MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Room Service Diaries: Gallstones | Bellator's Announcement | Regional Food

Episode Date: February 10, 2021

Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell are back with another episode of Room Service Diaries. Luke shares his story about how he almost missed Bellator's big announcement. Brian shares his favorite conspiracy theory with us. The guys discuss the Bellator announcement and finish off the show with some regional food talk. ---------------------------- 'Morning Kombat’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Bullhorn and wherever else you listen to podcasts.    For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit: store.sho.com   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat  To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Rise to rewards with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card. Terms and conditions apply. This is your Wednesday. This is your make good for the Wednesday live episode that will not be happening right now. But you are watching this a gift from us to you. Why? Because we just set the mixed martial arts world afire, Luke, with our coverage of the Bellator Showtime announcement. In all seriousness, Luke, this big MMA news is big freaking news, bro.

Yeah, it was a big deal. I was happy to be part of the live stream. We did a live interview show afterwards that I hope everybody has already checked out on YouTube. And Luke, I don't really... I don't really know how I'm going to bounce back from that, right? You're a disgusting

creature. Luke, I don't think we should go any further because I don't know know how I'm going to bounce back from that, right? You're a disgusting creature. Luke, I don't think we should go any further, because I don't know if you're going to make it through this interview. Bop, bada, bop, bop. Yeah, my microphone was off for a while there. It's on now. People think I don't speak loud enough on this show, so I'm going to talk right into the mic, all right? Yeah, you don't.

Yeah, so this day got weird. So yesterday, what was happening? It was like 11.30ish. PM, all right. PM, and no, more than that. So let's say 10 o'clock. I started to get really bad stomach pains, but that's not unusual. So I was like, okay, it's probably heartburn.

It is heartburn. So I took some heartburn medication, and it just got worse and worse and worse. And then it was to the point where it was affecting my breathing because it was pushing on something inside of my internal organs. And then it got to the point where I was starting to get nauseous. And no matter where I stood or laid or whatever, I was in excruciating pain. That was the worst pain I've ever had in my life. So this got real. This is not a joke or a bit.

This was some scary shit because you started texting me saying, I'm not okay. Dude, I need to go to the hospital now. Yeah, I need to go to the hospital. Because I was looking up symptoms. It was like, once you start getting nausea, you need to go. So I was like, okay, let's go. Did it burn while you peed?

Was that part of it at all? It could have if there was blood like there could be cases where what i had can result in that in fact they made me give them a urine sample god it was awful i had to go there to give him a urine sample and the guy was like um i'm giving you a wet wipe you ever go to kfc and i'm like yeah he's like let me give you a wet wipe is he trying to say you had a dirty dong no yes and no and i was And I was like, dude, you don't have to overcomplicate this. What the fuck do you want me to do with this? And he's like, because of the way that what we think you might have works, we have to get you to clean your hog.

But the way he said it was like, use this to clean the head of your penile area. I'm like, dude, we're two grown men. Just tell me what the fuck you want me to do. I imagine Bronsted are saying that, by the way, the way you did that voice did that voice yeah i know well i love that guy in any case uh the urine sample was fine there was nothing wrong with that which means to say that i didn't have internal bleeding but uh they gave me this like hardcore you're fast forwarding so i drove you to the hospital you're fast forwarding way too fast yeah i am right i drove you to the hospital it was close to midnight another uh great producer

on our show matt was with us from showtime and luke um i didn't i didn't know if you were gonna make it bro it was getting it got worse and worse and worse i couldn't even sit i couldn't i couldn't move anywhere without feeling like and they took their all kinds of long time to get you into uh to be seen once they got me in the room and they got me on the narcotic, I felt better right away. You were like, inject me with morphine in the dick, please. Yes. Yes. I want to go morphine to dick first.

Anyway, long story short. So the security guard kicked you all out. The security guy was on break for the first hour. So we were able to chill in there with you. Then he comes back from lunch. He's like, you aren't supposed to be here. Bro, I've been here 11 or half the night. I know. He's like, you aren't supposed to be here. Bro, I've been here 11 or half the night. I know.

He's like, there's not supposed to be any visitors here. And I'm like, yeah, people who are desperately and ill to the point of emergency, they should do that alone. That's how they should do medicine. So they kicked us out. I get it. There's COVID restrictions. But literally, when we got there, there was one old lady watching Queen Latifah on TV. And you returned, what, at 5 a.m.?

5.30. I got home at 5.30. How did you get home? I Ubered. Oh, I would have picked you up, but I didn't wake up to your text. Yeah, it's okay. I figured you'd be out. Plus, I felt bad burdening you.

Anyway, so I get back there, and then they give me a CAT scan. And I had a gallstone stuck in my gallbladder, but I had the double whammy. So not only was it stuck in the gallbladder, inflaming the gallbladder, VC, but they told me the reason why I was experiencing so much pain is because it was actually, they could see it pressing into the liver. Dude, so I texted my wife, you know, to be like,

don't be alarmed, but I was in the hospital, and Luke's going to make it. And she was like, and when I said gallstone, she was like, oh my God, this guy's going to be in so much pain. Yeah, it was bad. It was fucking horrible. Yeah. So anyway, they think it moved a little bit, but they can still see it there.

So they said two things are going to happen. One, they'll just pass it, which is no big deal. Wait, wait. To pass it, does that mean through your urethra? Your ureter? They did not make it. They told me that if it passes, it might be uncomfortable, but not excruciating. So not like a kidney stone. Not make it think they told me that if it passes it won't it about it might be uncomfortable But not a non-exclusive not like a kidney stone not like it was yesterday. No

But what they basically said was if it doesn't move by the time you get home because here's what they said I said if it if this happens if you get tomorrow and you're like this We're going to cut you open like we're just going to take it out That's that's I was like damn it. I do not want to get fucking surgery on this trip Well the good the great news is this is Connecticut, not Florida, so you would get great health care. The bad news is the hospital here near her is Norwich. I don't really think anyone wants to get cut open at the Norwich hospital.

I don't want to have surgery away from my family. You know what I mean? Look, if I'm going to die, let me die with my own. By the way, they fucking scared me because I'm sitting there. They gave me the narcotic, and I'm thinking, okay, this is fine. I'll be all right. I feel better. And they go, yeah, we're going to give you a CAT scan. I'm sitting there. They gave me the narcotic, and I'm thinking, okay, this is fine. I'll be all right. I feel better. And they go, yeah, we're going to give you a CAT scan.

I'm like, precautionary. They're like, we just need to make sure we know if this needs to be a surgical intervention or not. And I'm like, wait, surgery's on the table for this shit? Anyway, so. So do they take an x-ray of your pelvis? A CAT scan of my whole, from my chest to my pelvis. And it was a guy nurse, not a woman? It was a female nurse.

So she was probably looking at the x-rays of the old Hawkins. Did you get what in Brazil they call the heat hound? Did you get that? No, no. Dude, I was so out of it, I could barely move. But anyway, so they come back to me. They're like, well, the good news is that,

the good news and bad news is blah, blah, blah. So basically, here's where we are today. If I don't have another flare up, as soon as I go home, I have to contact a surgeon there to see if they want to get it taken out, or I'm going to get another flare-up here, in which case, if I go back to the hospital,

they have promised me they're going to cut it out, or it passes. But basically, as soon as I get home, I have to contact a surgeon. Dude, I didn't know, because we're old. So that's why I didn't know what was going to happen next. Was this going to become Morning Campbell, like a one-man show moving forward?

I was really nervous. I mean, not even to mention the serious parts of, like, your family and stuff. But I was, you know, you're my quarterback, Luke, okay? I feel you, bro. You're my quarterback. But anyway, here was the worst part. Fucking asshole. So finally they discharged me.

I'm feeling better. And I couldn't go straight home. I had to go to a 24-hour CVS, get the to get the percocet they gave me percocet and uh the uber picks me up and like there was one uber i had to wait like 15 minutes for it i don't know where you if you're watching this i don't know where you live in the country but in where i live in dc the most you'll ever wait for an uber and i'm talking about the most you'll ever wait is six minutes like usually, usually it's one to three minutes. They're everywhere, okay?

This one was 18. I was like, mother fuck. I was a little surprised that you were able to get one. I've had times in Connecticut where I was like, okay, I'm close enough to Hartford. It's five in the morning, but I'm looking to get an airport ride to the airport. No, no, nothing. So anyway, I got lucky. And the guy who picked me up was playing Usher.

You got it. You want it bad. if you're blah, blah, blah. See, I was hoping for boop, boop, boop, boop. Yeah, no, none of that. And he was blasting it so fucking loud. But I saw that the CVS was like two miles away, and then Mohegan was another three. Do you think your Uber driver liked the weekend's halftime show? He'd be an eligible candidate for it. Anyway, got my Percocet, got home, took it.

All right, I'll shout you out now. I'll cut you off to shout you out, Luke. You showed a lot of guts. All right, you texted me before. I didn't think you should have done that show because it wasn't one show. We were part of the two-hour Bellator reveal show or however long it went. Then we did a live hour interview show. on that show because it wasn't one show we were part of the two-hour bellator reveal show or

however long it went then we did a live hour interview show then we did a sit down with coker and espinoza inside the bellator cage which was all cool as hell and now we're doing this luke in which typically we drink i'm glad you're not drinking okay i'm on antibiotics how did you um how did you bite down and do this luke i'm not kidding um look man is this bloody sock is this the flu game it's the flu i mean here's honestly it sounds like over dramatic but it's really the truth probably i feel better with the narcotics but the other part is dude like think about where bellator and strike force gonna be strike force in showtime were 10 years ago you know i wasn't anywhere close to having this job and here it is 10 years later and i finally got an opportunity you know unless i was totally incapable of doing it look man i don't get up you don't get

opportunities like this i've been waiting over 10 years to do what we did today basically and you know i'm not going to wait another 10 so and by the way i'm so glad that you did it not only for what we're building at mk for the whole viacom cbs family but that interview show we did was we were at the peak of our powers it was a car wash of one big bellator name waiting on deck after the other and um yeah it was all kinds of fun luke so congratulations to you for gutting it out you're more of a man than i am no you'd be if you're feeling like me you would have done it too i mean you if you what you probably should have said to them is, just go through with the three needles right now, right? While I'm here, just tape me up, right?

Our producer sent us these questions. What do you want to do? So anyway, what was the rest of our day? So we got down there. We didn't really do the rehearsal, but we talked to Mauro. Mauro was here. I love that man. Mauro's the best.

He's the fucking man. We did the announcement stream, and then we did our own stream, and then we had a roundtable that was recorded with Steven Espinosa and Scott Coker. Very business heavy, but good stuff about the future. And then now this. And then this is the last thing we're doing today.

Don't forget when you asked about Valerie Lareda's DMs. That was hilarious. I like how you think that's a weird question. Bro, you don't think it goes super fucking weird in there? Yo, bro, I asked Luke Rockhold, and then he was just like, he gave me that, like, you know. Oh, he's told me about his DMs. Can you imagine?

I mean, at the time that I asked him about it, he had women throwing themselves at him. I mean, do you think someone in, oh, you know what I loved, by the way, about that Lareda interview the best? Was that she looked right at you and she said, Yoana is like an idol to me. It was like she knew right at you and she said, Joanna is like an idol to me. Yeah, I know. It was like she knew.

She knew our meta bullshit, huh? And you were out there... Hang on. You were out there looking at me in the face like... Yeah. No, I actually was like, actually, she's one of my idols too.

You did not like that look. I thought I activated a gallstone when I said that. You might have. I had a bit of a moment. It's cool. She's friendly, man. I've had her in the studio before. You know, her Instagram is a giant thirst trap.

You're not wrong about that. It's just what it is. It's fine. But honestly, in person, she's a pro. She's out here trying to do it. How good is she going to get? I don't know. We'll see. Well, you know when i always say things like eddie hearn dana white if you're gonna use car sales me like at least tell me the truth right like if you're

gonna fuck me over as a fan just tell me like you know if you're freaking me a dana if you're making connor dustin three just be honest and tell us right yeah she's very larita is creating online thirst traps but she's just free about it. She's like, this is who I am. I don't care what you think. I know. And I love the like, who are the dudes who complain about that? That's not the weird like straight dudes complaining about her doing like, help me understand what

the downside is. I've never understood this. Oh, she's going to get opportunities she shouldn't get. I'm like, well, you're complaining that she's doing this and she's getting fights that are too easy for her. I did want to ask her about the one criticism she gets, I could give it back to her, is when she celebrates the winning of the fight over the fallen opponent. Because she fucking dances?

No, no. She's essentially dancing over the dead body. You know what I mean? Or kind of the... You know what I mean? She doesn't walk across the cage. Yeah, she does it right there.

Like, I don't care what you, but again, I do like the sort of like, fuck you. I don't care what you think. You know, you're going to,

you're going to enter my, my thirst. And also, I mean, I don't know if this is true for the last fight she had, but I think a couple of them have definitely been other opponents who were like, she ain't shit. She's pretty face,

blah, blah, blah, blah. And then, you know, you go knock them the fuck out. Yeah. I mean, I don't listen. It's low level face. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then, you know, you go knock them the fuck out. Yeah.

I mean, I don't listen. It's low level enough where it doesn't affect the top of the division. So it's not like getting in the way of anything. You know, and dudes complaining about, I mean, I just couldn't even imagine a situation where you would look at this and be like, this is disreputable, prurient content. This is Latina. Yeah. This is disreputable, prurient content that I have no interest in. The second most you were upset at me during that live interview stream was when I asked Austin Vandervoort about Bretton Hart. You were like, can we get out of this interview already?

Because I will say this, dude. It's like, dude, if you're Austin Vandervoort, every fucking interview is about your wife. He expects that and he welcomes it. Okay, okay. You're right. He's a good dude, by the way. He's a great dude. You're a thousand percent right.

But I'm like, dude, of these two, he's the much better fighter. He seems genuinely interesting in his own right. He's friendly. Can we do one fucking interview where you don't ask him about his heart? Yeah, can we just ask him about the damn eyeball on his Adam's apple the whole time? Dude, he got blasted on his throat. I was shocked. I was shocked.

Who else was cool? You know, Pico's cool. Yeah, hold on. I mean, if you're gonna start this off it was front and back y'all remember to open was amazing

dude you fucking had the line of the night when you looked him in the face and you were like you were like you're like Yoel

I love you I'll see you soon boy and then you told him and I didn't know if he was gonna get this part then you go go go

and it took him a second to process but then he got it and he fucking died laughing he's a great guy he is incredible the thing i love about you all remember and this is even when i didn't review him at scrums in the ufc or one-on-one at media day and he had no idea who i am luke he will hug the shit out of you he will go chest to chest he's got big fucking mitts too you know yeah oh hell yeah and then we ended up seeing him on the way back to the hotel room out in the hallway yeah tonight yeah and he was like all up like boys with us like where are we going to the club you know he's like where do the high school girls hang out and i'm like bro in our room yo don't dare stop but so as great as he was and he was great

we closed with patricio pitbull freder frederete? I don't know. Friere. Friere. This guy's the best. He's the best. Luke, I love the shit out of Patricio Friere. One of the lines, the video is up right now. One of the lines was like, BC was like, you know, you're intimidating. You like to intimidate your opponents.

And he was like, yeah, me and my brother, we'd like to go kill people. He's like, we want to kill people. I was like, you fight with a chip on your shoulder do you like get off on anger and they're like yeah we're trying to kill you and we want we want we want to hurt you substantially i was like and then i'm like all right he's kind of you know he's kind of feeling it he's hearing our english well he's responding in english really well and then i'm like uh you happy with mike chandler and he's like that bitch right he like, that guy is fucking bitch. That old bitch. So that part was great.

But I did have to ask permission to call him a savage. Because I never know, Luke, did I have another risen situation by accidentally calling him a savage? Oh, I see. Because he's Brazilian? Yeah. Oh. I didn't think of it that way. That's why I was like, bro, I'm saying this as a compliment.

He was like, fuck yeah, this as a compliment he was like fuck yeah I'm a savage but that word is so universal at this point that it's you know it's a fair thing to be concerned about after you were like oh ching chong chong and I was like oh my god what is he doing I was just like

I know you karate chop the air and you're like dude I can't believe they're mad anyway probably the best part was when Eric I know you karate chop the air and you're like, dude, I can't believe they're mad. I'm like, eh. Anyway, probably the best part was when Eric Albarracin. He's Colombian. Oh, he's American. You should have spoke Colombian with him. I don't know if he speaks Spanish. He's a weirdo, but his dad.

He's just like, well, he's actually a weirdo. His dad is Colombian. So he always talks about going to Colombia with me every time I see him. So here's what I'm saying, okay? So Albert Acene was holding court, wearing the fur and being awesome. We're talking about Cejudo, you ask, if Henry got fat. And then, again, I figure I just roll the dice on Pitbull. I'm like, yo, bro, I think you could take Cejudo. We're talking about so who do you ask if Henry got fat and then oh, you know again I figure just roll the dice on pitbull. I'm like yo, bro

You know, I think you could take so who know and he's like no no It's my friend my friend, you know, and then but he know he know but you know, but he goes he know though He's he's pretty he's different man, he's got up he's got a he's something i don't know he's intense he's like i have no hobbies i like to fight yeah he's like i like to kill we're asking his hobbies he's like i like to kill i like to maim i like to disfigure i'm like do you like to paint are you into photography i know hey hey uh fedor what's your favorite Russian novels? Hey, listen, fuck you, guy. So, yeah.

No, but this interview special is well worth your time, since we should use this to advertise our stuff, Luke. I had a great time, Chad. I was like Bader. Good quote. Pico was real. He was fun. He was real.

He talked about his horse's dong. Oh, then you were complimenting Doug Lima's teeth. That got a little weird, you know? Yeah, I mean, you didn't see those teeth? Those are the best looking teeth I'd ever seen. I mean, this dude, I think he had veneers or something. I could be wrong, I don't know. But he had an incredible smile.

I mean, dude, you can't have a smile like that and me not saying a good thing about it. Okay. He got a little shy about it, but, you know. And then we almost got James Gallagher in trouble. Well, you're like, yo, how much infidelity are you involved in in Ireland? I mean, I didn't say that in that way, though. You know, it was just sort of like, bro, I mean, the chicks love the Stravanova. I think we know this, you know.

And then he was like, no, no, no. And then when he left, he put the microphone down. He goes, dude, you're going to get me hung. Oh, God. I'm sure. I'm sure he will end're going to get me hung. Oh, God. I'm sure he will end up being hung. Yeah. Okay, you're weird.

You're weird. What else happened today? I think Scotty Cokes likes us, Uncle Scott. We talked to Aaron Pico about the size of his horse's dick. That's true. I think not only that, I think we started the conversation. We're like, so here's Aaron Pico, a top-ranked 145-er whose horse has a monstrous fucking cock and balls. And he was looking at us like, he was kind of into it, he was kind of smiling.

He was like, you're right. But at the same time, he's like, okay, nice to see you. How are you, gentlemen? In fact, my horse's slung is enormous. Wow. So are you going to tell the people about the lecture you felt the need to twice give me? You know, BC, it's fine if you're going to crack dick jokes with Pico. That's fine. But when we interviewed Coker and Espinosa, bro, you cannot do that.

I'm like, really? Well, far be it for me to assume the worst. but you got to talk about MK Strengths, dude. MK Strengths. When it's time to joke, we joke. But when it's time to really nail people with the analysis. Yes. That's that. You got to do that part, too.

It's all my nose. That's fine. It's not it's not one or the other. And sometimes you got to make sure we haven't lost sight of that. That's all. Yep. The medicine I took is starting to kick in a little bit here. Feeling a little...

How are you? You got that AIDS? You have COVID, bitch? No. If you give me COVID at the end of this trip, while my gallbladder is about to shoot through my body, I will be upset. I have to say, though, like, generally from a fan standpoint,

you know, I'm excited for a lot of the fights, but the one that, like, has everybody buzzing is this Rumble Romero fight, dude. Like, legitimately, that has just got fucking bananas written on it. Dude, we have no idea what that's going to look like. And even if you were the ultimate cynic and was like, well, dude, you thought BC, you thought Romero Adesanya was going to bang and it didn't.

What if Yoel does it? Even if Yoel does that exact same thing again, let's say he was able to pull that off. I just want to see what this looks like. I want to see Rumble cock that right hand and just, you know, and what Joey or Yoel was kind of telling us both on and off camera, Luke, when we kind of made references to, you know, Rumble's a freaking to you know rumbles of frickin You know knockout artists, and you're coming up and wait you well, dude He was like bring him bring him the fuck to me

You know I mean that that like he's intense man that intensity that he showed in that like he that look he gave me when I was like off-camera. I was like you know dude rumble fucking bangs You're gonna be okay with this and he was just like the fuck is wrong with I know so that's a question I would never ask. Well, that was a, I was loosening him up with it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I'm not saying it's bad.

What I mean to say is, sometimes it's good to get an approach you wouldn't necessarily take. And I think he appreciated the lighthearted one in the end, for sure. Yeah, so then we spoke to a bunch of other people um we had a round table in the cage that was cool with uh it was me steven espinosa scott coker then bc on the end did you like that that was fun that was a lot of fun it was cool with the way it was shot with high

production values there from showtime um so that we were in we were on the circular fighting platform only the backside of the circle cage was intact. That's as close as we're ever going to get to being in the octagon for any redeemable reason. Except for if you're behind the curtain at a UFC weigh-in and the octagon's there and there's usually Lorenzo and his kids jumping in there. One of those moments you could jump in, but you'd be an asshole. Yeah, exactly.

No, that was cool. That was a big day for us. This is the type of shit I've been looking forward to, looking to try to do for a long time not not just this i mean i like the other stuff that we do as well um i want to do like more studio level uh technique stuff which is just not really an option at the moment but i'm waiting for this shit for a while i'll tell you what this is my favorite what we did today dude we had that desk we had was fucking nice the interview gauntlet we did today and having doing it on a desk with multiple cameras is you know even better right

but that interview gauntlet which you know you were saying you've done in super bowl media days i've done at you know big time boxing events or wrestlemania or whatever where it's just like you don't know who's coming around the corner but you have a general idea it's like legends or whatever and you get 10 seconds or 20 seconds to kind of be like, okay, let me think what's going to make this interesting. That was us at the peak of our powers, and that was the first time we got a chance to do something like that, and that was fun, Luke, okay? I've been waiting a long time for that, bro.

A long time. A long time. And I've been luckier than almost everyone. There's just a handful of dudes who have done more stuff than you and I have. In the MMA space, dude, there's literally, you could handpick a couple of people who have done more than we've done in terms of the live event stuff. And frankly, I don't want to do stuff on fight night where I'm backstage. I did that with Glory, and I was terrible at it, and I didn't like it. I want to do more studio stuff.

But this is what I'm talking about. I couldn't give this up. I would have to be under the knife to have given this up today you know plus showtime is like put so much faith in us and you know i've most of my career is having people who employed me who are like you know nominally interested in the things i could do but not really and here's showtime being like okay boys like you know every time the keys to the kingdom get open a few more doors you know dude anyone who's had a cup of coffee with Showtime like we've been lucky to have seems to have that same reaction, you know, even with compared to so many of the other major companies. But I'm very happy, Luke.

I'm about to resign at CBS Sports. Yeah, dude, that is so big. Our deals don't quite align, but they mostly align. So that's coming up in March. What I mean by that is the timing. Sorry. Going to get that finalized. And yeah, Showtime's great.

You know that gig I do for NBC Sports on the side, Luke? The Ring City Boxing? Where you have to eat the boiled eggs that are sitting in the back. I get three trips to Puerto Rico in March. Three, bro. You've been to Puerto Rico? No. Oh, you're going to love it, man.

Puerto Rico's obviously had its challenges because it's been mismanaged by the United States and obviously even beyond that, just the natural disasters that they've had to endure and whatnot. Have you been a bunch? I've only been once, actually,

but I fell in love with my wife in Puerto Rico. Dude, Puerto Rico's a special place, man. People treat it like it's like a forgotten, like, oh, you know, Puerto Rico's kind of

always there, but it's not really all that attractive. I mean, again, yes, it's had its challenges. You will see that. But, dude, they are a resilient people, man, and they're trying to rebuild.

My wife went down there for work, and she was telling me just how much any kind of tourism meant to them. Yeah. You know what I mean? I mean, they had gotten banged by the storms, you know, the last couple of major storms. Yeah, and again, the U.S. hasn't just done a great job with managing the place.

So what I'll say is when you go down, I know i know it's coven chip if you get any free time you will see like like puerto rican like when you go there as a as a tourist their hospitality is like fucking first rate the people are friendly we got three different locations that we're uh setting up a ring one of them i think is in like old town san juan which is absolutely spectacular get a great great tour of the island so I'm looking forward to it. That is one of the best fan bases in boxing by far. I have to warn you, though. Okay, so you'll probably be staying in San Juan, right?

I have no nothing at this point. Okay, if you go to San Juan, you'll hear a lot of Spanish, but you'll hear a lot of English, too. And you go to any vendor there, they're going to speak English, okay? Buddy, you drive one hour outside that city, and you can forget that shit. The rules are very different outside of San Juan. I drove when I was there by myself to Caguas, and this was before I had really taken any Spanish. I didn't hardly know anything. And I remember I parked at the town square with my car, and I needed to break a dollar to get quarters with a meter.

And I went, and this was like a nice town square I was like well maintained there was no you're taking care of yourself you're not with like a tour group or anything you're completely by myself I was on a business trip and I went to a store after store trying to get a dollar for my quarters and they they didn't know any English zero English English. And I was like, wow, okay. So I thought it would be much more common throughout the island. My experience was that that was not the case. All right, I'm going to put them to the test.

I'm coming for you, Puerto Rico, so let's do that. So, Luke, I mean, look, we're not really told. We don't know what's coming, but you'd have to believe a good run of Showtime boxing fights are on the horizon, too. So this is a fun time. Broner's supposed to be the next one. I think that's February 20th And I know you know, it feels like we're close to getting do you know who the fuck he's fighting? Yeah, it was a replacement guy. It was a it was a guy you never heard of a guy that he should beat up But you know, he kind of needs us He would need to win that he can come back and chalk trash and

look good and do his dances and and uh yeah he needs because look he does he does match himself tough you got to give him that you know and he yeah he always loses when he's up you know okay but you know he yeah um i told you i saw i felt bad because i saw someone on one of his comments being like ab he was supposed to be like about billions and then someone wrote I felt bad because I saw someone on one of his comments being like, AB, he was supposed to be like about billions. And then someone wrote, I felt bad, but I laughed. Because he puts his cash app thing up there. The guy wrote, always begging. I felt bad for laughing.

Yeah, yeah. Dude, I always have a soft spot for AB. I'm always going to just think that he's... He's done some reprehensible things. He really has. I don't know why. You know, there's certain athletes or artists, whatever you like,

they can never do anything to break my heart, right? Oh, that's what we need on the... You know what the show doesn't have enough of? Technical difficulties. That's really... We just can't get enough of that. Do you want to talk about that or no? Well, people have been asking about what has happened

since that disaster back in Jersey City. And I keep telling them the truth, which is, isn't a documentary supposed to handle most of this? Yeah, I think we're supposed to see, they pushed the date back a little, but I think we're supposed to see, this is full disclosure, a completely rough edit of the whole thing

in like two days from now. And then that could lead to a full finished version next week. Which is great. I think we wait. I think we wait. Because I don't want to ruin that. Yeah. Dude, are you like burping and farting right now?

Yeah. Okay, because it smells like a dead body over here. Yeah, remember, I nearly died yesterday. I know. And my body is expelling things. I don't know. I would have a lot more respect for you if you just died in your sleep like a real man. Just turn in this video to Mikey and then go die.

You have lived through your usefulness. Yes. Yes. Luke, do you have, you know, our paychecks notwithstanding here, our job and all that, just as Luke the fan. Bro, you feeling this eight-man tournament? Feeling the tournament? You know, I think one side of the bracket is a lot more exciting on paper

than the other one, which I think is fair to say. Yeah, I'm mostly curious to see to what extent Showtime can elevate the Bellator brand. Because you can take Strikeforce out of it for just a second. Bellator's major problem on DAZN was... There was probably a number of issues, but for me... For you, it was Mike Goldberg? These issues remain ongoing. But no, in all seriousness,

they never had anyone telling their stories. Like, you never saw a great DAZN piece that really captured your heart and imagination and told this incredible epic tale of why a fight was happening. Well, if they did, you wouldn't have seen it most of the time. Yeah, exactly. If they did, it was probably behind a paywall.

There's just a lot of problems with being the accompany put in part. Like, you can put on good fights, but if no one is really selling them to you in an interesting way or packaging them in an interesting way, there's just a lot lost during that time. Showtime has a proven, this is just true, you can say who's better, who's worse, but they have a proven ability to be able to tell stories. I wonder what that will do for Bellator's brand. I'm curious to see what happens there. Yeah, because part of it is like stories need to be told, but the other part is,

you know, MMA is not in the same place it was when Strikeforce was at its, let's say, relative peak. Where you're still trying to explain the sport to people.

And also, you know, it was, this is not quite true because after the fact people began to accept that Strikeforce had a really talented roster where all those guys came over You're still trying to explain the sport to people? And also, you know, it was... This is not quite true, because after the fact, people began to accept that Strikeforce had a really talented roster, where all those guys came over and started kicking ass.

But just in terms of, like, ranked people, I mean, I have to look this up to be certain, but I think Strikeforce had more, certainly, than Bellator has. And, you know, dude, Bellator's been bouncing around, and it's a lot... You know, the brand is ready

I think to be leveraged more than it ever has but this is like a big upgrade for them monster this is big news

like straight up big news you know no matter who you care about or work for or anything or just as a fan it's huge

that 8 man tournament it's sexy it's really good Luke when was the first time you liked Bellator? Meaning, not when did you start watching, but when did you think they were, like, legit? Like, when Askren was on top and fighting those dudes?

I think I've always understood their place in terms of the size of the organization. But, you know, when I really began to... I don't know when it was, but there's, like, Shabalat shamhalayev um frodo hospital i have like they were one of the first guys to really start recruiting some of the folks out of dagestan and russia you know dude koreshkov was a badass my first cut but there's a but there's a bunch of other guys you never heard of who are also the two the two i mentioned from 145 were

shabalat shamhalayev and frodo hospitalbalayev. They were just really good at that. I remember it was during Bjorn Rebny's era, so it was pre-Coker. And I noticed that guys I thought would kill in the tournaments got fucking whooped. And I was like, I don't know that this is a sustainable product, but if you like MMA... A little too much Joe Warren on the screen back then.

Yeah, I mean, look, there's a lot of that shit. And guys who you knew were well beneath the standard UFC level. But it's been a while. I've liked them for a while. But there's a lot of that shit, you know, and guys who you knew were like well beneath the standard UFC level. But it's been a while. I've liked them for a while, but there's been a couple. It's just, you know, they need consistency. They need visibility. There's just a lot of things. I think they need more morning combat, Luke.

I want to keep our brand as, you know, not intertwined with any promotion as possible. That's fair. That's fair. I actually don't want to do that. By the way, we should talk about this. People have asked us, what does this mean for us going forward? Are you all going to be on Bellator broadcast? And my answer is, we have no idea. Literally beyond what has happened today,

we don't have any clue if there even is anything else we'll ever do. We hope. What do you say to the people who write in the comments, oh, great, this means BC and Luke will never tell the truth about where Bellator stands in light of UFC and all that? I don't work for Bellator. CBS cuts my check. Trust me.

CBS is interested. We have the same grandfathers or daddies, right? Yeah, okay, I'll be friendly. But I'm not going to fucking lie. I'm not lying for any promoter. I'm not lying. I'm not losing everything I've built so I can be, but I'm not going to fucking lie. I'm not lying for any promoter. I'm not lying. I'm not losing everything I've built so I can be, you know, I'll be friendly. To protect Jared Shaw, you know?

Scala. You know what I'm saying? So, yeah, and here's the other part. Hold us to account. Dude, I'm not afraid of people holding us to account. Hold us to account. Oh, hey, you guys were too soft on them or whatever. Okay.

Please. oh hey you guys were too soft on them or whatever okay but please the only way we ever get better is if we get feedback from people who are honestly trying to get us to do the best job possible so you think they ever told so freddy he was too soft never that probably has rarely happened he's such a filthy old bitch too i was watching one of his videos not long ago i told you about this and what he made them do I was like you fucking gross animal you can't talk about this on camera Luke I mean come on no I'm not going to say what it was

I've got a career we're going to ruin that but this is the point we're trying to explain to folks too it's like doing the podcast is fun like I like doing it but honestly what Morning point we try to explain to folks too it's like doing the podcast is fun like i like doing it but honestly the like what morning combat is supposed to be is a lot of what you saw today there was no fights today but post-fight shows on location being a part of grander things the show is designed to be really much more profile that is just a and again all the podcast episodes are important but you, you know, that's.

Well, it also allows us to diversify to the level, Luke, where you could end up being into morning combat for different reasons. And but at the same time, at the end of the day, like any good rock band or something like we want to be able to do it all. We want to be able to write you the ballad and rock out and jam. So, you know, I'm you know, I'm into why am i into morning combat because i'm trying to let the world know luke it's a sitcom it's not a talk show right but to you and a lot of the they don't care about that they want the fucking take they want a hard-ass take on some mma right you know what i mean so um they want that lexley paler thing yeah so fun. Wow. You ever seen his joint? Oh, my God.

I can't do it. I mean, it's so long. The camera can pan from one side of the screen to the other, and you'll see squirrels running along it, birds posted on it. You know what I'm saying? Remember I told you I saw Cliff Robinson, RIP, his dong in the Nets locker room? Yeah, just an absolute specimen. I mean, yeah. There were female reporters standing next to him.

He goes from zero to ball back in like a second. I mean, just for no reason. You think he did it on purpose? Oh, 100%. 100%. But I think that's the... That's so gross. That's pretty gross.

Yeah, it's pretty gross. You know who I saw today? All seriousness, you know who I saw today? She was here taking photos. Esther Lin. Esther Lin was here. So I don't know. I saw today? She was here taking photos. Esther Lin. Esther Lin was here. So I asked her, too. I was like, what does this mean for you going forward?

Obviously, Showtime's going to use her in some capacity to take photos for MMA events. Every one of them, every once in a while. She's a legend. By the way, I like the term active legend or living legend. You know what I mean, right? Frankie Edgar's a freaking living legend. Esther Lin's a living legend. Yeah, she kind of is of is it's like you're the best to ever do this and you're still out here like young you know um but that was cool so i talked to her for a while she's

doing really well again all of this is up in the air we may not have any role we honestly just don't have a clue so my hunch is we'll absolutely be on location for big Bellator fights, right? In some capacity? Yeah, yeah. I mean, look, a lot of what we do for CBS Sports HQ, I mean, that's all under the same, you know, they cover Bellator very extensively as well. I think they carried the presser today.

Yes, yes. Scott Coker went on, did a live interview right afterwards. So, yeah, I mean, look, it's like big things are coming, Luke. I don't know exactly which door is going to open first, but, I mean, once, it's like big things are coming, Luke. I don't know exactly which store is going to open first, but, I mean, once the COVID clears up a bit, we haven't had MK at full power in a non-COVID environment yet where we are hitting the road for Conor McGregor's return and we are giving it to you all week long.

Yeah, yeah, this should be fun. Or Canelo versus Charlo down the road, Luke, okay? Yeah, I like how every time people see us on an elevated roll, they're like, you two youtube losers growing up but uh no people send well wishes man it was cool it was cool to see you know because we're usually out there you know what are you gonna say you could say you like my takes you could say you don't but what are you gonna say i didn't pay my dues you know fuck you yes i did fuck you bro Yes, I did. I have waited plenty for a turn. So, I'm pretty pumped about it.

I love when people think this is the first year I've ever watched a big martial arts league. I mean, I get I'm a filthy cash to a degree, but, you know,

I have been covering this sport for my ninth year and, you know, it's, but, I did watch UFC 4 on pay-per-view, but, you know, this is my first,

you know, year. I'm the boxing guy. I'm actually surprised. I'm obviously the MMA guy on the boxing side of things because I just have so much. It's been over a million times. I have so much I have to make up for for lost time.

But it's like, dude, you've been covering MMA for like a decade or more? Or a decade? I became... Not watching, but actively doing things. I was the backup espn.com mma editor beginning in 2012 i wrote some mma stories over the next few years for espn more or less about a decade yeah i mean i i did i interviewed fighters in the locker room for sports center after ufc 200 that was a that was a that was a great yeah anyway yeah so it's like

i'm a little surprised at that that that, that the reputation somewhat lingers. It's not that bad. Those are your fans, Luke, okay? I don't need those fans. Yeah, there's some people who are like, Luke, I love you. Brian's okay. What time is that STEM concert later? But, you know, you get a bunch of them who love you who want me to die.

I don't think that happens. See, if they love you, they clearly want me to die. There's a little bit of that. I don't think it's ever like, you know, I'm a huge BC fan and fuck Luke, right? I bet there is a little bit of that. But not too much. But to your point, that's something for everybody.

That's sort of the idea. We are washed, bro. We should get to these questions. Yeah, why don't you ring the bang a few times on that. Rat- rat-a-tat-tat that ass right all right question bc what are your top three favorite regional foods examples philly cheesesteak chicago new york style pizza memphis kansas city slash i mean he's putting barbecue types but yeah i mean it is i've had life-changing barbecue in austin is aust Austin considered on the level of a Memphis and the other one Salt Lake Memphis in Kansas City no but I went to the Stubbs Sunday Gospel Brunch

which is just freaking late I mean just people people think uh I had barbecue in Austin as well Jeremy Botter took me to some place that like you have to stand in line before I went to that place yeah it's fantastic yeah like people think you're overselling the barbecue no no it's like

I've had good cooks this is like it's almost perfect it's like perfect I put New Haven pizza into this conversation I actually you know what

here's the thing I want to shit on you for that but I have heard that Connecticut pizza is really good oh it's insane I mean New York pizza

is a thing but I think it's a it's a spinoff of the greatness that starts in New Haven. And I'm not even a New Haven thin-sliced guy. I'm more of the... Do you ever have Greek pizza? It's just pizza made by Greeks. Italian pizza made by Greeks. They put so much

freaking grease and extra cheese. It's a thing. Look, the sausage has a different tang to it. I'm more of that than the traditional New Haven style, but New Haven style kicks a lot of ass. Would you throw Philly cheesesteaks in there? Would you show it? I've not had a good Philly cheesesteak, which is to say I've had a sloppy Philly cheesesteak.

And that is good. But I'm told there are gourmet types of this. I've not had that. So I don't have a frame of reference. I've only done the Pat and Gino thing a couple of times. Which is like, you know, it's still good, though. You still eat your face off. Yes. But I mean, this is food you could get at a movie theater. I haven't done it. Which is like... No, it's still good, though. You still eat your face off. Yes, but I mean,

this is food you could get at a movie theater. It's not... Wow, that was demeaning as shit, Luke. Why didn't you just say cumbies, right? Damn. It's like jujufruits.

Like, I mean, you know. No, I'm serious. Like, dude, you've never been to like a... The cheese is straight out of like the shit you could get at a movie theater. It's the same stuff.

I didn't think about it. That's a really insulting way to talk about someone um all right so regional foods i'll say this i'll say this uh new york pizza is amazing but what about new york bagels see i okay new bagels this is not me challenging the rothschilds i know what you're about to say but i've never gotten the appeal of like the jewish demon all those towns like dude i've been in like you've never gotten the appeal, of a Jewish deli, for real, no,

no, I could rock with a Jewish deli, but specifically bagels, it's just not something, I mean I've had bagels, they're fine, but I don't look at bagels, like a delicacy,

like some people are like, dude, I gotta get those, I can't eat them, because they're terrible for you now, but like dude, going and getting a thick, wheat bagel,

and then slathering that bitch, with cream cheese, I'm not saying I don't know that bagels are good. I've just, I've had these, these ones. You know,

a lot of the town, the rich New York towns around White Plains, they all are known for their bagels and you gotta try those and I've had the damn Scarce Dale bagels, okay?

It's pretty good but it wasn't like, you know, maybe it's- When you come to, I'll do this again. When you come to D.C., there's this Jordanian,

I think they're Jordanian. There's a family that owns a bagel place. It's actually not in D.C. and I come to D.C., there's this Jordanian, I think they're Jordanian. There's a family that owns a bagel place. It's actually not in D.C. And I never leave D.C. for food. I'm like, if it's not here, I'm not going. I make an exception in this one case. It's called Brooklyn Bagel Company.

And it's run by this family. Dude, they are the soup Nazis brought down here. When you order, you better get it loud, clear, and first correct. Or they just move right on past you. They don't give a fuck. They make their own bagels in-house. You can see all the machinery. You better get it loud, clear, and first correct, or they just move right on past you. They don't give a fuck. They make their own bagels in-house. You can see all the machinery.

I think that's such an overrated thing nowadays. I remember the first time I went there, I got a sausage, egg, and cheese, and it was, that is the best bagel I've had outside of New York ever in my life. Like the guy who was cooking ejaculate tonic at the end that's like the final finish. Yes, yes, I ate jizz. What is wrong with you?

Are you tired? Okay. So New York bagels is good for me. What do you want to say? Like. You. How. You.

I can't believe you no sold the ejaculation joke. That was. Oh it's terrible. It's so bad. The timing. The. How about. How about.

Like Tex-Mex food. Like. You know. The. The. The. The. The.

The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The.

The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The.

The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The.

The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The.

The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. like you know the new near new mexico sort of texas area yeah i mean dude real mexican food

like real is out of control it's insanely good like i mean that's a rich culture it's hard even some of the the places in connecticut that have the towns that have money so the restaurants are step up it's hard to find authentic mexican that's like worth talking about by the way i tried to find just as a joke i was like i wonder how good the mexican is in colombia uh it's terrible it's not at all good but it has to be where like i've grown up in the pizza heartland right luke like new york city style the new haven runoff all that i grew up 18 miles from new haven so i go elsewhere in the country i'm like the pizza out here fucking sucks and it pretty much does look outside of like four areas in this country i've never had that um what's i talking about before that i never had that happen now i'll have to get back in my brain and get back to you

that medicine's working working real good that was a great story dude you had a great boy you really stuck the landing i was getting there gotta tell you tell you, you put it all together. That was the Kaiser-Sosay payoff of stories. Yeah. So I've named two. The Tex-Mex area, the New York bagel. Oh, I got it now. I got it now. I got it now.

This ought to be great. I think that's where I'm at with Mexican, because I have not in the – like maybe once in the greater New York City, Connecticut area have I had like the kind of authentic Mexican where I was like, damn, that's good. Like the kind you have in Mexico when you get off the beaten path. Fair enough, yeah.

How about this? How about the New Orleans like gumbo stuff? I've had that. The beignets are good too. The po'boys and all that stuff. Po'boys, yes. I think it's all pretty overrated, but it's also because those categories of food,

I'm not super, I'm not a massive seafood guy. So I'm not a seafood guy either, but to me that's the exception that proves the rule. There's a lot of exceptions in that realm that I wouldn't normally eat, but because it's that,

it feels special, but still I just think that's overrated. What your favorite like uh american city to visit if you're gonna party austin austin music scene is just out of control the diverse like pre-covid or something yeah i'm talking about like in the 2000 early 2000s but yeah austin's great um this the breakdown when i went what oh four for the Austin City Limits Festival, the breakdown of like, 6th Street is the crazy, like, closed down the street.

It's like spring break every night, right? But then if you go down one block, it was like the mid-20-year-olds who have jobs, you know, then the next block you go down and all the bars were like for 30-year-old people and then the next bar was... I've been to Austin. I just... And every bar has a kick-ass live band going at all times.

Yeah. Nashville's a little bit like that on the countryside. Yeah, I've never experienced that. You walk down some of the streets, and if it's nice weather and the doors are open, you'll hear one angelic voice after the other walking down the street. But for me, it's got to be New Orleans. New Orleans is a super special place, man.

Yeah, it really is. I went there for WrestleMania, spent seven nights. That's a sentence I'll never say. That was, by the way, the same week thatcgregor threw the dolly through the window so that was that week yeah um it was uh it was pretty good i i didn't go out at night but even being out at like eight o'clock when it's dark yeah the streets in the french quarter were just insane and i don't know what i don't know what the hot spots are anymore but the one one of the times I went with my wife, she had friends there.

So she had friends from Columbia that moved to New Orleans. And at the time, I'm sure this has changed, but at the time, this was when like Frenchman Street was sort of where the locals went in the French Quarter. And we went to this place that had like this sort of Japanese, I don't know, almost 50s vibe to it. It was kind of weird, but it was fucking brilliant, and there was jazz musicians playing. Oh, God, that's so good. New Orleans is the fucking best.

All right. Love the show. You two are hilarious together. Questions. Luke, I remember you saying you were into photography as a hobby. Here we go. What kind do you enjoy shooting? Landscape, portrait, cityscapes?

Dude, I don't really know the answer to that because I... I just shoot shit is what it looks yeah i'm just i'm just trying to figure man i'm mostly trying to figure out how the settings on my camera work bro most of the time i'm still trying to figure out how to pay with a credit card at the damn pump right yeah but here's what i can say i bought a lens that was a 70 to 200 focal length i want to see if i can shoot some wildlife so that may end up being what I like. But so far, it's just like, can I just take a good photo or not? And, you know, it's more of a challenge

than you might imagine. There's a part here for UBC, which is... Is this about my painting career, Luke? Have you ever done stand-up or improv? No, I have not. I would heckle you. I don't think I have the exact comedy game for that. In fact, I know I don't.

That's why I wouldn't try something like that. There was a point... I mean, anytime, Luke, if you can make somebody laugh, you think, you know... Easy to make your friends laugh. Hard to make strangers laugh. Hard to get out and, you know... I mean, you'd be surprised, right?

Hard to get out there and have a document, you know, and have a damn comedy special on Showtime. But, Luke, what I was saying was... I told you the story. It was here at mohegan sun i was the mc for like the connecticut boxing hall of fame dinner you bomb in like 2015 and look i don't know what i was thinking on the ride there i was just like you know what you were like dude you thought you were diced like hickory dickory dude i i just formed this long form joke like that was going to take a couple minutes

And was going to be like real Like crazy ending twist of you know Direction of where I was going And Dude I bombed I mean it was like crickets Luke I bombed so hardcore on this boxing joke That I had to go

Damn tough crowd Is this thing on And then suddenly everybody started laughing. But it was like pity laughs. It was, you know, it was. I was like, I actually stopped and went, damn. Like, Luke, I have no business. That's awesome.

You know, I mean, I think I'm a counter puncher comedically. So I have no chance getting out there and like. Yeah, it's hard. Yeah. You got to play off somebody else there. Penn needs a teller. You know what I'm saying yeah exactly that's hilarious uh question bc have you listened to any music from brian fallon or the gaslight anthem

i have not heard of either but more mopey whites hopefully you're right um yeah yeah i'll check that out brian fallon and or the gaslight anthem i haven't heard of either but i'll check that out. Brian Fallon and the... Or the Gaslight Anthem. I haven't heard of either, but I'll check it out, okay? Thank you very much. I have a new guilty pleasure. We were talking about music guilty pleasures. Like you're ashamed to admit, I listened to the Dixie Check song.

Gaslighter, denier. They were cool. Remember when they were cool for like a little bit? And then they shit on Bush in London. And then they... Yeah. There was a window where they were hot and cool at the same time right yeah something like that yeah although they weren't like they fell off hard wilson phillips had a window of being pretty hot too or at least two of the three right luke i i'm gonna skip that question and uh go on to the next one which is if you got to pick out any bottle of booze you wanted for under $100 as the price point,

and you only get one bottle of it gifted to you, what do you choose? I'm not a boozer for hard alcohol, so I can't answer that. What would you go for? It would be a bottle of wine, couldn't it? That's true. Dude, okay.

So my wife drinks red wine all the time. I go in and out between that and beer. The rare times I drink now, because I do have old guy disease, where I can get a drinks red wine all the time. I, I go in and out between that and beer at the rare times I drink now. Cause I do have old guy disease where I can get a hangover off of one drink just viciously. But, um, have,

when you, have you ever, so I know, I know the taste of nine 99 bottles of wine, $15. It's like most of you out there, right? Like I know the taste of that lower cheap level,

Luke, maybe once in a while, a couple of times a year, I'll buy a $25 25 or a 30 bottle of wine but and i can taste the difference but whatever and then you go out to a dinner in vegas when your boss is paying and you get like 300 bottle of red wine that taste is it's it's it's freaking incredible look it's it it is you taste i've seen those taste tests where it's like can this expert tell the difference between a five5 bottle and a $50?

Sometimes I get it wrong, but you're right. There does come a certain threshold when you reach back to the truly vintage. It's just so unmistakably unique. It's like sex in a glass. It's amazing. And I know they say there's certain areas in the price range where it doesn't matter as much, Luke, but that's a jump that matters. So maybe I'd get some, I don't know, Lukeke what the hell would you get a bottle of jameson or some i would say i would take you okay without picking a brand i would say get me as far as

a hundred bucks that's the price point right get me as far as that will get me in japanese whiskey you know japanese whiskey yes i got gifted a bottle of japanese whiskey from uh the folks at ring city usa for the holidays. Yeah. I mean, they have their junk like any other place does. No, this was legit. But you can get some high-end stuff from them that is really well put together. Okay.

Actually, decent questions. What was the one you couldn't read? You were like, I'm not touching this. What was that one? I don't know. Oh, there's a porn star one in here. We'll get into it in a minute. Is Mark Smith low-key one of the best MMA referees out there?

He never gets talked about as one of the best, but I rarely see him making mistakes. Yeah, he was on Rogan. I didn't see it, though. What does he look like? Which guy is that? He's the black guy, bald, has a mustache. Yeah, yeah.

Mark Smith. Yeah, okay. He's an interesting dude, yeah. Mark Smith. Yeah, okay. He's an interesting dude, as I understand it. I had Mark Goddard in my head as you were saying that. No, that gentleman is white. Holby Huffington hates that guy, Luke. Who? Mark Goddard.

Yeah, we're talking about Mark Smith. I know, I know. Is he a good ref? You know what? Shamefully, I will say I'm not as familiar with his work as I should be off the top of my head. So I'll be giving a bullshit answer. But you're right. It seems plausible what this person

is suggesting. Luke if the UFC called right now and said guys you have been gifted with 90 minutes to hang out with any UFC referee you want do we go right for Josh Rosenthal and just try to like put our noses inside of his mouth and just take a big whiff Luke?

It wouldn't be Herb? Herb's probably got some good stories. Okay, to both LT and BC. It's your birthday. Your wives want to gift you with a threesome with a porn star. What porn star do you choose? Rocco. Rocco.

Rocco. I just got to see that hog in person. It's like seeing a celebrity at the airport. You know? It's like, dude, is that Tom Selleck? Is that Rocco's hog? I mean, if this was... You'd just compliment him and be like, damn, man, you did so well for yourself.

I would say Chasey Lane, but I don't want to look up what she looks like now, so that'd be a little bit... Listen, I want to answer this question, but by virtue of answering it, everyone's opinion of me will lower. Because I'll give you somebody who is just an absolute dirt ball in this industry so i'm just gonna take the fifth it's like luke's into that shit jesus um all right bc what's your favorite conspiracy theory the anti-semitic ones you love those dude well again you're gonna put you know you're gonna put a scarlet letter on me that's not no no it is true it is true that there there's not a hint of anti-semitism in you but rather you do like the uh conspiracy theories you kind of strip the

anti-semitism ones is true the the country's really being run but he loves anti he loves he loves the all the parts of the anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Why is it anti-Semitic? Dude, a global family of powerful Jews running the banking system. Well, it doesn't have to just be them. It could be the Illuminati in hand with them. The Rothschilds, they're not Christian. Are you saying they're actually lizard people?

No, I am saying that they are who they are. Part of that is Jewish. Okay, that's fine. That's all I'm saying. I don't know. What is my favorite conspiracy? I would say you're not super UFO guy. No.

You're not super ghost guy. No, I'm definitely more government cover-up. False flag. Yeah, you're more like what bad things could our government be up to i feel like that's your brand yes and that that's that's not and that's not committed to any party that's just committed to the idea that power that like the political system that that most of us worship i don't believe is actually in play i don't believe it matters luke you know yeah i know but also you're deeply ignorant so i mean i did i did grow up on the floor floor of a sawmill so you know in a burlap

sack luke so yes um yeah anyway we'll be doing this for an hour i think that's it for questions we don't have any more. Luke, do you have a favorite MMA conspiracy? MMA conspiracy? That what's-his-name Alexander took a fall for Kimbo? That happened, bro. That happened. Houston Alexander?

No. I don't think so. You think that? I'm saying I could believe it. i mean didn't kimbo didn't didn't seth petroselli say i don't if you ask me like is is that kind of thing possible in like a major modern mma organization i would honestly tell you yes it is certainly possible um the two arguments i've made were one if you saw it you wouldn't even know it right because they try to hide it but what i mean to say is i don't imagine it would happen under the guise of the actual organization itself like dude if they if there's any evidence that ever got

leaked with that they would lose their license forever they mean these promotions have an incredibly strong incentive um but kimbo bo cantrell not on the up and up okay but here's my here's my point. The fighters amongst themselves arranging things, yes, I can envision that being a real possibility. Like the teams talking to each other. Petrozzelli did say that Elite XC asked him just to stand. But not to determine an outcome per se. Am I going to wake up with a horse head in my bed?

Look, if it is, I hope the dong of Aaron Pico's horse is with that look, okay? I bet you do. You'd be like, Rocco? Is that you? Wouldn't that be hilarious if you owned horses with, like, enormous hogs? And you're like, what are your horse's names? You'd be like, this one's called Rocco. This one is called

Lex the Impaler. This one is whoever. And just name your horses after dudes with enormous swans. That'd be baller. It's time to end it, Luke, okay? That's it. Yeah, it is. Okay. BC, you want to sign off? Say the nice things

to the people? Thank you. Thank you for thank you right thanks a lot we're tired and we're old and you know subscribe to what we do here hopefully you caught that Bellator interview special I made a lot of fun doing

that a lot of bonus content coming out of today you know we'll be back live on Friday live chat with Luke on Thursday unless you're going under the knife. Yes, unless I die. Yep. Yeah, thanks, everyone. That's it.

Peace.