MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Pacquiao-Ugas Recap | Cannonier Beats Gastelum | Bellator 265 | Paul-Woodley | Ep 194

Episode Date: August 23, 2021

Brian Campbell is solo for Episode 194 of Morning Kombat. BC is back to recap Yordenis Ugas' win over Manny Pacquiao. What's next for each fighter? Jared Cannonier earned a tough decision over Kelvin Gastelum on Saturday. Does Gastelum need to consider a step down in competition? Bc also breaks down the rest of the UFC card. Cheick Kongo had a dramatic victory over Sergei Kharitonov at Bellator 265. Was it enough to get a title shot? Finally we look ahead to Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley this Sunday. What are the biggest storylines? BC breaks it all down. Morning Kombat’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Bullhorn and wherever else you listen to podcasts.    For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit: store.sho.com   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat  To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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And we kick off with the big one on Saturday night. Hopefully you caught our instant analysis with your boy BC immediately after. But it was Upset City in Las Vegas. The PBC on Fox pay-per-view. Your Dennis Ugas defending his WBA welterweight title against the living legend himself, the ageless wonder 42-year-old Manny Pacquiao. But ageless is an interesting word. It's the word we sort of use to praise Pacquiao coming in.

How the hell is he still doing this? What is this doing to his legacy? You know, to a degree, age is the outgoing narrative too. It's not the prevailing one, though. The prevailing one is that Jordan Asougas got the biggest opportunity in his life, 11 days notice, and he hit the ball off the fence. He absolutely came in and exceeded the expectations that we thought, put forth the best, most complete performance of his career,

and did so by leaning on his strengths. He took chances. He had to stand in front of Manny Pacquiao with a high guard and be responsibly enough defensively to not get picked apart on his feints and his explosive combinations. That takes something. Yes, he's a big welterweight. Yes, Manny's a small one. Played a big factor. Yes, so did the length. But I say age part of this because I think, you know, 60-40, 60% of this fight was that your Dennis Ugas was the wrong opponent to fight on 11 days notice at age 42

coming off a two-year layoff but the other 40 percent has to be said you know age has caught up with Manny Pacquiao or at least age mixed with inactivity which I think was a big part of this because you look at the Manny who let's remember when he lost to Jeff Horn in that controversial fight we thought he was old and washed we didn't take into account maybe not a great training camp the you know the travel to Australia I don't know if he was mentally where he needed to be. But he came back a year later and put together three wins in 12 months. Nearly became your 2019 fighter of the year at age 40.

Keith Thurman, we know this already, but he did it with activity. He was biting off more than he can chew. And he did it for the sake of his legacy. He did it for the sake of the fans. I'm sure he did it to protect the money and the payday and the opportunity. Because, you know, Rafe Bartholomew was on the show last week saying, you know, don't look past the political savviness of Pacquiao to want to potentially run

for president of his home country next year and to want to come in there off a big performance and a win that we didn't expect he can get. Now that was against Spence. We didn't expect you, he can get, he became the betting favorite against Ugas rightfully. So about three-1, because the whole idea was if he can be that Pacquiao from two years ago, it's going to be too much for Ugas, but he wasn't that same guy.

It was inactivity. It was the legs cramping up due to age. And again, it's the wrong fighter to have those things come together on short notice. A guy who's technically strong will will play his one note and play it well although i'll give ugas a lot of credit for the adaptions he made to that we know he wasn't one note in a sense there was a lot of nuances to that note and when he mixed in things like those sidearm body shots and the looping right leads against the southpaw he fought a great fight he deserves to have one he deserves to get a big opportunity i mean who knows

we might we might see or dennis ugas next against errol spence jr for three of the four welterweight titles i mean that's a it's a big fight would it be exciting well it's gonna be a technical chess affair but this one was exciting because even though ugas neutralized pacquiao peck he was willing to pour out what was left. I mean, he didn't necessarily go, you know, gonzo for the knockout, but he also didn't get physically dominated. He got outpointed. He got out-thought. And this is a great performance for Ugas.

And, you know, the question falls to what's next for Pacquiao. He says he'll have a month to figure out if he will run for president. You talk to people like Rafe Bartholomew. By the way, if you don't know Rafe's backstory, you know, New York Times bestselling author, had done a lot of study in the Philippines when he was at Northwestern, had a scholarship to go out there, wrote a book on the pride and tradition of Filipino basketball, lived in the Philippines, knows, you know, a ton about what's going on there. You know, he says Pacquiao is not expected to win the election if he runs, but he is pretty

much expected to run next year. What could that mean for his career moving forward? I know he said very humbly after the fight that he's like 60-40 right now, 60% toward retirement, 40% towards fighting again. It's the passion. He still wants to fight, but he's realizing maybe the body's not reacting there. But I think there's some problems in the belief that Pacquiao won't fight again. A couple of them. First and foremost, he loves it too much.

He freaking loves this. This is who he is. You talk to people that know Manny Pacquiao, yes, he does great charitable work in the work to help his community as a senator and all that stuff. But he kind of also, in his free time, just is like a teenager.

He just wants to play hoops, have his buddies around. You know what I mean? He helps people. He's a great guy. But there's a simple quality to who he is. He just loves to play hoops have his buddies around you know what i mean have a you know helps people he's great guy but like there's a simple quality to who he is he just loves to fight like the same way when he was a you know fighting to survive on the streets uh selling stuff and got a chance to to make a run as a potentially professional fighter and and constantly just kept climbing that ladder in such hugely incremental ways to have this ridiculously legendary career and the fact that I think he can make excuses as to why he didn't get the best out

of himself for this fight the layoff the last minute all that I mean look there's a wrong this is the wrong opponent a technical marvel you know bronze olympic medalist from the cuban school wrong opponent to kind of just wing it and again like that's why he's Manny that's why for the first time seriously Manny felt like why for the first time seriously Manny felt like the Grateful Dead coming back to tour it felt like there were so many people that's just like oh man I get one more chance to see Manny I know he's going to deliver he's always going to face somebody tough and he's always going to freaking bring it so it was almost like this this could be it thing and who knows right but I think the passion mixed with the fact that he

wasn't physically bodied and handled he wasn't knocked out he'll be back and I think the passion mixed with the fact that he wasn't physically bodied and handled. He wasn't knocked out. He'll be back. And I think specifically if he loses the election, now Freddie Roach says if he thinks Pacquiao wins the election, that would be the final fight. He would want to fight one more as president. But I think it's even more likely if he loses, he's going to, what is he going to do next?

Carries a large entourage. He gives away a lot of money. There are people like Amir Khan. He can go in there and make a big fight against a knockout guaranteed or he could take challenges against others and you know convince himself maybe i i always felt that man he's got too much love for the game that he was going to be a candidate to hang on too long and take some tough losses in the end we're not at that point though i hope he doesn't get to that point but i think you'll see him again and um you know something i touched on quickly in the instant analysis pod does pacquiao's performance which was good in the first half of the fight right scored it three rounds to three and by the way who got sent to the winning by the three judges scorecards 75

8484 116 112 84 that's how i also scored it um in the second half it's just you know who got shut down everything pacquiao every avenue and I think Pac it's for for opportunity to get back into the fight I think Pac was frustrated I don't think it was a lack of stamina you know I don't think it was necessarily a lack of of unwillingness to go for broke because I think he felt that he was in this fight and had a chance to win it on the cards when he went there but um does this suggest that it would have been an awful night had it been Errol Spence and I think certainly the footage of seeing that physical version of Manny, yeah, you can say, okay, Spence is more well-rounded than Ugas, certainly.

And he might be just as good or better in the categories that Ugas is very good at. I mean, Spence is the real deal. Could Spence have stopped this version of Manny? I mean, it's certainly in play. But something I talked about late Saturday was just, you know, styles make fights. This was the wrong style matchup for Pacquiao to try to do this on last minute and just wing it. Whereas Spence, for as great as he is and well-rounded, we've kind of seen in the past, though, if you lure him.

I mean, look, he stuck to a game plan against Mikey Garcia that was, I'm going to box from the outside to prove to everybody how much I can box. God, he proved it. Good Lord, he proved it. 12 rounds, right? Shutout, just proved it. But, you know, another fight, Sean Porter fight, for example example he got lured into a brawl because he's so great that he can brawl at a super

elite high level there so could pacquiao have lured him into a little bit of an action fight which would have given pacquiao a better chance to hang i still think manny's losing no matter what but i think you need to remember though that styles do make fights ugas fought the best of his capabilities and then some and that's the wrong style matchup for this Manny so uh interesting to see how we roll moving forward there's the whole purse situation for Terrence Crawford and Sean Porter will Porter pull out now potentially and just fight Ugas for the title who knows I hope not I hope we see Porter and Crawford next maybe Ugas and the you know Ugas and Spence when he comes back. You also have Keith Thurman, and I really enjoyed on the PBC on Fox desk,

Kate Abdo hosting, but Sean Porter and Keith Thurman, former rivals, they were hilarious together. I mean, that was like a buddy cop duo. And, you know, there's always talk of them rematching, which would be a big deal. They both kind of said, hey, maybe we'll just do it at 154 so we don't have to cut down. I mean, that'd be a great fight to make, but I think for Porter there there's some

title fights to make too. So it's gonna be interesting how the landscape lays out moving forward. But, um, you do have to stop, like I mentioned and celebrate what Manny did give us. He didn't, he didn't cheapen out. He went for the win. He put up as strong a performance as he could. He kept the train on the tracks and the event going and took on the next guy in line who was very dangerous. And that's what legends do. And they don't stress about the loss. So, Manny Pack, you'll keep your head held high, you know, regardless of what you decide moving forward. So, we love you.

Look, there's very true legends who have... I mean, it's not that there's never been stuff to criticize in Manny's, you know, personal life or anything. You know, no one's perfect, but Manny's got a lot of goodwill for boxing fans and boxing journalists and historians. I mean, a lot of goodwill built up, and it's rightfully so.

All right, good stuff. Let's roll on. Let's get to why a lot of you are here, right? The MMA side of it. And there was a UFC fight night card in Las Vegas that on the surface you may have been able to forget about it in the glow of all things Manny Pacquiao's return. But not only was it a really good card, it had specifically two title-implicative fights

within the top of both the middleweight division and the flyweight division, which we'll get to in a second. But the main event was all about the potential for action here. And the winner taking a huge step toward another title opportunity when Jared Kananir fought Kevin Gastelum it went the five full rounds three to two 49-48 across the board for Jared Cannoneer this is a very good high quality win for a guy at 37 who was here to announce on Saturday that that he's not done and and it's not that anyone thought coming off the loss to Robert Whitaker that he could be done it's just that when someone meets their ceiling in this game particularly like him who put through such a hard journey to cut from heavyweight to middleweight and figure out how to be great and the commitment to his body uh that he did to get to that point you know he went in

there against robert whitaker and and although he was game at the end in the third round he had moments and all that and never stopped trying to win you know he technically he got handled against one of the best of all time seriously one of the you know Robert Whitaker um sometimes when a guy hits his ceiling even subconsciously they begin chapter two of the career which is the the exit the slow exit they still make big fights they can still win fights. But sometimes that tells them this is as far as you can go. And sometimes without realizing it, fighters sort of accept that and become that. Kananir, I think, you had 25 minutes to see it here. He went back to the gym and figured some things out.

His boxing was tremendous in this fight. His defensive boxing. Switching stances. You see in the still there, the threat of the elbow went in close, certainly, but even just the pure boxing of the jab of switching stances, he'll take one big shot

at a time, and Gastelum did mark up his face. Gastelum will land bombs. We know that. But Kananir was so poised, even when he dropped, the turning point of this fight in round three, when he dropped Gastelum with that hook, first all the balls on this guy the the chin the backbone on Kelvin Gastelum whatever you think about him and five losses in six fights we're gonna have a lot to say about what we all think about him that guy's got a world-class chin that hook knocks out 80 percent of UFC fighters

and of the remaining 20 percent I'd say 10 percent are down and they're hurting and they're ready to be finished. And he popped right back up and landed some shots of his own. So I think that showed you that Cannoneer's patience in those moments was worthwhile, was smart. And you know, it's always a little dangerous when you're not willing to go to the scorecards because it's not like either one was that close to a knockout, but you know, there's a part of Cannoneer that just was confident heading into the scorecards that he felt he had won at least three rounds, he'd done enough.

Now, that's always dangerous. But this was a high-level fight with two guys who realized their positioning in this middleweight title division, and specifically for Gasolum, who you could argue really couldn't afford another loss, elite or not. They were willing, you know, to go after it to a level where they didn't leave themselves open to be finished so this was interesting because cannoneer ceiling before this and we saw him hit that ceiling or so i thought like i just said against whitaker was that you know he's powerful enough to get out the bb plus guys a minus guys he has enough power where he could stumble into a title and i don't mean stumble accidentally. I mean, he's powerful enough where I think we all believe he could knock somebody out and win a title. Like a Jessica Andrade, who I got nothing bad to say about her, but it's more power than anything else.

And she did win a title and shout out to her for doing that. And she was powerful. She slammed Rose on her head and she's knocked other people cold, you know, in a women's division that you don't typically see that but i think for androsh though if a technician can handle her and avoid that big one then there's the levels right and i don't i don't think at least i i didn't think cannoneer could outpoint an elite like this and i know the kickback reactions bc good god you haven't gotten to your gas the one breakdown yet but if gas the one loses five out of six you you can't say he's a lead. I mean, at some point at the end of the day, right, Bill Parcells, you are what your record says you are.

And I hate that phrase because it's so true. It's so, it's so like, you know, in my head, I'm an athlete, right? I play old guy hoops once a week when it's not COVID. I, I've, I've run, I've run the shitload of 10 Ks and I got into serious marathon training. It didn't get to end up getting to run the marathon, unfortunately, but I put through that training camp, if you will, uh, for lack of a better term. And it was grueling as shit. I still think like I'm an athlete and a runner. Well, the majority of my day-to-day life suggests I'm not.

So, you know, looking in the mirror, getting the black liver test from the, uh, from the old, uh, family doctor, so to speak, right? Like you are what the mirror in some ways says you are, or what your old body says you feel like. But yet again, against an elite foe, Gastelum put on an elite performance. Now there was holes and flaws with his performance, but it was elite. And to see Cannoneer, a guy who I think, okay, if he's going to beat the elites, he's going to have to knock them out. No, I saw a change here. I saw him raise his game to another level and realize that he had to based on what he learned from that Whitaker fight. And that's great to see, especially at a guy who's 37. But as you can see, he's in sick

shape and he put off 25 minutes of cardio. I don't think Jared Kananir has had his last say in this division. Now, given the historic qualities of the top of this division with Adesanya and Whitaker there, not to mention some of those other scary players, do I believe Jared Kananir will win the championship? No, I don't. But I believe that he's going to have a say again. He's going to get himself in another fight, maybe his next fight. That's either a number one contender's or, or, or, you know, wins that and maybe gets another title. So he'll have his say again, is what I'm trying to say.

He's not done improving. And that was great to see. Um, sliding over to Gaslam for a second. It's humbling. It's humbling for a guy like me who constantly sticking up for him because we're seeing elite perform. I'm sorry. We are okay. Sometimes playing to the level of your competition. Yes. Or playing to the style too much. He's, he's too much of a follower in the cage. Normally not, not in this fight per se, but normally where it's like whatever pace you're putting out there, whatever energy you're putting out there, maybe except for the Adesanya fight, which is the best you know, distillation of him, if you will. Um, he'll react to what the opponent's doing rather than set the terms. The thing I loved about his performance on Saturday, which by the way, I did also score three rounds to two for

Kananir. First two for Gastelum, by the way, but that knockdown in round three did turn the tide and, you know, I don't think Gastelum ever got over that hump. But for a lot of this fight, Gastelum was setting a very good tone. He did a lot of what I sort of said coming in that I need to see out of him. I believed in the work he put in with Henry Cejudo that helped him see the sport a little bit differently. I loved his boxing. He got out with the jab, with foot movement,

and with a way to really not just look to counter with the big left hand and just be that big one-punch chance, but the guy who was taking the fight to Kananir, and he was able to set up some really good combinations and although i mentioned earlier that the best part about cannon near's defense is he never really was taking more than one shot at a time and that's largely true even though gastelum was letting go some powerful combinations some of that was getting blocked and maybe that's you know ultimately why cannon near got the win here

but i think another big reason why gastelum did not get the win, and you saw the rightful frustration in his face after the scorecards were read, after putting in what looked like a great camp, and he's ready to just go. This is becoming like Tin Cup. Remember the final scene in Tin Cup, Kevin Costner? It's like he could have laid it up and had a chance, but he's like, no, I've got to make this shot.

I've got to go for it. That was sort of the Gastelum's mentality in taking this fight, although he wasn't putting out a reckless game plan. But there's something that Daniel Cormier teased at right around round three, but I don't think the broadcast, for my taste, hammered down on it enough. We lost this fight for Kelvin Gastelum, although it put out an elite effort from from the boxing standpoint there was no threat of the takedown I know he tried seven takedowns and credit to Kananir who stuffed them all but first three or four takedown attempts looked more like in the back of his mind he's thinking oh I have a quote I have to fill my coach told me to I have

to take you know they look like he was just trying to get the takedown attempts in and then he got stuffed and by the end it just looked like Kananir was seeing them coming, and to his credit, stopped that. But Gaslam doesn't have that completely well-rounded game on a consistent basis where he's giving you that threat of the takedown that would make his striking even more crisper and even more powerful and valuable. It's still, although it was good boxing and good movement,

just like he used against Adesanya, by the way, not more traditional boxing. He was more of a counter-striker there but he was almost doing Pacquiao like rushes in with with combinations and coming and he was dangerous from the outside um it was still a little bit one note heavy even though that note had some variations in the boxing there was no threat of that and I think in a close tactical fight here that was the difference he wasn't able to to uh disguise that or have that threat at least out there so you know you are what your record says you are and I want to defend Gaslam as I always want to do you know am I still so high from being there at UFC 36 yes for life brother you better believe it anyone else that was blessed to be there or sit next to me for

Joanna and Whaley or any other classic fight or performance we've seen, it's a part of you. We're fans at the end of the day. It's a part of you. It can affect your decision making as an analyst, but yet I'm still seeing almost perfect and I don't mean perfect

performances from the standpoint that there was perfection in the cage but perfectly well-rounded all the categories clicked I'm not seeing that for Gastelum but I know it's in there but at some point five losses out of six fights I'm not saying he's going to get cut nor should he get cut but he's got to make some serious decisions that go beyond should I consistently match myself as hard as I as I have been when you're somebody like Manny Pacquiao who's doing that but you're largely winning it's sort of like we can stand here and salute but if you're doing that and losing I could see the frustration he's close he's freaking close I mean wouldn't you I mean no disrespect to his team but like if he's going the the distance of of reaching out to to Cehudo maybe it's a better fit for him to to

change up camps and to do somebody like the captain alba racine and get deeper into that and it's nothing against his team now but but he needs some kind of change because he's not only the record says speaks for itself he's he's close he shows he shows flashes but he's always shown those flashes so i guess i'm gonna have to stop defending him it's like when you're in high school and, like, you know, there's this kid that you want to be friends with, but your parents are like, no, I don't know about that kid. You know, that's unsafe there.

And, you know, you want to defend the kid, but he keeps showing up in the police blotter, in the local town paper, you know? And you're like, no, Mom, you don't understand. He's good. He's got a good heart, you know? Dylan's a real good kid, right? I know his dad's in jail. And somehow for a high schooler he lives on his own in his own house and his mom's some weird sort of gypsy hippie off in

the desert and his dad eventually blows up and he's got this weird on and off again relationship with Brenda and he's also cheating on her on the side with Kelly and he's got really an adult hairline for a guy in high school although very solid sideburns and maybe he's keeping in such close friendship with that goody two-shoe Brandon because he believes he's getting close enough to something that he knows he's missing on the inside. Maybe all that's true. But mom and dad, Dillon's a pretty good guy at the end of the day.

Kelvin Gastelum looks like a freaking elite fighter when he's in there against elite guys, but he's not winning them. So you've got to figure that out. I don't know. We're past that point of just you know something's got to change now love them uh canadier data admit afterwards uh i need the money i can't wait for the for the whitaker out of sanya rematch which may be pushed off to 2022 as we've talked about with the covid conditions in the oceanic region, maybe he'll have to, and he can't wait that long financially.

And it's interesting. And I don't think he's, he said that to sort of stir up the fighter pay thing and the, you know, the Cheyenne Bays when she was very, very honest a couple of weeks back and sort of get us into that discussion per se. He's just saying the reality of the situation, which I think echoes the Misha Tate headline that had some run last week, where she said she basically spent her entire paycheck plus win bonus for her UFC return on training. And it's like, you know, you can certainly say, well, you didn't have to invest that much in yourself, but you kind of do when you get to this level, you kind of do, you know,

it's at this level, we're talking about this with gaslam right at this level the the difference between being a contender and a pretender the difference between being a michael johnson who's like the best guy with a bad record we had the debate last week like with randy couture who's the who's the best fighter we've ever seen with a kind of a crap record well michael johnson a guy that we all know has those flashes of being elite. Gastelum's another one of those guys. The difference, though, is so damn close that, I mean, look, UFC's got a hell of a pay structure model because not only does it keep the pay down and allows them to expand, it keeps the hunger high

because everybody desperately wants to get to that 1% level of being a consistent headliner and getting pay-per-view money and getting that championship level pay so badly that they're willing to risk it all because you have to risk it all to be at this level. And it's humbling. It's sobering. I wish it wasn't the case. I wish Jared came in there and didn't say, yeah, I kind of have to come back in four months against hopefully somebody in a number one contender position where I can secure another title shot. He doesn't want to fight somebody less than that. But he may end up, for all we know, because you've got to cash some checks. And it's not cheap with the camp, with the nutritionist, with all that shit.

Nor should it be. But, you know, it's what you've got to do. It's what you've got to do to be the best, right? Okay? You know? I can't keep saying I want to eat better. I've got to protect this liver. I must protect this. I'm protecting morning combat today, right? Okay. You know, I can't keep saying I want to eat better. I got to protect this liver. I must protect this. I'm protecting morning combat today. Okay. While Luke Thomas is flying

home, but, uh, I got to do more than that. I got to protect this liver too. Okay. All right. All right. People texting me. I got a, I got a live show here. I got a live show. Okay. All right, here we go. Uh, good shit on that UFC Vegas main event but it wasn't the only thing that was entertaining look a card that I think overachieved a bit we saw some some fantastic highlights on the undercard knockouts that we'll see certainly in today's have you seen the shit with solo BC but the performances were intriguing let's go right to that co-main event where Mark Matt Mark O Madsen excuse me at age 36 we know the decorated Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling background. This was a very key fight for him against Clay Guida to try to, I think on paper, the narrative for me was to try to show us,

are you going in the right direction on this late transition from amateur wrestling to MMA and the full-time commitment? You know, can you be down the road a top 10 player? Well, he's going gonna have to win this fight against Clay Guida and what I didn't focus on or really necessarily have the full knowledge of is is how this was more than just you know I need to look great against Guida to move up and get closer to those rankings it was a lot of a personal intense journey for Madsen that included his wife being diagnosed with MS and and you know really being motivated to fight to honor her and encourage her in her fight, and also coming back from the broken jaw in his last fight.

So you saw the emotion afterwards as Marco Madsen took a split decision in a very high-spirited fight. The energy put out was huge, and you know that's going to happen in a Clay Guida fight, only I didn't think it would go the way it did i thought guida was going to be the one setting the pace and instead it was madson constantly setting the pace in fact it was madson largely eschewing his strength which is wrestling he went for two takedowns he got stuffed both times and he was committed to it was almost like crone gracie against cub swanson he was committed no matter what to strike and he was almost like Crone Gracie against Cub Swanson. He was committed no matter what to strike. And he set a hellacious pace that Guida certainly equaled in terms of movement, but also

despite needing to move because Madsen was coming after him, was much more of a counter striker and his counter boxing was on point. And it became a very interesting fight. High speed, decently high technique, not a ton of action although uh guida's face got marked up but madsen did enough in the end i thought he deserved the one it was very close i thought he elevated what we thought of him coming in certainly in terms of his striking and he certainly like i mentioned overly committed to show us that but even though this is a huge win for him emotionally and personally i'm still not sold that his ceiling is of, and look,

he's in a very deep lightweight division, so it's not easy to begin with, but I don't think his ceiling is going to be as a top 10 fighter. And it's, I don't want to damn him for gutting out a great win and, and take anything away from what it meant to him. And I don't want to take anything away from Guido who, I mean,

at 39 to still be this tough of an out in this game, man, you've got to, I mean, look at what Diego Sanchez did for that short run at the end of his career recently where he put together some wins like, whoa, whoa, you know, to be able to be relevant, to be a Jim Miller, to be able to stay that long, you win some, you lose some, I mean, you've got to work at this age to adapt and evolve. And that was a strong performance for what is left of Quay Guida. But if Mark Will Madsen's

going to be a legitimate top 10 threat in this division, I think he's got to finish Guida or take him down and control large portions of this. And I think he got away from his strength too much, and that's why it was such a close fight. And you argue well was you know what about Guida's takedown if it looked strong in those two stops but you know Madsen kind of got rid of the again the threat of that takedown and just committed to punching and maybe it helped him gain the confidence and evolve and grow but I feel like against the top 10 he's gonna knock the hell out and that's that that's not me wishing for it or being necessarily reckless here but I just see the holes there where I mean I'm not trying to sound like joe organ talking to shop here but uh um i got some fears there even though it was a strong step forward and

everything going on in his personal life and again guida giving us the gutty performance like we think uh the bigger story though was was a little bit deeper on that undercard opening up the main card this flyaway bout between alexandre pantoja and brandon roival was high theater for about a round and a half however long it lasted uh pantoja came out like a freaking savage why because he had to keep up with what he knew it was coming back from him a typically animal savage pace from brandon roival who never stops moving adapting what we got particularly in the first three four minutes was just scramble after reversal after mad scramble this was fun has shit to watch the the new strawweight division flyweight division I'm gonna say that wrong right

I'm gonna screw that up the new flyweight division post DJ now now post Cejudo, who was a transitionary champion in a way, but certainly we can do the narrative of he saved the division. He might have saved the damn division, but post him, what we got from Figueiredo to Moreno to Askarov, I mean, Cara France, these guys bring it. These guys freaking bring it. Pantoja brought it early. Royval made adjustments, almost had that, you know, that leg submission going. He started to get going on the, on the

just bat shit pace. And you saw Pantoja digging in and punching with him, which on paper probably wasn't as smart a strategy, but there were pockets that he needed to gain back that respect. And for him to operate at that level of high shit, back crazy pace and reversals and adaptions and change. I mean, this was high level stuff. And then get the finish as you're seeing there in the picture. Holy crap. And to put that rear naked and take his back so quickly and crank the neck to the, you know, that angle, that's some nasty shit.

So first of all, what I want to say about Pantoja is I certainly do not consistently give him the respect he deserves. I looked at him previously as a, I don't want to say, not a bit player, a supporting cast player, though, of this larger picture. Yes, he's had some really awesome wins and at times lost to some of the super elites,

and that's why he was just recently out of that title picture. He's back in it in a big freaking way. And he also, I don't have Luke Thomas here as your resident American Idol judge tat referee here, but with that left arm sleeve, he might have

with Josh Emmett, with some of these other rare guys in this shitty sport of tats, some of the best ink we're seeing in the UFC. So if that means anything, probably not. Shout out to Pandogia. The larger picture, though, is he may have just earned himself a title shot. In fact, I think he did. And to see him in the interview afterwards with Brandon Moreno, who was in the apex for UFC's, you know, a Spanish commentary team. Then you remember the history, which again,

you know, have I seen them when they fought the official time when they fought a couple years back? Yeah, I remember. I've seen that fight. But like offhand, I don't, I didn't really remember what happened. It was just sort of like another flyweight fight that was pretty good. I enjoyed it. But, you know, again, I wasn't investing as close, I guess, as I needed to in Pantoja's development to see that he's got two victories over the current champion. The one, of course, the submission win during their ultimate fighter season. But then to come back and get that unanimous decision victory a couple years back.

There's a storyline here, and this fight's going to be awesome. I know good old Figgy, my boy, is mad that he's not getting next, but you're going to have to go back to the drawing board, not for long, but for another big fight to get a big win to bounce yourself back in here. That's just the way this works. This division's hot. It's fun. Ask Rouse Luman.

That guy's going to want to be heard from, and he's already had some really high-level fun fights. But Pantoja's coming, man. I mean, this is a little reminiscent, although not as destructive and consistent with the finishes, but a little reminiscent, at least for my representation of where their stock was, for what Charles Oliveira has done in the past few years. And another guy who I was like, I'm watching it. I'm seeing it.

I'm still a little late. I'm officially hearing it. You know what I mean? You know, I can hear Jimmy, right? Finally, you know, you can't just listen to that shit. Once in a while, we got to take a breath, right? You know, I mean, I just, you know, you may get a little on you here.

A lot of BD floating around this room. It's very sweaty here. Connecticut post post-tropical storm, very sweaty. Very, very swampy, but we're dealing with it, okay? All right, so Pantoja Moreno next. Yes, please, please, please, please, please, okay? Give me that shit. Let's keep it rolling.

Also MMA from the weekend, Friday night's Bellator 265, invading the fabulous fight town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota? I guess so. All right. Bellator just there a few years back. We're back again. And we're back with a heavyweight main event that had name power,

had age, had a lot of combined victories between Czech Congo and Sergey Karatanov. It's really remarkable, to be honest, that they've never fought. I mean, Congo's been in Bellator since 2013. Karatanov's been in and out, bounced around, done some shit. But we saw him, and I think they put on the best-case scenario for this matchup, which, yes, had some of the sort of, I don't want to say nostalgic, because even though these guys

have done a lot historically, we're not, you know, we're not, like, aching to see them. But, like, you get them together, you're like, okay like okay old names we know they'll probably knock each other out it lived up to best case scenario in terms of theater and it was congo controlling the action earlier like he often does against bigger punchers with his length but he was getting a little too willing i thought the end of round one to put his back to the cage and work off of there can't do that against karatanov he hits too hard and i if you study closely, although it was off the radar, Karatanov in the past year during the pandemic was professional boxing and he scored two wins and won over,

I mean, he's washed, but won over Danny Williams, a guy who once beat Mike Tyson. So Karatanov, to his credit, used a thudding jab and back Congo up and then hurt him. And then he landed this bat shit crazy sort of head kick that caught Congo in the eye. Conoff, to his credit, used a thudding jab and backed Congo up and then hurt him. And then he landed this bat-shit crazy sort of head kick that caught Congo in the eye. I don't know if we're going to see it coming up here soon, but Congo ends up almost turning his back on the action to close round one. He goes back to the corner with eye issues. He's winded.

He's hurt. And you're thinking, this is it, man. I mean, he was 12-3 3 coming in his last 15 but nobody dominates this guy but in the second round there's that moment i talked about in the second round though congo comes furiously back and he's taking the lead now he's not backing up to the cage he's landing right hands and he had an opportunity here to hurt karatanov and i think it meshed perfectly with sergey fading sergey gave a lot in the end of that first round to try to finish Kongo when he had him hurt. But Kongo got dramatic for us. He hurt Karatanov, dropped him briefly, then took him down, and then quickly took his back.

And once he got that rear naked in, the seconds are ticking off in round two. And he very smartly leaned all of his body weight forward on top of Karatanov to get that. Now, I know I just kind of gave you the deep play-by-play on the fight, but I think it deserved it. It was fun theater between two old guys, and it was Congo, I think, securing another title opportunity. If you look at this division as a whole, it's not deep. Bader's busy. Valentin Moldavsky's

your new interim champ, who just beat the guy who was last to beat Congo by split decision in Tim Johnson. Johnson's going the Fedor route. I think you make Moldavsky-Congo next for the interimor route I think you make Moldavsky Congo next for the interim title I think you do and check showed you he can be vulnerable god he's 46 right you know but he's still smart and efficient and when he needs to he can find drama and how much did he pour out of himself he couldn't get up after the win like really he couldn't get up like he used it all so uh if kartanov didn't get

tapped here round three would have been would have been gross as shit but uh congo saving pulling a win out from the from the jaws of defeat there um good shit check congo love you brother uh wasn't the pat berry right uh storm and crazy finish but it was pretty crazy. Just the same. I love me some Pat Barry. He's engaged to the baddest motherfucker on the planet. You know what I'm saying? The best. The best. Sorry. The best. Yeah. She is the best. Let's keep it going here. In this co-main event,

unfortunately, we talked about it, that fight between J.J. Wilson and Adam Borich fell apart. But we're going to get Logan Storley in sort of a prop-up position, featured position in the co-main event. Logan Storlie fighting in his home state. He was a minus 3,500 favorite there against, what's that fellow's name? What the hell is that guy's name?

Dante Shiro. You better know Dante Shiro's name now, though. Why? He didn't win, but he did more than survive he gave logan storley fits just by being big strong stubborn uneasy to get mauled storley had some big success early wrestling but it slowed down and it kind of stopped and we were in a situation where i think his home state was actually booing the third round of this fight because we all saw a frustrated Logan Storlie unable to do what he wanted to do coming in but unfortunately for him or nearly unfortunate

for him as they were about to read the scorecards I don't think he adapted or adjusted at all to that so what am I trying to say here we all know Logan Storlie can wrestle and he showed the hell out against Yaroslav Amosov now your welterweight champion of the Bellator banner. Before, that was like this number one contender's almost unbeaten versus unbeaten fight. It reminded me a lot on paper of Jon Jones and Ryan Bader, right? It was like this big deal. And Storlie showed that he's of this elite ilk. So when he's going in there against a guy who you know, against a guy who's just a making his Bellator debut in Skiro,

who's lost before in the regional circuit, but built himself back up. You expect what? Storlie to, you know, bag and tag and ragdoll this guy for sure. Ragdoll, manor and a movie? Like, no chance about it. I also expect Storlie to show some striking. I also expect him to try to finish him with strikes, maybe even on the feet, to show how well-rounded he is so he can get on the microphone afterwards in front of the adoring home fans and be like,

What up, Yaroslav? You're going to have to see me again, brother. I know he wouldn't say that. He's a different type of cat. Very humble dude. But he effed around and got lucky he didn't lose this fight. Split decision win. You saw the frustrationrate he almost didn't understand afterwards didn't understand how it could be that close but also didn't understand how he couldn't dominate like he thought he could um this is one of those we got lucky let's go back to the videotape and figure out the hell we did wrong here because this this won't fly on the elite level and i think storley is of the elite level so he got he got lucky there but the fight uh it blew we thought it was going to be one-way traffic.

It was kind of dead-end traffic. It stopped traffic in the end, so it is what it is. Drink break, okay? Tip your waitress. Alright, as we roll on here, I mentioned it's a big week for combat sports. We know that coming in,

brothers. Of course, UFC is back this Saturday night, but the fight card of the weekend goes down Sunday night. Showtime pay-per-view. It is August 29th on your calendar, and it is Jake Paul. Am I sliding for the right reason here, Gav? There we go. Jake Paul, 3-0 as a professional boxer, trying to continue to win and prove that he's legit. The screen went black. Is that on me or is it? I believe with the satellite connection, we're still together here. I'll just keep talking, all right?

All right, we're having some technical difficulties. You can still hear me, though. Oh, look, it's Jake Paul. It's Tyron Woodley, the former UFC welterweight champion, and it's a big fight in the realm, Showtime pay-per-view at Cleveland, Ohio, in the bubble here that has been built up by the Paul brothers and others of celebrity

crossover, social media, circus boxing. But the fun part here is Jake Paul's not trying to be a circus anymore, or a circus performer. Yes, he beat a YouTuber, an NBA retired guy who hadn't fought more than a day, it seemed, and Nate Robinson, and then Ben

Askren's old hip. Sounded to hell, though, so, you know, it's what you have to do. But this is a fight where both guys can win, and we start off this fight week, which, by the way, MK is going to be there. We are going to ramp it up. Yes, we got an all-star crew with everyone from, you know, Helwani to Carneval to A.J. McKee on the call,

Logan Paul joining the broadcast. We got a fun broadcast team on the TV end, but digitally, MK going to hold it down this week. And I want to look at the storylines here as we kick this week off. And I think the biggest storyline for me, maybe not for everybody, but for me heading into this fight, is just this to me is what circus carnival fights should be and could be. And I know, again, Jake has his own narrative of trying to prove to us another chapter,

another step up the ladder that he is for real. And I expect Woodley to make him have to prove that win or lose here. I think the bigger storyline for me still is this bubble. This is the right type of matchmaking

to keep the bubble afloat, to keep it filled with air. And it's maybe, you know, it's not Showtime's fault that Logan Paul and Floyd Mayweather didn't have some type of closure or climactic ending or anything, but largely a paw fest where Logan, to his credit for surviving, So the entertainment factor wasn't a great success. And because that fight was a big deal and we played it up as a big deal and Floyd coming back is a big deal. And it was a circus quality of, I just have to see what it looks like when it doesn't live up, you know, people can go, well, what's

left of this revolution of the Paul brothers? You know, I think the storyline for me is, you know, this is the type of fun matchmaking that this genre needs and will thrive on. Two guys with name value, but yet on paper, really oddly, compellingly perfect. Competition wise, you really don't know who's going to win. Jake Paul's bigger. He's been focusing specifically on boxing training and putting it all, going all in, right? As they all access showed you. I mean, he's, he's going for win. Jake Paul's bigger. He's been focusing specifically on boxing training and putting it all going all in right as they all access showed you. I mean, he's he's going for it. Everyone, even people that hate this. I hate the pause or like I keep that kid's trying though. He's going for it against a Tyron Woodley who's yes, almost 40. Yes, four straight losses or so

in the UFC, but a guy who can punch a guy who can still surge in in in explosive bursts and you know the the boxing footage up to this point that we've seen the little of it of Woodley it looks kind of impressive and we know he's also training with the right people did some time with Floyd Mayweather has famed Cuban amateur trainer Pedro Diaz who had a lot of success professionally with the Miguel Cotto's the Guillermo Rigondas who's's a defensive, smart boxing coach. Can all that rub off in one camp? I don't know. But the fact that we come in here not knowing who's going to win

and that we can almost guarantee it's going to be a knockout because if they don't get it, they're probably going to gas themselves out trying for it. You kind of have that feeling, right, that Jake Paul has a lot to prove, but there's a dangerous guy in front of him that we're going to see action. Can it keep the bubble afloat? I think they kind of need to bring it here. And I think they will. And I think it will do wonders. Now, does Jake Ball need to win to keep this bubble going? It's hard to say. What if they put on a great fight for what it is? We're not expecting, we're not

expecting, you know, the Mayweather Pacquiao level of technical uh display but if they put on a really good fight and jake loses even if it gets stopped could you do a rematch of course you could do you can do things to keep it going but i think the best thing that'll keep it going certainly is just a great fight in which both guys try to win and are willing to risk it all to try to win and that's i think what we should be asking of those who are taking a chance and then entering this celebrity boom whether that's aging old boxers like de la joya against vitor belfort coming up or it's you know youtubers or opportunists here celebrity wise um bring it i mean if you're gonna come and we're gonna care

about you and make it part of our combat sports coverage and invest money and take mk on the road you better come on and i think these two guys will come on because I think they will be close enough and they're matching. And I think that's, what's interesting. I certainly think the Woodley storyline is, is an underplayed one here of, you know,

is he actually better than we think? And okay. It's, it's just some video of him training. So what? He doesn't look remedial as like when Logan first hit the bag, we're like, wait,

is that, does that look like Connor throwing his shoulders like Rhonda or, you know, swimming there showing through on the, or is that real, wait, does that look like Conor throwing his shoulders like Ronda or swimming there? Or is that real? Hey, Logan, I thought, exceeded expectations in the ring, although it kind of killed the excitement of it. But will Woodley do the same? I'm very interested to see that. I know he's going to have the right hand. I know he's going to have an opportunity, a chance to win this fight by knockout. But can he

be more than that? Can he outbox Jake Paul? Because I think everyone when this first was matched, we said two things. We said, one, this would be a banger. This one could be a knockout. And two, you know, I kind of like Jake Paul's actual ability to box in terms of what I can imagine Woodley to be a little bit better. He is a big kid.

He's bigger than Woodley, naturally. He's got a decent jab. You know, that's one thing about the Pauls. When they do put the gloves on on they take it pretty damn serious that's I think why the initial sort of thing when Eddie Hearn and people were getting involved in Logan Paul versus KSI and putting this on and was on DAZN and all this it's like we came away going do we want that on a regular fight card mixed with real fights kind of taking away what would have been a big fight no but i'm

not going to disrespect their names because they are bringing it they are trying this is better than some celebrity shit we've seen in the past um i want to see if woodley can give jake a problem here it's going to be very interesting to see i'm also interested to see you know in the homecoming here for the paul brothers in cleveland we'll be on the ground we'll be doing a live public workout mk hosting on wednesday luke Luke and I from an outdoor area. We'll get to see the fighters up close, interview them, haven't seen him hit the pads and you know, all that stuff. And I want to see what the public reaction here is.

The Paul's coming home here. I want to see who's, you know, is it going to be all Paul fans in the arena that night? Will there be a why sometimes when you take boxing to a non-traditional boxing hub, you can get lucky and get pleasantly surprised when, you know, Terrence Crawford became a thing and Top Rank was taking him to Omaha. Through the TV, you can hear that that's not a normal boxing crowd.

This crowd's going apeshit. They're into this. I want to see that passion. I want to see if we can get that. It's going to be fun. It's going to be wild. There's certainly no shortage of storylines. I want to see that robot.

Apparently, there's a real man inside that robot. All right? He's probably a real sweaty man. But I want to see more of that robot. I don't know. It's just like, you ever walk into a Stu Leonard's, you know, that grocery store? You can try a lot of the samples and stuff. They got, like, that farmer guy.

And he's on, like, the gymnastics trapeze thing. And he's just flipping over and over again. And you're sitting there eating your free sample. And you're just like, you know, I could, I could, I could watch this for like a, at least an hour without being, you know, without being too bored. You look over and there's a baby in a, in a, in like a carrier doing the same thing. And you're like, it's good. It's good shit. I mean, it's not bad, you know, it's not bad. Um, you know, I don't really know what I was trying to compare that story to in the long run. I think I lost myself in it and I tripped and fell, but, but uh hopefully you came in with me and you were okay in

there so uh yeah that's the story heading in there uh interesting undercard to tommy fury could he be a future jake paul opponent he'll be in there against uh taylor anthony taylor i believe is his name who uh is in the paul training camp has had some bellator fights that should be fun uh we got some real fights mixed in here i want to see see Amanda Serrano who doesn't get the attention and, and, you know, and the applause she deserves for being one of the pound for pound best women's fighters in the game today, Katie Taylor, Clarissa Shields, and Amanda Serrano in my eyes. So it'd be good to see her get that co-main event shine. Um, we got, uh, Ivan Baranchik, who is fun as shit. We saw him, uh, in the fight of the year last year against Jose Zapata for top rank.

You know, he'll be going in there against unbeaten Dakota Love. So this should be, should be some fun, fun stuff Sunday night. Be there. Showtime pay-per-view. Uh, MK will take you there all week. Just, just, just find us. We'll find you and you'll find this fight. Maybe you'll find it interesting.

I don't know. But I hope to, uh, show up in cleveland and show out in fact show the f out okay all right luke will be there will luke be fresh off vacation like your boy bc has been last week i hope so but you know here's a warning to luke and to all of you even if he's not i'm bringing it all right you know what's gonna happen this week in cleveland two worlds collide rival nations documentary crews abound filming everything but you know who's who's bc going to be he's certainly going to be ready willing and gable why because bc is the american alpha okay you see that you see that right here let's let's get this let's let's get this right let's let's

put this towel up right bc is the American alpha, okay? Canada, we're coming for you. We're coming for you, all right? Be there. Cleveland, let's do this thing, okay? Love it. Love everything about this show. That's the end of your five topics for the week.

BC, BDE coming. And now you will into my inbox to find out the answers to your questions. No, this ain't a BC live chat like we debut in the second half of Friday's episode. Will there be a future for that? That's up to you. That's up to you, really, okay? This is DMs, though, from Donks. Hee-haw! Hee-haw! Hee-haw!

Okay, every Sunday night on the Morning Combat Instagram page, we solicit your questions. The responses from there are pooled by our trusty team, and I'll answer them for you. Of course, morningcombat at gmail.com is the email address for Wednesday's fan submissions, Fridays, Dead Wrong, all that good stuff. So reach out to us through there. If you want to send us pictures of yourself wearing our merch.

I mean, look at this. Look at this right now. Okay, I didn't even mention morningcombat.store. Should I right now, Gaff? Should I tell the people? Is it BC versus Luke? Yeah. Every damn time they turn on the cameras, it is. Okay. Are we better together forever, Trevor? Yeah. Never met her? Of course we are. Okay. But I'm coming. I'm coming for that brass ring. All right. Raise your game, Luke Thomas. All right. You know, know let's go let's do it all right uh at greg leach 99 is our first one a regular contributor to these dms he says given the

current trajectory of both careers how likely is it that we ever get to see a conor mcgregor versus manny pacquiao boxing match if this were to occur who would you favor and for what reasons i think this big fight if you ask me like what's the next big fight for Manny? Again, it could be him coming back against, like, an Amir Khan, which would be a soft sort of bounce-back fight because of Amir Khan's chin, but Khan's still got the name value and flashy hands, and you can sell that, and Manny will win by knockout. Or Manny can just make a decision at some point in the next year,

like, no, I'm not done, I'm going to come back, and you can fight anybody you want. That's the power of Manny Pacquiao. Or Manny can just make a decision at some point in the next year, like, no, I'm not done. I'm going to come back. And you can find anybody you want. That's the power of Manny Pacquiao. But why are we likely to see this, in my eyes, sooner than later? Because yes, even though I like the BDE and the despicable nature, even though I didn't like some of the

words, of course, he said, or the tweets afterwards, but I like that McGregor came back rabid for this trilogy against Poirier. And it was win at all costs no matter what he didn't win and he's gonna he's got an injury that's gonna sit him out for a while and but as the days go on as the time ticks maybe it's it's a reaction to connor's ability maybe or his performance not his ability sorry his behavior maybe maybe his behavior on social media every day is making me sober up more and more to the you know what i think connor's an older version of himself but he's still he's still viable he's still dangerous

you know you really think about that injury and the recovery and how much he's going to have to prove and talk about him going to welterway i mean unless he's very carefully matched and he doesn't do that he's a big time opportunist opportunist. And you really can't get, by the way, except for him, when you're on his level, if you want to like the Cowboys to run anyone, you really can't get soft comeback is fights. And if you do, you can get like two in a row. That's why Dana was like, hell no, I'm not gonna let you fight Diego Sanchez next. Come on, bro. Can't do that. I think Connor's more likely to lose these big matchups and win, of course. And I think that there will come a point. I don't know if it's one more loss, I don't know if it's two more, I don't know if it's a loss and a bounce back win

and then a big loss, but sooner than later, I think Conor's going to be looking elsewhere. And I think he still has a viability in crossover boxing with the name and people wanting to see him get knocked out and the credibility, at least, from his performance against Mayweather, where, again, he wasn't

handled or jobbed. In the long run, he ran out of gas and he was walked down and he was stopped. Yes, but, you know, that was far from embarrassing. Like, you know, he looked like he could almost kind of belong in this game if he committed to it. I don't think he's going to commit to it. I don't think he should commit to it. But can he come back in a big Manny Pacquiao type crowd?

Of course. And if it comes two years from now where Pacquiao's a little bit older but still kind of not retired, he's not active but he's sort of looking at his options um it's very likely that these two are going to box and I think it's very likely unless Manny gets really old that Manny Pacquiao is going to win by knockout when they do fight and maybe the longer it takes to get there the more chances connor will have in our in our minds coming in or maybe not or maybe he will have suffered some more tough losses and i mean we're at the point now where connor at although he got stopped by poor

yes he did get stopped by poor in the second fight but it wasn't like he got out cold you know what i mean like he was stopped like but it wasn't like a horrifically damaging one. The second he starts taking horrifically damaging, like second that he starts getting Chuck Liddell, if that's going to happen, dude, he's gone. And he's gone into boxing because he's not going to risk killing that boxing crossover. It's like a lottery ticket.

Like the Nate Diaz fight has been a lottery ticket in his back pocket if he wants or needs it. I won't be getting up to nadia's trilogy territory now because i think he needs it um but he's going to be in boxing soon and he's going to be knocked out by manny pacquiao but it'll be a big event and it'll kind of revive their brands for the moment of what's left of it or what's worth in that um but that that's the deal greg leach thank you for for trying us here um at flannels and jits with kayla harrison performance at pfl on last thursday what fights would you like to see next well she just won she just won her semi-final bout so next she'll be in

there in the finals of the women's lightweight division in october against taylor gardado and there's just not a path to victory for taylor this point. And I'm serious about this outside of, you know, some, you know, cut or some, something freaky here. So what's next? I talked about that in the last show, Friday show, about what I think PFL would have to do to keep her. First and foremost, life-changing money. Yes. Like she asked for.

Yes, you have to. But I do believe you have to set the path of your PFL, begin the ground rumbling, set the stage for her to have a super fight that she deserves. I think it's easier, potentially, unless she just wakes up and says, you know what, I want to go to the UFC now. If she wants to do that, they'll pay her, she'll go there, and she could end up fighting Amanda Nunes at 145, and it would be a major deal.

But I feel like you build to that. And I feel like it might be smarter for her in different ways to build. Like she could probably make more money in the short term. Potentially. And I don't know PFLs books. I know they have a lot of celebrity investors though. I know they got this ESPN deal. I know there could be looking for a different deal elsewhere in a year for,

from little things you hear. Um, if they want to invest in her and put money behind her, then you got to try to set up some type of cross fight with a cyborg from, from Bellator. And again, could it be a home and home series? Could it be a pay-per-view with both promotions? I don't know what that's going to look like, but I do know that we've seen some things lately that,

that suggests it's not impossible. And those things are everything from the fricking Ben Askren DJ trade, which involved the UFC, which was wild to just, you know, I mean, Bellator doing things with Riz in and stuff. I don't, I don't think it's impossible, but I think you have to have that when you, you know, when you sign her. That's got to be there. It's got to, we got to be ready to go. We have to have a plan to get there. Okay.

And short of Cyborg, you know, I don't want to see her against Clarissa Shields. Neither does she. Neither should Clarissa. Clarissa's got a long road. She's on her own path. And she'll be back soon, which will be fun to see i really liked her first performance you know there's certainly some bad but a lot of like wow okay but you know um i think also pfl as i mentioned on friday they got to get they got to try to get some names here whether it's 55 if they keep that

going next year or whether kayla would decide to try a season at 145 and she really would have no reason to unless there was a lot of money5. And she really would have no reason to unless there was a lot of money involved, I think. But they have to get people. Megan Anderson, they have to get people. They have to get people you know about, you care about, that you can imagine in an interesting fight with Kayla.

What they have now, I don't think it's going to run for next year unless they're just going to straight up pay her and be like, we're going to make it worth it for you. Be the face of our franchise. Come win our season. I'd like to see her against LarRessa Pacheco a third time.

I like the power of Pacheco. Okay? She's got to make weight, though. It's a tough training camp for her. Let's keep this going. At MoneyMan underscore 53. All right. Why do you think Habib is talking bad about Jose Aldo?

This was surprising. Because, like, let's be fair here. Khabib's a really good dude. Like, I mean, he, there's a lot of good, we talk about the goodwill of Pacquiao and, you know, boxing fans and journalists. It's like hard to say bad things about him. Okay. Okay. You can like, dislike political decisions he's made. He doesn't have the best human rights record and all that, but you know, he's charitable. He's a great, great dude. Good family guy. Khabib has really shown us that like, he stands by his word. He's a good dude. And he doesn't seem to go after people unless they go after him first. I don't know the origin of this. I didn't really actually read too deep into the story, although I know the headline in reference. I did. I did sort of, you know, sniff that and check it out quick. I have to believe that somewhere along the line, Jose said something negative about Habib and he just banked it and it just came out because it did seem sort of like like the question was about

Jose, but it wasn't set up at all for this to happen. Right. It was like Habib was like, oh, hold on while I'm here. OK, while I'm here, can I just pull my pants down quick and just drop a deuce right now on top of him? It's interesting. You know,'s uh it's it's it's you know it's a legend non-limit legend crime and i know people saw that i don't put jose at the upper table i'm sure jose's great i love jose gotta have standards right not everybody can get in that's the thing that's the thing it's the thing that the nba doesn't do by not having their own hall of fame by being connected with the naysmith probe or not pro the naysmith memorial basketball fame it's's like people in the NBA get in on the same level as, like, you know, women's college and high school coaches.

It's just there's no, like, true hard line. Who's the only Hall of Fame putting in that hard line? Baseball, maybe? Pro football to a large, to a decent degree. Boxing, for the most part, for the most part, boxing Hall of Fame is pretty solid. I like when a Hall of Fame, I like when a Don Mattingly can't get in, even though in pockets he was freaking great.

Great. But he had the back injuries. He wasn't able to sustain it. Will he get in one day on some old guy's vote? Yeah, probably. And then it'll be awesome. And we'll say, yeah, man, you deserved it all along, bro. I like that there's standards, though. I like that there's a line that there's people that you have to put below it. Jose Alto's not on that upper table. I'm sorry.

That's my editorial. So it's me and Habib dropping deuces on him. But, you know, I love it. Jose Alto's not on that upper table. I'm sorry. That's my editorial. So it's me and Habib dropping deuces on him. But, you know, I love to watch him. You better believe that, okay? I love me some Brazil. Thank you. From at Jose underscore TRD bro. Turd bro?

Really? Turd bro? We saw BC bring that BDE art, if you will. I will. I'll keep doing it. In doing a live chat on Friday, of which we expect from LT every Thursday. Yes, we do. It's a great program, by the way,

as well. I actually, to be honest, I actually watch Luke's live chat. I don't watch or, okay, I'll be honest. I don't watch or read a ton, even of my friends in the business. Like, I'll come across it sometimes. If it hooks me, the headline, I'll read it or whatever, but I don't like, I'm not somebody that consumes constantly everybody else's content. I don't think we can do the best morning combat here. If I'm constantly watching Ariel or submission radio

or weighing in or, you know, John or Michael Bisping or John Anik and Kenny or whatever. Like, I don't think, I think that it can, you know, you can become reactionary or you can sort of, you get the influences in your head sometimes without realizing it. I just like to do us, but I do within this us, I didn't watch a lot of Dissected. It was probably a good program. Did good ratings, right? Not enough BC in it for my liking, but I do that live chat.

Let's give Luke credit on Thursday. It's really freaking good. He's good at that shit. All right. Can we have LT do a segment that's typically associated with BC? Say like a Wheel of Death where Luke asks legitimate questions of politic

and philosophy concerns. Wow. Wow. And BC has to answer in good faith as opposed to giving a fuck all answer like, Luke, I'm from a tack factory town. We don't discuss these sort of things. I love you guys. Jose? Jose? Jose Turdbro? Luke, I'm from a tack factory town. We don't discuss these sort of things. I love you guys.

Jose? Jose? Jose Turdbro? I love you too, brother. Thank you. Can we do that? Yeah, maybe for fun. I meant to shit like that, okay? Dude, there's really... Okay, I have standards too, right? I always say, like, my dad used to joke around driving the car. He'd be like, how much money would it take for you to eat poop?

Would it be like $200 million for you to eat a plate of poop? I just don't crack for stuff like that. I'm not going to compromise. I do have some limits. There's fans out there that don't. Fans out there that think I'm a walking piece of crap. Snarky Ginger is one of our toughest fans against me all the time. Just a walking critic of all things BC.

She does come back. I bet she's watching this solo show right now she watching because she misses luke or she watching because bc's holding the shit down that's that's my question to you snarky ginger but um you know people can be very uh critical of bc but i do have my own lines of standards that i won't cross but short of that line i'll do just about anything for the show. Okay. So, um, you want to put a pie in my face? You want to create your own wheel of death UFC way and show you did already. Um, yeah, I'd be willing to go under the, the, you know, I put myself in the hot seat. If you want, I'll answer political, social, you know, religious, uh, I'll do what you want. Okay. All right. I have lines though. I'm not going to cross them for you.

You got to stand for something at the end of the day. That's the thing. Would I want everybody to stand for what I stand for? Of course I would. Right. Cause I've just, I've learned enough in my ups and downs and my travails that this is the way I've, I've, I think is the way to go. The things I commit to in my life and the things I do. I want everybody to have the same interest in me. We can, it's like that scene in half bakedaked where he's like, you smoke, we could have been hanging out from the beginning, right? And he thinks his girlfriend wants to get high with him. You know, we could have been, we could have been broing out from the beginning. I want everybody to like the things I do, but you know, I also respect your ability to be exactly who you want to be. So, so do you, all right? Thanks.

Kind of forgot the point there. You put me in front of a microphone long enough. I'll take you off the exit ramp. We'll have no idea where we are. All right. That's why Luke, maybe. Maybe that's his role in this show. Okay.

Thank you. From at AAA1017. Says, if Tiffany Amber Thiessen had starred in a particular 90s NC-17 cult classic, they are talking about Showgirls, 1995, instead of her SBTV co-star Elizabeth Berkley, would it be looked at more fondly or would it have ruined her career as well? Can the answer be yes? Because I think this is the answer. Yes.

Would it have been looked at more fondly? Yeah. Especially Kelly Kapowski post, it's crass to say it in 2021, but post-surgery, 90210 version of Kelly Kapowski, if she was the star of Showgirls rather than Elizabeth Murphy, who is going to sound bad.

It's a shitty role. She did fulfill it, though. Okay, shout out to her. She did go for it, right? She went for it. If Tiffany Amber had gone for it, would we remember it a little bit more lovingly? Well, I think, yeah, more people were fans of hers

than fans of Jessie from Saved by the Bell. There's no crime in saying that. It's also a shitty movie, like a really shamelessly shitty movie that rightfully won all of those Razzie Awards, despite the... Yeah, those are the awards for the movies that suck. Despite it delivering upon the reason why

we all went to the theater to see that in 1995. Would it have ruined her career? Yeah, you're damn right! It would have ruined her career, and rightfully so! I mean, look, can we give Elizabeth Berkley credit that she... I mean, she hasn't brought the legitimacy back full circle. She hasn't had an incredible acting career after that.

No, she's had some moments and, you know, she had ended up doing the, the Saved by the Bell Rebirth route to, you know, maybe stay creatively satisfied and get money and stay relevant. And, you know, I don't, I don't, I'm not against anybody doing something nostalgic to cash in and try it one more time. And you're seeing that a lot in the streaming era now that it's happening. It's fun. I mean, it can be done really well like Cobra Kai or it can be done really bad.

But would Tiffany Amber Thiessen have had the same stink on her? Yeah. Yeah, she would have. And to be honest, she hasn't had an incredible career. She's had some good stops along the way, some decent ones, you ones you know both you know in in sitcom type stuff or in hosting but um you can't really lose that stain you know it's like the back before it was now different but back like in the 80s early 90s if you're like an nfl prospect or somebody and you got caught with weed before the draft like for like a Warren Sapp.

It's like a stigma that hung over you back then. We were, you know, a little bit different in how we received that. And it'd be a hell of a stigma. Yeah, it's, it's, you asked it. All right, I had to answer that. All right. All right, those are your DMs from Donks.

Maybe BC will do a Tuesday live chat one of these days. Maybe. If you guys want me to be there, I'll be there. You know what I'm saying? They had to pull me off of it on Friday, okay? I mean, I'm in a zone, right? As Woody said in Wet Man Can't Jump, I'm in a fucking zone, okay? You're going to have to take me from that.

That's why I'm willing to get into fist fights during adult rec league basketball, but I won't fight anywhere else. It's my battlefield. This ain't battle. This is mental warfare out here on the court. I need to be a savage between these lines on the basketball court so I'm not a savage outside that door. Maybe the same as when the camera turns on. Maybe this prevents me from having to be a savage in real life.

What I'm doing right now in front of this camera is savage, okay? Let's keep the savagery going. We have a segment every Monday where I grab really ridiculous videos from around the world. The highs and lows, the good and ugly, all that, and the in-between of combat, sports, and beyond. This is a BC Solo edition of Have You Seen This Shit?

Alright, you're probably wondering, BC, Audition of Have You Seen This Shit. All right. You're probably wondering, BC, how is this going to work, really, with, like, you by yourself just throwing to the videos? Yeah, it's going to be me throwing to the videos. So let's start it. PBC on Fox, pay-per-view from Las Vegas on the undercard. Unbeaten featherweight prospect Mark Magseo. He's a disciple of Pacquiao.

He trained with Freddie Roach. He was down on all three scorecards against Julio Ceja, but look at the out cold two-punch finish in round 10. This showed a lot from Magseo, who had moments. Both fighters were knocked down and got up

off the canvas, and the fifth round Magseo got hit with a body shot. He took a knee, but for him to get up and find out later he's down on the cards against an aggressive veteran in Ceja and deliver that boom. I don't want to say he saved his career, but he saved that buzz you get from

being an unbeaten fighter who doesn't know how to lose. This was a big moment that will elevate him to a higher level. Keep your eye on Mark Magseo. It wasn't a flawless performance by any means, but that was a tough out in Julio Ceja. And look at that. He knocked him out with the first one. The second one was just gravy.

Kenny Bayless didn't get there in time. Wow. All right, let's keep it going. UFC fight night also from, what a weekend in Las Vegas. SummerSlam, UFC, boxing. How about lightweight Ignacio Bahamondes? Let the rhythm take you over. Spitty shit done right on Roosevelt Roberts.

Good freaking Lord. Play it again a million times. Guys, I don't see how this didn't take over the internet on Saturday. This is as good as any of the shit we've ever seen in highlight reel spinny shit in UFC history. Terry Adam Barbosa, make room, okay? Kassan Agane, just butcher that name. Um, you know, the dude that did the jumping spin shit, you know, just recently move on over jumping spin shit. Holy crap. This is violent. I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's per it's perfect. It's a, it's a layout diving, catching the gap in the outfield, just all in. And he got it all. And this was a fun fight. And wow. Wow. Wow. I mean, can we go back around one more time?

UFC knockout. Look at the still of this. Look at the still. That's one of the best still shots I've ever seen. Look at that face. I hate to say it because you know I love Rashad Evans. But you know about the Rashad face in the Machida fight. I'm sure he does too.

People love to meme that shit. I'm sorry. People, they put themselves to meme that shit. I'm sorry. People, they put their self out there for us and take these chances. And Roosevelt Roberts said that. Look at that face. I mean, remember the Curtis Stevens face against Gennady Golovkin? I mean, this is in that category of faces. Wow.

Faces of death. Wow. Okay, keep it going. Light heavyweight William Knight. Shout out East Hartford, Connecticut. Check out this KO of Fabio Chirant. He barely seemed to touch him. A fall away left-handed hook that seemed to just sort of graze the temple.

Look at this celebration. This guy's freaking jacked. I mean, seriously. The nightmare. Shout out the Kings of Connecticut. We have to move over. It's like apathy. It's like BC.

It's William Knight right now as far as I'm concerned. Shout out right there. Let's continue on this backflip celebration. You got to be a freak athlete to do that, especially, you know, after a fight. That's some good shit right there. You like when people, I don't know if he's for real. It's early for him and his UFC run, at least. But you like when people make a giant statement like that.

I like that. It's a large statement. What I'm doing in front of this camera right now without Luke, it's a large freaking statement. Are you ready to receive it? Brian Boom Kelleher, let's keep it going. Friend of the old school MMA beat. Look at him celebrate his unanimous decision win over Domingo Pilate.

All things, give me a hell yeah there, Stone Cold. Stone Cold, yes, thank you. Good shit from Brian Boom here. This guy's friendly. He's friendly to the MMA fan and journalist, I believe. Good dude right there. Love to see him succeed. Also on this undercard, hands down,

woman down, Bea Malecki, first class ticket to Hades. This is Bantamweight Josiana Nunes. You're from Brazil and you're named Nunes, you can typically bang. This is good. She was in this fight from the beginning threatening a knockout, just throwing bombs despite the large height advantage.

Malecki, unfortunately, got fatigued. You saw coming out of the, you know, stepping backwards and guard not up, a little bit off balance, exhausted. She didn't expect that shot. We didn't expect that shot. That is a know my name now performance right there. In Bantamweight, we need some players. We need some contenders.

I thought, you know, Malecki would have been fun. If she can put things together, she still has time to. But good Lord. Nunes. Nunes? Nunes? Lioness, part two? This is good. have been fun if she can put things together she still has time to but uh good lord noonis noons noon s lioness part two this is this is good it's good stuff i don't want to put that kind of pressure on her but uh loved it let's go over to the bare knuckle bonanza bkfc friday night dylan kleckler against justin thornton and um yeah we've got a spot for you right there there's

your coffin there you go head first Head first. Wow. Wow. Yikes. I still believe, even though this is entertaining as shit, this is the bottom of the food chain. Wow. But it's fun down there. It's fun down by the drain area, right? Wow, that is yikes. Let's cart him off, please. We've got more hillbillies to get in there.

I love the hillbilly nature. I'm sorry. I'm on a I'm going to say it. They've got characters hillbillies to get in there i love the hillbilly nature i'm sorry i'm on a i'm i'm i'm gonna say it they've got characters at bkfc they got jenny savage they've got you know joey beltran and mrs beltran they you know they got some fun players there i'm sorry they do they do brent brookhouse is like bro you got to get in on this revolution is a revolution no but it's like real pro wrestling this this shit it's it's wacky uh More on pro wrestling to come later in the show, so you may want to tune out now. PFL from Thursday night. We've talked a lot about Kayla Harrison's victory. Look at her scare away teammate

Jorge Masvidal. Yes! Yes! Love that stuff right there. I love when ATT... ATT's a fun place, man. They've been very welcoming to CBS sports in the past. Go down there, spend a day there, get some good interviews. I'm a fan of all of them, but you love the respect at all if Kayla's teammates rightfully show her.

She's legit. She's the real deal. Mazda knows. All right, let's keep it rolling right here. Let's go over to the soccer pitch, all right? Let's do a little, how's your father? Is this what this is? Is this a turkey? Is this an oil chain?

Dude, that's disgusting. That's assault, brother. What is this? What's the guy, Hanley? Hawley? Hanley? Handy. he gets handy in there wow wow all right don't don't snow hopefully didn't sniff his fingers afterwards that is gross let's keep it going the promotion is r3 fighting and look at this corner work this is a little too up close and personal you gotta you gotta yeah that's um sir just you can just so you know you that's um that's not covid friendly right there that is disgusting thank you grabaka hitman though for putting all of that into the world on a regular basis we appreciate your your twitter account all right

let's go over to our regional mma where we know anything can happen look at at Rakim Cleveland with the head kick from hell. Oh, yes. Wow. And look at the BDE. This guy going right into it. No cares. He'll be dancing by the pole in the evenings. That's a great KO right there.

I'm not even sure what's promotion. I should probably get on that. But Rakim Cleveland is the name. Wow. As Luke Thomas would say, hold that. Hold that shit yes alright busy weekend for Olympic gold medalist Gable Stevenson let's hear what he had to say

to Josh Thompson here on Bellator What a time to be Gable Steveson following that echo do I hear an echo Marco Polo following that last second gold medal win and now he's going to have MMA promoters and wrestling promoters alike opening up

the vault for him Friday night he was in Sioux Falls as you just just saw, getting interviewed by Josh Thompson. Saturday night, he's in Las Vegas for SummerSlam meeting with the boss, Vince McMahon, the chairman. He had another picture with the WWE belt on his shoulder. I think you have to ask yourself, did he also meet with UFC brass and Dana White and company was in Vegas that night. It was a busy combat weekend for Las Vegas.

All I know is that Gable social media game seems to be on point. He's adding these fellas saying, hey, how are you? He's going to get a lot of money. Maybe to do both. Who knows? But Scott Coker was interviewed after Bellator 265 on Friday and said, we'd love to make him an offer. We'd love to work with him, I'm sure.

So would everyone. This is going to be an incredible bidding war, but look, he deserves it. He's been absolutely dominant, and to have a victory like the way he had, I mean, there's people that get miraculous one-time moments. Think of like a David Tyree with the head catch in the Super Bowl, but it's sort of like, wow, I mean, what a perfect storm for that moment to happen.

They'll be remembered for that forever, but they're not that right. Gable Stevenson was already that. And then he had one of those moments like that's that's Hollywood scripting right there. So good shit. Indeed. Let's let's keep it rolling. Eddie Hearn was a part of a weigh in a little bit more than a week ago in the UK and his

backyard. And, you know, you do have to watch the cameras around you. You can't be you can't be checking out the goods. In fact, you know, yeah, you're a married man. Keep the, keep your eyes away from that shit. That's good diversion tactics right there from Eddie Hearn. I'd like to see, um, I'd like to see some of the UFC ring girls show that same type of, uh, respect. Thank you. All right. Sometimes you see people checking, checking shit out. Don't check the merchandise out. The cameras are on. All all right we got kids watching this thank you what do you think just pedal smut here on morning combat um let's go over to what i mentioned summer slam and the big reveal after the main event was brock

lesnar's back he tore up john cena he stared down roman reigns and he kind of dressed like an onion which makes this tweet hilarious i asked our producer gaff before, is this, I can't figure it out. Because you know I love me some bearded Brock. When Brock had that beard against Cain Velasquez, it was like he wasted a great freaking hair night on a really, unfortunately, bad performance in which he was stopped and cut open and all that. Just like Felix Trinidad, look it up. The hair he had against Winky Wright, he wasted a great hair night

in a 12-round shutout loss. I couldn't figure out if this was cool and I'm just, like, too washed or if this was a little bit of a cry for help trying too hard. Gaff, our producer, I think he nailed it. This is Brock trying too hard. But, you know, Brock can look any way he wants to. This guy makes a lot of freaking money. He's freaking jacked. And, you know, he hangs out on the farm all day.

He can do whatever he wants. So he's back. He's back for the big-time money. More on the wrestling shit to close the show if you're into that. All right. Thank you, Brock. Let's keep the ridiculousness flowing.

Let's have our big catches of the week. I'm not a big fisherman or fishing fan. But look at WBO welterweight champion Terrence Crawford with the catfish, brother. Good God, that thing's huge. I don't, yeah, they'll zoom in on that stuff. All right, bud. Bud, we need to see you fight.

It's been like a year. All right. Can you fight Porter, please? I don't know if it's the biggest catch of the week, though. Roy Jones was in a charity fishing derby in his native Pensacola. Look at the size of that red snapper, baby. Wow. Wow. Fish scales,

Oscar. Meet me on the low on the D. That's some big shit. But, you know, you can get the biggest fish of the week, or you can be the most stylish fisherman. This picture's from May that I dug up, but check out lightweight Gregor Gillespie. Didn't mention that Marco Madsen called him out, by the way,

after his win on Saturday, saying, let's see who the best wrestler in this division is. Marco Madsen went fishing in New York State in May, and he did it in a three-piece suit? Two-piece suit? It's a good-ass suit. I'm not going to sit here and believe that he fished in that, though. This is a photo shoot. But it looks good. It looks really good.

I like Gregor Gillespie a lot, the way looks really good all right um luke always claims i like elder abuse like way too much like i i did look in the mirror a few times and ask myself like am i taking this part of the segment too far are we celebrating old people getting hurt and laughing like so i want to you know sometimes you have to test yourself if you want to get rid of a vice sometimes you have to put it in front of you and see if you'll crack. You know what I mean? You'll get the urge. The addiction's still there.

But will you break? Gaff, could we go to the next slide here? This lovely lady on her bike. I'm not going to crack. I'm not going to. Oh, my God. I'm sorry. It's funny.

This is really bad, but it's funny. It's like the freaking Happy Gilmore shit. Gaff, we got to have that in the archives. Do we? Please. Yes, yes. Look at this. Grandma, I'm going to get you out of this nursing home, okay?

It's a nice place. Look, everyone wants to be here. Look at that. Look at that shit, Grandma. Ben Stiller's not in there. Oh, God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Help. Help. Help. Yes, indeed. Indeed. Thank you. oh god oh my god oh my god help help help yes indeed indeed thank you 90s 90s all day all right um here's one more thing we you know we may have we may do elder abuse here

we also celebrate old guys check out this this dana white not doing this in yma okay okay this is the full send from Grandpa. Oh, yeah. No injuries here. No injuries. Love it. And if he died there, he would have gone out doing what he loved. I'm all for that, right? Like Anna Nicole Smith's husband, right?

I mean, she's a dirty old man. He went out doing what he loved, right? Okay. Insensitive. Let's keep that going. Speaking of sending it in, the shot of the summer took place on this grill. Look at this throw from the second shot of the summer took place on this grill look at this throw from the second floor the cheese frisbee forehand backhand style right on the burger that

is some good shit right there unfortunately though talk about the addictions you know bc's been protecting this liver maybe maybe a little bit too much snacking after eight o'clock lately maybe too much carbs and snacking. But BC's avoided the beef, the pork, the fast food, the grease, the breaded chicken. I'm really, you know, a lot of fish in my life. I'm really trying, okay? And it's really hard to watch this. But that's a hell of a throw, all right?

But even though I no longer can eat my favorites, I was considering fondly remembering them for life by getting my first tattoos. There's a picture. Oh, boy. Yeah, I think that guy's from the same town I am. Yeah, yeah. Wow. You need Wendy's on there, though.

You do need Wendy's on there. Wendy's is $5 Biggie bag. I can't order it anymore, but the $5 Biggie bag is the best value in fast food. It really is. You know, it's a big, it's fantastic. All right. That's the shit for the week. Hope you enjoyed it. We're going 90 minutes strong here. Okay. We don't need no stinking Luke, but we do prefer them. Shout out to next level hydrogen water for sending me all those free samples. They claim a cure, cures hangover. I'm going to have to try that in Cleveland. I guess if I can get these, you know, Can I fly with these? Can I?

Alright, let's go. Odds and Ends and look, my Odds and Ends is this. You know your boy BC was a pro wrestling fan for a lot of my life. 2016, I got into the journalism game. I pushed hard to get a pro wrestling page on ESPN.com. I was part of that movement.

I took my talents to CBS Sports the next year. I was on the ESPN cheap heat pod. I had my own wrestling pod, The Endless Corner, which became the State of Combat. But you know what? Pro wrestling wore me out. I've been watching week to week in over a year.

I blame Vince McMahon. I really do. I'm sorry. I blame, I feel like the, with WWE playing the role of lead, like the UFC does in MMA, just an underutilization of assets,

a lack of adaption to today's booking and match style and storytelling, just a lot of corporate bullshit. And it drove me away like it's drove away a lot of others. And I stayed watching aew here and there and i love and respect what they do and if you haven't been following me from the beginning um i spoke a lot in 2015 and 16 and 17 when njpw in japan new japan pro wrestling and kenny omega and kazuchika okada and they started changing the game with the quality of matches you can have in pro wrestling and the deep-rooted storytelling.

And you play that with the indies getting the close-up they did during those years. And NXT, really, underneath the WWE hood. Paul Levesque and Triple H and company turning NXT into sort of an indie all-star classic. And, you know, wrestling was back. And WWE proper had a couple good years in there, 2016 especially. It was fun doing podcasting in those days, 2017 even. But, you know, when I felt that after that Japan launch, after the indies took off, you could create a second league. You could create a second power.

Now, they did with AEW. Was it the exact vision of what I thought it could be? Not at first. It didn't, you know, in the end, it's a mixture of everything that's good in wrestling today, AEW. It's the throwback to the 80s territory area of NWA and WCW. It's the, you know, a platform for the indies.

And it's, but it's also the traditional big man style mixed in as you have some WWE people, you know, who have started it, you know, Cody Rhodes and company. And I thought AEW has been really good since the launch, but I felt like it didn't go the next level yet to create what I thought was going to be a revolution. And I think what happened Friday night at AEW Rampage, that was widely predicted and speculated going to Chicago for an episode, same thing as SummerSlam weekend in a big, big corporate closeup for WWE going to Chicago for an episode. Same thing as SummerSlam weekend in a big, big corporate close-up for WWE,

going to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, you know, Cena versus Reigns. I mean, this is a big weekend for WWE. There's no question about it. And that same weekend, AEW made a major freaking move by bringing back CM Punk. And it felt like the full maturation of what I had been whispering ever since I saw Kenny Omega versus Kazuchika Okada part one in NJPW,

the greatest wrestling match I've ever seen. I know the fourth one was the big one, you know, incredible storytelling. That's maybe the second or third best I've ever seen besides, you know, Steamboat Savage or that NXT takeover SummerSlam main event between Cole and Gargano. You know that one. But this was a lot of what I thought it could be to the next level. What Punk created Friday in Chicago was a moment. And the feels it produced in wrestling fans.

And if you hate this shit, then that's fine. I don't need you. I don't need you. I don't expect you to understand, right? Luke can't hear Jimmy. He's listening to Cannibal Corpse, right? He's never going to get this shit. I get it. It's fine.

But if you got it or have gotten it or just understand what this business is, at the end of the day, the business is about rewarding the fans for the time put in and the money and that stuff. But today, to be a wrestling fan, and that was the problem. You know, I quit covering wrestling for CBS Sports about a year ago. That final year, to be doing morning combat and to be a writer in boxing and MMA at a high level and be a national sort of voice, whatever that is.

And then to also cover pro wrestling and watch everything that was going on. I mean, it's a time suck. Like, you have to be hardcore, but like my love of boxing, there's something deep inside of me that won't go away with wrestling. And if you activate that, if you hit that button, I'm going to be back. And this business has stopped trying to be with WWE in the forefront lately, a reward of your time. It's almost never a reward of your time or your hope. Will this person come out?

Oh my God, imagine if they came out. It's always like they got it close to right, but they didn't really get it. There's a stubborn way in which WWE is operated. And I think that WWE has missed a chance, especially going national on Fox with SmackDown, you know, a little over a year ago, to really help create the third boom period in our fandom

there was the first one hulk hogan's launch in wrestlemania 84 85 you know wwf there was the second one when the nwo created bash of the beach 96 wcw when hogan turned bad and holland nash were there and then it led to the monday night wars and that was the greatest financial period in pro wrestling history. I felt we could have had a legitimate third boom period with everything going on in Japan, the launch of AEW, and if WWE had just put their best foot forward.

They can't get out of their own way. They still can. But CM Punk returned and it felt like a shift of the power. And I'm not even a Punk superfan. That's the thing. I respect the Punk era. I get that people became a fan because of him.

That was an era where I, to be honest, wasn't watching at all the times when i watched a lot of that was because cm punk pulled me back in but i'm not a punk fan but i'm such a fan of what his signing means and what that moment meant aew didn't tease that he was coming and they never came they opened the show with it and he got like 20 minutes and i thought he cut a great promo and the pop from the crowd they gave them what they wanted he's back and it was the kind of feels that i have not felt as a fan except for certain moments since hogan turned bad and business picked up in a hurry in 96 and WCW went from second rate during that stretch. I mean,

93 WCW was incredible in 90, 91, 92. You could argue it was better than, you know, it was a down period for WWF was some of the darkest periods for WWF financially post steroids, try all that.

WCW was great. Then they stopped being great. They sucked. The business sucked. 93, 94. You had Hogan there in the ketchup and mustard and it sucked. Going to universal. It sucked. Going to Universal Studios, it sucked.

Then he turned bad. And all the people like me who grew up in the 80s on the vitamins and the prayers and all that, like, we were teenagers now. We were ready for bad Hogan and NWO, and it was everything. And it created a war because it forced WWE to be better than they ever have been. At that point, though, to save themselves financially, and it created the greatest boom period ever. Punk's arrival and the way it was handled,

and that pop, I feel like the third boom period is still possible. I feel like we might be entering it. The competition now is real. AEW has achieved so much on ratings going head-to-head with NXT that Vince McMahon has lost faith in NXT and has stripped it of what it actually is and is letting people's contracts go left and right and burying NXT people like he's always done secretly, and we know that's true, and announcing

that they're basically going to go back to a big-man-feeder territory, you know, just a junior league circuit. So they're just taking the indie influence, which WWE has maximized to a large degree in the past six, seven, eight years. It brought in guys like AJ Styles, Seth Rollins and all these you know Daniel O'Brien all these indie stars and although on the main roster they never quite got it right except for little moments you could still go to NXT to get what you wanted in WWE and for a lot of those years NXT was as good or in 2018 it was the best promotion in the game no question but even WWE is getting out of

that business and doubling down and tripling down on where the big consumer giant will sell more merch and will create more people that can go do charity events and all that and you know that's the image for wwe punk might have been the shift of power that aew needed the proof will be in the putin as they say ratings can aew create storylines and must-see moments? But WWE is almost, and people have argued since they brought in Nick Khan, the super talented and creative and amazing sports agent who I give a lot of respect to. He's never been my agent.

I've tried at certain points, but he's given me the time. He's doing a thankless job there. And people think they're preparing to sell. And they might be, for all we know. I don't believe it. I don't believe we're ever going to see Vince McMahon get out of power until he dies, by the way. But they're cutting a lot of people. They're cutting a lot of hefty contracts.

And if AEW starts picking these up, even though they're not necessarily reliant, like they don't necessarily need these WWE castoffs because they've given a platform for guys that are ready that never spent a second wwe you know guys like mjf and and um adam page and you know kenny omega and you know guys that okay maybe they had one second or one tryout but they never you know they never crossed over there but you're gonna need like with wcw's launching that second boom period you're gonna need recognizable names doing big fresh edgy things for to unlock the the law the angry the lapsed fans shout out to the lapsed fan which is maybe the best wrestling podcast ever seriously shout out to jp and uh and jack um you're gonna need that so imagine if these rumors are true of what it could be i mean like like they got cm punk they got CM Punk.

They got Chris Jericho, who's doing incredible, incredible things at his age. They got Dean Ambrose, you know, who's repackaged, but you know what I'm saying. They got Cody Rhodes. Yep, all that. Could they get Daniel Bryan? That's the rumors. Next, later in September. Could they get Bray Wyatt?

Who got let go? Could they get Braun Strowman? Could they could they get i mean the opening is there for them to assemble a roster now there's a threat in that wcw couldn't keep their finances together they're throwing money at everybody suddenly the nwo had 39 people in it and it you know they fell apart they went out with it i mean know, it fell apart. They went out with it. I mean, it was fun while it lasted, though. That was, I mean, that era was, you don't have to hide, you know? You don't have to hide your fandom or your understanding of why it's so good. Because when it's that good, it doesn't matter, you know? We could be there again.

And the fact that WWE is almost like doesn't realize like what they could have and are so willing to just stay with the WWE style which by the way when it's done right it's awesome and I hear there were great moments in SummerSlam and you know it's a big deal to have Reigns and Cena against each other and the main event and have Brock come back and come out and I know Becky Lynch came out and that was you know widely panned for all the right reasons just destroying Bianca Belair for really no reason Bianca Belair for no reason but what this is going to do with Punkback and Business Up and these fresh feuds

it's going to make WWE have to work have to be good again have to be the best version of themselves they can and even with all those cuts man they've got just a disgusting amount of talent that if they can get out of their own way which means get Vince out of the that if they can get out of their own way, which means get Vince out of the way, which they can't.

But if they can get out of their own way and start listening to others more and not being a completely broken backroom culture in which everybody's just trying to please one man, and if they can put their best foot forward that they tease every once in a while that they still know how to do, there's going to be a boom period where it's you know forget luke and the mma people on this show being like oh man wrestling no it'd be it'd just be it'll be what it is you got to watch it you got to talk about it we could be there punk gave me damn daytona beach bash at the peach 1996 hogan fields and you needed hogan now they already had hogan wcw for a couple years but it was ketchup and mustard washed up.

We don't want that anymore. When they got the real Hogan, when they got Hollywood Hogan, that was the game changer. Punk could be this game changer. And even if it's not, it's going to be fun watching. And they got Kenny Omega, and they got a lot of good things going on there. We could be on to something here. This could, like, I woke back up. We could be onto something here.

This could, like, I woke back up. I'm not ready to watch. I'm not, dude, F at WWE. I'm not even ready to watch it. I'm not going to watch it. I need, all I need in wrestling, I need AEW.

Especially with NXT, stop being NXT now. I need AEW. And I need New Japan for the big ones. That's all I need. And imagine if they work together, which they kind of are.

I know Impact Wrestling is kind of a bridge in this area too. And they're sharing talent. Could you imagine if everybody was quote unquote open for business? I know that's a controversial line right now because of that Nick Khan interview he gave to Ariel. But if everybody was sort of open for business and worked together and went against the big power. Say what you will about this art form. When it's done right. It can make a grown man cry i mean it's still real to us damn it it can make a grown man cry when you tell when you tell these stories the right way i mean when i didn't see it so i can't comment certainly on brock lesnar i saw

the highlights i don't know i mean brock lesnar coming what was cena Reigns a great match people say it was really good it lived up to expectations and then suddenly Brock's there and it's a new Brock and it's good guy Brock you know and Reigns is what he's done he's been the bright spot the heel work Roman Reigns done now that they finally let him go and open I mean I've tuned in for that it's been fantastic head of the table yes but you're also even though it's not not a, a point for point move, WWE didn't counter program what happened to punk on Friday and AEW. This is probably the plan. That's what Jack Cross and my CBS brother.

It's like this plan they had all along, but still you're bringing out Brock Lesnar and John Cena and Goldberg who had another awful moment there. When is WWE going to trust in its potential and its future? When is WWE going to roll out Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins and a multi-year story with multiple WrestleMania main events? You know, they have the history storytelling wise, like when are they going to start? Like when your fans can fantasy book better the territory than you'll ever do

it. Like that's a problem. When are they going to do things again? That, that make old men feel like kids again, in terms of the swerves and storytelling, they may have to soon if AEW does this. And so I've taken up enough of your time in this MMA and boxing show talking about this pro wrestling thing that a lot of you will love and get, but a lot of you can't hear Jimmy and that's fine. But Jimmy might be played on all of your stations moving forward. If this shit keeps going, they they got network they got big time tv deals they got the right people in place Tony Khan and AEW it's gonna be a war get your popcorn ready we're back I'm back punk's back I think I'm back not even a punk guy but I you know like Terry Terry Bollea he consents when the when the train's

moving and the money's on it and he needs to get on board. So even though he was nervous, he got on board with Holland Nash, right? The NWO, they made it. I'm about to get on board again. So, um, who's coming with me?

All right. We'll find out. We'll find out. Um, that's solo BC. We gave you an hour 45, maybe some of it you enjoyed. Maybe some of it you thought was pretentious and cocky.

That's fine. But, um, shout out to, uh, to Gaff, to Corey, Sally, Al Wendling, Mikey Morms, all the good folks there. Matt Snyder overseeing us as if he's Tom Hanks.

Not Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, but Tom Hanks from That Thing You Do. That's really Matt Snyder's job. I try to, you know. Luke Thomas will be back. I believe he's back on Washington, D.C. soil at some point today. Him and I will be leaving Wednesday morning. Cleveland rocks. Let's do it, baby.

Rock and roll Hall of Fame. Let's rock. We're going to bring it. It's going to be a big week. Get ready, Showtime. MK's coming. Like us. Subscribe to what we're doing right here.

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Alright? Take care of this. Take of this okay this is it this is this is this is what you have this is it okay the lethal weapon it's your mind take care of it all right be good love you we out