MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Nick Diaz's Future | Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz | Quick Hitters | EP 244

Episode Date: December 23, 2021

On Episode 244 of Morning Kombat Luke and Brian discuss Dana White's comments about Nick Diaz. Is he right that Nick should retire? Next up is Nate Diaz... Dana White says he wants to make Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirier. What's holding him back? We close out the main topics with some quick hitters (Chael Sonnen, Rose Namajunas, Diego Sanchez). Morning Kombat’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Bullhorn and wherever else you listen to podcasts.    For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing the new McSpicy from McDonald's. It looks like a regular chicken sandwich, but it's actually a spicy chicken sandwich. McSpicy. Consider yourself warned. Limited time only at participating McDonald's in Canada. Reveille, reveille, dogs. Look at us now, tip to tip This is our life, this is our passion

That's the spirit we bring to this show I'm Luke Thomas I'm Brian Campbell This is Morning Combat Christmas is almost here Are you in the Christmas spirit? We're in the giving mood today Which is why we're doing a show at all Look at at BC. Take a big ass breath as he readies himself for an hour

or potentially two of podcasting. You can clearly tell he doesn't want to do. Hello, everyone. My name is Luke Thomas. I'm one half of your morning combat hosting duo. I join you from Washington, DC with the crown prince of Connecticut himself. It's Brian Campbell. Hello, Brian Campbell. How are you? Luke, first time I'm putting on this MK drug rug, and it feels very comfortable, fantastic. I do feel like I've climbed the social ladder of my high school to another rung by putting this on, Luke. Okay?

They could see me now. How warm is it, or is it, you you know you're just wearing a burlap sack no it's warm it's got this inner lining and also i think it warms my heart at the same time luke very happy to be uh to be wearing this piece of bullshit that you can also buy luke but maybe there's time you're gonna throw to that luke how are you here wednesday the day before most people are gonna kind of just hang it up. I think most of our Showtime staff has hung it up completely as they no-showed the pre-show meeting. But, you know, it's that time, Luke, to unplug a bit, okay?

To focus on what's really important. Not this MMA celebrity boxing shit. Real life, all right? The people around you, all right? I mean, I don't think your dad's asked you about his Las Vegas property for at least since Thanksgiving, so this should be a good week for you. That's about right.

Yeah, I'm tired. I'm tired. I think most people are a little bit tired. Everyone's getting COVID, which is fun. So I'm just trying to live. Are you going anywhere for the holidays or are you sticking around? No, I'm staying home and actually staying home. Like the family get together I had,

I think got smartly kind of canceled because of COVID. So, you know, we're going to keep it low key local, you know, going to really enjoy myself, Luke. Maybe watch Elf for the five millionth time. I mean, it'd be great. All right. That's probably what we'll do. We actually are going to get out of town for just a little bit,

but we're going to go to a secluded area, so it shouldn't be too bad. But we do have a show today. We are going to talk about what is in the news. We're going to play over, under. We'll do some fan subs, and I think we have a very brief but important dead wrong. So we'll get to all of that today. So thumbs up if you're watching on YouTube. Hit subscribe if

you are new. If you're listening on podcast, any platform that it's on, just give us a nice review on that platform. We always appreciate it. You see BC's shirt, drug rug, hoodie, whatever you want to call that. You can get it though though, at one place and one place only. MorningCombat.store. You can get drug rugs, mugs, hats, fanny packs, underwear with our faces on it. Yeah. Lots of good stuff.

I didn't get that underwear. I do appreciate the care packages. Our great merch master, RJ Dunkelmaker, sent me. Look, I got the tie-dye new brand run we got going on. If you go to MorningCombat.store, of course, as Luke saidye new brand run we got going on. If you go to morningcombat.store of course, as Luke said, use live10 for your 10% off discount, but it seems like they're adding something new every day.

We now offer digital gift cards that if you're looking for a last-minute gift, a stocking stuffer option, stuff that shit with an MK digital gift card all right i mean look you know it's not for everybody but the ones who know oh yeah they know they know have you

have you been to a yes i know i get everyone knows have you been to a cbs i mean whatever have you been to a cbs sports office party before and if so was it any good uh i have not been to one because the home office is there in fort lauderdale but they do have that satellite office in uh not you know a little over than an hour away from me in connecticut that uh if they're gonna have some you know some uh jollies there i'd take part luke uh i use i this is the one part about office life that i miss because sirius xm used to have like epic holiday parties. You know, they rent out like Hammerstein Ballroom and shit like that. Oh, have you ever heard of the ESPN Christmas party that used to cost just shy of a million dollars per year to put on, Luke?

No. What was that like? So there's a, you know, a wedding or prom type place that has like 10 different rooms and everyone's had their prom there in this area they would rent that entire shit out and then every room would be a different theme of of food or like there'd be a game room with a full arcade and pool hall brought in they'd get like chaka khan to sing live and every room would have like top shelf gourmet food and and and top shelf booths for free and uh it was a drunk hookup fest that cost the company a lot of money and got a lot of people uh uh you know hammered and eventually they stopped doing that to save money around around 08 or 09 but it

was an epic time back in the day i do miss office parties like that not the bullshit ones that you're like you made it to where your attendance is in the conference room, and everyone's drinking out of Solo cups and like forced, I don't mean that. I mean like the companies that actually went out of their way to have a party. I do miss that part of office culture, but what are you going to do? We got some DS stuff to get to today, BC. Oh, before I forget, Showtime.com, you can get a 30-day free trial. If you like it, you can keep it. If not, you can bounce.

I don't know why, given what happened in 2021, you would go another year without Showtime, but you don't have to worry about that. That's true, Luke. It is the premier destination for combat these days, all right? Not to mention Billions and whatever Dexter show that Eric Raskin likes. I don't know. I don't watch that shit.

But BC, perhaps last, but certainly not least, this episode of Morning Combat is brought to you by our favorite producers of Ball Tremors, Manscaped, the global leaders in below-the-waist grooming for your filthy, disgusting genitals are leaving 2021 with a new product. Clean yourself into the new year with their ultra-premium body wash, Brian Campbell. So we may laugh, but this is not a joke. 2022 is on its way, and the last thing you want to be is the guy with pubes

getting in the way of having your best year yet. So the Signature Lawn Mower 4.0 is here to take down every pube in its path. And slick reading aside, guys, I use this product. You don't get cut, and that's a sensitive area. Nobody wants to be gross and unmanly. Even if you're out of the game and luke and i are well out of the game but you know we still have to uh we still have to maintain how about injury free you can use it in the shower this thing's great luke manscape has engineered the ultimate groin and body trimmer by focusing on intelligent functionality for an incredibly comfortable

grooming experience fourth generation trimmer has cutting edge ceramic blade to reduce grooming accidents as bc indicated thanks to their advanced skin safe technology oh by the way waterproof as well this tool is amazing and i'm confident using the 4.0 to leave 2021 and my disgusting filthy genitals with it yeah and when you're talking about being clean, Luke, I happen to have it right here. The new Ultra Premium Manscaped Body Wash, which comes in this very handsome container. That shit's great.

It'll make you smell great. You can use it in the shower. You can use it all over, Luke. I dropped this on my toe, by the way. Turned the nail. I want to say black and blue, just actually darker black and blue, but this thing's fantastic.

I'm all in on confidence and smelling good in the new year, so join me with Manscaped. Here's the deal. Get 20% off and free shipping with the code COMBAT, K-O-M-B-A-T, at manscaped.com. 20% off with free shipping at manscaped.com. When you use the code COMBAT, K-O-M-B-A-T. Happy New Year to your balls.

Why am I wishing the viewers of this show a Happy New Year to their testicles? Maybe we could have rewritten that part. Well, look, it's pretty much on brand, at least for the way this show used to be pushed at people. But now that we're an award-winning MMA program, I'd like to reconsider. Speaker 1 1, can we talk about before we get the show started? Cause this is a Wednesday show. We can fuck off a little. The, uh, some of the viewers, and it's a little overrepresented, but over overrepresented, I should say, but some of the viewers are mad at us for how

much Jake Paul coverage we've done. What do you have to say to them? I'm split. I get it. You and I have even had some, not necessarily Paul brother, but you know, celebrity boxing crossover fatigue. Um, but you know, that was the predominant story of the weekend. That was the viral moment of the weekend. Uh, it deserved it. In, in my opinion, I do get the fatigue though. Look, you know jake paul's gonna come in and out of our lives if you don't like it uh you know we got time stamps that's all i gotta say right there but it's hard to argue against it this past weekend that that that shit mattered at the end of the day and and you know love him or hate him jake paul he makes noise so

uh we'd be foolish to just go uh this week we will only talk about the UFC prelims on Saturday's fight night card. We'd be foolish to do that, Luke, all right? Yeah, I mean, there's that, and it's also like, listen, is Jake Paul coverage, in terms of the volume of it, is it overrepresented in what we do? Yes, of course it is, quite obviously, right? We work for Showtime, sometimes anyway. And as a consequence, that means you're going to have probably a bit of an overrepresentation of all the things that matter to them but to your point a it was the biggest

combat sports event of the weekend b it was showtime we had to cover it and c the good news is we never say anything about Jake we don't actually believe so yeah while we do you might get more coverage than potentially if you're an MMA fan what you're asking for but you're not going to get inauthentic coverage and I hope on some level that matters to them down the road. But, you know, I get it as well. Listen, MMA fans, you know this as well as I do. They're different than boxing fans, but I mean, one of the things that's kind of the same about them is they're very protective. You know, they're not quite as wary and run down as boxing fans, but they're extremely protective of MMA. it matters greatly

to them and they want to make sure that it gets you know put on the most prominent light imaginable i understand that see boxing is the inversion of that we know how broken we are we just don't want any of the outsiders touching or talking about our broken product because it's ours so when it's good it's like stay the stay the f away you weren't with us during the bad times which is most of the times yeah yeah fair enough uh okay well which is most of the time. Yeah. Yeah, fair enough. Okay, well, with that out of the way, well, don't worry. We won't hardly get to them at all for a while now.

Well, there's some people who would love nothing but Room Service Diaries, like, you know, five episodes per week. And to them, that's what this show is and should be. I know. Let me explain something to folks about Room Service Diaries bc and i didn't even have to discuss it neither of us even wanted to try doing an episode in florida is that a fair assessment bc yeah but you know we had a doc we were filming we were pretty run down yeah we were very run down and you know those are hard to do because you'd get more energy with them early in the week,

like if you did them on a Wednesday or a Thursday, but you'd have less to discuss about fight week and then you're run down by Friday. So there's never really an easy way to do it, but we'll do one probably for the next road trip. But you and I were both like, fuck that, I'm not doing that this time. Okay, let's talk a little Diaz Brothers, BC. Topic number one to get the show started today. First we start with the elder, the larger.

At one point, certainly the more popular of the two, maybe even now depending on how you want to look at it. But let's talk about Nick Diaz. So Dana White, I think, was talking to Brett Okamoto of ESPN and was asked about the future of Nick Diaz because we saw him this year. But what's going to happen going forward? Here is what he said, quote, Regardless of how good Nick Diaz looked, talking about in his last fight, and what he did after such a huge layoff, I don't think he should fight. I don't think Nick does it because he loves it.

I think Nick does it because he has to do it. When I always talk about people sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic to go to a job they hate, that's what I feel like Nick D when Nick Diaz is getting ready for a fight BC there's a lot to unpack here I'd like to start the show with this first is he right yeah he's 100 right and I'm this is surprising and refreshing to hear him say that and I think look if we're gonna we always tend to hold Dana to you know we give him no benefit of the doubt because of the position he's in. And, you know, he can mess around and flip the truth on us a few times too. But I think he made those comments initially after that fight, maybe caught up in the moment thinking, you know,

Nate can still do some things. I don't think he had the full story and I don't think we have the full story. Luke, a little bit of it has leaked out, not really leaked because Nick Diaz was the one who kind of said it albeit cryptically multiple times in the interviews after the fight of like you know he didn't want to be there you know all them made him do it what is that his management I don't really know who they are somebody it seems Luke pushed him into taking this last fight that's why he looks so badly out of shape and while the fighting spirit spirit in him

still kicked in and he entertained some people, he's not a UFC level fighter anymore. He's 38 years old. Could he do better with a better training kit? Sure. But I don't think he wants to be there. From Dana's perspective, I think that's smart. There's no reason to hold this guy under contract. Let him go.

Does that mean Nick Diaz is just going to never fight again? No. There will be a money situation. Who knows knows he could be in trailer triad for all we know it but he doesn't fit the bill at the moment in my eyes at least as a UFC fighter I think it's over Luke yeah first of all let's separate this out just a little bit like do I agree with Dana White's assessment of Nick Diaz I do I do the the last fight that he had, we've talked to some folks in the past couple of weeks that probably had a bit of an inside track on Nick Diaz's state prior to that fight and why he looks so out of shape. And, you know, we didn't get a great deal of specificity, but suffice to say, some of the folks around him were, yeah, they admitted probably a lot of him

fighting had to do with needing money. He certainly was not ready for that moment. And there was all kinds of injuries with training and injuries and God knows what else. It was a horrible time for him. So as I said after the first fight, I think if you wanted to try at least one more to see what it might look like when he actually does have cardiovascular conditioning for the last six months underneath his belt and whatnot, I think that's probably fine. But I agree with you. Everything about what he's doing seems not fumbled, but rushed, compulsory. There's just not an ease with which it is supposed to happen. And given, yeah, it looked good given some considerations, but looked poor on some wider considerations beyond, oh, didn't he look good for someone who hadn't been training or something like that? I mean, these are fine things to say, but they're not a recipe for the future of success.

But it's what you said at the end, BC, that I think is really the most important story here, which is, okay, if you think that he shouldn't be fighting, I agree. I don't know that what Dana White said was wrong at all. However, let him go. Right? The argument has to be, if you feel that way, why would you be in business with him? BC, I don't understand how he can say this

and then there's not subsequent action about releasing him other than we know the answer. But shouldn't it be unethical for a promoter to keep someone under contract for their own benefit so that they can't go get fights elsewhere? I mean, it's as ethical as keeping someone on contract who shouldn't be fighting just to squeeze paydays out of them, which is not this situation, but I get your point. Yeah, I think they should cut more of the –

they're so dominantly ahead, Luke, that any attempt at holding on to somebody even somebody of nick diaz brand level just to keep him away from other promoters like it makes sense if somebody's still i think closer to being you know close to to their top level i don't think he's close to that at all so i just think this is one of those indications where you just let him go that's that is you know the you had the nostalgic comeback fight it wasn't a disaster in the end i hated it but it wasn't a disaster in the end. I hated it, but it wasn't a disaster in the end. Nobody got hurt. Nobody dotted out there. So end this conversation, Luke.

Okay, it's over. Let him go. Well, hold on. How much money could Nick Diaz make outside UFC, whether that's going to Bellator or Forbes? The answer is he still could because right now the oddball parts of combat sports are on fire, right? From bare knuckle to triad to Jake Paul business. So, yeah, he could go make a lot of money, especially in one night.

God, boxing Jake Paul, for all we know. But the question comes down to is, again, is it worth holding somebody to a contract when you don't want to employ him and they don't want to be here just to prevent him from going to compete against you? In a bigger name situation, you get it, or in a younger situation. But how does it hurt UFC, even if he goes and makes money for one night somewhere else? I think they're far enough ahead, Luke, where that's not the fear right now. So what do you think is going to happen in the first quarter of 2022 uh probably the exact opposite of this he probably

gets in shape and comes back for another ufc fight and then we have this conversation all over again so you are resigned to this being a piece of meaningless news in the news cycle it's like so for you it's like there's no more significance other than Dana's telling you like, yeah, I don't like this shit, but Dana's actually telling the honest truth. I'm like, I'm proud of you. I'm happy. But like you said, if you're not backing that up with, you know, we've, we've let him go. He's a free agent.

Then whatever. He'll probably end up back in there anyway. And I mean, it's sad, Luke, because the people that you and I've talked to and the feeling you get from, again, that interview. Like he's like Nick was like, you know, held hostage in this situation. Obviously, we don't know the true details. Did he owe people money? I don't know. I can't speculate anything in that situation.

But dude, like he like legitimately did not want to be there. So I think this is enough of a special circumstance where it's like, yeah, what are we talking about here? End it. If he ends his UFC run tomorrow, what would you consider his best win to be? Because if he goes somewhere else, it's almost, even now it's probably unlikely, but especially if he leaves UFC,

it's impossible for him to get something that would be more combat sports significant, not in terms of the box office, but in terms of like the how important and relevant that win is if he left the UFC that like again even now he's not fighting those people in the UFC but if you leave it it's not impossible to get those kinds of wins what would it be it's got to be BJ Penn and even though it might not be the which is his last win 10 right and it might not and it's tough to make that his sort of defining fight, although you did ask me for the UFC.

But it's probably the best version of Nick. It's like the final, you know, that final stretch on the mountaintop before things started to slip and his focus wasn't and his hunger wasn't still there and all that. And even though it was an older BJ, it wasn't a completely washed BJ. And that's just the best Nick I've ever seen. I mean, he was just and that's that's a brutal a brutal fight I mean he put it on him in that fight and uh you know just did he have better wins over guys who were closer to titles maybe but you know I think I think that'll be the defining one Luke am I wrong outside of the Paul Daly war which wasn't technically under the UFC like he's had better fights maybe in terms of the even matchup,

but that win, dude, he was like a critical and commercial star at the same time following that one. Yeah, and he got fired the night. I would say that if it wasn't a no contest, then the submission of Takanori Gomi at Pride 33 would be one of his biggest ones. But as we all know, it got overturned because tested positive for marijuana,

which is stupid. But technically, it is a no contest on his record. So if you're talking about wins, yeah, I mean, yeah, probably the BJ Penn win. Yeah, honestly, I'd never seen someone hurt BJ and physically lump him up in the way that Nick Diaz had prior to that contest. And that's a guy who had fought middleweights and light heavyweights, and no one had kind of hurt him physically in the way that Nick Diaz did.

But that win was over 10 years ago, dude, 10 years ago. Jesus Christ, man. We were talking about, you know, utterly not relevant wins whatsoever. So we'll see how things go. As part of a transition from one Diaz brother to the other remember when like Sergio Pettis wins the belt or title and you know the narrative changes he's no longer Showtime's little brother Nate and Nick have obviously had different arcs that have put either one as the power player Diaz brother of the moment at different times it's been sort of

an interesting run in that regard who do you think historically is the better fighter of the two Diaz brothers Nick I think Nick is the better of the two I think his um I think is I think I just think the stuff Nate is good at maybe with the exception of jiu-jitsu but even then I just tend to think especially in the boxing he's just a little bit sharper a little bit more steam on it um but you know could you argue though that nate achieved higher levels of both crossover stardom and accomplishments uh than nick or am i wrong now look nick won a strike force title but like that victory nate had over connor at at that time was almost the equivalent of winning a championship in terms of what it meant. You know, did Nate pass Nick in other historical, you know, measurings? I think so, right?

Because what's, name one Nick Diaz fight that was as big as either McGregor fights with Nate Diaz doesn't exist. Even St. Pierre, Anderson, neither of those. And those were big fights, but they weren't as big as those two fights. So even just that puts him commercially ahead. And, you know, listen, Nate Diaz is a... I don't know how he is these days, but at his prime, he was fucking great. He nearly severed Jim Miller's tongue off from a guillotine in the

main event on Fox like he fucking was amazing when he was dude he was he was a great great fighter like no doubt about it but I just do feel like partly Nate you know not that he stole it it's his big brother but he was heavily influenced by Nick like that's Nick's style that Nate learned as a younger brother which is all too too understandable, but real. I give Nick some credit for some of the original ideas he had. And I do think the boxing is sharper. But, you know, overall, man, Nate has an impressive resume too. Like there's no denying it. What about you?

Hard to say? I mean, on best night versus best night, I think Nick wins that, but I'm a much bigger Nate guy. And some of the difference, though, is that they're almost in separate generations because Nick's run was so early and then he just sort of disappeared. And Nate had his greatest success late that even though they did cross over, they almost feel like Nick was more of a product of an earlier era. And the comparisons are a little bit different in nate's case but it's close uh i think nate's funnier luke and uh which one would you which one would you be the less disturbed if you found out your sister had married nate yeah i agree i'll agree with that too yeah nate seems nate seems to be a little bit more uh conscious

of planning for the future you're like i could talk a gun out of his hand but not nick's that's really what you're saying right there i mean that's not what i'm saying that's what you're saying but um in general yes i would go with n Nate as a little bit more acceptable choice. It's a great transition, by the way. Very perfect transition. Speaking of Nate Diaz, we all know, BC, for topic number two, we all know that a fight with Dustin Poirier appears to be possible. Nothing confirmed. We don't know what the future of that may or may not be.

But let's assume for a second, BC, that this is actually the last fight on Nate Diaz's UFC contract. It's the rebound fight, so to's assume for a second, BC, that this is actually the last fight on Nate Diaz's UFC contract. It's the rebound fight, so to speak, for Dustin Poirier after losing to Charles Oliveira. First question I want to ask is, how does it look? Talk me through what happens in that fight under likely scenarios. Yeah, it's very interesting because this could very well, just business-wise, this could very well be the UFC cash-out if he decides to go the free agent route. And by the way, that's a hell of a cash-out for the UFC putting Nate's brand in there against Dustin.

But what does the fight actually look like? It's like you've got to favor Dustin, all things of what we know, and their respective stocks, even with this probably have to being a Walter Waite bout. You have to favor Dustin, correct, Luke, right? I would favor Dustin, but I do think it's an interesting enough matchup where nate can steal that one i mean he's in this fight and folks might imagine he's in the fight on paper it being potentially a welterweight fight certainly you know helps his factor

but it's hard it's it is hard to him for me to imagine him winning it. Just the same though. Look, I see the areas where he gives Dustin trouble. I see the areas where maybe he has one big round and goes for it. And you're like, Oh my God. You know,

you know, the, you know, just like he had against fricking Leon Edwards, right? Like there's moments. I mean, Nate's not washed like an aging Anderson Silva,

not a direct comparison, but even early to mid 40s Anderson Silva could have a round he could put the magic back together I don't think Nate has enough magic to win it or stop or fatigue Poirier though so I see this as a very fun striking battle

not too dissimilar in some ways from the second Conor Nate fight in that I think it's going to be a boxing match at a high pace but I don't think it'll beNate fight in that, I think it's going to be a boxing match at a high pace. I don't think it'll be as ragged as that, but I think Dustin can cut him and pick him apart and have to survive those one or two runs where Nate turns back into Nate again. But outside of that, Luke, his output's only going to get lower with age, I think.

And I think that's going to really hurt him in these fights. I think that's probably right. I mean, here's what I would say it's like it's hard to not favor the chances of Dustin Poirier in that contest right because you just look at his power punching his Christmas of boxing obviously his strength of schedule and you know just sort of the ways where he does have some known weaknesses but in general the strengths line up pretty well against Nate the one area that you could get him in trouble on the feet is that obviously Nate likes to throw as well I don't think he's got the power punching but if they're trading at all and he gets you know there's been times where where Dustin's get a

little gets a little bit over exuberant or chases down combinations or or whatever a guy like Nate that's where he thrives he can sneak in all kinds of stuff plus if Nate takes or I should say if Dustin takes any part of a round off or whatever, we all just know the story. Nate can get stormed out, or Nate can do the storming out. But the other part, of course, is that there's going to be a leg kick vulnerability if Dustin wants to go that way.

But you just imagine a guy who's been finished twice from the back who likes to exchange and how chaotic and wild MMA can be. That's a winnable, if not likely win, but a winnable fight for Nate Diaz. And I think, sorry, sorry, winnable for Nate Diaz, likely for Dustin Poirier. But this is one of those, though, where you wouldn't be mad. As a fan, you'd almost be happy that Nate's getting this level of payday

and this level of opponent again. You know it'll be action-packed. I just have to ask you this question to sort of sum up both of us expecting, in the end, despite the fun, a clear Dustin win, although I'd love this fight. Who was more dangerous to Nate, Dustin in 2022 or Masvidal in 2019 when they fought for the BMF? Hmm. maybe Masvidal because he's slightly bigger one and two he's more of a full-on kickboxing threat than Dustin is like you know better or worse striker they're both pretty good they but they have different styles and I would say that the kicking game is a little bit more as good of a

boxer as Jorge Masvidal is the kicking game, a little bit more central to his game relative to Dustin and that that kicking game is uniquely troublesome for a guy like Nate. What about you? Is that where you would go as well? Yeah, I think, I think that version of Masvidal still had the magic and the focus where he had a higher ceiling for a finish for sure.

Even if Dustin in other ways was a more consistent fighter. Maybe Masvidal's got bigger power as well. But it's clear that Nate, who, I mean, okay, he's older than that version of Nate from the BMF fight, but he's not, you know, remarkably falling back. He's still kind of the same guy. He had a lot of trouble with Masvidal's speed combinations and just mixing that with violence.

I mean, Masvidal, that's what made him special during that run. Good body work from Masvidal speed combinations and just mixing that with with with violence I mean Masvidal that's what what made him special during that run body work for Masvidal too yeah I mean it was violent it was variety and it was just coming at you hot and heavy if Dustin could employ that style and be would be willing to and say look I gotta jump all over this guy and cut him and give him trouble yeah that that's a path to victory for Poirier. Yeah, I think that's right. Again, you can just imagine, though, Nate. I mean, listen, Nate and Dustin were supposed to fight previously. I think that, you know, I'm not too sure about this,

but my hunch is that Nate Diaz's team feel like that's a real winnable fight for them because you've got a guy like Dustin who's got a lot of known strengths that are difficult to overcome, but a lot of popularity that's built up with a certain level it's not so much that they're focusing on his strengths versus Diaz's weakness they focus the other way what are our strengths versus his weaknesses and that they like how that matches up not so much in aggregate but in that specific lane but the question would be to follow up from that BC is what would it do to each of their legacies win or lose let's start with Dustin Poirier if he wins over Nate Diaz you can imagine the benefit now you would have two wins over McGregor plus a win over Nate Diaz it wouldn't really boost your

fortunes in terms of who you can beat in that division because then Nate's probably going to be gone they might even fight at 170 but at a bare minimum you want to talk about getting the most out of the popularity strain that's available to you yeah there would be a lot there for him yeah I mean a perfect career is a mixture of having fought the toughest challenges available in your era with having fought every possible big name to make really fun fights and make a lot of money and this would be uh you know a hell of a capstone for Poirier. He wasn't able to cement and capstone, you know, the full lock on his Hall of Fame career by beating Oliveira

in ways that we sort of built that narrative for him. But, you know, he can still very well, as a former interim champion and a guy who's got a killer resume, backdoor a Hall of Fame run just the same. And a win like this would, you know, be huge for that. But on the flip side, it's like this would be one of the biggest wins, maybe the second biggest win of Nate's UFC career,

if he got it at this point. Right, Luke? I mean, that's the thing about Nate's UFC career. There's been both the Asbrothers have had some big swings and misses. I mean, the Conor one's massive. It was also Conor kind of moving up two weight classes in some degree too so um me me spinning that back on you let me add on the qualifying question that would anyone who's watching this who's a 209er would be like hey mfers we have

never seen dustin poirier at welterweight you guys are just automatically assuming he carries the same level of physicality and power when as we have seen many times before there are invisible walls between weight classes that stop certain fighters based on their skills or size or whatever where they just don't translate the same in the next division are we overlooking that at all luke on just putting poirier as a elite welterweight suddenly overnight well i'm not saying he's an elite welterweight i'm just just saying, you know, if you like Poirier's chances at 155, I'm not saying that you don't like them at 170, but I would still like them at 170.

You know what I mean? Like, there would be enough complicating factors going from 155 to 170 that you couldn't just assume Dustin Poirier was going to win, but you shouldn't assume that that would trip him up either. I think that the difference between them is significant enough where it wouldn't necessarily do that, Although stranger things have happened. We'll have to see. Still, the point I want to make is it's interesting. If Dustin wins, he gets to get not the belt, but potentially a level of popularity that he had never imagined and enjoyed.

But if he loses and Nate Diaz wins one, you can argue for you where I think you're right. That's one of his best, if not his best UFC win, if he gets it and for dustin poirier if he loses that i mean that would be the ultimate signal he's kind of been bounced from title contention at that point right like you would move him firmly out of that discussion if you can't beat nate diaz who's not a scrub but he's a bit of a dividing line at this point between like the real guys who are going to get the elite of that division and then outside of it and then I would also say like that might usher the retirement of Dustin Poirier if he loses that as well don't you think it would be some serious talk I I still see him having a huge fight against McGregor or whatever after that but yeah I mean for for certainly for like elite title talk at that moment unless he can make a run run for sure. And to double down on the comparison I just made,

it was obviously Max Holloway who hit a wall between weight classes in the interim title fight against Poirier. Who knows if that could happen to Poirier too. And Luke, that was only a way for me to reference and circle back that I rewatched Dustin Poirier versus Max Holloway too for the first time since being there in Atlanta for that one.

It's an amazing fight. It got, obviously it got overshadowed because Gastelum versus Adesanya, my favorite fight ever was the one right before that. So, you know, but Luke, that fight was effing great.

Holloway, Dustin too. Like if it had stood alone on that night, you wonder if we talk about that more for one of the you know one of the greatest title fights of this era I mean it was sick it was amazing a real in the trenches kind of moment and Dustin's power won out it's one of those fights where you look back and like dude this one people like dude Max doesn't take that much damage I'm like fuck off he doesn't take a lot of damage he takes a a shit ton of it i mean yes less so now that he's

not taking so much in sparring but in these fights man he is just getting bombed on and this one went on for 25 minutes he didn't have moments obviously but you know i love this fight so much just because of max he has these moments luke where you're like okay he's too small he doesn't have the power to hurt dustin the same it's inevitable and then he digs in for like a four punch of power shots combo and you're just like holy like he's going like this guy's going for it Luke he's daring to be great and that's why we love him that's why he's great all time but that's a specific you know there's many moments in that fight where you're just like damn he's not stopping uh trying to get over the top on this guy and that's what made the fight so great let me ask you this if Nate Diaz goes in there let's say boxes up Dustin Poirier like stops him inside of a round let's say which is unlikely but it is possible it is extremely unlikely that'd be like

oh shit Poirier's chin's gone you know like oh my god fair enough fair enough I would not put it in the list of the likely possibilities for sure but you couldn't rule it out let's say there you would a have a situation where Nate Diaz would have arguably arguably his best win b now he's not under contract anymore would Jake Paul I don't know we hate that name but just we're thinking about Nate Diaz's next steps would he look at a Nate Diaz Nate Diaz who smokes Dustin Poirier is actually too much of a challenge to take. For Jake Paul in a boxing match. Correct. No.

No. Look, that's an unlikely scenario. That's a very unlikely, and again, there would have to be a heavy weight put on the fact, is Poirier done? Oh my God, he just fell off the side of the cliff. You know, because Nate's not known for that, right? But even so, it's boxing. It's a little bit different. Jake's big. We can't forget that, that Jake's big. And I do think that Nate's likely to lose this fight against Dustin,

even though it's a great fight and he's in it, right? You know, he's just the same. If he's leaving, he's going right to Jake Paul. Why wouldn't he, right? So he's going to get that fight anyway. And I don't even think it matters if, if Nate loses, uh, you know, if he gets stopped, I don't think that kills, you know, the momentum for that or, or, or affects it too much either way. All right. Fair enough. That's it for the two major topics. Let's do some quick hitters here, BC. Cause it is a bit of a quiet time in the sport. There are still some MMA events left this year, but certainly for the bigger shows, it's all over.

All right. First things first. This one was crazy. Chael Sonnen allegedly, I should say that allegedly beat up five people in a hotel. Police responded to the Luxor hotel and casino. I mean, I mean,

Luxor, I mean, dude, it writes itself. Yeah. People fist fighting in the hallway of the Luxor. That's just what they do at the Luxor. I mean, I mean, I mean, dude, it writes itself. Yeah. People fist fighting in the hallway of the Luxor. That's just what they do at the Luxor. I mean, I don't know what you expect this past Saturday at seven.

I mean, that place is good. Can we just pause and say that place is just grimy as F Luke? Oh my God. I mean, listen, if you're trying to get COVID, I got a great. I mean, chill. What are you doing, bro? It's like, you know, famous person drives in worst neighborhood and nearly gets killed. Well, okay, you know, got it.

Yeah, dude, here's the best part. It was Saturday at 7.30 in the afternoon, or I should say evening, after a report of a fight and determined Sonnen had committed a, again, allegedly, a misdemeanor battery against five separate victims. Los Angeles Police public information officer, Larry Hatchfield wrote in a statement to MMA fighting on Monday. Now, uh,

our own Brendan job got on his podcast and said he had talked to the gangster from West Lynn and that I didn't quite understand what Brendan was saying. He was trying to argue that Sonnen was defending himself or defending his wife's. I couldn't tell defending himself or defending his wife's. I couldn't tell. Was he defending his wife's honor? Or was he defending someone who was getting too close per shop per chail?

Uh, a, a couple that I'm assuming was drunk and belligerent in the hallway, stopped chailing his wife, insulted Chael's wife repeatedly and incessantly. And, and like, you know,

to the level where I assume chael had to step in and somehow that led to chael fighting off five people total um it's wild it's wild as shit did you see that the comment shop ended it by saying you know if you don't have a man who's willing to do that for you then you know he's not a man i was just like you know you're damn right you know luke i would do that for you and you know you could argue that you know i i did that to josh thompson in defense of you so i just want, you know, you could argue that, you know, I did that to Josh Thompson in defense of you. So I just want the, you know, the history books will always at least have that footnote next to all the

times that you just left me hanging out to dry, you know, and been like, you know, I'm not a part of this. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I got to tell you, like, even if someone insults your wife, you shouldn't fist fight them in public. If they get too much in your face,

then you gotta do what you gotta do. But as a general rule, even the insults, I always think of it this way, it's not like I think that I can't do something about it, it's like, do I wanna talk to cops and go to jail over this zero being drunk?

No, no I don't really. But if you got to, you got to. You know what I'm saying? But if he beat up, who are the other guys, though? If it's just a couple, who are the other three? Would you agree that because it was 7.30,

it makes Chael look completely like a potential hero here? Because you're like, oh, Chael's not hammered. Like, if that was 4.30 a.m., you'd instantly think, oh, this is Chael's fault, right? Correct.

Yeah. But it's 7.30 in the evening evening so who the fuck knows who knows i mean it's also vegas so who knows right you know dude that oh god that place is weird as shit luke if i never go back it will be too soon i mean it's it's so weird it's so it's so weird the best thing about vegas the best thing about vegas and i think you would agree with this is that for the Canelo fight, you and I, we stayed at a casino-less hotel, which they do have those on the strip. We stayed at a casino-less hotel, and we ordered Uber Eats.

We had quiet little lives in Vegas when we weren't working. And I have to say, the convenience of Las Vegas is pretty strong. Wouldn't you agree? Yes, yes. It's pretty strong. Wouldn't you agree? Yes. Yes. It's very strong. But wow.

It sucks so much ass. Do you remember in Total Recall when they went to Mars and they went to that hotel and mall and casino in the middle of the thing? And it was hell? Remember that? And then the lizard people came out. That's what Vegas is like. Remember on on that planet luke they were losing oxygen no spoiler

alerts here on total recall but like it's just what it feels like there it's like all your your typical sensibilities and and things that make you function just stop everything stops luke and it's it's uh it's a survival of the fittest luke. And I'm not fit enough to go back. I'm not going back. That's true, although I've yet to see anyone in Vegas with three titties. That has not... That was really good, yeah. You know how many times I paused that?

Yeah, just trying to figure it out. You're just like, okay. All right, wonderful segue here. Dana White tells ESPN that Peña Nunez, Peña Nunez 2, will be the biggest female fight in history. Quote, the Peña rematch with Nunez will probably be the biggest women's fight of all time, said Dana White. The rematch will be the biggest women's rematch of all time.

Right now it's Rousey and Holly. Every way that it could possibly beat it, it will. I don't think it. I know it. It will crush that fight. What do you think, BC? Wow. Speak it, believe it, receive it, Deontay Wilder style. Luke, so here's the deal on that.

Right away, we're like, oh, come on. No, these two ladies don't have that same level star power as Rousey, and now I'm going to sound Darren Revell-ish. But he's talking about the home fight when, to be fair, even though it was a massive event and sort of the peak of Rousey mania in the last stop at it, there was such a feeling that home was going to get slaughtered and it was in Australia. So maybe numbers wise with the ESPN deal now, how things have flipped and they're probably going to put some badass fights with that. And oh, by the way, Peña Nunesz too would be just an awesome fight to begin with that would draw people no matter what. Maybe he's right in the new way of looking at the financials, Luke.

But in terms of the spirit of anticipation, even with people not really understanding Holly's full background and overrating and all that, it still was Ronda Rousey. I mean, it still was like a different level yeah ronda rousey is more popular than amanda nunez and by a considerable margin even with the loss to holly when she came back it was a much much much bigger fight but you know it will be big for sure that's true all right i think dana talks a lot financially and about gate and you know they're breaking records everywhere but you know

some of that sometimes is ticket prices too you know if you're on a run you can start i mean why does why does boxing have such a ridiculous gate at these vegas fights because you know the the last row the last row in the house is 500 bucks right and it's like 15 000 and up front to sit ringside. So, yeah, look, the times have changed. Also, now we can really get a handle on pay-per-view numbers outside of the U.S., which we never could before. So that's going to change the records and blow things up, just like all these rule changes that are allowing Drew Brees to throw for 5 million yards. You know what I mean, Luke?

They put him on his ass in 1986, all right? They would have put him on his ass okay you wouldn't be breaking any records right you're breaking your back so that's that's uh justin gaethje tells tmz he will quote burn it all down in quote if irrelevant conor mcgregor that's also in quotes gets ufc lightweight title shot ahead of him quote conor is so irrelevant He has not won a fight since 2016 in the lightweight division. I'm ranked number one. My whole life, I've been working towards this. That's what's next.

If not, I effing burn it down. It doesn't matter. I'll show up and start throwing dollies everywhere. I don't know what the answer is. BC. I'll tell you the answer. First of all,

I love that spirit, that fire, that energy, that where he's just straight up saying, hey, management, you have me right here. Like, you know, I'm going to make your life miserable. I love that spirit in a fighter, especially in this situation with with with so little leverage. But here's the deal, Luke. I don't know if you watch that full Dana White, Brett Okamoto interview, which is almost a half hour and sort of a state of the union, look back at 2021. You know, he asked Dana, you know, is it out of the question that, that, that McGregor could come back directly to a title shot?

Dana basically gave a non-committed answer. Like, kind of like, well, you know, we'll have to see. He like, he basically left the door halfway open. Like it's not, we all know it's conceivable. It's fricking Conor McGregor. He could fight for a welterweight title tomorrow.'s conor mcgregor it's definitely conceivable for as much as it may make half of us grown but luke i don't think they're done with considering this i mean he did not say no so this is interesting this is pretty interesting luke i'll just say this the idea that conor could leap justin is i mean you're gonna get people

shitting themselves over this look yeah i mean here's the thing like we all know it's certainly possible and would be insanely unfair i completely get it but i've made this point before it's not that i don't think justin gaethje is at the very end tip high level of this division i certainly do but like you know you lost to habib you're one one since then everyone's got different sensibilities about this and again I'm not saying it has to apply this much in every case but just personally speaking BC that's all I'm saying personally speaking I think if you get a title shot and you lose especially thoroughly which you know he did um you know one win is not that sufficient for laying

claim to the most coveted status possible outside of being the champion in that division you need a little bit more but you're talking to that while i grant while i grant while i grant connor's case is zero and justin's case is 99 out of 100 but your damn tongue luke first of all it's a little straight i'm just saying it's a little strong okay i got a couple things to say to you number one one, everybody got destroyed by Habib. Okay, Dustin didn't do shit. Number two, I'm sorry, it's a joke, it's a meme, but Gaethje was one, you know, like,

strike away from putting Habib in peril, which, by the way, not just a BC ho-ho joke, Habib kind of said it in his own Habib way. I've got to find that interview, but he basically said the same thing in an interview. Anyway, Luke, no. He's deserving. This would be again,

on brand for these type of moments in UFC history. Not overly often, but we've seen it. Chael Sundin against Jon Jones, we've seen it. But dude, this would be bad. I mean, look, this would be really bad. Really, really bad. I mean, Dan Henderson did would be really bad. Really, really bad.

I mean, Dan Henderson did not deserve Michael Bisping that second time. Not even freaking close. But again, we've seen that shit. This would be really bad, Luke. So if I'm Gaethje, I probably would sharpen up the dolly and do a WWE run and just mess things up, Luke. Don't you love that shit? Or are you just like, get that pro wrestling crap away from me? To me, it's like a mixture of certainly entertainment,

but I love it when a fighter decides to go heal with his persona in real life, right? Like that's what made the Masvidal thing so great. I read books, so that would be the difference. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I like when you go in these, like, impassioned rants about how, like, a worldview is, like, a necessary thing to adopt,

and I'm, like, you know, just utterly indifferent and, frankly, rude about it. Sorry about that, dude. It's just the way I am. All right. Rose Namajunas versus Carla Esparza, too. Dana White also telling ESPN that Rose's next opponent, Carla Esparza is next.

BC, 100%. Yeah, there's really nothing else you could do right now but this one. It's the right move. And I was really blown away that they seemed hesitant and that Rose was doing interviews saying that she doesn't think UFC wants this. I mean, what else could Esparza have done to earn it? It's a great storyline with her having beaten Rose for the inaugural title. I mean, that's uh sellable and fun and and you know plus the spars is that really in

the second chapter she's very dangerous at this point i mean she's really put it together so love that fight no one else would have made sense and um you know i mean i i would have been okay with you wanna part three but, that's really just me. Really? You want them to make another Ioana fight next? I mean, I'm not saying it makes sense. I'm just saying, you know, it's just me. I'd love that.

Yeah, that'd be great. Oh, yeah. You're like, yeah, I just want to see her on Embedded. Like, I don't care about the fight relevantly. All right. This one is interesting, yet also sad. Maybe. I'm not sure how I feel about it. don't whatever jake paul asks his manager apparently now this is very second-handy but jake paul sort of it's like a claim was made about this and i'm a little bit skeptical about but jake paul

apparently allegedly has asked his manager that he wants to fight with julio cesar chavez jr so what's the idea here bc paul wants to fight a realio Cesar Chavez Jr. So what's the idea here, BC? Paul wants to fight a real boxer, but like a guy who's hanging on to the title of real boxer by the most tenuous of threads, right? Yeah, but there's a difference, though, why this still makes sense and would be a much bigger fight commercially, I believe,

and a much better fight critically, even though there's some holes in this compared to the Tommy Fury one. It's that Chavez Jr., when he did put it together, although again, there were factors of why he had so much success, mostly that he could blow up, you know, back to like a cruiserweight body. You know, when he was a middleweight, he was actually a world champion and for a short period, a viable opponent.

I mean, his knockout of Andy Lee is no joke. I mean, there was a window there with Freddie Roach where Chavez Jr. once was something in ways that Tommy Fury never has been and probably maybe never will be. So that's great. I think this is a very smart direction if this is what they want to go because I think with Fury falling apart the first time and they kind of realize like even with the Tyson Fury connection,

people on the States still don't really know yet. It's like Tommy Fury's name isn't there yet and may never get there. Dude, Chavez's name is still there for the boxing world, even if the boxing world is so disgusted at what Chavez Jr. has become. I think what would make it interesting the most to me, Luke, is what it would look like in the ring from this

factor. Even if Jake was fighting Tommy Fury next, okay, you know, we could talk ourselves into Tommy Fury having a chance there, yeah, but from what we've seen of Tommy Fury, it's like it's hard to believe his ceiling is much more than what we've seen.

Whereas Chavez Jr., who could very well come in here and shit his pants. And I know he's fresh off a decision loss to Anderson Silva. But if he decides to get serious one more time, he's either, you know, he won't be a betting favorite, but he'd be the real favorite if he got super serious. You know, but obviously it's hard to depend on that because of his history of showing no heart

and just being a joke that's harsh but deserved. Believe me. Hold on. Let me ask you a serious question because I'm not quite fully understanding your point. So I understand why Jake Paul might want that fight. I get that. What is the appeal to the – and I'm not saying there isn't one. I'm asking you to articulate it.

But if you're an average combat sports fan whether that you know whatever the alliance may be their mma boxing neither both whatever uh why would you want to see this fight because jake paul could legitimately lose it and lose it badly if if and it's a big if chavez jr can put his head back on and get in great shape because even with diminished skills if he was taking it serious, he has way too deep a foundation from his chin when he wants to use it to his body punching attack to just his foundational skills. I mean, he would probably knock Jake out. So the fact that he's compromised and we don't really know exactly where he falls in that,

that's the sell. The sell is like, here's a huge name of course son of a legend and it's jake taking his first step and a big one to be fair into fighting real fighters because even though tommy fury has the bloodline again he's only fought seven times and he hasn't looked great this is legit luke i mean look is chavez jr a joke right now and would he have potential to be a joke yeah that's the reason why this fight's in conversation. Because this fight would not be in conversation if he was a joke. But, dude, he could come back to life.

I thought he might come back to life in the Canelo fight. And then he laid a huge egg. He's had moments, right, where you're like, oh, it might be back. Oh, it's gone. I don't know if Jake could necessarily put him in the same type of peril where he turns off that even Anderson Silva did because Anderson Silva's footwork and speed is is tremendous for his age and his background but um this this could be a really tough fight Luke it also could be perfect for Jake to get a big win against a formerly credible name yeah I, I have mixed feelings about it. I think if Cesar Chavez Jr. was somewhat dialed in,

I'm not expecting the world, I mean, you know, somewhat dialed in, trained mostly, ate right mostly, is on weight mostly, that kind of a thing, then I think that it might be a little bit more interesting. I just think at some point we have to reconcile the idea that there might be nothing here, right? Because if we're acknowledging that Chavez Jr. at this point we have to reconcile the idea that there might be nothing here right because uh if we're acknowledging that chavez jr at this point his stock has maybe never been lower it's bad it's down yeah it's bad like how is beating him supposed to result at this point in something actually meaningful you're telling us not you bc but like the proverbial world out there

that this is a thing we should want to see, but you're actually booking it, the matchmakers, if they did it, because it's winnable because the guy's legend and, or I should say his status, is so faded. If you're picking him because he's so faded, you don't get to confer relevancy after the fact, which is why the whole Tyron Woodley thing is a little bit strange as well. Well, you do. I mean, look, it's not full relevancy. It's not a full, oh, I'm a real fighter now.

But it has a higher ceiling to be more valuable to Jake than any scenario against Tommy Fury, in my opinion, you know, because at least Chavez has done it before. Yes, that's true. Yes, I agree with that. It's certainly a different ballgame than Tommy Fury, for sure. It also, oh, by the way, as much as me saying it's either the perfect fight for Jake Paul or an extreme trap fight, the other element to it is it actually could end up being a really good fight because Chavez, you know, he just goes to the body and leaves his chin out there and just comes forward.

If Chavez is washed but not fully, and Jake is showing improvement but not fully there, dude, this could be a dramatic war. So there's a lot of potential here for either Luke, oh, I hate the Pauls. I'm finally going to see him get cured. Or man, I got to see him face a real boxer. Well, you know,

this guy's not 40 yet. And he used to be. Now look, if you don't know anything about the Chavez Jr. story, ever since he won that title, more or less, you know, ever since he fought Sergio Martinez in loss, despite rallying and dropping Martinez in the 12th round,

I think even before that, though, but ever since then, never been the same. Drugs, never on weight, never taking it serious. And because he's not taking it serious, it's forced him to move up in weight because he can only really make 160 for that short period when he's dialed in. Since then, it's been drugs, prostitutes, issues, arrests, pulling out of fights, showing up to fights and quitting, showing up to fights and just not caring, like the Canelo one on just cash and checks, and then losing half his purse to three prostitutes who stole the money from him.

That's a real thing that happened. It could not be worse, but still Chavez Jr., Luke. This ain't Nate Robinson, bro. It's still a big step, Luke. I just talked myself into it. It's the perfect fight. Because Anderson Silva is a little too dangerous for Jake right now, and Jake knows that. It's the perfect fight. It is. Because Anderson Silva is a little too dangerous for Jake right now. And Jake knows that. It's the perfect fight, Luke.

Because if it's Tommy Fury, you're going to groan a little. Candidly, it does a lot for Jake. Like, you're talking me into the idea that Jake could benefit from it. You're asking me how excited I am for that? Almost not at all. Much more excited for a fight with Nate Diaz. Significant. Okay, but we all know that's not happening next.

So Luke... It's not happening next. That's true. So Luke, my whole point is this. If they announce Tommy Fury, you'll go, I get it, but okay. If they announce Chavez Jr., at least you're going to go,

all right, win or lose, good or bad, I got to see what this looks like. Correct? Not really, but I'll probably cash a check to cover it. I do that shit hey it was great it's great doing this show with you all right i'm just saying listen some of them do more for me than others it doesn't do much for me but i understand your points all right tmz reports next triller triad card i mean they're just trying to get people killed over there uh in my opinion, allegedly, to feature Kubrat Pulev versus Junior Dos Santos. We'll talk about both of these in a second. And then Vitor Belfort versus

Chad Dawson. Let's start with the first one. Kubrat Pulev versus Junior Dos Santos. Okay, BC. I know that Pulev is 40, right? And I know that this is supposed to be some kind of hybrid between boxing MMA where like some dirty boxing and stuff like that is allowed maybe jds could benefit from that never been a great inside fighter in mma by the way but okay whatever um you know dude kubret pulev has only ever lost to klitschko and anthony joshua yeah he's like he's like he's never lost to anybody else would you agree that he's he's never lost to anybody else. Would you agree that he's, he's too close to being considered like veteran royalty to do this shit?

Right. I'm honestly like, if you're Kubrat Pulev, I don't know what, here's my thought BC. I don't know what purse they're offering him. Let's say it's 200, maybe two 50 K dude.

This is easy money for Kubrat Pulev, right? Dude. He would knock JDS the hell out in this format there's just no question that he would and like he's still like look you have to realize heavyweights obviously age later like he's still a legitimate contender if he wanted to be in in the heavyweight title picture he'll smoke these guys and look you know what's so interesting is after his victory over frank mirror did you see Mir, did you see they wanted other post-fight interviews to end the broadcast, but they knew Pulev just won the main event, so we got to interview him real quick. So they rushed up and did a crappy short interview, but they gave him that title belt. It wasn't like heavyweight champion or triller triad champion.

It was sort of like, oh, hey, guys, we made a belt. And then he grabbed it and put it on. He was like, i will defend this and but like it was almost like no bro this is this was like you know we bought this at the party store just to say like yeah we got a fight league and kubrat's like no i take this shit seriously i'm the uh the triad champion come and get it from me this is perfect he's feasting on the mma world better than jake paul almost luke these guys are unbelievable. Now to remind everyone about Junior Dos Santos, I will say this BC, his last win streak has aged pretty well. And it's not that long ago. It was from July of 2018 to March of 2019. So it's been some time, but it's not a crazy amount of time ago. But he beat Blagoje Ivanov. Then he TKO'd Taito Iwasa and then he TKO'd Derek Lewis.

That has certainly aged well over time. Since then though, he got TKO'd by Francis, TKO'd Taito Iwasa and then he TKO'd Derek Lewis. That has certainly aged well over time. Since then, though, he got TKO'd by Francis, TKO'd by Curtis Blades, TKO'd by Rosenstruik, and then TKO'd by Cyril Ghosn. None of those fights, by the way, extending past the second round. He doesn't have punch resistance. If this fight doesn't take place in Florida or Texas, maybe Mississippi, it doesn't get sanctioned. No, he can't take punches anymore.

And even if you're like, okay, could he have a Arlovsky type twilight where we all know he has no chin, but he's doing veteran stuff and fighting from distance. No, that's not JDS's game. He's a boxer. So, you know, I'm not mad at JDS for cashing a paycheck or two. I thought it was really cool that he got so involved in that AEW wrestling storyline and actually did matches and stuff. Shout out to him. This isn't like

58-year-old Evander Holyfield. He's fighting a guy who he shouldn't be fighting, to be fair. Let me ask you about the... Go ahead. This is really sketchy matchmaking in reality, I'm telling you. Super sketch. Now, what about Vitor Belfort versus Chad Dawson? Chad Dawson is a name I've not heard in a while.

Vitor is older. He does appear to be in great shape. You can infer whatever you want from that. But what about Chad Dawson? What about him? I actually like this fight, even though there's potentials for it to get gross. So, Chad Dawson, he hasn't been elite. I mean, he fell off the side of the earth on an elite level about six, seven years ago. It's been a while ever since his last stop to

Andre Ward, really when he moved down and they fought for the title at 168. Um, but the thing is he's been active though. Chad Dawson has been fighting like locally and on like the, you know, the regional league level, and he's been beating some old names here and there. So he's still capable is my point. I think's 40 years old he's right around there but you know if this is more of a boxing match he's he's still capable that would be interesting but vitor belfort i think you'd argue luke is the is the perfect sort of hybrid for the when you mix the two rules together if he can find a way to use you know the pharmacy and use uh explosion with some you know obviously foundational boxing tools to go with that i mean he could be a mauling sensation like this could be a really gross night

for chad dawson where he gets battered or it could be kind of an interesting style clash yeah that one i'm a little less down on um but we'll see how that goes all right ufc on march 12th b. We have two fights that were booked. Marlon Marais taking on Song Yedong. Dude, Marlon Marais is in a tough spot, dude. And it's not getting any fucking easier as he starts descending down the ranks because he's getting guys who are ranked lower each time. But those guys are as hungry as fucking possible.

They got closets full of hammers at this weight class. And he's got to go through every single one of them, dude. Yeah. I mean, dude, on the way got to go through every single one of them, dude. Yeah. I mean, dude, on the way up to bantamweight, it's hard. And on the way down, you're going to hit every fucking branch of that tree, man. It is. That's a tough place to be, bro. I mean, he's got three straight TKO defeats, four of his last five,

with the only win being the close competitive fight with Jose Aldo. Which he arguably lost. It's like he, okay, we're in panic mode. We're definitely in panic mode, but we're not necessarily in, like what I mean is a win could curb this. He could buy himself some time with a win is what we're saying. But yeah, Yadong could blow right through this, Luke. I mean, I guess it's good matchmaking in that regard.

I just don't want to see him get hurt. If Marais is done, I don't want to see him get hurt is what I'm saying, Luke. I agree. Now, the one that's also a little bit more interesting than that one, Bruno Silva, your emerging, what do we want to call him, knockout sensation, taking on Alex Pareda, the glory, former champ champ, the nemesis, so to speak, of Israel Adesanya. That is a fucking sick fight

that's a sex fight that is you know you'd see this on the spice channel in the 1980s luke this is great i mean give me that i mean it's just perfect it's perfect for both of their arcs because this would be a a massive win in either direction based on how dangerous they are and and their potential but you know maybe even more than that is just the storyline alone of Padea making that UFC debut looking spectacular. I don't think he got the headlines he deserved because that card was so loaded, Luke, but, like, this is a pretty big story here in what he's doing. Yeah, I love that fight.

I can't wait to see it. All right, we have a health update for Diego Sanchez. Sanchez had been, of course, fighting. And you could say I'm exaggerating. You should go see him. He documented it all. I'm not. He was fighting for his life from COVID. He had pneumonia. He had blood clots. He had just a fucking series of problems. It caused him to develop clots in both of his legs as a result of the diagnosis. But he recently tweeted BC. He is over the worst of it and he is happy and he is healthy. We're obviously glad to see it. But BC, I got to tell you, man, I don't know.

I don't even know what to say anymore. No one cares. I know what you're saying. There's just, here's the whole thing that bums me out. It's the only thing that bums me out. There is just a concerted effort in this country to not have public health, right? For the notion that we as a public have, there are a series of steps we could all take to help one another.

And there just is no, there's no commitment to that idea. I mean, there's 60 million people who don't believe in that idea. And if as long as 60 million people don't believe in that idea, any notion of public health is just not possible. Yeah yeah bronstetter says it's great up there over the border i guess i got to do more research luke i'd love to see anyone who needs it get it and i

think that um what you want to say but you won't say it because you have decency and what's fueling your uncomfortableness is you're afraid that Diego's got an inevitable bad ending because of all the trauma you know accrued and you just don't want to have to go through this over and over again as as it falls apart worse you know yeah I mean also if you have COVID this bad where he was in the hospital for like a month I don't know what that does to your athletic potential obviously he should be at the end of his career anyway, but it can't be great. Maybe it means nothing. By the way, there was some news recently. It didn't get nearly as much news as I thought it would. Did you see that the U.S. Army has developed a vaccine for COVID? And listen to this. Their version is different. They did genomic sequencing

in 2020 rather than trying to rush the process to get a vaccine to compete with the other ones at market. And so what they have come up with is not just one that can handle any strain now. It can handle any future strain. They actually looked at how COVID works and what the backbone is essentially of all the COVID variants. And it can stop any one of those. If that goes through the FDA regular process process and gets authorized would you get that vaccine from the u.s army the scientist at walter reed came up with it did they confer with uh dr rogan at all before doing this is there any i don't know i don't know is there any ivermectin

in this solution i don't know i tell you right now i get that shit if it goes through the normal channels of approval, I'd get it instantaneously. I mean, after seeing what I've done to my liver through my diet choices, Luke, I mean, you know, I've done enough ridiculous shit to myself. I'll do something that can make me safer, Luke.

I'll take that risk. Please. It's just the last thing I want to say on this is just the thing that kills me is like, dude, I mean, I've had this year and then parts of 2020, you know, you were there for one of the emergency room visits um you know i've had a series of health scares and complications the good news is that i've got them all you know uh under most of them anyway understood locked in i'm working on getting better and everything is

better like it's it's i'm in a much better place now than it was a year ago but i've spent more than i would want to admit in erss in several states in this country. I don't know if folks understand this. You can say you can have whatever opinion about COVID you want. You can say whatever you want, but if you continuously fill up ERs to the point where the doctors and the nursing staff and then the amount of various resources that they have are being constantly depleted, and we have tons of nurses leaving the industry, doctors leaving the industry. So now you have less available people to give care. Like care, if you go to a hospital now, it is markedly slower.

And in general, people are not getting the care that they would need in certain places because the hospitals are overwhelmed. I just don't understand what people think about this. Like, dude, do you think you're going to run hospital staff into the ground cycle after cycle after cycle and think that that won't have long-term consequences for healthcare in this country? Dude, we're going to end up looking a little bit closer, you know,

if this keeps going, and maybe it doesn't. But, you know, you keep grinding hospitals. I've been to places where things just get ground into dust and everyone just kind of settles for it because that's just the way things are now i don't want to live in a place like that so please for fuck's sake people do what you can it's not possible listen this thing this thing right now floating around is getting everybody sick but just yeah i mean look this was a detour into meet the press mk style and i know it could turn people off but i believe in your message of

can we get can we just take care of it? I mean, let's make the right decision here. So that's that. Luke, I did. Try to do something. I'm proud of myself. I returned to old man basketball last night for the first time in two years. I was fearful for my fatness and lack of stamina,

and I was fearful because I had strained a ligament falling off that ladder. But, Luke, even though I felt like my leg could snap at any time, had a good return. Had the lungs, hit a big three at the end of the first game, Luke, to keep us in it. I mean, you know, BC's not known for hanging out downtown, but the thing is, though, is I'm a winner, and I'll find a way to put, you know, I'll find a way.

Could you beat Adam Sandler in a one-on-one match uh based on our potential levels of stamina right because look here's the deal look we're some of us more skilled than others whatever it comes down to stamina at this age it's stamina is is like 70 of it i would agree with that certainly all right just a couple more of these and then we'll go all right i'll beat him beat him. I think I beat Helwani, Luke. I sized him up, okay? I know he's probably. Yeah, maybe.

In fact, Gaff, you've got a picture that you're like, BC, we should probably run to the game. Gaff, you're a genius. You know what I mean? Gaff, can you throw to that, please? I'm taking Billy Hole to the hole, Luke, okay? All right, come on. All right, you can dunk on him if you want.

All right, PBC on Fox pay-per-view. We talked about this very briefly. Formerly announces Keith Thurman, Mario Barra, as well to wait about on February 5th. Also on that card, Leo Santacruz since his vicious KO loss to Tank Davis versus somebody, I don't know who. And then Josecito Lopez, by the way, he's still out there taking on Abel Ramos.

That's a good fight. And then Luis Neri, yeah. And then Luis Neri, who can thump, taking on Carlos Castro. Yeah, Neri, this is his big comeback fight following the knockout loss to Brandon Figueroa. So there's a couple good storylines here. Here's the deal. It's tough because, like, is that main event pay-per-view level? I don't think so, Luke.

No. But it's a wonderful fight, dude. Mario Barrios moving up in weight after that war with Gervonta. And we all love Keith Thurman, but he does fight every three years, Luke. And we saw Jose Cito put him on Q Street there, Luke. I mean, that thing got hairy. It's like, damn, I love Keith Thurman. Keith, you're so freaking skilled, dude.

You used to be the guy. Like, I know there's been injuries. I know there's been ship. I just don't think he, he wants it. Luke, remember how good he was? Remember when he beat Sean Porter in that classic? Remember when he beat Danny Garcia in that close 12 round fight? Uh, I do.

All right. Last but not least BC. It's good. Good talk. Yeah. All right. I mean, I just don't care that much. All right. On but not least, BC. It's good talk. Yeah, all right. I mean, I just don't care that much. All right, on DAZN, February 12th.

I don't really care about this fight, but maybe you can tell me. Super Middleweight's Danny Jacobs, who I like a lot, and John Ryder are going to headline a card there. I mean, is there a ton of thrill for that one? Well, the thrill is, unfortunately, in a bad way. I don't know if Danny Jacobs wants it anymore. He hasn't fought since that weird fight with uh gay uh gay brazado in which it kind of looked like he lost it he was so lifeless and he

had a long gap before that he fought chavez jr who kind of just quit on him like it's been a minute luke since we've seen him in a in a meaningful fight and i know you know he finally made some money and he's in his 30s it's there's a There's a good question here of what he still has in terms of passion for this game. And it's good matchmaking because Ryder, you know, what's his only major loss? I thought he got screwed on the cards against Callum Smith. He might have beat him right there. He would have been the champion. So he's a tough out.

This could turn out to be a good fight, but it's mostly because I don't think Jacobs, or I question Jacobs. Luke, tell me if I'm wrong, please. Danny Jacobs could have beat Canelo that night. Yeah, he could have. Yes, he could have. I don't know why that sticks in my crow. I'm not a Canelo hater.

I'm not a Danny Jacobs super fan. He was too careful. He was too careful that night. I understand why. Oh, I get it too. It's like, you know how there's some fight. We all do research. You know, we do whatever.

There's some fights that you just research the shit out of. Luke, that fight, I had so much. I was like, you know what? I've done it all. Jacobs is going to win this fight. I can see it. I could see it playing out. By the way, our Showtime producer is talking shit on text.

Do you see it? Wow. People. Wow. Okay. You're getting roasted in the fucking text first of all i look like a i look like a uh post-retirement but still in shape randy couture in this hat but second of all they're like not only take that shitty hat off but our entire team is currently uh texting about how bad that hat looks on you all right i mean that hat is that that hat is like i'm dad and i don't know what's going on but i think i think i think it's the

opposite i think it's like you know i'm i'm i'm a pretty cool dad but you know i'm also a bit artsy luke so uh dude the key to being a cool dad is to not think you're a cool dad you got to not think that if you think that you're not rug rug you know come on luke i'm pretty you know all right i guess if i asked on dead serious you can't ask my kid because she can you know she's like you know can we go to the park i mean that's about all she can say the splash if i asked your kids if you're cool what would they say yeah that absolutely not but i also you know i i spent half my time just harassing them luke and getting it you know like i mean they're you're they're my kids i'm allowed to pick on them right you know

so they just be like nah dad's annoying and he's not cool but you know you know i'm not going after their demographic luke you know all right well with that in mind our three major topics are over it's time for the rest of the show bc i hand the baton to you good sir finish the all righty then hey how about we do a new segment here uh it's been done before on other shows but we haven't touched it it's very simple i give the a number i tell you the situation you tell me over or under on this i don't think we have fancy animation luke for this debut of it but here's the deal i got 10 statements along with a number, Luke. You tell me over or under and why. We start out number one.

Luke, one and a half. The amount of times Jon Jones will appear in the octagon in 2022. I'll take the under. I'll take the under. I don't think his days of getting in trouble are by any means over so do you see one fight like in the fall is that or do you see I definitely I definitely feel like he gets the one I don't think it's zero but uh two times that would require a level of self discipline that he has not shown maybe ever so uh wow I think I i think he i think he did show it luke but remember that

that was at a different stage in his life not this stage right i mean these problems that go unaddressed they don't just stay the same over time they metastasize over time they compound over time they actually get harder and harder to address so while you can do that at a different stage or whatever you're in if you don, it gets the interest accrues. Yeah. You're like, Hey, Bill is coming to. Hey, 22 year old morning combat fan. Oh, you like, you like McDonald's.

That's great. Yo, you eat it. You know, keep eating it, bro. You'll find out. You know what I mean? Yeah, I agree. Yes. Keep going.

Sorry. I got indigestion from probably something I ate. All right, Luke. Number two, 145,000. The amount of YouTube subscribers Morning Combat will have at this time next year. I'll take the over. I'll take the over. Okay.

Okay. You think we can get two bills? Unlikely, but we can get close. Okay. The run to 200, Luke, let's do it okay there's probably a tattoo at the end of this road probably a tattoo at the end of this road we'll see all right the next one is nine the total number of years dana white has left serving as ufc president oh he is 52 years old 52 years old i'll take the over i think he's i think he's a bob arum lifer

i do mean that i think he's going to be here until his deathbed whenever that may be ain't got and i don't expect to do the next nine years yeah it's all he knows luke all right let's keep it going 3.5 the amount of days per month in 2022 that MK will average broadcasting from the MK new brand new studio in Jersey city. Oh man. I'll take the under. I wish I could give you the over. I think I'll probably, I don't know if we're going to average three and a half per month. That seems a little high, but I think we can get close. i would like to i would like dude i would honestly we better average more than i know i would love to live in a world where two out of every three shows we do is in the studio but i just don't know if that's possible right now anyway i'll put us

about six six would be great let me ask a question where could could I live nearby Jersey City, right? Where could I live? Let's say, let me put out a statement. Where could I live within 30 minutes of Jersey City where I don't make, I'm not like rich, but I don't do poorly. I do okay. Where could I go to maximize my wealth and in each direction it's kind of the same setups meaning you know there's definitely suburban jersey really not too far from there that are suburbs that it's gonna be a little pricey obviously anything you know even where i live is pricey because of the connection to greater new york city but um you know you could go into into uh westchester county new york obviously that's high end but you know you can go to

certain parts of connecticut that aren't too crazy far away um long island luke as well okay i'm not i'm not telling you to go move to staten island all of these places sound unappealing yeah but i think in some of those especially in new york state you know especially if you're over by on the other side of the river near the jersey line there um some really nice suburbs luke you you got to come and check the green and see it luke see the the flowing hills and forests and say you know maybe there is a better life for myself and my family than downtown washington dc you know i could be mayor yeah it's luke okay i don't know dude you got you you talk like washington is some dump it's it's a world-class city dude dude. I don't know why you think it's like...

Okay, I'm not saying... There's levels between a dump and a world-class, and somewhere in there is get a tattoo on my arm. I think it's a little below that. Well, that's a personal decision. That's not a reflection of the city. I understand that, right? I greater respect Mr. Hibas' personal decision than yours.

Yeah, but I'm not asking for your validation. Your understanding of this place or of tattoos is less than minimal. So your assessment is less than minimal. But I'm just trying to wonder, what is the claim about the city that me getting a tattoo makes it worse? I don't quite understand the idea there. That would be a separate podcast. I'm just wondering if Mr. Hibas knows he's got a little bit of that spitfire

on his left forearm, Luke. I you do i know you do uh all right let's keep this weird show going two and a half that's 2.5 the total number of pro mma bouts that logan and jake paul will have combined in their lifetime i'll take the under you might get two you ain't getting three to way too hard way too little amount of money too difficult to get an opponent so you're saying one each is that what you're saying yeah i think you might get that yeah but not more than that now would they do you think they would if they went that direction that they would like go the same plan they did with boxing meaning you start mma against like youtubers like it's like

you know ksi versus logan in the cage i mean you think that's the entry point there see if they were first starting out you could have given him any kind of scrub like herschel walker he fought a guy by the name of like like some somebody nudge or something he had this it was spelled naggy but it was it was this weird pronunciation of his last name. And he was just somebody you had never heard of, just some donk. You know, you couldn't, but Herschel was just a part of a regular Strikeforce card. You couldn't build a main event around that.

So I think you would have to get somebody with a name, yeah. There's always Dylan Danis, but in MMA, it just won't work. Yeah, it doesn't work at all. He's too good on Jiu-Jitsu. Number six here, Luke. 0.5, that's one half, 0.5.'s one half.5 the amount of fights the boxing four princes at lightweight

will have against one another total in 2022 I'll take the under I don't think any of them are going to fight each other anytime soon oh god of course you're talking about Devin Haney Teofimo Lopez yeah only the fighters you want to see fight each other, right?

Gervonta Davis. You're going to get zero of that. Yeah, and Ryan Garcia. And obviously this division has changed the face of it. Well, hold on, hold on. Let me throw a wild card in there. If you count George Kambosis as part of it, does that count? I mean, he should be.

He's the unified champion, but he's not one of the four princes. But I get your point. If you look into, or rather, I should say, if you count Cambosis, which I realize you're not because of the nature of the question, then yes, I think you might get one of them. Without him, you ain't getting shit. You ain't getting shit. If I include Shakur Stevenson from Junior Lightweight and Lomachenko in this,

so you're looking at, that's a good amount of names. I'd take two between them even this year and be happy but i mean in a real life situation luke they'd all be fighting each other and this sport would be hot freaking fire but uh that's not what we do here uh 4.5 luke 4.5 the amount of poontang that darren the damage elkins has secured simply for being a UFC fighter over his career? Oh, I'm going to go much higher than four and a half. I'll take the over. Big time.

Just on the basis... I'm not saying he's got prized pigs on the resume, but, you know, you're just telling me that's how many he pulled from just being a UFC... Yeah, he's got more than that. He's got more than that, for got more than that for sure even post tattoo they might like that look that chest in the places where you come from that they're probably got a more ass not less you know what i'm saying yeah all right 53 53 the amount of twitter followers that luke blocks in 2002 while

simultaneously throwing shade at mma for being quote, irrationally protective and, quote, skeptical of criticisms. Yeah, I mean, you think that this is a contradiction, but it's not. I block people who are, dude, this is the thing I always try to tell people. This is why you're, I see your stupid smile. This is why your arguments are just completely bankrupt if you look in my comment section there have been people who follow me literally for 10 years who exist to do nothing but poke holes in what i'm saying constantly it exists in everything i post but i don't block them because they're not doing it in bad faith it's the people that show up and

they're like hey your mom's a whore and also i don't like your opinion and then i block them and then they go hey i just gave you my opinion no you didn't you're not even trying to be here to do this in any kind of a good faith way if you have a if you have a good faith criticism you can stick around if not you can go fuck off uh what was the number 50 53 i'll take the you know what i block a lot less these days really that's that yeah yeah a lot less i mean are you still interested in some type of reconciliation plan in which these guys can You know what? I block a lot less these days. Really? Yeah, a lot less. Are you still interested in some type of reconciliation plan in which these guys can compete to get back their follow? Oh, definitely.

Definitely in favor of that. We could do like Squid Game's Luke's Twitter edition. Yeah. We used to have a thing on my radio show called Twitter Court where if you got blocked, you could write to the... We got to do that. Yeah, and then they would plead their case on the air and then the staff would decide whether or not we should take them back or not i think i should decide with a white wig almost like a you know ben franklin thing

going on and like yeah but here's the thing you'll you're not a reliable judge because you will just restore everybody your argument is that anyone no matter how juvenile or bad faith should be given a platform to be heard i just don't think that that's true i think you i think you i think you have to be you have to work to be taken seriously i think you're widening the margins of your interpretation of my true character uh two more luke 63.5 the total height in inches of joe rogan if we measured him barefoot. Dude, you are obsessed with his height. I'm not entirely sure why this is so amusing to you, but you love it.

Like I say, before it became cool to make this joke UFC 199 I could not believe it I was just like oh my god so Luke that would make him 5'3 and a half over under I'll take the over my wife is 5'2 and he is much taller than my wife

he's like 5'7 something like that 5'7", something like that? No. 5'7", 5'8"? Stop, please. What? You're like, I'd love to go back on that show and not talk about my current projects,

but still, Luke, you know, come on. Is he not 5'7"? I don't understand what you're saying. He's not 5'7". And that's fine. Wait, wait, wait. You actually believe he's 5'3"? He's not 5'3". I'm telling you right now he's not five here's the thing like mugsy bogues was

still a fan favorite luke yeah he was a real i think what was he five six dude rogan's like five seven to five he was five maybe five nine maybe five three anyway i got one more for you here luke i could see her getting all kinds of sour over there like old milk and a bachelor's do you hear my dogs just going bananas it's just it's like just constant maelstroms outside my fucking we close with this one luke five and a half the amount of years morning combat has left with bc and lt as the full-time co-hosts oh i'll take the over on that one i'm actually pretty high on this okay i think though i think the long-term potential for this is pretty significant, actually.

You mean like a Tony and Wilpon type potential, or more like a Siskel and Ebert, or like who are those two guys that got mauled by tigers? Well, Siskel and Ebert, one of them got cancer and died, I think. So that's a great comparison. That's not great.

Yeah, that's not great. I would say, you know, I don't know. Jenna and Rocco. We can be ambiguously gay and move in together. Sorry, Chasey and Rocco I meant. Yes, got it. Yes, exactly. All right, Luke, that's it for that segment.

Hopefully you enjoyed it. Maybe it'll come back. Let's do these other ones because I got people on the way here. I got technicians showing up. It's a fucking thing. All right. I believe we have fan submissions, submissions right because it's wednesday and every wednesday we have people right in to uh morning combat oh wait no no fan subs hold on we have fan subs i got a dead wrong first we look we're not doing a show on friday i'd be dead wrong if i missed this so uh that's the email address morning combat at at gmail.com once in a while we screw up and then we have to stand trial it's called dead wrong

alright we have one this week Luke one of them from Josh in Perth Australia when it comes to BC it is impossible to be sure of anything other than he stores shoe polish in his hair pee in his balls and that he keeps his memory tucked away inside his black liver. Wow. Wow.

That's both accurate and painful to hear. MK episode 241 at 1749 BC says, let's be fair. After that stretch, he threw against Vincente Luque. Wait, what? Oh, he has quotes in the wrong spot no this is my quote okay let's be fair after that stretch he threw against Luque in Woodley's final UFC fight and yes it was a knockout

but at least he went quote unquote out on his shield end quote us astute donks already know Tyron didn't get knocked out against Luque exclamation point he got knocked down but the fight was officially ended via darce choke sorry bc if it's any consolation you're still a fantastic father regardless of your declining mental faculties wow jesus it ain't easy

i write that it ain't easy i'll take the l though yes he was submitted thank you very much that same email address will allow you to send pictures of yourself wearing our clothes in RVs across the country, this segment is called Fan Submission we've got mail ass barf alright, I bet you Saul's here

he's always here, Luke, we're going to start with Russell Luke, before my wife and I went to Vegas to get married by Elvis, you told us, quote, don't die in Vegas. No one died, but I think some of the security staff at Bellagio now have PTSD from my event. I spent three days in the ICU. This is pick one of him in the ICU. And then there's another pick of him six months later, flying the MK flag prior to going into the or uh an endoscopy showed all good findings take care of your bodies please it will save your life quote i'm not just the president of the black liver club but i'm also a client uh this is russell here luke he almost

died but the thing about russell is he he at least he would have died wearing that MK merch right there, Luke. Yeah, that's a sad way to go. But at least he didn't go. Right. Yeah. But the thing about it is, what do I always tell you? Always in our like show meetings, our phone calls. I'm like, I want, you know, people that work on this show and I want listeners out there that are willing to die for us. You know what I mean?

Like, would you kill for me? And Russell's like, yeah. Yes, I would. So, Luke, I gotta respect that. Okay. I mean, that's repping us to the grave, Luke. You know what I mean? It's more like repping us to the gurney,

but pretty close. Okay. Well, hopefully you get buried in it, too. This is from Mr. Ladoose, and it's tip to tip. Should be gross. Should be awful. Yeah. Luke, another Easter egg of dongs there for you, if you look close enough, Luke. Just dicks touching.

That's what this show is really about. What's your show about, Luke? Well, it's nominally about combat sports, usually about Jake Paul, and otherwise two guys with dicks touching. That's really – That's not wrong. That's the theme of MK. Marcus says, hello, dongs.

It's Marcus from Alexandria, Virginia. I just wanted to shout out the king of CTE from CT with no BDE with every STD and the king of DC for the best content a combat sports fan can ask for. Here's a little video. That's pretty good bars. Here's a little video with unintentional cable management highlight of my four-month-year-old and I watching MK. Enjoy, fellas.

Love watching the show. Luke, stay away from the Capitolitol steps because january 6th is right around the corner all right let's go to this video pretty nice cable management. Decent. Decent. Decent. Decent. Ariel's like, I'm here, yo. All right, well, these fan subs have really just fallen off of him. Yeah, they've gone downhill.

Okay, can we turn that off? Thank you, Marcus. Appreciate you indoctrinating the youth of Virginia into our culture and our show. Thank you. Here we go. This is Julian. Hey, gents. As soon as I saw this still shot of Frank Gore screaming for his life once Darren Williams punched him in the face, I knew it was going to be an instant meme graphic for the first meme.

I would have definitely lost a bet if I were to guess which of you two was the scared one of physical affection. Yeah, you don't like people touching you, which is a little bit weird but um well i mean i'm gonna that's not true that's not true it's just you know you're a big covid guy in the airport you're always trying to hug me and stuff so you know look i was just sort of like let's you know is there a doc camera here if not you can stay the hell over there you're the frank gore of friend intimacy all right uh for the second meme bc's asian mma jokes will be the show's inevitable and explosive downfall stop asian hate bc oh god i got so miss mis uh interpreted but i get it i get it it is what it is a big reason actually i i'm now back on the our our fan subs are good train okay this one's from scott

i have an idea for how to get bc to go to the dying fetus or similar band concert a trade offer here luke uh luke would receive pf changs for the first time with bc and make a video about it luke would receive or no bc would receive uh a concert ticket of luke's choosing and doesn't act like a bitch a biatch i think is the appropriate terms look you wouldn't want to do that that bet you wouldn't want to do that i've never even been to pf chanks legitimately serious question is the food any good i like it yeah so it's it's it's i mean really it's chain chinese food but they they they jazz up both the menu and the restaurant to try to feel special and you know i like it luke i'm sorry okay uh tyler says you know when luke was talking about bc's big stupid head i realized where i knew bc from it's from spongebob crazy that spongebob's dad

is now an award-winning mma journalist just proves you can do anything you put your mind to oh my god that's that's insulting look at those liver sores that's insulting yeah you know what this is we've earned this we really yeah yeah we have you cover jake paul like we have the audience gets to roast you a little bit so you gotta just take our l's bro oh saul is here luke i love this guy uh me and my wife drove two hours to indianapolis this weekend she got me tickets to a sold out bill burr show and also took me to the art museum where they have a van gogh immersion experience this weekend was filled with art and you know i had to bust out i went to this art from the award-winning podcast to compliment this

little that is awesome he wore the sweater so they came to dc and i went to it it was great how was that i want to go to that real bad it's it's so here's the thing i'm spoiled because i went to the actual van gogh museum in uh amsterdam which is one of the best museums i've well i'm just gonna say truly i mean this it was maybe the best museums I've... Well, I'm just going to say, truly, I mean this. It was maybe the best museum I've ever been to anywhere for anything. It was just such a great experience. So I was a little bit spoiled. But what I will say is, if you can get a cheap-ish ticket for this one, I think they're about

20 bucks or so for adults, something like that, I would recommend going. In part because there's a lot of different rooms that they have where they set it up for interactive stuff with kids. You learn a lot about him. You's a lot of different rooms that they have where they set it up for like interactive stuff with kids you learn a lot about him you learn a lot about his artwork there's a there's just a ton of visual stuff on display that it's it's worth it to check it out for sure uh i thought this was going to be another one of yours you know the office is pretty cool but you know have you ever seen the british edition luke that that i'm just trying to listen i didn't know much about Van Gogh in any kind of serious way prior to going to that actual museum.

And it was so good that it spurred a love affair sense going. It was a great experience. I'm not allowed to talk about great experiences. No, I want to go to that experience. I did have to pause and roast you, but I do want to go to that. Gaff, can you put Saul back on there? Did he pose again in our shirt or something? He did, he did he had the sweater look he's got the sweater on oh that's the new ugly christmas sweater love that stuff and what was the next one there's i

think there's women in it or something he's he had a girl with him yeah same thing okay okay you know what and they're and you know what covid conscious well then he takes his mask off but you know what i can't believe yo seoul's been to the gym luke you got to give him that credit all right hey listen i'll give him that credit my man's posing like a weirdo taking a dump but you know not all of our fans not all of our fans are housebroken bc and i don't judge him for it uh this one's from uh justo i was driving from north carolina to new york to visit my family for christmas on monday and my family had the appropriate reaction to morning combat. If you look closely, you can see my middle child is passed out behind me.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Semper Fi, Sergeant Thomas. From Justo Fadada, B.C., it's pronounced Hoosto. You uncultured swine. Dude, he knew your ass. He had to put a disclaimer in there just for you who's still can we can you blow this up let's judge who's still in his family here i love this well who's those family does my family's bit where shit just falls in my lap

and then i have to fix it but uh that's also kind of what life's about here a little bit is with the fam and the kids to be honest with you not everyone's in that in that mindset but that's where i'm at so i'm loving thank you for your service husto to our show and luke thanks bro appreciate when someone tells you semper fi just so i don't further degrade the great customs and traditions that have that have you know helped make who you are what does that mean am i allowed to say it luke um i mean guess civilians can say it, but it's not really a thing that you would do. It's mostly just a greeting between Marines. It's short for Semper Fidelis, which means always faithful. And it's just a greeting that we give to each other.

I saw an old guy who was a World War II vet, old and all wrinkly and shit in a wheelchair, but he had a U.S. Marines hat on. And I said Semper Fi to him, and he looked up and smiled at me and said Semper Fi back. It's kind of one of those things you know it's kind of like there's a few other um subaru orange cross treks here we go in my town there's a few other couldn't leave well enough alone could you and you know what they do they they wave to me like the when the other person in the orange subaru drives by they beep or they wave it's almost like being on the back of my dad's motorcycle as a kid when all the, you know, the motorcyclists

do that little weird side hand wave all the time. I guess we're in the club, Luke. We're in the same club. I think that club is called the Lilith Fair, Luke, and hopefully I'll get lawn tickets this summer. All right. One more from Damien. Maybe this is Damien

the Donk. We'll see. We got three memes here when you watch an mma show not called yo my man yo listen everyone wants to get on biden he does exactly he sucks but he also he does exactly what i want to do in most meetings just fuck your life him and bob arum just fuck your life i'm old you little prick you little prick uh here's meme number two from damien i think this is the 209 damien the guy with the tattoo on him luke of our show i think all right yeah which is i love that guy i mean he had some scary tattoos on his chest but uh not bad yeah that's pretty funny not bad that's pretty that's pretty reasonable i mean look at my stupid lips just slurping that 40 like it's the most important thing going in my life i mean look

did you share with the fans that breakdown you had the other day where you're like you know i was watching myself on camera man i just look stupid i just look so stupid well first first of all hold on blow it up one more time this photo because i want you to look at the joy on my face I'm getting from this fucking gross malt liquor. Look at that. Look at... That's the face you make when you're, you know, you've been watching porn for 30 minutes or something.

I mean, just the worst face in America. And yeah, dude, I see myself on camera. And, you know, I'm down a fair bit of weight, which is great. And I got a fair bit to go. And I'm happy about that part. But forget that part for just a second like i got i have a ways to go with that but like the worst part of that i've i've for now i've solved right so i got the pandemic weight off but i still would you be willing since you're getting in such great shape and we certainly applaud uh your efforts and it's it's you know keep keep living healthy man you're

inspiring me as much as i always say hey luke would you put your beard up in a bet would you agree to some form of extreme makeover mk edition in which like oh no dude you need to explain no just listen just listen just listen we got you to a stylist like like you know new york city like expensive high-end style showtime would pay for it of course and they would dye your hair and they would trim up your beard and you'd be looking like i thought i looked with the shoe polish until i looked in the mirror luke uh you know you would be like this would be this would be 68 comeback special elvis version of like luke in his pre trt run prime luke um Would you be down for that?

Sort of. Only on the condition that you can explain to me why what I wear on my face is so deeply important to you. There's no part of what you do that I focus in on as much as you focus in on my beard. It is a thing for you. There's something about, you know, we have to look in the mirror, right? Figuratively and quite literally a few times a day, Luke. You know, you wash your hands know we have to look in the mirror right figuratively and quite literally a few times a day luke you know you wash your hands whatever you look in

the mirror if you look old you feel like shit that's why i get haircuts so often luke i want to feel young i want to feel like so here's what i would say here's what i would say i here's what i think i need i definitely need to keep the health thing going because i've just got a ways to go again some good progress but you know plenty of work to do number one number two i definitely need to trim the beard with an expert beard trimmer i need to get them like to shape it nicely number two three i need a better haircut i mean i just need and i need more regular haircuts too on top of that and four this is perhaps the biggest one of them i need to like burn all of my clothes and start fresh.

I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing at all anymore. Zero. See, this can be combined with us getting you a stylist. And then like, it's, this is a documentary waiting to happen. Tell you what I'd be down for this,

but your bitch ass is coming to cannibal corpse first. First. You're such a hoe. You're an unbelievable hoe. I mean, I would potentially make that trade. I'll get my people involved. We'll look at the contract. I would consider that trade.

All right. All right. We can talk more about it. Because, you know, I mean, I really like that movie Limitless with Bradley Cooper that most people don't like for some reason. And, you know, when he starts out just a piece of shit, but then, like, that drug that makes him you know super smart and and then suddenly he like goes comes out in like a pinstripe suit with the crump tear you know luke i i think you know you're gonna come out of this emergence a different person looking like man why did i used to employ this this stupid beard all the time you know i'd be like man bc has changed everything in my life for the good. Again, stupid beard. I don't think the beard is stupid.

If anyone's got a stupid beard, I think you need to have a look at me. You have the worst beard I've ever seen on someone. No, Luke, do you know how long it took for me to be able to do something this manly? Honestly, I think Rosie O'Donnell has a better beard than you, and I mean that genuinely. I mean, I was in my 30s still unable to grow anything. This is like finally I got something here,ke well you know let me have this please okay why are you trying to tear down mine mine is fine i have a good beard it's okay you know it's okay needs a little bit of help i agree it's a little it's a little scruffy but it's not so bad did the drapes smash

the carpet look oh yeah dude it's a complete failure as a human complete failure all right i don't think i have any other segments luke you i think that's it for us uh let's just remind folks uh thumbs up on the video hit subscribe if you're watching on youtube if you're listening you can turn off my ear thing please if you're listening on the podcast give us a review on whatever format that may be spotify i can hear a gaff talking again which is a little bit weird i don't know why that's happening at the end of the show oh there is one fan sub left bc you skipped one oh i don't have it on my list who do we got here is this the third one from damien just throw it up here we go oh here it is

oh my god that's great dude that's a deep cut right there that's a deep Oh, my God. That's great. Dude, that's a deep cut right there. That's a deep cut. Wow. Dude, we fucking roasted Phil on there. Oh, my God. I felt bad.

So we got this kid, Phil. He always shows up on the road. I don't even know if he works there. He's just like a, you know, like know like a i mean he could just be like a a pan sifter luke or like a just a complete deadbeat but uh you know the rumor became that phil uh you know preferred the hand of a much older woman so when he delivered us our our coffee on set friday uh you know we asked him and he gave that really creepy answer as you know as long as they're legal worst answer ever yeah it's like it's a prophet preferably legal i was like yo preferably legal but

it's hardly a requirement yo yo bag of van doc antle slow up right here all right i mean come on bro you know uh that's great but you know he looks so sad afterwards luke that i felt legitimately uh you know well here's the thing afterwards, Luke, that I felt legitimately, you know, upset. Well, here's the thing. Phil has been nothing but friendly to us, and we've done nothing but roast him on air. Yeah. I mean, I just called him a panhandler, Luke, all right?

He's a great, great guy, probably. That's a great meme, by the way. Fucking amazing. All right. So there's that. Manscaped. Go to manscaped.com right now. Put in the code COMBAT.

K-O-M-B-A-T. K-O-M-b-a-t k-o-m-b-a-t you're going to get 20 off your order plus free shipping i mean could you go wrong with that you couldn't and there and and here's the best part their products actually work like they legitimately do what they say they're going to do so you can't go wrong with that uh you want to try showtime you can do it 30-day free trial go to show Showtime.com. If you like it, you can keep it. If not, you can go do something else. Our show email remains the same. MorningCombat at Gmail.com.

MorningCombat at Gmail.com. Four dead wrongs. Keep getting them in. Four fan subs. Keep getting them in. And what else, BC? I think that's it for us, man. Yeah, you can get gift cards at MorningCombat.store is our merch house. You can can get 10 off today with our live 10 code but also uh digital gift cards available if you got that last minute you're like oh man i know my man loves this weird show

you know get some merch on that shit i mean this stuff's good i mean look i'm in this hair drug rug right now this is great i agree all right well with that in mind that's brian campbell i'm luke thomas thanks wait hold on hold on i'm not letting you get away with that i agree shit they sent you a drug rug to tampa and your response was your response was i ain't wearing this bullshit in fact i mean i mean dude i mean i'm not i'm not you know i'm not brain damaged i'm not wearing that in In fact, Gaffney is wearing the one that you passed up, and I think it's in better hands, Luke, okay? Probably. I think that's probably fair.

It's just not for me. Not everything for you is for me and vice versa, and that's America. That's okay. Okay, so thanks to everyone from Malka, CBS Sports, and Showtime. You guys have heard everything we've had to say. We will talk to you next week. Happy holidays. Enjoy whatever you next week. Happy holidays. Enjoy

whatever you're celebrating. Merry Christmas. Look, I think Hanukkah's over, but I could be way off on that. It is over, yes. We love you all. You guys have gone to bat for us in so many great ways. Enjoy yourselves, your family. Stay safe.

Mask up. Thank you. I'm out out take care of each other and and everyone else for brian campbell i'm luke thomas until then may all of your gains be loyal