tomorrow. We shall see. Do you hear? I don't know ultimately what, uh, what Bacoli is going to get for taking this on short notice, right? We know a big payday,

but Eddie Hearn revealed that Josh Padley, who's going to fight Shakur and replace Schofield, uh, that they not only gave him a ridiculous career high payday, but that Turkey bought him a house for accepting that fight on late notice. So like, as much as we could

kind of laugh at that because it's unusual like these guys are getting their lives turned around taking these opportunities i'm happy for the fighters in that regard one of the benefits of this again every style of of not just matchmaking but keeping cards together or letting them fall apart when fights fall through there's pluses and minuses to either strategy. And obviously, you know, one of the pluses for fighters who are taking on a short notice when they do this kind of thing where they patch it up right away is that they need these fighters big time to keep it up, and that's a great way to get paid. Joshua Padley is a guy who is literally an electrician.

I thought Caleb Plant had a great tweet about it, not a goddamn thing wrong about it, that he was in this position it's short notice who the hell can they find no one wants to fight shakur stevenson anyway much less on short notice you're not going to get the cream of the crop there's absolutely nothing disreputable about what's happened but in fact bc joshua padley did speak to ring magazine about how this fight kind of fell in his lap let's hear from him tuesday were normal until six o'clock I'd got up and gone to work and stuff as as as usual um and then my manager Tom had rang me saying you're not going to believe phone call that I've just had what's your weight quick jump on scales now

and I'm like why why why and he's like you need to jump on weight and tell me his jump on scales and tell me your weight so we did and he were like I've just had the call for um Stevenson his opponents out the want you so obviously then it were a case of ring the nutritionist straight away make sure we can do it safely and obviously healthy and everything and then went into negotiation and after about 40,000 laps at kitchen and me pacing up and down uh I think it was 25 past 10 that night we got the we got the all well we got the if you can get through the next day, because they had two little hiccups to do,

one thing with my medical and then one thing with the check weight. If you can get through these tomorrow, we'll book you a flight. So, crazy, crazy. Insane that this fell in his lap. BC, Shakur Stevenson should beat the fuck out of him. I'm not even trying to be mean. I'm absolutely not. I have total respect for this guy, the balls he's showing the Moxie he's got.

I hope he gets a call because he upset Turkey's boy, Mark Chamberlain, who was a young British kid who Turkey identified as his favorite fighter. They fought on that, uh, in gone. I'm sorry. Yeah. The, no, the Joshua Dubois card in Wembley. And, uh, so to escalate from winning that but kind of like the dude that lucas body that knocked out ashton sylv like he then got

signed by mvp and now he's going to main event one of their in canada yeah so i like that this kid's getting this opportunity life-changing opportunity he's getting literally from the fact from the damn factory more or less right wherever he's working but in all likelihood, Shakur Stevenson should beat the living shit out of him. There's a vast difference in ability. Let's just hear very – I want to get your take on this, but let's just very quickly hear from Shakur, who has not had the most – what would you say? The smoothest week I've ever seen.

Do you believe it, I guess? Do I believe it? Come on. Come on. I'm telling you, i think this kid was uh losing my this is my assumption of the whole situation i think this kid was struggling to make the weight class and i feel like he may have tried last minute to make the weight and um he probably kind of had weight problems, and I think that was really the issue.

But instead of saying it, you know, they like to come up with all types of crazy stuff every day. It was more disappointing because I felt as though a lot of people did not want that fight. Like a lot of people was like, why would you fight this guy? So truthfully, I just was giving him an opportunity because he's been calling my name out his entire career. He's been using my name to build himself up. So I gave him the opportunity, and now it's like, okay, I did this, and this guy basically slapped me in the face at the same time too just because the opportunity was for you, bro. So I was going to beat you up in front of the public and everybody was going to watch, in the face at the same time too just because the opportunity was for you bro so i was gonna beat you up in front of the public and everybody was gonna watch but truthfully i wanted to you know

give you opportunity at making some big money too so um truthfully it was a slap in the face to me too yeah all right let me ask the question this way we often see that late minute late notice opponents can force a fighter to be sometimes sometimes a little bit more reserved Shakur Stevenson has already had a bit of a problem with that there is no denying Shakur is just so much better than this guy but could the late switch and everything else that's happened with Shakur kind of make him have a bit of a ho-hum performance or should we expect a stoppage? We should expect a stoppage, not just because of the, the huge gap in skill level, but, and the situation with the last minute and, you know, Shakur had a full camp. Like I think Shakur really did prepare for this fight, knowing that it was at the same time, a showcase fight and Schofield, like he brought something to the table. And, and I think Shakur took that seriously, even though he expected to beat him up.

And so did the odds makers having it minus 1200 for the original fight. But I thought there was some intrigue around that. This is about just don't get hurt, but it's also a commercial for Shakur. And you said it was a tough week. It's been a tough year plus for the guy, right? Some of it people can think is self-induced because of the performances in which he boxed safely. And people, you know, I mean, he got booed out of his home arena and cutting ties with top rank and all that, becoming a free agent. Not getting the Zepeda fight because of the injury, like all that.

He's being avoided constantly. But the thing that I have liked that has happened since this announcement Is that Eddie Hearn has gone out of his way on the microphone every single time to say Oh, don't worry, our goal, without an ounce of a question Is to make Tank vs. Shakur later this year And I know that would mean putting Al Heyman and Turkey on the same table And Carlos Adamas is a PBC guy who's going to be on this card on Saturday. But that would be a new level since Gervonta had been the most outspoken against Turkey.

But if Turkey's money is involved here and there's a price and he can meet that, then this is a commercial for Shakur for the future, and hopefully it does lead it to him to get the big fight. Because I think even though he probably got paid very well signing with Eddie and Turkey, I think you can argue that it would have been a better move for his career to sign with PBC to get the tank fight.

Hopefully they can still do it, even with all those cooks in the kitchen. I'll say this, a nice performance, which he should have, obviously makes a fight with Tank easier. I don't expect him to struggle, BC. That's not what I'm saying. But if it happens, God only knows what his options are going to be after that. They'll still be good, but he really needs a really strong performance here,

I think, to reset expectations and get people excited about his opportunities. Look, I got to get your take on if you think Tank versus Shakur will happen this year and your thoughts when you and I got all excited about Shakur and Keyshawn Davis first saying they'd never fight each other and they're best friends and now both being like, well, yeah,

send the contract. Yeah. The Keyshawn Davis one is interesting. I really hope that that's one that can be made. I don't know what to make about Tank. I think he's got a lot of the Canelo thing going on where he just doesn't want the tough fights. Lamont Roach is a very skilled fighter, but he's a little small, obviously. Oh, but he's confident as shit. You know that

from interviewing him. I love Lamont Roachach i have a lot of respect yesterday he is confident as hell that he's not is he not but what i mean is you know is tank like trying to find at his weight class the smoke and it's like i haven't seen a lot of evidence of that but let's see what happens he says he's got limited time left in the game i certainly hope to be wrong about that yeah he said three fights in one of the most recent sit-downs he did yeah which was yeah yeah that's about right all right bc quickly let's go through the rest of this card um give me give me the one thing that we should know about carlos adames taking on hamzan shiraz hamza it's a really good fight it really is like like you know critically it's an incredible fight for the hardcores. Adamas is exciting as heck.

He just hasn't had the opportunity to build on the momentum he's got while moving up to 160 and becoming a force here and becoming a world title holder. He never got the Jamal Charlo fight that he deserved because of Charlo's outside the ring issues. So he's an explosive Southpaw. He can box and he can bang, but he's fighting a guy who could be the next big thing. And middleweight needs things outside of Janabek, right? And, you know, we have Lara with a title, but he's inactive and never seems to be fighting top-end guys.

Well, Adamas wants smoke. Hamza Shiraz has been knocking everyone out. But this is a step up in class. This is a step up in class. This is a step up here. So this is a really good-ass fight that feels very 50-50, even if the odds don't exactly lament that. I'm looking forward to it. It's probably the sleeper of the card. You know, it definitely is the sleeper of the card.

So for me, the one that's the most interesting is the one that's next on it, which is Virgil Ortiz Jr. taking on Israel Madrimov. Madrimov, folks might recall, was the one that gave Bud Crawford a bit of a tough fight in L.A. during the summer. And then Virgil Ortiz, BC, what can we say? Just all action all the time. We thought we were going to get a boots fight. That's not happening.

But, again, how do these two match up? And I guess the question I'm asking is, of any fight on this card that is likely to be an action fight, you would probably pick the co-main, and I think this one. Is that right or wrong? Yeah, this is going to be an action fight you would probably pick the co-main and i think this one that right or wrong yeah this is going to be the fight of the night unless better bf and b-ball do exactly what i predicted they would which is take the first one and you know and add on a ton of more uh back and forth in it and have an all-action classic this one will be a thrilling tense amazing fight no question about it so virgil Ortiz Jr. had a similar knockout streak

to Better BF going into his last fight, but he was forced to move up to 154 after that unbeaten run at Welterweight because of all of those health issues that really kept him out of the ring for like two years and it canceled so many fights. Yet what has he done since coming to 54? You know, knocked out two aging names to prove himself

and then went in there, like you said, against Boachuk, got off the Kansas twice in a fight that would have been fight of the year any other year and is now in position to try to climb this ladder at 54. 54 has been thrown upside down, shaken up. Everyone got their salad tossed, if you know what I mean, Luke. And now we're trying to figure, in theory, in theory. I mean, you know, with mustard or maple syrup. What kind of party is this again?

I hadn't heard about this. Jelly. Yeah, yeah, there we go. Definitely the jelly. So it's just such a perfect matchup in styles, temperament. Ortiz only knows how to come forward. Yes, he can box. But his explosive hooks with both hands, his combinations, he gets right inside in the pocket,

and that's where he wants to be. He's a fight of the year candidate waiting to happen every single time out. He's also super skilled, undefeated, and just went the distance for the first time in his career. Modromov, we were never really sure about until his last fight, the defeat against Terrence Crawford, where even if Crawford came in under-motivated coming off of the Spence fight in the defeat against Terrence Crawford, where even if Crawford came in under motivated coming off of the Spence fight in the big layoff, however you want to dial it up.

I personally think Madriamov's movement and feints gave Crawford hell, but Crawford had to show his greatness at a new division at 154 and gut that fight out late and figure out the angles to win more rounds than he lost. And he did that. But Madrimov's awkwardness mixed with the fact that he's constantly coming forward is going to meet in a perfect all action sandwich here. But it's really going to be Madrimov that's going to make Virgil Ortiz have to use his brain on a very high level. I don't know. I'm going to lean Madrimov where he's got plus money on him. It's very close on the odds that what he showed against Crawford to me was another level of understanding and craft. Obviously, Ortiz is going to try to get him into a war.

Inevitably, they're going to bang Luke. But Madrimov has to make sure he throws enough punches or Ortiz will win a decision on volume alone. And I think he may approve that in the Bochuk fight. Our friends at DraftKings have, by the way, in the previous fight, Carlos Adamas at plus 255. They have Shiraz at minus 330. For this fight, they've got, listen to this, man.

How often do you see boxing fights like this? Virgil Ortiz, minus 125 to Madrimov's plus 100. An absolutely razor-thin fight. Two action fighters. That one's going to be the one to watch, I think. Very quickly, BC, you've got Big Bang Zhang taking on Ajit Kabayel. That's a really good fight as well. Very quickly, he's still doing, show us Long Island, Luke, the no-diddy bit.

Gilles was asked earlier in the week to give three reasons why he beats you. His reasons were bang, bang, bang. I heard you say this more time he will bang me you know suddenly we will see he bang me or i bang him i'm big about i find you no deal dude seriously the bits overdone but his joy his joy alone continues to make me laugh out loud until i cry every time he does this bit which is basically if you go to the queensberry uh instagram account he does this bit every day there's a video on there every day with every single day this is how he orders food at the restaurant. He goes, I'm going to bang you, no ditty. And they're like, all right, well, I'll just get you a cheeseburger.

BC, we all kind of know who Big Bang Zhang is. At least most folks have some idea about him. What about Ajit Kabayel? Yeah, he kind of, at least on my radar as a non-American heavyweight, really just kind of came up on the scene in that fight against unbeaten frank sanchez and not only beat him delivered a ko and you're like oh okay this guy is someone i seriously have to take into account now this is a step up in class for him yeah i'd say that but he has been escalating the right way fighting the next level

guys and showing us tough guys got some power can box zhang's a tough out luke we know this can you outwork zhang over 12 you better have a chin first of all you better be willing to get into a war and get up from the canvas but yes there's always always always stamina issues following big bang around but there are pockets in this fight usually two to three rounds at a time where he looks like southpaw muhammad ali and he's knocking guys heads back with stiff straight accurate shots so we're gonna find out if caballel has the chin on this level he's either gonna get ko'd or win by it in my opinion this is gonna be a wild and fun-ass fight last but not least bc i don't know this is the one that the folks care most about, but what should we know about Joshua Boazzi and Callum Smith? Yeah.

For, for being the curtain jerker here on the seven fight feature. Yeah. I think there's two other fights. It all starts at like 10 30 in the morning Eastern time, but this is a really good fight in the one that's probably getting the least amount of love. Joshua Boazzi has looked for a long time coming out of the UK that he's

like the future of this division, but like every step up opportunity or every close-up like he's looked good he looked pretty good but like he hasn't won us over well now he's fighting Callum Smith who despite being knocked out by Betterbiev recently is battle-tested former world champion only losses to Canelo and Betterbiev okay so that's what we're talking about here we're to find out everything we really need to know about Buwati. That's what this fight is about. I think there's an interim title at stake in some form,

but this is about finding that out using Callum Smith as the measuring stick. Does he still matter in this division? If he wins this fight, he does. So don't sleep on this one. Wake up in time for this, and let's hit it hard. I mean, are you doing an all-day live stream, Luke? you just basically not quite all day not quite all day i'm probably going to skip the first one or two of these and then i'm going to get going and do also i'll probably do the top five um and my friend othello is going to be with me as well so that should be a real fun

he's a great guy he's a great guy othello Shots of who, by the way, he texted me today and he'll announce this tomorrow on the live stream. He got laid off this morning. So, uh, yeah. Went out for Othello and he's a big Reddit guy. That guy, Othello love him.

You know, lots of, lots of those layoffs happening around this area these days. All right. BC very quickly. Uh, the draft King's odds on this one for big bang, Jang and Caballel Jang,

a very slight underdog, plus 135. Kabayel, minus 165. Again, another well-matched fight. And then in the DraftKings odds for Buwatsi, minus 205. And then Smith, plus 165. BC, this part's all you. Thank you very much, Luke. You know that in the last year and a half,

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A G one.com slash morning combat to get this offer drinkag1.com slash morning combat combat with a k of course to start your new year on a healthier note let's build consistency and happiness together let's rock out yeah that's what i'm talking about back to you luke yeah all right topic number five if we can bc let's talk about the ufc fights that are in fact tomorrow i mean there's so much going on you're almost loose side of it but there are some gems on this card and as ufc returns to seattle bc your main event is going to feature henry sahudo at age i think 37 38 now taking on song yudong both fighters began their pro careers in 2013 but have had very different experiences coming into this fight.

It's obviously kind of like an old versus young thing, which we've seen continuously with the UFC and more recently. What is one issue each fighter has had that has held them back that they need to fix in order to win this particular contest? Yeah, I think for Suhudo, first and foremost, it's activity level. It's not, I mean, He can't turn back time, but what have we seen of the post-retirement Cejudo who stepped away at the peak of his powers, earning prime in 2020, and took three years off after a run to two championships? I don't know in hindsight if we're going to say that was a bad decision, that was whatever. I

mean, there were some changes in his personal life that he needed to go through. But when he came back, he's still super elite. But after losing a split decision to Aljamain Sterling for the title and then losing a close, but I think visually a thorough, defeat to future champion Marab Davalosvili in their three-round test, I think we learned that he's got to get himself to a higher gear faster and more consistently from the standpoint of carrying out his game plan, being active enough and obviously mixing the threat of the takedown with his

hands. He can't handle himself in action fights or in certain situations there, but he's at his best when he's keeping guys down on their back and having that weapon in his pocket, but having the motor and the tank at this age to be able to be himself. Obviously you get older, you got to cut corners in terms of how much you can work per round and different aspects on there. He's almost got to be perfect to beat these young lions. I think he still has enough. I think he's smarter than ever and he's in his skills are still there, but for Song Yudong, that's why I really liked the crossroads nature of this matchup. I think he still has enough. I think he's smarter than ever, and his skills are still there.

But for Song Yedong, that's why I really like the crossroads nature of this matchup. It's like his record overall is really good, and we've known about him a long time as Mr. Faber's boy coming from China, right? Yes. Ultimately, Luke, when he has stepped up, though, we've seen the limitations to his rise. So I think he's got to really come out against the older fighter, the name and take it to Cejudo. He's got to ramp up this pace. He's got to really force Cejudo to, to use everything he has in a fight that maybe he doesn't expect that he's going to have to, to stay around this title picture. This is probably the

most advantageous opponent of the elites for Cejudo because there's still holes ultimately in what Song Yedong's been able to show us. But he's shown us that the materials are there. You know what I mean? We bought everything on the recipe list. He seems like he's getting closer to figuring out the right formula for himself,

but he's not there yet. We need that statement performance where he comes out and he owns that cage in round one and takes control of this fight as a veteran. If he can't do that, there's an opening here for Cejudo. I love this fight. I know this card's been chopped up left and right. This main event is good. You can't miss it, Luke. I love this fight. I love this fight as well. To answer the question on what they have to do a little bit differently, Song Yedong does not by any means have bad takedown defense, but he doesn't have ironclad defense, at least not historically, although I think it's gotten a lot better. And I do think generally speaking, he's got pretty good wrestling.

But Henry Cejudo averages two takedowns per 15 minutes BC. He has to stop that or at a bare minimum, eliminate control time because if you let a guy who's older coast with top pressure for any amount of time through the course of a five-round bout you're just unnecessarily giving the fight away when this is a thing that i think you know is it easy to stop henry sujudo's takedowns probably not that inside trip he's got one of the best if i think he's got the best inside trip in mma but you have there has to be some kind of answer for it also he's been a little bit hittable i think that's really a thing that's kind of held him back even in the cory sandhagen fight bc just the cut he absorbed on his forehead or wherever it was exactly i don't remember if

it was the forehead or the top of the head either way it ended up being like a defining feature of why he lost that fight yeah the the defense needs to be there on the henry cejudo side bc the cardio man the cardio like obviously going against marab your cardio is not going to look the best but even then he was fading in the second round in that fight much less the third i think he really really has to clean that part up because if you can maintain uh pressure if you can maintain pace even if the initial takedowns don't work you can really wear on a guy that way then you can really get in his mind and then he goes back to being able to get taken down back to being a little bit more hittable i think on either side that's kind of what i'm looking for dude he's got

to to slow the aging process he's got to pull the glover to shara and make make make wrestling and top control his bread and butter. I mean, it already kind of is, but obviously what made Cejudo great in his peak was his ability to mix all the arts together and carry out a game plan and has great coaching in the corner with the captain, Eric Albarracin, or just a fashion. I mean, icon would be too strong of a word. A fashion daredevil, Luke? Is that fair i would say a fashion uh

disaster there it is there it is sorry sorry about that captain uh but i mean i love him but he dresses like a weirdo yeah dude like so who don't have like it's got to be where he is dictating the terms of the fight which means he's dictating the tempo and the pace. You know what I'm saying? Like he's got to be able to use his own gas tank, not as a weapon like Merab did to him, but as a control mechanism. Like he's got to be the driver, Luke.

And that's why I think Song Yudong has to come out and make an early statement and be physical and show that like, you know, I'm willing to go deeper as a five round fight, which could favor. So who don't late, if there's an inexperience gap, that's visible. It also could be a problem for him.

So I need song you dong to come out quick and establish who he is in this first round, Luke, but you know, I I'm sure Dana wants that too. That's what we all want, but Willie let's find out. I don't know about this.

By the way, put up this picture if you can about Song Yedong. He shows this picture here. When Henry Cejudo was competing for the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, there's Song Yedong obviously holding the pictures, but also the one on the right there in his left hand, where he was selling souvenirs outside that very olympic arena and here they find themselves bc song and don'ts an interesting guy he's sort of been one of these dudes who got to the ufc really early probably much earlier than he should have as i

mentioned they started their careers at the same time and he's been a work in progress i've been waiting for him to turn that corner and there's been several of these he has but i've i've not seen the big one yet the big corner where i've really leveled up like there's been little peaks there's been little two or three fight runs where you're like okay he's maturing he's putting it together he's got coach mr faber in the corner but what's the one performance that you're like oh my god he looked bad-ass and he owned that fight. It's going to have to be this one. If he's going to be a true title contender, right?

Like there's, that's exactly right. There is a fresh meat element to so who do he's going to be better than song. He's going to be more technical. He's going to be, but is he going to be the horse that can go the distance here? I mean,

this is a five round fight. Do you think that's going to be a negative for song at all that it's a five-round fight or do you think you can use that to his advantage i think he can use it to his advantage in this case i mean so hudo needs to make it not a liability but i just don't think it'll be his advantage i really don't um that this is the job of so hudo you uh excuse me the job of of of song where he just really really really needs to be the one. I don't know if he has to put on a critical pace, but he's got to make Suhudo have to work as hard as he possibly can,

given the way he fights. And that is going to be the key, I think, to him getting a victory. By the way, our friends at DraftKings have Suhudo at a plus 220 Song, at minus, Song is the last name, not Yodong, minus 270. By the way, Cejudo as the betting underdog had some thoughts about what that meant. Let's hear from him. I'm 11 years his elder.

He's an explosive fighter, really good at countering. He's a guy that could shut your lights off with one punch. But I think the same reason why his greatest gift is also his worst enemy too. That gas he could completely go straight to E. So I love the fact that he gave me a younger fighter.

I love the fact that my back is against the wall. There's a chip on my shoulder. I love the fact that I'm an underdog because these are the moments where I shine and i uh i appreciate all of it you know he's talking about song yodong's gas tank which again i don't think is exemplary by any stretch but i don't if it's worse than a 38 year old henry cejudo he's got much bigger problems than just losing that fight potentially right yeah yeah there's This is a big...

It's like we thought he might be graduating to Legends fights only at this point, but this is him getting back into the mix. It's probably, like I said, the best opportunity for him to do that because Yudong still has some holes in his game or the level he's reached at this point in terms of his performances.

But it's also a referendum on does Suhudo still belong with this group? And it was interesting in that same media day sit down. So who does said he was of the mindset that, cause he thought he was going to be fighting dominant Cruz on this card, that he was probably going to just take a couple more against those legends. But he said it was, uh, I believe you said it was Hunter Campbell and him who had conversations and arguments. And eventually he got talked into, like, if you're still going going to fight you might as well be chasing the top and they they centered on song yedong as the right opponent to test that so um so hudo came around that he still looks at himself as that guy

but it is interesting that he revealed that that he thought he was kind of done and you know i'll fight dominic cruz again well you know we'll see who else is available there's a lot of pressure on him to to to prove he still belongs in this conversation and this deep great division luke i hope so because it's fun but he's also still throwing out the 125 idea in fact he said like if he gets a win here he it might open the door for him against pantoja do you think he can make that way no i don't i also want you to react to something we've got a clip here from our friend Shaq Majorey talking to Henry about where Henry really is in this point in his career, win or lose.

Let's react to what he has to say. It's because of having a couple losses. I'm not accustomed to going through that. Is this fight really going to inform where Henry Cejudo is at and what his future holds? But you're right. I mean, obviously, what I show on Saturday is gonna be an indication of where I'm at, cuz it's not like I'm just a wrestler either.

I knock people out too. Every time I see my daughter, I scream America. Okay, that part is whatever, but you see if he loses, does he retire? Yes, he does. Yes, he does. he does does that mean close okay does no i don't know like do i if he gets if he gets if he gets like like flattened i think he might retire if he gets it out i don't know or if he gets handled four rounds to one i think he retires but i was to say, I think because he's such a competitor and he's a personality and he does love challenges and being in the spotlight. If another fight opened up to him, whether it was a 125 title opportunity, if the UFC was into that

or a legends fight or something, I think he would take it and come back. But yes, I think that would halt him trying to climb the ladder and be in line and be competitive. And I think what I've heard from him this week is if there's, you know, if there's not purpose behind what he's doing, he's not going to do it. So this there's purpose in this. He wins this fight. He's he's back in the conversation. So there's a lot of pressure on him. And I've always liked Henry Cejudo a lot, Luke, even through the cringe years, for sure. And I really wish he didn't walk away at, you know, when he was on top, whether he needed that or not. But, uh, I, I do wonder sometimes because he won me over in the process. I thought he wasn't as good as the achievements he was achieving. And then I finally caught up. I wonder what we missed in those three years.

What do you think? I mean, he, he really wanted to fight Volkanovski for a three-division championship opportunity. You could argue that he actually had some really tough headwinds in front of him, and he actually saved himself some losses that were there. I don't think that's the craziest argument. We're talking about bantamweight. It's a very, very, very tough division, a very tough division. And so with that i can understand

the argument that like hey you know it's like habib if he kept going he probably would have lost too and so you don't get those and so you just get a nice cleaner thing the problem for me was it also is true that he was at the peak of his powers right like however good he was gonna be it was then um and sitting out while you have a belt when that's your biggest opportunity to get money i think that was a strategic error you know just given the lay of the land uh there's nothing you can really do uh bc also on this uh card excuse me give me just one second here i got my notes all mixed up here i apologize sorry also Sorry. Also on this call. I would have been into Connor versus Cejudo like three years ago. I just want to put that out on the record right now.

BC, the fight beyond the main event that I really want and I'm very interested in, you're Brendan Allen versus Anthony Hernandez co-main. I think it's the co-main. I absolutely love this contest. It's a rematch from their LFA days. BC, I got to tell you, the future of the, like, there's a lot on the line here, not a rematch from their LFA days BC I gotta tell you the future of the like there's a lot on the line here not just rematch stakes but like the guy who wins this is not only just

going to ascend in the rankings but I don't know is something to me like this is I don't want to overstate the stakes but let me just tell you what I'm thinking it seems to me that if Brendan Allen wins this is true but if Fluffy Hernandez wins is especially true. He's going to be one of these fighters that is absolutely going to be a defining like feature of the middleweight division in the next three years. Yeah. Is that too much of a take? No, he's marketable and he's aggressive and he's fun and absolutely. And the streak he's been on has been very aggressive and he's fun and absolutely. And the streak he's been on has been very impressive. He's been escalating properly and the name value in this fight certainly

meets that because before Brendan Allen's last fight with the loss that halted a, a real red hot fire momentum of, uh, you know, fight night main events and, and getting his own streak together. This is a great test in that regard, but I think as much as this is about, can Fluffy take the next

level to possible knocking on the door of, you know, title contention and maybe not stardom, but a run here, a run of being someone that we take note of aggressively. Is this more of a referendum about Brendan Allen coming off of that defeat luke because it seems like mma twitter is like counting this dude out and hates him off of one loss but was that an audit was that a thorough one in your eyes to really bring up these question marks brendan allen has a lot of ability but at times just seems like he can't quite get over the hump whereas and he and he got a little, he got obviously a lot of, uh,

uh, he, his career got a lot of attention early. Hernandez doesn't seem to be exactly that guy. I think he's sort of quietly snuck up on everybody and has all of a sudden just started to look like really good. Not the most skilled, although he is skillful.

I'm pleased. Don't misunderstand me. He's skillful, but what he really has BC. And this is why i kind of got my eye on him dude he's got a cardio gas tank that is just unbelievable and he and he has a style like marab it's not the same as marab obviously but the idea is these guys who've got great gas tank, it's not just that they can use them. They're building their styles and their offense off of that awareness. And so it's becoming a cohesive hole where I'm going to weaponize my cardio against you specifically with these individual

tactics and these individual strategies. And it's looking like he's ready to start making some noise in this division, but Brendan Allen is a skillful competitor himself. He can match some of the strengths in Fluffy Hernandez's game in the grappling. At least you would imagine early, it's down that stretch. What's going to happen when it's gut check time? If you're Brendan Allen and you're coming off that Imavov loss, again, Imavov very good, but he kind of faded. And now you're facing a guy who only ramps

it up as the fight goes longer that's a tough fight so it'd be a great win for brendan allen and it'd be a very proven point uh for anthony hernandez should he emerge victorious i fully agree on that there are questions here that alan's got to answer especially if this fight goes late not the same style but like no shame in losing to immov but i don't know i expected more in that fight now he gets a rebuttal he gets a chance great fight here luke and you know shout out to mr van zandt too i know it probably came rather than having to go through the contender series or what have you because of the location and the fact that these fights were just falling off this undercard like a pandemic here luke or an epidemic

or an epi pen somewhere in there all that shit um but i'm excited to see if mr throat tat can swim at this level right sure yeah i mean i don't i haven't listened after he collapsed against gegard musasi and like less than a round it was one of the worst picks i ever had in my life yes i've lost a little bit of confidence you know what I'm saying so we shall see we shall see I want to say a couple things if we can let's quickly bring in Bong Island Luke through a cloud

of bong smoke Long Island Luke I'm going to guess that the Gene Silva Milsik Bagdasarian fight is high on your list what else has captured your imagination I mean betting wise that's not that high on my list because what else has captured your imagination i mean betting wise that's not that high on my list because gene silva's like a minus 500 favorite but uh henry suhudo i did jump on at plus 240 i mean you mentioned song's been taken down in all three

of his ufc losses henry former olympic champion wrestler also just lost to aljo and marab really not bad losses whatsoever uh also on rob font as a dog this week again john matsumoto again matsumoto undefeated but he's taking the fight on short notice rob font did just upset kyler phillips last time out feel like he could do it again uh and i i'm fading mr van zandt dude varetnikov he lost to michael morales on contender series and he lost to danny barlow by split decision in his ufc. Those aren't bad losses whatsoever. I feel like Vandiford has not looked the same. Yeah, he just got a knockout on LFA,

but what does that really mean? You're predicting a Moutinho-like run through the UFC for me. Yes, yes. Very much so. If I may say, very much flying under the radar. Javid Basharat taking on Ricky Simone. Wow. That's a good fight that has just very quietly been added to this card.

I can't believe it. Also, BC, your friend and compatriot and countryman, Modestus Bukauskas, is back against Rafael Sarkaria. I'm sure I'm saying that wrong. That's a curtain-jerker fight, but it'll be fun. But, Luke, Ibo Aslan, that Turkish slugger, he didn't do bad things to Kute Lava. I don't think it's Aslan. I could belan, that Turkish slugger, he didn't do bad things to Kutaylava. I don't think it's Aslan. I could be wrong about that.

I just call him Assman around my friend. Sorry. It was the, oh, Dick Rico. Is that what you remember? He was Dick Rico. Yes, yes, Dick Rico. He was aggressive, that guy. And then you said to Aljo's face he was being dicked down.

That was a great moment in my broadcasting history. I got to say that. But, Luke, aren't you excited about this Turkishkish slugger he was awesome last time out i think any life being introduced into light heavyweight is welcome i don't know how good he can be or will be or what we're gonna get but if he ends up being halfway decent god knows that division needs it so let's see what he's got yeah what a show we we really we really banged him out i just want to say quick everyone has officially made weight besides fluffy hernandez has not weighed in yet how much time does he have left 45 uh yeah 45 minutes all right keep us updated now bc with this in mind do you

want to do dead wrongs or should i um i love doing it all right luke you know i'll do it well i did represent queens at one point. She was raised down in Brooklyn. Hey, sometimes we get it wrong, and then you email us at morningcombat at gmail.com, and you put timestamps in there, and sometimes you try to dunk on us, and then Luke gets all pissy. No, I don't. I'll let you guys do it.

It's just when they come at me with some bullshit, I don't like it. They come at me with good stuff, too. We'll end the show with some dead wrongs. Dead wrongs. All right, let's see if Daz shows up. Right now we got Kishian. He says, hello, guy. Kishian from Montreal, Canada here.

At an hour and 30 minutes of the February 10th episode, Luke says Mayweather versus Guerrero was a bullshit fight yes it was robert guerrero was ranked number 10 pound for pound at the time by ring magazine and number three at welterweight behind floyd and juan manuel marquez he was also the mandatory for the wbc title which floyd held at the time and he also included articles with the rankings and the mandatories there yeah i mean the reason why I called it a bullshit fight was because there were better ones to make at that time. And Mayweather was a, at times a minus 800 favorite. Get the fuck out of here. No one on earth thought Guerrero had a fucking prayer.

That's why it's a bullshit fight. So no, I won't. Well, it didn't help that his performance was one of the worst, you know, that Floyd had to deal with across from him in a big fight ever and yeah i mean he was a gigantic well not i've seen bigger he earned it he earned it he beat burdo in that absolute slugfest he did earn it in the sense that like you could justify it fine but once it was booked everyone knew what the score was there was no mystery to it whatsoever and then he went in there and turned in an all-time stinker sorry it's a bullshit fight i'm not you know i'm not even gonna pretend otherwise i think you were heavy-handed in your description but i get what you're saying dude there was nobody if if if it is the entire lead up to a fight is just a function

of how the a side is going to stunt on the other guy and then that's exactly what happens in the fight what are we supposed to call that i mean i can understand i can understand i can understand guerrero i understand that guerrero there there is a claim that like he didn't arrive in that position accidentally but mayweather picked him because it was a bullshit opponent i'm sorry get the Get the fuck out of here. I lived through that whole cycle. I remember it very distinctly and thinking it was one of the dumbest wastes of our time that that fight took place. You're not going to make me change what I lived through in that experience. Get the fuck out of here.

I lean a little closer to Kishian, but it's not his fault, Luke, that he was born in the early 90s, as you've said many times. I understand that. I can appreciate that. Let's to frederick he says dead wrong for luke again with a government source luke for someone data oriented you tend to cherry pick what you seem to want to look at this took literally two minutes to find also what you read on twitter is not an accurate representation of the world or distribution of opinions. He brought a what is this long? Oh, look, he brought a website for each year. We show the rank of Liam and a bar representing the popularity of that name.

The longer the bar, the more popular the name, the more popular the name in a given year, the the numerically lower the I can't read this shit i he's he's trying to say there's a bunch of liams and listen i know there's a lot of fake news out there and i'm sorry to be spreading it right at this moment but uh it's not a real thing sorry according to this which i can barely read as well it looks like it's ranked number one in the last seven years or so so look they're saying also a thing that's not true yeah not only are you wrong they're saying you're dead wrong that's what they're sure that's what frederick is they're allowed to say that you've it it's just bullshit but okay what did you think of that i'll take that

that flat earth debate between rashad and rampage and that other guy on that jackson podcast did you see that i think that um you know have you heard about that meteor that is like every time the nasa scientists update us it's like gone from like a 1.4 chance like a 2.2 chance of it in earth and now it's like a three point i i need it to be like a 99 chance please that's what we really have the same chance of your airplane colliding with another right now hey turns out that might be pretty high turns out that might be pretty high uh we also our final one is from colin he says happy friday luke and bc and luke you're dead wrong about nasa dean immov's age no i'm not the consensus for his age is 29 because he was born in march of 95 i included

this screen grab so luke can't try to deflect deny or defend him guys I have said this before I'll say it again I use tapologies records which I think are the best records in the entire sport I do acknowledge there are competing numbers between where you might look but my standard of excellence because I've literally never been done wrong by them is tapology they've got him at 28 the backside of my balls are available for licking let me know when you want to queue up okay wow look you went oh for three on these dead rungs although they i want to say i want to say in this gentleman's defense that uh tapology is the only website that has 28 every other coincidentally the best one coincidentally the best one all right every other source though has 29 i mean he used wiki as his source here which is obviously a pretty

terrible source but like sure dog has it espn has it so let me just say like you have to pick what your standard of excellence is and it could be the case that typology is wrong i mean obviously right it could be wrong but they're the i started using them a few years ago their record keeping is by far the best in the sport not perfect they could be wrong but it's where i go and until someone can show me that they're wrong not simply by showing me just another database you have to explain to me why topology is wrong then i'll be wrong but until then no i think we just got to get nasser dean on the show and ask him straight up and ask him and casares on the show so we can ask him yes and also get the ufc matchmaker so we can debate riad versus uh

3 uh 12 all over again or whatever it was yeah there it is hey that's all we got for that shit um morningcombat.gmail.com is the email address. Mikey told us there wasn't good fan subs. There's only one. So the email is open. If you want to send in a fan sub for next Friday, it's on you. Thank you very much for playing. And also, this great episode of Morning Combat was brought to you by DraftKings, Luke.

Did you know that? Did you know that the crown is yours? I certainly did. The DraftK uh, excuse me. As you mentioned, today's episode is in fact brought to you by draft Kings. The crown is yours and we appreciate them taking such good care of us. Go use their services for,

if you so choose to have fun with the fights tomorrow, including both the boxing and MMA BC. Are you going to watch all of them? How's this going to go? Yeah, I'm going to watch them all from this recliner, this mancliner that I have in the basement with the TV. It's going to be great, dude.

Oh, yeah, it's going to be a great day. It's going to be an interesting day. I told my wife I'll take care of Tukes in the morning all the way until about 1, and then I'm just going to. It's just going to be me, Reggie, and Turkey all day. It's going to be me reggie and turkey all day it's gonna be great how many times is turkey gonna do this yes do you think that like after hours turkey like passes the jade of the fighters or is that is that impossible no i did i did read about this because you know obviously saudi arabia is like a dry country but not totally they're apparently there are some laws in the books and in fact

they've created um it was either a bar or like a place to buy liquor for a select group of diplomats yes so i'm guessing that there are some people tomorrow in riyadh who are going to be enjoying some uh some whiskey let's say yes yes um and then maybe in connecticut too with some delta eights someone yesterday on my chat bc was like what's the best gas station food that bc's ever introduced you to and i was like delta eights no doubt no question but for like hot dogs no hot dogs don't get you high no delta eights will get you yeah yeah that's what i hear luke but you know there it is whoop there it is well there it is all right uh one more time throw up our socials on the screen here there you see it you

can follow morning combat everywhere don't forget i'm sure bc you'll have some coverage tomorrow on your personal channel yeah definitely late night but yeah it'll be a brian campbell experience and then i'll join me and othello recently laid off othello poor receipt poor receipt so we'll be doing a live stream together uh for all of the boxing. Okay? Well, now, Luke, you got anything going on tomorrow? Yeah, I'll be live for the UFC Seattle card. So after they watch you watch long, 9 p.m. for the main card.

For the main, okay. So they can watch you with the boxing. They can watch BC and Rafe, question marks? Yes. Reaction to the boxing. And then they can watch me on the watch long. Awesome. There you go. You should catch outside how about uh in your comment section on

the main card minute pod i love joining those donks in there yeah i will i will not be joining those i love you but i'm not i'm not doing that i'm not doing that shout out to dave sandin look you ever heard of that mk list yeah he's he's a's a great guy. He would have jumped on Osborne's train in a heartbeat, dude. In a heartbeat. Many of them did. Many of them did. All right. We're out of here.

That's Brian Campbell. I'm Luke Thomas. Thank you for watching MK Today in studio on Monday. We love you. We appreciate you. Enjoy the fights this weekend. We'll catch you on Monday. Until next time, may all of your gains be loyal.